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Articles 1 - 17 of 17
Full-Text Articles in Law
Ownership Without Citizenship: The Creation Of Noncitizen Property Rights, Allison Brownell Tirres
Ownership Without Citizenship: The Creation Of Noncitizen Property Rights, Allison Brownell Tirres
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
At the nation’s founding, the common law of property defined ownership as an incident of citizenship. Noncitizens were unable lawfully to hold, devise, or inherit property. This doctrine eroded during the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but few scholars have examined its demise or the concommittant rise of property rights for foreigners. This Article is the first sustained treatment of the creation of property rights for noncitizens in American law. It uncovers two key sources for the rights that emerged during the nineteenth century: federal territorial law, which allowed for alien property ownership and alien suffrage, and state …
Assessing The State Of The State Constitutionalism, Jim Rossi
Assessing The State Of The State Constitutionalism, Jim Rossi
Michigan Law Review
Robert Williams's The Law of American State Constitutions is an impressive career accomplishment for one of the leading academic lawyers writing on state constitutions. Given the need for a comprehensive, treatise-like treatment of state constitutions that transcends individual jurisdictions, Williams's book will almost certainly become the go-to treatise for the next generation of state constitutional law practitioners and scholars. The U.S. Constitution has a grip on how the American legal mind approaches issues in American constitutionalism, but an important recurring theme in Williams's work (as well as that of others) is how state constitutions present unique interpretive challenges. More than …
Striking The Rock: Confronting Gender Equality In South Africa, Penelope E. Andrews
Striking The Rock: Confronting Gender Equality In South Africa, Penelope E. Andrews
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
This Article analyzes the status of women's rights in the newly democratic South Africa. It examines rights guaranteed in the Constitution and conflicts between the principle of gender equality and the recognition of indigenous law and institutions. The Article focuses on the South African transition to democracy and the influence that feminist agitation at the international level has had on South African women's attempts at political organization. After dissecting the historical position of customary law in South Africa and questioning its place in the new democratic regime. The author argues that, although South African women have benefited from the global …
Children's Rights And Family Autonomy In The South African Context: A Comment On Children's Rights Under The Final Constitution, Tshepo L. Mosikatsana
Children's Rights And Family Autonomy In The South African Context: A Comment On Children's Rights Under The Final Constitution, Tshepo L. Mosikatsana
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
This Article investigates the nature and extent of the protection granted to children's rights in the South African Constitution. It concludes that the child-centered approach of the Constitution entitles children, as independent actors, to certain fundamental rights. Acknowledging both the parent-centered nature of the existing South African legal framework and the entrenched support for practices, many rooted in indigenous law and tradition, that contribute to the oppression of children, the author argues that the constitutionalization of these rights will contribute to the betterment of children in South Africa, proving to be more than mere moral exhortation. Under apartheid in South …
Cultivating A Seedling Charter: South Africa's Court Grows Its Constitution, Margaret A. Burnham
Cultivating A Seedling Charter: South Africa's Court Grows Its Constitution, Margaret A. Burnham
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
As South Africa emerges from the vestiges of apartheid, its Constitutional Court struggles to develop a jurisprudence that reflects the lasting ideals of a constitutional democracy. This Article examines the Court's use of international and foreign law in developing a unique form of constitutional jurisprudence. It argues that the Constitutional Court is in the process of developing an innovative form of decision-making that effectively combines domestically derived principles of justice with those developed in the international forum. This Article concludes that reliable methods of adjudication are firmly entrenched in the South African legal system and that its constitutional jurisprudence should …
Toward A South African Administrative Justice Act, Michael Asimow
Toward A South African Administrative Justice Act, Michael Asimow
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
Section 33 of South Africa's Constitution provides fundamental principles of administrative justice. It also requires Parliament to adopt an Administrative Justice Act. This Article contends that without enactment of such legislation Section 33 will be ineffective in practice and may prove to be an obstacle to achieving the economic and social objectives of the Constitution. In addition, such legislation is essential to preserving the legitimacy and the effectiveness of the Constitutional Court.
Towards Democracy In A New South Africa, Adrien Katherine Wing
Towards Democracy In A New South Africa, Adrien Katherine Wing
Michigan Journal of International Law
Review of Constitutional Options for a Democratic South Africa: A Comparative Perspective by Ziyad Motala
Presidential Systems In Stress: Emergency Powers In Argentina And The United States, William C. Banks, Alejandro D. Carrió
Presidential Systems In Stress: Emergency Powers In Argentina And The United States, William C. Banks, Alejandro D. Carrió
Michigan Journal of International Law
This article offers three comparative insights. First, it concludes that comparative inquiries into presidential systems may be useful for those interested in constitutional government, regardless of historical, cultural, or other contextual differences among nations. Thus, nations with presidentialist constitutional systems may have common problems because of the institutional presidency. The article maintains that our presidential systems are in such states of disrepair that a fundamental reinvigoration of the legislative and judicial branches is required, so that government may better serve important constitutional values in our nations.
Devolution Or Deconstruction Czecho-Slovak Style, Eric Stein
Devolution Or Deconstruction Czecho-Slovak Style, Eric Stein
Michigan Journal of International Law
This essay is a part of a broader study entitled "Post-communist Constitution-making: Confessions of a Comparatist" which focuses on Czechoslovakia.
The Unification Of Germany And International Law, Frans G. Von Der Dunk, Peter H. Kooijmans
The Unification Of Germany And International Law, Frans G. Von Der Dunk, Peter H. Kooijmans
Michigan Journal of International Law
What role these rights and obligations could have played is the central theme of this article. However, in view of the enormous complexity of the problems involved, this article can do no more than provide a general overview. Sections II through VII will first sketch the outlines of the rights and obligations confronting the two German States before unification. Section VIII will compare those outlines to the actual political outcome of the unification process. The former six Sections will explore a number of different contexts in which legal rights and obligations could have been found.
Article 235 Of The Treaty Establishing The European Economic Community: Potential Conflicts Between The Dynamics Of Lawmaking In The Community And National Constitutional Principles, Franziska Tschofen
Michigan Journal of International Law
The purpose of this essay is to analyze the extent to which the present interpretation and application of article 235 of the Treaty appears to be incompatible with basic national constitutional safeguards such as the principles of democracy, the "Rule of Law," sovereignty and federalism and to discuss ways to reconcile potential incompatibilities. To this end, Part I will explore the scope of the authority of EEC organs under article 235 as delimited by the European Court of Justice and legal scholars. Part II will analyze potential conflicts between Community powers exercised pursuant to article 235 of the Treaty and …
German Unification: Constitutional And International Implications, Albrecht Randelzhofer
German Unification: Constitutional And International Implications, Albrecht Randelzhofer
Michigan Journal of International Law
A discussion about the legal problems of German unification, taking into account the realms of German constitutional law, public international law, and the law of the European Communities.
Two Firsts: A Comparative Study Of The American And The Polish Constitutions, Rett R. Ludwikowski
Two Firsts: A Comparative Study Of The American And The Polish Constitutions, Rett R. Ludwikowski
Michigan Journal of International Law
This article is only an introductory study to further inquiry. It focuses on the first two constitutions in the world: the American Constitution of 1787 and the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791. Furthermore, the emphasis of this essay will be disposed of in a different manner than in the above mentioned studies. The author's purpose is not to add another article to the numerous works already devoted to American Constitutional development; instead, the following remarks will emphasize Polish constitutional history, and treat the American constitutional experience as a background for comparison.
History Of Michigan Constitutional Provision Prohibiting A General Revision Of The Laws, W L. Jenks
History Of Michigan Constitutional Provision Prohibiting A General Revision Of The Laws, W L. Jenks
Michigan Law Review
Alone among the states of the Union, Michigan has, since i85o, pr6hibited any general revision of the laws and permits only a compilation of laws in force without alteration. As practically all the neighboring states, as well as New York, from which much of the early legislatiorf of Michigan was derived, have continued to revise their statutes from time to time, it may be interesting to see why Michigan alone has thought it desirable not only to stop the practice which it followed until I85o, but to prevent effectually its legislature from ever attempting it in the future.
New Hampshire Constitutional Convention, Leonard D. White
New Hampshire Constitutional Convention, Leonard D. White
Michigan Law Review
New Hampshire's tenth constitutional convention, upon whose labors the voters will pass judgment in November, 1920, offers a striking contrast to most constitutional conventions of recent years.' It met originally in June, 1918, sat for three days, during which it organized, appointed its committees, debated andt disposed of an important constitutional question, and then adjourned awaiting the quieter days of peace. Upon reconvening in January, igo, it concluded its work within seventeen days, at an expense of less than $5oooo, and proposed only seven amendments, five of which had been submitted to the voters by previous conventions. For a body …
Constitution Of The Empire Of Japan, George A. Malcolm
Constitution Of The Empire Of Japan, George A. Malcolm
Michigan Law Review
In the history of the Japanese people, five dates stand out above all others. They are 66o B. 'C., when, according to legendary account, the Empire of Japan was founded .by the Emperor Jinmu; 1853, when Commodore Perry, with an American squadron, anchored offside what is now Yokohama and caused the opening of Japan to foreign intercourse; 1867-1868, when there was a restoration'of the monarchy, marking the beginning of the Meiji Era of Constitutionalism; and 1889, when the Constitution of Japan was promulgated.
Power To Appoint To Office--Its Location And Limits, Floyd R. Mechem
Power To Appoint To Office--Its Location And Limits, Floyd R. Mechem
Articles
At no other time in the judicial history of this country, if the evidence of the reported cases is to be relied upon, have there been so many and so bitter contests over all of the questions growing out of the title to public offices, as during the last ten or twelve years. This is undoubtedly largely accounted for by the fact that within that period a large number of the states have put in operation radically changed methods of conducting elections, based upon or practically incorporating what is popularly known as the Australian ballot system. In making these changes, …