Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

The Plight Of Women In Positions Of Corporate Leadership In The United States, The European Union, And Japan: Differing Laws And Cultures, Similar Issues, Bettina C. K. Binder, Terry Morehead Dworkin, Niculina Nae, Cindy A. Schipani, Irina Averianova

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Gender diversity in corporate governance is a highly debated issue worldwide. National campaigns such as “2020 Women on Boards” in the United States and “Women on the Board Pledge for Europe” are examples of just two initiatives aimed at increasing female representation in the corporate boardroom. Several

European countries have adopted board quotas as a means toward achieving gender diversity. Japan has passed an Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace to lay a foundation for establishing targets for promoting women.

This Article examines the status of women in positions of leadership in the United States, …

Techniques For Regulating Military Force, Monica Hakimi

Book Chapters

This chapter draws on the five chapters that follow—each of which describes the war powers in a single country—to identify and analyze some of the techniques for regulating this area of foreign affairs and then to reflect on the value of comparative research on it. Three basic techniques are: (1) to establish substantive standards on when the government may or may not use force, (2) to divide among different branches of government the authority to deploy the country’s armed forces, and (3) to subject such decisions to oversight or review. There is considerable variation, both across countries and over time …

Bringing Pacific Bluefin Tuna Back From The Brink: Ensuring The Submission Of Operational Data To The Western And Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, Chris Wold, Mitsuhiko Takahashi, Siwon Park, Viv Fernandes, Sarah Butler

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

The Commission of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western Pacific Ocean (WCPFC) manages fish stocks of significant financial and ecological value across an area of the Pacific Ocean comprising 20% of Earth. WCPFC members, however, have disagreed sharply over management measures for tuna, sharks, and other species, in part because some WCPFC members have refused to provide the WCPFC with vessel-specific data, known as operational data, which is needed to manage the stocks sustainably. Despite a legal requirement to submit operational data to the WCPFC, these members, including Japan and Korea, …

Retention And Reform In Japanese Capital Punishment, David T. Johnson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article focuses on the failure of abolition and of death penalty reform in Japan in order to illustrate contingencies in the trajectory of capital punishment in the modern world. Part I describes three facts about postwar Japan that help explain why it retains capital punishment today: a missed opportunity for abolition during the American occupation of the country after World War II; the long-term rule of a conservative political party; and economic and geopolitical power that has enabled the country to resist the influence of international norms. Part II describes a few ways in which Japanese capital punishment has …

Regulating To Achieve Stability In The Domain Of High-Frequency Trading, Lindsey C. Crump

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

High-frequency trading has become a darling of capital markets debate. This debate thrives because the true and long-lasting effects of high-frequency trading are still unknown. On one hand, high-frequency trading evidences recent and powerful advances in trading technology; on the other, it is said to harness speed at the expense of fairness, prudence, and stability. In part because of this duality, the regulation of high-frequency trading in the United States has been slow to develop. Other nations, however, have been quicker to react and to promulgate laws that directly, or indirectly, affect high-frequency trading. This Note explores the legal responses …

More Than Bric-A-Brac: Testing Chinese Exceptionalism In Patenting Behavior Using Comparative Empirical Analysis, Jay P. Kesan, Alan Marco, Richard Miller

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Although many developing economies are increasingly influencing the global economy, China’s influence has been the greatest of these by far. Once hindered from competition by political and economic restrictions, China is now a major economic player. As China’s economic might has grown, so too has the demand for intellectual property protection for technologies originating from China. In this article, we present a detailed empirical study of Chinese patenting trends in the United States and the implications of these trends for the global economy. We compare these trends to patenting trends from earlier decades. Specifically, we compare Chinese patenting trends to …

Legally "Strong" Shareholders Of Japan, Gen Goto

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

Foreign investors often criticize Japanese corporations for not paying enough attention to the interests of their shareholders. It might surprise these critics, then, to learn that shareholders’ legal rights under the Japanese Companies Act are actually quite strong. Indeed, many of the rights that shareholders’ rights advocates often support, including shareholders’ power to alter a corporate charter without board consent, shareholders’ power to control dividend payments, majority voting for board elections, shareholders’ power to replace the board of directors, and shareholder access to a corporate ballot—all of which are strongly debated elsewhere— are already effective in Japan. Moreover, derivative suits …

Free Speech And The Case For Constitutional Exceptionalism, Roger P. Alford

Michigan Law Review

Embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the evocative proposition that "[e]veryone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression." Beneath that abstraction there is anything but universal agreement. Modern democratic societies disagree on the text, content, theory, and practice of this liberty. They disagree on whether it is a privileged right or a subordinate value. They disagree on what constitutes speech and what speech is worthy of protection. They disagree on theoretical foundations, uncertain if the right is grounded in libertarian impulses, the promotion of a marketplace of ideas, or the advancement of participatory democracy. They …

Scandal, Sukyandaru, And Chouwen, Benjamin L. Liebman

Michigan Law Review

This Review proceeds in four parts. Part I describes West's account of scandal in Japan and the United States and explores some of the ramifications of his account. Part II examines the formation of scandal in contemporary China. Part III compares scandal in China with West's conclusions about scandal in Japan and the United States. Part IV discusses defamation litigation in China, with a view to adding further comparative insight to West's discussion of Japanese libel suits.

Reconstituting Japanese Law: International Norms And Domestic Litigation, Timothy Webster

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Essay proceeds in four parts. Part I situates these lawsuits in the context of Japan's growing ethnic diversity. Part II analyzes a decade of racial discrimination lawsuits in Japan, ultimately synthesizing the elements of a compensable act of racial discrimination under current Japanese law. Part III begins with a brief examination of the role of international law in Japan before turning to discussions between the Japanese government and U.N. bodies regarding the proper treatment of foreigners in Japan and the desirability of anti-discrimination laws. Part IV then discusses several failed attempts by national and local lawmakers to pass anti-discrimination …

Criminal Conspiracy Law In Japan, Chris Coulson

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part II of this Note describes CATOC's group criminality requirement. Part III outlines the provisions of several versions of Japan's conspiracy bill and compares these provisions to common-law conspiracy. Part IV analyzes Japan's conspiracy law by examining both substantive and procedural laws in Japan related to criminal conspiracy, as well as criticism within Japan of the conspiracy bills.

Global Markets And The Evolution Of Law In China And Japan, Takao Tanase

Michigan Journal of International Law

The first angle of this Article concerns the exclusivity of rights, which is the notion that a right has an exclusive boundary of ownership. The socialist system and traditional customary law in China gave only weak recognition to this concept, especially prior to China's move toward a market economy and the introduction of modern law. The second angle addresses the functionality of extralegal norms. Law reforms tend to be measured by the efficiency gains they produce, a process intensified by competition among systems. The third angle involves the ideological nature of the market-oriented development of law. The foreign enterprises and …

What's Your Sign? -- International Norms, Signals, And Compliance, Charles K. Whitehead

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article proposes a new approach to understanding state compliance with international obligations, positing that increased interaction among the world's regulators has reinforced network norms, as evidenced in part by a greater reliance among states on legally nonbinding instruments. This Article also begins to fill a gap in the growing scholarship on state compliance by proposing a better framework for understanding how international norms influence senior regulators and how they affect both state decisions to comply as well as levels of compliance.

How Does Culture Count In Legal Change?: A Review With A Proposal From A Social Movement Perspective, Setsuo Miyazawa

Michigan Journal of International Law

We have in this volume four articles on legal change in China and Japan written by four distinguished authors. These articles vary with regard to subject state, specificity of issues, and breadth of analytical scope. They commonly discuss one factor, however: culture. The purpose of this Comment is to examine the way each article uses culture in its explanations of legal change. The Comment concludes with a brief suggestion, from a social movement perspective, on employing culture as an explanatory tool in a non-essentialist way.

The Culture Of Legal Change: A Case Study Of Tobacco Control In Twenty-First Century Japan, Eric A. Feldman

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article argues that the interaction of international norms and local culture is a central factor in the creation and transformation of legal rules. Like Alan Watson's influential theory of legal transplants, it emphasizes that legal change is frequently a consequence of learning from other jurisdictions. And like those who have argued that rational, self-interested lawmakers responding to incentives such as reelection are the engine of legal change, this Article treats incentives as critical motivators of human behavior. But in place of the cutting-and-pasting of black-letter legal doctrine it highlights the cross-border flow of social norms, and rather than material …

The Next Generation: Milhaupt And West On Japanese Economic Law, Kent Anderson

Michigan Journal of International Law

Review of Economic Organizations and Corporate Governance in Japan: The Impact of Formal and Informal Rules by Curtis Milhaupt & Mark West

Law And Culture In China And Japan: A Framework For Analysis, John O. Haley

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Comment is divided into two parts. The first sets forth a series of definitional propositions intended for a more general analysis of the interrelationships of law and culture. The second comprises an introduction to the evolution of legal institutions that enables us to understand better the reception and development of Western legal institutions in East Asia and provides context for the four articles and their individual and collective insights.

Signaling Conformity: Changing Norms In Japan And China, David Nelken

Michigan Journal of International Law

Whatever their differences, the articles in this issue also have much in common in addition to their regional focus. The author of this Comment shall discuss in turn three (related) theoretical issues that arise, to a greater or lesser degree, in all four contributions. The first Part of this Comment considers the insights of these articles on the need to move from discussing transplants to focusing on transnational legal processes. The second Part examines what the contributions tell us about culture, legal culture, and the so-called "norm of conformity." I shall concentrate in particular on the cultural sources of choices …

Law, Norms, And Legal Change: Global And Local In China And Japan, Nicholas C. Howson, Mark D. West

Michigan Journal of International Law

The editors of the Michigan Journal of International Law have boldly brought together four articles and commentary that focus on different aspects of the same problem in China and Japan: the relationship between domestic legal change and foreign and/or "international" law and regulation, "soft" agreements, norms, or even cultural practices. The compilation is bold in part because scholarship on change in East Asian law and legal systems often suffers from one of two defects. First, it often focuses on purely domestic phenomena in only one system, ignoring the comparative connections. Second, scholars often attack the problem from an exclusively comparative …

Law, Norms, And Legal Change: Global And Local In China And Japan, Nicholas C. Howson, Mark D. West

Articles

The editors of the Michigan Journal of International Law have boldly brought together four articles and commentary that focus on different aspects of the same problem in China and Japan: the relationship between domestic legal change and foreign and/or "international" law and regulation, "soft" agreements, norms, or even cultural practices. The compilation is bold in part because scholarship on change in East Asian law and legal systems often suffers from one of two defects. First, it often focuses on purely domestic phenomena in only one system, ignoring the comparative connections. Second, scholars often attack the problem from an exclusively comparative …

The Law And Culture Of The Apology In Korean Dispute Settlement (With Japan And The United States In Mind), Ilhyung Lee

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article addresses the apology in civil dispute settlement in Korea, Japan's neighbor across the East Sea, using the U.S.-Japan comparative discussion as a helpful frame of reference. Part I provides the necessary background on the meaning of the apology and the leading commentary along the U.S.-Japan axis, beginning with the work of Wagatsuma and Rosett. Culture appears in this discussion in two regards. First, a question arises as to whether the very meaning of the apology as noted in the commentary reflects the U.S. cultural orientation, or instead has universal application. Second, some argue that cultural norms explain the …

Article 9 Of The Constitution Of Japan And The Use Of Procedural And Substantive Heuristics For Consensus, Mark A. Chinen

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article’s purpose is to examine the revision debates through the lens of recent scholarship on constitutional decisionmaking to see what lessons might be drawn about constitutionalism in Japan and elsewhere. In Part I, the author discusses Article 9's text and interpretation and focus on three controversies: first, Japan's ability to use force to defend itself and the related issue of the constitutionality of the Japan Self Defense Force (SDF); second, Japan's ability to engage in collective self-defense, which impacts the state's security relationship with the United States under the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Agreement; and finally, Japan's ability to participate …

Citizen Participation In Judicial Decision Making: Juries, Lay Judges And Japan, Richard O. Lempert

Articles

In the late 1920s and 1930s Japan had a jury system. It was suspended in 1943 as a wartime measure, but it had fallen into desuetude long before that. Arguably it was like the Spanish jury, which has several times risen during periods of relative political liberalism or populism and been suppressed during periods of militarism and autocracy. That is, it may be more than a coincidence that use of the Japanese jury fell precipitously during the 1930s as militarism took hold of the Japanese nation. Now the reinstatement of the Japanese jury is again being seriously considered. Similarly it …

International And Comparative Law Perspectives On Internet Patents, Toshiko Takenaka

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The Internet and e-commerce have created a borderless market. Goods and services sold on the Internet are subject to the patent statutes and regulations of all countries in which customers have access. Because the presence or absence of patent protection--or variations in that protection--hinders the movement of goods and services throughout the Internet, it is necessary to harmonize the protection afforded by Internet patents in their early stages of development. Among the three papers, however, only Professor Chiappetta touched upon the problem of compliance with the provisions in TRIPS. None of the papers paid attention to the feasibility of harmonizing …

Educating Lawyers For The Global Economy, John O. Haley

Michigan Journal of International Law

Review of Law and Investment in Japan: Cases and Materials (Yukio Yanagida, Daniel H. Foote, Edward S. Johnson, Jr., J. Mark Ramseyer & Hugh T. Scogin, Jr. eds.)

Laws Separating Commercial Banking And Securities Activities As An Impediment To Free Trade In Financial Services: A Comparative Study Of Competitiveness In The International Market For Financial Services, Sarah A. Wagman

Michigan Journal of International Law

By comparing U.S., Japanese, and European institutions' competitiveness in the international market for financial services, this Note focuses on the possible implications of the Glass-Steagall Act in the international trade context as a means of exploring some of the additional arguments which have emerged in favor of reforming U.S. bank regulation.

Administering Justice In A Consensus-Based Society, Koichiro Fujikura

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Authority Without Power: Law and the Japanese Paradox by John O. Haley

Reporting The Truth And Setting The Record Straight: An Analysis Of U.S. And Japanese Libel Laws, Ellen M. Smith

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note argues that U.S. courts and lawmakers should adopt some aspects of Japanese libel law. Part I compares the balances struck in U.S. and Japanese libel law between promoting press freedoms and protecting individual interests. Part II focuses on the extent to which each system succeeds in addressing the objectives of encouraging aggressive, accurate reporting, and compensating libel victims. Finally, Part III proposes a new U.S. libel standard that would adopt, with some modifications, key elements of Japanese libel law without running afoul of established U.S. constitutional requirements.

Unwelcome Imports: Racism, Sexism, And Foreign Investment, William H. Lash Iii

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article will address the problems minorities and women face from Japanese foreign direct investment. This article focuses on Japanese direct investment because the rapid rise in Japan's direct investment in the United States, combined with a record of discrimination by Japanese firms in Japan and abroad, makes Japanese investment the best example of the problems addressed in this article. However, the discriminatory attitudes described here may well be held by other foreign investors, and therefore, the legislation proposed later in this article addresses a broader problem.

The Development Of The Equal Treatment Principle In The International Debt Crisis, Carsten Thomas Ebenroth, Rüdiger Woggon

Michigan Journal of International Law

Since the outbreak of the international debt crisis at the beginning of the 1980s, debtor countries have reached a series of agreements with private creditor banks, with the aim of reducing the financial strain on the debtor countries and enabling them to service their debts. Long-term extensions of maturities are a central aspect of many of these arrangements. Included in the restructurings are all the medium- and long-term claims of the creditor banks, often short-term trade credits and interbank lines, and, in individual cases such as the restructuring of the debts of Poland, Yugoslavia, Costa Rica, and some African States, …