Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

The French Huissier As A Model For U.S. Civil Procedure Reform, Robert W. Emerson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Huissiers de justice serve multiple roles in the French legal system. One is that of a court officer who compiles dossiers (reports). In that role, the huissier is d'audiencier (literally translated as "hearing" or "assisting") and works directly for the court system itself.

The huissier's report remains alien to the American lawyer, who is steeped in notions of procedure and "testimonialism" and in principles of fairness which appear ancient, but are rather modern dissimulations of law and equity's rich history in the American tradition. An important aspect of most legal processes, the collection of data in preparation for litigation is …

Russian Compliance With Articles Five And Six Of The European Convention Of Human Rights As A Barometer Of Legal Reform And Human Rights In Russia, Jeffrey Kahn

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note examines two of Russia's obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR): the Article 5 right to liberty and security, and the Article 6 right to a fair trial to gauge Russian compliance with European human rights norms. These articles lie at the heart of systematic legal reform in the Russian Federation. This Note defends the thesis that the agonizingly slow progress of judicial reform and the advancement of human rights in Russia is a function of the inevitable lag of conceptual norms behind institutional reform. Part I explores the weak place of the rule of law …

Towards A United Kingdom Bill Of Rights, Francis G. Jacobs

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The United Kingdom has no fundamental constitutional instrument. It is in that respect almost unique. Instead it has a fundamental constitutional doctrine: the doctrine of the sovereignty of Parliament. The first paradox of the United Kingdom constitution is that no rules have a constitutional status.

The doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty entails that all the constitutional rules that, in other countries, would be set out in a constitution are, in the United Kingdom, contained in Acts of Parliament-or in the common law, or in unwritten constitutional conventions or custom; and that any such rules, whether statutory or not, can be repealed …

Rights And Judges In A Democracy: A New Canadian Version, Paul C. Weiler

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Canadians sought a constitutionally entrenched Charter of Rights not just for its own sake, but also as part of a larger effort at constitutional renewal. The hope was that such a Charter would preserve a united Canada in the face of the serious threat posed by French Canadian nationalism within a potentially independent Quebec. In this Article, I comment on those features of the Canadian debate and its denouement that are noteworthy within the Canadian context, as well as those that illustrate some of the universal themes of constitutional theory.