German Model Research Articles

Models of federalism in Switzerland and Germany: a comparative analysis

The article is the first to structure the concept of “model of federalism”. According to the author, it includes such essential elements as the initial factors that influenced the formation of the state, the stages of its development and the essential components of the model, namely, historical-typological and genesis ones features of federalism and the vector of development. Based on the use of historical and state literature, constitutional and legal materials, and the results of a recently published international political science project, the author examines the models of federalism of neighboring countries-Switzerland and Germany, formed in the middle of the XIX century, proposes its graphic description. These states vary in territorial extent and state dynamics, but are still similar at the initial stages of the formation of a federal model, namely the transition to a federal form from a confederal one. Also, the Swiss and German models were radically different from the point of view of their essence and their genesis, but they had a uniform centripetal vector, which in modern globalization conditions is characterized by a strengthening of the management center and a decrease in the autonomy of the subjects.

Legal instruments for the design of sustainable buildings

Currently the building sector is under high pressure: the lack of affordable housing in conurbations and the need to implement environmental performance strategies require concepts that incorporate user needs with planetary boundaries. Against the background of global population growth and a rising demand for resources, urban densification is regarded as a major global trend. The pressure on cities is already recognizable today and studies predict a growing tendency for the next three decades. This is a sensitive situation which provides not only the chance but also the urgent necessity to implement strategies to reduce climate change effects. Regulations are necessary to guide this process in the building sector. Timber construction as well as reused and recycled material show potential to be part of the solution. Against this background, the research deals with the status-quo of current legal instruments to design and construct sustainable buildings. This article provides an overview of the legal instruments in relation to sustainable building processes in the German construction industry with a focus on timber buildings. The relevant standards and guidelines for sustainable building design are investigated by literature review. This includes German Model Building Code (MBO), parts of the DIN standards, the German Building Code (BauGB) and the Building Usage Ordinance (BauNVO) as well as the Model Timber Construction Directive (M-HFHHolzR). The regulations are applied on a multi-residential building in Cologne and discussed whether regulations are enabler or obstacle for this specific project. The results of the study show the urgent need for more flexibility within current inner-city projects to pursue an environmentally friendly design and construction.

The Accessory Nature of the Penalty and the Peculiarities of Payment

This paper focuses on analyzing the accessory nature of the penalty, the peculiarities of its payment, and the legislative provisions regulating the penalty. It also presents their shortcomings and criticizes the wrong opinions in the legal literature on the concept and types of the penalty. The penalty is considered as the institutions with only accessory nature. Reduction of the penalty requires the debtor's counterclaim, without which the court is deprived of the possibility of reducing the penalty. The provision of Article 417 of the Civil Code is considered a serious legislative gap by the paper. The novelty is the provisions of the paper and the necessity of introducing norms on legal penalties in the Civil Code is substantiated, without which the case law may become a factor of unjustified violation of the rights of the participants of the private relations. There is also substantiated provision, which refutes the validity of the opinion of the authors who exclude the initiative of the court in the issue of reduction of the penalty. The aim of this paper is to analyze certain aspects of the regulation of penalties, which, together with the theoretical aspects, have practical significance that will provide better understanding of a number of issues as well as the correct qualification of the rights and obligations arising from the payment of penalties. Logical and systematic analysis of norms, as well as comparative-legal methods, are used to achieve the above-mentioned goal. Using these methods, it is possible to determine the progressiveness of Georgian law norms and to identify existing gaps in them. This further provides a better understanding of their content so as to develop suggestions and recommendations to improve the norms and practices. Problems are analyzed on the examples of Georgian and German civil law. In terms of types and concepts of penalties, common characteristics and shortcomings between Georgian and German models were revealed. The efficiency of the Georgian model was also examined in terms of establishing the penalties. The study revealed that the Civil Code of Georgia determines the type of contractual penalty and allows its reduction. Based on this, a wrong conclusion has been made in science and practice about the existence of only one type of penalty in Georgian law. The circumstance that private law legislation does not consist solely of the Civil Code was not taken into account. The paper examines the applicable legislation of Georgia, which sometimes does not even use the term “penalty”, but actually provides for a legal penalty in various provisions. It is inevitably necessary to reflect the norms in detail in order to regulate the payment of legal penalties in the Civil Code of Georgia.

Improving the Regulation of Joint Rights in Civil Law

This paper focuses on analyzing the norms regulating joint rights, presents their shortcomings, and criticizes the misconceptions expressed in the legal literature about the types of common property, joint rights, and co-ownership. The paper considers the incompleteness of the provisions regulating the legal consequences of the abolition of joint rights as a serious shortcoming of the Civil Code of Georgia. A novelty is a mechanism proposed in this paper, and it is possible to assign the entire property to one of the participants in case of abolition of joint right, in exchange for compensation for the shareholder who requests the abolition of joint right and the allocation of the amount. The objective of the paper is to analyze certain aspects of the regulation of joint rights, which, together with the theoretical, have the practical importance that will contribute to a correct understanding of a number of issues and the correct qualification of the rights and obligations of participants of the legally binding relationship, rising on the basis of joint rights. To achieve this objective, logical and systematic analysis of norms as well as comparative-legal methods are used. Using these methods, it is possible to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the norms of Georgian law or to better understand their content, to identify gaps in the legislation in court practice, as well as to develop proposals and recommendations for the improvement of norms and practice. The problems are analyzed using the examples of Georgian, German, and Swiss civil law. The common features and shortcomings were identified between the Georgian and German models regarding the issue of the consequences of the abolition of joint rights. The Swiss model appears to be the most perfect and effective model among the named ones. The study found that neither in practice nor under the law is a shareholder allowed to sell the joint item in an auction by redeeming the shares of other owners. The extinction of this opportunity for the owner reduces the essence of ownership. In order to extend the guarantees for full protection of the property rights, a view is proposed on the need to develop an approach, similar to the Swiss model, and the implementation should be ensured by case law before the law is changed.

The impact of financial crises on changes to the models of corporate governance

Abstract This study aims to define the impact of two largest crises of 1997–1998 and 2007–2008 on changes to the models of corporate governance. In order to achieve the assumed aim, a critical analysis of specialist literature and relevant legal regulations has been applied. The analysis is focused on changes in the main models of corporate governance, namely: in the Anglo-Saxon (monistic) model and in the German (dualistic) model. Generally, they can be defined as of evolutionary nature but some deeper changes have taken place under the influence exerted by the above-mentioned crises. The latter crisis has emphasized the important role of corporate governance in banks and other financial institutions. Changes in corporate governance are largely affected by international institutions or organizations, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) or the European Commission. Their recommendations and guidelines have contributed to the dissemination of so-called good practice codes. The considerations presented below allow the author to state that in both analyzed models of corporate governance, changes occur in the same or similar direction lines (the phenomenon of convergence). It can be also observed that the first analyzed crisis has caused larger changes in the monistic model, whereas the second crisis has affected the dualistic model in a more significant way.

Importing the ‘West German model’: transnationalizing counterinsurgency policing in Cold War Costa Rica

ABSTRACT In analyzing West German police assistance for Costa Rica, we uncover the transnational dynamics of Cold War counterinsurgency policing during the Central American conflicts of the 1980s. We scrutinize West Germany’s engagements with Costa Rica, demonstrating how technical police-assistance by the self-fashioned West German ‘civilian power’ fed into a wider counterinsurgency turn in Costa Rican policing. Highlighting the role of local agency and transnational context conditions, we point towards the interest of the Costa Rican government in reaching out to West Germany to demonstrate its neutrality within the ongoing conflicts while simultaneously bolstering the counterinsurgency capacities of its police forces.

Tutor and tutoring in modern education and Ukraine

In the article the problems of tutoring, as component individualization of studies, are considered. Authors estimate the attempts of some Ukrainian scientists to equate the functions of tutor and of counsel known yet from soviet times of academic group critically. Moreover, the current Ukrainian legislation does not give determination of concept "counsel" and does not envisage this activity. 
 Implementation of tutor functions needs certain knowledge and abilities, forming of that is not envisaged by maintenance of traditional preparation of teacher and personality internalss that today does not have support in the legislative field of Ukraine. Therefore that is why logically to lean against western scientific and practical revisions from this object.
 Actuality and necessity of tutoring, – here authors support opinion of some other scientists, - are conditioned by the primary purpose of British education – by the development of ability to think, that is realized in mainly due to independent work of student at accompaniment of tutor.
 Authors pay attention to that in Oxford and Cambridge of tutors occupy important position as regular units, providing a feed-back between a student and concrete teacher and all faculty advisors. Tutor here is a tutor that is fastened after every student, and conducts him to the end of studies.
 He elects the programs for a ward student, recommends him the certain algorithm of study, and controls all process. Due to the role of counsels of studies in Oxford becomes individual in a great deal.
 The German model of education, that envisaged no freedom and choice and only hard discipline and limitation, was used in Ukraine, This model was brought yet in the days of tsar's Russia by М. Lomonosov. But present time requires from education new approaches, methods and facilities. One from such systems and there is tutoring.
 Thus, there is an urgent requirement in bringing of profession of tutor to the National classifier of Ukraine SK 003: a 2010 «Classifier of professions».

Outline of the Workers Co-operative Act in Japan - Líneas generales de la Ley de cooperativas de trabajadores en Japón

The Japanese co-operative legislation is characterized by the separate laws that are specializing to regulate the particular categories of co-operatives and enacted in line with the industrial policies, and the strong government’s control on incorporation and business activities. The Industrial Co-operative Act of 1900 was a uniform law following the German model and provided for the legal framework of credit, supply, marketing and production2 co-operatives. After the Second World War, the allied force introduced the radical land reform as a part of economic democratization programs and helped to enact the Agricultural Co-operative Act in 1947 to cement the effects of reform through organizing farmers in agricultural co-operatives. Then, the other co-operative laws were enacted in line with industrial policies (fishery, forestry, banking, SMEs etc.) during 1948-1978.

Die Definition einer zukunftsf\xe4higen Finanzpolitik

The eighth New Paradigm Workshop of the Forum New Economy took place from 25 to 27 May. Under the title Future of the German model II - Perspectives for the next government, various challenges that will occupy German politics in the coming legislative period were discussed. As with the first New Paradigm Workshop, selected contributions will be summarised in a Wirtschaftsdienst-Zeitgesprach. The contributions from the previous workshop can be found in the Zeitgesprach issue 100(10). The current issue provides insights into new research in the fields of fiscal policy, populism research, financial market regulation, distribution and climate policy

From Model to Regional Regular Care - Long-Term Effects of a Regional Budget

Model projects of a regional budget or a model project according to § 64b SGB V have been for more than 18 years. The structural, economic, and therapeutic long-term effects are described in this paper. The model project in the Steinburg district (Schleswig-Holstein) describes the developments between 2002 (index year) and 2020 that have developed through the regional budget. The article describes the situation and its specific changes in the first german model region. There is no comparable control group. In the observed period, the number of people treated was stable within a corridor that has been in the contract with the stakeholders. Care has shifted relevantly from fully inpatient to outpatient and day clinic treatment. The costs have remained stable and thus differ significantly from the overall increase in health care costs. New supply concepts could be implemented. The model projects described lead to setting-independent care and are suitable for standard care in a defined region.

Products of Interest

Products of Interest

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on myocardial infarction care

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on acute myocardial infarction (AMI) care, and to identify underlying stressors in the German model region for complete AMI registration. The analysis was based on data from the population-based KORA Myocardial Infarction Registry located in the region of Augsburg, Germany. All cases of AMI (n = 210) admitted to one of four hospitals in the city of Augsburg or the county of Augsburg from February 10th, 2020, to May 19, 2020, were included. Patients were divided into three groups, namely pre-lockdown, strict lockdown, and attenuated lockdown period. An additional survey was conducted asking the patients for stress and fears in the 4 weeks prior to their AMI. The AMI rate declined by 44% in the strict lockdown period; in the attenuated lockdown period the rate was 17% lower compared to the pre-lockdown period. The downward trend in AMI rates during lockdown was seen in STEMI and NSTEMI patients, and independent of sex and age. The door-to-device time decreased by 70–80% in the lockdown-periods. In the time prior to the infarction, patients felt stressed mainly due to fear of infection with Sars-CoV-2 and less because of the restrictions and consequences of the lockdown. A strict lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic had a marked impact on AMI care even in a non-hot-spot region with relatively few cases of COVID-19. Fear of infection with the virus is presumably the main reason for the drop in hospitalizations due to AMI.

Disentangling the transformation of the German model: The role of firms’ strategic decisions and structural change

This paper explores the transformation of the German employment and industrial relations model from a political economy approach. Using the IAB Establishment Panel, the evolution of atypical employment and the coverage of the dual system of industrial relations is analysed in different groups of firms. Additionally, using a shift-share technique, we estimate the impact of the change in the employment structure on this process. The results reveal that once institutional constraints were relaxed, firms across the whole economy increased their use of flexible work and individualized the wage bargaining. Moreover, our findings suggest that structural change played a minor role in the process.

PROBLEMS OF DELIMITATION OF POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SUPERVISORY BOARD AND THE EXECUTIVE BODY OF THE BANK

The article is devoted to the study of the issue of delimitation of powers and areas of responsibility between the supervisory board and the executive body of the Bank. There is a contradiction between the rules regarding the realization of the supervisory board management and control over bank’s management in Ukrainian legislation, management and control (supervisory) functions of the supervisory board are insufficiently differentiated, which complicates application of law and understanding the legal status of the supervisory board. In this regard, it is extremely difficult to define the responsibilities and powers of the members of the supervisory board and members of executive board in the bank, as well as to separate the responsibilities and powers of the members of the supervisory board from the responsibilities and powers of the executive board members. Law does not fully define the limits of the powers of the supervisory board and the executive board in the bank. This is due to the lack of an exhaustive list of issues on which decision-making falls within the competence of the supervisory board, and the unregulated legal status of the supervisory board. The legislator distinguishes between such concepts as "competence" and "exclusive competence" of the supervisory board. If law provides the issues related to the "exclusive competence" of the supervisory board, law does not define the list of issues related to the "competence" of the supervisory board. However, the members of the supervisory board and the executive board of the bank are responsible for the activities of the bank within their powers. Given the above, it is impossible to establish the scope of responsibility of members of the supervisory board and to differentiate the responsibilities of members of supervisory board and members of the executive board. The reason for this is the combination of the functions of the supervisory board according to the American model (when the supervisory board and the executive body are united in one body — the board of directors) and the German model (separately the supervisory board and the executive body). Despite the fact that Ukraine has chosen a two-tier corporate governance structure, which is widely used in Germany, the way to apply this structure is different. Under Ukrainian law, the supervisory board, like the executive body, is responsible for the management of the joint-stock company, which is more typical of the powers of the board of directors according to the American model. The article proposes to develop and define in the law the boundary between current management and strategic management, between management and control, as well as the legal consequences of the supervisory board’s decisions on operational activities and the procedure for delegation of powers between the bank’s bodies. It is considered correct if the competence of the supervisory board should include only control (supervisory) functions and the responsibility of the members of the supervisory board should be limited exclusively to the control over the work of the executive board.

The Costa Rican business sector’s concepts of the transfer of German dual training

This article analyzes the tripartite social dialogue of an inter-institutional commission in Costa Rica, which took place from February 27 to September 1, 2017. During this time the Costa Rican state the business sector and unions discussed ways to implement dual vocational education and training (VET) in Costa Rica, using the German model as a reference. Here, the focus is on the business sector’s concepts regarding if and how the German dual VET model should be transferred to Costa Rica. the findings are based on two interviews with Costa Rican business representatives and the observation of dialogue table meetings with representatives from the state, the business sector and unions. Based on the premise that discourses express and influence social practices, it is analyzed how the structure of the business sector’s arguments relate to Toulmin’s model of argumentation. It is concluded that from the Costa Rican business sector’s point of view, the policy of dual education in VET is essential to gain economic strength in a global market. However, for these business groups, the model must be “tropicalized” in a way that redefines some of the bases of the German reference model, such as union participation, distribution of training costs as well as the legal status of the apprentice. Therefore, it is concluded that the discussion on the dual model of VET was used as a window of opportunity to promote reforms that would favor the business sector.

What US Law Reformers Can Learn from Germany's Value-Explicit Approach to Self-Defense

The exercise of self-preferential force to fend off an actual or perceived threat finds itself at the center of today’s simmering criminal justice reform debate. Never before has where - and how - to draw the boundary between governmental power and individual rights received so much attention. Unfortunately, the scholarship on this core criminal law topic has largely atrophied. We seem to be making little progress when it comes to gaining a better understanding of when, how, and why the state should authorize defensive force against another. Sometimes a look beyond our own borders is needed to kick-start reform-minded thinking. Whether in the context of police use of force, battered intimate partner cases, or other defense of person or property situations, no group of scholars has given the critical value-judgments anchoring this “ancient civil right” more attention than those in Germany’s legal academy. But despite a scholarly output on these topics that is unsurpassed in terms of both analytical depth and sheer volume, surprisingly little is known in the English-speaking world about Germany’s unique approach to this controversial topic. What makes this myopia particularly unfortunate is that, while legal commentators in the United States and elsewhere focus almost exclusively on the criminal law’s outcome-driven “technical” aspects and rules, generations of German scholars have rooted out the complexities involved. They for decades have uniquely engaged in deep discussions over the bedrock values at play when a justice system authorizes one citizen to kill another in self-defense. This article argues that U.S. scholars, policy-makers, judges, and criminal law practitioners interested in meaningful criminal justice reform have much to gain by understanding Germany’s transparent, value-driven approach. The goal here, then, is both descriptive and proscriptive. It will provide the first fully comprehensive English-language analysis (and critique) of Germany’s storied self-defense law. But more than that, it put on firmer footing the means of analyzing self-defense’s critical value-judgments that are all but ignored in the English-language literature. This is among the most important times in recent history for our justice system to shore up its moral credibility. By following (and, in fact, improving on) the German model’s unique focus on the values grounding self-defense, rather than remaining fixated simply on rules and outcomes, we position ourselves to significantly reduce the corrosive role played by hidden normativity and buried baselines. This, in turn, will advance the type of transparent and democratic decision-making necessary if we are to succeed in finally making thoughtful choices among available self-defense options.

The unification of the criminal procedure and its impact on the criminal procedure policy of Russia.

The scientific article discusses the model of unification of criminal procedure based on the interaction of national legal systems. It is justified that the key modern models of the criminal procedure at present are the German, French and English models, which set standards for unification for other states, including for Russia. The article justifies the concept that the criminal procedure policy of Russia, starting in 1864, is based on the unification of the procedural institutions of other legal systems. The Russian Empire unified the criminal procedure with the French model, the Soviet Union introduced German criminal procedural institutions, the criminal procedure of the modern Russian Federation, is the object of competition between the German, French and English models of criminal procedure, which is reflected in the legislative regulation of various institutions of criminal procedure (jury trial, simplified judicial procedures, alternatives to criminal prosecution, appeal of court decisions).

Introduction to ‘Italy and Germany: Incompatible Varieties of Europe?’

This article introduces the questions that motivate this special issue: the growing divergence among Eurozone member states and the overall disappointing performance of the Eurozone as a whole. It justifies the choice of Germany and Italy as the two countries that can best exemplify what are considered, respectively, the northern and southern politico-economic models coexisting in the Eurozone and proposes an approach to these questions that deviates from the mainstream. It argues that comparing the performance of Eurozone member economies as if they were independent of one another prevents an accurate assessment of the externalities created by the common currency and claims that microeconomic solutions to macroeconomic problems have the effect of reinforcing the divergence, rather than attenuating it. Incorporating the insights drawn from the detailed analysis of the various aspects of the German and Italian models provided by the contributors to this special issue, it concludes by assessing the likely impact of the impending reform of EMU.

Championing the ‘German model’? Germany’s consistent preferences on the integration of fiscal constraints

ABSTRACT This article traces whether and how Germany’s preferences on the integration of fiscal constraints have evolved since the founding of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Focusing on state elites and mass publics as driving forces of government preferences, the article also examines what has shaped German preferences since the Treaty of Maastricht. The article finds that elites welcomed the benefits of a single currency but feared the risks of high inflation and liability for other countries. Moreover, public scepticism about the euro translated into a ‘constraining dissensus’ regarding capacity-building in EMU. In line with these concerns, the German government sought to integrate fiscal constraints while leaving budgetary capacities at the national level. Thus, Germany adopted an instrumental approach to secure the success of the ‘German model’. While Germany’s preferences have remained largely the same since the founding of EMU, the strategies to realize them have changed over the years.

Funding of science: A comparison of approaches and outcomes in Russia and Germany

Russia and Germany use fundamentally different models of science funding. Russian government has inherited planning and distribution system’s principles in this sphere, when the development of the military-industrial complex was an absolute priority. The modern Russian model of R&D financing is also characterized by the predominance of the state research funding and insignificant business participation in R&D investment. The German model of science financing with the predominance of the business sector in the structure of investment in science shows more significant results and contributes more to the transformation of science into a real productive force. These fundamental differences directly affect the export performance of high-tech products (in Germany it is 20 times higher). The comparison of approaches to R&D financing and the results of their application lead to the conclusion that it is necessary to reform the Russian model of financing usage.