Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

The Criminalisation Of The Illicit Trade In Cultural Property, Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

This chapter considers the criminalisation of illicit traffic of cultural objects in international law and its impact for domestic law. The regulation of the trade in cultural objects has long been resisted in so-called market States, which host major auction houses and art and antiquities dealers. The lobbying was particularly directed against the enforcement of foreign public laws covering export controls in domestic courts. However, the Security Council’s adoption of resolutions that condemned the pillage of Iraqi and Syrian cultural sites has transformed this debate. These resolutions enunciate an obligation to prosecute in domestic courts which is covers all UN …

The Criminalisation Of The Intentional Destruction Of Cultural Heritage, Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

This chapter examines how modern international law is protecting world heritage (‘the cultural heritage of all humanity’) by criminalising the intentional destruction of cultural heritage. In the digital age of the twenty-first century has witnessed a proliferation of deliberate acts of destruction, damaging and pillaging of World Heritage sites and their broadcasting via social media and the Internet. This chapter examines the evolving rationales for the intentional destruction of cultural heritage since the early twentieth century and international law’s response to such acts. First, there is an analysis of its initial criminalisation with the codification of the laws and customs …

Cultural Heritage, Human Rights And The Privatisation Of War, Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

This chapter focuses on the legal issues raised by the impact of the privatisation of war on cultural rights and cultural heritage during military engagements. It is divided into four parts. First, there is an examination of the current debate amongst heritage practitioners, particularly archaeologists and anthropologists, about their professional engagement with PMSCs in recent conflicts and belligerent occupation. Second, there is an overview of existing international humanitarian law and human rights provisions covering cultural rights and cultural heritage during armed conflict and occupation. Third, the response of professional bodies and associations of heritage practitioners through their codes of ethics …

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 …

Open Sesame: The Myth Of Alibaba’S Extreme Corporate Governance And Control, Yu-Hsin Lin, Thomas Mehaffy

Yu-Hsin Lin

In September 2014, Alibaba Group Holding Limited (Alibaba) successfully launched a $25 billion initial public offering (IPO), the largest IPO ever, on New York Stock Exchange. Alibaba’s IPO success witnessed a wave among Chinese Internet companies to raise capital in U.S capital markets. A significant number of these companies have employed a novel, but poorly understood corporate ownership and control mechanism—the variable interest entity (VIE) structure and/or the disproportional control structure. The VIE structure was created in response to the Chinese restriction on foreign investments; however, it carries the risk of being declared illegal under Chinese law. The disproportional control …

Machine Learning, Automated Suspicion Algorithms, And The Fourth Amendment, Michael L. Rich

Michael L Rich

At the conceptual intersection of machine learning and government data collection lie Automated Suspicion Algorithms, or ASAs, algorithms created through the application of machine learning methods to collections of government data with the purpose of identifying individuals likely to be engaged in criminal activity. The novel promise of ASAs is that they can identify data-supported correlations between innocent conduct and criminal activity and help police prevent crime. ASAs present a novel doctrinal challenge, as well, as they intrude on a step of the Fourth Amendment’s individualized suspicion analysis previously the sole province of human actors: the determination of when reasonable …

Bridging The Gap Between Intent And Status: A New Framework For Modern Parentage, Yehezkel Margalit

Hezi Margalit

The last few decades have witnessed dramatic changes in the conceptualization and methodologies of determining legal parentage in the U.S. and other countries in the western world. Through various sociological shifts, growing social openness and bio-medical innovations, the traditional definitions of family and parenthood have been dramatically transformed. This transformation has led to an acute and urgent need for legal and social frameworks to regulate the process of determining legal parentage. Moreover, instead of progressing in a piecemeal, ad-hoc manner, the framework for determining legal parentage should be comprehensive. Only a comprehensive solution will address the differing needs of today’s …

From Baby M To Baby M(Anji): Regulating International Surrogacy Agreements, Yehezkel Margalit

Hezi Margalit

In 1985, when Kim Cotton became Britain’s first commercial surrogate mother, Europe was exposed to the issue of surrogacy for the first time on a large scale. Three years later, in 1988, the famous case of Baby M drew the attention of the American public to surrogacy as well. These two cases implicated fundamental ethical and legal issues regarding domestic surrogacy and triggered a fierce debate about motherhood, child-bearing, and the relationship between procreation, science and commerce. These two cases exemplified the debate regarding domestic surrogacy - a debate that has now been raging for decades. Contrary to the well-known …

Fetishizing Copies, Jessica Litman

Jessica Litman

We have copyright laws to encourage authors to create new works and communicate them to the public, because we hope that people will read the books, listen to the music, see the art, watch the films, run the software, and build and inhabit the buildings. That is the way that copyright promotes the Progress of Science. Recently, that not-very-controversial principle has collided with copyright owners’ conviction that they should be able to control, or at least collect royalties from, all uses of their works. A particularly ill-considered manifestation of this conviction is what I have decided to call copy-fetish. This …

The Incentive Problems With The All-Or-Nothing Crowdfunding Model, Garry A. Gabison

Garry A. Gabison

This paper discusses how the all-or-nothing model can dis-incentivize crowd investors to perform due diligence over the fraud or failure risks of crowdfunding campaign. Specifically, the major upside of this model is that a project cannot be funded without a critical mass investing. If enough individual in this critical mass of crowd investors perform its due diligence to check whether projects will become successful then the model function; instead, this paper argues that this model incentivizes the crowd to produce noisy information that cannot be relied. In the all-or-nothing model, sequential investments encourages rational investors not perform due diligence because …

Lessons From The Efforts To Manage The Shift Away From Defined Benefit Plans To Defined Contribution Plans In Australia, The United Kingdom, And The United States, Elizabeth F. Brown

Elizabeth F Brown

This is an earlier version of this Article that was published in the 53 American Business Law Journal 315 (Summer 2016). Please see that journal for the final version of this Article. This Article examines what lessons may be learned from examining how Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States have tried to manage the shift away from defined benefit plans towards defined contribution plans. This shift has fundamentally changed the relationship between workers and the financial industry. While defined contribution plans provide employees with some advantages over defined benefit plans (e.g., portability, early vesting, greater autonomy), they also …

¡Las Preferencias Dependen Del Punto De Referencia!: Un Desafío Al Análisis Económico –Y Coaseano– Del Derecho, Daniel A. Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

The “coasean” theory of Law and the theory of Law & Economics (L&E) in general, implicitly assume the truthfulness of certain behavioral assumptions: the "preference exogeneity" and "reference independence". In this context, this paper points out some objections to these assumptions, and in this order, the paper shows multiple and deep inconsistencies with regard to: (i) how the L&E predicts individual behavior and the effects of legal rules, and (ii) –from a normative point of view– the way that economic theory recommends the lawmakers decisions. The paper also shows some L&E challenges associated with the behavioral assumption that people value …

Foiled By The Banks? How A Lender's Decision May Support Or Undermine A Jurisdiction's Environmental Policies That Promote Green Buildings, Darren Prum

Darren A. Prum

In a report from the United Nations Environmental Program that addressed climate change, the authors point out that the built environment in both emerging and developed countries accounts for more than forty percent of the global energy usage while also emitting at least one third of the world’s greenhouse gasses. They further assert that the built environment offers an unsurpassed opportunity to supply cost effective, lasting, and meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. In response to such a call to action, many state and local governments turned to a variety of policies to ensure that the real estate developments within …

Advocacy For Marriage Equality: The Power Of A Broad Historical Narrative During A Transitional Period In Civil Rights, Charles R. Calleros

Charles R. Calleros

Previous civil rights movements in the United States define broad historical patterns that form a narrative helpful to a proper understanding of new controversies. In essence, as a society we often could benefit from a reminder that our actions today will form the history for future generations, who will judge us with benefit of hindsight and a broader perspective. With each new civil rights controversy, we owe it to ourselves and to the victims of discrimination to ask whether we are once again in a period of transition, where conventional mores will soon sound as jarring as Justice Bradley’s concurrence …

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 …

Extract From Richard W. Southgate & Donald W. Glazer, Massachusetts Corporation Law & Practice (2d Ed. Cum. Supp. 2015), Citing Bigler & Tillman's Void Or Voidable? -- Curing Defects In Stock Issuances Under Delaware Law, Seth Barrett Tillman

Seth Barrett Tillman

Extract from Richard W. Southgate & Donald W. Glazer, Massachusetts Corporation Law & Practice § 5.5 n.104a, at 5-35 (2d ed. Cum. Supp. 2015) (posted on Westlaw).

[22 December 2014]

Louisiana Public Records Doctrine After Wede V. Niche Marketing, Joseph S. Manning

Joseph S Manning

No abstract provided.

Reflexiones Jurídicas Sobre El Atentado Contra Juan Pablo Ii A La Luz Del Debido Proceso.®, Daniel Fernando Gómez Tamayo

Daniel Fernando Gómez Tamayo

¿Qué sentido tiene que la oficial americana inculpe a un musulmán de un ilícito que posiblemente no cometió? ¿Qué sentido tiene generar un conflicto con los musulmanes, si la Santa Sede mantiene un diálogo interreligioso, respetuoso y pacífico con los musulmanes?

Incoherencias Y Vacíos En La Sentencia Del Vii Pleno Casatorio, Alan A. Pasco Arauco

Alan A. Pasco Arauco

No abstract provided.

Konstantinos G. Margaritis, The Treaty Of Lisbon And The Protection Of Fundamental Rights In The European Union (2015) (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Law School Of National And Kapodistrian University Of Athens), Citing Tillman & Tillman's Fragment On Shall & May, Seth Barrett Tillman

Seth Barrett Tillman

This is an extract from Konstantinos G. Margaritis, The Treaty of Lisbon and the protection of fundamental rights in the European Union (2015) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Law School of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) (on file with author), citing Tillman & Tillman's A Fragment on Shall and May.

[10 December 2015]

Admissibility Of Scientific Evidence Under Daubert: The Fatal Flaws Of ‘Falsifiability’ And ‘Falsification’, Barbara P. Billauer Esq

barbara p billauer esq

Abstract: The Daubert mantra demands that judges, acting as gatekeepers, prevent para, pseudo or ‘bad’ science from infiltrating the courtroom. To do so, the Judges must first determine what “science” is? And then, what ‘good science’ is? It is submitted that Daubert is seriously polluted with the notions of Karl Popper who sets ‘falsifiability’ and ‘falsification’ as the demarcation line for that determination. This inapt philosophy has intractably infected case law, leading to bad decisions immortalized as stare decisis. Among other problems, is the intolerance of Popper’s system for multiple causation, a key component of toxic- torts. Thus, the primary …

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 …

Roe V. Wade: The Case That Changed Democracy, Adam Lamparello

Adam Lamparello

No abstract provided.

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 …

The Commander In Chief's Authority To Combat Climate Change, Mark P. Nevitt

Mark P Nevitt

Climate change is the world’s greatest environmental threat. And it is increasingly understood as a threat to domestic and international peace and security. In recognition of this threat, the President has taken the initiative to prepare for climate change’s impact – in some cases drawing sharp objections from Congress. While both the President and Congress have certain constitutional authorities to address the national security threat posed by climate change, the precise contours of their overlapping powers are unclear. As Commander in Chief, the President has the constitutional authority to repel sudden attacks and take care that the laws are faithfully …

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) …

Extract From William J. Rich, Modern Constitutional Law (3d Ed. Supp. Dec. 2015), Citing Tillman's Response To Lessig, Seth Barrett Tillman

Seth Barrett Tillman

1 William J. Rich, Modern Constitutional Law Campaign Contributions § 8.17 (3d ed. Supp. Dec. 2015), available at http://works.bepress.com/seth_barrett_tillman/553/.

[29 November 2015]

The Interstate Commerce Of Abortion: A Constitutional Argument For The Federal Invalidation Of Restrictive State Abortion Laws, Kaiya Amelia Lyons

Kaiya Amelia Lyons

No abstract provided.