Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

Is A Duty To Pay Tax Inherent In Affirmations Of Human Rights?, Jonathan M. Barrett

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 (the Universal Declaration), as the preeminent statement of human rights, informs numerous cognate covenants and declarations of rights, and charters of rights included in national constitutions. Unlike the rights declarations of the Enlightenment, the Universal Declaration affirms broad welfare rights, in addition to civil and political rights. No right or set of rights is superior to another; they are indivisible, interdependent and interrelated.

Declarations of rights may also include duties. The Organization of American States’ American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man 1948 (“the American Declaration”), for example, includes …

Complicity In The Perversion Of Justice: The Role Of Lawyers In Eroding The Rule Of Law In The Third Reich, Cynthia Fountaine

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

A fundamental tenet of the legal profession is that lawyers and judges are uniquely responsible—individually and collectively—for protecting the Rule of Law. This Article considers the failings of the legal profession in living up to that responsibility during Germany’s Third Reich. The incremental steps used by the Nazis to gain control of the German legal system—beginning as early as 1920 when the Nazi Party adopted a party platform that included a plan for a new legal system—turned the legal system on its head and destroyed the Rule of Law. By failing to uphold the integrity and independence of the profession, …

Refugee Crisis In Germany And The Right To A Subsistence Minimum: Differences That Ought Not Be, Ulrike Davy

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Employee Right To Disconnect, Paul M. Secunda

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

U.S. workers are increasingly finding it difficult to escape from work. Through their smartphones, e-mail, and social media, work tethers them to their workstations well after the work day has ended. Whether at home or in transit, employers are asking or requiring employees to complete assignments, tasks, and projects outside of working hours. This practice has a profound detrimental impact on employee privacy and autonomy, safety and health, productivity and compensation, and rest and leisure. France and Germany have responded to this emerging workplace issue by taking different legal approaches to providing their employees a right to disconnect from the …

Contractual Excuse Under The Cisg: Impediment, Hardship, And The Excuse Doctrines, Larry A. Dimatteo

Pace International Law Review

This article will examine the law of excuse as espoused in the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). It will examine the relevant case law applying the doctrine of impediment found in CISG Article 79. The question posed in this analysis is whether the word “impediment” relates only to the occurrences of force majeure, impossibility and frustration of purpose events or if it also includes changed circumstances, impracticability and hardship events. For purposes of simplicity, the first set of excuse or exemption doctrines will be analyzed under the heading of “impossibility” and the second set will …

Contractual Excuse Under The Cisg: Impediment, Hardship, And The Excuse Doctrines, Larry A. Dimatteo

UF Law Faculty Publications

This article will examine the law of excuse as espoused in the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). It will examine the relevant case law applying the doctrine of impediment found in CISG Article 79. The question posed in this analysis is whether the word “impediment” relates only to the occurrences of force majeure, impossibility and frustration of purpose events or if it also includes changed circumstances, impracticability and hardship events. For purposes of simplicity, the first set of excuse or exemption doctrines will be analyzed under the heading of “impossibility” and the second set will …

The Wood Pulp Case: The Application Of European Economic Community Competition Law To Foreign Based Undertakings, Evan Breibart

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Commercial Letters Of Confirmation In International Trade: Austrian, French, German And Swiss Law And Uniform Law Under The 1980 Sales Convention, Michael Esser

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Protecting Defamatory Fiction And Reader-Response Theory With Emphasis On The German Experience, Henry Ordower

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Hitler's Ghosts: The Interplay Between International Organizations And Their Member States In Response To The Rise Of Neo-Nazism In Society And Government, Marjorie L. Morton

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

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

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Balancing The First Amendment And Child Protection Goals In Legal Approaches To Restricting Children's Access To Violent Video Games: A Comparison Of Germany And The United States, Laura Tate Kagel

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The European Union, State-Sponsored Gambling, And Private Gambling Services: Time For Harmonization?, Matthew W. Mauldin

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Book Review: "Die Gemeinfreiheit: Begriff, Funktion, Dogmatik (The Public Domain: Concept, Function, Dogmatics)" By Alexander Peukert, Marketa Trimble

Scholarly Works

The reviewer considers a recent book by Alexander Peukert, the professor of civil and commercial law who specializes in international intellectual property law at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Peukert has devoted the book to defining the limits of the public domain – the realm of intellectual activity in which works are free for anyone to use because the works are not protected by intellectual property rights, are protected but the protection has expired, are subject to an exception to the rights under the law, or are unprotected because the owner of the rights chooses not to enforce …

Enforcing International Law: States, Ios, And Courts As Shaming Reference Groups, Roslyn Fuller, Sandeep Gopalan

Roslyn Fuller

We seek to answer the question as to whether international law imposes meaningful constraints on state behaviour. Unabated drone strikes by the dominant superpower in foreign territories, an ineffective United Nations, and persistent disregard for international law obligations, as evidenced by states killing their own citizens, all suggest that the sceptics have won the debate about whether international law is law and whether it affects state behaviour. We argue that such a conclusion would be in error because it grossly underestimates the complex ways in which IL affects state behaviour. We argue that scholars who claim that the lack of …

Thoughts On The German Constitutional Court Decision On The Esm, Richard Stith

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Law – Made In Germany: Global Standort Or Global Standard?, James Maxeiner

All Faculty Scholarship

Earlier this year the Federal Ministry of Justice released the second edition of the brochure, Law - Made in Germany. For those readers who do not know the brochure, it is the product of an umbrella group of German professional organizations known as the Bündnis für das deutsche Recht. A purpose of the Bündnis, as stated at its founding in 2008, and of the brochure, is to improve the position of German law in the ― "international competition of legal systems" (internationalen Wettbewerb der Rechtsordnungen). Catalyst for founding of the Bündnis and for publication of Law - Made in Germany …

Civilizing American Civil Justice: International Insights, James Maxeiner, Gyooho Lee, Armin Weber

All Faculty Scholarship

In 1776, when Americans declared independence from Britain, they also declared their rights. Their declarations of rights count “open courts” as among the best means for constitutional development. Open courts should secure to every man, without regard to wealth, a just remedy for every wrong suffered, according to the law of the land, by fair and speedy procedure.

Since 1776 Americans have invested heavily in creating open courts. They have been disappointed by returns that fall “far short of perfection” (Maurice Rosenberg). They have found reform to be an “unending effort to perfect the imperfect” (Jay Tidmarsh).

That Americans have …

Use And Enjoyment Of Intangible Services: The German, Austrian, Danish And Estonian Vat Derogations, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

When the Czech Republic elected (effective January 1, 2009) to derogate from the standard rules for determining the place of supply for intangible services, pursuant to Article 58 of the Recast VAT Directive (RVD), it was following the lead of ten other Member States. This paper considers four of those other jurisdictions - Germany, Austria, Estonia, and Denmark - and compares their derogations with that of the Czech Republic.

In each instance a use and enjoyment standard determines the place of supply for certain intangible services. The affected transactions are (potentially) wide ranging. In each instance non-EU countries are on …

The National Flood Insurance Program: Maintaining Its Head Above Water, Aparna Kirknel Majmudar

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

National flood insurance programs implement flood prevention, create flood zone land-use policy, and establish protocols for relief With climate change and development raising the risk and exposure of human populations to flood, the United States 'National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has been heavily scrutinized, especially in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. This article examines the validity of the two main criticisms of NFIP, and seeks to inform a better understanding of NFIP's integrity through a comparative analysis between NFIP and several different flood insurance models in Europe. As a result, this analysis yields recommendations that can benefit NFIP, as well …

Quebec's Module D'Enregistrement Des Ventes (Mev): Fighting The Zapper, Phantomware And Tax Fraud With Technology, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

On January 28, 2008 the Quebec Minister of Revenue, Jean-Marc Fournier, announced that by late 2009 the MRQ will begin testing a device, the module d'enregistrement des ventes (MEV) that is projected to substantially reduce tax fraud in the restaurant sector. By 2010 or 2011 MEVs will be mandatory in all Quebec restaurants, where they will assure accuracy and retention of business records within electronic cash registers (ECRs).

This paper moves beyond a discussion of the variety of sales suppression programs in use - zappers and phantom-ware. The concern here is on enforcement efforts, particularly the MEV. The intent is …

Any Place For Ethnicity? The Liberal State And Immigration, David Abraham

ExpressO

When it comes to immigration, almost all liberal states are faced with the contradiction between their universalist principles and the real affinities they feel for ethnic kinsmen. This review essay (4000 words) addresses the different ways a number of liberal democracies have handled this dilemma.

Federalism And The Allocation Of Sovereignty Beyond The State In The European Union, Ronald A. Brand

Articles

Any discussion of federalism necessarily runs headlong into concepts of sovereignty, with both terms being subject to Tocqueville's statement that, in discussing federalism, "the human understanding more easily invents new things than new words." Thus, just as systems previously considered to have been "federal" at the dawn of the United States of America were something much different from what was developed for our nation at that time, so is the "federal" system of today's United States different from anything to which we make comparisons.

This article reviews a paper by Professor Peter Tettinger's, and extends his analysis. As Professor Tettinger …

Are Your Click-Wrap Agreements Valid?—Internet Contracting In The Global Electronic Age: Comparative Perspectives For Taiwan, James Maxeiner

All Faculty Scholarship

Addresses the issue of standard terms in click-wrap and shrink-wrap licenses generally and in some detail how the laws of Taiwan, Germany, the European Union, the United States and Japan.

Irreconcilable Differences? Germany, The United States And The Hague Convention Controversy, Ximena Skovron

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Spreading Angst Or Promoting Free Expression? Regulating Hate Speech On The Internet, Joshua Spector

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legalize It? -Osp And Peer-To-Peer Network Liability For Online Music Copyright Infringements In The United States And Germany, Christian Nils Jochen Engelhardt

LLM Theses and Essays

It may be useful to explain why a comparative approach was chosen. It is easy and comfortable to get caught up in one's own legal system and not look abroad. It is often difficult enough to understand and apply one’s own laws accurately and the study of a foreign legal system may seem an effort too great. Yet, this reluctance to look beyond the familiar is fatal to legal development and improvement since entirely new ideas are rare in the field of law and the main source of change and new approaches is borrowing from another legal system. If one …

Changing Hearts And Minds: The Domestic Influence Of International Tribunals, Belinda Cooper

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

I have been observing events in Kosovo as someone interested not only in international tribunals, but also in German history, and especially in the way in which Germany has dealt with the legacies of World War I and the Holocaust.

Grenztiberschreitendes (Internationales) Insolvenzrecht Dervereinigten Staaten Von Amerika Und Der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Cross-Border Bankruptcy Law Of The United States And Germany), By Edgar J. Habscheid, Hannah Buxbaum

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

No abstract provided.

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 …