Law Commons^™

Kiobel: Muddling The Distinction Between Prescriptive And Adjudicative Jurisdiction, Anthony J. Colangelo

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This brief symposium Essay addresses whether and in what ways the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) constitutes an exercise of prescriptive jurisdiction by the United States to regulate conduct or an exercise of adjudicative jurisdiction by U.S. courts to entertain suit, as well as the implications of that classification. The Essay begins with a central and hotly contested focal point in ATS suits — most prominently, in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum recently decided by the Supreme Court. Namely: how to conceptualize the applicable law in ATS suits and, more specifically, whether courts apply international law directly or some form of …

The Supreme Court And The Alien Tort Statute: Kiobel V. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., Ingrid W. Brunk

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Alien Tort Statute litigation has generated a growing number of questions about the the scope of statute, but in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. the Supreme Court finally answered one of them: the presumption against extraterritoriality applies to the statute. Going forward, courts may apply a robust version of the presumption, effectively ending ATS litigation as we currently know it. Or, they may not. The Court’s citations to Morrison v. Nat’l Austl. Bank Ltd. suggest the former; some language in the various opinions suggests the latter. This article explores these uncertainties and also discusses additional factors that may be …

Does Humanity Law Require (Or Imply) A Progressive Theory Of History? (And Other Questions For Martti Koskenniemi), Robert Howse, Ruti Teitel

Articles & Chapters

In a number of essays over the last decade or so, Martti Koskenniemi has analyzed post-cold war developments in international law, especially the human rights revolution or the emergence of "humanity law" (Teitel, Humanity’s Law). In these works, Koskenniemi asserts a close, if not essential, connection between optimistic or progressive theories of history and liberal, cosmopolitan, post- or anti-statist approaches to international law. We challenge Koskenniemi’s arguments that humanity law is associated with a dogmatically progressive theory of history, that it is oriented toward a world government, that it relies on a version of historical determinism, that it posits a …

Overview And Operation Of U.S. Financial Sanctions, Including The Example Of Iran, Barry E. Carter, Ryan Farha

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Financial sanctions are increasingly being used in the mix of international economic sanctions being employed by the United Nations, regional entities, and individual countries, including the United States. These financial sanctions have become more focused and effective as the tools and techniques have improved significantly for tracing and identifying the financial transactions of terrorists, weapons proliferators, human rights violators, drug cartels, and others. These sanctions can not only freeze financial assets and prohibit or limit financial transactions, but they also impede trade by making it difficult to pay for the export or import of goods and services.

In spite of …

Children And The First Verdict Of The International Criminal Court, Diane Marie Amann

Scholarly Works

Child soldiers were a central concern in the first decade of the International Criminal Court; indeed, the court’s first trial, Prosecutor v. Lubanga, dealt exclusively with the war crimes of conscripting, enlisting, and using child soldiers. This article compares the attention that the court has paid to children – an attention that serves the express terms of the ICC Statute – with the relative inattention in post-World War II international instruments such as the statutes of the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals. The article then analyzes the Lubanga conviction, sentence, and reparations rulings. It recommends that the ICC focus attention on …

Human Rights Obligations To The Poor, Monica Hakimi

Faculty Scholarship

Poverty unquestionably detracts fromthe human rights mission.Modern human rights law recognizes a broad range of rights – for example, “to life, liberty, and security of person” and to adequate “food, clothing, and medical care.”1 Any number of those rights might go unrealized in conditions of extreme poverty. However, human rights law has always been partly aspirational. For those seeking to improve the lives of the poor, the key question is not what rights exist but how to make those rights operational.What does human rights law actually require of states? And how might its obligations benefit the poor?

Liberalism In Decline: Legislative Trends Limiting Religious Freedom In Russia And Central Asia, Elizabeth A. Clark

Elizabeth A. Clark

Environmental Justice And International Environmental Law, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

Environmental justice lies at the heart of many environmental disputes between the global North and the global South as well as grassroots environmental struggles within nations. However, the discourse of international environmental law is often ahistorical and technocratic. It neither educates the North about its inordinate contribution to global environmental problems nor provides an adequate response to the concerns of nations and communities disproportionately burdened by poverty and environmental degradation. This article examines some of the root causes of environmental injustice among and within nations from the colonial period to the present, and discusses several strategies that can be used …

Desafíos Para Los Derechos De La Persona Ante El Siglo Xxi: Familia Y Religión / Sfide Per I Diritti Della Persona Nel Xxi Secolo: Famiglia E Religione / Challenges Of Individual Rights In The Xxi Century: Family And Religion, Edoardo C. Raffiotta, Antonio Pérez Miras, Germán M. Teruel Lozano

Germán M. Teruel Lozano

Facing continuous changes and evolving social contexts that are a characteristic of a pluralistic society, a law professional encounters difficulties with re-arranged traditional institutions such as family and marriage, as well as difficulties in redefining the role of religion in our societies, especially in relation to individual rights and liberties within these institutions. To address these important topics, the author reviews the approach to the study of the challenges facing the constitution, and in particular the rights of the individual, in our multicultural societies.

Desafíos Para Los Derechos De La Persona Ante El Siglo Xxi: Ciencia Y Vida / Sfide Per I Diritti Della Persona Nel Xxi Secolo: Vita E Scienza / Challenges Of Individual Rights In The Xxi Century: Life And Science, Antonio Pérez Miras, Germán M. Teruel Lozano, Edoardo C. Raffiotta

Germán M. Teruel Lozano

Scientific advances often go beyond the classic thoughts of Law. Rapidly, new discoveries and the development of new techniques question fundamental aspects of human existence and the future of our species. So the law and legal operators cannot stand still when faced with the challenges posed by new discoveries and techniques, especially applied to humans. In this book the reader will find many works that examine these challenges, which arise with respect to constitutionalism, and in particular to the rights of the individual; intense debates, sometimes difficult to reconcile from the moral, but that cannot be ignored in the law.

Desafios Para Los Derechos De La Persona Ante El Siglo Xxi: Internet Y Nuevas Tecnologías / Sfide Per I Diritti Della Persona Nel Xxi Secolo: Internet E Nuove Tecnologie / Challenges Of Individual Rights In The Xxi Century: The Internet And New Tecnologies, Germán M. Teruel Lozano, Antonio Pérez Miras, Edoardo C. Raffiotta

Germán M. Teruel Lozano

The technological advances in recent decades have had an exceptional impact on the model of society causing what can be considered a true "revolution", which is both social and cultural and economic and legal. In particular, the Internet has made possible the birth of a new "civic habitat" that creates new opportunities for people to exercise their rights and freedoms in a space that knows no boundaries or time limits. Nevertheless, the Internet may also represent a new source of risk for the individual and his rights, thus giving rise to new challenges for their protection. Therefore this work seeks …