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Corruption, Constitutions And Crude In Latin America, Fredrick V. Perry, Scheherazade S. Rehman

Fredrick V. Perry

This paper examines the perception of corruption that exists throughout Latin America, and analyses the importance of the institutional environment in Latin American countries, which are both richly endowed with and dependent on oil and natural gas. First, we look at corruption generally in the region and then carry our analysis by looking at various countries’ GDP per capita versus several indices measuring different dimensions of countries’ economic development, political progress, and social performance. We also combine corruption indices and separate them by typology of corruption in order to investigate the particular facets of corruption that pose the greatest impediment …

An Anachronism Too Discordant To Be Suffered: A Comparative Study Of Parliamentary And Presidential Approaches To Regulation Of The Death Penalty, Derek R. Verhagen

Derek R VerHagen

It is well-documented that the United States remains the only western democracy to retain the death penalty and finds itself ranked among the world's leading human rights violators in executions per year. However, prior to the Gregg v. Georgia decision in 1976, ending America's first and only moratorium on capital punishment, the U.S. was well in line with the rest of the civilized world in its approach to the death penalty. This Note argues that America's return to the death penalty is based primarily on the differences between classic parliamentary approaches to regulation and that of the American presidential system. …

We The Peoples: The Global Origins Of Constitutional Preambles, Tom Ginsburg, Daniel Rockmore, Nick Foti

Tom Ginsburg

No abstract provided.

Valuing Our Discordant Constitutional Discourse: Autonomous-Text Constitutionalism And The Jewish Legal Tradition, Shlomo C. Pill

Shlomo C. Pill

This paper considers the viability of autonomous-text constitutionalism, a constitutional interpretive and adjudicative theory based on Hans Georg-Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics. As the paper explains, this theory is premised on the subjectivity of all interpretive activity; it admits the legitimacy of a wide spectrum of reasonable interpretations of the Constitution, each given their unique character by the dialectical merging of experiential horizons between the fixed text and individual interpreter. This theory embraces a plurality of constitutional meanings in theory, limited by the need for unity in national spheres of constitutional practice. Such practical certainty is achieved by our empowering judicial institutions …

Theory Of Constitutional Comparison, Sebastian Müller-Franken Prof. Dr

sebastian müller-franken prof. dr

The article looks into constitutional comparison from a theoretical perspective. It shows the variety of different purposes this juridical discipline pursuits. So constitutional comparison for example takes advantage creating constitutional theory or gives an orientation for constititional politics. The article also shows how constitutional comparison can render benefits for the application of constitutional law without giving up national sovereignty.

Majoritarian Judicial Review: The Case Of Taiwan, Chien-Chih Lin

Chien-Chih Lin

Whether, and to what extent, the practice of judicial review in the United States is counter-majoritarian has been contentiously debated since its inception. Yet, whether judicial review in nascent democracies functions in the same way has not been lucidly articulated. Based on docket records, agenda setting, and case studies of the Constitutional Court in Taiwan, this paper suggests that judicial review in Taiwan is majoritarian, rather than counter-majoritarian. Specifically, the Constitutional Court is more majoritarian in the field of fundamental rights than it is in separation-of-powers cases. This finding is contradictory to conventional wisdom since high courts in new democracies …

Flemming Rose's Rejection Of The American Free Speech Canon And The Poverty Of Comparative Constitutional Theory, Robert Kahn

Robert Kahn

In the fifteen page English language excerpt of his recent memoir The Tyranny of Silence, Danish publisher Flemming Rose gave an extended defense of his decision to run the cartoon images of the Prophet Mohammed. Current First Amendment doctrine almost certainly would treat this act as protected speech. But Rose barely mentions the First Amendment. Instead, he develops a highly personal theory of speech based on his experience in the Soviet Union and discussions with Salman Rushdie. Like many American legal academics Rose opposes bans on hate speech, but he does so for different reasons.

From a comparative law …

Constitutional Patriotism: A Reasonable Theory Of Radical Democracy?, Vito Breda

Vito Breda

Since its first appearance just over a decade ago, Habermas's constitutional patriotism has inspired a rich and articulate series of theoretical analyses and has indirectly encouraged constitutional projects such as the Constitution for Europe. The popularity of constitutional patriotism among political and constitutional theorists has, however, also generated some confusion over the aims and basic structure of Habermas's endeavour. For instance, it is unclear whether constitutional patriotism ought to be considered a constitutional or political theory. This paper seeks to clarify some of the misunderstandings surrounding constitutional patriotism. It will contend that the theory is, at its core, a political …

The Separation Of Powers, Constitutionalism And Governance In Africa: The Case Of Modern Cameroon, John Mukum Mbaku

JOHN MUKUM MBAKU

The Separation of Powers, Constitutionalism and Governance in Africa: The Case of Modern Cameroon

John Mukum Mbaku, Esq.

Abstract

Countries incorporate the principle of the separation of powers in their constitutions in an effort to meet several goals, the most important of which is to minimize government-induced tyranny. Specifically, countries that make this principle part of their constitutional practice intend to limit public servants by national laws and institutions, enhance government accountability, minimize opportunistic behaviors by civil servants and politicians, provide for checks and balances, and generally improve government efficiency. Cameroon, like many other African countries that transitioned to democratic …

Social Protection Afforded To Irregular Migrant Workers: Thoughts On International Norms, The Southern African Development Community, Botswana And South Africa, Bruno Ps Van Eck, Felicia Snyman

Bruno PS Van Eck

The majority of migrant workers target those countries in southern Africa that have stronger economies. Irregular migrants are in a particularly vulnerable position, and this article discusses the protection that this category of persons may expect to experience in the southern African region. The authors recommend that the broad notion of “social protection”, rather than the narrower concept “social security” should be emphasized. International, continental and regional instruments providing protection to irregular migrants are traversed and the constitutional and legislative frameworks in relation to social protection in Botswana and South Africa are compared. The article concludes that there are significant …

Shifting Sands: A Meta-Theory For Public Access And Private Property Along The Coast, Melissa K. Scanlan

Melissa K. Scanlan

Over half the United States population currently lives near a coast. As shorelines are used by more people, developed by private owners, and altered by extreme weather, competition over access to water and beaches will intensify, as will the need for a clearer legal theory capable of accommodating competing private and public interests. One such public interest is to walk along the beach, which seems simple enough. However, beach walking often occurs on this ambulatory shoreline where public rights grounded in the public trust doctrine and private rights grounded in property ownership intersect. To varying degrees, each state has a …

E Unum Pluribus: The Limitations On State Law Because Of Foreign Policy Uses Of State Law As A Gap Filler To Meet The International Obligations Of The United States, Llewellyn Gibbons

Llewellyn Joseph Gibbons

Unlike many nations where the ratification of a treaty immediately changes its internal laws, in the United States, unless the language of the treaty is self-executing, Congress must affirmatively change domestic laws to conform to the obligations of the treaty. Increasing, it is a modern trend for the United States to represent in international forums that the United States is in conformity with its international obligations because of state statutes or because of common law court decisions. This article looks whether the foreign policy representations of the United States to other countries (in the context of the international intellectual property …

Judicialization Of Socio-Economic Rights In Brazil: The Subversion Of An Egalitarian Discourse, Vanice L. Valle

Vanice L. Valle

This article describes the historical origins of the Brazilian constitutional frame of socio-economic rights, and the political context that lead to their enforcement through the Judiciary. Based in a particular constitutional text that asserts socioeconomic rights’ immediate enforceability, the present theoretical comprehension is that they establish the State’s obligation to provide goods and services. The consequence is an intense judicialization of rights such as health, education and housing, which results in a wide exercise of judicial activism in controlling public policies – with the Judiciary renouncing to the objective rational criteria consubstantiated in the law, and to an approach that …

Judicial Adjudication In Housing Rights In Brazil And Colombia: A Comparative Perspective, Vanice L. Valle

Vanice L. Valle

Cooperative constitutionalism is the watchword in the 21st. century, and the creation of a judicial network is an important tool to improve human rights protection. This paper intends to contribute in that field, reporting the constitutional framework and the main decisions held by the Brazilian and the Colombian Constitutional Courts in protecting housing rights. The comparison is justified by the historical proximity in the juridical transition in both countries – 1988 in Brazil and 1991 in Colombia –; and also by the clear inspiration that Colombia took in the Brazilian Constitution at the time of their Constituent Assembly. As the …

Why Do Europeans Ban Hate Speech? A Debate Between Karl Loewenstein And Robert Post, Robert Kahn

Robert Kahn

European countries restrict hate speech, the United States does not. This much is clear. What explains this difference? Too often the current discussion falls back on a culturally rich but normatively vacant exceptionalism (American or otherwise) or a normatively driven convergence perspective that fails to address historical, cultural and experiential differences that distinguish countries and legal systems. Inspired by the development discourse of historical sociology, this article seeks to record instances where Americans or Europeans have argued their approach to hate speech laws was more “advanced” or “modern.”

To that end this article focuses on two authors whose writing appears …

Ending Judgment Arbitrage: Jurisdictional Competition And The Enforcement Of Foreign Money Judgments In The United States, Gregory Shill

Gregory Shill

Recent multi-billion-dollar damage awards issued by foreign courts against large American companies have focused attention on the once-obscure, patchwork system of enforcing foreign-country judgments in the United States. That system’s structural problems are even more serious than its critics have charged. However, the leading proposals for reform overlook the positive potential embedded in its design.

In the United States, no treaty or federal law controls the domestication of foreign judgments; the process is instead governed by state law. Although they are often conflated in practice, the procedure consists of two formally and conceptually distinct stages: foreign judgments must first be …

Obscenity, Internet, Free Press And Free Speech - Constitutions Of India And The United States, Khagesh Gautam Prof.

Khagesh Gautam

No abstract provided.