Lojalitetsplikten i långvariga kommersiella avtal – Med särskild utblick mot kvardröjande och framtida förpliktelser

The duty of loyalty, also known as the principle of loyalty, is regarded as a general principle of law in Swedish contract law. It implies a duty to observe the interests of the counter-party beyond the regulated obligations in the contract. Different definitions of the duty of loyalty do not give much advice as of how it should be interpreted. Therefore, what is relevant is how the principle is being used. In general the duty of loyalty rests on unstated duties, which originates from the conditions of the specific contractual relationship. The principle’s importance in long-term commercial contracts is uncertain and this thesis makes an attempt to try and clarify the picture with a special focus on the duty of loyalty in joint venture agreements and contracts for building works. At the same time the question is asked whether an omit or breach of the duty of loyalty with success can be invoked in courts as a separate cause of action in support of a claim for performance, damages and/or a right to cancellation. In the light of a relatively new arbitration award the thesis also looks into how the ground for judgement turns out in a dispute regarding the validity of contract clauses, which extends beyond the contractual period and stipulates remaining and/or future obligations. The ambition of the thesis is to study the post-contractual liability on the basis of such obligations, since they are not always performed with reference to the contract being terminated and the regulation of the obligations not being sufficiently detailed to be able to win legal effect after the contractual period has ended. The thesis uses legal dogmatic method and the legal doctrine makes up the main source of information. Case-law is also being regarded in the thesis and although the case-law in a sense disfavours the duty of loyalty, the ethics of the principle in general still seems to influence the legal discourse in higher court and in the Supreme Court. According to the thesis the importance of the duty of loyalty in long-term commercial contracts is totally dependent on the specific situation and much dependent on the type of contract, the position of the parties, the parties expectations and also the character of the specific legal relationship. The thesis shows that the Swedish contract law probably is incomplete when it comes to the judgement of post-contractual obligations and that a greater respect to the strong relation-based foundation in long-term contracts where the duty of loyalty is given an increased role would be able to contribute to a clarification of the legal position and to the development of the law on the area.Lojalitetsplikten, även benämnd lojalitetsprincipen, är en allmän rättsprincip i svensk avtalsrätt som innebär en plikt att beakta motpartens intressen utö-ver avtalets reglerade utfästelser. Definitioner av lojalitetsplikten ger inte mycket ledning för hur den ska förstås. Vad som därför är relevant är hur begreppet används. Generellt vilar lojalitetsplikten på outtalade förpliktelser som utgår från det enskilda avtalsförhållandets förutsättningar. Principens betydelse för långvariga kommersiella avtal är oklar och denna uppsats gör ett försök att förtydliga bilden med särskilt fokus på lojalitetsplikten i sam-verkansavtal och entreprenadavtal. Samtidigt ställs frågan om ett åsidosät-tande eller brytande av lojalitetsplikten som självständig grund med fram-gång kan åberopas till stöd för fullgörelse, skadestånd och/eller hävning. I uppsatsen belyses också, mot bakgrund av ett relativt nytt skiljeavgörande, hur bedömningsgrunden gestaltar sig vid tvist beträffande giltigheten för avtalsklausuler som sträcker sig bortom avtalets löptid och stipulerar kvar-dröjande och/eller framtida förpliktelser. Uppsatsens ambition är att närmre studera det postkontraktuella ansvaret utifrån sådana förpliktelser eftersom dessa inte alltid fullgörs med hänvisning till att avtalet upphört och att regle-ringen av förpliktelserna inte var tillräckligt preciserad för att kunna vinna rättsverkan efter avtalstiden. Uppsatsen använder rättsdogmatisk metod och den huvudsakliga källan för undersökningen utgörs av doktrin. Rättspraxis beaktas också och den behandlar lojalitetsplikten missgynnsamt men dess etik tycks i allmänhet genomsyra rättsdiskursen i högre instans. Enligt uppsatsen är lojalitetspliktens innebörd i långvariga kommersiella avtal helt avhängig den enskilda situationen och mycket beroende av avtals-typen, partsställningen, parternas förväntningar samt det enskilda rättsför-hållandets karaktär. Uppsatsen visar att avtalsrätten när det gäller bedöm-ningen av postkontraktuella förpliktelser antagligen är ofullständig och att ett större hänsynstagande till den starka relationsbaserade grundvalen i långvariga avtal där lojalitetsplikten ges en utökad roll skulle kunna bidra till ett klargörande av rättsläget och till rättsutvecklingen på området

Livstids fängelse - Relevant i vår tid?

Denna kandidatuppsats utreder frågan om straffet livstids fängelse i Sverige bör kvarstå i sin nuvarande utformning. I uppsatsen görs en beskrivning av den historiska bakgrunden till straffet. Uppsatsens syfte är att klargöra om livstidsstraffet är en försvarlig påföljd i vårt moderna rätts-samhälle. Uppsatsen baseras på ett rättsutvecklingsperspektiv för att förklara hur livstidsstraffet fått sin nuvarande betydelse. Den följer straffrättens utveckling i Sverige från medeltid till 1800-talet, då fängelsestraff och livstidsstraff kom att ersätta tidigare kroppsaga, straffarbete och i viss mån även dödsstraff. Dödsstraffet avskaffades 1921 och ersattes av livstidsstraffet som därmed blev lagens strängaste straff. Till en början accepterades straffet av de flesta och det sågs som ett naturligt och humant alternativ till dödsstraffet. Efterhand tilltog kritiken mot att straffet var obestämt i tid eftersom det faktum ansågs äventyra rättssäkerheten. Livstidsstraffet överlevde samtidigt som övriga tidsobestämda påföljder avskaffades under slutet av 70- och början av 80-talet. Att den rättssäkerhet som ett tidsbestämt straff inneburit inte prioriterades, tillskrevs de konservativa idéer om långvariga fängelsestraff som vunnit gehör på bekostnad av den s.k. behandlingsteorins teser. Under slutet av 90-talet och början av 2000-talet var livstidsstraffet i princip det enda för-kommande påföljdsvalet vid mord. Som en anpassning till rådande förhållanden och till den negativa kritik som framfördes mot livstidsstraffet, gavs 2006 en möjlighet för livstidsdömda att via den s.k. Omvandlingslagen få sitt straff tidsbestämt i domstol. Detta beslut innebar en stor för-ändring, då det fram till dess endast varit möjligt att ansöka om tidsbestämning av livstidsstraff hos regeringen via nådeansökan. År 2007 uttalade Högsta domstolen att livstidsstraffet skulle förbehållas de allvarligaste fallen av mord. Lagstiftaren uppmärksammade problematiken, en utökad straffskala instiftades och det tidsbestämda fängelsestraffet kan nu utdömas på mellan tio och arton års tid. På så vis gavs dom-stolarna en bättre möjlighet att ta hänsyn till förmildrande och försvårande omständigheter i det enskilda fallet. Uppsatsens slutsats blir att livstidsstraffets varande bör ifrågasättas, då det dels p.g.a. otidsenlighet har spelat ut sin roll, dels redan i domstolar tillämpas som tidsbestämt eftersom generellt sett en andra bedömning kommer att göras. I dess ställe skulle ett tidsbestämt fängelsestraff införas.This bachelor’s thesis investigates the question if the sentence of life imprisonment in Sweden ought to be maintained in its present form. The thesis makes a historical description of the sen-tence since its purpose is to clarify whether the life sentence is an appropriate penalty in todays modern society founded on the rule of law. In order to explain how the life sentence has come into use and been given its present mean-ing this thesis is based on a perspective focusing on the development of the law. It follows the development of the criminal law in Sweden from the Middle Ages to the 19th century when the prison sentence and the life sentence came to replace earlier corporal punishment, penal servitude and in a sense also death penalty. The death penalty was abolished in 1921 and replaced by the life sentence, which became the most severe penalty of the law. Initially most people accepted the penalty and they saw it as a natural and humane alternative to the death penalty but in time the criticism increased and the life sentence was considered jeopardizing the rule of law since it was indefinite in time. The life sentence survived while at the same time the other time-indefinite sanctions were abolished at the end of the ’70s and the beginning of the ’80s. The reason for why the security of the rule of law, which a time-definite penalty upheld was not more highly valid can in one way be ascribed to the conservative ideas regarding long-lasting prison sentences which had met sympa-thy at the cost of the Treatment Theory’s beliefs. During the end of the ’90s and the beginning of the 21th century, the life sentence was in principle the common sentence for homicide. As an adaptation to the present situation and to the criticism, which was being held against the life sentence, a possibility to time-definite the penalty in court was given in 2006 through the institution of a new law. This decision meant a huge change since before the institution of the law, it had only been possible to apply for a time-definite life sentence through the government by petition for pardon. In 2007 the Supreme Court pronounced that the life sentence should be reserved for the most severe cases of homicide. The legislator observed the problem and measures were taken in the form of an institution to a new, extended range of punishment which changed the alternative, time-definite prison sentence to be able to be imposed on between ten and eighteen years time. Through this legislation the courts were given a new possibility to take both extenuating and ag-gravating circumstances into consideration in the individual case. The conclusion of the thesis becomes that the existence of the life sentence ought to be questioned since it is anachronistic and has played out its role, and because the courts already administer the penalty as if it was time-definite. The courts put the life sentence into practice this way since they know that there will be a second evaluation made by another court later on. A time-definite penalty should replace the life sentence

Theoretical analysis of the electrostatic interactions between charged polarisable particles

Theoretical approaches to calculating electrostatic interactions between charged particles of dielectric materials are presented and applied to diverse examples of electrostatic behaviour. The accuracy of numerical predictions based on the multipole expansion used in calculations of the electrostatic force is discussed. Strict corresponding convergence criteria are established, particularly when addressing problems involving materials with high dielectric constants, large differences in particles size and short inter-particle separation distances. An extensive study of various types of electrostatic interactions is undertaken, with greater stress on the circumstances in which rather counterintuitive events might exist, namely the attraction between like-charged particles, generally dependant on certain degrees of asymmetry in charge density and charge distribution on the surface of the interacting particles, and the repulsion between oppositely charged particles, which involves magnitudes of charge that are below some critical limit and the presence of a sufficiently polarisable medium. Several examples addressing experimental problems, notably the growth mechanism of aerosols in the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan, and electrostatic self-assembly processes, are included. Many-particle dynamics simulations of electrostatically driven systems are finally presented through some selected scenarios

Low Prevalence of Rotavirus and High Prevalence of Norovirus in Hospital and Community Wastewater after Introduction of Rotavirus Vaccine in Nicaragua

Rotavirus (RV) and norovirus (NoV) are major causes of pediatric diarrhea and are altogether associated with approximately 800,000 deaths in young children every year. In Nicaragua, national RV vaccination program using the pentavalent RV5 vaccine from Merck was implemented in October 2006. To determine whether RV vaccination decreased the overall number of RV infections, we investigated the occurrence of RV and NoV in wastewater in the city of León from July 2007 to July 2008 and compared these data with pre-vaccination data. The major finding was the low prevalence of RV compared to NoV in all sampling points (11% vs 44%, p<0.05), and that RV concentration was lower as compared to NoV. RV was observed mainly during the rainy season (July–September), and the majority of all RV detected (6/9) belonged to subgroup (SG) I. The partial VP7-gene obtained from one RV positive sample was similar (99% nt identity) to a G6 VP7-gene of bovine origin and similar to the corresponding gene of the vaccine strain (98%). Furthermore RV G-types 2 and 4 were found in the incoming wastewater. NoV strains were detected throughout the year, of which a majority (20/21) were of genotype GII.4. We conclude that the introduction of RV vaccination reduced the transmission of RV in the community in Nicaragua. However, the burden of diarrhea in the country remains high, and the high prevalence of NoVs in hospital and municipal wastewater is noteworthy. This study highlights the need for further assessment of NoV following RV vaccine introduction

Dynamic simulations of many-body electrostatic self-assembly

Two experimental studies relating to electrostatic self-assembly have been the subject of dynamic computer simulations, where the consequences of changing the charge and the dielectric constant of the materials concerned have been explored. One series of calculations relates to experiments on the assembly of polymer particles that have been subjected to tribocharging and the simulations successfully reproduce many of the observed patterns of behaviour. A second study explores events observed following collisions between single particles and small clusters composed of charged particles derived from a metal oxide composite. As before, observations recorded during the course of the experiments are reproduced by the calculations. One study in particular reveals how particle polarisability can influence the assembly process

Rotavirus Vaccine in Nicaragua

Abstract Rotavirus (RV) and norovirus (NoV) are major causes of pediatric diarrhea and are altogether associated with approximately 800,000 deaths in young children every year. In Nicaragua, national RV vaccination program using the pentavalent RV5 vaccine from Merck was implemented in October 2006. To determine whether RV vaccination decreased the overall number of RV infections, we investigated the occurrence of RV and NoV in wastewater in the city o

Coulomb fission in multiply charged molecular clusters: experiment and theory

A series of three multiply charged molecular clusters, (C6H6)nz+ (benzene), (CH3CN)nz+ (acetonitrile), and (C4H8O)nz+ (tetrahydrofuran), where the charge z is either 3 or 4, have been studied for the purpose of identifying patterns of behaviour close to the charge instability limit. Experiments show that on a time scale of ~10-4 s, ions close to the limit undergo Coulomb fission where all of the observed pathways exhibit considerable asymmetry in the sizes of the charged fragments, and are associated with kinetic (ejection) energies of between 1.4 and 2.2 eV. Accurate kinetic energies have been determined through a computer simulation of peak profiles recorded in the experiments and the results modelled using a theory formulated to describe how charged particles of dielectric materials interact with one another (Bichoutskaia et al. J. Chem. Phys. 2010, 133, 024105). The calculated electrostatic interaction energy between separating fragments gives an accurate account for the measured kinetic energies and also supports the conclusion that +4 ions fragment into +3 and +1 products as opposed to the alternative of two +2 fragments. This close match between theory and experiment supports the assumption that a significant fraction of excess charge resides on the surfaces of the fragment ions. It is proposed that the high degree of asymmetry seen in the fragmentation patterns of the multiply charged clusters is due, in part, to limits imposed by the time window during which observations are made

Localization and Characterization of Fatigue Cracks Around Fastener Holes Using Spherically Focused Ultrasonic Probes

Results are presented from laboratory experiments and simulations designed to determine the ability to localize and characterize fatigue cracks around fastener holes using spherically fo-cused ultrasonic (UT) probes for shear-wave inspections. In designing and evaluating inspection protocols, the number of cases that can be studied through laboratory experiments is severely limited by cost and time constraints. Simulations therefore stand to play a significant role in the design and optimization of inspection strategies for those conditions that can be accurately mod-eled. Moving from benchmark studies for relatively simple geometries toward more realistic conditions creates significant challenges. For shear-wave inspections of fastener holes these challenges include the complex energy field in the thin plates, reflections off the borehole, the complexity of making measurements in the near-field, material anisotropy, cracks as small as 1mm square, and a sealant layer between aluminum sheets. To achieve comparable modeling and simulation data requires a very accurate experimental setup that allows the probe angle, probe height and scan path to be precisely set. For the modeling, care must be taken to match the applied gain and gates used during acquisition of the experimental data. Initial results presented include sensitivity studies to determine how probe variables (frequency, focal depth, diameter), crack variables (size, shape, location, angle with respect to the probe), and the experimental setup affect results. Simulated and experimental C-scan images for 5 and 10 MHz probes are shown in Figure 1 for a fatigue crack that intersects the back wall. This work is supported by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) through Research Initiatives for Materials State Sensing (RIMSS) contract with Universal Technologies Corp., Contract No: FA8650-10-D-5210

Model-based Probe State Estimation and Crack Inverse Methods Addressing Eddy Current Probe Variability

Recent work on model-based inverse methods with eddy current inspections of surface breaking discontinuities has shown some sizing error due to variability in probes with the same design specifications [1]. This is an important challenge for model-based inversion crack sizing techniques, to be robust to the varying characteristics of eddy current probes found in the field [1-2]. In this paper, a model-based calibration process is introduced that estimates the state of the probe. First, a carefully designed surrogate model was built using VIC-3D® simulations covering the critical range of probe rotation angles, tilt in two directions, and probe offset (liftoff) for both tangential and longitudinal flaw orientations. Some approximations and numerical compromises in the model were made to represent tilt in two directions and reduce simulation time; however, this surrogate model was found to represent the key trends in the eddy current response for each of the four probe properties in experimental verification studies well. Next, this model was incorporated into an iterative inversion scheme during the calibration process, to estimate the probe state while also addressing the gain/phase fit and centering the calibration notch indication. Results are presented showing several examples of the blind estimation of tilt and rotation angle for known experimental cases with good agreement within +/- 2.5 degrees. The RMS error was found to be significantly reduced by fitting the probe state and, in many instances, probe state estimation addresses the previously un-modelled characteristics (model error) with real probe inversion studies. Additional studies are presented comparing the size of the calibration notch and the quality of the calibration fit, where calibrating with too small or too large a notch can produce poorer inversion results. Once the probe state is estimated, the final step is to transform the base crack inversion surrogate model and apply it for crack characterization. Because of the dimensionality of this problem, simulations were made at a limited set of select flaw sizes with varying length, depth and width, and an interpolation scheme was used to address the effect of the probe state at intermediate solution points. Using this process, results are presented demonstrating improved crack inversion performance for extreme probe states

Model Benchmarking and Reference Signals for Angled-beam Shear Wave Ultrasonic NDE Inspections

NDE modeling and simulation are important tools to support the development and validation of enhanced localization and characterization techniques. Previously, important achievements were made by the USAF to address crack detection in aircraft structures using angled-beam shear wave inspection techniques. However, new work on model benchmarking is needed to move beyond detection and achieve reliable crack characterization. To achieve this goal, simulated studies are needed to verify that models can accurately represent all of the key variables with the inspection of multilayer structures with fastener sites and varying crack conditions. Often with model benchmark studies, the accuracy of the model is evaluated based on the change in response relative to a selected reference signal. During recent simulated and experimental studies, some challenges were discovered concerning the creation and/or selection of a reference signal in a plate with a vertical hole and crack. The focus of this paper is on key findings concerning model benchmarking using CIVA-UT for angled-beam shear wave inspections. The use of a side drilled hole (SDH) in a plate was found to be somewhat problematic as a reference signal for angled beam shear wave inspection. Previously, only a limited number of studies have looked at model benchmarking for angled beam shear wave inspections. Systematic studies were performed with varying SDH depth and size, and varying the ultrasonic probe frequency, focal depth, and probe height. Care must be taken in understanding the precise beam properties with these experiments. One issue is that there is some increased error with the simulation of angled shear wave beams, especially in the near-field. Even more significant, asymmetry in real probes and the inherent sensitivity of signals in the near-field to subtle test conditions were found to provide a greater challenge with achieving model agreement. Through these studies, conditions of good and poor agreement were observed. For some inspection conditions, the skip signal off of the far wall from the side drilled hole can provide a better reference than the direct reflected signal. All in all, these seemingly mundane studies were found to be important with providing guidance on reference signal selection for model benchmarking work on the inspection of fastener sites with cracks