Digital Commons Network^™

Regulating Global Stablecoins: A Model-Law Strategy, Steven L. Schwarcz

Vanderbilt Law Review

Digital currencies have the potential to improve the speed and efficiency of the payment system. The principal challenge is retail: to facilitate day-to-day payments among consumers as an alternative to cash, both domestically and across national borders. Two models of digital currencies are becoming viable: central bank digital currencies and nongovernment-issued currencies that are backed by assets having intrinsic value (stablecoins or, when widely used internationally, global stablecoins). Because they are not government issued, global stablecoins present complex and novel cross-border regulatory challenges, including managing the costs of complying with a multitude of national laws and ensuring international legal enforceability. …

Traditional Knowledge In Taiwan: A Call For Greater Participation Of Indigenous Peoples In The Global Intellectual Property Marketplace, James M. Cooper

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article explores the plight of the Aborigines of Taiwan and the legal protections that exist for their Traditional Knowledge. While Taiwan continues to face international isolation with a diminished number of states recognizing the Republic of China as the seat of China, the island's government has taken limited steps to recognize language, cultural, and economic rights of its Indigenous peoples. International law has not been helpful in protecting Traditional Knowledge, but Taiwan could use its vast economic resources and positive track record in protecting some of these rights to further its goals of international recognition. This Article details the …

Determining International Responsibility Under The New Extra-Eu Investment Agreements: What Foreign Investors In The Eu Should Know, Freya Baetens, Gerard Kreijen, Andrea Varga

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The EU's newly acquired competence over foreign investment poses largely unprecedented legal challenges: the Union's unique structure and functioning are bound to raise questions about the traditional format of international investor-State arbitration. Anticipating these challenges, the European Commission has proposed a Regulation on managing the financial responsibility that arises out of such arbitrations; a revised version of this proposal was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. After outlining the contemporary international investment regime, as well as the relevant aspects of the EU legal system, this Article scrutinizes three problematic issues under international law that …

220 Years Later And The Commonwealth Is Still Imposing Laws On The United States, Michael P. Geiger

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The United States has been combating the bribery of foreign officials for 35 years through the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Both domestic and international prosecutions for bribery remained almost nonexistent for decades. In recent years, the United States experienced an explosion of enforcement actions under the FCPA. Broad enforcement theories and increased prosecutorial effort have greatly expanded the scope of the FCPA. Moreover, the passage of the UK Bribery Act in 2010 has forced many U.S. organizations to face additional and conflicting antibribery regimes. Although the United States remains the world leader in prosecuting the bribery of foreign officials, …

Looking Beyond The Dabhol Debacle: Examining Its Causes And Understanding Its Lessons, Preeti Kundra

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note analyzes foreign direct investment in India, looking into the investment troubles surrounding the Dabhol power project, India's largest foreign investment project to date. After providing an introduction to the mechanics of project finance and a backdrop to the Dabhol power project, the Note considers whether the Indian government's actions, specifically the use of the Indian legal system, constituted "total expropriation" and violations of international law. Additionally, this Note considers what systemic changes India can make in order to create a more investment-friendly environment in the post-Dabhol context.

The Limits Of International Human Rights Law And The Role Of Food Sovereignty In Protecting People From Further Trade Liberalization Under The Doha Round Negotiations, Wenonah Hauter

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

International free trade agreements under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO) seriously undermine the international human right to adequate food. Conceivably, those deprived should be able to seek redress under Article 11 of the International. Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which spells out the right to adequate food. Unfortunately, while the concept of the right to adequate food has developed substantially since its inception, its implementation has been slow. It is not a well-developed tool for individuals or the groups representing them to redress harms that will likely result from the current Doha Round negotiations …

Creative Industries In Developing Countries And Intellectual Property Protection, Lauren Loew

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

International intellectual property law (hereafter referred to as IP law) has an increasingly important significance for international trade and relations. From the music industry to the drug industry, intellectual property is a lucrative market, and both individuals and corporations have a lot to lose from the infringement of intellectual property rights. For example, music is a $40 billion worldwide industry. According to the Recording Industry Association of American (RIAA), the music industry loses approximately $4.2 billion each year to worldwide piracy. Although these facts bring to light the economic losses of industries and individuals from IP infringement, the global community …

Historical And Social Perspectives On The Regulation Of The International Trade In Archaeological Objects: The Examples Of Greece And India, Neil Brodie

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Two empirical studies of the trade in cultural material have shown that strong export controls work. Between 1820 and 1870, pre-unification Italian states with strong export controls in place retained more of their cultural heritage (measured in terms of paintings and antique books) than states with weak or no controls. Thefts from cultural institutions in the Czech Republic rose sharply after 1989, the year the "Iron Curtain" was raised; though this example also highlights the curtailment of civil liberties that might be necessary for strong export controls to work and that are probably unacceptable in a liberal society. '

This …

Foreword, Stephen M. Schwebel

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

I was glad to return to Vanderbilt Law School to take part in this Symposium on International Commercial Arbitration. I came because Jon Charney telephoned me last autumn to ask me to come. Jon Charney was a superb international lawyer and a splendid human being. He became a reigning expert on the Law of the Sea. But his interests in international law were wider than that wide subject. He wrote, for example, on the proliferation of international tribunals and on the position of the persistent objector in international law with exceptional acuity and insight.

Jon's professional accomplishments were increasingly large. …

Taking Stock Of Nafta Chapter 11 In Its Tenth Year, Jack J. Coe, Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into force on January 1, 1994. Its Eleventh Chapter establishes substantive guarantees and an arbitral mechanism by which qualifying investors may seek damages for breach of those guarantees. The much-discussed investor-state arbitration apparatus was first invoked in September 1996, and since then has been resorted to several times against each NAFTA state. Many cases have concluded, while others are nearing completion. Though a mature jurisprudence has by no means emerged, substantive trends have been established and several of Chapter l's distinctive features, strengths, and weaknesses have been illuminated.

NAFTA's investor-state docket has …

Nafta's Investment Chapter: Initial Thoughts About Second-Generation Rights, Charles H. Brower Ii

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Article Professor Brower argues that most observers of NAFTA's investment chapter have missed an important and surprising development: Although the treaty's text shares a philosophical affinity with civil and political rights, its application has revealed an astonishing level of support for economic and social rights (ESCRs) in North America. Professor Brower examines the practical implications of this development both for the presentation of claims in investor-state arbitration and for the better integration of ESCRs into the mainstream of international law.

Symposium Address: The Role Of Lawyers In The Wto, James Bacchus

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

A final point I would make to students who are here today and about to go out into the legal world would be this: I have noticed that what I do is a bit controversial in some places. Why is that so?

It is because the world is changing and because, understandably, people have apprehensions about change. It is also because there is very little understanding of what it is that we are doing in Geneva. Consciously, and intentionally, I have spent my first years on the Appellate Body in silence. Vanderbilt is one of the few places where I …

Innocents Abroad: Opportunities And Challenges For The International Legal Adviser, Wayne J. Carroll

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article argues that some regulatory authorities have not successfully adapted to the internationalization of the practice of law. First, the Author attempts to define the terms "international legal adviser" and "international legal advice." Next, the Author compares the existing barriers to practice in the United States and the European Union. The Author goes on to outline recent challenges and changes to these barriers to practice, including international efforts such as the WTO and the IBA and local rules in the United States and the European Union. The Author then analyzes the adequacy of existing regulatory regimes with regard to …

Economic Coercion And The General Assembly: A Post-Cold War Assessment Of The Legality And Utility Of The Thirty-Five-Year Old Embargo Against Cuba, Richard D. Porotsky

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The nature of the conflict between the United States and Cuba has clearly been changing since the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. Deprived of foreign communist subsidies, Cuba has been forced to begin economic reform. Yet, the United States has retained its embargo against Cuba. Does the long-standing embargo violate international law? In an attempt to answer that question, this Note examines the status of a norm prohibiting the unilateral use of economic coercion and whether there has been any post-Cold War movement toward such a norm.

Over the past thirty years, despite several notable United Nations resolutions, developing …

Case Digest, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Case Digest provides brief analyses of cases that represent current aspects of international law. The Digest includes cases that establish legal principles and cases that apply established legal principles to new factual situations. The cases are grouped by topic and include references for further research.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. AID TO FOREIGN TRIBUNALS

II. TRADE

III.TREATIES

IV. IMMIGRATION

The Nafta Investment Chapter And Foreign Direct Investment In Mexico: A Third World Perspective, Gloria L. Sandrino

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The investment provisions of NAFTA, which establish a liberal investment regime and a hospitable atmosphere for foreign investment amongst its signatories, the United States, Canada, and Mexico, represents a new chapter in Mexico's approach to foreign investment. This Article examines the significance of Mexico's shift to welcoming foreign investment and its concomitant acquiescence to traditional notions of expropriation and compensation espoused by more developed states. The author explores Mexico's historical love-hate relationship with foreign investment and its role over the years as leading voice for Third World concerns regarding the potentially exploitive nature of such investment. In this article, a …

Book Review, I. I. Kavass

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The legal aspects of international contracts for the sale of goods are intrinsically complex. First, the negotiation and performance of international contracts must frequently be conducted at a distance and with the assistance of many intermediaries. The rights and obligations of parties to an international sale are usually more manifold than those of a purely domestic sales transaction, and the effect and scope of these international rights and obligations must be determined by sophisticated mercantile rules which are not present in all legal systems. Second, because an international sales transaction extends beyond the boundaries of one country, it is invariably …

Recent Development, Platte B. Moring, Iii

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

While few commentators question the international status of the Community in relation to the Member States and those countries with which it has negotiated treaties, the question of whether the Common Market possesses a universally recognizable personality remains open. In determining the international status of the United Nations, the ICJ in the Reparations Case stated that fifty states, "representing the vast majority of the members of the international community, had the power in conformity with international law to bring into being an entity possessing an objective international personality and not only personality recognized by them alone. If this recognition standard …

Unctad's Draft Code Of Conduct On The Transfer Of Technology: A Critique, James W. Skelton, Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

UNCTAD's fourteenth plenary meeting on May 6, 1980, produced the latest of several attempts to draft such a code. The document is entitled "Draft International Code of Conduct on the Transfer of Technology" (Draft Code), and this draft will be the primary subject of analysis in this article. The drafters of the code face a number of problems, the least of which is the ultimate determination of the code's legal character and, consequently, its legal effect. This determination and other problem areas confronting the drafters, including the code's special preferences for developing countries, the core chapter on restrictive practices, and …

Recent Decisions, Kevin P. Hishta, J. Clifton Cox, Shari D. Olenick, Stephen B. Hatcher, Ann M. Bell

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

ALIENS--Executive Suspension of Alien's Deportable Status Final as Congressional Veto Mechanism violates Constitutional Doctrine of Separation of Powers

Kevin P. Hishta

--------------------------- Sovereign Immunity--Iranian Immunity from Pre-Judgment Attachments Terminated under International Emergency Economic Powers Act

J. Clifton Cox

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Sovereign Immunity--Government Shipping Company of the People's Republic of China is an "Agency or Instrumentality" for the Purposes of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976

Shari D. Olenick

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State Corporate Income Tax--Foreign Source Dividends Included in State Taxation Base Under Unitary Business Enterprise Test

Stephen B. Hatcher

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Trade Regulation--Use of Registered Mail by Federal Trade Commission to Subpoena …

Taiwan Relations Act: Legislative Re-Recognition, Carl L. Gable

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The surprise and drama of President Carter's recognition of the People's Republic of China as "the sole legal government of China" have overshadowed the unique legal concepts on which his policy rests. Those concepts impact directly on private trade and investment transactions with Taiwan. They may also sound the death knell for traditional definitions of the term "recognition" in international law and diplomacy.

The recognition of a government such as the People's Republic of China (and the related termination of recognition of the Republic of China government) is a unique hybrid: a political act of the executive branch which directly …

The Arab Economic Boycott Of Israel: The International Law Perspective, Preston L. Greene, Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Most of the discussion about the Arab economic boycott of Israel has focused on its effect upon United States law. Even when the discussion centers on moral and ethical considerations, the focus remains on the United States. This limited perspective, however, merely reflects the vast global economic interests of the United States. Nonetheless, the extensive analysis of American law and practices has tended to obscure the importance of applicable international norms. This article examines the effects and implications of the Arab boycott upon existing and evolving norms of contemporary international law. To properly analyze the international legal norms, the operative …

Books Received, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

A Practical Guide to U.S. Taxation of Overseas Americans

By Thomas E. Johnson

London: Raftwain Ltd., 1977. Pp. 311. $25.00.

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The Impact of International Organizations on Legal and Institutional Changes in the Developing Countries

New York: International Legal Center, 1977. Pp. 275.

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U.S. Customs Tariffs and Trade

By Eugene T. Rossides

Washington, D.C.: The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., 1977. Pp. 826. $45.00.

Case Digest, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

1. Admiralty

State Port Authority Acting Incident to Maritime Carriage Subject to Admiralty Jurisdiction in Damage Suit

MARINE INSURANCE PROVIDING COVERAGE OF LOSSES "ARISING FROM OR OCCURRING FROM" SPECIFIED CONDITIONS DOES NOT COVER LOSSES OCCURRING AFTER PERIOD OF COVERAGE DUE TO CONDITIONS WHICH INITIALLY AROSE DURING THE PERIOD OF COVERAGE

FEDERAL COURT LACKS POWER UNDER SUITS IN ADMIRALTY ACT TO IMPOSE GOVERNMENTAL LIABILITY FOR HARM CAUSED BY FAILURE TO EXERCISE DISCRETIONARY FUNCTION

2. Alien's Rights

FAMILY RELATIONSHIP CAN BE SHOWN AS A MATTER OF FACT FOR IMMIGRATION PURPOSES WHERE APPLICABLE FOREIGN DOMESTIC LAW HOLDS MEANINGLESS THE CONCEPT OF LEGITIMACY

3. …

Book Reviews, Werner Baer, John B. Marshall, Justin P. Wilson, Emmanuel Bello

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

INDIRECT TAXATION IN DEVELOPING ECONOMIES: THE ROLE AND STRUCTURE OF CUSTOMS DUTIES, EXCISES, AND SALES TAXES

By John F. Due

Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1970. Pp. viii, 201. .$9.00

reviewer: Werner Baer

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THE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF CIVIL WAR

Edited by Richard A. Falk

Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1971. Pp. xix, 452. $15.00

reviewer: John B. Marshall

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NATIONAL INTERESTS AND THE MULTI-NATIONAL ENTERPRISE

By Jack N. Behrman

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1970. Pp. 194. $4.95

reviewer: Justin P. Wilson

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TRANSNATIONAL BUSINESS COLLABORATION AMONG COMMON MARKET COUNTRIES: ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR POLITICAL INTEGRATION

By Werner J. Feld

New …

From The Reviews, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

From the Reviews

bibliography of writings on international law:

World Military Confrontations / Law, Policy and War / Law and the Maintenance of Peace

International Trade and Finance

European Economic Community

International Organizations

Conflicts

Private International Law