Digital Commons Network^™

We've Only Just Begun: The Law Of Sexual Harassment In Japan, Ryuichi Yamakawa

UC Law SF International Law Review

Discussions about sexual harassment in Japan first began a decade ago. However, Japan's Equal Employment Opportunity Law did not directly address sexual harassment until it was amended in 1997. Instead, Japanese courts responded with a jurisprudence that has distinctive characteristics regarding the nature of liability for sexual harassment. First, Japanese courts created a doctrine that sexual harassment constitutes a tort because it infringes on women's "personal rights" or on her rights to the dignity of her personality regarding sexuality. Second, Japanese courts held employers liable for sexual harassment by supervisory employees of subordinates. The 1997 amendment to the Equal Employment …

The Common Law In South Africa: Pro Apartheid Or Pro Democracy, Jeremy Sarkin

UC Law SF International Law Review

The role of the common law in South Africa has been controversial. Some argue that South Africa's common law, inherited from Roman-Dutch and English law, has a problematic colonial tradition that has done little to protect justice and equality. Others argue that if not for parliamentary security legislation, South Africa's common law could have protected rights and freedoms.

This article examines several apartheid-era cases in which the common law protection of individual rights was at stake to determine whether the common law was human rights friendly, or if it was compatible with the constitutional dispensation of human rights abuses. It …

Disabled Meanings: A Comparison Of The Definitions Of Disability In The British Disability Discrimination Act Of 1995 And The Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990, Nick Wenbourne

UC Law SF International Law Review

The British Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) marks an important turning point in the history of disability civil rights in Great Britain. The DDA was the first legislation in Europe to specifically acknowledge that disabled people suffer from discrimination in a number of fields and public services including employment, education and transportation. However, people across the political spectrum have criticized the DDA.

This note compares the DDA with its United States counterpart, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which is widely regarded as the most comprehensive and radical legislation of its kind in the world. This note pays particular attention to …

Sweating The International Garment Industy: A Critique Of The Presidential Task Force's Workplace Codes Of Conduct And Monitoring System, Heidi S. Bloomfield

UC Law SF International Law Review

Like employers in the United States, employers in Japan seek to prevent their former employees from competing with them by using noncompete covenants. As Japan's work force and employment system become more diverse, individualized and laterally mobile, noncompete provisions are appearing before the Japanese courts with increasing frequency.

The Japanese courts' approach to noncompete clauses is to scrutinize their "reasonableness" by balancing the competing interests of the employer in protecting its business goals and the employee in preserving his right to freedom of occupation. However, the notion of "reasonableness" has been elusive, causing the Japanese courts to struggle with application …