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Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Law

Translating & Interpreting Foreign Statutes, Andrew N. Adler Jan 1997

Translating & Interpreting Foreign Statutes, Andrew N. Adler

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article aspires to address academics and anyone who must translate or interpret foreign statutes without previous in-depth education in the alien language and law. To make matters more interesting, the author concentrates on the plight of the minority of judges who want to arrive at independently reasoned interpretations of foreign law when given the opportunity. Most judges strive mightily to avoid even having to glance at foreign laws. And, when it becomes absolutely necessary to read a foreign code, most judges and litigators retain the centuries-old habit of relying too slavishly on tendentious expert testimony. Furthermore, while most states …


Law And Religion In Israel And Iran: How The Integration Of Secular And Spiritual Laws Affects Human Rights And The Potential For Violence, S. I. Strong Jan 1997

Law And Religion In Israel And Iran: How The Integration Of Secular And Spiritual Laws Affects Human Rights And The Potential For Violence, S. I. Strong

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part I of this article provides a brief sketch of the principles of the two majority religions at issue in this discussion and an overview of the history of both Israel and Iran. It explains why each nation has chosen to structure itself as it has and why the imposition of U.S.-style secularism would be an inappropriate method of dealing with the religio-legal conflict in the two societies. Part II compares the fundamental or constitutional laws of the two nations by analyzing the provisions, policies, and practices most influenced by religion. After identifying and analyzing the laws themselves in Part …


The Fallacy Of Neutrality: Diary Of An Election Observer, Jeanne M. Woods Jan 1997

The Fallacy Of Neutrality: Diary Of An Election Observer, Jeanne M. Woods

Michigan Journal of International Law

Neutrality is one of many conceptual fictions of liberal discourse. A legal fiction is "contrived by the law" to facilitate adjudication of issues. Such fictions may serve as symbols, to make abstract concepts tangible or, they may be myths designed to promote some normative principle or goal. The problem arises when these fictions cease to be recognized as inventions, or as "presumptions about reality," and are believed to have an independent existence in reality. Then, they "purport to provide us with an objective and impersonal criterion, but they do not." According to the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, a fiction is "a …


Language Of Lullabies: The Russification And De-Russification Of The Baltic States, Sonia Bychkov Green Jan 1997

Language Of Lullabies: The Russification And De-Russification Of The Baltic States, Sonia Bychkov Green

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article argues that the laws for promotion of the national languages are a legitimate means for the Baltic states to establish their cultural independence from Russia and the former Soviet Union.