Law Commons^™

Did Press Freedom Win A Medal? The Future Of Foreign Journalism In China, Matt Halling

Matt Halling

This paper addresses the future of foreign journalism in China in the wake of the new liberalizing press regulations created for the 2008 Olympics which were made permanent in October, 2008. Despite hope for a more open foreign press in China, the paper argues that the new regulations as applied have largely institutionalized the existing reality.

Part I discusses human rights instruments relevant to freedom of the press in order to determine whether China’s current regulations facially comport with international human rights law. Part II of this paper discusses China’s historical treatment of foreign journalists and analyzes the substance of …

Grounding Non-Muslim Ijtihâd, Matt Halling

Matt Halling

In Islamic law, ijtihâd, or independent legal reasoning, has been limited to Muslims only in classical scholarship. Prohibition of non-Muslim ijtihâd, either express or implied, constricts the potential to harmonize Islamic law with other legal systems and even raises human rights concerns. Using Islamic law scholarship and international treaties, this paper makes the case for permitting non-Muslim ijtihâd.

This paper consists of three parts. Part I looks into the origins and qualifications for ijtihâd, Part II identifies the relevant international and regional human rights provisions supporting non-Muslim Islamic law scholarship, and Part III responds to leading arguments against non-Muslim interpretation …

Law Of No Gods, No Masters – Developing And Defending A Participatory Legal System, Matt Halling

Matt Halling

This article develops and analyzes a new legal vision consistent with recent activist literature about a participatory society. A participatory society (in this context) consists of collectively owned property, has no centralized state, and attempts to maximize citizen participation in politics. Rather than nation states, society is structured as a federation of councils deliberating and coordinating with each other to solve political issues. Participatory society’s structure demands a “participatory law” be developed to manage it, and this article attempts to develop the overarching features of such a system. Once the basic legal model is outlined, the article then looks for …