Law Commons^™

Advancing Human Rights In Patient Care: The Law In Seven Transitional Countries, Leo Beletsky, Tamar Ezer, Judith Overall, Iain Byrne, Jonathan Cohen

Jonathan R. Cohen

No abstract provided.

Advancing Human Rights In Patient Care: The Law In Seven Transitional Countries, Leo Beletsky, Tamar Ezer, Judith Overall, Iain Byrne, Jonathan Cohen

Jonathan R. Cohen

No abstract provided.

Embodying The Population: Five Decades Of Immigrant/Integration Policy In Sweden, Leila Brännström

Leila Brännström

Assessing Baxi’S Thesis On The Emergence Of A Trade-Related Market-Friendly Human Rights Paradigm: Recent Evidence From Nigerian Labour-Led Struggles, Obiora Chinedu Okafor

Obiora Chinedu Okafor

The objective of the article is to assess some of the sub-claims that emerge from Baxi’s thesis on an emergent trade-related market-friendly human rights paradigm in the light of the available evidence regarding the intense contestations and confrontations that have occurred between Nigeria’s politically and economically transitional Obasanjo regime and a local labour-led coalition. The piece sets out to ascertain the contextual and localised validity of these ‘Baxian’ sub-claims, within the wider context of the government vs. labour confrontations in Nigeria during the neo-liberal socio-economic reforms undertaken in that country between 1999 and 2005.

Discussion Of John Tasioulas' 'Or 'Emet Lecture: Is Dignity The Foundation Of Human Rights?, John Tasioulas, Louis-Philippe Hodgson, Dan Priel

Dan Priel

Follow-up seminar on John Tasioulas' ‘Or ‘Emet Lecture, delivered on Thursday, March 10, 2011. Part of the Legal Philosophy Between State and Transnationalism Seminar Series.

Respondents: Louis-Philippe Hodgson York Philosophy and Dan Priel, Osgoode Hall Law School.

The North-South Divide In International Environmental Law: Framing The Issues, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu

Carmen G. Gonzalez

The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between rich and poor nations (the North-South divide) have compromised the effectiveness of international environmental law, leading to deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and non-compliance with existing agreements. Through contributions from scholars based in five continents, International Environmental Law and the Global South examines both the historical origins of the North-South divide in European colonialism as well as its contemporary manifestations in a range of issues, including food justice, energy justice, …

International Environmental Law And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between rich and poor nations (the North-South divide) have compromised the effectiveness of international environmental law, leading to deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and non-compliance with existing agreements. Through contributions from scholars based in five continents, International Environmental Law and the Global South examines both the historical origins of the North-South divide in European colonialism as well as its contemporary manifestations in a range of issues, including food justice, energy justice, …

Old Poison In New Bottles: Trafficking And The Extinction Of Respect, Winston P. Nagan, Alvaro De Medeiros

Winston P Nagan

The new form of slavery comes by that relatively innocuous title, “trafficking.” Trafficking is an illustration of the dynamic character of the social and antisocial forces that conspire to undermine the idea of human dignity in the world community. The forms of crime are in fact dynamic. Frequently the institutional forces behind crime have capital, lethal functionaries, technology, and a capacity to advance criminal interests, both within states and across state lines. To the extent that crime itself is dynamic it must as well be acknowledged that human rights violations in general also have a dynamic character. In short, when …

International Intellectual Property, Access To Health Care, And Human Rights: South Africa V. United States, Winston Nagan

Winston P Nagan

This Article examines the question of access to patented medicines in international law. It analyzes the extent to which international agreements may lawfully limit affordable versions of these medicines that may be available through parallel imports or compulsory licensing procedures. It considers the concept of intellectual property rights from a national and international perspective to determine how these rights must be sensitive to matters of national sovereignty when extraordinary, life-threatening diseases afflict societies in catastrophic ways. This Article suggests that viewing property (including intellectual property) as a human right requires that its scope be delimited and understood in the context …

Property, Wealth, Inequality And Human Rights: A Formula For Reform, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol, Shelbi D. Day

Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

This essay scrutinizes the persistence of inequality in the United States through a human rights lens and grapples with the troubling disparities unearthed by two works: American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass and Black Wealth/White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality. These two highly enlightening and, simultaneously, deeply troubling and depressing books elucidate the myriad locations at which inequalities persist and the historical, social, psychological, and legal foundations of, and explications for, such disparities in the African American community. This work proposes a human rights paradigm that provides a methodology to analyze, deconstruct and unravel the …

Building Bridges Iv: Of Cultures, Colors, And Clashes--Capturing The International In Delgado's Chronicles, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

Sex, race, gender, sexuality, color, religion, language, nationality, ethnicity, culture, poverty - socially constructed categories, social tropes that relegate "others" to subordinated positions in the varied and various cultural and economic marketplaces of both global and local societies. Richard Delgado's transformational work engages all of these tropes insightfully, disturbingly, and illuminatingly. His rich literature conceptualizes persons as multidimensional, complex beings and exposes society as the pre-fabricated stage in which diverse interactions evolve. Delgado's epistemological stance is fluid, non-rigid, and grounded on subjectivity. In this essay I will focus on Delgado's latest book When Equality Ends: Stories About Race and Resistance. …

Afterword – Straightness As Property: Back To The Future-Law And Status In The 21st Century, Symposium: Liberalism And Property Rights, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol, Shelbi D. Day

Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

As is evident from the other works in this Symposium, throughout history in both the United States and the greater Western World, status-based exclusion of individuals and groups from property rights has been central to the existence of political and social hierarchies. Specifically, exclusion based on status — whether it be nationality, culture, race, sex or sexuality — has plagued our history and has been integral in the formation and development of both constitutional and property law regimes. Consequently, both regimes are at best uneven in the grant and distribution of rights and benefits. A forward-looking examination of the link …

Latinas, Culture And Human Rights: A Model For Making Change, Saving Soul, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

This essay provides an overview of progresses achieved for women in the Americas by virtue of the use of the human rights model to further women's rights and attain betterment of their lives. Specifically, this work reviews the location of Latinas both within and outside the United States fronteras. As women of color within larger U.S. society and as women within their comunidad Latina, Latinas experience different multifaceted subordinations. A human rights model that recognizes the multidimensional nature of gendered racial discrimination and of racialized gender discrimination can serve to improve the lives of Latinas as well as non-Latina women …

Globalized Citizenship: Sovereignty, Security And Soul, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

Human rights law has redefined the concepts of sovereignty and citizenship. Just as transnationalization has weakened the hegemony of the political elites (corporate economic elites and domestic ruling classes) by strengthening citizenship claims of all persons, so, too, a globalized citizenship grounded on a human rights model will strengthen personhood by denationalizing states' claims on individuals' rights. The human rights narrative has been imagined, crafted and delivered by Northern/Western powers--the hegemon--however, for the human rights model to be of utility to the globalized citizen project, it must be reconstituted with an antisubordination agenda. It must include the voices of the …

The International Law Of Game Of Thrones, Perry S. Bechky

Perry S. Bechky

Game of Thrones depicts a violent and, some might say, lawless world. Few would think that world evidences much international law. Yet, this article identifies several rules of international law observable on the show and relates them to real-world international law. Observable rules include some fundaments of the law of treaties, customary norms, and (most surprisingly) at least one humanitarian peremptory norm. These rules cover a range of subjects, including sovereignty, state responsibility, jurisdiction, immunities, and human rights. The article also discusses the special legal status of the Night’s Watch, which is governed by the most important legal “text” in …

Combating Impunity: Some Thoughts On The Way Forward, Naomi Roht-Arriaza

Naomi Roht-Arriaza

Some of the tasks needed to be done by legal scholars and advocates to combat impunity in cases of massive violations of human rights are discussed. Pathways for implementation of these ideas are many and overlapping.

Theories Of State Compliance With International Law: Assessing The African Union's Ability To Ensure State Compliance With The African Charter And Constitutive Act, Stacy-Ann Elvy

Stacy-Ann Elvy

No abstract provided.

Succession By Estoppel: Hong Kong's Succession To The Iccpr, Peter K. Yu

Peter K. Yu

No abstract provided.

Is The Alien Tort Statute Sacrosanct--Retaining Forum Non Conveniens In Human Rights Litigation, Aric K. Short

Aric Short

I argue in this article that no reasonable basis exists to justify federal courts refusing to consider forum non conveniens arguments in cases brought under the Alient Tort Statute; in fact, good reasons exist to retain the doctrine in its undiluted form. The purpose and design of forum non conveniens make it sufficiently flexible to be invoked in even the most compelling human rights cases brought in the United States. If applied properly, the doctrine will identify ATS cases that cannot and should not be dismissed to foreign fora; however, if forum non conveniens operates as it should, it also …

A New International Human Rights Court For West Africa: The Ecowas Community Court Of Justice, Karen J. Alter, Laurence R. Helfer, Jacqueline R. Mcallister

Jacqueline McAllister

The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice (ECCJ) is an increasingly active and bold international adjudicator of human rights violations in West Africa. Since acquiring jurisdiction over human rights issues in 2005, the ECCJ has issued several path-breaking judgments, including against the Gambia for the torture of journalists, against Niger for condoning modern forms of slavery, and against Nigeria for failing to regulate the multinational oil companies that polluted the Niger Delta. This article explains why ECOWAS member states authorized the ECCJ to review human rights suits by individuals but did not allow private actors to complain about violations of regional …

Human Rights Module: On Crimes Against Humanity, Genocide, Other Crimes Against Human Rights, And War Crimes, Jimmy Gurule, Jordan Paust

Jimmy Gurule

The Human Rights Module provides an up-to-date exploration of the "core" international crimes most often associated with human rights infractions for those interested in human rights and for use in international law courses, human rights courses, or seminars. "Core" crimes include crimes against humanity, genocide, other crimes against human rights (such as torture, criminalized race discrimination, apartheid, hostage-taking, and disappearances), and war crimes. There is also a separate chapter on sanctions against Karadzic that applies many of the core crimes in both criminal and civil sanctions arenas (before the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia and the U.S. federal courts) …

Out Of Tune And Out Of Time: The Relationship Between Australia’S International Obligations And Australian Constitutionalism And Why It Matters To Our Identity In The Asian Century, Danielle Ireland-Piper

Danielle Ireland-Piper

The constitutionalism of a nation says much about its national identity. Sections 25 and 51(xxvi) of the Australian Constitution are at odds with Australia’s international obligations under the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Further, Australia’s current asylum seeker policy is a perversion of our obligations under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. These failures to comply with our international obligations are at best, relics of a racist colonial history, and at worst, manifestations of our contemporary national identity. Whilst some may argue that there are other states in …

U.S. Immigration Policy: Contract Or Human Rights Law?, Victor Romero

Victor C. Romero

The current immigration debate often reflects a tension between affirming the individual rights of migrants against the power of a nation to control its borders. An examination of U.S. Supreme Court precedent reveals that, from our earliest immigration history to the present time, our immigration policy has functioned more like contract law than human rights law, with the Court deferring to the power of Congress to define the terms of that contract at the expense of the immigrant's freedom.

On Elián And Aliens: A Political Solution To The Plenary Power Problem, Victor Romero

Victor C. Romero

The poignant story of a little boy fished out of the sea after losing his mother to the elements captured the country's imagination and ignited a political firestorm. The Elián González saga drew conflicting opinions from nearly every branch of American local, state, and federal governments.

This article takes no specific position on Elián's situation. Rather, this artivle values the González story for putting a human face on often faceless legal issues. More specifically, Elián's saga raises the following important question: When should the right of the human being to be treated as an individual trump the right of government …

Is There A 'Right' To Sport?, Danielle Ireland-Piper, Kim Weinert

Danielle Ireland-Piper

This article asks the question: ‘is there a ‘‘right’’ to sport?’ In so doing, the nature of a ‘right’ is defined and the ‘governing rules’ by which that right is to be understood are identified. In short, while a number of international instruments allude to the importance of sport and recreation, there is little evidence of an express right in Australia, or in other countries such as Canada, the United States, and South Africa. Nonetheless, it is arguable that implicit in the rights of disabled persons to enjoy the same access to sport and recreation as able-bodied persons is recognition …

Regional Protection Of Human Rights, Paolo Carozza, Dinah Shelton

Paolo G. Carozza

What role do human rights play in the development of regional organizations? What human rights obligations do states assume upon joining regional bodies? Regional Protection of Human Rights, Second Edition is the first text of its kind devoted to the European, Inter-American and African systems for the protection of human rights. It illustrates how international human rights law is interpreted and implemented across international organizations and offers examples of political, economic, social problems and legal issues to emphasize the significant impact of international human rights law institutions on the constitutions, law, policies, and societies of different regions. Regional Protection of …

Principles For Constitutions And Institutions In Promoting The Rule Of Law, Jon Mills

Jon L. Mills

Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Legal & Policy Issues in the Americas Conference (2003). Panel IV. Comparative Constitutional Approaches to the Rule of Law and Judicial Independence.

Ending Female Genital Mutilation And Child Marriage In Tanzania, Lisa Avalos, Naima Farrell, Rebecca Stellato, Marc Werner

Lisa Avalos

Carl Cohen’S ‘Kind’ Arguments For Animal Rights And Against Human Rights, Nathan Nobis

Nathan M. Nobis, PhD

Carl Cohen’s arguments against animal rights are shown to be unsound. His strategy entails that animals have rights, that humans do not, the negations of those conclusions, and other false and inconsistent implications. His main premise seems to imply that one can fail all tests and assignments in a class and yet easily pass if one’s peers are passing and that one can become a convicted criminal merely by setting foot in a prison. However, since his moral principles imply that nearly all exploitive uses of animals are wrong anyway, foes of animal rights are advised to seek philosophical consolations …

Religious Liberty: Between Strategy And Telos, Kristine Kalanges

Kristine Kalanges

It has become woefully commonplace to observe that threats to religious freedom are increasing in the United States and globally. In response, scholars, human rights activists, and policymakers are engaging courts, political institutions, and the public square to make the case that religious liberty merits robust protection. Historically, these arguments were crafted primarily in theological and political terms. But as the number of those disclaiming religious affiliation rises and the political climate becomes ever more gridlocked, the search is on for new ways to make religious freedom relevant to state leaders and salable to a diverse public. Thus, during a …