It has been a while since I posted a doorbell photo, but this is a topical subject. There‘s a rumour in Germany that the GDPR (German DSGVO) prohibits revealing people‘s names on their doorbells.
GDPR: must I remove names from the doorbell?
4
Author Archives: MMarks
It has been a while since I posted a doorbell photo, but this is a topical subject. There‘s a rumour in Germany that the GDPR (German DSGVO) prohibits revealing people‘s names on their doorbells.
In fact there has been a case in Vienna where a property management company has been advised by a city data privacy agency and intends to replace the names by numbers on 220,000 apartments.
Lord Chancellor’s Breakfast contd.
More fromd yesterday. The lady with the black structure on her head is the Queen’s Remembrancer, the first female holder of the role, Barbara Fontaine.
I don’t know who those in thin red robes are nor what they wear under their robes – this recalls an early photo of Princess Diana. The other shot shows the spikes in the road.
Lord Chancellor’s Breakfast 2018
I’m afraid the light was difficult, I had the wrong lens on the camera at first, and there were more police in the way than three years ago – and also a metal ‘carpet’ containing spikes across the road.
This is Sir Rabinder Singh, the first Sikh Court of Appeal judge, also a legal academic. He wears a turban instead of a wig. And the second photo shows a photographer upskirting some circuit judges.
Making a pork pie
I tried to make pork pies a couple of years ago. Here is an impression:
That’s couple of pickled onions beside it.
I can now report that I’m not the only blogger who can’t make pork pies. Here is an illustrated account from Lehrerzimmer (in German).
My dolly (Holzform) hasn’t got the indentations and holes that his has. They do look good. Must try again.
Tree surgeons
I’ve used tree surgeons a couple of times since I’ve been in Upminster. The photo above, from the local BP garage, shows eight identical posters, not for a concert, but for Cedar Tree Care.
I’ve now got a fake tree surgeon ad through my door for the second time in a few weeks. There must be not only fake tree surgeons around, but people who do their advertising for them, especially the postcards they put through the door.
The latest one has special rates for O.A.Ps. ‘We are currently working in your area’ (they claim to be based here, at a dubious address). ‘Are your ivy & climbers getting too much for you? We can help. NOW IS THE TIME – No job too big or too small’.
Here’s a police warning from two years ago (from the Upminster and Cranham Residents’ Association):
Please be aware there has been an increase in door to door scams in the area recently. They are preying on the elderly and vulnerable. These type of scammers include people purporting to be from Water Companies, Gas Board, Tree Surgeons or Home Maintenance to name a few. The scammers will take on an identity to either part you from your money, gain entry to your home to steal, or profit by posing as charities collecting donations.
And here’s a BBC story from ten years ago:
But that’s something which doesn’t bother our rogue trader this week, David Stanley. David is operating as a tree surgeon in and around West London. He has used multiple company names, but he’s currently calling himself London’s A1 Tree Services, which is not to be confused with other ompanies with similar names.
Local council tree officers in London have told us David Stanley’s been causing trouble in the capital for years; by incorrectly telling homeowners with protected trees that they do not need permission to prune or fell them, so that he can get the work.
We also know of complaints against David regarding him overcharging, inventing work, pruning trees so severely that they die, and providing fake names and company addresses. In the past he’s also falsely passed himself off as an Approved Contractor of the Arboricultural Association, and it took High Court action in 2007 to stop him.
I think the best idea is not to move into anywhere with any trees in the garden. But I can recommend Prince Arboriculture in Shenfield.
And finally, here are some local bushes.
Two translations of the Swiss Civil Code
I’m just going through old books and find a translation of the Law of Persons, Article 1-89bis of the Swiss Civil Code, by the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, by a team of seven translators, copyright 2006, which I bought for much bucks in the days before the Swiss government had an English version online (PDF).
Here’s the beginning without much comment, out of interest:
Art. 1 A. Anwendung des Rechts
A. Anwendung des Rechts
1 Das Gesetz findet auf alle Rechtsfragen Anwendung, für die es nach Wortlaut oder Auslegung eine Bestimmung enthält.
2 Kann dem Gesetz keine Vorschrift entnommen werden, so soll das Gericht1nach Gewohnheitsrecht und, wo auch ein solches fehlt, nach der Regel entscheiden, die es als Gesetzgeber aufstellen würde.
3 Es folgt dabei bewährter Lehre und Überlieferung.
1 Ausdruck gemäss Ziff. I 1 des BG vom 26. Juni 1998, in Kraft seit 1. Jan. 2000 (AS 19991118; BBl 1996 I 1). Diese Änd. ist im ganzen Erlass berücksichtigt.
Art. 2 B. Inhalt der Rechtsverhältnisse / I. Handeln nach Treu und Glauben
B. Inhalt der Rechtsverhältnisse
I. Handeln nach Treu und Glauben
1 Jedermann hat in der Ausübung seiner Rechte und in der Erfüllung seiner Pflichten nach Treu und Glauben zu handeln.
2 Der offenbare Missbrauch eines Rechtes findet keinen Rechtsschutz.
Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce version
Art. 1
Application of the law
The law shall apply to all legal questions that are covered, according to wording or interpretation, by one of the provisions thereof.
In the absence of a provision of law, the judge shall decide according to customary law and, in the absence of such customary law, according to the rule he would establish as a legislator.
In this regard, he shall follow established doctrine and tradition.
Art. 2
Content of legal relationships – Acting in good faith. Good faith
Each person shall be required to exercise his rights and fulfill his duties in good faith.
The manifest abuse of a right shall not be protected by law.
Online version at admin.ch
Art. 1
Application of the law
1 The law applies according to its wording or interpretation to all legal questions for which it contains a provision.
2 In the absence of a provision, the court shall decide in accordance with customary law and, in the absence of customary law, in accordance with the rule that it would make as legislator.
3 In doing so, the court shall follow established doctrine and case law.
Art. 2
Scope and limits of legal relationships – Acting in good faith
1 Every person must act in good faith in the exercise of his or her rights and in the performance of his or her obligations.
2 The manifest abuse of a right is not protected by law.
The comparison is quite interesting. Both versions are acceptable but one might translate differently in some places.
I prefer ‘in accordance with’ to ‘according to’ (which is a trivial matter), but why does the online version translate Überlieferung as ‘case law’? The court (rather than judge) as legislator – for Gesetzgeber I tend to write legislature.
I prefer ‘to perform his duties’ to ‘fulfil’ (‘fulfill’ is the US spelling) and ‘obligations’. ‘hat…nach Treu und Glauben zu handeln’ – one version has ‘must act’ and the other has ‘shall be required to…’.I would have thought ‘shall’ would be OK here – sometimes it is too strong for ‘hat…zu’.