Law Commons^™

The Natural Law Basis Of Legal Obligation: International Antitrust And Opec In Context, Joel B. Moore

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) stabilizes petroleum prices to promote the economic prosperity of its member nations for which oil is a substantial export. Price stabilization influences the price of petroleum around the world, impacting the economies of developed and developing countries. Under U.S. antitrust jurisprudence, the OPEC quota agreements that stabilize prices would likely be declared illegal, and other countries might also declare price fixing to be illegal under their respective competition laws.

Several U.S. Senators have recently proposed that price fixing should be illegal under international law as well. This Note avoids a superficial analysis …

Trips--Natural Rights And A "Polite Form Of Economic Imperialism", A. S. Oddi

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article discusses the current predominance of natural rights theory in the area of intellectual property and of patents in particular. Due to the alleged problems of international theft and pirating of patents, the recent GATT negotiations saw intellectual property law come to center stage in the debate over trade. These negotiations concluded that trade-related aspects of intellectual property law can no longer be left to the public policy of individual countries, but require new international minimum standards.

The author discusses how the basic principles of natural rights theory have been used to convince the world community to move toward …

The Meaning Of Terrorism--Jurisprudential And Definitional Clarifications, Louis R. Beres

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article examines contemporary definitions of terrorism and determines that they are inadequate. The author describes five specific types of problems with current definitions and offers an appropriate scholarly remedy. This Article concludes, inter alia, that the United States should reject narrow, geopolitical definitions of terrorism. Instead, it should articulate and apply a single unambiguous standard that incorporates the requirements of just cause and just means. Absent evidence of these two elements, the insurgent use of force should be regarded as terrorism. This clearer and more objective definition will enable the United States to approach and address adversarial uses of …

A Not So Distant Mirror: Federalism And The Role Of Natural Law In The United States, The Republic Of Ireland, And The European Community, Paul W. Butler, David L. Gregory

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Article, Mr. Butler and Professor Gregory discuss the themes of federalism and natural law by examining United States, Republic of Ireland, and European Community cases regarding reproductive freedom, sexual preference, and divorce. The authors find a parallel between Ireland's difficulty in reconciling its Catholic values with the more secular human rights views of the European Community and the religious and social tension caused by federalism in the United States. While courts in both Ireland and the United States have used natural law to justify the level of substantive due process they accord privacy rights, the authors note that …

Human Rights Bibliography, Igor L. Kavass

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

It would be a mistake to assume that the concept of human rights as an ethical precept is an invention of recent origin. The shelves of libraries throughout the world are filled with books which either endeavor to define the inalienable rights of individuals or record the sad history of their constant and relentless abuse. Many of the world's greatest literary creations, from the Greek drama onward, chronicle man's cruelty to man. What is more effective in evoking a feeling of indignation about the perversity of human misery and suffering than the unforgettable books of writers with such culturally and …