One of the deciding factors for successful church planting is the development of leadership structures. The New Testament demonstrates the care church planters must take with this issue, and delineates the requirements future leaders must meet in order to lead the church upon completion of the church planting stage. The history of the Brethren denomination in Germany does not provide direction for church planting because of its congregational leadership approach. Interviews with different church planting projects show a diverse range of structures and views of leadership which have a partly positive, but mainly negative effect on the establishment of a church. The integrative leadership style, which reflects the New Testament pattern,provides perspective for the future. The future successful establishment of churches within the framework of the Brethrenchurch requires profound changes in the traditional theology and practices of the denomination. / Christian Spirituality Church History and Missiology / (M.Th. (Missiology))

For almost twenty years, the general delictual claim as found in par. 823 (!) BGB formed the basis for product liability claims against producers in Germany. In 1985, however, a European Directive on Product Liability was issued and in 1990 Germany enacted the Product Liability Act. Setting a strict liability standard, the Act was to operate in tandem with the existing general delictual claim. Since producers in any event find it very difficult to successfully defeat product liability claims based on par. 823 BGB, the Act should not drastically change the landscape of German product liability jurisprudence. In South African product liability claims fall under the Lex Aquiliae which has fault as its cornerstone. Although our Courts are willing to assist a plaintiff by applying the doctrine of res ipsa loq11it11r, the German experience has shown that procedural devices do not provide a permanent solution to the problem of product liability. In the long run legislation is the best way to bring about a rational and equitable system of strict liability. / Mercantile law / LL.M.

<p align="justify"><i>Typologie des cours d’eau en Wallonie et caractérisation par la faune invertébrée</i><br>Vingt-cinq types de cours d’eau ont été définis en Wallonie d’après les termes de la Directive Cadre pour l’Eau en tenant compte des facteurs obligatoires et optionnels rassemblés sous trois critères : la taille (du « ruisseau » à la « très grande rivière »), la pente (faible, moyenne et forte), et cinq régions naturelles (la région limoneuse, le Condroz, la Famenne, l’Ardenne et la Lorraine belge, résumant les facteurs obligatoires altitude, latitude, longitude et géologie). Une approche par analyses multivariées appliquées à un grand nombre d’échantillons (listes taxonomiques) a permis de définir de façon plus précise certains types de rivières et de distinguer sept groupes typologiques montrant des assemblages faunistiques similaires.</p> <p align="justify"><i>Conditions de référence types et définition de l’état écologique des rivières en Wallonie à l’aide de métriques biocénotiques basées sur les invertébrés</i><br> Les listes faunistiques et les valeurs métriques de l’IBGN (Indice biologique global normalisé) issues du réseau d’évaluation de la qualité biologique en Wallonie ont été utilisées pour discriminer les types de rivières et pour définir les sites de référence, les conditions de référence et les limites des classes des états écologiques. Au sud du sillon Sambre et Meuse, impliquant quatre groupes typologiques de rivières, les valeurs de référence et la définition des états écologiques ont été basées et calculées sur un réseau de référence de sites de très bon état. Les « valeurs de conditions de référence » ont été définies par les médianes des métriques des sites de « très bon état ». Lorsque aucun site de très bon état n’était disponible, c’est-à-dire pour les groupes typologiques au nord du sillon Sambre et Meuse et pour la Meuse et la Sambre, les conditions de référence (ou le « potentiel écologique maximal ») et les limites de classes ont été basées sur des coefficients appliqués aux sites de « bon état » et sur jugement d’expert.</p> <p align="justify"><i>Exercice pilote d’inter-étalonnage</i><br> Cinquante échantillons ont été sélectionnés parmi les rivières du type d’inter-étalonnage européen R-C3 (petite taille, altitude moyenne, substrat siliceux) en Wallonie (correspondant aux « ruisseaux ardennais ») dans toute la gamme de qualités écologiques, du « très bon » au « mauvais » état. Chaque métrique de l’indice « Intercalibration Common Metrics » (ICM) a été comparée (par régression linéaire et polynomiale) aux valeurs de l’IBGN. La plus forte corrélation a été établie avec l’indice synthétique de l’ICM dont le R² très élevé (0,95) permet un inter-étalonnage précis et fiable. A un EQR (Equivalent Quality Ratio) de l’IBGN = 1 correspond un indice ICM très proche (= 1,004). En conséquence, la métrique « cote de l’IBGN » est proposée comme métrique pour l’évaluation de l’état écologique de la faune invertébrée en Wallonie.</p> <p align="justify"><i>Espèces exotiques et invasives</i><br>L’ouverture récente du canal à grand gabarit Main – Danube en 1992 et la navigation qui en résulte a permis à plusieurs espèces de macroinvertébrés ponto-caspiennes d’envahir successivement les bassins du Rhin et de la Meuse. De 1998 à 2000, le réseau de mesure a enregistré quatre nouvelles espèces exotiques dans la Meuse en Belgique : une polychète (<i>Hypania invalida</i>) et trois crustacés (<i>Hemimysis anomala, Dikerogammarus villosus, D. haemobaphes</i>). Peu avant, en 1995, le bivalve asiatique <i>Corbicula fluminea</i> et l’amphipode nord-américain <i>Crangonyx pseudogracilis</i> ont également été enregistrés pour la première fois. La dynamique des invasions a été étudiée et discutée.</p> <p align="justify">L’<i>état biologique actuel</i> (2000-2002) des masses d’eaux de surface en Wallonie et l’évolution des états biologiques sur une décennie (1990-2002) figurent dans l’étude et sont discutés. Une amélioration globale de la qualité de 6 % est enregistrée pour cette période. L’amélioration de la qualité se manifeste principalement pour les états « mauvais » et « médiocre » s’élevant à l’état « moyen ».</p> <b>Abstract</b> <p align="justify"><i>River typology in Wallonia and invertebrate fauna characterization</i><br>Twenty-five river-types in Wallonia were defined according to the Water Framework Directive taking into account obligatory and optional factors gathered in three criteria: the size (from “brook” to “very large river”), the slope (gentle, medium and strong) and five natural regions (Loess, Condroz, Famenne, Arden and Jurassic summarising the obligatory altitude, latitude, longitude and geology factors). A multivariate approach applied to a large amount of samples (i.e. taxa lists) led to give a more accurate definition of some river-types and to discriminate seven river-type groups exhibiting similar faunal assemblages.</p> <p align="justify"><i>Type-specific reference conditions and ecological status definition of rivers in Wallonia using invertebrate biocenotic metrics</i><br> Faunal lists and IBGN (i.e. "Standardized Global Biological Index IBGN") metric values, evolving from the biological quality assessment network in Wallonia, were used to discriminate the river types and to define the reference sites, the reference conditions and the status class limits. South of the axis made by the Sambre & Meuse Rivers, involving four river-type groups, reference values and ecological status definition were based and calculated on a reference network of sites of high status. The "reference condition values” were defined as the median values of the metrics in all “high status” sites. Where no site of high status was available, i.e. in the others river-type groups north of the same axis and in the Rivers Sambre and Meuse themselves, reference conditions (or maximum ecological potential) and class limits were based on coefficients applied to “good status” sites and on expert judgement.</p> <p align="justify"><i>Intercalibration pilot exercise</i><br> Fifty samples were selected from R-C3 rivers (i.e. small, mid-altitude, siliceous) in Wallonia (corresponding to the “Arden’s brooks”) showing the widest range of ecological quality from high to bad status. Each Intercalibration Common Metric (ICM) was compared (linear and polynomial regression) to IBGN scores. The highest correlation was found with the synthetic ICM index, whose high R² (0.95) allows accurate and reliable intercalibration. To IBGN EQR (i.e. Equivalent Quality Ratio) = 1 corresponds a very close ICM index value (= 1.004). Consequently, the metric IBGN score is being proposed to act as the metric for the assessment of the invertebrate fauna ecological status in Wallonia, Belgium.</p> <p align="justify"><i>Exotic and invasive species</i><br> The recent opening of the canal Danube – Main in 1992 and the subsequent navigation allowed several Ponto-Caspian macroinvertebrate species to invade successively the Rhine and the River Meuse basins. From 1998 to 2000, the monitoring network recorded four new alien species in the River Meuse in Belgium: one Polychaeta (<i>Hypania invalida</i>) and three Crustacea (<i>Hemimysis anomala, Dikerogammarus villosus, D. haemobaphes</i>). Earlier, in 1995, the Asian Bivalvia <i>Corbicula fluminea</i> and the North American Amphipod <i>Crangonyx pseudogracilis</i> were also recorded for the first time. The invasions’ dynamics were studied and discussed.</p> <p align="justify"><i>Present biological status</i> (2000-2002) of surface water-bodies in Wallonia and biological status evolution over a one-decade period (1990-2002) is included and discussed in the study. A global quality improvement of 6 % is recorded for the period. Quality improvement concerns mainly the “bad” and “poor” status raising up to “moderate” status.</p>

<p>Management of water bodies according to their river basinsis becoming increasingly common, as the concept of IntegratedWater Resources Management (IWRM) is getting more and moreacknowl-edged. In Europe, a large portion of these“new”management units will probably be internationalor transboundary. Decisions and policies consideringtransboundary water issues need to be based on reliable andcomprehendible information. In this thesis, a review of variousexisting models that may be used for understanding the role anduse of information in (transboundary) water management ispresented. Further, the thesis reports on an assessment of theinformation management of three transboundary water regimes inEurope, namely the international water commissions for LakeNeusiedl, Lake Constance and Elbe River. Besides examining theinformation management of the regimes as such, the managementwas also related to information needs implied by the IWRMcon-cept and by the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Thereviewed models and approaches were grouped into threecategories: information management models, information cyclemodels and communication between actors. The first categorycomprised models that may be used for managing and assessingdifferent types of information. The second group dealt withmodels explaining the production and communication ofinformation predominately from an information producer/senderperspective. The third group focused on ideas concerninginteractions and communication of information between differentkinds of actors. The studies on information management intransboundary water regimes showed that the information needsand strategies often were defined primarily with watercommissions’own needs in mind. The data collected by thecommissions were predominated by monitoring data, describingthe status of the environment and the impact caused by humanactivities. Furthermore, any communication of information toother groups of actors was mainly done through passivechannels. The information management in these transboundarywater regimes was not fully in accordance with informationneeds implied by the IWRM concept and the EU WFD.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM);transboundary water management; information; EU Water FrameworkDirective (WFD); regimes; policy and decision making; LakeNeusiedl; Lake Constance; Elbe River.</p>

This thesis is about the rights and liabilities arising under English and Chinese law in respect of the carriage of dangerous cargo. It is noted that the danger in dangerous cargoes was not necessarily something in the goods themselves, but might well lie in the way they were packaged, looked after or transported. Accordingly, the responsibilities and liabilities of the various parties with regards to the carriage of dangerous cargoes are usually intertwined and complex. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse and evaluate the dangerous cargoes liabilities in English and Chinese law, by providing suggestions for existing problems in each country based on three sources: contract, tort and statute. Moreover, the chain of causation and concept of remoteness has particular importance in order to establish liability and decide which type and what amount of damage is recoverable. This thesis compares both countries’ liability regimes and how to secure compensation for its victims, and the restoration of the environment, with reference to the EU Environmental Liability Directive and relevant international conventions. The author draws her final conclusions from four important issues: (1) the meaning of dangerous cargo, the packing and handling; (2) the scheme of liability; (3) the channelling of liability; and (4) the type of recoverable damage.

For almost twenty years, the general delictual claim as found in par. 823 (!) BGB formed the basis for product liability claims against producers in Germany. In 1985, however, a European Directive on Product Liability was issued and in 1990 Germany enacted the Product Liability Act. Setting a strict liability standard, the Act was to operate in tandem with the existing general delictual claim. Since producers in any event find it very difficult to successfully defeat product liability claims based on par. 823 BGB, the Act should not drastically change the landscape of German product liability jurisprudence. In South African product liability claims fall under the Lex Aquiliae which has fault as its cornerstone. Although our Courts are willing to assist a plaintiff by applying the doctrine of res ipsa loq11it11r, the German experience has shown that procedural devices do not provide a permanent solution to the problem of product liability. In the long run legislation is the best way to bring about a rational and equitable system of strict liability. / Mercantile law / LL.M.

The capacity to assemble, store, and make available information in databases is ever growing. This development has accelerated in recent decades, driven by the advent and increased use of digital networks. Already at an early stage, it led to demands for legal protection of databases. In most countries databases have been protected in national legislation based on copyright principles. However, this kind of protection has been regarded as insufficient. The reason for this is that copyright protection only covers the selection or arrangement of the contents of the database. By rearranging the contents, it is possible to avoid liability for copyright infringement. To address the specific needs of producers of databases, the then European community adopted a directive in 1996 on the legal protection of databases. The Directive aims to harmonise copyright protection for databases and to introduce a new, sui generis, right for the legal protection of databases. The sui generis right protects the investments in obtaining, verifying, and presenting the contents in a database. The sui generis right has been described in the literature as one of the most complex intellectual property rights ever established. Its complexity resides in the unclear relationship between the requirements for protection and the content and scope of protection. This dissertation describes, analyses, compares and systematises the legal protection for databases as provided for in the EU Database Directive – both in relation to copyright and sui generis protection, but also in relation to the intellectual property system in general and principles and rules on unfair competition. The study also describes and analyses the Directive as implemented into Swedish law. To do this, it makes use of relevant legal sources, with particular account taken of relevant sources of EU law such as the Directive itself, adjacent directives in the field of copyright and related rights, as well as unfair competition law and the case law and legal method developed by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The study also draws on underlying theories of intellectual property protection and unfair competition law, as well as arguments based on unjust enrichment and pure economic loss. The study establishes how the sui generis right serves as a legal hybrid between traditional intellectual property rights and protection against unfair competition. The structure of the right resembles traditional intellectual property rights, with requirements for protection, provisions on exclusive rights, exceptions and limitations and a term of protection. At the same time, the content and scope of protection provide measures similar to those countering unfair competition with aspects of protection against pure economic loss. The right protects against certain activities carried out in the market rather than providing protection for a traditional object of intellectual property law. When implementing the Directive, the Swedish legislator overlooked these aspects of the sui generis right, creating legal uncertainties when interpreting and applying the national legislation. The study concludes with a look forward and suggestions for future research.

. / This study is about the on-ground implementation of sustainable farm practices supported by policies and directives that form the core of the European Union’s sustainability policy. Its goal is to identify the blockers to effective policy implementation in order to improve the approach to sustainability in the agricultural sector. Exploring ways to engage local stakeholders in farm sustainability has been central to create a holistic understanding about the processes that drive practices in agriculture systems, and the extent to which these processes can be transformed. Sustainability in agriculture is a broad topic, hence this study focuses on one segment of sustainability namely the use and management of water resources in irrigated agriculture. The study’s final recommendations to improve policy design and interventions, however, are general and apply to the implementation of all sustainable farm practices. Practical effectiveness of EU policies and directives for sustainable agriculture is constrained by: a lack of evaluating criteria to measure policy impact and communicate progress; incentives for growers to commit to more than the minimum required, and continuous local renegotiation of proposed measures and programmes which have contributed to a weakening of initial policy proposals. This study demonstrates that policies serve different purposes for different people at different social and political levels. However, sustainability comes into practice on the farm, which is why farmers’ perspective about a sustainable agricultural sector and the proposed voluntary and mandatory policy measures is so important. Farmers’ perspectives are still missing elements in policy design for sustainable agriculture. Co-developing and testing technologies that are meant to deliver sustainability in practice, as well as farm decision support tools, are critical in engaging farmers and other local stakeholders in sustainability and to transform embedded practices and institutions. Collaboration across disciplines is also important to address environmental goals and farmers’ needs in order to extract substantial environmental benefits as well as a long term commitment from land managers in sustainability. This study shows that there are many insights to be gained and learnings to be extracted from scrutinizing policy interventions. It raises awareness about improving policy implementation by providing practical examples from case studies conducted in Spain and in Italy. These insights encourage the use of interdisciplinary approaches, including socio-technical approaches, for an integrated people and technology based perspective on natural resource management to better policy design and interventions and make sustainable agriculture real.

The subject-matter of the presented thesis is cross-border healthcare in the European Union. The thesis focuses deeply on the overall evaluation of the recently adopted Directive on patients' rights. The primary objective of this thesis is to comprehensively analyse the new legislation on cross-border health care within the European Union, i.e. Directive on patients' rights. Based on theoretical findings, the thesis aims to assess the potential impact of the Directive on the provisions of cross-border healthcare within the European Union and its influence on the healthcare system in the Czech Republic. The contents of the thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is introductory and provides information concerning the relevant provisions of primary law that provides European Union with competences in the area of health. The second chapter deals with the developments of the legal framework for cross- border healthcare in the European Union and clarifies in detail the specific nature of cross- border health care. Considerable focus is placed on analysis of concrete rights of migrant patients that are derived from the comprehensive case law of CJEU. The third chapter is exclusively devoted to the legal analysis of the various aspects of the Directive on patients' rights and evaluates the...

Improper transposition of an EU Directive is a phenomenon that occurs in quite an appreciable amount and in the performance of duty of individual Member States this represents a relatively common, although undesirable situation. The submitted diploma thesis deals with this issue within the Czech Republic in the light of individual proceedings for the failure to fulfill an obligation resulting from EU Treaties, which were concucted against the Czech Republic. This thesis is divided into six chapters, based on the theoretical foundations that are subsequently applied in practical examples. The first chapter presents the theoretical center of gravity for embedding the concept of primary and secondary law with emphasis on the EU Directive, while the this EU legislation is analyzed both in general terms and in terms of its structure. The following second chapter then gives an explanation to the issue of proper and improper transposition of an EU Directive and individual consequences that are associated with improper transposition of an EU Directive. The practical part starts from the third chapter, which contains analytical summarization of the all proceedings against the Czech Republic, which were conducted because of improper transposition of an EU Directive and ended with a judgement, while the fourth chapter...