Protection In Germany Research Articles

„Wenn jeder was anderes meint ...“

The current development in child protection in Germany is characterized by two key concepts: "early prevention" and the "mandate to protect children at risk". Both terms aim at each specific aspects of a broad understanding of protecting children in society. In practice, however, these aspects are often confused. For the necessary interdisciplinary discourse it is very distressing, when the discussants focus different aspects of the above terms, or when they associate them with their own connotations. This article argues for a professional and conceptual clarity to make a clear differentiation. This is not only necessary for a better understanding between professionals from different disciplines, but also essential for the efficient communication with families, who are the target group of these concepts.

Safety and security target levels: Opportunities and challenges for risk management and risk communication

This paper reviews a selection of target levels for safety and security in order to identify their common properties. It is accompanied by a brief investigation of several key terms used in risk management. Risk management is used as an umbrella term for the various research areas dealing with multiple hazards, impacts types and measures for dealing with them. The paper draws upon examples and experience from the wider field of disaster risk research and civil protection. A concept which identifies the common properties and content of risk management goals in general is then devised. Normative implications and challenges in applying risk management goals and the use of terminology are discussed. Finally, two main future research areas are briefly outlined: the role and responsibility of the researcher or observer, and the ways of making use of risk management goals in risk communication. This paper provides fundamental information on examples of risk management goals, common properties and risk communication as compiled for and used by certain national authorities in civil protection in Germany. However, its findings may also be useful for fellow researchers within the disaster risk, climate change, vulnerability and resilience community, and for practitioners in the field of risk, and crisis or emergency management. The future applications of these findings will be useful, especially when developing risk management goals for specific user groups and different levels of analysis.

Critical reflections on German Red Lists of endangered myriapod species (Chilopoda, Diplopoda) (with species list for Germany)

The Red Lists of endangered species published by the German Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN - the Federal Agency of Nature Conservation) are essential tools for the nature protection in Germany since the 1970s. Although many groups of insects appear in the German Red Lists, small and inconspicuous soil organisms, among them millipedes and centipedes, have in the past been ignored. In the last few years great efforts have been made to assess these two groups, resulting in Red Lists of German Myriapoda. However, difficulties were encountered in strictly applying the Red List classification criteria to myriapods. Here we discuss those problems and some sources of error. A species list of all German Diplopoda and Chilopoda including Red List status and frequency of occurrence is provided in an Appendix.

Medical Civil Protection in Germany

Medical Civil Protection in Germany

Evaluation of sun awareness with an emphasis on ultraviolet protection by clothing: A survey of adults in Western Germany

Little is known about the sun habits of the population in Germany. We aimed to assess the sun awareness and notion on ultraviolet (UV) radiation protection by fabrics in adult subjects from North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. During regular skin cancer screening campaigns, 1206 subjects completed and returned a structured questionnaire on constitutional parameters and the respondents' sun habits. Staying in the shade and the use of high-factor sunscreens are the most commonly performed sun-protective measures reported by the respondents. Males and lower-educated people use clothing in conjunction with sunscreens more infrequently. Most respondents, particularly females, know that sun protection provided by clothing is variable. However, the elderly more frequently consider sun protection by clothing as excellent. Notably, more than two-thirds of the respondents would prefer clothing with a labelled ultraviolet protection factor. The respondents of this survey mainly considered baby wear, children wear, and leisure wear for sun-protective clothing, whereby light-weighted, breathable, natural fabrics preferably made of cotton and linen were the most frequently reported protective textiles. Given the lack of epidemiological observations on people's sun habits and protection in Germany, the present relatively large survey provides useful information and implications for counselling in sun protection and marketing of UV-protective clothing.

Das Zusammenspiel der einzelnen Instrumente im Orchester des Kinderschutzes und seine rechtlichen Grundlagen

The following essay outlines the legal foundations of child protection in Germany. It can be shown that constitutional law postulates a balance between parents responsibility on the one hand and public assignment to safeguard children on the other hand. The article focuses on the impact of legislative provisions on practitioners working together to safeguard children. Discussion of the demands of successful cooperation in the field of child protection shows that the political debate focuses somewhat to much on questions of control. It is argued that prospective development of child protection law should rather be based on a thorough debate of the demands in the respective professional domains.

Data protection in Germany II: Recent decisions on online-searching of computers, automatic number plate recognition and data retention

This year, the population census decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) will celebrate its 25th anniversary. The celebration is a good reason to take a look back at this groundbreaking decision, which has lost none of its topicality and validity. It is also an occasion to examine the wave of new Bundesverfassungsgericht decisions, stemming from the beginning of 2008, on governmental surveillance and data protection, in particular the “online-searching” decision, the decision on license plate scanning, and the interim injunction to partly stop the enactment of the European data retention directive in Germany. This article is an attempt at helping overcome the language barrier that has prevented much of the world from understanding the depth and value of German legal theory on data protection [This article is thus following an appeal made by J. A. Cannataci, “Lex Personalitatis & Technology-driven Law”, scripted, Volume 5, Issue 1, April 2008, p. 3, via http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol5-1/editorial.asp.]. In Part I of this paper, published in [2009] 25 CLSR 84–88 we examined the population census decision and the German concept of informational self-determination. Part II below now deals with the aforementioned new decisions.

Data protection in Germany I: The population census decision and the right to informational self-determination

This year, the population census decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) will celebrate its 25th anniversary. The celebration is a good reason to take a look back at this groundbreaking decision, which has lost none of its topicality and validity. It is also an occasion to examine the wave of new Bundesverfassungsgericht decisions, stemming from the beginning of 2008, on governmental surveillance and data protection, in particular the “online-searching” decision, the decision on license plate scanning, and the interim injunction to partly stop the enactment of the European data retention directive in Germany. This article is an attempt at helping overcome the language barrier that has prevented much of the world from understanding the depth and value of German legal theory on data protection. (This article is thus following an appeal made by J. A. Cannataci, “Lex Personalitatis & Technology-driven Law”, scripted, Volume 5, Issue 1, April 2008, p. 3, via http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol5-1/editorial.asp.) In this first part, we will examine the population census decision and the German concept of informational self-determination. The second part, to be published in the next issue of CLSR, deals with the aforementioned new decisions.

Fire Safety Science in Germany: A status report about research activities and requirements

The system of fire protection in Germany is explained from the historic point of view. A network of decentralized independent stakeholders with their own responsibility has been developed here. This one is also reflected in research related to the specific field. This system is qualified to guarantee a high level of people’s protection and copes with the requirements of industry. Thus, mostly smaller teams are established in German fire research, which have their own individual profiles. An overview is given about the work and technical opportunities of these institutions. In doing so, institutions that solely test for standard compliance were not considered. To encourage cooperation between these institutions as well as with the industry and end users, the German Fire Protection Association offers an important platform for discussion.

Radiation protection in Germany: structures, regulations and the LNT debate

Relatively little information is available in English about the current situation in this field in the world's third largest economy, in which nuclear power remains the largest supplier of electricity. Therefore, a brief review is provided concerning the structure, fields of activity and assessment of the relative role and influence of different governmental and non-governmental organisations on the development of radiation protection standards, regulations and laws. In particular, the relevant activities of the Radiation Protection Commission (SSK), the Federal Radiation Protection Agency (BfS), the Radiation Protection Association (FS) and other scientific societies are briefly described. Another section deals with standard-setting by the German Standards Institute (DIN) and the Nuclear Technology Committee (KTA), as well as some other organisations which are more or less involved.

Public Interest Litigation in Environmental Matters: A German Perspective

Environmental protection has invariably become one of the central challenges facing modern societies and, by extension, their respective states. Constitutionally endowed with judicial powers, states also have a mandate to guarantee the rights and duties arising from legislation on the environment, including, if necessary, their enforcement. In the process, public interest litigation in environmental matters has acquired growing importance as one important means of achieving this objective. By describing the legal framework for public interest litigation, this article seeks to shed light on an important channel of environmental protection in Germany, whose role in countering environmental pollution and other forms of damage to public goods prior to serious and irreversible deterioration has been consistently on the rise. Against this background, the aim of the article is to provide an introduction to German experiences with public interest litigation in environmental matters, both with a view to its success to date and also to more critical aspects.

Risk Management at the Science–Policy Interface: Two Contrasting Cases in the Field of Flood Protection in Germany

This paper concerns the way in which the scientific debate on climate change and new risks is being adopted as a basis for political decision making. How does the crucial risk issue ‘diffuse’ into policy, which in turn has to give the public account of the risks of climate change? In discussing the science–policy interface, reference is made to the debate on blurring boundaries between science and policy making. Here, heterogeneous and often competing discourses come into play. This makes discourse analysis an appropriate and well-accepted tool in both conceptual and theoretical aspect. However, which of the competing discourses wins the day can hardly be explained in a discourse analytical way, due to its constructivist bias. Case studies provide some evidence that complex understanding can be obtained when discourse analysis is framed by a more realistic approach, such as Kingdon's policy window approach. Two cases are presented. Although representing overlapping policy domains, the risk management differs considerably. In both the state proves to be the pivotal actor. In the first case, on coastal protection in northern Germany, the administrative officers in charge try to transform and to curtail the risk issue and its emphasis on uncertainty in a way that makes it compatible with their own safety discourse, thus generating a scientific–administrative hybrid. The second case, a newly enacted political strategy on riparian flood protection, draws explicitly on uncertainty and risk, thus transferring and integrating the issue firsthand into the political–administrative system. Taking a governance perspective, the explanation refers to different steering contexts in terms of institutional settings, actor constellations, political framings and natural extreme events.

The Environmental Specimen Bank for Human Tissues as part of the German Environmental Specimen Bank

The German Environmental Specimen Bank for Human Tissues (ESBHum) as part of the German Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB) focuses on documenting and assessing trends of human exposure via real-time monitoring of body burden and long-term storage of samples under stable deep freezing conditions (−150 °C) for later retrospective analyses. Real-time monitoring is performed after completing sampling processes of one year and covers actually 20 inorganic and 5 organic substances. While concentrations of several substances, e.g., arsenic, cadmium and mercury, are remained unchanged over time, other substances, e.g., lead and pentachlorophenol (PCP), show a clearly perceptible decrease. Substances which are not routinely analyzed in real-time monitoring are retrospectively measured by indication in the stored human specimens. Indications of retrospective monitoring are availability of valid analytical methods, e.g., in case of PCDF and PCDD, or assessment of concentration trends of substances with actual interest of toxicology and/or environmental medicine, e.g., polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). While over time the body burden of dioxins as well as PFOS and PFOA decreased, the PBDE concentrations in human blood increase. The observed decrease of blood lead and PCP levels over time is a consequence of legal prohibition and restriction. The time-dependent concentrations of the aforementioned substances agree with results of other national studies. So it can be concluded that the German ESBHum is an important instrument for health-related environmental observation and protection in Germany.

Domestic Offset Projects: Limited Opportunities in Germany but Potential for Others?

This paper examines the potential for Domestic Offset Projects (DPs) in climate protection in Germany. DPs are unilateral GHG emissions reduction projects carried out in a country with a binding greenhouse gas emission reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex I Country). In contrast to the well known project-based mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol – the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) – Domestic Offset Projects are located in the same country as the investor. Therefore tradable emission reduction certificates for DPs are issued by the investor's domestic authority. This paper presents possible implementation options for DPs based on JI and CDM experience, as well as possible implementation problems. Policy additionality seems to be an especially crucial requirement and thus was analysed in more detail. In addition, the emission reduction potential resulting from DPs was estimated for the Federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in South-West Germany. Here, it is shown that the scope for DPs is restricted because of the extent of the German climate program. In Baden-Württemberg only some DPs and JI activities fulfil the criterion of policy additionality. For this reason, DPs are probably of more interest in Annex-I countries with a more limited climate policy mix.

30th Anniversary of the Expert Group Detergent Chemistry: From an Isolated Problem Solving to Sustainable Responsibility

Abstract The 30th anniversary of the GDCh-Fachgruppe Waschmittelchemie (Expert Group Detergent Chemistry) was celebrated at this year's Conference in Königswinter. Unfortunately, only some 80 people attended this fine meeting that was focused on Ecology/Toxicology but also encompassed stimulating papers in Basics/Mechanisms, Raw Materials/Syntheses, and Applications. 19 lectures and 13 posters were given. The anniversary marked the end of the conference in this form because the annual meeting of the Expert Group will be developed to a European Detergents Conference (EDC) that will be embedded in the next SEPAWA Kongress 2005 for the first time. At the anniversary's celebratory convention D. Schermer, Chairman of the Expert Group, reviewed the activities of the Expert Group, which was founded in 1974 in Bamberg to meet the need of scientifically based open discussions on ecological issues of detergent chemistry. In the meantime, the Group has been developed into an active forum for scientific exchange in all fields of detergent chemistry. Furthermore, it has contributed to the practicable solution of many environmental problems and to a more serious public discussion about surfactants and detergents. Many problems remain to be solved, and therefore an active cooperation also with other expert groups of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) is crucial. In his celebrating address W. Koch, General Manager of the GDCh, stressed that in its early days the Group had implemented consumer and environmental protection in its catalogue of topics. In so far, the today's motto “From an isolated problem solving to a sustainable responsibility” is just a consequent extension of its activities. He also asked all members to strive for new members of the GDCh to strengthen this scientific society as one of the largest in Europe. In his celebratory lecture D. Ruchay, Monheim, Germany, summarized “30 Years of Water Protection in Germany – Through Societal Cooperation to Success”. After World War Two there were no municipal and industrial sewage plants in Germany able to work. The infrastructure of waste water management was built up very slowly in the first 20 years after the war. Correspondingly the quality of the inshore waters impaired dramatically. Since 1970 the water quality improved significantly. At that time the water management act had been tightened considerably and the waste water fee depending on the quality and pollution of the waste water was established. Today the water quality in the German inshore waters is fair up to good, but the ecological situation has still to be improved. For some years the water regulations are laid down decisively by the European Union (The Water Framework Directive, The Urban Waste-water Treatment Directive, The Integrated Pollution Prevention Control Directive).

Cost estimation of thyroid disorders in Germany.

To assess the economic effects of thyroid disorder-related morbidity in Germany, a systematic review of national and international literature from 1981-2001 was performed. Data from insurance companies, the government department of public health, and the federal office of statistics helped characterize the situation in Germany. Being the most important thyroid disease, endemic iodine-deficiency goiter causes economic costs of approximately 2.1 billion DM per year or 1 billion Euros or 1 billion U.S. dollars. In recent years iodine supplementation of food became better accepted by the German population. This should significantly reduce the prevalence of goiter from 30%-40% to less than 10%. Functional thyroid disorders are observed in 5%-10% of the German population. A more differentiated view of these conditions should lead to specific guidelines for an economic screening and therapy of subpopulations. Lacking valuable data, an actual economic assessment of autoimmune or malignant thyroid diseases cannot be performed. On the other hand, with respect to the costs of specific thyroid therapy, e.g., radioiodine treatment of thyrotoxicosis (mainly toxic nodular goiter), the economic consequences of a new regulation for radiation protection in Germany have been demonstrated recently. Using the actual maximum permissible level of residual activity on discharge from the hospital after radioiodine therapy, length of hospitalization was shortened to 5.1 days in university hospitals and to 5.8 days in nonuniversity institutions. Payment per patient for radioiodine therapy was 1,856 and 1,530 Euros (median value) in university and nonuniversity hospitals, respectively. In conclusion, better prevention of iodine deficiency and its long-term consequences should effectively reduce direct as well as indirect costs and overall economic impact of endemic goiter as the most important thyroid disease in Germany. Sustainable elimination of iodine deficiency is technically possible, but it needs further commitment and support at all levels.

Willingness To Pay for Environmental Protection in Germany: Coping With the Regional Dimension

Willingness To Pay for Environmental Protection in Germany: Coping With the Regional Dimension

Willingness To Pay for Environmental Protection in Germany: Coping With the Regional Dimension

In this paper a two-step procedure is applied to estimate an indicator of environmental willingness to pay for Germany in considerable regional disaggregation. The first step is the estimation of an ordered probit model based on individual data from a representative survey. In the second step, this model is applied to aggregate NUTS III level data to produce an indicator of regional willingness to pay which is useful for the design of an efficient environmental policy. It turns out that the regional distribution of willingness to pay is dominated by the distribution of income in this data set A partir d'une approchèadeux étapes, cet article cherche à estimer sur le plan régional un indicateur de la volonté de payer la protection de l'environnement en Allemagne. Dans un premier temps, on estime un modèle du type probit ordonné sur la base des données individuelles provenant d'une enquête représentative. Dans un deuxième temps, le modèle se voit appliquer à des données globales du type 'NUTS III' afin de produire un indicateur régional de la volonté de payer qui pourrait être utile pour la mise au point d'une politique efficace en faveur de l'environnement. Il s'avère que la distribution régionale de la volonté de payer s'explique en grande partie par la distribution du revenu que laisse voir cet ensemble de données In diesem Aufsatz wird ein zweistufiges Verfahren angewandt, um in tiefer regionaler Differenzierung einen Indikator für umweltbezogene Zahlungsbereitschaft in Deutschland zu berechnen. Der erste Schritt ist dabei Schätzung eines geordneten Probit-Modells, gestützt auf Individualdaten aus einer repräsentativen Erhebung. Im zweiten Schritt wird das Modell auf aggregierte Daten auf der 'NUTS III' Ebene angewandt, um einen Indikator der Zahlungsbereitschaft zu erhalten, der für die Konzeption einer effizienten Umweltpolitik nützlich ist. Hierbei ergibt sich, dass die regionale Verteilung der Zahlungsbereitschaft in diesem Datensatz entscheidend von der regionalen Einkommensverteilung beeinflusst wird.

Just Judicial Activism? Privacy and Informational Self-Determination in U.S. and German Constitutional Law

Technical progress in general, and the booming expansion of the Internet, have increasingly spawned the fear of perfect categorization of individuals in personal profiles and of complete surveillance as in Orwell's 1984 society. That this type of a society would be inconsistent with the main philosophical and legal values underlying Western-style democracies hardly needs explanation. On the other hand, the efficient discharge of governmental function requires a solid basis of information. The U.S. Supreme Court and the German Federal Constitutional Court have reacted to this fundamental conflict between the individual's interest in her and government's need to know in different ways. Whereas the German court found a right to informational self-determination, the U.S. Supreme Court only protects certain aspects of under the headline of the right to privacy. The right to privacy, however, not only protects in the informational sense, but also in the decisionmaking sense. Whether the decisionmaking aspect really has anything to do with privacy as it is commonly understood, is quite doubtful. In the first part of the paper, I outline several aspects of that enjoy express constitutional protection under U.S. Constitutional law and compare this legal situation with their protection in Germany. I will pay particular attention to the use of papers in and reports on criminal proceedings. The discussion will show that the Framers of the U.S. Constitution were well aware of the necessity of protecting at least certain aspects of in the informational sense. The second part of my note is dedicated to the discussion of the general right to and informational self-determination and its limitations. This part will show that German law protects informational self-determination far more comprehensively than U.S. law. I will argue that by redefining the content of the right to and limiting it to the informational aspect, a right right to can legitimately be derived under U.S. law. The Supreme Court's fear of being accused of judicial activism is, therefore, unfounded. To the contrary, in view of the impact of modern technologies and their threat of undermining as a pillar of human existence, there is a strong case to be made for a comprehensive protection of in both German and U.S. constitutional law.

Erfahrungen mit dem Programm ODS-60 bei der Berechnung von Organ- und Effektivdosen in der Röntgendiagnostik

In X ray diagnostics, calculation of organ doses may be desirable for different reasons. Frequently it is necessary to calculate the uterus dose, when a female patient has been pregnant during examination. Furthermore, in order to estimate the stochastic radiation risk, a number of organ doses is needed for calculation of the effective dose [3]. The instructions for radiation protection in Germany require all data necessary for dose reconstruction to be recorded. Reconstruction itself is a rather difficult task. So far, tables for conversion factors from skin entrance dose to organ dose have been available for a limited set of examinations [2]. The PC program ODS-60, which is investigated here, promises a wider variability in the type of examination and an enhancement of calculation speed. Unfortunately, the program cannot be characterized as to fulfill these promises, and it shows considerable discrepancies with dose values derived from the conventional tables [2].