Law Commons^™

Symposium On The Ilc's State Responsibility Articles: Introduction And Overview, Daniel M. Bodansky, John R. Crook

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In August 2001, the International Law Commission (ILC) adopted its “Draft Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts,” bringing to completion one of the Commission's longest running and most controversial studies. On December 12, 2001, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 56/83, which “commend[ed the articles] to the attention of Governments without prejudice to the question of their future adoption or other appropriate action.”

The ILC articles address the fundamental questions: when does a state breach an international obligation and what are the legal consequences? Rather than attempting to define particular “primary” rules of conduct, the …

Hemispheric Integration And The Politics Of Regionalism: The Free Trade Area Of The Americas (Ftaa), Christopher M. Bruner

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This article examines negotiations toward a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). It seeks to discern what key negotiating parties want out of such an agreement, and the means through which they have sought to achieve their disparate goals.

The United States and Brazil, in particular, have employed complex negotiating strategies in order to gain theupper hand - strategies prompted by a variety of economic and political dynamics at domestic andsubregional levels. These dynamics include the significant pressure exerted on U.S. policy-makers by constituent groups sensitive to globalization's impact on labor and the environment, as well as the challenge …

Employer Beware? Enforcing Transnational Labor Standards In The United States Under The Alien Tort Claims Act, Sarah J. Adams-Schoen

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The Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) arguably allows non-U.S. citizens to bring claims for violations of customary international law (CIL). Although CIL litigation typically embraces only egregious human rights violations, the scope of CIL actually encompasses all universally recognized rights, including some labor rights. This Comment explores the possibility that the ATCA may be used to litigate claims by non-U.S. citizens alleging violations of international labor rights. It concludes that the Act likely provides a vehicle for aggrieved employees to bring suit in U.S. court for violations of international labor standards. Finally, this Comment recognizes that the impact of ATCA …

Persecution In The Fog Of War: The House Of Lords’ Decision In Adan, Michael Kagan, William P. Johnson

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International law requires that a refugee have a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group. It is not enough to be at risk of being persecuted, nor is it even enough to be a member of a particular race or religion. There must be a “nexus” between the danger and one of the five Convention-recognized reasons for persecution. In the 1998 decision in Adan v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, the House of Lords concluded that a man fleeing clan warfare in Somalia could not …

A Common Private Law For Europe, Alan Watson

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A satisfactory private law for Europe is not primarily to be sought for in the most common solutions, themselves the result of borrowing. Nor in established rules, themselves the result of longevity, and lack of governmental incentive in innovating. Nor should it be sought in intermediate positions of various mixed systems, themselves the results of the features just above described. Rather it is to be found in the need for authority. This means that a common law for Europe requires the acceptance of a uniform system of adjudicating differences within a standard framework of the necessary sources of law. Authority …

The Terrors Of Dealing With September 11th, Christopher L. Blakesley

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No abstract provided.

Trade-Related Aspects Of Intellectual Property Rights And Biotechnology: European Aspects, John Linarelli

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There does not seem to be a widely held view among WTO members of the proper role and scope of TRIPS. One of the main reasons why TRIPS is controversial is because it allocates rights in innovation, some would say beyond the bounds of what a trade agreement should seek to do. The lines of the debate are often conceptualized in terms of 'developing' versus 'developed' country differences. One of the major areas of disagreement is how TRIPS deals with rights in biotechnology. Some developing countries are relatively rich in biodiversity and traditional knowledge but poor in capital and scientific …

The Economics Of Private Law Harmonization, John Linarelli

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No abstract provided.

Intervention In Roman Law: A Case Study In The Hazards Of Legal Scholarship, Peter A. Appel

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In this Article, I offer a case study of one of the hazards presented by legal scholarship in law reviews as it has evolved over the last century. The standard law review article typically begins with an overview of the author's subject, frequently involving a historical perspective or a chronology of the development of a doctrine. This background section stems from a number of causes, but many attribute it to the fact that most law reviews are student-edited. In order to evaluate an author's argument, students need a brief course in, say, the basics of trade law and pollution control …

The United States Of America And The International Criminal Court, Diane Marie Amann, M.N.S. Sellers

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The United States of America has not ratified the treaty establishing a permanent international criminal court, and it is highly un-likely to do so. This is not simply a question of delay caused by cumbersome ratification procedures; rather, it reflects deep-seated opposition by the U.S. executive branch and by many members of Congress. The United States voted against the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court when it was adopted on July 17, 1998, at the U.N. Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries. President William J. Clinton approved signature of the statute on the last day that a state, by signing, could …