Digital Commons Network^™

Asian Courts And Lgbt Rights, Holning Lau

Holning Lau

Comparing Supreme Court Jurisprudence In Obergefell V. Hodges And Town Of Castle Rock V. Gonzales: A Watershed Moment For Due Process Liberty, Jill C. Engle

Jill Engle

“The nature of injustice is that we may not always see it in our own times. The generations that wrote and ratified the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment did not presume to know the extent of freedom in all of its dimensions, and so they entrusted to future generations a charter protecting the right of all persons to enjoy liberty as we learn its meaning. When new insight reveals discord between the Constitution’s central protections and a received legal stricture, a claim to liberty must be addressed.” -- Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584, …

Cognitive Relatives Yet Moral Strangers?, Judith Benz-Scharzberg, Andrew Knight

Andrew Knight, PhD

This article provides an empirically based, interdisciplinary approach to the following two questions: Do animals possess behavioral and cognitive characteristics such as culture, language, and a theory of mind? And if so, what are the implications, when long-standing criteria used to justify differences in moral consideration between humans and animals are no longer considered indisputable? One basic implication is that the psychological needs of captive animals should be adequately catered for. However, for species such as great apes and dolphins with whom we share major characteristics of personhood, welfare considerations alone may not suffice, and consideration of basic rights may …

Reexamining Eli Lilly V. Canada: A Human Rights Approach To Investor-State Disputes?, Cynthia M. Ho

Cynthia M Ho

This Article provides valuable insight to the broader discussion of reforming investor-state disputes. Many have noted that the system is in a crisis due to a lack of democratic accountability and inconsistent decisions, which create a chilling effect on legitimate domestic law and policy. Despite substantial discussion in recent years concerning how to reform investor-state disputes, there is only limited discussion concerning the extent to which such disputes challenge domestic intellectual property (IP) limits, as well as global IP norms. Moreover, even among those who recognize the challenge to IP limits, the relevance of human rights is generally not addressed. …

In The Right Direction, Family Diversity In The Inter-American System Of Human Rights, Macarena Sáez

Macarena Saez

African Judicial Review, The Use Of Comparative African Jurisprudence, And The Judicialization Of Politics, Joseph M. Isanga

Joseph Isanga

This Article examines African constitutional courts’ jurisprudence—that is, jurisprudence of courts that exercise judicial review—and demonstrates the increasing role of sub-Saharan Africa’s constitutional courts in the development of policy, a phenomenon commonly referred to as 'judicialization of politics' or a country’s 'judicialization project.' This Article explores the jurisprudence of constitutional courts in select African countries and specifically focuses on the promotion of democracy, respect for human rights, and the rule of law, and presupposes that although judges often take a positivist approach to adjudication, they do impact policy nevertheless. The use of judicial review in Africa has been painfully slow, …

Foundations Of Human Rights And Development: A Critique Of African Human Rights Instruments, Joseph M. Isanga

Joseph Isanga

This Article argues that, of the contemporary human rights theories, sustainable African development necessitates grounding human rights in complete alignment with the broader perspective of natural law theory, as opposed to narrower perspectives such as utilitarian, positivist, and kindred theories.3 Part I presents pertinent philosophical theories and modes of analysis in conjunction with general international legal jurisprudence. Part II then uses this philosophical analysis to examine specific African human rights instruments and jurisprudence. Part III considers African traditional human rights conceptions. Part IV recommends a natural law foundation for African development. [excerpt]

Sexual Violence In The Field Of Vision, Sharon Sliwinski

Sharon Sliwinski

The Ideology Of Human Rights, Makau Wa Mutua

Makau Mutua

This piece argues that although human rights is an ideology although it presents itself as non-ideological, non-partisan, and universal. It contends that the human rights corpus, taken as a whole, as a document of ideals and values, particularly the positive law of human rights, requires the construction of states to reflect the structures and values of governance that derive from Western liberalism, especially the contemporary variations of liberal democracy practiced in Western democracies. Viewed from this perspective, the human rights regime has serious and dramatic implications for questions of cultural diversity, the sovereignty of states, and the universality of human …

African Human Rights Organizations: Questions Of Context And Legitimacy, Makau Mutua

Makau Mutua

Published as Chapter 13 in Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and Development in Africa, Paul Tiyambe Zeleza & Philip J. McConnaughay, eds. The human rights movement is largely the product of the horrors of World War II. The development of its normative content and structure is the direct result of the abominations committed by the Third Reich during that war. Drawing on the Western liberal tradition, the human rights movement arose primarily to control and contain state action against the individual. It is ironic that it was the victors of the war, most of whom held colonies in Africa, …

An Eye Toward Effective Enforcement: A Technical-Comparative Approach To The Drafting Negotiations, Tara J. Melish

Tara Melish

Published as Chapter 5 in Human Rights and Disability Advocacy, Maya Sabatello & Marianne Schulze, eds.

The unprecedented level of civil society participation that took place in the drafting of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) constitutes a major key to its success -- laying a solid foundation for the much longer and harder process of implementation ahead. This piece addresses how one civil society organization -- Disability Rights International (DRI) -- approached the negotiation process. Part I explains the strategic approach DRI adopted, highlighting its methodology, the guiding principles it embraced, and the resulting …

Social Institutions And Same-Sex Sexuality : Attitudes, Perceptions And Prospective Rights And Freedoms For Non-Heterosexuals, Padmore Adusei Amoah, Razak Mohammed Gyasi

Dr. AMOAH Padmore Adusei

Religious and cultural values have been used as a yardstick to disregard the rights and freedoms of people in non-normative sexual relationships in many African countries. However, little is known about the extent to which this assertion is empirically buttressed by public opinion in the Kumasi Metropolis in Ghana. Employing in-depth interviews and a focus group discussion, this study sought public opinion on how religious and cultural precepts informed attitudes and perception on same-sex sexuality. Twenty people who were aged 19 to 60 years participated in the study. The phenomenon of same-sex sexuality was expressively distasteful to majority of participants …

Critical Race Theory And International Law: Convergence And Divergence, Ruth Gordon

Ruth Gordon

No abstract provided.

Policing Rape Complainants: When Reporting Rape Becomes A Crime, Lisa Avalos

Lisa Avalos

Professor Breaks Ground With Journal On Sexual Violence And Exploitation, Joseph Essig, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

New Uri Journal Explores Sexual Exploitation, G. Wayne Miller, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Uri Professor Launches Online Journal About Sexual Exploitation, Violence, Slavery, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

'Listen To What You Say': Rwanda’S Postgenocide Language Policies, Lynne Tirrell

Lynne Tirrell

Freedom of expression is considered a basic human right, and yet most countries have restrictions on speech they deem harmful. Following the genocide of the Tutsi, Rwanda passed a constitution (2003) and laws against hate speech and other forms of divisionist language (2008, 2013). Understanding how language shaped “recognition harms” that both constitute and fuel genocide also helps account for political decisions to limit “divisionist” discourse. When we speak, we make expressive commitments, which are commitments to the viability and value of ways of speaking. This article explores reasons a society would decide to say, “We don’t talk that way …

Social Institutions And Same-Sex Sexuality : Attitudes, Perceptions And Prospective Rights And Freedoms For Non-Heterosexuals, Padmore Adusei Amoah, Razak Mohammed Gyasi

Mr. GYASI Razak Mohammed

Religious and cultural values have been used as a yardstick to disregard the rights and freedoms of people in non-normative sexual relationships in many African countries. However, little is known about the extent to which this assertion is empirically buttressed by public opinion in the Kumasi Metropolis in Ghana. Employing in-depth interviews and a focus group discussion, this study sought public opinion on how religious and cultural precepts informed attitudes and perception on same-sex sexuality. Twenty people who were aged 19 to 60 years participated in the study. The phenomenon of same-sex sexuality was expressively distasteful to majority of participants …

France Bans The Veil: What French Republicanism Has To Say About It, Stéphane Mechoulan

Stéphane Mechoulan

International Environmental Law, Environmental Justice, And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu

Carmen G. Gonzalez

International Environmental Law, Environmental Justice, And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu

Carmen G. Gonzalez

International Environmental Law, Environmental Justice, And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu

Carmen G. Gonzalez

International Environmental Law, Environmental Justice, And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu

Carmen G. Gonzalez

International Environmental Law, Environmental Justice, And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu

Carmen G. Gonzalez

International Environmental Law, Environmental Justice, And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu

Carmen G. Gonzalez

International Environmental Law, Environmental Justice, And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu

Carmen G. Gonzalez

International Environmental Law, Environmental Justice, And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu

Carmen G. Gonzalez

International Environmental Law, Environmental Justice, And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu

Carmen G. Gonzalez

International Environmental Law, Environmental Justice, And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu

Carmen G. Gonzalez