Digital Commons Network^™

Funding Global Governance, Kristina B. Daugirdas

Law & Economics Working Papers

Funding is an oft-overlooked but critically important determinant of what public institutions are able to accomplish. This article focuses on the growing role of earmarked voluntary contributions from member states in funding formal international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Heavy reliance on such funds can erode the multilateral governance of international organizations and poses particular risks for two kinds of undertakings: normative work, such as setting standards and identifying best practices; and evaluating the conduct of member states and holding those states accountable, including through public criticism, when they fall short. International organizations have …

Funding Global Governance, Kristina B. Daugirdas

Articles

Funding is an oft-overlooked but critically important determinant of what public institutions are able to accomplish. This article focuses on the growing role of earmarked voluntary contributions from member states in funding formal international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Heavy reliance on such funds can erode the multilateral governance of international organizations and poses particular risks for two kinds of undertakings: normative work, such as setting standards and identifying best practices; and evaluating the conduct of member states and holding those states accountable, including through public criticism, when they fall short. International organizations have …

Misappropriation And Patenting Of Traditional Ethnobotanical Knowledge And Genetic Resources, Maxim V. Gubarev

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Four-fifths of all pharmaceuticals have been developed from natural plant resources, and native plant resources similarly play a significant role in the development of new and improved crops.

Is Climate Change A Threat To International Peace And Security?, Mark Nevitt

Michigan Journal of International Law

The climate-security century is here. Both the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”) and the U.S. Fourth National Climate Assessment (“NCA”) recently sounded the alarm on climate change’s “super-wicked” and destabilizing security impacts. Scientists and security professionals alike reaffirm what we are witnessing with our own eyes: The earth is warming at a rapid rate; climate change affects international peace and security in complex ways; and the window for international climate action is slamming shut.

The Trees Speak For Themselves: Nature’S Rights Under International Law, Samantha Franks

Michigan Journal of International Law

This note argues that the United Nations should center nature’s rights in the upcoming Global Pact on the Environment, solidifying the patchwork of international environmental law and encouraging domestic protection of the environment. Part II explores the current state of international environmental law, outlining the ways in which the doctrine remains incomplete. Part III establishes that Earth jurisprudence is an effective method to fill the gaps existing within traditional international environmental law. Part IV emphasizes the importance of soft law in international law. It draws a parallel between the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human’s Rights and a potential …

The Blue State: Unrwa's Transition From Relief To Development In Providing Education To Palestinian Refugees In Jordan, Alana Mitias

Honors Theses

Often referred to as the “Blue State”–due in part to its association with the United Nations’ trademark blue branding–the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has evolved since its creation in 1949 to become both a symbol of the Palestinian cause and an inimitable public service provider across its five areas of operation, especially in regards to education. In the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan alone, the UNRWA education program educates more than 120,000 students in 169 schools with results comparable with, if not often superior to, Jordanian public schools.

The UNRWA regime …

Some Remarks On The United Nations And Territorial Sovereignty In The Occupied Palestinian Territory, Giovanni Distefano

UAEU Law Journal

The present study is limited to the investigation of the possibility of the creation of territorial entities. It deals exclusively with the OccupiedPalestinianTerritory, i.e. the West Bank(including East-Jerusalem) and Gaza, leaving the Golan Heightsand the Sheba Farms aside. When one speaks about territorial entities engendered by occupation, one is induced to mention this possibility solely for Israel([1]). The other side, that is the Palestine Authority (hereinafter: PA), has never been able to avail itself of actual occupation “en tant que souverain” of the aforementioned territories. There is indeed no doubt that such effectiveness is clearly lacking([2]). …

The Legal Basis Of The Illegitimate Invasion And Occupation Of Iraq

UAEU Law Journal

The invasion and occupation ofIraqin 2003 had a big impact on international relations and the United Nations organization. The author will argue the illegitimacy of such an invasion and will point out the legal basis of said argument. All American allegations to justify the invasion of Iraq will be examined and will be proven illegitimate.

The study will also include a discussion on whether the invasion of Iraq can be considered as a crime against peace, and whether the American and British soldiers in Iraq committed war crimes and genocide. Next, the types of courts which have jurisdiction over such …

The International Legal System For The Protection Of The United Nations Peacekeeping Forces

UAEU Law Journal

In this research, we deal with International Legal System for protecting UN Peace Keeping Forces, based on the important and increasing role, which such forces practice in international relationships.

By this study, I find that international protection system has not achieved its intended purpose. It is stained by inability and ambiguity. Such is a natural result of the fact that such system has been formulated as reaction to the assaults, which such forces were subject to recently.

The rules and immunity of UN Peace Keeping Forces remained dispersed within international legal texts.

No clear criterion has been formulated to apply …

Excess And Deficiencies In The Practice Of The Security Council And Its Terms Of Reference: Case Study Of Iraq, Nayef Hamaida

UAEU Law Journal

This study deals with the competence of the securit council in the field of the maintenance of international peace and security, which are exercised either in conciliatory or repressive manner. The study shows that such competence is rather limited and must be compatible with the principles and aims of the United Nations.

Moreover, the study shows the excess or passive role of the Security Council in exercising its competence (a case study of Iraq) and demonstrates that the decision of the Security Council relating to the delegations of its power affects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq.

In addition, …

Ending Corporate Anonymity: Beneficial Ownership, Sanctions Evasion, And What The United Nations Should Do About It, Vineet Chandra

Michigan Journal of International Law

In the vast majority of jurisdictions around the world, there is a generous array of corporate forms available to persons and companies looking to do business. These entities come with varying degrees of regulation regarding how much information about the businesses’ principal owners must be disclosed at the time of registration and how much of that information is subsequently available to the public. There is little policy harmonization around the world on this matter. Dictators and despots have long taken advantage of this unintended identity shield to evade sanctions which target them; in July of 2019, the Center for Advanced …

Is Climate Change A Threat To International Peace And Security?, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

This article argues that climate change’s destabilizing impacts require us to look at existing international governance tools at our disposal with fresh eyes. As such, Council climate action cannot and should not be dismissed out-of-hand. As conflicts rise, migration explodes, and nations are extinguished, how long can the Council remain on the climate sidelines? Hence, my call for a re-conceptualized “Council 3.0” to meet the climate security challenges this century.

This article proceeds as follows. In Part II, I describe and analyze the current state of climate science and the climate-security threats facing the world. This includes an analysis of …

Investors As International Law Intermediaries: Using Shareholder Proposals To Enforce Human Rights, Kishanthi Parella

Scholarly Articles

One of the biggest challenges with international law remains its enforcement. This challenge grows when it comes to enforcing international law norms against corporations and other business organizations. The United Nations Guiding Principles recognizes the “corporate responsibility to respect human rights,” which includes human rights due diligence practices that are adequate for “assessing actual and potential human rights impacts, integrating and acting upon the findings, tracking responses, and communicating how impacts are addressed.” Unfortunately, many corporations around the world are failing to implement adequate human rights due diligence practices in their supply chains. This inattention leads to significant harms for …

No Child Should Feel Left Behind: The Illegality Of Orphanage Voluntourism Under Article 19 Of The United Nations Convention Of The Rights Of A Child, Lily Baron

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Child-Proofing Global Public Health In Anticipation Of Emergency, Frederick M. Abbott

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

The Legal Legacy Of The Special Court For Sierra Leone: The Sierra Leone Perspective—When The Story Is As Important As The Storyteller, Dr. Michael Imran Kanu

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Innovative Thinking: Modernizing Outer Space Governance, Diane M. Janosek

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

Space security is essential to global safety and prosperity. International treaties should modernize and reflect the world’s innovation in space and governance needs. One must look back to 1967 for the inaugural “Outer Space Treaty,” the first and only binding multilateral agreement for peaceful space use and exploration. In 50 years, technologies and space capabilities have evolved; an updated global treaty and agreement should be developed and evaluated. Both China and Russia have demonstrated their capability to degrade and/or destroy adversaries’ satellites in space. Space wars are no longer a hypothetical. The future once discussed and anxiously anticipated after Sputnik …

Global Apathy And The Need For A New, Cooperative International Refugee Response, Emily Gleichert

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

While an increasing number of nations move toward isolationist, nationalist policies, the number of refugees worldwide is climbing to its highest levels since World War II. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the international body tasked with protecting this population. However, the office’s traditional solutions for refugees – local integration, resettlement in a third country, and voluntary repatriation – have mostly eluded refugees who spend an average of twenty years in exile. The limitations UNHCR’s structure imposes on the office, specifically in its ability to fund its operations and compel nations to act, have contributed to its …

Health Priorities For Sustainable Development, Lisa E. Sachs, Jeffrey D. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The right to health has been repeatedly recognized as one of the core human rights, essential for human functioning, human dignity, economic well-being and development. But the right to health continues to elude hundreds of millions and with Covid-19, perhaps billions of people. Poverty remains the most critical obstacle to the realization of the right to health in developing countries. Achieving universal health coverage, before the additional costs of Covid-19, would require roughly $50 billion per year, approximately 0.1 percent of the GDP of the high-income OECD countries. Yet despite this broad understanding of the vicious cycle of poverty and …

40 Years Later: It’S Time For U.S. Ratification Of The American Convention On Human Rights, Justin M. Loveland

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

To Protect Freedom Of Expression, Why Not Steal Victory From The Jaws Of Defeat?, Evelyn Mary Aswad

Washington and Lee Law Review

Global social media platforms are grappling with whether to align their corporate speech codes with international human rights law. Facebook’s June 2019 report that summarized worldwide feedback about its proposed independent oversight board for content moderation noted a split in stakeholder opinions on this topic. The UN’s top expert on freedom of expression as well as many civil society members recommended that Facebook anchor its content moderation in the international human rights law regime. Others expressed concern that this legal regime would not be sufficiently protective of speech and contained inconsistencies that create problems for content moderation.

Those concerns were …

Preventing Trafficking Through New Global Governance, Janie Chuang

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

The year 2020 marks the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations (U.N.) Trafficking Protocol-a treaty that established the foundation for global efforts to address the problem of human trafficking.' That treaty offered an early framing of the problem as a transnational crime, best addressed through aggressive prosecution of traffickers and international cooperation to that end. Since the Protocol's adoption, global antitrafficking law and policy have evolved significantly. The once near-exclusive focus on the prosecution prong of the treaty's "3Ps" approach to trafficking- focused on prosecuting trafficking, protecting trafficked persons, and preventing trafficking-has given way to an increased emphasis on victim …

Paradox Of Hierarchy And Conflicts Of Values: International Law, Human Rights, And Global Governance, Jootaek Lee

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

In an international society, hierarchies are set up differently among different countries and societies based on different values, which are naturally conflicting and colliding with each other and result in unstable conditions. Is hierarchy really necessary in an international society? Does more hierarchical order in international society mean more peace? Do we need a supranational organization like the European Union whose laws can pierce state sovereignty and bind citizens of each member state? Does the United Nations need to be reformed to create an effective hierarchy, which will give international society more peace, security, and protection of human rights? This …

Climate Change Management In The Space Age, Paul B. Larsen

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Article is about how we can use space technology and regulation to help overcome adverse effects of climate change on Earth. It describes the growing use and importance of outer space technology for monitoring, understanding, and resolving the problems of climate change. It describes precedents for the current climate crisis, discusses relevant international space laws, and explains how they fit into the existing international laws on climate change. It emphasizes the oversight role of the United Nations (“U.N.”). It describes the heavy duties placed by current climate laws on the developed countries compared with the developing countries. It explains …

Identifying Fundamental Breach Of Articles 25 And 49 Of The Cisg: The Good Faith Duty Of Collaborative Efforts To Cure Defects - Make The Parties Draw A Line In The Sand Of Substantiality, Yasutoshi Ishida

Michigan Journal of International Law

Article 49(1) of the CISG allows buyers of international goods to avoid their sales contracts “if the failure by the seller to perform . . . amounts to a fundamental breach.” A breach is “fundamental,” as defined by CISG article 25, when it causes the buyer such detriment “as substantially to deprive him of what he is entitled to expect under the contract.” This definition is followed by the so-called “foreseeability test,” an “unless” clause that excepts the situation where “the party in breach did not foresee[,] and a reasonable person of the same kind in the same circumstances would …

Italy And The Aquarius: A Migrant Crisis, Alexandra Larkin

Pace International Law Review

Italian journalist Indro Montanelli once wrote, “[w]e Italians are tolerant and civil with all those who are different. Black, red, yellow. Especially when they are far away, at a telescopic distance from us.” In recent years, Italy had a resurgence of nationalist and far-right political leaders, who have taken an anti-immigration stance. Public interest in migration of refugees and asylum seekers is due both to media coverage of their stories and to litigation before international courts. One high-profile story that made headlines in the summer of 2018 was Italy’s treatment of the Aquarius, a rescue vessel operated by the …

The Cold Vacuum Of Arms Control In Outer Space: Can Existing Law Make Some Anti-Satellite Weapons Illegal?, Jeffrey A. Murphy

Cleveland State Law Review

The current space law paradigm came into existence when two major national powers were vying for supremacy after a catastrophic world war. The nuclear age had dawned. The United Nations drafted and ratified the Outer Space Treaty under these conditions with limited foresight to the specific nature of future space activities. As more nations and private actors enter the space arena, the nature of the weapons used in space has changed, and the number of targets and opportunities for collateral damage has greatly increased.

This Note looks at the weapons aimed at space and the laws that try to govern …

Contesting Human Rights Defenders At The Un Human Rights Council, M. Joel Voss

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Human rights defenders are being increasingly targeted across the globe. The rise of nationalist, populist regimes is of great concern to both human rights defenders and those that advocate for the rights of defenders. The problem is not only of domestic concern. The UN Human Rights Council, the UN’s preeminent human rights institution, is also seeing an increasing number of attacks on defenders, both in formal settings like discussions on resolutions and the Universal Periodic Review process and informally, through threats to participants at the Council.

This paper attempts to better understand and predict which states will both try to …

Seeking Reconciliation Of Self-Determination, Territorial Integrity, And Humanitarian Intervention (Introduction To Special Project: Humanitarian Intervention And Kosovo), Linda A. Malone

Linda A. Malone

No abstract provided.

Exercising Environmental Human Rights And Remedies In The United Nations System, Linda A. Malone, Scott Pasternack

Linda A. Malone

No abstract provided.