Courts Commons^™

Fairness, Legitimacy, And Selection Decisions In International Criminal Law, Jonathan Hafetz

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The selection of situations and cases remains one of the most vexing challenges facing the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other international criminal tribunals. Since Nuremberg, international criminal law (ICL) has experienced significant progress in developing procedural safeguards designed to protect the fair trial rights of the accused. But it continues to lag in the fairness of its selection decisions as measured against the norm of equal application of law, whether in the disproportionate focus on certain regions (as with the ICC's focus on Africa), the application of criminal responsibility only to one side of a conflict, or the continued …

The Role Of Courts In "Making" Law In Japan: The Communitarian Conservatism Of Japanese Judges, John O. Haley

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Professor Haley is an outstanding international and comparative law scholars, widely credited with having popularized Japanese legal studies in the United States. In 1969, Haley received a fellowship from the University of Washington and was in one of the first classes to graduate from the Asian Law Program, now, the Asian Law Center. After working for several years in law firms in Japan, he joined the law faculty at the University of Washington, where he remained for nearly twenty-six years during which time he directed the Asian and Comparative Law Program. In June 2012, Professor Haley was awarded The Order …

A Social Psychology Model Of The Perceived Legitimacy Of International Criminal Courts, Stuart Ford

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

There is a large body of literature arguing that positive perceived legitimacy is a critical factor in the success of international criminal courts, and that courts can be engineered in such a way that they will be positively perceived by adjusting factors such as their institutional structure and outreach efforts. But in many situations the perceived legitimacy of international criminal courts has almost nothing to do with these factors. This Article takes the latest research in social psychology and applies it to survey data about perceptions of international criminal courts in order to understand how affected populations form attitudes about …

Lifting The Veil Of Secrecy: Judicial Review Of Administrative Detentions In The Israeli Supreme Court, Shiri Krebs

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

All around the world, hundreds of individuals are constantly subjected to administrative detentions designed to prevent them from committing future atrocities. Generally, the main protection against arbitrary and unjustified administrative detentions is judicial review. Nonetheless, judicial review of administrative detention proceedings suffers from inherent difficulties and is typically based on ex parte proceedings and secret evidence. In spite of these difficulties and based on a few renowned cases, it is widely accepted in the scholarly debates that the Israeli judicial review model is robust and effective. Therefore, prominent international law scholars often recommend the adoption of this model in various …

International Law In Domestic Courts And The Jurisdictional Immunities Of The State Case, Ingrid Wuerth

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

National court litigation in Greece and Italy prompted Germany to bring suit before the international Court of Justice (‘ICJ’), resulting in the Jurisdictional Immunities of the State judgment. The history of that litigation, as well as the ICJ’s judgment itself, raise two questions about the relationship between executive branches and courts. First, if national court decisions conflict with the views of the forum state’s executive branch, which controls for the purpose of determining state practice in customary international law? Secondly, are national courts more likely to produce ‘outlier’ decisions that challenge or undermine existing international law when the forum state’s …

The Dog That Caught The Car: Observations On The Past, Present, And Future Approaches Of The Office Of The Legal Adviser To Official Acts Immnunities, John B. Bellinger Iii

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Supreme Court's decision in Samantar v. Yousuf vindicated the position of the State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser, which had long argued that the immunities of current and former foreign government officials in U.S. courts are defined by common law and customary international law as articulated by the Executive Branch, rather than by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976. But the decision will place a burden on the Office of the Legal Adviser, which will now be asked to submit its views on the potential immunity of every foreign government official sued in the United States. The …

Judicial And Arbitral Proceedings And The Outer Limits Of The Continental Shelf, John E. Noyes

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article explores when international third-party dispute settlement forums may hear cases concerning the outer limits of a continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from baselines. The 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea articulated determinate rules for establishing those limits and created an institution--the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf--to make recommendations concerning them. Limits set by coastal states "on the basis of" such recommendations "shall be final and binding." Yet the Law of the Sea Convention's third-party dispute settlement system may also apply to outer limits questions concerning the Arctic Ocean and other oceans.

International …

Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf? The International Criminal Court As A Weapon Of Asymmetric Warfare, W. C. Austin

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The United States is engaged in a war on terror against enemies who wage "asymmetric war" through terrorism, media manipulation, and "law-fare"---exploiting judicial processes to achieve political or military objectives.

This Article explores whether the fledgling International Criminal Court (ICC) could eventually be exploited by these groups as a tool of asymmetric "law-fare." It briefly traces the history of the ICC and recounts why the United States opposes the Court. Examining the methods of asymmetric war, the Authors then explore whether the ICC could be exploited by future asymmetric warriors.

The Authors describe three asymmetric methods that could be used …

Law And War: Individual Rights, Executive Authority, And Judicial Power In England During World War I, Rachel Vorspan

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this-Article Professor Vorspan examines the role of the English courts during World War I, particularly the judicial response to executive infringements on individual liberty. Focusing on detention, deportation, conscription, and confiscation of property, the Author revises the conventional depiction of the English judiciary during World War I as passive and peripheral. She argues that in four ways the judges were activist and energetic, both in advancing the government's war effort and in promoting their own policies and powers. First, they were judicial warriors, developing innovative legal strategies to legitimize detention and other governmental restrictions on personal freedom. Second, they …

Order In The Court: Judicial Stability And Democratic Success In Haiti, Ben J. Scott

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Haiti faces many challenges in its attempt to build a stable, liberal democracy. Haitians have endured a legacy of chaotic and heavy-handed rule in recent decades, and the success of democracy in Haiti is both hoped for and doubted by Haitians and the international community. One reason for the doubts has been the failure of the Haitian government successfully to implement free and fair elections. Citizens and candidates are often hesitant even to participate in elections. Though both were tragic, neither the failed legislative and presidential elections of 2000, nor the subsequent coup d'etat in 2004 that resulted in the …

Advancing U.S. Interests With The International Criminal Court, David J. Scheffer, Ambassador

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

It is a great pleasure to be here in this beautiful lecture hall at Vanderbilt University Law School and to have the opportunity to speak to you this afternoon about the International Criminal Court (ICC). In recent months, one newspaper or magazine article after another, in examining the foreign policy of the current administration and the gulf (which seems to be so pronounced now) between the United States and even its closest allies throughout the rest of the world, has listed a basic set of treaties as being partly explanatory of that gulf. The Kyoto Protocol, for example, is always …

International Law In Mexican Courts, Jorge Cicero

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Recognizing the increasing importance of international law in Mexico, this Article addresses the actual and potential uses of international law in Mexican courts. The Article reviews the ways in which the Mexican system already ensures the judicial consideration of international undertakings, as well as areas of possible improvements. The Article first considers the role and status of international law in the Mexican legal order, including the domestic status of international treaties and agreements, as well as the interaction between national and international norms. Next, the Article focuses on ways to ensure the consideration of international legal questions by Mexico's high …

Service Of U.S. Punitive Damages Complaint Passes Constitutional Muster In Germany, Ingrid L. Lenhardt

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In today's global market, disputes between U.S. and foreign parties have become a common occurrence. Courts in the United States, as well as other nations, frequently face new and complex international litigation problems. A common problem for many courts centers on the practical, mechanical requirements of bringing a lawsuit.

In this Article, the author examines the service of process of U.S. complaints for punitive damages to residents of Germany. In particular, Ms. Lenhardt analyzes the recent German Constitutional Court's ruling on international service of process. In addition, the author reviews the requirements of the Hague Convention on Service Abroad and …

Books Received, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Books Received

Consensus and Confrontation: The United States and the Law of the Sea Convention

By Jon M. Van Dyke.

Honolulu: The Law of the Sea Institute, University of Hawaii, 1985. Pp. x, 576. $29.50

Free Flow of Information; A New Paradigm. By Achal Mehra

Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1986. Pp. xiii, 225. $32.95

The Fund Agreement in the Courts, Volume III. By Joseph Gold Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund, 1986. Pp. xvi, 841.$45.00

A Standard for Justice; A Critical Commentary on the Proposed Bill of Rights for New Zealand

By Jerome B. Elkind and Antony Shaw

New York: Oxford …

Books Received, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

AIR CHARTER REGULATION

By Jaap Kamp

New York: Praeger Publishers, 1976. Pp. 162. $16.50.

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ANATOMY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

By J.G. Merrills

London: Sweet& Maxwell, 1976. Pp. 106. $7.55.

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AUSTRALIAN LAWYERS AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Edited by David Hambly & John Golding

Sydney: Law Book Company, Ltd., 1976. Pp. 392.$17.50.

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COLONIAL EMANCIPATION IN THE PACIFIC AND THE CARIBBEAN

By Arnold Leibowitz

New York: Praeger Publishers, 1976. Pp. 221.$20.00.

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THE DEVELOPING COMMON MARKET

By John Paxton

Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1976. 3rd edition. Pp. 240. $25.00.

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ERSKINE MAY'S PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE

Edited by Sir David Lidderdale

London: Butterworths, 1976. …

Book Reviews, Edward H. Wall, Poeliu Dai

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

THE FUNCTION OF JUDICIAL DECISION IN EUROPEAN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION By C.J. Mann The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1972.Pp. xiv, 567.

Edward H. Wall

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INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING AT THE CROSSROADS: NATIONAL SuPPORT-EXPERIENCE AND PROSPECTS By David W. Wainhouse with the assistance of Frederick P. Bohannon, James E. Knott, Anne P. Simons. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973.Pp. 634. $22.50.

Poeliu Dai