Law Commons^™

States And Status: A Study Of Geographical Disparities For Immigrant Youth, Laila Hlass

Faculty Scholarship

This article looks at the legal and practical challenges arising out of a particular immigration protection for abandoned, abused, and neglected child migrants called “Special Immigrant Juvenile Status” (SIJS). This benefit, which is a pathway to legal permanent residence and citizenship, is the only area within federal immigration law that requires a state court to take action in order for immigration authorities to consider an individual’s eligibility for relief. Using an original data set of roughly 12,000 SIJS applications from the Department of Homeland Security in June 2013, this article describes trends over time and by state regarding the number …

Obama Administration’S Position On The Un Torture Convention: New? Yes. Significant? Not So Much, Gabor Rona

Online Publications

Could it be that American international law experts and human rights advocates are suffering from some form of Stockholm Syndrome — so many defeats and dashed hopes at the hands of our government that we sometimes take excessive comfort in small and imaginary crumbs that it drops for us? For an example of this, look no further than the United States’ appearance last week before the UN’s Committee against Torture in Geneva – the body established by the Convention against Torture (CAT) to monitor State compliance with the Convention.

Toward Win-Win Sustainable Development, Linda Moon

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

An interview with Lisa Sachs, Director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment.

So We Ran..., Sara R. Bias

Student Publications

This paper tells the true story of a Hungarian refugee who's family fled the communist regime there in 1971. Gabriella Bercze's story reflects on what it was like to live in Hungary under communist rule, and her family's experience in escaping the country, and fleeing to Italy, where they lived in a refugee camp for months before immigrating to the United States in the early 70s.

Italy’S Refugee Burden And The Role Of The Eu In Asylum Cases, Sara R. Bias

Student Publications

Italy's unique geographic location at the coast of the Mediteranean Sea gives much opportunity for the international community to criticize its dealings with asylum seekers crossing the body of water to enter Europe. The UNHCR reported that as of October 2014, 165,000 asylum seekers had taken dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea; of those 165,000 people, Italy received 140,000.

Joint Submission To The U.N. Committee Against Torture Concerning The United States’ Mistreatment Of Immigrant Detainees In Violation Of The Convention Against Torture And Other Cruel, Inhuman Or Degrading Treatment Or Punishment In Relation To The United States 5th Periodic Report On The Convention Against Torture (2014), Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak, Steven D. Schwinn, Jennifer Chan, John Marshall Law School International Human Rights Clinic

UIC Law White Papers

This report relates to the mistreatment and abuse that adult immigrant detainees suffer in United States detention facilities. It is submitted in response to the United States’ periodic report relating to the Convention Against Torture (CAT) and specifically addresses the deplorable conditions of detention, the use of solitary confinement, the problem of sexual violence in detention and the lack of investigation of such acts, the refoulement of detainees who face risk of torture, the enforcement of the non-derogable prohibition of torture, and the prevention of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This report discusses current practices of the U.S. …

Getting Kids Out Of Harm's Way: The United States' Obligation To Operationalize The Best Interest Of The Child Principle For Unaccompanied Minors, Erin B. Corcoran

Law Faculty Scholarship

The government estimates by the end of the fiscal year over 90,000 children will enter the United States. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 58% of these children were forcibly displaced and are potentially in need of international protection. However, in U.S. immigration law unaccompanied children are often seen as illegal migrants and law enforcement prioritizes their “alien” status over their status as children. As the crisis escalates, many of these children are being housed at emergency shelters in icebox-cold cells – nicknamed hierleras, Spanish for freezers, with no access to food or medical care, while DHS …

The Uphill Battle To Hold Us Corporations Accountable For Abuses Abroad, Lauren Carasik

Media Presence

No abstract provided.

Health Equity For All: Sexual And Reproductive Health Needs And Access To Health Services For Adolescents 10–17 Engaged In Selling Sex In Asia Pacific, Brendan M. Conner, Ayesha Mago, Sarah Middleton-Lee

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

On The Effectiveness Of Private Security Guards On Board Merchant Ships Off The Coast Of Somalia -- Where Is The Piracy? What Are The Legal Ramifications?, Barry H. Dubner, Claudia Pastorius

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Obama Continues Bush’S Policies In Venezuela, Lauren Carasik

Media Presence

No abstract provided.

Humanitarian Intervention Post-Syria: A Grotian Moment, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Grotian Moment is a term that signifies a "paradigm-shifting development in which new rules and doctrines of customary international law emerge with unusual rapidity and acceptance." A Grotian Moment is thus "an instance in which a fundamental change in the exiting international system happens, thereby provoking the emergence of a new principle of customary law with outstanding speed." Professor Richard Falk invented the term Grotian Moment in 1985. Since then, the term has been employed by experts in a variety of ways. Here, I will adopt the following meaning of Grotian Moment as proposed by Professor Michael Scharf: "a transformative …

Responsibility For Regime Change, Jay Butler

Faculty Publications

What obligations does a state have after it forcibly overthrows the regime of another state or territory? The Hague Regulations and the Fourth Geneva Convention provide some answers, but their prohibition on interfering with the governing structure of the targeted territory is outmoded. Based on a careful examination of subsequent practice of the parties to the conventions, this Article asserts a new interpretation of these treaties and argues that regime changers are now under positive obligations in the postwar period and beyond.

Through their conduct and evaluation of modern regime-change missions, states, both individually and acting collectively through international organizations, …

The Us And Human Rights: A Federalist Society Debate, Peter Margulies

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Reply To Wittes On The United States And Extraterritoriality, Peter Margulies

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Extraterritoriality And Human Rights: Time For A Change In The U.S. View?, Peter Margulies

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The U.N. Committee Against Torture And Eradication Of Torture In Health Care Settings, Claudio Grossman

Reports

This article explains that the United Nations Committee against Torture (hereinafter “the Committee”) has played a significant role in addressing the serious problem of torture in health care settings. In particular, the Committee’s Concluding Observations and Recommendations under Article 19 of the Convention against Torture have been an important tool in this area. The Committee has used these means to remind States parties of their obligation to provide adequate health care for persons held in detention centers and prisons, to address abuses and poor conditions in mental health institutions and psychiatric facilities, and to denounce the practice of punishing or …

The Us Should Respect Venezuela’S Democracy, Lauren Carasik

Media Presence

No abstract provided.

U.S. Immigration And Custom Enforcement’S New Directive On Segregation: Why We Need Further Protections (2014), John Marshall International Human Rights Clinic

UIC Law White Papers

This report addresses the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) September 2013 directive concerning the use of segregation and why it does not provide sufficient protection to detainees. It specifically addresses the changes the directive makes in the use of segregation, the identification of individuals with special vulnerabilities, the review process of detainees in segregation, and the reporting procedures required of detention facilities. This report examines previous attempts to implement immigrant detention standards and sheds light on current practices by detention facilities throughout the United States in relation to their use of solitary confinement. It recommends that ICE should strictly …

Cholera As A Grave Violation Of The Right To Water In Haiti (2014), Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak, Steven D. Schwinn, Beatrice Lindstrom

UIC Law White Papers

This report is submitted to the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation concerning the United Nation’s responsibility in spreading cholera in Haiti as a violation of the right to water and sanitation. The submission discusses violations of the right to water, including the role of United Nations peacekeepers in introducing the virus to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. The report addresses the United Nations’ unwillingness to accept responsibility for its role in the outbreak and its failure to establish redress mechanisms for victims affected by the cholera epidemic. It further discusses the …

Academic Extremism Threatens Democratic Values (Commentary), Kenneth Lasson

All Faculty Scholarship

Veritas vos liberabit, chanted the scholastics of yesteryear — "the truth will set you free." It's hard to see how that mantra could be echoed by latter-day counterparts in the academy. Consider the recent resolution by the American Studies Association that advocated an academic boycott of Israel. Its argument — that Israeli universities are complicit in state policies violating Palestinians' human rights — belies the truth: Israel has long been the most diverse, inclusive and tolerant of any Middle Eastern country.

Trading Away Human Rights, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Olivier De Schutter

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Trade negotiators in Singapore recently failed to finalize a deal on the long-awaited Trans-Pacific Partnership; they will soon have another chance to complete what would be the world’s largest regional free-trade agreement. But, given serious concerns that the TPP will fail to consider important human-rights implications, that is no cause for celebration.

Remarks: The Tension Between Law And Politics: Can The Icc Navigate A Multi-Polar World?, Diane Orentlicher

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Autonomous Weapons And Human Responsibilities, Jack M. Beard

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

Although remote-controlled robots flying over the Middle East and Central Asia now dominate reports on new military technologies, robots that are capable of detecting, identifying, and killing enemies on their own are quietly but steadily movingfrom the theoretical to the practical. The enormous difficulty in assigning responsibilities to humans and states for the actions ofthese machines grows with their increasing autonomy. These developments implicate serious legal, ethical, and societal concerns. This Article focuses on the accountability of states and underlying human responsibilities for autonomous weapons under International Humanitarian Law or the Law of Armed Conflict. After reviewing the evolution of …

Legal Phantoms In Cyberspace: The Problematic Status Of Information As A Weapon And A Target Under International Humanitarian Law, Jack M. Beard

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

Reports of state-sponsored harmful cyber intrusions abound. The prevailing view among academics holds that if the effects or consequences of such intrusions are sufficiently damaging, international humanitarian law (IHL) should generally govern them-and recourse to armed force may also be justified against states responsible for these actions under the jus ad bellum. This Article argues, however, that there are serious problems and perils in relying on analogies with physical armed force to extend these legal regimes to most events in cyberspace. Armed conflict models applied to the use of information as a weapon and a target are instead likely to …

Complexity And Efficiency At International Criminal Courts, 29 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 1 (2014), Stuart K. Ford

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

One of the most persistent criticisms of international criminal tribunals has been that they cost too much and take too long. In response, this Article presents a new approach that utilizes two concepts: complexity and efficiency. The first half of this Article proposes a method for measuring the complexity of criminal trials and then uses that method to measure the complexity of the trials conducted at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The results are striking. Even the least complex ICTY trial is more complex than the average criminal trial in the United States, and the most …

The Rights Of Lesbian Gay Bisexual And Transgendered Peoples And International Human Rights Law, Claudia Martin, Diego Rodriguez-Pinzon

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Restoration Of Historical Memory And Dignity For Victims Of The Armenian Genocide: A Human Rights Law Approach To Effective Reparations, Richard Wilson

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

This article argues that United Nations human rights principles and new developments in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights suggest a route to provide effective reparation through restoration of historical memory and dignity for victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Implementing Human Rights In Closed Environments Through The United Nations Convention Against Torture, Claudio Grossman

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Closed environments pose a major challenge to the full and effective implementation of human rights norms and conventions. However, many conventions contain mechanisms that can be used to further advance implementation of human rights in those closed environments. The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention) has several mechanisms in place that play an important role in enforcing and implementing human rights obligations. Along with the creation of a supervisory organ, the Committee against Torture (the Committee), the Convention provides a framework for: State Party reporting and concluding observations (COBs) under …

The Judge And The Drone, Justin Desautels-Stein

Publications

Among the most characteristic issues in modern jurisprudence is the distinction between adjudication and legislation. In the some accounts, a judge's role in deciding a particular controversy is highly constrained and limited to the application of preexisting law. Whereas legislation is inescapably political, adjudication requires at least some form of impersonal neutrality. In various ways over the past century, theorists have pressed this conventional account, complicating the conceptual underpinnings of the distinction between law-application and lawmaking. This Article contributes to this literature on the nature of adjudication through the resuscitation of a structuralist mode of legal interpretation. In the structuralist …