Law Commons^™

Theorizing Transnational Law - Observations On A Birthday, Susanne Baer

Articles

There are many ways to theorize transnational law. As always, there is a mainstream, and there are “sidestreams.” However, it may be more interesting to consider from which direction such theories develop. Here, in appreciation of what the German Law Journal did to transnational legal conversations, I suggest to consider three directions in transnational legal studies: (1) theorizing from above; (2) theorizing from below; and (3) theorizing from inside. As you will see, much of the theories are in the German Law Journal (GLJ).

Development Of The Organised Crime Threat Assessment (Octa) And Internal Security Architecture, Benjamin J. Goold

All Faculty Publications

This briefing paper provides an overview of the existing European Union approach to issues of security, counter-terrorism, and organised crime. In particular, it focuses on the role of the European Security Strategy (ESS) in the formation of policy and in the development of new institutions and institutional arrangements within the EU, and the influence of the Organised Crime Threat Assessment (OCTA). The paper argues that steps should be taken to streamline and rationalise the existing structures concerned with security, counter-terrorism and organised crime, and strongly recommends that a “Committee on Internal Security” be established to act as a single point …

Study On Online Hotel Reservation Systems, Frank Alleweldt, Klaus Tonner, Marc Mcdonald

Articles

This study, conducted by Civic Consulting, looks at both pre-contractual and contractual matters concerning online hotel reservation systems, examines relevant Community rules, identifies gaps and, where needed, discusses possible policy options. Key conclusions The study shows that the impact of Community law on online hotel

International Developments In Consumer Financial Services Law 2007-2008, Gregory M. Duhl

Faculty Scholarship

This Survey reviews international consumer financial services law developments in 2007 and 2008 (through August 15, 2008) in the areas of payment systems, the European Convention of Human Rights, insolvency laws, and consumer privacy. This review makes the contrast between the European and U.S. approaches to consumer regulation apparent, in particular the EU preference for direct regulation as compared to the tradition of private remedies in the United States.

Writer's Block - Resolve To Become A Better Writer, David Spratt

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

International Regulatory Definitions Of Animal Distress In Animal Research And Animal Production – An Overview., Jon Richmond

Laws and Legislation Collection

Various systems already exist to judge animal welfare - of which distress can be one component - in the laboratory setting (see Hendriksen and Morton 1998). Many rely on nonspecific measures; that is they may be manifestations of a number of states, not all of them necessarily indicative of poor welfare. Certainly, there is already good provision for methods to recognise some of the commoner manifestations of distress, arguably they are sufficiently meaningful to categorise various distress states, though to my mind they are for the present still not suited for use as means of strictly quantifying the negative impact/suffering …

Eu Law, International Law And Economic Sanctions Against Terrorism: The Judiciary In Distress?, P. Takis Tridimas

Journal Articles

This article seeks to examine the relationship between European Union law, international law, and the protection of fundamental rights in the light of recent case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Court of First Instance (CFI) relating to economic sanctions against individuals. On 3 September 2008, the ECJ delivered its long-awaited judgment in Kadi and Al Barakaat on appeal from the CFI. In its judgment under appeal, the CFI had held that the European Community (EC) is competent to adopt regulations imposing economic sanctions against private organizations in pursuance of UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions seeking …

The European Court’S Political Power Across Time And Space, Karen Alter

Faculty Working Papers

This article extracts from Alter's larger body of work insights on how the political and social context shapes the ECJ's political power and influence. Part I considers how the political context facilitated the constitutionalization of the European legal system. Part II considers how the political context helps determine where and when the current ECJ influences European politics. Part III draws lessons from the ECJ's experience, speculating on how the European context in specific allowed the ECJ to become such an exceptional international court. Part IV lays out a research agenda to investigate the larger question of how social support shapes …

Lessons Learned From The European Union’S Climate Policy, David Hunter

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

INTRODUCTION The United States, after ignoring climate policy for the last decade, now finds itself debating the merits of a national cap-and-trade policy. Currently, U.S. environmentalists are divided over whether to support the watered-down American Climate and Energy Security bill (ACES), also known as the Waxman-Markey bill. ACES passed the U.S. House of Representatives only after significant changes were made to address concerns from the coal industry and other powerful forces; and the bill likely faces even more compromises if it is to be passed in the U.S. Senate.' Supporters of the Waxman-Markey bill believe it is best to establish …

Inter-American System, Claudia Martin

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Harmonizing European Copyright Law: The Challenges Of Better Lawmaking, Mireille Van Eechoud, P Bernt Hugenholtz, Stef Van Gompel, Lucie Guibault, Natali Helberger

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Nobody likes today’s copyright law. Widespread unauthorized use of copyright material proliferates with impunity, while citizens and users protest that intrusive copyright and related rights law stifle cultural expression. Equipment manufacturers and intermediaries complain about yet more ’security’ features that complicate their products and services and encumber marketing, while content owners desperately want enforcement to work. And of course it is crucial that whatever regulatory instruments come into play must not age prematurely in Internet time. The European Union faces the daunting challenge of articulating coherent copyright policies that satisfy these contradictory multiple demands. Yet the legal framework must conform …

Canada, The Eu And Arctic Ocean Governance: A Tangled And Shifting Seascape And Future Directions, David Vanderzwaag, Timo Koivurova, Erik J. Molenaar

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The objective of this paper is to examine (in a historical perspective) the roles of the European Union (EU) and Canada in governance and regulation of human activities in the Arctic Ocean. Section two describes the existing “tangled” nature of governance in the Arctic with a focus on law of the sea, approaches and challenges in the region, as well as on EU and Canadian participation in the activities of the Arctic Council. The “shifting seascape” in governance is next highlighted in section three with a review of increasing calls for change from scholars and other groups, recent governance initiatives …

Perennial Outsiders: The Educational Experience Of Turkish Youth In Germany, Catherine J. Ross

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

'When you talk about the debate on Turkey’s E.U. membership,' a German of Turkish origin who serves in the Parliament of the European Union explains, 'it immediately becomes a talk about head-scarf issues and building mosques.' This is in part because Western Europe has long considered itself a 'Christian Club.' The treatment of second-generation Turks in Germany and other European countries offers a window into the obstacles that must be confronted and overcome before Turks gain full equality in Europe. Totaling about four million, persons of Turkish origin make up the largest immigrant group in Europe, and virtually all of …

Globalization And Standards: The Logic Of Two-Level Game, Jane K. Winn

Articles

The emergence of a global information architecture has fueled regulatory competition among nations and regions to set information and communication technology (“ICT”) standards. Such regulatory competition can be thought of as a two level game: level one is competition to set ICT standards within a nation or region; level two is competition to set the global ICT standards with reference to local standards.

The United States and the European Union are global leaders in setting ICT standards, and compete to set global ICT standards based on different local regulatory cultures: the U.S. is a “liberal market economy” (“LME”) within which …

The Andean Tribunal Of Justice And Its Interlocutors: Understanding Preliminary Reference Patterns In The Andean Community, Laurence R. Helfer, Karen J. Alter

Faculty Scholarship

In the European Union, national courts have been key intermediaries in helping to bolster and expand the authority of the European Court of Justice through its preliminary reference mechanism. This article analyzes the role of national judges in the Andean Community, a regional legal system whose judicial institution - the Andean Tribunal of Justice (ATJ) - was modeled directly on its European predecessor. Our analysis is based on an original coding of every publically available national court referral to the ATJ from 1987 to 2007 and interviews with over forty participants in the Andean legal system. We find that the …

Nation-Building In The Penumbra: Notes From A Liminal State, Monica E. Eppinger

All Faculty Scholarship

The emergence of post-Socialist legal orders is reshaping some of the familiar terrain of comparative legal studies. This Article, invited as part of an effort to think about the topic of "What the Rest think of the West," reconsiders the vast legal re-codification projects that stand at the center of "nation-building" projects in formerly Socialist states. Such projects, and the rupture from which they emerge, challenge essentialist or static notions of identity and assumptions of where the West is or where the Rest begin. Anthropological concepts of "liminality" and "deixis" assist in understanding Ukrainian legal experts' thinking on legal reforms …

The United Nations, The European Union, And The King Of Sweden: Economic Sanctions And Individual Rights In A Plural World Order, Daniel Halberstam, Eric Stein

Articles

In the last decade, economic sanctions have become a major instrumentality of the UN Security Council in the struggle against terrorism and lawless violence endangering peace. It is not surprising that innocents would be ensnarled, along with culprits, in the nets of the so-called "smart" or "targeted" sanctions, which are directed against named individuals and groups (as opposed to delinquent States). In such rare cases, as the individual concerned searches for a legal remedy, significant issues of fundamental human rights may arise at the levels of the international, regional, and national legal orders. This essay explores these issues. After examining …

The German Constitutional Court Says 'Ja Zu Deutschland!', Daniel H. Halberstam, Christoph Möllers

Articles

In announcing the decision of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG - Federal Constitutional Court) on the constitutionality of the Lisbon Treaty, the Presiding Justice of the Second Senate summed up the judgment by proclaiming: “Das Grundgesetz sagt ‘Ja' zum Vertrag von Lissabon.”

The European Commission Project Regarding Competition In Professional Services, Laurel Terry

Faculty Scholarly Works

One goal of this article is to help EU Member States' policy-makers and citizens understand the broad-brush nature of the EU Initiative and remember that it was a call for further investigation by EU Member States. This article provides a detailed case study of the EU Initiative so that as many individuals as possible in the European Union can understand the issues at stake and participate in rigorous discussions about the justifications for, and costs and benefits of, particular lawyer regulation rules in particular countries. Although one goal of this article is to empower European stakeholders and policy-makers, it is …

Beyond The Wto? An Anatomy Of Eu And Us Preferential Trade Agreements, Henrik Horn, Petros C. Mavroidis, André Sapir

Faculty Scholarship

It is often alleged that PTAs involving the EC and the US include a significant number of obligations in areas not currently covered by the WTO Agreement, such as investment protection, competition policy, labour standards and environmental protection. The primary purpose of this study is to highlight the extent to which these claims are true. The study divides the contents of all PTAs involving the EC and the US currently notified to the WTO, into 14 'WTO' and 38 'WTO-X' areas, where WTO provisions come under the current mandate of the WTO, and WTO-X provisions deal with issues lying outside …