Risk Analyses and Risk Management - Slope Instabilities in Alpine Environments

Two prominent deep-seated gravitational slope deformations in the Eastern Alps (Tyrol, Austria) have been activated in the last seven years and pose serious threats to the densely populated valleys. Based on multidisciplinary field investigations, different hazard scenarios of slope failures have been evaluated for risk management processes. These event scenarios, which are characterised by strongly varying volumes of the failing slide masses as well as by different probabilities of occurrence, and varying disintegration factors control different accumulation and damage scenarios. Finally, these evaluations and risk analyses aimed to define “design events”, i.e. which scenarios are relevant for the dimensioning of mitigation measures. The main aim is to sustainably enable further land use, in comparison to the overall geohazard risks that are also present at several other sites in Tyrol (Austria)

Drafting a composite indicator of validity for regulatory models and legal systems

The aim of this paper is to lay the groundwork for the creation of a composite indicator of the validity of regulatory systems. The composite nature of the indicator implies a) that its construction is embedded in the long-standing theoretical debate and framework of legal validity; b) that it formally contains other sub-indicators whose occurrence is essential to the determination of validity. The paper suggests, in other words, that validity is a second-degree property, i.e., one that occurs only once the justice, efficiency, effectiveness, and enforceability of the system have been checked