Author: aj.bell

This is a recording from one of the sessions at our research symposium in April 2021. It explores problems of intractable uncertainty about the meaning of contract terms, and special rules of interpretation that the law might provide for their resolution. The speaker is Joanna McCunn.

We were interested to see the following news article looking at the difficulties experienced by victims of Stasi activities in East Germany in terms of proving the harms suffered and the causation of those harms. This raises questions of known unknowns pertaining where by design, by virtue of often subtle secretive interferences, there will inevitably be minimal evidence that can ever surface. This is then of course exacerbated by the mountains of paperwork, or the loss or destruction of those files, as well as by the claim being directed against a successor state with no better information to bring to the table – it is harder to resolve uncertainty problems firmly against one party where that party is not in an obvious sense at fault.

Suggestions made in resolving the problem here evidently include a reversal of the burden of proof and tying the specific compensation framework in play to evidence of less than might otherwise be demanded by an authority or court in order to permit a claim.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/06/ive-been-shafted-twice-stasi-victims-and-their-quest-for-compensation

Cf. also: https://international-review.icrc.org/sites/default/files/irrc_99_905_11.pdf in re the role of archives of transitional justice in dealing with missing persons and forced disappearances after a regime change.

This is a sample recording from one of the sessions at our research symposium in April 2021. It deals with commorientes problems – where the law must confront problems relating to (uncertainty as to) the sequence of multiple deaths. This is important, in particular, in applying the rules of succession to disputed property and the answer can significantly alter who ultimately benefits from an inheritance. The speaker is Andrew J. Bell.