Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

A Club Of Incumbents? The African Union And Coups D'Etat, Eki Y. Omorogbe

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article considers the response of the Organization for African Unity (the OAU, founded in 1963) and its successor, the African Union (the AU, which began operating in 2003) to coups d'etat, since 1997. The Article addresses these organizations' policies concerning unconstitutional changes of government, as well as the application of these policies. In considering these issues, the Article examines the response of the AU to the coups in Togo (2005), Mauritania (2005 and 2008), Guinea (2008), Madagascar (2009), and Niger (2010). In each case, the AU was unwilling to recognize the government that came to power through coup, even …

Epilog: Foreign Sovereign Immunity At Home And Abroad, Ingrid Wuerth

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Every author writing on U.S. law for this symposium notes that the extent to which the Executive Branch can make binding immunity determinations is an important issue going forward. In addition to Legal Adviser Koh, two other authors address this issue directly. Professor Peter Rutledge provides a typology of the various roles that the Executive Branch might play in immunity (and other) cases, distinguishing in particular between views articulated by the Executive Branch independently of ongoing litigation, and those expressed with respect to particular pending cases. And Lewis Yelin of the Department of Justice has contributed a major, comprehensive article …

Forgive Me, Founding Fathers For I Have Sinned, Carolyn A. Pytynia

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution grants the federal government the authority to make the law of the land and, in turn, preempt state law that is incompatible with the federal government's legislative and treaty making efforts. In addition, other provisions of the Constitution authorize the federal government to participate in matters of foreign affairs, and the Supreme Court has found this authority to be exclusive to the federal government in a number of cases. However, the Constitution is silent on the issue of when federal preemption of state law is appropriate when states seek to legislate in matters …

Civil Society And Democracy In Japan, Iran, Iraq And Beyond, Shiva Falsafi

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article addresses the mystery of why some countries appear to become democracies seamlessly while others face insurmountable obstacles. While acknowledging the importance of civil society to democratization at the time of transition, this Article argues that broad historical civil society movements, even if devoid of immediate political impact, also facilitate the passage to democracy at a later date.

This Article takes a comparative look at the constitutional, labor, and women's movements in Japan, Iraq, and Iran, from the nineteenth century to the present. It demonstrates that the resilience of Japanese civil society from 1868 onward secured the country's successful …

Time For A New Approach? Federalism And Foreign Affairs After "Crosby V. National Foreign Trade Council", James J. Pascoe

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

On June 19, 2000, in Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council--a much-anticipated decision involving the intersection of federalism and foreign relations--the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Massachusetts law restricting state purchases from companies doing business in Burma. Crosby represents the Court's first consideration not only of local selective purchasing laws but, more importantly, its first consideration of the sort of subnational sanctions first developed by state and local governments during the anti-apartheid campaign of the 1980's. Thus, Crosby may pose an obstacle to human rights activism by local governments using economic sanctions to punish perceived human-rights offenders.

Because the …

Judicial Jurisdiction In The Conflict Of Laws Course: Adding A Comparative Dimension, Linda J. Silberman

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Article, Professor Silberman suggests that comparative law materials can usefully be introduced in the conflict of laws course. She proposes the subject of adjudicatory jurisdiction as a good place to start. She argues that a comparison of the U.S. approach with the English and European approaches (particularly under the Brussels Convention) is evidence of the desirability of a jurisdictional system grounded more on rules and/or discretion rather than on a constitutional standard of reasonableness. She takes issue with the contention of her colleague Professor Andreas Lowenfeld that "reasonableness" has been accepted as an international standard for the assertion …

Books Received, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

JAPANESE CRIMINAL JUSTICE

By A. Didrick Castberg

New York, New York: Praeger Publishers, 1990. Pp. 153. $42.95.

THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

By David P. Forsythe

Lexington, Massachusetts; Lexington Books, 1991. Pp. 209.$34.00.

FEDERAL COURTS AND THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PARADIGM By Kenneth C. Randall

Durham, North Carolina; Duke University Press. 1990. Pp. 295. $45.00.

ROMAN LAW AND COMPARATIVE LAW

By Alan Watson

Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1991. Pp. 328. $50.00

THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND FOREIGN POLICY

By Victoria Marie Kraft

New York, New York: Greenwood Press, 1990. Pp. 185. $45.00.

Books Received, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

CIVIL JUDGMENT RECOGNITION AND THE INTEGRATION OF MULTIPLE STATE ASSOCIATIONS: CENTRAL AMERICA, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

By Robert C. Casad

Lawrence: The Regents Press of Kansas, 1981. Pp. 258.$25.00.

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COMPARATIVE LAW YEARBOOK

VOL. 4, 1980

Edited by Dennis Campbell

The Hague/Boston/London: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1981. Pp. 371.

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CONSTITUTION-MAKING: PRINCIPLES, PROCESS, PRACTICE

By Edward McWhinney

Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1981.Pp. 231. $20.00.

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THE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW OF THE SEA

Edited by Douglas M.Johnston

Gland, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 1981. Pp. 419.

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INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS: ENVIRONMENTS AND …

The 1977 Soviet Constitution: A Historical Comparison, Igor L. Kavass, Gary I. Christian

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Throughout the Soviet Union's history, its four constitutions have been a reflection of the political climate of the particular period. The documents thus viewed provide a historical and political benchmark against which life and thought in the U.S.S.R. may be fairly accurately gauged. When Brezhnev addressed the USSR Supreme Soviet on October 4, 1977, to recommend the inevitable adoption of the 1977 Constitution, he again stressed the historical perspective in which the document must be viewed. He stated: "We will adopt the new Constitution on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. This is not …

Books Received, C. C. S.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS IN EUROPE

Edited by R. M. Goode and K. R. Simmons Published for the Faculty of Laws; Queen Mary College, University of London Boston: A. W. Sijthoff, 1978. Pp. 448.

COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

By Mauro Cappelletti and William Cohen Indianapolis, Indiana: Bobbs -Merrill, 1979. Pp. 628.

COMPARATIVE LAW: WESTERN EUROPEAN AND LATIN AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEMS

By John H. Merryman and David S. Clark Indianapolis, Indiana: Bobbs -Merrill, 1978. Pp. 1278.

THE DISCIPLINE OF LAW

By Lord Denning London: Butterworths,1979. Pp. 330.

INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS BETWEEN STATES

By Guy S. Goodwin -Gill Oxford: Clarendon Press, …