Law Commons^™

Paving The Way For Mind-Reading: Reinterpreting "Coercion" In Article 17 Of The Third Geneva Convention, John Zarrilli

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

Mind-reading is no longer a concept confined to the world of science-fiction: "Brain reading technologies are rapidly being developed in a number of neuroscience fields." One obvious application is to the field of criminal justice: Mind-reading technology can potentially aid investigators in assessing critical legal questions such as guilt, legal insanity, and the risk of recidivism. Two current techniques have received the most scholarly attention for their potential in aiding interrogators in determining guilt: brain-based lie detection and brain-based memory detection. The growing ability to peer inside someone's mind raises significant legal issues. A number of American scholars, especially in …

Amicus Curiae Observations By Public International Law & Policy Group, Milena Sterio, Michael P. Scharf, Paul R. Williams

Law Faculty Briefs and Court Documents

The amicus brief argues that in a case where the defendant alleges a ground excluding criminal responsibility (an affirmative defense), such as mental illness or duress, the defendant has an evidentiary burden to produce some evidence to support his/her claim of mental illness or duress, but that the prosecution retains the legal burden of proof to establish the defendant's responsibility beyond reasonable doubt.

“This ruling will have repercussions for future cases where the defendant asserts a mental illness or duress affirmative defense. Depending on how the ICC decides, future defendants will have to meet a specific evidentiary (or legal) burden …

The Responsibility To Protect And Syria- Looking At The Future Of Humanitarian Intervention, Nikola Jana Trahan

Honors Projects

This thesis assesses the legality of humanitarian intervention in the context of the Syrian Civil War. It specifically investigates the international legal principle the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)" and critiques it. "

Environmental Law, Disrupted By Covid-19, Rebecca Bratspies, Vanessa Casado-Pérez, Robin Kundis Craig, Lissa Griffin, Keith Hirokawa, Sarah Krakoff, Katrina Kuh, Jessica Owley, Melissa Powers, Shannon Roesler, Jonathan Rosenbloom, J.B. Ruhl, Erin Ryan, David Takacs

Faculty Scholarship

As we were in the final phases of editing a book on disruption in environmental law, a pandemic swept across the world disrupting daily life and the functioning of society to an extent unprecedented in living memory. The novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 was identified in China in late 2019 and by late February 2020, it had spread to every continent except Antarctica; as of April, 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that over 148 million people had been infected worldwide with over 3 million deaths. Scientists and public health experts have raced to understand the virus—how is it …

No Future But A Shared Future, Lawrence O. Gostin, Kevin A. Klock, Sam F. Halabi, Katie Gottschalk, Katherine Ginsbach

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the fractured and inadequate state of national and global health law and institutions, revealing deeply embedded inequalities. In response to a World Health Assembly resolution proposing a special session to consider the benefits of developing a WHO convention or other international instrument on pandemic preparedness and response, the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) convened 30 of the world’s leading authorities on global health law, financing, biomedical science, implementation, and emergency response along with leaders from prominent international organizations deeply engaged in responding to …

Going Global, Acting Local: How An International Pandemic Convention Can Support Regional And Community Response, Kevin A. Klock, Lawrence O. Gostin, Sam F. Halabi

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

A WHO pandemic convention could set in place an overarching framework needed for strengthening global health security. As the World Health Assembly (WHA) debated the merits of such an agreement, a critically important regional instrument – the Treaty for the Establishment of the African Medicines Agency (AMA Treaty) – entered into force on 5 November 2021. The new agency will, among other things, ensure there is a “common framework” for addressing “emerging issues and pandemics in the event of a public health emergency on the continent with cross border or regional implications.”

An improved worldwide health security strategy is essential …

Title 42, Asylum, And Politicising Public Health, Michael Ulrich, Sondra S. Crosby

Faculty Scholarship

President Biden has continued the controversial immigration policy of the Trump era known as Title 42, which has caused harm and suffering to scores of asylum seekers under the guise of public health.1 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ordered the policy in March 2020 with the stated purpose of limiting the spread of the coronavirus into the U.S.; though, CDC and public health officials have admitted this policy has no scientific basis and there is no evidence it has protected the public.2,3 Instead, the impetus behind the policy appears to be a desire to keep out or …

Intellectual Property Exhaustion And Parallel Imports Of Pharmaceuticals: A Comparative And Critical Review, Irene Calboli

Faculty Scholarship

This Chapter addresses the topic of intellectual property (IP) exhaustion in the context of the parallel trade of pharmaceuticals. These imports, which are controversial in general, are more complex with respect to pharmaceuticals, which require additional marketing and import authorizations. Nevertheless, individual countries remain free to accept these imports under the flexibility of Article 6 of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects to Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). This Chapter reviews several national approaches—in developed, developing, and least developed countries (LDCs)—from the perspective of the exhaustion of patent rights as well as other IP rights. Through this review, it highlights …

The Labyrinth Of Data Collection For Humanitarian Project Funding And Implementation, Maria Alejandra Pulido

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My research concentrates on four NGOs: IOM, IDMC, JIPS, and OCHA which use different tools to collect data and translate the information into evidence for data-driven decision making (DDDM) for the implementation of humanitarian assistance projects. I focus on the importance, advantages, and various data collection tools which help ameliorate the humanitarian sector since it does not have a current professionalized path to enter the workforce. I incorporated four interviews, attended two conferences and analyzed multiple online sources during my project.

Fixing The Business Of Food: Aligning Food Company Practices With The Sdgs, Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment, Sanda Chiara Lab, Barilla Center For Food And Nutrition

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The food sector confronts significant sustainable development challenges. It both contributes to, and suffers from, environmental degradation, especially human-induced climate change and deforestation. Although it can provide farming communities with livelihoods and incomes, it also can fuel land grabs that undermine community rights and wellbeing. The sector feeds the growing global population, but also contributes to the epidemics of obesity and metabolic diseases, while chronic malnutrition has continued to worsen in the years since adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In light of these challenges and opportunities, a number of frameworks, guidance documents, and standards have aimed to create …

What An Ethics Of Discourse And Recognition Can Contribute To A Critical Theory Of Refugee Claim Adjudication, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Thanks to Axel Honneth, recognition theory has become a prominent fixture of critical social theory. In recent years, he has deployed his recognition theory in diagnosing pathologies and injustices that afflict institutional practices. Some of these institutional practices revolve around specifically juridical institutions, such as human rights and democratic citizenship, that directly impact the lives of the most desperate migrants. Hence it is worthwhile asking what recognition theory can add to a critical theory of migration. In this paper, I argue that, although its contribution to a critical theory of migration is limited, it nonetheless carves out a unique body …

What An Ethics Of Discourse And Recognition Can Contribute To A Critical Theory Of Refugee Claim Adjudication: Reclaiming Epistemic Justice For Gender-Based Asylum Seekers, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Abstract: Using examples drawn from gender-based asylum cases, this chapter examines how far recognition theory (RT) and discourse theory (DT) can guide social criticism of the judicial processing of women’s applications for protection under the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) and subsequent protocols and guidelines put forward by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). I argue that these theories can guide social criticism only when combined with other ethical approaches. In addition to humanitarian and human rights law, these theories must rely upon ideas drawn from distributive, compensatory, and epistemic justice. Drawing from recent …

The Changing Landscape Of Women's Rights Activism In China, Rangita De Silva De Alwis, Katherine Schroeder

All Faculty Scholarship

The Beijing Conference was a watershed moment in the history of the global women’s movement and had an unprecedented impact in the Global North and South on lawmaking, institution building, and movement building. This Article details the development of women’s activism in China since the Beijing Conference and how a changing legal landscape impacts this activism. While its progress is emblematic of the inconsistencies in the progression of women’s rights activism since the Beijing Conference, China’s efforts have been significant and varied and represent a model for other countries seeking to reform women’s rights legislation. This Article identifies important lines …

Sharing Technology And Vaccine Doses To Address Global Vaccine Inequity And End The Covid-19 Pandemic, Matthew M. Kavanagh, Lawrence O. Gostin, Madhavi Sunder

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Although COVID-19 cases are declining rapidly in the US, they have reached record highs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The nucleus of the pandemic has shifted decidedly to the global south. The South-East Asia region and Latin America now represent 75% of global weekly deaths. On June 22, the Latin America region reported more than 1 million weekly new cases and 30 000 new deaths. Latin America has the highest deaths per capita, where deaths in countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Peru have reached 177 to 564 per hundred thousand. The Africa region has had increasing numbers …

National Focal Points And Implementation Of The International Health Regulations, Kumanan Wilson, Sam F. Halabi, Helge Hollmeyer, Lawrence O. Gostin, David P. Fidler, Corinne Packer, Lindsay Wilson, Ronald Labonté

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Health Regulations (IHR) and countries’ adherence to IHR guidance are coming under scrutiny and review. The IHR constitute a legal and governance framework that guides countries in responding to serious disease events while avoiding unnecessary interference with international trade and traffic. The IHR require States Parties to designate or establish national IHR focal points to facilitate information sharing about disease events with WHO, which makes these focal points critical in the effective implementation of the IHR within and between countries. On behalf of the State Party concerned, national …

9 Steps To End Covid-19 And Prevent The Next Pandemic: Essential Outcomes From The World Health Assembly, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

A year ago, the World Health Assembly (WHA) met virtually for the first time since the creation of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. Last year’s WHA adopted a resolution asking states to intensify action to fight COVID-19. Yet a year on, there have been 3.7 million deaths reported, with the real number estimated as more than 7 million. From May 24-31, 2021, the 74th WHA (WHA74) was again held virtually amidst this historic pandemic. The WHA created a member states working group on strengthening WHO preparedness for and response to health emergencies to make recommendations to next year’s …

Trump Expelled Refugees Against Cdc Advice. As Covid Subsides, Why Won't Biden Admit Them?, Lindsay M. Harris, Sarah Sherman-Stokes

UDC Law Faculty in the News

No abstract provided.

Unrwa And Palestine Refugees, Susan M. Akram

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter studies the relationship between Palestinian refugees and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). UNRWA’s role is to provide humanitarian ‘relief’ and to provide economic opportunities—‘works’—for refugees in the areas of major displacement: the West Bank, Gaza, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. Initially, the definition of Palestine refugee for UNRWA’s purposes was a sub-category of the United Nations Conciliation Commission on Palestine definition for purposes of relief provision, but it also included other categories of persons displaced from later conflicts. Following the passage of the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the …

A Bibliometric Analysis Of Research Trends Of Inter Linkages Between Disaster Management And Law, Shashikala Gurpur Dr, Manika Kamthan Dr, Vartika Tiwari Ms.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study is the bibliometric analysis of research publications that focus on highlighting the inter linkages between disaster management and laws. The main objectives of the study are to determine the frequency of such publications and also to establish that inter linkages between disaster management and law have not received enough attention from the researchers. The data was collected from the Scopus database using VOSviewer software. Literatures written from 2000 to 2020 were perused. The study consisted of a total of 1649 documents which are classified into articles, letters, editorials conference papers, and reviews. Data collected is analyzed and presented …

A Bibliometric Analysis Of Research Trends Of Inter Linkages Between Disaster Management And Law, Shashikala Gurpur Dr., Manika Kamthan Dr., Vartika Tiwari Ms.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study is the bibliometric analysis of research publications that focus on highlighting the inter linkages between disaster management and laws. The main objectives of the study are to determine the frequency of such publications and also to establish that inter linkages between disaster management and law have not received enough attention from the researchers. The data was collected from the Scopus database using VOSviewer software. Literatures written from 2000 to 2020 were perused. The study consisted of a total of 1649 documents which are classified into articles, letters, editorials conference papers, and reviews. Data collected is analyzed and presented …

Guide On Incentives For Responsible Investment In Agriculture And Food Systems, Anna Bulman, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Ladan Mehranvar, Ella Merrill, Yannick Fiedler

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

To support implementation of the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS RAI), CCSI has developed resources for governments and other stakeholders in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

This work includes an online course on creating an enabling environment for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems. The course is freely available, accessible online and available for download. Part I highlights the features and key players of an enabling environment that promotes responsible investment in agriculture and food security. Part II addresses multi-stakeholder engagement in the design of legal and …

Covid-19 And Land-Based Investment: Changing Landscapes, Tehtena Mebratu-Tsegaye, Nathaniah Jacobs, Clarisse Marsac

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

CCSI, IIED, and Namati are partnering on a new initiative to support governments, civil society, local communities, and private sector actors in improving the governance and practices of land-based investments.

Recognizing that more and better private sector investment is widely seen as critical to advancing economic development and achieving the SDGs in low- and middle-income countries, this initiative responds to concerns that land-based investments have resulted in land dispossession, environmental degradation, and conflict.

The Advancing Land-based Investment Governance (ALIGN) project involves:

• Sustained, in-depth work in up to three countries, including Sierra Leone, to support policy development and implementation, legal …

Seeking Asylum In A Modern Society: Global Responses To Latin American Migration, Rebecca Dickinson

Senior Honors Projects

The United States is no stranger to asylum seekers and refugees. The most famous seaport in the country houses a 305-foot-tall statue of a woman bearing a torch with words from the poem The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus etched at her feet: “‘Give me your tired, your poor, /Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’”^[1] The Statue of Liberty is a symbolic representation of open arms to immigrants from all walks of life. But if everyone is welcome, why do so few actually gain entrance?

US interventionism policies in the 20th century have defined the lives of millions …

When Drills And Pipelines Cross Indigenous Lands In The Americas, Guillermo J. Garcia Sanchez

Faculty Scholarship

From the Missouri River, passing through the Sonora Desert, all the way down to the Amazon Forest and the Andean Mountains, drills and pipelines are crossing over indigenous lands. In an energy-thirsty continent, there is no land left to spare, not even tribal land. Many of these energy infrastructure projects involve international investments that are protected by treaties and enforced by arbitral tribunals. At the same time, tribal communities have an internationally recognized right to receive prior and informed consultation before they are affected by projects of this nature. The Article focuses on the clash of rights between energy extraction …

Digital Health Passes In The Age Of Covid-19: Are “Vaccine Passports” Lawful And Ethical?, Lawrence O. Gostin, I. Glenn Cohen, Jana Shaw

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

As COVID-19 vaccination rates in high-income countries increase, governments are proposing or implementing digital health passes (DHPs) (vaccine “passports” or “certificates”). Israel uses a “green pass” smartphone application permitting vaccinated individuals’ access to public venues (eg, gyms, hotels, entertainment). The European Union plans a “Digital Green Certificate” enabling free travel within the bloc (see eTable in the Supplement). New York is piloting an IBM “Excelsior Pass,” confirming vaccination or negative SARS-CoV-2 test status through confidential data transfers to fast-track business reopenings. This paper examines the benefits of DHPs, scientific challenges, and whether they are lawful and ethical.

Darryl Robinson's Model For International Criminal Law: Deontic Principles Developed Through A Coherentist Approach, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Darryl Robinson’s new book, Justice in Extreme Cases: Criminal Law Theory Meets International Criminal Law, presents a compelling argument: that international criminal law would benefit from deontic reasoning. According to Robinson, this type of deontic reasoning “requires us to consider the limits of personal fault and punishability,” and is a “normative reasoning that focuses on our duties and obligations to others.” Moreover, Robinson argues in this book that coherentism is the best method for identifying and defining deontic principles. Robinson explains that coherentism is an approach where “[w]e use all of our critical reasoning tools to test past understandings …

Call For Proposals 2021: The Social Practice Of Human Rights Conference, University Of Dayton

Content presented at the Social Practice of Human Rights Conference

The global pandemic has rapidly broken down boundaries and structures—from personal to social to institutional. Long-standing practices and norms have changed radically to respond to the current crisis, while some institutional and political dynamics contrary to human rights and democracy have become further entrenched. New pressures on human rights are also heightened by the pandemic, including rights to privacy, access to health, and digital capitalism. This crisis has shown that for human rights, the perils and potentials have increased hand in hand.

The stark upending by the pandemic provides proof-of-concept for the disintegration of silos and the erosion of exclusionary …

Lockdowns, Quarantines, And Travel Restrictions, During Covid And Beyond: What’S The Law, And How Should We Decide?, Lawrence O. Gostin, Meryl Chertoff

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in vast deprivations of liberty previously unthinkable: lockdowns, business closures, travel restrictions, and quarantines. Even witnessing China’s January 2020 lockdown of 11 million people in Wuhan, it seemed wholly implausible that London, Rome, or New York would shut down. But they did, and much more. At the initial height of the pandemic in April 2020, more than 3.9 billion people, about half the world's population, were under stay-at-home orders. That same month, 43 US states were under stay-at-home orders.

What are the scientific, public health, and ethical justifications for various forms of liberty deprivations? Are they …

The Coronavirus Pandemic 1 Year On—What Went Wrong?, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

January 30, 2021, marked the first anniversary of the declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) of COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). Thus far, the world has been no match for SARS-CoV-2, with more than 100 million cases and 2.5 million deaths. The US has been among the world’s poorest performers in addressing the pandemic, with more than 500 000 deaths.

Vaccines offer the best chance of returning to normal, but circulating variants pose a major obstacle, particularly the emergence of variants that are more transmissible and are developing partial resistance to vaccines against …

The Battle For Covid-19 Vaccines Highlights The Need For A New Global Governance Mechanism, Anna Mia Ekström, Camilla Berggren, Göran Tomson, Lawrence O. Gostin, Peter Friberg, Ole Petter Ottersen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

To the Editor—Although the rapid development of several vaccines against COVID-19 is an unparalleled scientific accomplishment, one made possible through the collaboration of researchers, industry and funding bodies, the absence of a system that secures equitable access to vaccines has uncovered deep fissures in the global governance systems for health, as noted in a recent Nature Medicine Editorial.

For example, advance purchase agreements for vaccines against COVID-19 have favored affluent countries, allowing them to secure 150–500% of their predicted needs, while many citizens of low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) will remain unvaccinated until 2024.

Additionally, the power of patent-holders and …