Law Commons^™

The Us Subprime Mbs Crisis: New Legislative Agenda And Potential Ramifications For Foreign Jurisdictions, Yuliya Guseva

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

The recent US liquidity crisis, triggered by the failure of mortgage-related securities, produced long-lasting ramifications inside and outside of the US. International financial indicators and the housing markets demonstrate that the mortgage-related liquidity problems keep reverberating throughout the US and the global economy. In the US, even such giants as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which were expected to inject market liquidity, have declared considerable losses from subprime MBS. The ongoing crisis provided a fertile ground for a number of publications and research. However, a range of fundamental issues regarding legislative responses to the US MBS crisis and its international …

An Evaluation Of The Need For And Functioning Of The Federal Sentencing Guidelines In The United States And Nigeria, Victoria T. Kajo

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

The United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines, in use since 1987, was set up to reduce disparity in sentencing and its application was made mandatory. Though there are a few who are in favor of the guidelines, the guidelines as mandatory have been severely criticized and many have called for their abolition. Consequently, in the twin cases of United States v. Booker and United States v. Fanfan (2005) 125 S.Ct. 738, the US Supreme Court delivered judgment that had the effect of making the guidelines discretionary.

While the Nigerian legal system shares a Common Law background with the United States, Nigeria …

The Tropicalization Of Proportionality Balancing: The Colombian And Mexican Examples, Luisa Conesa

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

In “The Tropicalization of Proportionality Balancing: the Colombian and Mexican Examples” the author analyzes how the German based proportionality balancing test was exported to Latin America, by studying the Colombian Constitutional Court and the Mexican Supreme Court. This work is guided by the following questions: what is proportionality balancing? How has it been used by the Colombian and Mexican jurisprudences and what are its influences? Do the Courts cite other jurisdictions when using the test? Have they imported a traditional European test? Or, have they “tropicalized” it?

The study of the Latin American examples leads to the conclusion that the …

The Legal Justifications For A People-Based Approach To The Control Of Mineral Resources In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Dunia P. Zongwe

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is endowed with vast mineral wealth. However, although renewed activities in the mining sector ameliorated the DRC’s fiscal position and GDP growth in 2005-07, generally the peoples of the DRC neither participate in nor benefit from the exploitation of mineral resources. The problem is that the exploitation of mineral resources in the DRC go against the interests of the Congolese peoples. To be sure, the Congolese peoples are some of the poorest in the world. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which the peoples of the DRC …

Economic Sanctions Against Human Rights Violations, Buhm Suk Baek

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

The idea of human rights protection, historically, has been considered as a domestic matter, to be realized by individual states within their domestic law and national institutions. The protection and promotion of human rights, however, have become one of the most important issues for the international community as a whole. Yet, with time, it has become increasingly difficult for the international community to address human rights problems collectively. Despite a significant development in the human rights norms, effective protection of fundamental human rights and their legal enforcement has a long way to go.

This paper will argue that economic sanctions …

The Reform Of Corporate Taxation In The European Union, Nina Winkler

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

The Commission of the European Communities is currently drafting a proposal for an EU Directive to implement the first comprehensive corporate tax strategy for the Internal Market. The adoption of a common consolidated corporate tax base for EU multinational enterprises is one of today’s most highly debated issues on Brussels’ political agenda. Since the reform would affect all international companies conducting business in the Internal Market, it should also be of great interest for non-EU corporate and tax law scholars and lawyers. The paper critically evaluates the key advantages and disadvantages of the concept of an EU consolidated tax base …

Viewing Virtual Property Ownership Through The Lens Of Innovation, Ryan G. Vacca

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

Over the past several years scholars have wrestled with how property rights in items created in virtual worlds should be conceptualized. Regardless of how the property is conceptualized and what property theory best fits, most agree the law ought to recognize virtual property as property and vest someone with those rights.

This article moves beyond the conceptualization debate and asks two new questions from a new perspective. First, how ought virtual property rights be allocated so innovation and creativity can be maximized? Second, how can the law be changed to remove barriers that unnecessarily impede a regime that maximizes creativity …