Law Commons^™

Treaties As Law And The Rule Of Law: The Judicial Power To Compel Domestic Treaty Implementation, William M. Carter Jr.

Articles

The Supremacy Clause makes the Constitution, federal statutes, and ratified treaties part of the "supreme law of the land." Despite the textual and historical clarity of the Supremacy Clause, some courts and commentators have suggested that the "non-self-executing treaty doctrine" means that ratified treaties must await implementing legislation before they become domestic law. The non-self-executing treaty doctrine has in particular been used as a shield to claims under international human rights treaties.

This Article does not seek to provide another critique of the non-self-executing treaty doctrine in the abstract. Rather, I suggest that a determination that a treaty is non-self-executing …

Residents Of Joe Slovo Community V Thubelisha Homes And Others: The Two Faces Of Engagement, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The Constitutional Court of South Africa's "engagement remedy," at its core, is a simple requirement that government consult with residents before evicting them, as engagement offers a creative and flexible tool for advocates of socio-economic rights to enforce these provisions through both political and legal channels. Absent adequate court oversight, engagement can easily turn into nothing more than a requirement that government inform residents of its redevelopment plans. The Constitutional Court in Joe Slovo recognised these two ‘faces' of engagement and strengthened the remedy by adding components that increase the transparency of the process and enhance court control. This note …

Customary Practice And Community Governance In Implementing The Human Right To Water--The Case Of The Acequia Communities Of Colorado's Rio Culebra Watershed, Gregory A. Hicks, Devon G. Peña

Articles

This paper offers commentary on the appropriateness of viewing, as a human right, the authority to manage water and to participate meaningfully in watershed governance, and it takes as an example the community of Hispano farmers of the Rio Culebra watershed of Southern Colorado in the headwaters of the Upper Rio Grande. In earlier work, the authors have written about the uneasy relationship between the formal system of appropriative water rights under Colorado law and the enduring set of local water norms practiced within acequias—the traditional water governance institutions and irrigation systems of the Culebra's Hispano farmers. The present …

Engagement's Possibilities And Limits As A Socioeconomic Rights Remedy, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Article first analyzes the Constitutional Court of South Africa's three engagement decisions. It then divides engagement into two different categories--litigation engagement and political engagement--and offers suggestions for transforming the process into a more effective remedy in each category. Drawing on the work of Charles Epp, this Article argues that political engagement, if structured correctly, offers the greatest potential as an effective mechanism for enforcing socioeconomic rights. Realization of that potential will require a sustained commitment by civil society organizations active in socioeconomic rights issues and a shift from using engagement as a litigation tactic to using it as a …

Constitution, Human Rights And Republic: A Necessary Dialogue Between Gadamer's Philosophical Hermeneutics And Boaventura De Sousa Santos's Diatopic Heremeneutics, Jania Maria Lopes Saldanha, Jose Luis Bolzan De Morais

Nevada Law Journal

When we think about the concept of human rights—including all the possible ways of its realization, and considering the complementarities and also the unity of different dimensions of the concept—we confront several difficult questions. In particular, in an age when constitutions and constitutional doctrine have already incorporated a substantive body of human rights law, we must address how some of the constitutional promises regarding individual rights have not been fulfilled. Additionally, we must consider how rights that foster solidarity in the economic, social, and cultural spheres have not been recognized.

This article operates on two levels. On one level, we …

The Law And Policy Implications Of 'Baited Ambushes' Utilizing Enemy Dead And Wounded, Chris Jenks

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

When a state's armed forces is engaged in hostilities, how long after an engagement or firefight before the international humanitarian law requirement to search for and care for the wounded and find and bury the dead is triggered? This military practitioner's note discusses the legal and policy implications of 'baited ambushes,' the practice of utilizing wounded and dead enemies as the bait for follow on forces, which are then engaged.

Introductory Note To European Court Of Human Rights (Grand Chamber): Varnava And Others V. Turkey, Chris Jenks

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This note introduces a Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights decision which explains the application of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on disappearances stemming from armed conflict. The Varnava judgment is particularly instructive on the balance of competing tensions; the unique aspects of disappearances; failure to investigate as a continuous violation; and applicant’s obligations under the Convention to exhaust domestic remedies and timely petition the Court.

Economic Development At The Cost Of Human Rights: China Nonferrous Metal Industry In Zambia, Brian Chama

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Rainforest Chernobyl Revisited: The Clash Of Human Rights And Bit Investor Claims: Chevron's Abusive Litigation In Ecuador's Amazon, Steven Donzinger, Laura Garr, Aaron Marr Page

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

The Quest For Victims' Justice In India, Subhradipta Sarkar

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Prevention And Complementarity In The International Criminal Court: A Positive Approach, Katharine A. Marshall

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Promoting Public Health Through Clinical Legal Education: Initiatives In South Africa, Thailand, And Ukraine, Tamar Ezer, Ludmylla Deshko, Nicola Gunn Clark, Enga Kameni, Bruce A. Lasky

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

International Legal Updates , Evan Wilson, Tracey Begley, Caitlin Shay, Shubra Ohri, Annamaria Racota, Bhavani Raveendran, Ri Yoo, Aileen Thomson

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

United Nations And Ngo Updates, Zach Zarnow, Doug Keillor

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

The Need For Debt Relief: How Debt Servicing Leads To Violations Of State Obligations Under The Icescr, Noel G. Villaroman

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Bringing Human Rights Home: The Dc Right To Housing Campaign, Meetali Jain

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

The Right To Life Is The Right To Food: People’S Union For Civil Liberties V. Union Of India & Others, Lauren Birchfield, Jessica Corsi

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

The Right To Education: A Multi-Faceted Strategy For Litigating Before The Inter-American Commission On Human Rights, Marselha Gonçalves Margerin

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

When Is The Past Not The Past? Reflections On Customary Law Under South Africa’S Constitutional Dispensation, Sanele Sibanda

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Creating The Human Rights Bar In Israel: 25 Years Of The U.S.-Israel Civil Liberties Law Fellowship, Maria Lokshin, Gidon Bromberg, Hassan Jabareen, Banna Shugri Badarne, Karine Elharrar

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

International Legal Updates, Evan Wilson, Tracey Begley, Caitlin Shay, Shubra Ohri, Annamaria Racota, Bhavani Raveendran, Ri Yoo, Aileen Thomson

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Updates From The International And Internationalized Criminal Courts, Anna Maitland, Shahroo Yazdani, Cyrena Khoury, Paul Rinefierd, Chris Valvardi, John Coleman

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Updates From The Regional Human Rights Systems , Andrew W. Maki, Whitney Hayes, Daniela X. Cornejo, Michèle Morel, Charles Abbott, Santiago Vázquez

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

United Nations And Ngo Updates, Zach Zarnow, Doug Keillor

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Book Review, Soumya Venkatesh

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Opening Remarks: Remarks Of Dean Claudio Grossman, Claudio Grossman

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Opening Remarks: Remarks Of Widney Brown, Widney Brown

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Panel I: Building On The Committee Against Torture's Successes And Addressing Its Shortcomings - Stakeholders' Perspectives, Mark Thomson, Yuval Ginbar, Jens Færkel, Santiago Canton, Florence Simbiri-Jaoko, Felice Gaer, Joao Nataf

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Panel Ii: Ensuring Reparations For Victims Of Torture And Other Ill-Treatment, Claudio Grossman, Christopher Keith Hall, Juan Mén, Lorna Mcgregor, Nora Sveaass

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Keynote: The Role Of The United States In Strengthening The Prohibition Against Torture, Michael Posner, Claudio Grossman

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.