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Full-Text Articles in Law
International Civil Individual Responsibility And The Security Council: Building The Foundations Of A General Regime, Vincent-Joël Proulx
International Civil Individual Responsibility And The Security Council: Building The Foundations Of A General Regime, Vincent-Joël Proulx
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article focuses on a few tools at the disposal of the United Nations Security Council (“UNSC”) to enhance individual (read: civil) responsibility concerning nonstate terrorist actors with a view to opening other avenues of inquiry regarding other subversive nonstate actors (“NSAs”), for instance in the areas of transnational torts, human rights (“HR”) violations, and environmental damage caused by business entities. As discussed in Part V, recent developments surrounding the application of the Alien Tort Claims Act (“ATCA”) in the United States and the prospect of establishing a basis for universal civil jurisdiction further signal that no such solid basis …
Citizenship Overreach, Peter J. Spiro
Citizenship Overreach, Peter J. Spiro
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article examines international law limitations on the ascription of citizenship and national self-definition. The United States is exceptionally generous in its extension of citizenship. Alone among the major developed states, it extends citizenship to almost all persons in its territory at the moment of birth. This birthright citizenship is constitutionally protected under the Fourteenth Amendment. At the same time that it is generous at the front end, U.S. citizenship is sticky at the back. Termination of citizenship on the individual’s part can involve substantial fees. Expatriation is contingent on tax compliance and, in some cases, will implicate the recognition …
A Global Perspective On Citizenship-Based Taxation, Allison Christians
A Global Perspective On Citizenship-Based Taxation, Allison Christians
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article contends that, with regard to individuals who reside permanently outside of the United States, the global assistance sought under FATCA to enforce U.S. income taxation solely on the basis of citizenship violates international law. It argues that insisting upon foreign cooperation with the FATCA regime, under threat of serious economic penalties, is inconsistent with universally accepted norms regarding appropriate limits to the state’s jurisdiction to tax, while also being normatively unjustified. Accordingly, FATCA should be rejected by all other nation states to the extent it imposes any obligations with respect to individuals who permanently reside outside of, and …
Security Council Resolution 1887 And The Quest For Nuclear Disarmament, Usman Ahmed, Raghav Thapar
Security Council Resolution 1887 And The Quest For Nuclear Disarmament, Usman Ahmed, Raghav Thapar
Michigan Journal of International Law
Nuclear weapons pose an increased international threat to security in the modem era. Cheap transportation and the opening of national borders for trade have made it easy for nuclear materials to cross national boundaries. Informal networks have sprouted up, facilitating the proliferation and exchange of nuclear materials and the technology required to turn those materials into weapons. Advances in technology have made it easier to enrich uranium, instilling concerns of increased nuclear weapons proliferation. These changes in technology, the development of informal nuclear networks, and lax security in safeguarding weapons by states such as Russia and Pakistan have fueled global …
Identifying And Enforcing Back-End Electoral Rights In International Human Rights Law, Katherine A. Wagner
Identifying And Enforcing Back-End Electoral Rights In International Human Rights Law, Katherine A. Wagner
Michigan Journal of International Law
From Kenya to Afghanistan, Ukraine, the United States, Mexico, and Iran, no region or form of government has been immune from the unsettling effects of a contested election. The story is familiar, and, these days, hardly surprising: a state holds elections, losing candidates and their supporters claim fraud, people take to the streets, diplomats and heads of state equivocate, and everyone waits for the observers' reports. It is the last chapter of this story-the resolution-that remains unfamiliar and still holds the potential to surprise. The increasing focus on and importance of the resolution of contested elections, that resolution's link to …
An Analysis Of Article 28 Of The United Nations Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples, And Proposals For Reform, David Fautsch
An Analysis Of Article 28 Of The United Nations Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples, And Proposals For Reform, David Fautsch
Michigan Journal of International Law
The purpose of this Note is two-fold: first, to demonstrate why the standards set out in Article 28 require further clarification, and second, to propose reforms (both inside and outside of the United Nations framework) that might benefit indigenous peoples claiming land rights.
International Treaty Enforcement As A Public Good: Institutional Deterrent Sanctions In International Environmental Agreements, Tseming Yang
International Treaty Enforcement As A Public Good: Institutional Deterrent Sanctions In International Environmental Agreements, Tseming Yang
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article approaches the issues through the lens of two general questions. First, what are the functions of treaty enforcement and institutional deterrent sanctions? Second, what are the obstacles to the effective deployment of institutional deterrent sanctions in response to noncompliance? This Article elaborates on the instrumental purposes of enforcement as well as its independent normative function. Much of the analysis follows the recent stream of works that combines both international law and international relations theory. These works offer a rich understanding of the conduct of states and the functioning of international legal regimes.
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.
Bridging Fragmentation And Unity: International Law As A Universe Of Inter-Connected Islands, Joost Pauwelyn
Bridging Fragmentation And Unity: International Law As A Universe Of Inter-Connected Islands, Joost Pauwelyn
Michigan Journal of International Law
The fragmentation of the international legal system is not new. The consent-based nature of international law inevitably led to the creation of almost as many treaty regimes, composed of different constellations of states, as there are problems to be dealt with. Traditionally, these different regimes operated in virtual isolation from each other. Most importantly, the Bretton Woods institutions (World Bank, IMF, and GATT, now WTO) focused on the world's economic problems, while the UN institutions tackled the world's political problems. Both the IMF and World Bank articles of agreement, for example, explicitly state that political factors cannot be taken into …
A Community Of Courts: Toward A System Of International Criminal Law Enforcement, William W. Burke-White
A Community Of Courts: Toward A System Of International Criminal Law Enforcement, William W. Burke-White
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article argues that, for political reasons, the future of international criminal law enforcement will largely be at the domestic level. It anticipates the emergence of a community of courts-domestic, semi-internationalized, and supranational. A decentralized system of international criminal law enforcement may give pause for concern: How can such a system be regulated? How can uniformity and effectiveness be assured? It is the claim of this Article that, in a world in which information is power, the relationships between these courts-the exchange of information, ideas, and personnel-brings order and regularity to the system. These interdependent relationships are defined by the …
African Courts, International Law, And Comparative Case Law: Chimera Or Emerging Human Rights Jurisprudence?, Mirna E. Adjami
African Courts, International Law, And Comparative Case Law: Chimera Or Emerging Human Rights Jurisprudence?, Mirna E. Adjami
Michigan Journal of International Law
Though the potential creation of a supranational human rights court has brought international attention to the African human rights system, international law and human rights scholars rarely turn to African examples when studying the domestic application of international human rights norms. This Article seeks to fill that gap by analyzing cases from several Anglophone common law countries in sub-Saharan Africa that invoke international law and comparative case law as interpretive support in their national fundamental rights jurisprudence.
The Value Vacuum: Self-Enforcing Regimes And The Dilution Of The Normative Feedback Loop, Claire R. Kelly
The Value Vacuum: Self-Enforcing Regimes And The Dilution Of The Normative Feedback Loop, Claire R. Kelly
Michigan Journal of International Law
This article proposes a modified constructivist theory, which links liberalism and constructivism through the normative feedback loop. Part I briefly explains traditional international relations theories such as realism, institutionalism, liberalism and constructivism. A modified constructivist perspective espouses the presence of two constants: (i) assertion of national preferences by constituents for whom the state acts as an agent in international relations, and (ii) social construction of state identities through interaction with other states in the international arena.
Clear And Present Danger: Enforcing The International Ban On Biological And Chemical Weapons Through Sanctions, Use Of Force, And Criminalization, Michael P. Scharf
Clear And Present Danger: Enforcing The International Ban On Biological And Chemical Weapons Through Sanctions, Use Of Force, And Criminalization, Michael P. Scharf
Michigan Journal of International Law
Currently there are two means of enforcing the international prohibition of chemical and biological weapons. First, the international community can induce compliance through imposition of sanctions, such as trade embargoes, freezing of assets and diplomatic isolation. Second, when sanctions fail, States can individually or collectively respond to the threat of chemical or biological weapons by using military force. After exploring the potential strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, this article examines the desirability of supplementing them with a third approach based on the criminal prosecution of persons responsible for the production, stockpiling, transfer, or use of chemical and biological weapons.
Enforcement And The Evolution Of Cooperation, George W. Downs
Enforcement And The Evolution Of Cooperation, George W. Downs
Michigan Journal of International Law
The purpose of this article is to broadly characterize the political economy or institutionalist theory of enforcement and to present data that is at least a first step toward evaluating the managerial and transformationalist critiques. The first section will present a short, schematic summary of the role of enforcement as it is currently viewed in the "new institutions" or political economy literature in international relations. While doubtless familiar to many readers, this is an important point of departure. A notable portion of the debate about the role of enforcement continues to stem from differences in terminology and from the fact …
The Recognition Of Judgments In The European Community: The Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Of The Brussels Convention, Robert C. Reuland
The Recognition Of Judgments In The European Community: The Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Of The Brussels Convention, Robert C. Reuland
Michigan Journal of International Law
This article is directed at two objectives. It will first provide, in Part I, an outline of the history of the Brussels Convention from its inception to the present day. It will examine the growth of the Convention from a vague undertaking of the six original Member States of the EC, through various treaties of accession and the 1988 Lugano Convention with the EFTA, and finally to the text currently in force. Part II will discuss the nature of the Convention and the philosophy behind it. The second purpose of this article is a more pragmatic one: to provide the …
The United Nations And The Enforcement Of Peace, Eric Stein
The United Nations And The Enforcement Of Peace, Eric Stein
Michigan Journal of International Law
This essay is a revised version of an address given at a symposium held in the fall of 1986 in Heidelberg, Federal Republic of Germany, in commemoration of the 600th anniversary of the Heidelberg University. By one of the coincidences that haunt human life, the United Nations is again the topic.
Jurisdictional Bases For Criminal Legislation And Its Enforcement, B.J. George Jr.
Jurisdictional Bases For Criminal Legislation And Its Enforcement, B.J. George Jr.
Michigan Journal of International Law
The doctrine of jurisdiction-the authority of nations or states to create or prescribe penal or regulatory norms and to enforce them through administrative and judicial action- has been a source of difficulty in both international and domestic law for centuries. The last two decades, however, have witnessed more conflicts over the invocation of forum penal laws to reach persons and activities outside national boundaries than had arisen for more than a century before. Moreover, treaties restricting some dimensions of penal jurisdiction based on other than the territorial concept have become increasingly common, and some nations have legislated to prevent their …