Digital Commons Network^™

Achieving Effective Procurement During A Global Crisis: A Study Of The Uncitral Model Law On Public Procurement And The Wto Agreement On Government Procurement, Dmitri Goubarkov

American University International Law Review

The global nature of the COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges for public procurement systems around the world. Governments everywhere faced an immense pressure to facilitate the rapid procurement of supplies and services needed to support overburdened health and social care systems. Speed and flexibility were needed to address the shortages of protective personal equipment, distribution of ventilators, and increased demand for medications, all of which required governments to forego traditional public procurement methods. Governments had to balance the underlying principles of their procurement systems—namely, competition, integrity, and transparency—against urgency, and do so in a way that does not erode public …

A Right Without A Remedy: How One Cincinnatian's Story Illustrates Terrorism Victims' Inability To Obtain Compensation Under The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Christopher T. Colloton

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Haiti’S Legal Claim For Restitution: The Political Context For The Recovery Of The Double-Debt, Ira J. Kurzban

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

This article discusses Haiti’s efforts to seek restitution from France for the “Double-Debt” imposed in 1825. After Haiti gained independence in 1804 following a slave revolt, France threatened to invade and re-enslave the Haitian people if they did not pay compensation to French slave owners for their lost “property.” This became known as the Double-Debt, as French and American banks profited by converting the debt into high-interest loans. In 2003, on the 200th anniversary of Haitian hero Toussaint Louverture’s death, Haiti’s president Jean-Bertrand Aristide announced his intention to demand repayment from France. This sparked retaliation from France and Haiti’s elite, …

Redress For Historical Injustices: Haiti’S Claim For The Restitution Of Post-Independence Payments To France, Günther Handl

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

Restitution For Haiti, Reparations For All: Haiti’S Place In The Global Reparations Movement, Brian Concannon Jr., Kristina Fried, Alexandra V. Filippova

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

Haiti’s claim for restitution of the debt coerced by France in exchange for Haiti’s 1804 independence has unique legal advantages that can open the door to broader reparations for the descendants of all people harmed by slavery. But in order to assert the claim, Haiti first needs help reclaiming its democracy from a corrupt, repressive regime propped up by the powerful countries that prospered through slavery and overthrew the Haitian President who dared to assert his country’s legal claim. This article explores Haiti’s Independence Debt, and the fight for restitution of it, in the context of two centuries of continued …

Haiti And The Indemnity Question, Alex Dupuy

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

1) Haiti did not agree to pay an indemnity to France in 1825 because it feared a war with its former colonial power. In 1814, France sent envoys to Haiti to demand that King Henry Christophe, who controlled the north of Haiti, and President Alexandre Pétion, who controlled the south and west, resubmit to French sovereignty. Christophe had that envoy arrested and jailed. Pétion, on the other hand, offered to pay an indemnity to France to compensate the former colonial property owners in return for France’s official recognition of Haiti’s independence.

2) Jean-Pierre Boyer succeeded Pétion as president of the …

The Lost Haitian Generation And The 1826 “French Debt”: The Case For Restitution To Haiti, Charlot Lucien

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

Haiti: Confronting An Immense Challenge, Irwin Stotzky

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

This article analyzes the history of Haiti, from its origins as a slave colony of France, which was the richest colony in the Americas, to its war of independence leading to the first Black independent nation in the Americas, to its economic re-enslavement under the power of France and then the United States. The article discusses the great harm the French caused the Haitian people by imposing through force a ransom of billions of dollars that has led Haiti to its present position of being on the brink of becoming a failed state, with all of the disastrous consequences for …

Haiti And The Burden Of History, Frédérique Beauvois

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

Determining An Effective Regulatory Framework For Businesses To Report On The Environment, Climate, And Human Rights, Paco Mengual

Pace International Law Review

The objective of this article is to identify the existing dynamics and clarify the reasoning behind reporting on environmental, climate, and human rights information in search of effective and binding frameworks to enhance transparency. To that effect, this article relates the evolution from a corporate sustainable business focus to reporting on environmental social and governance and increasing corporate accountability. It then expands on defining non- financial information and ESG reporting with regards to recent European Union Regulations (SFDR, Taxonomy) as well as the challenges associated with defining sustainable investments. This article aims to compare and understand the various regulatory strategies …

International Agreements Shaping Migration Solutions, Camilo Mantilla

Refugee Law & Migration Studies Brief

In an increasingly complex and interdependent state of international relations, international treaty negotiation, adoption, and implementation constitute an important component of global foreign policy and activity of states. International agreements embody sovereign and state-to-state relations and behavior in a global forum. International agreements manifest in ways that vary in form, subject, formalities, parties, scope, forum and many other elements.

Human Rights, Trans Rights, Prisoners’ Rights: An International Comparison, Tom Butcher

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

In this Note, I conduct an international comparison of the state of trans prisoners’ rights to explore how different national legal contexts impact the likelihood of achieving further liberation through appeals to human rights ideals. I examine the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, Argentina, and Costa Rica and show the degree to which a human rights framework has been successful thus far in advancing trans prisoners’ rights. My analysis also indicates that the degree to which a human rights framework is likely to be successful in the future varies greatly between countries. In countries that are hesitant …

One Of Many: The Power Of Publication In The Human Rights Regime, Amanda Lorenzo

Human Rights Brief

On September 19, 2011, the High Court of Tanzania found Ghati Mwita guilty of murder for a February 4, 2008 homicide, sentencing her to hang pursuant to Tanzania’s mandatory death sentence. The domestic Court of Appeal sitting at Mwanza dismissed Mwita’s appeal on March 11, 2013 and rejected her application for review on that decision on March 19, 2015. Mwita then brought the case to the African Court of Human Rights (the Court) alleging that the conviction and sentencing procedures violated her fundamental rights under the Banjul Charter (the Charter).

Into The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death: War Crimes Committed In Service Of Russia's Crusade To Destroy Ukraine, Chris Galarza

American University National Security Law Brief

When Russian tanks rolled across the border into Ukraine during the early morning of February 24, 2022, most in the American defense and diplomatic establishment were shocked and sure the war would be over in a few days. Credible open-source tactical and strategic analysis predicted that Ukraine’s regular military forces would be defeated in “days or weeks” as long as Russian military forces were determined to pursue their objectives. The United States Government was so sure that Kyiv was under imminent threat of capture that they offered to evacuate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy so that he could rule from exile, rather …

Sanctions As Virtue-Signaling: Transitioning From Symbolism To Reparation For Rohingya Genocide Victim, Kelsey Peden

American University International Law Review

Kyi sat on the banks of the Inya Lake, saying goodbye to the place they said was no longer her home. The government of Myanmar had given her an option: leave or be arrested. She felt lucky to leave; most activists she knew did not get a warning first. A few kilometers away, her parents’ graves sat cleaned, adorned with fresh flowers. She hoped her sister would keep up the task in her absence, but she hadn’t been able to get ahold of her in quite some time. The feeling of the country was getting more concerned—"frantic" she explained, laughing, …

The Slippery Concept Of "Object And Purpose" In International Criminal Law, Patrick J. Keenan

American University International Law Review

In little more than twenty-five years, the field of international criminal law has grown from a small slice of public international law into a functioning system of international justice, complete with multiple juridical bodies and substantial scholarly attention. Building on the legacy of the Nuremberg Tribunals and drawing from international humanitarian law, human rights law, and domestic criminal law principles, international criminal law has become its own discipline. Creating any new field of law is a complicated endeavor; this is especially true when the field affects and is affected by so many politically sensitive issues. Throughout this doctrinal experiment, one …

The Dialogic Function Of I.C.J. Provisional Measures Decisions In The U.N. Political Organs: Assessing The Evidence, Michael Ramsden, Jiang Zixin

American University International Law Review

The aim of this article is to consider the degree to which provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (I.C.J.) have influenced United Nations (U.N.) diplomacy and the exercise of functions by its political organs in the areas of international peace, security, and human rights. This article evaluates this influence by examining decisions in which the I.C.J. indicated provisional measures, denoting the remedy available to the Court, on an interim basis, to restrain or instruct the parties to take certain measures to preserve either or both parties’ rights pending the outcome of the case. In doing so, this …

La Responsabilidad Internacional De Los Estados Por Violaciones A Los Derechos Humanos Como Consecuencia Del Cambio Climatico: El Rol Del Sistema Interamericano De Proteccion De Derechos Humanos, Jose Daniel Rodriguez Orue

American University International Law Review

El fenómeno del cambio climático es una de las mayores amenazas para la garantía y protección de los derechos humanos a nivel global. Las consecuencias adversas del cambio climático, tales como incremento en el nivel del mar, el aumento de eventos meteorológicos extremos, la perdida de biodiversidad y las sequías, son susceptibles de ocasionar varias violaciones a los derechos humanos en las Américas. Estas violaciones a los derechos humanos se manifiestan con mayor intensidad en determinados grupos poblacionales que se encuentran expuestos de forma desproporcionada a la degradación medioambiental debido a su vinculación especial con los recursos naturales, pero también, …

La Limitacion De Los Derechos Humanos En La Lucha Contra El Cambio Climatico: El Caso De Los Derechos Culturales De Las Porlaciones Indigenas Y La Energia Hidroelectrica De Embalse En America Latina, Sebastian Sauter Odio

American University International Law Review

El cambio climático es el resultado de la emisión de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) producto de actividades antropogénicas. Al ser el sector energético el mayor contribuyente de GEI a nivel mundial, los esfuerzos para mitigar el cambio climático deben comprender la transformación de la matriz energética, hoy basada prioritariamente en la combustión de hidrocarburos, a una que involucre una mayor participación de las energías renovables.

La Migracion Ambiental En La Frontera Colombo-Ecuatoriana: ¿ Es Suficiente La Proteccion Internatcional Para Los Eco-Refugiados ?, David Delgado

American University International Law Review

El cambio climático es un fenómeno mundial que, acelerado por las actividades humanas, provoca grave degradación ambiental causando olas de migración humana y atentando contra el derecho a la vida. Estas actividades, algunas toleradas por la comunidad internacional, provocan el desplazamiento internacional no solo de habitantes de Estados insulares, sino también de terrestres como Ecuador y Colombia. Sin embargo, a pesar que la migración por causas ambientales es un fenómeno mundial cada vez más frecuente, no existe protección internacional para quienes se ven obligados a realizarla. El presente articulo expone la migración ambiental que sufren las comunidades indígenas que habitan …

One Choice Is No Choice At All: Indonesia Is Violating The International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights By Requiring Political Parties To Adhere To Its National Ideology Of Pancasila, Daniel Brezina

American University International Law Review

This Comment argues that Indonesia is violating Articles 1, 18, 22, 25, and 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by requiring that all political parties adhere to its national ideology of Pancasila. This Comment will introduce the ideology of Pancasila and explain how Indonesia came to require political parties to adhere to the ideology. This Comment will also explain what rights the ICCPR guarantees and introduce the UN Human Rights Committee, which is tasked with monitoring signatories’ compliance with the ICCPR. This Comment will explain how Indonesia’s requirement violates several Articles of the ICCPR, including how …

Democracy Dies In Broad Daylight: How The Philippines' Halted Media Speech Despite Its Commitment To The Iccpr, Alexis Mozeleski

American University International Law Review

A primary initiative of the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency was the national campaign against drug users and criminals. During the turbulent period that was Duterte’s presidency, journalists who published dissenting views on the drug war frequently became targets of Duterte’s administration, which came in the form of frivolous charges, arrests, banning media outlets, or in some instances, murder. This Comment argues that the Philippines violated international law protections of freedom of expression as codified in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. As a party to this treaty, the Philippines, under Duterte’s administration, unjustifiably restricted speech …

When The Race To Net Zero Becomes A Race To The Bottom: Human Rights Violations In The Renewable Energy Transition And The Extraterritorial Obligation To Protect Human Rights, Yogi Bratajaya

American University International Law Review

Recent reports published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have shed light on and confirmed the extent of damages that will result if the world fails to keep global warming below 2°C. Irreversible adverse impacts on our ecosystems and the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters will have a significant negative effect on the enjoyment of human rights worldwide. Climate change is already affecting food security through increasing temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and greater frequency of some extreme events. Additionally, the deteriorating conditions caused by climate change will cause millions of people to leave their homes and …

The Gendered Face Of Climate Change: Exploring The Impact Of Climate Change On Gender-Based Violence And The Role Of State And Non-State Actors In Effecting Climate Justice, Hannah Wilson

American University International Law Review

Climate change affects men and women differently. While some individual women may be less vulnerable to climate change than some men, the global perpetuation of discrimination, inequality, patriarchal structures, and systematic barriers contribute to an overall higher risk of women experiencing harmful effects of climate change. International human rights law prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender. However, in practice, systematic discrimination, harmful stereotypes, and social, economic and political barriers related to gender can lead to varied climate change impacts with respect to health, food security, livelihoods and human mobility, and more, which may significantly limit women’s and girls’ adaptive …

Criminalizing Environmental Degradation And Devastation: New Prospects For The Icc Rome Statute, Kelly Pisimisi

American University International Law Review

Over the last decade, steadily increasing voices are ringing the tocsin to the international community for the impact of human activities on climate and their potential consequences on human life and dignity. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its recent (6th) Assessment Report, confirmed this assertion. Greenhouse gas concentrations and emissions (particularly CO2), as well as the retreat of arctic glaciers and the subsequent sea level rise causing—among other issues—the acidification of the oceanic waters, are some of the most evident human-induced implications on climate and the environment.

Unsettling Human Rights Clinical Pedagogy And Practice In Settler Colonial Contexts, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, Caroline Bishop Laporte

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

In settler colonial contexts, law and educational institutions operate as structures of oppression, extraction, erasure, disempowerment, and continuing violence against colonized peoples. Consequently, clinical legal advocacy often can reinforce coloniality—the logic that perpetuates structural violence against individuals and groups resisting colonization and struggling for survival as peoples. Critical legal theory, including Third World Approaches to International Law (“TWAIL”), has long exposed colonial laws and practices that entrench discriminatory, racialized power structures and prevent transformative international human rights advocacy. Understanding and responding to these critiques can assist in decolonizing international human rights clinical law teaching and practice but is insufficient in …

Striking Out: How The Mlb’S Baseball Academies Interfere With Children’S Human Rights In The Dominican Republic, Crystal Nieves Murphy

Human Rights Brief

Major League Baseball (MLB) has recently included a large number of foreign-born players in the league. Specifically, many of these players are from the Dominican Republic, with Dominican players making up more than ten percent of active players on MLB Team rosters across the league. This large number of Dominican baseball players in the MLB comes from a culture of scouting talent at a young age and the creation of baseball academies in Latin America as a whole. Currently, all thirty MLB teams have a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic where each team develops young teenagers talented at baseball.

Aeca And The United States War Crimes Connections In Yemen, Rachel Hage

Human Rights Brief

The conflict in Yemen wages on, and many states, including Saudi Arabia and the United States, have been complicit in human rights violations. The United States’ current and past administrations have continued to sell arms to Saudi Arabia despite multiple international organizations’ documenting the state’s human rights violations. This Article argues that, despite the lack of transparency regarding how much support the United States is lending to Saudi Arabia arms being used in Yemen, the United States may be held responsible for human rights violations in Yemen. The Arms Export Control Act (AECA) provides the U.S. President with the authority …

Ecthr Halts Forced Deportation Of Uyghur Couple Seeking Asylum In Malta: Latest In A Series Of Breaches Of European Convention On Human Rights, Tesa Hargis

Human Rights Brief

On January 16, 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ordered Malta to halt the process of forcibly removing a Uyghur couple, A.B. and Y.M., seeking asylum. The couple, who are Chinese nationals of Uyghur ethnicity and Muslim faith, arrived in Malta in 2016; the rejection of their initial application in 2017 forced them to live in hiding for years. Prior to bringing their case to the ECtHR, the Uyghur couple had been detained at the Safi Barracks and were facing immediate deportation to China.

Religious Discrimination And Violation Of Property Rights In Turkey, Andre Taylor

Human Rights Brief

In 2022, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) provided a ruling in an application against Turkey by the Foundation of the Taksiarhis Greek Orthodox Church. The Turkish government was held to have committed religious discrimination against its Greek Orthodox community by rejecting an application to register a historic church without a valid explanation. The Turkish High Court decided to register the disputed property in the name of the Public Treasury rather than grant ownership of the property outright to the Church. The Istanbul Administrative Court had repeatedly dismissed the Church’s appeals on the basis that the conditions listed in …