Law Commons^™

The Unconstitutional Detention Of Mexican And Canadian Prisoners By The United States Government, Jordan J. Paust

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

A recent article by Professor Bassiouni addresses the procedures for the transfer of prisoners under agreements with Mexico and Canada and certain "substantive constitutional issues" in a most interesting way. Nevertheless an interest in addressing constitutional problems from the most thorough of approaches possible compels further comment on federal powers and constitutional rights. Professor Bassiouni's efforts are noteworthy but his stated conclusion that "[t]he scheme for the transfer of offenders is a laudable step which should be supported by the bench and bar should not be unquestioningly accepted. The transfer agreements represent a retreat from the constitutional protection of fundamental …

The Establishment Of Foreign Bank Agencies And Branches In New York, Clifford D. Harmon

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In recent years foreign banking associations have played an increasingly important role in the United States money market. While foreign banks have been operating in the United States since the 1870's, no substantial foreign banking existed in this country until the early 1970's. Since that time, however, there has been rapid expansion, and by 1978 there were 210 foreign bank facilities controlling $66 billion in assets in the United States. Most of this activity is confined to New York, Illinois, and California.

New York alone accounts for three quarters of all foreign bank assets in this country. Although this concentration …

Finance, Rules And The Indexation Of Brazilian Government Bonds, Mark J. Roe

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In roughly a dozen years, Brazil has created a sophisticated multi-billion dollar system of public debt in the midst of an unpredictable inflationary financial climate. During this time the government bonds were initially all indexed against inflation; the obligations were automatically periodically adjusted in accordance with price index changes. However, as shall be seen, the indexation of the bonds was not necessarily the cause of the expansion of the market for public debt.

The legal-economic mechanism of Brazilian indexation is not widely understood in the United States. The method used to calculate the index that provides the basis for readjusting …

The Present Status Of Compensation By Foreign States For The Taking Of Alien-Owned Property, Mark K. Neville, Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Perhaps no other exercise of the prerogatives of national sovereignty during the past two decades has proven so divisive to the community of nations or created quite as much uncertainty in international commerce as the taking of an alien investor's property by host States. Certainly these takings have contributed mightily to the intensity of the confrontation between the Third World and the developed nations. As a result of these confrontations the line has been clearly drawn between the industrialized nations and those developing countries of the Third World that subscribe to the precepts of the New International Economic Order, an …

Books Received, C. C. S., C. A. P.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

A Chronology and Fact Book of the United Nations 1941-1979

By Thomas Hovet, Jr. and Erica Hovet

Dobbs Ferry, New York: Ocean Publications, sixth edition, 1980. Pp. 304. $17.50.

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Copyright in International Relations: International Protection of Literary and Scientific Works

By Mark Moiseevich Boguslavsky

Sydney, Australia: Australian Copyright Council,1979. Pp. 224.

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Deep Sea Mining Edited

by Judith Koldow

Cambridge, Mass.:The MIT Press, 1980. $17.50.

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The Enclosure of Ocean Resources: Economics and the Law of the Sea

By R. D. Eckert

Stanford, California: The Hoover Institution, 1979. Pp. 408. $16.95.

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Federal Jurisdiction in Australia

By Zelman Cowen …

Introduction, William W. Bishop, Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This issue of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law is a symposium devoted to human rights aspects of the Helsinki Final Act. The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe was convened in Helsinki July 3, 1973. After sessions there and in Geneva, all European states, both Western and Eastern (except Albania), took part, as did also the United States and Canada. On August 1, 1975, the Final Act of the Conference was signed at Helsinki by thirty-five nations. Its provisions had been laboriously arrived at by consensus rather than by voting. Early pressures for such a conference had come …

The Place Of Helsinki On The Long Road To Human Rights, Vojin Dimitrijevic

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The ten principles enumerated in the Helsinki Final Act mark the beginning of a process that could improve relations among the signatory States. Such rapprochement would create a more favorable climate for fuller realization of human rights or values by every person living in their territories. In the other direction, Principles VI and VIII try to define the societal preconditions for amelioration of interstate relations. The term "progress" implies gradual development to be assessed at certain intervals. The assessment can hardly be unanimous; thus, the fact that government representatives in Belgrade parted without substantive agreement was not in itself a …

The Csce Follow-Up Mechanism From Belgrade To Madrid, Dante B. Fascell

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The on-going nature of the Final Act has given the endeavor initiated at Helsinki the characteristics of an active process, one intended to grow and intensify as its commitments are fulfilled, and, in turn, expanded by the participating states. It is this sense of an on-going process which makes the Final Act unique among international documents. Unlike many treaties or other legally binding documents, the Final Act, which is non-binding, provided for a mechanism which allows periodic review of implementation progress in a series of multilateral forums. This review mechanism, in many respects, makes the issue of compliance, if not …

Conference On Security And Cooperation In Europe: Retrospect And Prospect, Matthew Nimetz

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

After five years of experience with the Helsinki Final Act, the thirty-five signatory countries are about to hold in Madrid a second follow-up conference to assess the record of implementation and consider what new steps might be taken to further the purposes of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, hereinafter CSCE. Now is a good time to take stock of where CSCE has been and where it is likely to go in the future.

The Helsinki process seeks to address the United States basic foreign policy dilemma: how can two competing and largely antagonistic systems co-exist in a …

United States Compliance With The Helsinki Final Act: The Treatment Of Aliens, David Carliner

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

A casualty, sorely if not fatally wounded, of the Soviet armed intervention in Afghanistan is the once widely-touted Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe concluded in Helsinki on August 1, 1975. The Conference was originally proposed by the Soviet Union in the 1950's in order to promote its perceived security interest in Europe and to legitimize its territorial boundaries in Eastern Europe. Though initially opposed to the idea, the United States finally supported it in 1972 as a means of promoting the "security that would come from an expansion of cooperation between East and West …

East European Perceptions Of The Helsinki Final Act And The Role Of Citizen Initiatives, Vratislav Pechota

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Human rights are articulable expressions of legal ideas that can be readily identified. The developments of the last thirty-five years have created a duality of sources from which fundamental rights of the individual derive. There are, on the one hand, national human rights. They derive from the constitution and the laws of each nation, from its traditions, values and other elements that make up what may be appropriately called the "national human rights culture." They are expressive of the specific needs of each society and indicate the purposes for which governments are created. They necessarily differ from one country to …

Extradition Between France And The United States: An Exercise In Comparative And International Law, Christopher L. Blakesley

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This study is a comparative analysis of the international law of extradition as applied through the general extradition law of the United States and France. It will compare each country's approach to and attitude toward the phenomenon of extradition in a systematic analysis of the United States--French Treaty of Extradition.

Extradition is an extremely technical process that requires precision and cooperation between two sovereign systems, often different in fundamental legal theory and procedure. An extradition treaty represents an attempt by diplomatic and legal means to establish this process so that the two sovereign states can cooperate in rendering fugitive criminals …

Case Digest, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Case Digest ================

1. Admiralty

Provisions of Carriage of Goods by Sea Act Incorporated by Reference in Bill of Lading are to be Given Effect Consistent with other Bill of Lading and Tariff Provisions

Voyage Charter Extended to Cover Contract Setting Termination Date in Order to Avoid "Secret" Maritime Liens

2. International Patent Regulation

In a Patentee's Dealing with Licensees, the Policies Underlying the Patent System do not Override those of the Sherman Act

3. Jurisdiction and Procedure

Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act § 1611 operates when Treaty Waiver does not specifically include a Certain Type of Property

Transactions involving Options …

Reciprocal Influence Of British And United States Law, Clark C. Siewert

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The influence of British and United States courts on each other's statutory and decisional law has been primarily indirect. Although few fundamental differences exist between the legal principles, methods, and concepts of the two major common law jurisdictions, the courts in both countries have resisted the use of the other's case law. This is unfortunate because a United States or an English case might provide a fresh perspective for a domestic court that otherwise feels bound by a previous line of reasoning. Since cases from foreign jurisdictions are most relevant in dealing with a question of international or transnational law, …

The Harris V. Taylor Phoenix, Bradford A. Caffrey

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

One of the most remarkable aspects of Harris v. Taylor, a decision which has been described as "revolting to common sense" and, somewhat more diplomatically, as "unfortunate"' is the fact that it has taken sixty-four years for the question raised therein to come before the Court of Appeal again. In the intervening years, it has suffered, somewhat unjustly, critical attacks resulting from misapprehension as to what happened and what was decided in that case.

Harris v. Taylor is a classic example of a case properly decided but for the wrong reasons. The plaintiff, domiciled in the Isle of Man, brought …

Case Digest, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Definition of Seaman under the Jones Act Need Not be Restricted to Person Assigned to Only One Vessel

Fourth Amendment Does Not Bar Warrantless Fishing Vessel Searches Authorized by the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 to Protect Fisheries in the Conservation Zone

Properly Extradited Fugitive Not Entitled to Judicial Hearing Challenging Enlargement of Original Warrant of Surrender

Visa Numbers Wrongfully Charged Against Western Hemisphere Quotas are Reissued According to an Historical Approach Rather than Chronological Order

Payment of Irrevocable Letter of Credit May Not be Enjoined on Grounds of Instability of Foreign Governments

Expropriation of a Contractual Right …

Book Review, Roy E. Thoman

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Making use of historical accounts, and principles of international law and politics, Lee C. Buchheit examines one of the most intractable and perplexing problems of this era: self-determination, The author is a cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he served as editor of the law review. The recipient of a fellowship to study public international law, Buchheit received a diploma in international law from Cambridge University in 1976. The focus of his book is on the implications for the world community of appeals to the principle of self-determination by secessionist elements within independent states. An …

Duty Of Directors With Respect To Potential Violations Of U.S. Law By Foreign Subsidiaries, Stephanie M. Phillips

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This article considers whether the directors of a parent corporation breach their fiduciary duty to the shareholders and the corporation when they fail to obtain information concerning the business affairs and activities of a foreign subsidiary or to investigate fully the activities of a subsidiary, when those directors have information that the subsidiary may be violating United States law. These issues were originally raised in connection with alleged violations of the Rhodesian Sanctions Regulations and United States restrictions concerning sales to South Africa and Namibia by the wholly owned foreign subsidiaries of United States corporations. In response to allegations that …

Recognition Of Rhodesia And Traditional International Law: Some Conceptual Problems, Isaak L. Dore

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The traditional theories of recognition do not properly maintain the essential distinction between state and government. The only proper way to maintain this distinction is by laying down verifiable criteria for statehood, and treating the recognition of governments as purely discretionary. A state must have come into existence before the question of recognition of a particular government can arise. International personality is a consequence of statehood, not of recognition; if a state can objectively come into existence, so can international personality, and the grant or withdrawal of recognition cannot affect that personality.

The degree of recognition conferred by the United …

Free Navigation: Examination Of Recent Actions Of The United States Coast Guard, Edward H. Lueckenhoff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The use of aircraft and large, seagoing vessels for smuggling marijuana and other illicit drugs has created a burgeoning problem for United States efforts to control its borders. The use of foreign flag ships as "mother ships" is particularly troublesome. This practice involves foreign flag vessels, often containing several tons of marijuana, that hover in international waters just outside the United States territorial sea. The marijuana is transferred from these mother ships to smaller vessels which then cross into United States waters and distribute the contraband at prearranged points along the coast. The immunities provided by international law for foreign …

Recent Decisions, James M. Redwine

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The instant decision should serve to stimulate discussion on both the theoretical justifications for and the practical implications of jury trials in actions against governmental defendants, and therefore, may lead to revision of the FSIA. From a theoretical perspective, although the instant court correctly noted the changes effected by the Act, it failed to perceive the full extent of Congress' power in the domestic context. Congress, by its ability to classify entities as "agencies" or "instrumentalities" of the United States, thereby exempting specific entities from the non-jury trial provisions of FTCA, has the power, in effect, to restrict the scope …

The Extraterritorial Application Of Nepa Under Executive Order 12,114, Sue D. Sheridan

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

On January 5, 1977, President Carter issued Executive Order No. 12,1142 (Executive Order) describing the scope of United States federal agencies' obligations to consider the environmental consequences of proposed agency actions abroad. In so doing, Carter purported to establish the sole legal authority governing agency response to the concern for the global environment. Moreover, the Executive Order was intended to resolve a heated debate over the extraterritorial applicability of the National Environmental Policy Act [NEPA] which had concerned federal agencies, courts, Congress, and the Executive Branch during three successive administrations.

The controversy focused on whether NEPA's requirement that an environmental …

Commercial Hardship And The Discharge Of Contractual Obligations Under American And British Law, John J. Gorman

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

There are several doctrines under which contractual obligations have been judicially discharged. This Note will examine the United States doctrine of commercial impracticability or commercial impossibility and the English doctrine of frustration of contract or frustration of the commercial objective. The focus of this Note therefore is on those situations in which discharge from contractual obligations is sought because of supervening economic hardship. Part II provides a brief historical account of the development of the English common law doctrine of impossibility. Part III traces the development of the United States concept of commercial impossibility and commercial impracticability from the early …

The Troublesome Workings Of The Judgments Convention Of The European Economic Community, Errol P. Mendes

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The problems involved in the jurisdiction by consent provisions in article seventeen and the special rules for insurance claims in articles seven through fifteen have to some extent been dealt with by the provisions of the Judgments Accession Convention as have the problems arising under the hire purchase and credit sale transactions. Nevertheless, a comprehensive definition of the term "consumer sale" is needed from the European Court.

There can be little doubt that both lawyers and litigants who are affected by the Convention, would prefer to operate under the conflict of laws rules of their own nations which, although complex, …

Human Rights And The Belgrade Meeting, Arthur J. Goldberg

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In September of 1977, President Carter asked me to take on responsibility for what is familiarly called CSCE--the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Like most Americans, I had previously thought of the CSCE in terms of the Helsinki Summit of 1975 when President Ford signed the document called the Final Act, a lengthy text, not a treaty, but an expression at the highest political level of the commitment of the 35 states of Europe and North America to respect certain principles of interstate behavior, to respect human rights, to build mutual confidence in the military sphere, and to …

Follow-Up At Madrid: Another Chance For The United States, Harold S. Russell

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

One of the unusual characteristics of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) was its provision for "follow-up" meetings to assess implementation of the negotiated commitments and consider adoption of new measures. The first review meeting convened in Belgrade in October 1977. The second such follow-up session is to convene this November in Madrid. In the hope of strengthening this unique mechanism, an analysis of the CSCE process, an evaluation of the previous follow-up session at Belgrade, and a suggested approach to the Madrid talks are presented in this paper.

Numerous writers have now …

The Approach Of The Helsinki Declaration To Human Rights, Antonio Cassese

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The purpose of this paper is to outline briefly the basic attitude toward human rights evidenced in the Helsinki Declaration. By way of introduction, I shall describe summarily how perceptions of human rights have evolved in the United Nations since the adoption of the Charter in 1945. It is in this context that the novelty of the Helsinki exercise can be viewed and assessed.

There are many ways of analyzing and appraising United Nations action in the field of human rights over the years. This complex phenomenon can be divided into various stages, according to prevailing political philosophy. Three phases …

Preface, Journal Editor

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This symposium commemorates the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. The historic document was concluded in Helsinki on August 1, 1975, by the highest representatives of thirty-two European countries, the Soviet Union, Canada, and the United States. Our goal is to provide a forum for evaluation of the Helsinki process prior to the Madrid review meeting in October. To permit a comprehensive treatment of this important topic, this symposium combines the spring and summer issues(Nos. 2 & 3) of volume 13.The Final Act contains a number of provisions …

Charter 77 In Czechoslovakia And The International Protection Of Human Rights, Roger Errera

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Charter 77 was published in Prague in early January, 1977. At that time the document contained 240 signatures, a number which increased by 1977 to over 600. This Charter marked the beginning of a new period in the political history of Czechoslovakia, a period of public affirmation of fundamental liberties. It is useful to recall briefly reactions to the publication of this document in the East and the West, and to analyze its profound significance. It is also important to examine the major events that have taken place since 1977 and the inspiration which Charter 77 derived from the United …

The Humanitarian Provisions Of The Helsinki Accord: A Critique Of Their Significance, Valery Chalidze

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

It is no exaggeration to say that the humanitarian provisions of the Helsinki Accord have been recorded in the history of international relations by virtue of not so much their content as the strong public response they have elicited. This reaction is perhaps surprising, for the humanitarian provisions of the Helsinki Accord itself are very weak. If the convergence of East and West means loss by the West of its legal perspective on issues as fundamental as human rights, then I would not recommend such a convergence. Keeping in mind the development of such problems in the future, it would …