06.24.20
Gemini version available ♊︎Christine Lambrecht and Ajit Pai: Twins Separated at Birth and Their Political Horse Trading
Previously: How to Tell the German Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (“BMJV”) That Violating the Constitution is Not Acceptable | Reminder to German Readers: Please Lodge Polite Complaints Against the Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (“BMJV”) Trying to Undermine the Constitution
Horse trading or justice?
Summary: The behaviour of the Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (“BMJV”) has become somewhat reminiscent of Ajit Pai’s FCC; what takes the toll of such behaviour is institutional reputation and (dis)trust in one’s government
POLITICAL figures ought not be put in charge of justice (another branch of governance). Politics are dirty and bribes are seen as acceptable there (if framed ‘professionally’ — or justified using doublespeak).
One year and 5 days ago, according to Wikipedia, Christine Lambrecht took the responsibilities (at least prospectively; effective 1 July 2019) at the BMJV, as “justice minister Katarina Barley [...] moved to Brussels to serve in the European Parliament.”
Lambrecht joined SPD (Social Democratic Party) when I was born. She was the deputy leader of the SPD a decade ago. And now she seems to be working for Team UPC. That a department of so-called ‘justice’ (or ‘ministry’ to that effect) is willing to lie, to distort the law and to violate the German constitution is worrisome; it’s an absolute disaster and a constitutional crisis like what we’ve become accustomed to in ‘Trumpland’ (where the department of ‘justice’ is like presidential guard and little else). Seeing each and every comment in this new thread, there’s nothing positive at all. People who work in the field of patents are somewhat shocked. As “MaxDrei” put it two days ago:
People old enough to have reached positions where they decide the question UPCA Y/N? will well remember Simon & Garfunkel back in the 1970’s singing “A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest”. No different, I would say, between hearing, seeing and selective memory. The cognitive dissonance of the human brain is a timeless wonder, not least in the corridors of power in Brussels.
As an Englishman in Germany, I find it striking, how difficult people find it, to distinguish fact from the opinion of the leading expert. It seems to be a bit of a “chicken and egg” situation. Is it the predisposition to trust the expert that comes first? Or is it the self-confidence with which the experts deliver their opinion that predisposes people to accept them?
And why the English scepticism (even ridicule) of self-important pontifications of experts? Perhaps it comes from our adversarial system of civil litigation, where expert evidence is a staple but where it is inevitable, at trial, under cross-examination, one or other of the opposing experts is going to be exposed as unconvincing. Knowing this already, even before they deliver their written report/opinion, experts giving witness evidence in civil litigation in England, are extremely cautious, in every word they write, for their very reputation, the basis of their exalted status, is at stake.
I recall that old story about the English, busy losing the Boer War and the reporter on site for the London Times sending back to London one gloomy report after another. Exasperated, his Editor sent him a cablegram which read “Send news of victories”. I wonder, does Mr Tilmann (consultant to Hogan Lovells, one of the world’s most prominent international litigation law firms) sometimes feel a bit like that reporter?
Readers, I heartily recommend the current issue of der Spiegel and its eyebrow-raising report on the activities of Philipp Amthor, in pursuance of his employment as Consultant to another large international law firm, White & Case, extremely well-embedded in government circles, notably in Brussels.
Brussels is mentioned twice and the lies told by Tilmann are blasted not only in this comment. This whole episode of “lobbyism” may spell the end of Lambrecht’s political career; maybe she’ll even get a high-paying job in some legal firm after that fiasco. Hey, Hogan Lovells, are you hiring? █
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