Law Commons^™

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, And ?: The Correlation Between Policy Areas, Signing, And Legal Ratification Of Organization Of American States’ Treaties By Member States., Alexandra R. Harrington

ExpressO

Abstract: Signed, Sealed, Delivered, and ?: The Correlation Between Policy areas, Signing, and Legal Ratification of Organization of American States’ Treaties by Member States.

Like any organization, the Organization of American States’ ability to affect lasting policy changes through treaties is only as strong as the will of the federal legislative bodies of its member states. No matter how lofty or well-meaning the OAS’s goals in any area or matter addressed by a treaty, or the number of OAS member states which sign onto a treaty reflecting these goals, under the OAS Charter, and the federal constitutions of most member …

The Un: A Situation Report, Benjamin Zawacki

ExpressO

The UN: A Situation Report is a review of two recent books on the past, present, and future of the UN; in short, of its relevance in a changing and uni-polar world at the end of Kofi Annan’s two terms as Secretary-General. The books’ focus is both on the organization’s successes and failures, and its efforts at self-reform in the face of near-constant criticism. They are reviewed as individually divergent in quality but as a formidable “situation report” when read in tandem. Paul Kennedy’s The Parliament of Man, save for its first of three parts, is generally criticized for its …

Realism And Transnationalism: Competing Visions For International Security, Nathan A. Canestaro

ExpressO

This paper is a multidisciplinary study of two competing theories of states’ motives and behavior in international relations, realism and transnationalism. The first theory, realism, suggests that states are constantly competing for security and power within an anarchical international system incapable of preventing aggression or conflict. A competing philosophy, transnationalism, (also known as liberalism) suggests that cooperation, not competition, is the defining characteristic of international relations and that democratization and global economic interdependence reduce the benefits of interstate conflict and encourage long-term cooperation.

This paper seeks to explain the apparent disparity of states competing for power in security matters while …

European Private Law: A Plea For A Spontaneous Legal Order, Jan M. Smits

ExpressO

This contribution focuses on European integration through private law. After a sketch of the existing European acquis in the field of the law of contract, tort and property, the question is discussed whether there is a need for harmonisation in view of the goals the European Union set itself. Subsequently, the question of how to design a future European private law is answered. In the field of contract law, the European Commission now follows a two-track policy: it intends to draft a ‘Common Frame of Reference’ (‘CFR’) as well as furthering the debate on the possibility of an optional code. …

Legal Reform In Contemporary Japan, Eric Feldman

All Faculty Scholarship

In this chapter I offer a preliminary assessment of a quickly moving target—legal reform and its impact on rights in Japan. Although a broad consensus has emerged among interested parties that at least some degree of reform is desirable, there is significant disagreement about the goals of reform, and also about the likelihood that it will achieve certain objectives. Some commentators believe that the Japanese legal system is on the cusp of a “revolution” that will shore up long-neglected rights and create new entitlements. Others predict that the consequences of reform will be modest; and they despair that aggrieved individuals …

Mnc Liability For International Human Rights Violations Under The Alien Tort Claims Act., Frank Christian Olah

ExpressO

This paper seeks to elucidate the fundamental sources of ATCA jurisprudence that have modernized the act into the weapon it has become for foreign human rights plaintiffs. It also attempts to describe some of the forms of liability asserted against MNCs, paying special attention to the competing forms of aiding & abetting liability as conceptualized in the Unocal case. Part II of this paper will provide a brief and concise review of the three cases every ATCA corporate defendant should know: Filartiga, Kadic and Sosa. These cases lay the groundwork for human rights litigation against MNCs under the ATCA’s modern …

Taking Judicial Notice Of Genocide? The Problematic Law And Policy Of The Karemera Decision, Ralph Mamiya

ExpressO

On June 16, 2006, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda issued a decision in Prosecutor v. Karemera taking judicial notice of the fact that genocide occurred in Rwanda in 1994. This decision startled many court observers. While no internationally respected commentator would today question whether the Rwanda genocide took place, should such an event be judicially noticed without evidence? This paper examines that question, arguing that the ICTR Appeals Chamber’s expansive use of judicial notice in Karemera was both illogical and unwise. Genocide, whether as an historical fact or legal charge, fails to meet the “common …

Comparativa Entre Les Reformes Dels Estatuts D'Autonomia De Catalunya I D'Andalusia [Comparative Analysis Of The Reforms Of The Charters Of Autonomy Of Catalonia And Andalucía], Albert Lamarca-Marquès, Vanessa Casado-Pérez

Faculty Scholarship

En els ordenaments jurídics continentals europeus no és habitual l’admissió d’escrits acadèmics independents adreçats als tribunals de justícia en el marc de procediments de gran importància. En els països del Common Law, especialment en les jurisdiccions nordamericanes, mitjançant el procediment anomenat d’Amicus Curiae es permet d’adreçar aquesta mena d’escrits als tribunals de justícia, que hauran de decidir si els tenen o no en compte. A través de les pàgines d’InDret, hem volgut oferir aquest document de comparació d’ambdós Estatuts per contribuir al debat jurídic en el marc del procés de reforma dels Estatuts d’Autonomia a l’Estat i en relació als …

Religião, Direitos Humanos E Educação, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

Não admira que haja atritos, incompreensões, entre as religiões e os poderes. Porque, antes de mais, foi preciso a uns e a outros comprimirem-se para darem lugar (espaço, mesmo) ao outro tipo de normatividade e de poder. Em muitos casos históricos se terá começado com um poder de índole teocrática. E só com o tempo e o progresso social e político se passaria a admitir a cisão do mando, num ramo secular e num ramo sacral. O grande problema do tratamento da questão religiosa do ponto de vista dos Direitos Humanos, é que se trata, no limite, de pôr uma …

Biometrics, Certified Software Solutions, And The Japanese Consumption Tax: A Proposal For The Tax Commission, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Significant change is anticipated in the Japanese Consumption Tax. The Japanese Tax Commission is recommending that the rate should double, multiple rates should be employed, and the "bookkeeping method" of accounting should be abandoned in favor of the European "invoice method."

The Tax Commission faces a tax policy dilemma. The aging population drives the need for a tax increase (making the Consumption Tax an obvious target for revenue enhancement) at exactly the same time the population is shrinking in overall size, thereby reducing the number of working-consumers who can pay the higher tax.

These are dramatic changes for the Japanese …

Codifying Shari'a: International Norms, Legality & The Freedom To Invent New Forms, Paul H. Robinson, Adnan Zulfiqar, Margaret Kammerud, Michael Orchowski, Elizabeth A. Gerlach, Adam L. Pollock, Thomas M. O'Brien, John C. Lin, Tom Stenson, Negar Katirai, J. John Lee, Marc Aaron Melzer

All Faculty Scholarship

The United Nations Development Program and the Republic of the Maldives, a small Muslim country with a constitutional democracy, commissioned this project to craft the country's first system of codified penal law and sentencing guidelines. This Article describes the special challenges and opportunities encountered while drafting a penal code based on Shari'a (Islamic law). On the one hand, such comprehensive codification is more important and more likely to bring dramatic improvements in the quality of justice than in many other societies, due in large part to the problems of assuring fair notice and fair adjudication in the uncodified Shari'a-based system …

Vat? A Look Inside Canada's Experience With The Goods And Services Tax, Brandon A. Ketterman

San Diego International Law Journal

Consumption taxes have been and continue to be utilized as a staple revenue producer within systems of taxation. The value-added tax (VAT) is one form of consumption tax that has grown in popularity among nations over the last several decades. In fact, after the passage of a goods and services tax (one type of VAT) in Australia in 2000, the United States now stands alone as the only remaining OECD nation, among its 30 members, without some form of a value-added tax on consumption. As the massive topic of tax reform continually appears at the forefront of the political landscape, …

Bollywood Is Coming! Copyright And Film Industry Issues Regarding International Film Co-Productions Involving India, Timm Neu

San Diego International Law Journal

These developments and mutual correlating interests underscore the rising trend in the number of international co-productions and cinematographic co-operations with India. Still, the practice of movie making in India differs in many ways from industry structures in the U.S. or Germany, which shall be analyzed as potential co-production partners. Contractual relations, industry regulations, involved parties, and the legal rules are so distinct, that a comparative view from a producer's perspective shall bring into light the frameworks and copyright issues of international film co-productions involving India.

Soldiers And Wayward Women: Gendered Citizenship, And Migration Policy In Argentina, Italy, And Spain Since 1850, David Cook-Martín

David Cook-Martín

Policies that regulate peoples international movement and their state membership have historically made distinctions based on perceived sexual differences, but little is known about the process by which this has happened. This paper explores how and with what consequences migration and nationality policies have been gendered in two quintessential countries of emigration (Italy and Spain), and in a country of immigrants (Argentina) over a 150-year period. I argue that these migration and nationality policies have reflected the dynamics of the political fields in which they have been crafted. Especially before the Great War, laws and official practices that showed a …

Charting Developments Concerning Punitive Damages: Is The Tide Changing?, John Y. Gotanda

Working Paper Series

This essay discusses a number of developments outside of the United States concerning punitive damages, which may ultimately signal a change in the way other countries view American awards of such damages.

To date, courts in many countries have refused to recognize and enforce American punitive damages awards on the ground that they violate the host country’s public policy. In most civil law countries, such as France and Germany, penal damages can only be ordered in criminal proceedings; a civil award of such damages has been viewed as contrary to ordre public. In common law countries, while punitive damages generally …

Living With The Bologna Process: Recommendations To The German Legal Education Community From A U.S. Perspective, Laurel S. Terry

Faculty Scholarly Works

The Bologna Process is a dramatic development that is less than ten years old, but already it has significantly reshaped higher education in Germany and in Europe. This article is based on my research regarding the history and objectives of the Bologna Process and Bologna Process implementation in Germany. It contains my reflections about the Bologna Process and German legal education and my recommendations to the German legal education community.

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Hostile Takeovers And Hostile Defenses: A Comparative Look At U.S. Board Deference And The European Effort At Harmonization, Tyler A. Theobald

ExpressO

The United States and the European Union have taken very different approaches in dealing with tender offers, especially in respect to the amount of power the board of directors has to block an unwanted takeover attempt. The United States has no single set of guiding principles regarding most of substantive corporate law and the field of tender offers is no different. The European Union, on the other hand, has very recently passed legislation that not only attempts to harmonize the corporate takeover laws of all its member states, but seeks to restrict the power of the board of directors. The …

Do Foreigners Need Title Insurance In Mexico? - An Analysis Of U.S. Title Insurance And Mexican Real Estate Law, Jeffrey G. Boman

ExpressO

This paper analyzes the title insurance industry in the United States and comparable institutions in Mexico. It begins with an overview of the history of title in both counties, followed by a description of their respective real estate systems. Finally, a summary of the laws that affect holding title to property in Mexico reveals that, although title insurance may provide other benefits for foreign investors, it provides duplicitous coverage for property in Mexico.

The Conditional Effects Of Ideology And Institutional Structure On Judicial Voting In State Supreme Courts, Jeff L. Yates, Paul Brace, Brent Boyea

ExpressO

Two enormously influential perspectives on courts offer fundamentally different predictions about court outcomes and the effects of judge ideology on those outcomes. Well-known to political scientists studying courts, the ideological voting (IV) literature argues that judge ideology is a strong predictor of court outcomes and that those outcomes should be proximate to the policy preferences of courts. Less known to political scientists but highly influential, the law and economics perspective (LE) focuses on settlement behavior of litigants who try to minimize costs and thus estimate likely outcomes in court, and settle simpler cases pre-trial. In this case selection process litigants …

Through The Looking Glass: Runaway Productions And "Hollywood Economics", Adrian H. Mcdonald

ExpressO

This paper uses the issue of runaway production as a looking glass into the complex world of Hollywood economics and politics. As such, a broad overview of Hollywood's business practices, history, and technology are discussed so the reader can understand how runaway production (a major issue itself) is one piece of the Hollywood puzzle. Specifically, this paper attempts to study runaway productions from the Law and Economics approach described in Judge Richard Posner's text on the subject. Events in 2006 illustrate the continuing importance of runaway productions and CEIDR's August 2006 report is discussed in this paper.

Recently expanded, this …

Reforming Mexico’S Labor Law For Independent Labor Unions, Mischa H. Karplus

ExpressO

Reforming Mexico’s Labor Law for Independent Labor Unions analyzes the legal difficulties Mexican independent labor unions face in establishing themselves and proposes a legislative solution. The methodology used examines the institutionalized behaviors of the administrative labor boards and businesses, which prevent the formation of independent labor unions. The discretion that Mexican labor law affords the labor boards and businesses explains, in large measure, the obstacles facing independent labor unions. Having analyzed the relevant legal framework this article proposes specific legislation to strengthen these independent labor unions. Within the context of a developing country, Reforming Mexico’s Labor Law for Independent Labor …

Combating Terrorism In Bosnia-Herzegovina: Explaining And Assessing Article 201 Of The Bosnian Criminal Code, Henry M. Lovat

ExpressO

This paper explores the legal measures that have been enacted in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) to counter the threat of terrorism, focusing particularly on the international and domestic political context in which the reform of the Bosnian criminal code was carried out, on the apparent origins of Article 201 of the BiH criminal code in the European Union Framework Decision on Combating Terrorism of June 2002 and on the strengths and weaknesses of this definition in the Bosnian context. The paper argues firstly that the events of 9/11, while certainly of significance, were less salient to the definition of terrorism adopted in …

From Origin To Delta: Changing Landscape Of Modern Constitutionalism, Jiunn-Rong Yeh, Wen-Chen Chang

ExpressO

This article deals with the question of whether and to what extent the two forces of democratization and globalization have altered our understandings of constitutionalism. We attempt to theorize a changing landscape of constitutionalism that includes transitional and transnational perspectives and examine respectively their features, functions and characteristics. First, we analyze respective developments of transitional and transnational constitutionalism by identifying their features, perspectives, functions, and characteristics. Then we examine to what extent and in what ways the developments in transitional and transnational constitutionalism pose challenges to our traditional understanding of modern constitutional laws. Finally, we shall picture a new constitutional …

The Role Of International Human Rights Law In The American Decision To Abolish The Juvenile Death Penalty, William A. Feldman

ExpressO

This article focuses on the recent (2005) decision of the United States Supreme Court in Roper v. Simmons, declaring the juvenile death penalty unconstitutional. The article discusses the impact of international law, particularly human rights law, on the decision of the Court, and speculates about the influence of international law on future decisions.

Foreum Non Conveniens Misconstrued: A Response To Henry Saint Dahl, Michael Wallace Gordon

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

Official Language A, B, Cs: Why The Canadian Experience With Official Languages Does Not Support Arguments To Declare English The Official Language Of The United States, Marla B. Somerstein

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

Oppression Through Violence: The Case Of Colombia - An Expansion Of The Fetish Object, Harris J. Corey

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Brazil's Ip Opportunism Threatens U.S. Private Property Rights, Lawrence A. Kogan

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

Codes, Lawsuits Or International Law: How Should The Multinational Corporation Be Regulated With Respect To Human Rights?, Nancy L. Mensch

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.