Digital Commons Network^™

Lodging The Sustainable Development Goals In The International Trade Regime: From Trade Rhetoric To Trade Plethoric, Nasser A. Alreshaid

Nasser A Alreshaid

While the international community is stimulated by the new sustainable development goals’ impetus, the global trade regime lives through its 40’s mid-life crisis and anticipates what it does not know. Views of the multilateral trading system being stalled by a proliferation of other preferential trade agreements, signal a deep inquiry into this policy trend. What this paper intends to highlight though, is that if lessons are drawn from the new sustainable development goals, these global trade challenges could be mere air turbulence. By introducing the needs of states and their constituents through these goals, an inclusive and more representative international …

Revisiting The Notion Of Full Protection And Security Of Foreign Direct Investments In Post-Gadhafi Libya: Two Governments, Tribal Violence, Militias, And Plenty More, Nasser A. Alreshaid

Nasser A Alreshaid

The escalating violence and deteriorating conditions in today’s Libya have questioned the very likelihood of the survival of foreign investments there. Deemed an oil-producing hub, many oil concessions have been granted to foreign investors in Libya. The challenge that follows is how to legally ensure the full protection and security of investors. This notion is tested in the post-Gadhafi Libya situation in the context of a two-government state, where militias with extremist ideologies in most instances, defy an internationally recognized government and take control over Libyan territories. Such territories contain oil terminals, which leads to a partial or complete disruption …

Verification Methods In Cyber Attack Treaties, Grant Hodgson

Grant Hodgson

The fundamental differences between cyber weapons and traditional military weapons present challenges to verification techniques used in the past. This paper will discuss the challenges in constructing, implementing, and verifying a cyberattack treaty. Part I, will discuss the nature of cyberattacks and what makes them difficult for verification purposes. Part II will describe techniques that have previously been used to verify other treaties. Each technique is evaluated for its potential efficacy when applied to cyberattacks.

Democracy And Torture, Patrick A. Maurer

Patrick A Maurer

September 11th spawned an era of political changes to fundamental rights. The focus of this discussion is to highlight Guantanamo Bay torture incidents. This analysis will explore the usages of torture from a legal standpoint in the United States.

Indigenous Peoples, Intangible Cultural Heritage And Participation In The United Nations, Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

This chapter concentrates on the participation of indigenous peoples in multilateral initiatives to protect cultural heritage, with specific reference to intangible heritage. While an international instrument for the protection of intangible heritage was adopted over a decade ago, the importance of intangible heritage for indigenous peoples is evident in their work in various UN fora. I examine indigenous peoples’ interventions before UNESCO and bodies established to implement the Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage; within WIPO in respect of ongoing moves to adopt specialist instruments on traditional knowledge and cultural expressions; and finally, within UNEP and the implementation …

New Kids On The Blockchain: How Bitcoin's Technology Could Reinvent The Stock Market, Larissa Lee

Larissa Lee

Bitcoin is the first and most successful digital currency in the world. It is polarized in the news almost daily, with either glowing reviews of the many benefits of an alternative and international currency, or doomsday predictions of anarchy, deflation, and another tulip bubble.This Article focuses on the truly innovative aspect of Bitcoin—and that which has gone mostly unnoticed since its inception—the technological platform used to transfer Bitcoin from one party to another. This technology is called the Blockchain. The Blockchain eschews a bank or other middleman and allows parties to transfer funds directly to one another, using a peer-to-peer …

Catholic Social Teaching, The Right To Immigrate And The Right To Regulate Borders: A Proposed Solution For Comprehensive Immigration Reform Based Upon Catholic Social Principles, Chad G. Marzen, William Woodyard

Chad G. Marzen

In the past decade, policymakers from various perspectives have discussed and debated proposals to reform America’s immigration system. This article discusses not only the history of the Catholic legal and intellectual tradition’s contribution to social teaching on the issue of immigration, but emphasizes the development of two strands of Catholic thought: the right to immigrate, and the right to regulate borders. Applying the Catholic legal and intellectual tradition, this article provides a proposal for immigration reform that incorporates key tenets of Catholic social thought.

Denial Of Justice: The Latest Indigenous Land Disputes Before The European Court Of Human Rights And The Need For An Expansive Interpretation Of Protocol 1, Giovanna E. Gismondi

Giovanna E. Gismondi

In its three latest decisions on indigenous land rights, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has afforded scant protection to indigenous peoples. Through an analysis of each case in terms of substantive and procedural law, this Article evaluates the challenges indigenous peoples face when pursuing their claims before the Court. I argue that the European Court's narrow interpretation of the "right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions" codified in Protocol 1 (Article 1) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has failed to consider the importance of collective lands in securing the cultural survival of indigenous peoples, their economic …

Is There A Way In The Labyrinth Of Treaty Norms Leading To The Applicable Rule? Investor-State Investment Settlement Under The China-Korea Fta, China-Japan-Korea Bit And China-Korea Bit, Q Kong

q kong

With the signature of the Free Trade Agreement between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea (CK FTA) in 2015 and its incoming ratification, there will be three sets of rules with respect to investment flow between China and Korea, i.e., The Agreement among the Government of the People’s Republic of China, the Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of Korea on the Promotion and Protection of Investment (CKJ BIT, 2013) , the Agreement of the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Korea on the Promotion …

Laying Down The "Brics": Enhancing The Portability Of Awards In International Commercial Arbitration, Benjamin C. Mccarty

Benjamin C McCarty

The drafters of the 1958 New York Convention intended Article V(2)(b) to be interpreted narrowly, and while most pro-arbitration national courts do maintain narrowly defined areas of public policy that are sufficient for refusal of the recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award, this is not always the case. Developing states and jurisdictions that maintain corrupt or inefficient judicial systems have shown a greater willingness to invoke the public policy exception for a broader, amorphous variety of reasons. This phenomenon has created a sense of unpredictability among international investors, arbitrators, and business executives as to the amount of deference …

Gandhi’S Prophecy: Corporate Violence And A Mindful Law For Bhopal, Nehal A. Patel

Nehal A. Patel

AbstractOver thirty years have passed since the Bhopal chemical disaster began,and in that time scholars of corporate social responsibility (CSR) havediscussed and debated several frameworks for improving corporate responseto social and environmental problems. However, CSR discourse rarelydelves into the fundamental architecture of legal thought that oftenbuttresses corporate dominance in the global economy. Moreover, CSRdiscourse does little to challenge the ontological and epistemologicalassumptions that form the foundation for modern economics and the role ofcorporations in the world.I explore methods of transforming CSR by employing the thought ofMohandas Gandhi. I pay particular attention to Gandhi’s critique ofindustrialization and principle of swadeshi (self-sufficiency) …

The Use Of The Proportionality Principle To Distinguish Compensatory Indirect Expropriation From Regulatory Measures, Anca T. Muir

Anca T Muir

The Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system has been criticized recently as a way for foreign corporations to counter a national government’s right to regulate. A subject of much of this scrutiny is the compensation requested by foreign investors when the host state needs to regulate for the public interest.

The issue of compensation for actions of indirect expropriation is a controversial issue, especially when the host state uses its police power to regulate in the public interest. When this occurs, it can create a conflict in which an investor claims that his investment was reduced to nothing by the …

The Role Of State In The Development Of Legal Profession In China - A Regulatory Perspective, Shu Shang

Shu Shang

Although China has attempted to reorganize its legal profession by privatizing regulation of lawyers since 2000, the tight relationship between Chinese state and its legal profession still seems perplexing to outsiders. This article tries to go beyond the ideological debate to observe this state-legal profession relationship by suggesting that after experiencing political, nationalist, stability-concerned stages, the current stage of the state regulation of legal profession is development-oriented. This model could be extremely useful in a party-state country like China in which the traditional spirit of professionalism is lacking of, and such intervention might also help to prevent he over-stratification of …

The Tortureres: Evaluating The Senate Select Intelligence Committee’S Torture Report And Assessing The Legal Liability Of “Company Y” In The Cia’S Post 9-11 Interrogation And Detention Program Under The Alien Tort Statute, David Satnarine

David Satnarine

The U.S. national security apparatus after September 11, 2001 engendered an emphasis of new forms of intelligence gathering. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the United States and its agents sought to collect as much information as possible to prevent another attack on the homeland, and to bring to justice those responsible for the heinous acts of September 11, 2001. Through the use of private actors, corporate shells, and contractors, the United States employed a host of professional interrogators in its war on terror. Some of these private actors, through their corporate shells later become known as the architects of the …

Political Refugees, Captives, Slaves And Other Migrants In International Law Of Ancient Near East (2nd Millenium Bc), Víctor M. Sánchez

Víctor M. Sánchez

International treaties in the 2nd millennium BC in the Ancient Near East (ANE) demonstrate the importance placed on regulating migratory movements at the time. The economic and political basis of such regulation helps outline a critical analysis in comparison to current international law regarding the same forms of migratory movements. The loss of social value of human beings arising from demographic changes explains the enormous difference between past and present regulatory models. Only the recovery of human value in its economic sense will permit changes to the current regulation of migratory movements. The variety of extradition clauses in the treaties …

Democracy And Torture, Patrick A. Maurer

Patrick A Maurer

September 11th spawned an era of political changes to fundamental rights. The focus of this discussion is to highlight Guantanamo Bay torture incidents. This analysis will explore the usages of torture from a legal standpoint in the United States.

A Fake Right Of Priority Under The Cross-Strait Agreement On Intellectual Property Right Protection And Cooperation, Ping-Hsun Chen

Ping-Hsun Chen

On June 26, 2010, Taiwan and China entered into a “Cross-Strait Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights Cooperation and Protection” (“Cross-Strait IP Agreement”). This Cross-Strait IP Agreement was renowned for China’s admission of a right of priority of Taiwanese patent applications or trademark applications. Under the TRIPS Agreement, China is obligated to admit a right of priority of Taiwanese applications, but it has never fulfilled such obligation. China’s particular concern is that a right of priority is rooted from the Paris Convention which only allows a state to join, so by admitting a right of priority of Taiwanese applications it may …

Transplanting Contractual Terms: The Influence Of The Common Law In The Civil Law Of Contracts, A View From The Periphery, Dario Laguado

Dario Laguado

This paper suggests a model of contractual innovation that takes into account the bottom-up transplant of legal devices from the core to the periphery. This model properly weighs the tension and differences between places of production and places of reception and the process of misreading that goes along with the transplant. It serves to explain the innovation that has been produced as a result of the influence of common law contracts in Colombia and South America. Evidence shows that this model can be generally applied to the process of transplantation in many jurisdictions around the world. The main features of …

The Isis Crisis And The Development Of International Humanitarian Law, Johan D. Van Der Vyver

Johan D van der Vyver

ABOUT THE ARTICLE This article identifies the rules of international humanitarian law that have a bearing on the Israeli offensive in Gaza. It first of all attempts to establish whether or not Israel remained an Occupying Power after its disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005. If due to the control Israel continued to exercise over border crossings, electricity and water supplies and the like, Israel is found to be de facto in occupation of Gaza, the Hamas responses would qualify as a war of liberation, which in terms of Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 …

Contracting Stability: The Potential Use Of Private Military Contractors As A United Nations Rapid Reaction Force, Jared Genser

Jared Genser

In June 2015, the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations established by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and chaired by former East Timor President José Ramos-Horta, published its comprehensive review of UN Peacekeeping Operations. The Panel observed that it takes an average of six months from when a peacekeeping mission is authorized by the United Nations Security Council to when it is deployed. It further explained that although rapid and effective deployment comes at a cost, responding more quickly saves lives and can avoid a larger, more costly response later. In asking the Secretary-General to develop options for a new …

Designing Emotional And Psychological Support Into Truth And Reconciliation Commissions, Verlyn F. Francis Ms.

Verlyn F. Francis Ms.

Truth and Reconciliation Commissions are a dispute resolution mechanism used to attempt to reunite countries and states after internal conflicts and civil wars. A large component of this transitional justice process involves truth-telling by perpetrators and victims. The ultimate goal is reconciliation of the parties within the unified state.

Using the example of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, this paper argues that successful reconciliation depends on the design of the process. It is important for the designer to balance individual and institutional interests and to ensure that all stakeholders are at the design table. Since the truth-telling in …

Israel, Palestine And The Icc., Maria Isidora Thomas

Maria A Thomas Mrs

Academic Research with Professor Maximo Langer about the recent incorporation of Palestine to the ICC and the possible effects on its relations with Israel and the ongoing conflict.

Copyrightability Of Music Compilations And Playlists: Original And Creative Works Of Authorship?, Marc Fritzsche

Marc Fritzsche

With the digitalization of music and the increasing popularity of online streaming services, people can conveniently create their own playlists and music compilations at will and share them worldwide. Imagine a world in which any selection and arrangement of songs, whether made by you, a DJ, a radio station, or a record label, is protected under the regime of Copyright Law. The result would be a vast amount of copyright infringements when a playlist or compilation gets mimicked by others. Thus far, only the High Court in London, UK, was confronted with this problem, but the parties settled, leaving the …

The 2012 Saudi Arbitration Law: A Comparative Examination Of The Law And Its Effect On Arbitration In Saudi Arabia, Faris K. Nesheiwat, Ali Khasawneh

Ferris K Nesheiwat

A major concern for any outside investor in the Middle East's largest economy is that arbitration in Saudi Arabia is notoriously complicated, time-consuming, and prone to interference by the local courts, while arbitral awards have often faced difficulties in being enforced. A new Saudi Arbitration Law was issued by Royal Decree No. M/34 on April 16th, 20124 (the “New Law”), which came into force on 9 July 2012. The New Law, which is covered in 58 Articles, is intended to alleviate many of the shortcomings of the Saudi Arbitration Law of 1983 (the “Old Law”) and strengthen investors' confidence in …

Fragmentation Of International Law In The Case Of Yugoslav Succession: Reimbursement Of “Old” Foreign-Currency Bank Deposits, Janja Hojnik

Janja Hojnik

The article explores the central, yet to be resolved succession issue of the former SFRY - the liability of successor States for the outstanding “old” foreign-currency deposits. Following the collapse of the SFRY, numerous depositors lost access to their foreign currency bank deposits. Although the successor States reimbursed some categories of depositors, several hundred thousands of them remained uncompensated. 25 years after the collapse of the SFRY and following the ECtHR pilot judgment in Ališić (2014), the solution to the issue finally seems to be in sight. It is claimed that by establishing a direct legal obligation of Slovenia …

Dismissing Provenance: The Use Of Procedural Defenses To Bar Claims In Nazi-Looted Art And Securitized Mortgage Litigation, Christian J. Bromley

Christian J Bromley

The litigation surrounding an estimated 650,000 works looted by the Nazis in the Second World War and the millions of securitized mortgages foreclosed in the wake of the Great Recession converge on a fundamental legal principle: who really holds rightful title? Seemingly worlds apart, these separate yet remarkably similar forms of property challenge the American judiciary to allocate property rights between adversaries steadfast in their contention of rightful ownership. The legal fulcrum in this allocation often rests not on the equity or righteousness of either parties’ claim—whether museum versus heir or bank versus former homeowner—but instead on procedural defenses that …

Una Aproximación Neoinstitucionalista Al Derecho (Económico) Internacional, Daniel A. Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

ResumenEste artículo indaga acerca de cómo el análisis económico del derecho (AED) puede servir a los juristas-internacionalistas para examinar ciertas cuestiones relevantes del derecho internacional (DI) en general y del derecho económico internacional (DEI) en específico. Concretamente, se sostiene la hipótesis de que la denominada “Nueva Economía Institucional” (NEI) representan una alternativa de aproximación económica consistente y que se ajusta de forma adecuada al contexto del DI. Para demostrar la hipótesis, el artículo sintetiza algunos conceptos propios de la NEI, y a partir de ellos trata de establecer sendos paralelos con cuestiones propias del DI. Los conceptos que se …

Infringement As Unfair Competition: A Blueprint For Global Governance?, Sean Pager, Eric Priest

Sean Pager

INFRINGEMENT AS UNFAIR COMPETITION: A BLUEPRINT FOR GLOBAL GOVERNANCE?

Sean A. Pager Michigan State University College of Law

Eric Priest University of Oregon School of Law

ABSTRACT

This Article examines a new approach to address persistent regulatory failures in global supply chains. In a series of recent cases, unfair competition actions have been brought in U.S. court against foreign manufacturers who infringe software overseas under the theory that the cost savings from infringement confers an unfair advantage in U.S. markets. While this theory has been advanced in the intellectual property context, the same approach could work to target abuses in …

A Child’S Right To A Family Versus A State’S Discretion To Institutionalize The Child, Richard R. Carlson

Richard R Carlson

International law, represented particularly by the U.N. Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), declares that a child has the right to be raised in a "family environment." Nevertheless, the CRC grants states the discretion to institutionalize children who are without functioning families. States have this discretion because the CRC does not require states to arrange, facilitate, or even allow for child placement in a permanent, substitute family. In this article, I describe this contradiction in international law--a child's right a family environment versus the state's discretion to institutionalize the child--and I explore the possible reasons for the contradiction. …

Unpacking The International Law On Cybersecurity Due Diligence: Lessons From The Public And Private Sectors, Scott J. Shackelford

Scott Shackelford

Although there has been a relative abundance of work done on exploring the contours of the law of cyber war, far less attention has been paid to defining a law of cyber peace applicable below the armed attack threshold. Among the most important unanswered questions is what exactly nations’ due diligence obligations are to one another and to their respective private sectors. The International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) has not yet explicitly considered this topic, though it has ruled in the Corfu Channel case that one country’s territory should not be “used for acts that unlawfully harm other States.” But …