Judicial Review of Government Pandemic Responses: Emerging Basic Lines in the Federal Administrative Court\u27s First Judgments

This Article analyzes the first rulings of the highest administrative court in Germany regarding measures aimed at curbing the COVID-19 pandemic. It outlines the architecture of fighting the pandemic, its relevance for judicial protection, and the basic lines of the court’s rulings. It also critically evaluates key issues such as: dealing with pandemic situations as a challenge for the separation of powers and judicial review, proportionality, the significance of expert knowledge, and the need for fundamental rights protection via procedures

Discriminative and Generative Learning with Style Information

Conventional machine learning approaches usually assume that the patterns follow the identical and independent distribution (i.i.d.). However, in many empirical cases, such condition might be violated when data are equipped with diverse and inconsistent style information. The effectiveness of those traditional predictors may be limited due to the violation of the i.i.d. assumption brought by the existence of the style inconsistency. In this thesis, we investigate how the style information can be appropriately utilized for further lifting up the performance of machine learning models. It is fulfilled by not only introducing the style information into some state-of-the-art models, some new architectures, frameworks are also designed and implemented with specific purposes to make proper use of the style information. The main work is listed as the following summaries: First, the idea of the style averaging is initially introduced by an example of an image process based sunglasses recovery algorithm to perform robust one-shot facial expression recognition task. It is named as Style Elimination Transformation (SET). By recovering the pixels corrupted by the dark colors of the sunglasses brought by the proposed algorithm, the classification performance is promoted on several state-of-the-art machine learning classifiers even in a one-shot training setting. Then the investigation of the style normalization and style neutralization is investigated with both discriminative and generative machine learning approaches respectively. In discriminative learning models with style information, the style normalization transformation (SNT) is integrated into the support vector machines (SVM) for both classification and regression, named as the field support vector classification (F-SVC) and field support vector regression (F-SVR) respectively. The SNT can be represented with the nonlinearity by mapping the sufficiently complicated style information to the high-dimensional reproducing kernel Hilbert space. The learned SNT would normalize the inconsistent style information, producing i.i.d. examples, on which the SVM will be applied. Furthermore, a self-training based transductive framework will be introduced to incorporate with the unseen styles during training. The transductive SNT (T-SNT) is learned by transferring the trained styles to the unknown ones. Besides, in generative learning with style information, the style neutralization generative adversarial classifier (SN-GAC) is investigated to incorporate with the style information when performing the classification. As a neural network based framework, the SN-GAC enables the nonlinear mapping due to the nature of the nonlinearity of the neural network transformation with the generative manner. As a generalized and novel classification framework, it is capable of synthesizing style-neutralized high-quality humanunderstandable patterns given any style-inconsistent ones. Being learned with the adversarial training strategy in the first step, the final classification performance will be further promoted by fine-tuning the classifier when those style-neutralized examples can be well generated. Finally, the reversed task of the upon-mentioned style neutralization in the SN-GAC model, namely, the generation of arbitrary-style patterns, is also investigated in this thesis. By introducing the W-Net, a deep architecture upgraded from the famous U-Net model for image-to-image translation tasks, the few-shot (even the one-shot) arbitrary-style Chinese character generation task will be fulfilled. Same as the SN-GAC model, the W-Net is also trained with the adversarial training strategy proposed by the generative adversarial network. Such W-Net architecture is capable of generating any Chinese characters with the similar style as those given a few, or even one single, stylized examples. For all the proposed algorithms, frameworks, and models mentioned above for both the prediction and generation tasks, the inconsistent style information is taken into appropriate consideration. Inconsistent sunglasses information is eliminated by an image processing based sunglasses recovery algorithm in the SET, producing style-consistent patterns. The facial expression recognition is performed based on those transformed i.i.d. examples. The SNT is integrated into the SVM model, normalizing the inconsistent style information nonlinearly with the kernelized mapping. The T-SNT further enables the field prediction on those unseen styles during training. In the SN-GAC model, the style neutralization is performed by the neural network based upgraded U-Net architecture. Trained with separated steps with the adversarial optimization strategy included, it produces the high-quality style-neutralized i.i.d. patterns. The following classification is learned to produce superior performance with no additional computation involved. The W-Net architecture enables the free manipulation of the style data generation task with only a few, or even one single, style reference(s) available. It makes the Few-shot, or even the One-shot, Chinese Character Generation with the Arbitrary-style information task to be realized. Such appealing property is hardly seen in the literature

A Constituição no direito administrativo geral: perda de importância por causa da europeização e emancipação?

A constitucionalização constitui um fenomeno comum das ordens jurídicas administrativas europeias, e também o direito administrativo da UE é cada vez mais influenciado pelo seu quadro constitucional, nomeadamente após a entrada em vigor da Carta dos Direitos Fundamentais da EU, que garante explicitamente o direito a uma boa administração. Com referência ao direito administrativo alemão, provavelmente o sistema de direito administrativo mais constitucionalizado, culminando no entendimento de Fritz Werner de "Verwaltungsrecht als konkretisiertes Verfassungsrecht" ("direito administrativo como direito constitucional concretizado"), o artigo, num primeiro passo, não só aprofunda o fenómeno da constitucionalização, mas também qualifica a tese de constitucionalização generalizada. Esta última foi além disso questionada por duas megatendências com impacto em todas as ordens jurídicas administrativas europeias, nomeadamente a sua europeização e a sua alegada emancipação da Constituição. Se isto significa uma desconstitucionalização do direito administrativo e como estas tendências podem ser conciliadas, será discutido em outras partes do artigo. Os conhecimentos gerados pela utilização, nomeadamente, do exemplo do direito administrativo alemão são de relevância pan-europeia e podem servir como instrumento de análise numa perspectiva comparativa e tendo em vista o futuro desenvolvimento do direito administrativo da EU

TERJEMAHAN BERANOTASI DONGENG LE FILS À LA RECHERCHE DE SA MÈRE KE DALAM BAHASA INDONESIA

Annotated translation is a study that provides annotations or notes on the chosen equivalents of a number of translated words as a form of translator’s accountability. Using a comparative model, this qualitative study aims to describe the problems that were encountered when translating the source text and finding the right translation strategy to be used for addressing the existing translation problems. In this research, the source text is a children literature (tale) titled Le Fils à la recherche de sa mère by Senegalese author. The problems that were encountered when translating this tale were issues related to language and culture, such as idioms, metaphors, and cultural words. The translation problems were then addressed by using translation strategies (methods and procedures) according to Newmark (1988). In generating translations and annotations, this research referred to various dictionaries and websites. The findings of this research are expected to enrich the French children literature translations from African countries that are rarely found in Indonesia

Meinungsfreiheit und die neue Datenschutz-Verordnung

MEINUNGSFREIHEIT UND DIE NEUE DATENSCHUTZ-VERORDNUNG LIBERDADE DE OPINIÃO E O NOVO REGULAMENTO EUROPEU DE PROTEÇÃO DE DADOSFREEDOM OF SPEECH AND THE NEW EUROPEAN DATA PROTECTION REGULATION Ana Clara Gonçalves Discacciati*Ferdinand Wollenschläger**RESUMO: A União Europeia promulgou um novo regulamento de proteção de dados, a fim de que o trânsito de informações pessoais no contexto atual da Internet fosse melhor regulado. Todavia, um problema jurídico surge quando o indivíduo quer publicar suas informações pessoais, mas que depois serão utilizadas ilicitamente. O presente artigo se propõe a conjugar diferentes direitos de personalidade na perspectiva do Direito Europeu, especificadamente a liberdade de expressão e o direito à proteção de dados. Após um breve resumo da teoria dos princípios de Robert Alexy, segundo a qual um princípio será considerado preponderante em relação a outro a depender da situação, duas decisões paradigmáticas são analisadas, uma do Tribunal Federal de Justiça alemão e uma da Corte Europeia de Justiça. Em cada julgado um direito preponderou – direito à liberdade de opinião ou direito à proteção de dados, e foi demonstrado como os dois princípios são importantes para a sociedade moderna desde os seus primeiros reconhecimentos jurídicos. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Proteção de Dados. Liberdade de Opinião. Informações Pessoais. Direito europeu.  ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Die Europäische Union hat 2014 eine neue Datenschutzverordnung erlassen, um das Verkehr persönlicher Informationen in der heutigen Internetzeit besser zu regulieren. Jedoch kommt ein rechtliches Problem, wenn eine Person ihre Informationen veröffentlichen will, die aber danach missgehandelt werden. Dieser Artikel zielt, verschiedene persönliche Rechte in der Perspektive des europäischen Rechts zu vereinbaren, nähmlich die Meinungsfreiheit und das Datenschutzrecht. Nach einer kurzen Zusammenfassung der Robert Alexys Prinzipien-Schranken-Theorie, laut der gemäβ der Situation ein Prinzip als wichtiger als anderen erfindet wird, wurden zwei wichtigen Entscheidungen analysiert, eine von dem Bundesgerichtshof und eine von dem Europäischen Gerichtshof. Jede Entscheidung hat ein Recht mehr bewertet – Meinungsfreiheit oder Datenschutzrecht, und es wird gezeigt, wie beide Prinzipien seit ihrer ersten juristischen Anerkennungen in unserer modernen Gesellschaft nötig sind. SCHLÜSSELWÖRTER: Datenschutz. Meinungsfreiheit Personbezogene Information. Europäisches Recht. ABSTRACT: The European Union issued in 2014 a new data protection regulation, so that the traffic of personal information in the current context of the Internet could be better regulated. However, a legal problem arises when the individual wants to publish his personal information, but it is then used unlawfully. This article aims to combine different personality rights in European law perspective, specifically freedom of expression and the right to data protection. After a short summary of the theory of the principles of Robert Alexy, according to which a principle is considered dominant over another depending on the situation, two paradigmatic decisions are analyzed, from the German Federal Court of Justice and the European Court of Justice. In each trial a right prevailed - the right to freedom of speech or right to data protection, and it has been shown how the two principles are important to modern society since its first legal recognition. KEYWORDS: Data Protection. Freedom of Expression. Person-related Information. European Law. Inhalt: Einleitung. 1. Neuer Kontext. 2. Datenschutz. 2.1. Definitionen. 2.2. Entwurf einer neuen Verordnung. 2.2.1. Die Richtlinie 95/46/CE. 2.2.2. Die Verordnung. 3. Meinungsfreiheit. 4. Schranken des Datenschutzrechts durch das Meinungsfreiheitsrecht. 4.1. Theorie der Grundrechte (Prinzipien) von Robert Alexy. 4.2. EuGH Entscheidung. 4.3. BGH Entscheidung. Fazit.  Literaturverzeichnis.* Graduada pela Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Aluna visitante da Universität Augsburg, Alemanha. Estagiária do Max Planck Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht.** Professor da Universität Augsburg, Alemanha. Coautor de Einheimischenmodelle: Städtebauliche Zielverwirklichung an der Schnittstelle von europäischem und nationalem, öffentlichem und privatem Recht e autor de Verteilungsverfahren: Die staatliche Verteilung knapper Güter. Verfassungs- und unionsrechtlicher Rahmen, Verfahren im Fachrecht, bereichsspezifische verwaltungsrechtliche Typen-und Systembildung

Legitimacy in the Multilevel European Polity

In order to be simultaneously effective and liberal, governments must normally be able to count on voluntary compliance – which, in turn, depends on the support of socially shared legitimacy beliefs. In Western constitutional democracies, such beliefs are derived from the distinct but coexistent traditions of “republican” and “liberal” political philosophy. When judged by these criteria, the European Union – if considered by itself – appears as a thoroughly liberal polity which, however, lacks all republican credentials. But this view (which seems to structure the debates about the “European democratic deficit”) ignores the multilevel nature of the European polity, where the compliance of citizens is requested, and needs to be legitimated by member states – whereas the Union appears as a “government of governments” which is entirely dependent on the voluntary compliance of its member states. What matters primarily, therefore, is the compliance-legitimacy relationship between the Union and its member states – which, however, is normatively constrained by the basic compliance-legitimacy relationship between member governments and their constituents. Given the high consensus requirements of European legislation, member governments could and should be able to assume political responsibility for European policies in which they had a voice, and to justify them in “communicative discourses” in the national public space. This is not necessarily true of “non-political” policy choices imposed by the European Court of Justice. By enforcing its “liberal” program of liberalization and deregulation, the ECJ may presently be undermining the “republican” bases of member-state legitimacy. Where this is the case, open non-compliance is a present danger, and political controls of judicial legislation may be called for.Um gleichzeitig effektiv und liberal sein zu können, ist staatliche Herrschaft auf freiwillige Folgebereitschaft angewiesen – die ihrerseits der Unterstützung durch sozial geteilte Legitimitätsüberzeugungen bedarf. In den demokratischen Verfassungsstaaten des Westens werden solche Überzeugungen aus den unterschiedlichen, aber komplementär zusammenwirkenden Traditionen der „republikanischen“ und der „liberalen“ politischen Philosophie hergeleitet. An diesen Kriterien gemessen erscheint die Europäische Union – wenn man sie für sich betrachtet – als eine „liberale“ politische Ordnung, der jedoch alle „republikanischen“ Legitimitätsmerkmale fehlen. Aber eine solche Sichtweise, die auch die derzeitige Diskussion über ein „europäisches Demokratiedefizit“ bestimmt, verkennt den Mehrebenencharakter des europäischen Gemeinwesens. In ihm sind es die Mitgliedstaaten, die Entscheidungen der Union gegenüber den eigenen Bürgern durchsetzen und auch legitimieren müssen, während es für die Union ihrerseits auf die freiwillige Folgebereitschaft ihrer Mitgliedstaaten ankommt. Dabei werden diese jedoch durch die normativen Grundlagen ihrer eigenen Legitimität begrenzt. Politische Entscheidungen auf europäischer Ebene setzen breiten Konsens voraus, und die Regierungen sollten sie deshalb auch gegenüber den eigenen Bürgern in „kommunikativen Diskursen“ vertreten und dafür die politische Verantwortung übernehmen können. Dies gilt jedoch nicht notwendigerweise auch für Entscheidungen der europäischen Politik, die im nichtpolitischen Modus ohne Beteiligung des Rates und des Parlaments vom Europäischen Gerichtshof bestimmt werden. Mit der gegenwärtigen Radikalisierung seines „liberalen“ Programms der Liberalisierung und Deregulierung des nationalen Rechts könnte der Gerichtshof in der Tat die „republikanischen“ Grundlagen der mitgliedstaatlichen Legitimität unterminieren. In diesem Falle könnte die Union sich nicht länger auf die Folgebereitschaft ihrer Mitgliedstaaten verlassen. Um diese Gefahr für die europäische Integration zu vermeiden, sollte eine stärkere politische Kontrolle der richterlichen Rechtsetzung erwogen werden.1 Legitimacy Republican and liberal legitimating discourses Constitutional democracies – and the EU? 2 Legitimacy in multilevel polities 3 Legitimating member state compliance Political modes of policy making Non-political policy making 4 The need for justification 5 The Court is pushing against the limits of justifiability 6 The liberal undermining of republican legitimacy 7 Needed: A political balance of community and autonomy Reference

Legitimacy intermediation in the multilevel European polity and its collapse in the euro crisis

This essay re-examines the dual – republican and liberal – foundations of democratic legitimacy in the Western traditions of normative political theory. Considered in isolation, the European Union conforms to liberal standards but cannot satisfy republican criteria. Given these conflicting standards, debates on the alleged European democratic deficit have remained inconclusive. Moreover, they have failed to pay sufficient attention to the multilevel character of the European polity and to the normative potential of legitimacy intermediation in its two-step compliance and legitimating relationships. I argue, however, that the capacity of democratic member states to legitimate the exercise of European governing functions is being destroyed in the present euro crisis, and I briefly discuss the implications of this new constellation.In der westlichen Tradition der normativen politischen Theorie beruht demokratische Legitimität auf der doppelten Grundlage republikanischer und liberaler Prinzipien. Für sich betrachtet entspricht die Europäische Union zwar liberalen Kriterien, aber eben nicht den republikanischen Anforderungen. Angesichts so unterschiedlicher Kriterien konnte es auch im Streit über das angebliche europäische Demokratiedefizit keine Einigung geben. Überdies ignorierte diese Diskussion den Mehrebenen-Charakter der europäischen Politik und das normative Potenzial der Legitimationsvermittlung zwischen Union und Bürgern durch die demokratisch verfassten Mitgliedstaaten. Die gegenwärtige Eurokrise allerdings zerstört die Fähigkeit demokratischer Mitgliedstaaten, die Ausübung europäischer Herrschaftsfunktionen zu legitimieren. Der Aufsatz erörtert die Implikationen dieser neuen Konstellation.1 Introduction 2 Legitimacy discourses The republican discourse The liberal discourse Differences 3 Constitutional democracies – and the European Union? 4 Legitimacy intermediation in the multilevel European polity 5 The end of legitimacy intermediation in the euro crisis Monetary Union and the failure of output legitimacy Rescuing the euro through supranational intervention 6 Legitimate supranational government? Input-oriented European legitimacy? 7 Reducing the burden on European legitimacy Reference