Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

A Comparative Study On The Trade Barriers Regulation And Foreign Trade Barriers Investigation Rules, Junrong Song

LLM Theses and Essays

The Trade Barriers Regulation and Foreign Trade Barriers Investigation Rules are enacted in the European Union and China respectively. Both of them establish a procedure for the private sector to petition the government to challenge foreign trade barriers. Through the comparative study on the two pieces of law, this paper intends to dig out the similarities and differences between them and develop some suggestions for the improvement of them.

The Nafta Package And The Environment: A Green Analysis Of Its Origins And Effects, Pedro M. Morales-Gomez

LLM Theses and Essays

When the presidential candidate Clinton announced that he would not support NAFTA without environmental and labor side agreements, and during the period before NAFTA's ratification by the American Congress, Mexicans lived in most tense suspense. Even though, the idea of an environmental side agreement seemed to please most environmentalists in Mexico who hoped that this would lead to creating a major environmental conscience in the Mexican government. The purpose of this thesis is to elaborate a critical analysis of the North American Free Trade Agreement, its related documents and their effects concerning the environment, specifically its legal protection. We will …

Freedom Of Religion In Public Schools In Germany And In The United States, Inke Muehlhoff

LLM Theses and Essays

Unfortunately, in terms of religions, the strict neutrality is almost impossible to reach and most countries that have adopted such a principle still face religious conflicts. However, these conflicts have shifted from armed conflicts to legal conflicts and battles of words, which offer at least a more peaceful way to fight. One major battleground for these religious conflicts concerns the role of religion in the public school system. That battleground is the subject of this thesis. The discussion of how religion should be treated in the public school system will be based on a comparison between Germany and the United …

The Liability Of The Automobile And Motorcycle Manufacturers And Their Suppliers For Defective Products In The United States Compared To Germany, Daniel Karl Robyn

LLM Theses and Essays

This thesis deals with the lability of automobile and motorcycle manufacturers, as well as their suppliers, in situations where a defective product causes a harmful event. Specifically, it compares the product liability laws of the Federal Republic of Germany to those of the United States of America. Before entering into the details of legal doctrine, the introductory note provides background information on the social and economic aspects of automobile use in those two countries. Next, Chapter I describes the liability regime governing claims against German motor vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers. Chapter II focuses on the comparable law in the …

The Issue Of The Legal Validity Of Using Economic Sanctions To Enforce Human Rights, Thomas Hailu

LLM Theses and Essays

The international legal regime as it pertains to human rights is neither as established nor as definitive as it appears. It suffers from many disadvantages, the first and most important of which is the fact that the international legal regime has never been capable of effectively enforcing its rules or instituting appropriate remedies for its breaches. Some states have attempted to make up for this inability on behalf of international law by undertaking an enforcement mechanism either unilaterally or multilaterally; economic sanctions are often regarded as valuable tools of enforcement to be used against countries which are allegedly engaged in …

Fair Use In American And Continental Laws, Omar M.A. Obeidat

LLM Theses and Essays

Intellectual property, unlike tangible property, does not exclusively occupy one place at a designated time. Instead, intellectual property is composed of information which can be reproduced or used in multiple places at any given time. This fundamental difference between intellectual and tangible property is reflected in the legal provisions that regulate these types of property. There are two dominant theories that justify the legal protection of intellectual property: the individualistic European approach, and the commercial Anglo-American approach. Under the European approach, the protection of the creation is a natural right guaranteed to the author. In other words, natural law guarantees …

Double Taxation - Treatment Of Corporate Earnings Under American And German Law, Roland Schmidt

LLM Theses and Essays

This thesis is going to describe the different ways the United States and Germany deal with the problem of double taxation in the legal context of corporate distributions to its shareholders in the form of dividends. Tax law is particularly one of the areas of laws that are subject to frequent and often substantial changes. This is true for the German as well as for the U.S. tax laws. Since some of the issues being discussed in the United States today in connection with the corporate tax law are similar if not identical to the issues discussed in Germany before …

Restitution Regimes In Post-Communist Eastern Europe: A Legal Analysis, Sophia Von Rundstedt

LLM Theses and Essays

When the Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe collapsed at the end of the last decade, the opposition, which had been united in their goal to defeat Communism, quickly disintegrated into a variety of factions. One of their tasks was to decide on enacting a constitution, in order to stabilize and entrench the new democratic institutions. Apart from establishing the legal framework for democracy, politicians had to develop strategies to convert the state-run economy into a free-market economy. Such a transition required as a first step the privatization of state property. Legal reform of property rights raises the question: …

The Recognition And Enforcement Of Foreign Equitable Remedies And Other Types Of Non-Money Judgments In United States And French Courts: A Comparative Analysis, Noele Sophie Rigot

LLM Theses and Essays

Courts of industrialized nations are often faced with adjudication of cases which involve foreign components. It is common for those courts to be asked by individuals or legal entities from a transnational environment to adjudicate with regard to some elements already adjudged in a different legal system as if it were a local judgment. The question that arises is how effects should be given when dealing with prior adjudications. Most countries agree to recognize some effects determined by foreign jurisdictions, as long as those determinations meet standards that guarantee proper integration of the foreign decision into the domestic setting. These …

Major Changes In Council Regulation 3283/94: Its Compatibility With The Uruguay Round Anti-Dumping Code, Sangsoo Son

LLM Theses and Essays

Dumping can be defined as exporting goods at prices below those charged on the domestic market or at prices insufficient to recover the cost of the goods sold. Dumping is considered an unfair trading practice because it interferes with free market economy principles. During the 1980s, anti-dumping measures were an important issue for a few developed countries that had attractive markets for foreign producers; these countries were the United States, the European Community, Canada, and Australia. The European Community (EC) has developed its own anti-dumping laws over the years; Article 113 of the EEC Treaty gives power to Community institutions …

The Fourth Amendment Protection Against Unreasonable Searches And Seizures And The French Experience, Florence Sophie Boreil

LLM Theses and Essays

Under the American approach to criminal justice, freedom of the individual is of the utmost importance. The American criminal justice system reflects a distrust of abuse of power and an emphasis on protection of personal freedom. However, the French take a contrary approach; under French law, freedom is achieved through the State. This paper examines the protection of individuals’ rights in American and French criminal procedure. Focus will be given to tracking the police investigatory powers in each country through searches and seizures, and the impact that those powers have on individuals’ rights. This paper will assert that the police …

Civil Liability For Damage Caused To The Environment By Hazardous Waste: Lessons For The European Union From The Us Experience, Artemis Hatzi-Hull

LLM Theses and Essays

As environmental awareness has surged over the last two decades, environmental law has rapidly developed. In both agricultural and industrial countries, the environment is a sensitive and vital area where substantial economic interests are at stake. In the United States, many social, political, and economic reasons have spawned rapid expansion of environmental law. Congress has enacted numerous statutes and empowered federal agencies, primarily the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to adopt standards and enforce these new laws. A decade ago, environmental liability was not a major concern for US businesses and was rarely dealt with in commercial contracts. However, the situation …

International Arbitration And Procedures To Enforce Awards In The Relationship Between The United States And Germany, Michael Kronenburg

LLM Theses and Essays

Arbitration has long been regarded as a process that combines finality of decision with speed, low expense, and flexibility in solving problems. For these reasons, arbitration is often favored over litigation for dispute resolution. Particularly in international cases, a businessman may avoid litigation in a foreign country for various reasons: he may be unfamiliar with the proceedings; he may be afraid to find a “forum hostile” because of the different legal and cultural background of the judges; and he may wish to avoid the uncertainty concerning the law arising from the contract. Arbitration proceedings have been held constitutional by the …

Legal Foundations And Institutional Framework Of The Monetary Union In Europe And In The United States, Johan Van Den Cruijce

LLM Theses and Essays

An economic and monetary union (EMU) is an area where there is complete freedom of movement of persons, goods, services, and capital. The financial markets in an EMU are completely integrated while the national currencies are conventional and have fixed exchange rates. Ultimately the national currencies may be replaced by a common currency and there will be one monetary policy. The EMU is considered to be the highest form of economic integration. This paper examines two examples of a monetary union; the first part focuses on the blueprint for a European monetary union as laid out in the Treaty on …

Choice Of Law Clauses In Consumer Contracts: A Comparative Study Of American And E.E.C. Law, Jean-Marie Henckaerts

LLM Theses and Essays

The selection of the law applicable to a certain relationship may seem to be the sole purpose of choice of law rules. However, it is questionable whether this choice should be made independent from the content of the various laws available. The selection of the most appropriate law cannot disregard the social, economic and political values that form the basis of substantive rules. In modern legal systems, social values such as consumer protection are recognized to a growing extent.

The present work explores the concept of choice of law – namely party autonomy with a focus on consumer contracts in …

The Warranty Of Quality In Sale Of Goods Under The Perspective Of The American And French Law, Renaud Baguenault De Puchesse

LLM Theses and Essays

While the United States’ common law system is characterized by diversity due to each state having its own set of rules, in certain areas there are nationwide legislative attempts of unification and standardization. One such attempt is the adoption of the Uniform Commercial Code which governs the sale of goods law in the United States. The French civil law system generally differs greatly from the American system in that it is primarily based upon statutes and codes. However, the American Uniform Commercial Code and the French Civil Code provide tangible, comparable bases to assess similarities and differences between American and …

Forum Shopping In Products Liability Actions: A Comparison Between The United States, France And Germany, Lothar W. Baum

LLM Theses and Essays

The goal of this research is to state the current situation concerning products liability in the United States, the Federal Republic of Germany and more briefly, France and to compare the different systems. Emphasis will be given to the substantive laws, in particular to the new EC Directive and its adoption in the Federal Republic of Germany. Also, it will discuss the current German law, since this will be valid for all claims initiated before the enactment of the new ProdHaftG. Further, based on the previous analysis, it will be shown where a consumer is in the most favorable position …

A Comparative Analysis Of Unfair Dismissal Law With Particular Reference To The Law As It Pertains To The South African Worker, Haydn T. Hillestad

LLM Theses and Essays

This paper will begin with an investigation of the activity of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in domestic employment laws. Using this as a yardstick, a comparative analysis of the unfair dismissal laws of the United States and some foreign countries (mainly Western European) will be undertaken. Finally, the issue will be addressed in the South African context. An assessment will be made of the relative quality of the protection afforded workers in South Africa and, using conclusions reached from the comparative study, the validity of calls for a general unfair dismissal statute in the country will be considered.

The Role Of Efficiency Justifications In U.S.-American And West German Merger Control Law: A Comparison, Christian Westerhausen

LLM Theses and Essays

When merger control laws first emerged in the United States and West Germany in the early 1900s, some businessmen and economists argued that the efficiency of businesses was impeded by antimerger laws. They contended that only very large businesses could realize significant efficiencies, be internationally competitive, and attain technological progress. This paper analyzes the role that these efficiency arguments had on the laws in West Germany and the United States, respectively. German law mainly upheld the idea that preservation of competition was most important for business efficiency, but also included a provision that firms could put forward the social desirability …

The Injury Test Under The Us And Eec Antidumping And Courntervailing Law, Francois Gabriel

LLM Theses and Essays

Antidumping and countervailing legislation contain two tests. First, is the import product dumped or subsidized? Second, is it causing injury to the domestic producers? The latter test, which is the most controversial in the history of antidumping and countervailing legislation, is, in a comparative perspective between the EEC and the USA, the focus of this thesis.