Law Commons^™

Terrorism, Extradition, And Fsia Relief: The Letelier Case, Eric H. Singer

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The cases involving Orlando Letelier and Michael Townley raise a number of questions about extradition and state-sponsored terrorism. As shown by the United States' failure to obtain the three Chilean requestees (and Argentina's failure to obtain Townley), extradition is an unreliable and thus inadequate means to cope with state-sponsored terrorism. To deter such conduct may call for greater inventiveness in identifying and implementing effective sanctions. The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) seemingly offers an alternative to extradition and a remedy for acts of state-sponsored terrorism under its noncommercial torts exception. This remedy, however, is uncertain in light of recent court …

Sovereign Immunity In Perspective, Stefan A. Riesenfeld

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The doctrine of the immunity of foreign governments from the adjudicatory and enforcement jurisdiction of national courts is rooted in two bases of international law, the notion of sovereignty and the notion of the equality of sovereigns. There is no need to rehearse the historical growth of these foundations of the modern international community. Suffice it to say that E.D. Dickinson's celebrated study, The Equality of States in International Law, furnishes a detailed account of the evolution of these notions.

Although historically the recognition of the jurisdictional immunities of foreign states may have been intertwined with the recognition of the …

Sovereign Immunity: The Exception For Intellectual Or Industrial Property, Virginia Morris

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The doctrine of sovereign or state immunity exempts a state and its property from the judicial jurisdiction of any other state. The domestic courts of various nations have developed this doctrine over the years through cases in which private citizens have attempted to sue foreign states. Courts' enunciations of the principle of state immunity and their reasons for granting or denying the immunity are almost as numerous as the countries whose courts have faced this issue. The current work of the International Law Commission (the Commission) on the codification and the progressive development of the jurisdictional immunities of states and …

Extraterritorial Discovery: Cooperation, Coercion And The Hague Evidence Convention, Harold G. Maier

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article reviews the most recent case law on this issue and examines the results of those cases in the light of existing principles of comity and of the newly promulgated Restatement of Foreign Relations Law of the United States (Revised). The analysis focuses on three important appellate court decisions, all of which are or have been before the United States Supreme Court, and examines the contents and origins of the United States Government's position on these issues as found in amicus briefs submitted in these cases. The article concludes with an evaluation of the dilemma evidenced by the need …

The Exuberant Pathway To Quixotic Internationalism: Assessing The Folly Of Mitsubishi, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

By holding that antitrust claims are arbitrable, the United States Supreme Court may have wanted to minimize, if not eliminate, the possibility that dilatory practices could thwart the international arbitral process. Faced with a potentially ruinous contractual relationship and the prospect of arbitration, a disgruntled party (like Soler) might find that it has no other remedy than postponing the day of reckoning. Raising the possibility that the entire transaction is illicit because of antitrust violations at least generates delay and might undermine the arbitration, staving off the possibility of resolution.

Private International Law As A Means To Control The Multinational Enterprise, Dimitris Tzouganatos

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article explores the different approaches taken by the academic and judicial communities of Germany and the United States in their respective attempts to derive the optimal legal policy to deal with the multinational enterprise phenomenon. It attempts to assess the success of the Private International Law method as applied in most European countries by examining whether its criteria are operational and a reflection of economic reality. The Article also analyzes whether application of such criteria ensures the enforcement of the policies of the forum. It concludes by questioning whether the Private International Law approach is a viable alternative to …

Opinion Of Counsel On Agreements Governed By Foreign Law, Michael Gruson, Michael Kutschera

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

An opinion delivered as a condition precedent to the effectiveness of an agreement serves the purpose of assuring the opinion recipient of the correctness of the legal assumptions on which he bases his decision whether or not to enter into the agreement. In case of a transborder agreement, the laws of more than one country apply to various aspects of the transaction even if the agreement contains an express governing law clause, and the opinions of lawyers from the relevant countries must, if read together, cover all important legal issues. On the other hand, each lawyer must limit his opinion …

Books Received, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Books Received

THE WORLD OF SCIENCE AND THE RULE OF LAW

By John Ziman, Paul Sieghart, and John Humphrey

New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. Pp. viii, 343. $37.00

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ESSAYS ON INTERNATIONAL LAW

By Stuart S. Malawer

Buffalo: William S. Hein & Co., 1986. Pp. ix, 201. $35.00

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THE IMF IN A CHANGING WORLD, 1945-85

By Margarett Garritsen deVries

Washington: International Monetary Fund, 1986. Pp. x,226

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SOVIET LAW AND SOVIET REALITY

By Olimpiad S. Ioffe

Dordrecht: Martinus Nijohoff Publishers, 1985. Pp. vi, 234

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SWITZERLAND'S ROLE AS AN INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTER

By Benedicte Vibe Christensen

Washington: International …

Book Note, Covey T. Oliver

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Students of international law in the United States have long desired a textbook to accompany the use of one or another of the "case-materials-problems" study books used in their courses. They do not yet have such a text,' but now they can find substantial degrees of security, guidance, and intellectual encouragement in a veritable gem of a Nutshell. Professors Buergenthal and Maier have written a remarkably accurate and insightful book on international law, almost as if they had engraved it on a small gold tablet. It is, as a work, outstanding in the West Publishing Company Nutshell series.

Books Received, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Books Received

Consensus and Confrontation: The United States and the Law of the Sea Convention

By Jon M. Van Dyke.

Honolulu: The Law of the Sea Institute, University of Hawaii, 1985. Pp. x, 576. $29.50

Free Flow of Information; A New Paradigm. By Achal Mehra

Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1986. Pp. xiii, 225. $32.95

The Fund Agreement in the Courts, Volume III. By Joseph Gold Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund, 1986. Pp. xvi, 841.$45.00

A Standard for Justice; A Critical Commentary on the Proposed Bill of Rights for New Zealand

By Jerome B. Elkind and Antony Shaw

New York: Oxford …

Nazi War Criminals In The United States: It's Never Too Late For Justice, David R. Gelfand

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

While this note focuses on Nazi war criminals living in the United States, it calls for international cooperation in prosecuting war criminals. It traces the history of post-war agreements relating to the prosecution of Nazi war criminals, and their application at the Nuremberg Trials. This note then examines how Nazi war criminals entered the United States following World War II, and how they have lived here for four decades virtually unnoticed. Additionally, this note analyzes the recent efforts of the Office of Special Investigations (OSI), a branch of the Department of Justice, to prosecute Nazi war criminals living in the …

Book Review, Allaire U. Karzon

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This slim volume' is for the international tax connoisseur. The author, an English barrister and member of the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn, has designed his book for tax professionals already expert in their own jurisdictions who seek information on the tax systems of other countries so that they can take advantage of multijurisdictional planning. Because he assumes his readers know the rudiments of international tax principles, the author explores more innovative advanced techniques. With his British perspective and evident familiarity with the United Kingdom and continental tax systems, he suggests many approaches that United States authors frequently omit because …