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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Global Architecture Of Financial Regulatory Taxes, Carlo Garbarino, Giulio Allevato Dec 2015

The Global Architecture Of Financial Regulatory Taxes, Carlo Garbarino, Giulio Allevato

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article endeavors to broaden the analysis of available policy tools to address the problems created by financial crises and discusses how, in addition to direct regulation, certain tax measures having a regulatory nature may operate to address the so-called “negative externalities” often associated with those crises. There is a negative externality when an economic agent making a decision does not pay the full cost of the decision’s consequences. In such cases, the cost to society as a whole is greater than the cost borne by the individuals creating the economic impact. In practice, negative externalities result in market inefficiencies …


From Incentive To Commodity To Asset: How International Law Is Reconceptualizing Intellectual Property, Rochelle Dreyfuss, Susy Frankel Dec 2015

From Incentive To Commodity To Asset: How International Law Is Reconceptualizing Intellectual Property, Rochelle Dreyfuss, Susy Frankel

Michigan Journal of International Law

The intellectual property landscape is changing. As Jerry Reichman once observed, intellectual property rights were islands in a sea of the public domain until domestic laws expanded to include such “innovations” as business methods, software, scents, and sounds and turned the public domain into a pond surrounded by a continent of rights. Reichman spoke towards the end of the 20th century, and whatever problems accompanied this change, in truth (to paraphrase Voltaire’s view of the Holy Roman Empire), the concept of “intellectual property rights” was predominantly about neither “property” nor “rights” (nor was it always “intellectual”). Rather, copyright, patent, and …


Identifying The Start Of Conflict: Conflict Recognition, Operational Realities And Accountability In The Post-9/11 World, Laurie R. Blank, Benjamin R. Farley Oct 2015

Identifying The Start Of Conflict: Conflict Recognition, Operational Realities And Accountability In The Post-9/11 World, Laurie R. Blank, Benjamin R. Farley

Michigan Journal of International Law

On December 19, 2008, the Convening Authority for the United States Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay referred charges against Abd al-Rahim Hussein Muhammed Abdu Al-Nashiri for his role in the October 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. Cole. The charge sheet alleged that al-Nashiri committed several acts—including murder in violation of the law of war, perfidy, destruction of property—”in the context of and associated with armed conflict” on or about October 12, 2000 in connection with the bombing. At the time of the attack, the statement that the United States was engaged in an armed conflict would have been a surprise …


After Atrocity: Optimizing Un Action Toward Accountability For Human Rights Abuses, Steven R. Ratner Oct 2015

After Atrocity: Optimizing Un Action Toward Accountability For Human Rights Abuses, Steven R. Ratner

Michigan Journal of International Law

It is a great honor for me to be here to deliver the John Humphrey Lecture. Humphrey led one of those lives within the UN that shaped what the organization has become today—as one of the first generation of UN civil servants, he was to human rights what Ralph Bunche was to peacekeeping, or Brian Urquhart to UN mediation. To read his diaries, so beautifully edited by John Hobbins, is to see a world that has in many ways vanished, a nearly entirely male club, mostly of Westerners, that hammered out new treaties and mechanisms over fine wine and cigars …


Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law., Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson Oct 2015

Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law., Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson

Articles

In this section: • Agreement on Iran Nuclear Program Goes into Effect • United States and China Reach Agreement Regarding Economic Espionage and International Cybersecurity Norms • United States Ratifies the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism • United States Reaches Agreement with Turkey on Use of Incirlik Air Base for Strikes on ISIL; “Safe Zone” Not Part of the Deal


Testing Constitutional Pluralism In Strasbourg: Responding To Russia's "Gay Propaganda" Law, Jesse W. Stricklan Sep 2015

Testing Constitutional Pluralism In Strasbourg: Responding To Russia's "Gay Propaganda" Law, Jesse W. Stricklan

Michigan Journal of International Law

In 2013, the Russian Federation amended Federal Law No. 436-FZ, “On Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development” (2013 law), introducing language making illegal the public discussion—or, in the law’s words, “propagandization”—of what it called “non-traditional sexual relationships.” Undertaken during a period of increasing domestic and international hostility, the law was intended by the government to be a bold, two-fold rejection of supposedly “European” values: first, as resistance to the gay rights movement, which is presented as unsuitable for Russia; and second, as a means of further weakening the freedom of expression in Russia. On both …


On Territoriality And International Investment Law: Applying China's Investment Treaties To Hong Kong And Macao, Odysseas G. Repousis Sep 2015

On Territoriality And International Investment Law: Applying China's Investment Treaties To Hong Kong And Macao, Odysseas G. Repousis

Michigan Journal of International Law

To date, investor-state tribunals have been preoccupied with a range of issues revolving around the territorial application (territoriality) of international investment agreements (IIAs). The importance, as well as the various forms such issues take, has recently been highlighted in the decision of the Singapore High Court (SGHC) in Laos v. Sanum. In this case, the SGHC was asked by Laos to set aside an earlier arbitral award (in Sanum v. Laos), filed by a Macanese legal entity and rendered under the China-Laos bilateral investment treaty (BIT). In approaching the matter, the SGHC set aside the award on the grounds that …


Reasoned Awards In International Commercial Arbitration: Embracing And Exceeding The Common Law-Civil Law Dichotomy, S. I. Strong Sep 2015

Reasoned Awards In International Commercial Arbitration: Embracing And Exceeding The Common Law-Civil Law Dichotomy, S. I. Strong

Michigan Journal of International Law

Unlike many types of domestic arbitration where unreasoned awards (often called “standard awards”) are the norm, international commercial arbitration routinely requires arbitrators to produce fully reasoned awards. However, very little information exists as to what constitutes a reasoned award in the international commercial context or how to write such an award. This lacuna is extremely problematic given the ever-increasing number of international commercial arbitrations that arise every year and the significant individual and societal costs that can result from a badly written award. Although this Article is aimed primarily at specialists in international commercial arbitration, the material is also useful …


A Framework For A Formal Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism: The Kiss Principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid) And Other Guiding Principles, Charles W. Mooney Jr. Sep 2015

A Framework For A Formal Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism: The Kiss Principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid) And Other Guiding Principles, Charles W. Mooney Jr.

Michigan Journal of International Law

This paper explores the feasibility of a formal legal regime for the restructuring of sovereign state debt and outlines a framework for such a mechanism. More than a decade ago, senior officials at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) proposed the creation of a formal sovereign debt restructuring mechanism (SDRM). The proposal received support, but was eventually abandoned. One factor that contributed to its demise was the unwillingness of IMF members to submit to a tribunal that would encroach on a state’s sovereignty. Another determinative factor was the ultimate opposition of the United States. Likely related to that opposition, and perhaps …


Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law, Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson Jul 2015

Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law, Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson

Articles

In this section: • United States Adjusts Aid to Egypt in Light of Legal and Political Developments • P51 and Iran Reach Agreement on Iranian Nuclear Program; Obama Administration Seeks Congressional Approval • United States Authorizes New Sanctions Program Aimed at Foreign Perpetrators ofCyberattacks and Cyberexploits • Normalization of Cuba-U.S. Relations Continues • U.S. Navy Continues Freedom of Navigation and Overflight Missions in the South China Sea Despite China’s “Island-Building” Campaign • U.S. Department of Justice Charges Leaders of FIFA, Affiliate Soccer Organizations, and Sports Marketing Companies in 47-Count Indictment


Congress's International Legal Discourse, Kevin L. Cope May 2015

Congress's International Legal Discourse, Kevin L. Cope

Michigan Law Review

Despite Congress’s important role in enforcing U.S. international law obligations, the relevant existing literature largely ignores the branch. This omission may stem partly from the belief, common among both academics and lawyers, that Congress is generally unsympathetic to or ignorant of international law. Under this conventional wisdom, members of Congress would rarely if ever imply that international law norms should impact otherwise desirable domestic legislation. Using an original dataset comprising thirty years of legislative histories of pertinent federal statutes, this Article questions and tests that view. The evidence refutes the conventional wisdom. It shows instead that, in legislative debates over …


Beyond Carve-Outs And Toward Reliance: A Normative Framework For Cross-Border Insolvency Choice Of Law, John A. E. Pottow Apr 2015

Beyond Carve-Outs And Toward Reliance: A Normative Framework For Cross-Border Insolvency Choice Of Law, John A. E. Pottow

Law & Economics Working Papers

Choice of law in cross-border insolvency is gaining increased attention, not just by lowly academics but by policymakers who actually matter. I argue it is time to bring some normative guidance to the burgeoning reform efforts. At the highest level of theoretical purity, universalism seems to have (rightly) captured the biggest following. But it has been scaled back by what I call “second-order” considerations of pragmatics to its lesser, modified form. I take that retrenchment as necessary and note how it has been deployed through a carveout-based regime of subject-specific exceptions from lex fori concursus. Given that lay of the …


From Prosecutorial To Reparatory: A Valuable Post-Conflict Change Of Focus, Nancy A. Combs Apr 2015

From Prosecutorial To Reparatory: A Valuable Post-Conflict Change Of Focus, Nancy A. Combs

Michigan Journal of International Law

The ICC is well known in international legal circles. Indeed, everyone who knows anything about international law knows that the ICC is the acronym for the International Criminal Court, the body charged with prosecuting international crimes around the globe. Created in 2002, the ICC was intended to “put an end to impunity” for the perpetrators of international crimes” and to affirm “that the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished.”1 Imagine, however, a world where the “ICC” instead was an acronym for the International Compensation Court. That is, what if the …


Inciting Genocide With Words, Richard A. Wilson Apr 2015

Inciting Genocide With Words, Richard A. Wilson

Michigan Journal of International Law

During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, observers emphasized the role of media propaganda in inciting Rwandan Hutus to attack the Tutsi minority group, with one claiming that the primary tools of genocide were “the radio and the machete.” As a steady stream of commentators referred to “radio genocide” and “death by radio” and “the soundtrack to genocide,” a widespread consensus emerged that key responsibility for the genocide lay with the Rwandan media. Mathias Ruzindana, prosecution expert witness at the ICTR, supports this notion, writing, “In the case of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the effect of language was lethal . …


Accounting For Difference In Treaty Interpretation Over Time, Julian Arato Feb 2015

Accounting For Difference In Treaty Interpretation Over Time, Julian Arato

Book Chapters

The law of treaty interpretation aspires to unity. All treaties are formally subject to the same rules of interpretation, codified in the Vienna Convention. Yet time and again we hear that some kinds of treaties are entitled to special treatment. Most commonly the idea is that certain exceptional conventions are capable of evolving, with or without the continued consent of the parties — as with certain human rights conventions. Other times the claim is that certain kinds of agreements resist techniques of interpretation that establish treaty change over time. To date, explanations for such differential treatment remain unsatisfying. This Chapter …


The Three C'S Of Jurisdiction Over Human Rights Claims In U.S. Courts, Chimène I. Keitner Jan 2015

The Three C'S Of Jurisdiction Over Human Rights Claims In U.S. Courts, Chimène I. Keitner

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

The legal aftermath of the Holocaust continues to unfold in U.S. courts. Most recently, the Seventh Circuit dismissed claims against the Hungarian national railway and Hungarian national bank for World War II-era crimes against Hungarian Jews on the grounds that the plaintiffs had not exhausted available local remedies in Hungary or provided a “legally compelling” reason for not doing so. More broadly, heated debates about the role of U.S. courts in enforcing international human rights law have not abated since the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., which restricted but did not eliminate federal …


Review Of Sovereign Defaults Before International Courts And Tribunals, John A. E. Pottow, Emily Iversen Jan 2015

Review Of Sovereign Defaults Before International Courts And Tribunals, John A. E. Pottow, Emily Iversen

Reviews

This book review probes Michael Waibel’s new book, Sovereign Defaults Before International Courts and Tribunals. Waibel's project is ambitious, exploring international attempts to address sovereign defaults over the past century and a half. Through painstaking and comprehensive historical analysis, Waibel shows how we've been here before -- a sober reminder for those thinking Argentina is simply part of a new fad in financial default. With the UN now turning its attention to sovereign debt issues, this study is especially timely. Although somewhat disappointing in the lightness of its normative content, the book should nevertheless prove helpful to those considering the …


Contemporary Practice Of The Untied States Relating To International Law, Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson Jan 2015

Contemporary Practice Of The Untied States Relating To International Law, Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson

Articles

In this section: • Iran Nuclear Framework Agreement Reached; Congress Seeks to Influence Negotiation • United States Lifts Some Cuba Restrictions and Explores the Possibility of Normalizing Relations • United States Responds to Alleged North Korean Cyber Attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment • Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Releases Executive Summary of Its Study of CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program • President Obama Seeks Statutory Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against ISIL


A Standard Of Global Justice, Steven R. Ratner Jan 2015

A Standard Of Global Justice, Steven R. Ratner

Book Chapters

This chapter presents the standard of justice that is used in this book to appraise international law. That standard is based on two core principles, or what the book calls pillars—the promotion of international and intrastate peace, on the one hand, and respect for the basic human rights of all individuals, on the other. The justice of international norms is determined by the extent to which they lead to a state of affairs involving peace and human rights, with some room for deontological considerations in limited situations. The chapter defends the choice of these two pillars. It elaborates on the …


The Role Of The International Committee Of The Red Cross, Rotem Giladi, Steven Ratner Jan 2015

The Role Of The International Committee Of The Red Cross, Rotem Giladi, Steven Ratner

Book Chapters

In the absence of a serious implementation mechanism in the Geneva Conventions, much of the leading responsibility for promoting their observance falls upon the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the 150-year-old institution that is a sui generis hybrid between a Swiss non-governmental organization (NGO) and an international organization. With its secretariat in Geneva and delegations throughout the world, the ICRC is, in many conflicts, the most direct voice for the Conventions. The central role of the ICRC pre-dates the Conventions, for the ICRC has been the driving force behind the codification of international humanitarian law (IHL) since the …


Non-Refoulement In A World Of Cooperative Deterrence, Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, James C. Hathaway Jan 2015

Non-Refoulement In A World Of Cooperative Deterrence, Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, James C. Hathaway

Articles

Developed states have what might charitably be called a schizophrenic attitude towards international refugee law. Determined to remain formally engaged with refugee law and yet unwavering in their commitment to avoid assuming their fair share of practical responsibilities under that regime, wealthier countries have embraced the politics of non-entrée, comprising efforts to keep refugees away from their territories but without formally resiling from treaty obligations. As the early generation of non-entrée practices — visa controls and carrier sanctions, the establishment of “international zones,” and high seas deterrence — have proved increasingly vulnerable to practical and legal challenges, new forms of …


Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law, Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson Jan 2015

Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law, Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson

Articles

In this section: United States Objects to Russia’s Continued Violations of Ukraine’s Territorial Sovereignty, Including by Convoys Purporting to Provide Humanitarian Aid • United States and Afghanistan Sign Bilateral Security Agreement • United States Announces “Changes and Confirmations” in Its Interpretation of the UNConvention Against Torture • United States and China Make Joint Announcement to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Bolstering Multilateral Climate Change Negotiations • United States Deepens Its Engagement with ISIL Conflict • NATO Affirms that Cyber Attacks May Trigger Collective Defense Obligations


It's The Autonomy, Stupid!' A Modest Defense Of Opinion 2/13 On Eu Accession To The Echr, And The Way Forward, Daniel H. Bicket Jan 2015

It's The Autonomy, Stupid!' A Modest Defense Of Opinion 2/13 On Eu Accession To The Echr, And The Way Forward, Daniel H. Bicket

Articles

The Court of Justice of the European Union has arrived! Gone are the days of hagiography, when in the eyes of the academy and informed observers the Court could do no wrong. The pendulum has finally swung the other way. The judicial darling, if there is one today, is Strasbourg, not Luxembourg. Not hours had passed before the Court's 258-paragraph long Opinion 2/13 on the Draft Agreement on EU Accession to the European Convention on Human Rights was condemned as “exceptionally poor.” Critical voices have mounted steadily ever since, leading to nothing short of widespread “outrage.”


Defensive Force Against Non-State Actors: The State Of Play, Monica Hakimi Jan 2015

Defensive Force Against Non-State Actors: The State Of Play, Monica Hakimi

Articles

This article assesses the implications of the current Syria situation for the international law on the use of defensive force against non-State actors. The law in this area is highly unsettled, with multiple legal positions in play. After mapping the legal terrain, the article shows that the Syria situation accentuates three preexisting trends. First, the claim that international law absolutely prohibits the use of defensive force against non-State actors is increasingly difficult to sustain. States, on the whole, have supported the operation against the so-called Islamic State in Syria. Second, States still have not coalesced around a legal standard on …