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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Consent-Based Problems Surrounding The Persistent Objector Doctrine, Moisés Montiel Mogollón
The Consent-Based Problems Surrounding The Persistent Objector Doctrine, Moisés Montiel Mogollón
Michigan Journal of International Law
Most analyses of the persistent objector doctrine seem to omit the impact that its application has on the general requirement of consent as a cornerstone of the international legal order, and as an unavoidable requisite in the formation of rules of customary international law. The present work holds that the persistent objector rule not only undermines the consensual nature of obligations in international law, but also generates issues of normative authority, dubious attribution of meaning to silence, temporal determination, and with self-determination and equality. It concludes that the doctrine, furthermore, lacks practice and opinio juris, meaning that its validity …
Rejecting Customary Regression: Unilateral Humanitarian Intervention & The Evolution Of Customary International Law, Elisabeth J. Brennen
Rejecting Customary Regression: Unilateral Humanitarian Intervention & The Evolution Of Customary International Law, Elisabeth J. Brennen
Michigan Journal of International Law
Humanitarian intervention is perhaps one of the most important topics in international affairs. It raises questions of morality and militarism, becoming a platform for sharp debate in international law. This note discusses both the moral and legal questions presented by unilateral humanitarian intervention (“UHI”). It argues that UHI is antithetical to the progression of customary international law due to customary international law’s evolutive nature and the ongoing importance of decolonization. UHI is not only normatively undesirable, but the particular normative criticisms of the doctrine – that it is regressively imperialist and neo-colonial – render it fundamentally incompatible with customary international …
Customary International Law: An Instrument Choice Perspective, Laurence R. Helfer, Ingrid B. Wuerth
Customary International Law: An Instrument Choice Perspective, Laurence R. Helfer, Ingrid B. Wuerth
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article proceeds as follows. Part II begins by considering custom’s design features, which the authors distinguish from the canonical elements of custom (state practice and opinio juris) and the individual doctrines associated with CIL. Specifically, they contend that, as an ideal-type, custom is non-negotiated, unwritten, and universal, three characteristics that distinguish CIL from both treaties and soft law, which are almost always negotiated, written, and rarely universal either in formation or application. These design features help to explain some of custom’s peculiar doctrinal characteristics, and they cut across the doctrinal divide which is said to distinguish “traditional” and …
Asat-Isfaction: Customary International Law And The Regulation Of Anti-Satellite Weapons, David A. Koplow
Asat-Isfaction: Customary International Law And The Regulation Of Anti-Satellite Weapons, David A. Koplow
Michigan Journal of International Law
The argument in this Article proceeds through several steps. As background, Part I outlines the current and projected future human uses of outer space, emphasizing the plethora of civilian and military applications that now rely on satellites. The United States, especially, but other countries, too, are coming to depend on multiple space assets for the performance of a wide array of vital functions; the investment is huge, diverse, and growing, despite the costs and natural perils of operating in the harsh exoatmospheric environment.
An Unrecognized State In Foreign And International Courts: The Case Of The Republic Of China On Taiwan, Pasha L. Hsieh
An Unrecognized State In Foreign And International Courts: The Case Of The Republic Of China On Taiwan, Pasha L. Hsieh
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article provides a comparative analysis of the status of the Republic of China on Taiwan in foreign and international settings. Most existing literature written from the traditional public international law perspective focuses on Taiwan's separate statehood from China. This Article addresses an important pragmatic issue that international courts and courts in foreign countries frequently face: whether Taiwan is a "foreign State" for particular salutatory purposes in judicial proceedings. Part I of this Article provides an overview of China-Taiwan relations and the status of Taiwan under international law. I argue that the ROC on Taiwan has been a sovereign State …
Saving Customary International Law, Andrew T. Guzman
Saving Customary International Law, Andrew T. Guzman
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article offers a theory of CIL-one that provides a firm and modem theoretical foundation for the analysis of custom. Though this is not the first article to propose a view of CIL through a rational choice lens, it is the first to map out a general theory of CIL based on such a model.
Civil Aircraft As Weapons Of Large-Scale Destruction: Countermeasures, Article 3bis Of The Chicago Convention, And The Newly Adopted German "Luftsicherheitsgesetz", Robin Geiß
Michigan Journal of International Law
It is thus the aim of this Article to map out the international legal framework relevant for designing countermeasures against nonstate actors who convert civil aircraft into weapons of destruction. As a first step, this Article sketches out the applicable rules relating to international civil aviation security and highlights the dichotomy between nonstate actor threats and interstate threats at the base of these rules. As will be seen below, nonstate actors abusing civil aircraft as weapons of destruction is a new challenge not only in terms of destructive quality but also in a legal sense, in that the question of …
Be Reasonable! Thoughts On The Effectiveness Of State Criticism In Enforcing International Law, Michael Y. Kieval
Be Reasonable! Thoughts On The Effectiveness Of State Criticism In Enforcing International Law, Michael Y. Kieval
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Note examines the effectiveness of diplomatic criticism in enforcing international law, particularly in the counter-terrorism (or anti-insurgency) context. It is not concerned with determining what international law does or does not "in fact" allow States to do in combating terrorism and other existential threats.
Game Theory And Customary International Law: A Response To Professors Goldsmith And Posner, Mark A. Chinen
Game Theory And Customary International Law: A Response To Professors Goldsmith And Posner, Mark A. Chinen
Michigan Journal of International Law
In a pair of recent articles, Professors Jack Goldsmith and Eric Posner have used game theoretic principles to challenge the positivist account of customary international law. Their writings join other early attempts to apply game theory to the international law sources. The author has two purposes in this Article. The first is to evaluate game theory's potential for yielding greater insight into customary international law and international law more generally. The second is to respond to the conclusions about customary international law drawn by Professors Goldsmith and Posner.
Further Thoughts On Customary International Law, Jack L. Goldsmith, Eric A. Posner
Further Thoughts On Customary International Law, Jack L. Goldsmith, Eric A. Posner
Michigan Journal of International Law
In two earlier articles, the tools of game theory were used to sketch a positive theoretical account of customary international law ("CIL"). This theory rejected as question-begging the usual explanations of CIL based on legality, morality, opinio juris, and related concepts. It was argued instead that CIL emerges from nations' pursuit of self-interested policies on the international stage. This approach helps explain many overlooked features of CIL, including how CIL originates and changes, why the content of CIL tracks the interest of powerful nations, and why nations change their views of CIL when their interests change. Finally, the practices …
Afterword, Mark A. Chinen
Afterword, Mark A. Chinen
Michigan Journal of International Law
The author prefaces the afterword in the following manner: “Professors Goldsmith and Posner have given an insightful reply to my Article. It has been a pleasure to engage in a discussion of these issues with respected colleagues via this exchange of writings, and I am grateful to the Journal for providing the opportunity to do so. Most of the positions I have taken are already adequately discussed in the body of the Article, and this afterword is not intended to summarize all of the arguments made there. However, I wanted to address some of the points Professors Goldsmith and Posner …
Sovereign Immunity And Violations Of International Jus Cogens - Some Critical Remarks, Andreas Zimmermann
Sovereign Immunity And Violations Of International Jus Cogens - Some Critical Remarks, Andreas Zimmermann
Michigan Journal of International Law
The scope of this article, like the one to which it responds, is limited. It does not purport to resolve any question relating to the municipal law of the United States, such as the interpretation of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Instead, it considers the problem from a purely international law perspective. Furthermore, it does not indulge in a complete description of attempts made by the Federal Republic of Germany to pay compensation - as far as feasible - for all the blatant human rights violations committed by Nazi Germany in the period 1933-1945.
The Concept Of Customary International Law, Daniel M. Bodansky
The Concept Of Customary International Law, Daniel M. Bodansky
Michigan Journal of International Law
Review of Custom in Present International Law by Karol Wolfke
Congress And Genocide: They're Not Going To Get Away With It, Jordan J. Paust
Congress And Genocide: They're Not Going To Get Away With It, Jordan J. Paust
Michigan Journal of International Law
Today at least, it is generally recognized that genocide is a crimen contra omnes, a crime under customary international law over which there is universal enforcement jurisdiction and responsibility. Indeed, it is commonly expected that the prohibition of genocide is a peremptory norm of customary international law, a jus cogens allowing no form of derogation under domestic or treaty-based law. It is also commonly understood that the definition of genocide contained in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines that which is prohibited by customary jus cogens.
The Changing Process Of International Law And The Role Of The World Court, J. Patrick Kelly
The Changing Process Of International Law And The Role Of The World Court, J. Patrick Kelly
Michigan Journal of International Law
Two approaches have emerged in recent American literature as to the appropriate United States attitude toward the World Court: (1) the re-acceptance of compulsory jurisdiction with various reservations to preserve vital American interests; and (2) the preservation of the status quo premised on a perception that the World Court is biased or misguided, while promoting the United States government's perspective on international law. This article argues that neither approach comes to terms with the wide disagreements about content and process in the international community. Both fail to promote the goals of an enhanced World Court or a better international legal …