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Full-Text Articles in Law

Guidelines For Physician-Assisted Suicide, Raphael Cohen-Almagor Oct 2015

Guidelines For Physician-Assisted Suicide, Raphael Cohen-Almagor

raphael cohen-almagor

This paper proposes a set of guidelines for physician-assisted suicide (PAS). This set of guidelines integrates pertinent guidelines that were adopted in Oregon, where physician-assisted suicide is legal, in the Netherlands and Belgium where euthanasia is legal, in Switzerland where assisted suicide is practiced, and in the Northern Territory of Australia, where physician-assisted suicide was legal for a short period of time.


Smart Power For Hard Problems: The Role Of Special Operation Forces Strengthening The Rule Of Law And Human Rights In Africa, Kevin H. Govern Jan 2013

Smart Power For Hard Problems: The Role Of Special Operation Forces Strengthening The Rule Of Law And Human Rights In Africa, Kevin H. Govern

Kevin H. Govern

This article will assess the roles and responsibilities of Special Operations Forces (SOF) within the newly created U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) as an active proponent of a so-called “smart power” national security strategy. In particular, it will outline the economic, political, and military challenges faced in Africa; specifically, how and why SOCAFRICA is the U.S. force of choice for promoting human rights and rule of law in Africa. With the goals of the U.S. military in mind, questions will necessarily arise as to “what success looks like” for both the U.S. and African nations, and the roles of each in …


Migration And Disaster-Induced Displacement: European Policy, Practice, And Perspective, Michael D. Cooper Oct 2012

Migration And Disaster-Induced Displacement: European Policy, Practice, And Perspective, Michael D. Cooper

Michael D. Cooper, Esq.

Over the last decade, a series of devastating natural disasters have killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions, and decimated the built environment across wide regions, shocking the public imagination and garnering unprecedented financial support for humanitarian relief efforts. Some suggest that disaster migration must be supported by the international community, first as an adaption strategy in response to climate-change, and second, as a matter of international protection. This study surveys the current state of law as it relates to persons displaced by natural disaster, with a specific focus on the 27 member states of the European Union plus …


Radiography To The Chilean Human Rights Institution: Between Law And Politics, Sergio Verdugo Sverdugor@Udd.Cl, José Francisco Garía Jul 2012

Radiography To The Chilean Human Rights Institution: Between Law And Politics, Sergio Verdugo Sverdugor@Udd.Cl, José Francisco Garía

Sergio Verdugo R.

The article examines the fundamental recommendations for the national human rights institutions (NHRI) to function with proper autonomy against the state and, also, against NGOs that try to capture the commission´s agenda. The authors analyse the institutional design of the Chilean Human Rights Institution (INDH) and evaluates the profile and the nomination process of its membership. The paper provides evidence that demonstrates that the INDH´s research agenda is associated with a partial political view. Then, the authors suggest certain changes to strengthen the independence of the INDH.


Law's Autonomy, Ashok Agrwaal Sep 2007

Law's Autonomy, Ashok Agrwaal

Ashok Agrwaal

Like entropy, autonomy exists. As such, the existence of autonomy does not need any law or laws, beyond itself and its nature. Autonomy can, therefore, be said to be an "original" state of human kind; or at least of the individual. Law, which is frequently seen as preserving/ maximising/ conferring autonomy is actually a device to usurp autonomy. The paper looks at a specific example of how the nation-state, the most powerful usurper of autonomies created till date, arrogates autonomy to itself, in the name of ‘public interest’. Needless to say, in the hands of the state, autonomy translates into …


The Two Faces Of Intercountry Adoption: The Significance Of The Indian Adoption Scandals, David M. Smolin Jun 2005

The Two Faces Of Intercountry Adoption: The Significance Of The Indian Adoption Scandals, David M. Smolin

David M. Smolin

This article summarizes international law, and the law of India and the United States, relevant to intercountry adoption. The article then presents extensive information and analysis of a major series of adoption scandals in Andhra Pradesh, India. The article uses this analysis of law and a major series of adoption scandals to present the "two sides of intercountry adoption:" positively, as a humanitarian act, and negatively as a form of child trafficking. The weaknesses and vulnerabilities of the intercountry adoption system that led to the Indian adoption scandals are extensively analyzed.


Bandipora Redux: A Tale From Two Insurgencies, Ashok Agrwaal Feb 2004

Bandipora Redux: A Tale From Two Insurgencies, Ashok Agrwaal

Ashok Agrwaal

This artixcle is based upon my work on State impunity in the context of the guaranteed right to life, in Punjab and Kashmir. The Indian state has fought insurgencies almost throughout its independent history: from Nagaland to Punjab, Andhra Pradesh to Kashmir, from the early 1950s to date. Among the many different kinds of human rights violations that the Indian security forces have been charged with, is the recurring charge that they force local people to act as 'human shields' \with a view to minimising uniformed casualties. These reports have been denied by the authorities who routinely provide other reasons, …


The Birth Of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Michael Cooper Sep 1998

The Birth Of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Michael Cooper

Michael D. Cooper, Esq.

This short article, written for an audience of U.S. based social science teachers, reviews the historical circumstances surrounding the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United Nations General Assembly adopted on December 10, 1948. The narrative focuses attention on the negotiating process and, in particular, Eleanor Roosevelt’s role as Chair of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, which drafted the landmark document.