Law Commons^™

The Illegally Traded Elephant In The Room: Species Terrorism & Combating Illegal Wildlife Trade, Áine Dillon

Pace International Law Review

The illegal wildlife trade has been a dilemma for decades

and remains prevalent globally – international intervention is

required now. While most countries participate in the Convention

on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

Fauna and Flora (“CITES”), not all countries have the same approaches

to combating the illegal wildlife trade. Unique approaches

can be beneficial because each illegally traded species

requires a different response, and countries with limited resources

can also participate. However, the lack of a unified response

hinders the global fight against the illegal wildlife trade.

While traditional methods to combat crime, such as passing

laws, …

President Trump’S Unilateral Attempt To Cease All Implementation Of The Paris Agreement And To Withdraw From It: Constitutional?, Phillip M. Kannan

Pace Environmental Law Review

In his announcement, President Trump stated that he would comply with the withdrawal provision in the Paris Agreement. This Essay argues that, while compliance with that process may satisfy the treaty obligation, it probably does not conform to U.S. constitutional standards, and therefore, would not be binding on the United States. The argument demonstrating the failure of the President to satisfy constitutional standards proceeds as follows. Part I develops the context in which the Paris Agreement arose. Part II briefly summarizes the Paris Agreement. In Part III, I argue that President Trump’s attempt to cease implementation of the Paris Agreement …

The Extraterritorial Application Of Human Rights Treaties: Al-Skeini Et Al. V. United Kingdom (2011), Joseph Sinchak

Pace International Law Review Online Companion

The decade proceeding the 9/11 tragedy has been very unkind to the human rights regime, as many western nations have committed human rights abuses in their mission to combat terrorism. Both the United States and the United Kingdom have been engaged in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where they perpetrated terrible crimes and violated important tenants of international law. These violations, ranging from allegations of torture to wrongful deaths, are prohibited by human rights law. In fact, human rights treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) were …

Enforcing Environmental Norms: Diplomatic And Judicial Approaches, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Environmental norms are observed because they are norms about how people respect each other and the natural systems that sustain human communities. Environmental norms are basic to human well-being. They arise out of the human condition, not unlike human rights laws. Environmental norms emerge from the fact that humans exist within ecosystems, and human society is embedded in the natural systems in which they have evolved; environmental norms are grounded in an objective reality, and scientists can measure the consequences of observing--or failing to observe--those norms. The provisions of environmental norms, therefore, exist not merely as pronouncements of governments, applied …

Defensively Invoking Treaties In American Courts--Jurisdictional Challenges Under The U.N. Drug Trafficking Convention By Foreign Defendants Kidnapped Abroad By U.S. Agents, Thomas Michael Mcdonnell

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article unravels the non-self-executing treaty doctrine, examines the invocation of a treaty as a defense to governmental action, and develops a test for when an individual (rather than a government) may assert a treaty defensively in state or federal courts. Lastly, this Article applies this test to state-sponsored kidnapping and the U.N. Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. The parties to this treaty, which was sponsored by the United States, barred one country's law enforcement agents from operating without permission on another country's soil and rejected a provision requiring a country to extradite its own …

The U.S. - U.S.S.R. Agreement To Protect The Environment: 15 Years Of Cooperation, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article will discuss the origins and operation of the Environmental Bilateral, its functioning in international law, and its contribution to environmental law in each country.

When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: Proposed Ratification By The United States Of The Geneva Protocol On Chemical-Biological Warfare, Linda C. Fentiman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In light of the Japanese proposal, the current disarmament talks, the Administration's review of the United States' chemical warfare policy, the Defense Department's request for appropriations for production of binary weapons, and the as yet unratified Convention on Bacteriological Weapons and Toxins, it seems more important than ever for the Senate to give its advice and consent to the ratification of the Geneva Protocol. Since the dispute between the Administration and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is over the interpretation of the scope of the Protocol's chemical warfare prohibition, it seems particularly appropriate at this time to determine whether or …