Human Rights Law Commons^™

Public Policy In International Investment And Trade Law: Community Expectations And Functional Decision-Making, Diane A. Desierto

Diane A Desierto

This article uses a contextual policy-oriented approach to assess how the standing debate on a State's regulatory freedom has been treated within international investment law (e.g. case-by-case interpretation of variant treaty design in each case), in contrast with how the issue of domestic regulatory autonomy in international trade law has evolved towards coordination (e.g. attempted harmonization of the same set of instruments). The article submits a different view from many primarily trade law/investment law scholars (and other systemic integrationists who idealize a seamless shift from trade law to investment law), who have postulated that this fundamental issue of State regulatory …

Liberty, Equality, Diversity: States, Cultures And International Law, Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

This chapter explores how culture is addressed by contemporary international law, with particular reference to human rights law norms. The first part covering freedom focuses on the rise of the modern state and its conscious reimagining of ties with its citizens through the promotion of tolerance and a secular, national identity. The shift is explored through the prisms of the freedom of religion, the right to participate in (national) cultural life, and the limitations on freedom of expression including prohibition of hate speech and domestic blasphemy laws. The second part on equality centres on the relationship between the state, the …

Enhancing Human Rights Through European Integration: How Recent Litigation Before The European Court Of Human Rights And The Court Of Justice Of The European Union Has Advanced European Aslyum Law, Clara Presler

Clara Presler

Recent case law from the two European courts charged with protecting human rights -- the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice for the European Union -- reveals mutual influence that has enhanced protection of asylum seekers. The two courts’ willingness to engage in the other’s legal reasoning has resulted in rapid development in the areas of eligibility for asylum protection, detention of asylum seekers, and the Dublin II Regulation. This interplay has occurred despite the fact that the courts are not formally bound to each other, and each employs different procedures, mandates, and substantive law. In …

The Problem Of Thirst: The Right To Equality And The Unlawful Privatization Of Water, Kasari Jl Govender

Kasari JL Govender

The problem of thirst is a massive one, and a child dies every 15 seconds from disease related to lack of access to safe, clean water. Privatization is touted as the solution to water injustice, despite evidence that privatization of water services only increases water deprivation for the poorest citizens. This paper examines whether a privatized for-profit system of water access for personal use infringes the human right to water, and whether states have a legal responsibility to protect their citizens from any and all third party business interests in water. The problem of thirst is considered from the perspective …

Conflict Minerals And The Law Of Pillage, Patrick J. Keenan

Patrick J. Keenan

The illicit exploitation of natural resources—often called conflict minerals—has been associated with some of the worst violence in the past half-century, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Prosecutors and scholars have struggled to develop legal tools to adequately hold accountable those who have been responsible for the exploitation of civilians and resources in conflict. The most common legal tool, the crime of pillage, has been inadequate because it has been applied only to discrete, relatively small episodes of theft. As important as it has been, the episodic theory is of limited utility when applied to what have been called …

The Rule Of Law Goes To Work: How Collective Bargaining May Promote Access To Justice In The U.S., Canada, And Around The World, Christopher David Ruiz Cameron

Christopher David Ruiz Cameron

No abstract provided.

Reforma Agraria E Inversión Extranjera: Uno De Los Nuevos Desafíos Del Proceso De Paz, Marco A. Velásquez-Ruiz

Marco A. Velásquez-Ruiz

Uno de los secretos a viva voz en la corta pero compleja historia de Colombia como nación, es que el principal motor del conflicto armado que ha azotado nuestro país por más de sesenta años es la disputa por los recursos naturales escasos, y en especial por el acceso y uso de la tierra. Bajo dicho contexto, el proceso de reparación integral a las víctimas de el conflicto es una realidad gracias a las ley 1448 y otras reformas proyectadas en favor del sector rural, pero enfrenta desafíos provenientes de sectores insospechados como el de la inversión extranjera.

Foreign Investment-Induced Migration In Colombia: Rethinking The Legal Schemes Of Protection And Accountability, Marco A. Velásquez-Ruiz

Marco A. Velásquez-Ruiz

This paper intends to explore the relation between foreign investment and forced Migration in the context of Colombian armed conflict. Through the illustration of recent cases, it shows the various forms in which the operation of multinational corporations has generated adverse effects to the vulnerable communities located at their area of influence, thus generating processes of involuntary human mobility. In that way, it is established that there is a symbiotic relation between conflict and development, affecting the structure and scope of the norms for both the protection of forced migrants and accountability for human rights violations. This is so because …

Global Poverty And The Right To Development In International Law, Patrick Macklem

Patrick Macklem

This Article advances an account of the right to development as a legal instrument that holds the international legal order accountable for its role in the production and reproduction of global poverty. It first distinguishes moral conceptions of human rights, as instruments that protect universal features of humanity, from legal conceptions, which tie their existence to their specification in international instruments promulgated in compliance with international legal norms governing the creation of legal rights and obligations. Despite textual ambiguities in the various instruments in which it finds expression, the right to development vests in individuals and communities who have yet …

Holding Corporations To Account. Crafting Ats Suits In The Uk, Simon J. Baughen

Simon J Baughen

This is an updated version of the existing publication which has been amended in the light of the decision of the US Supreme Court on 17 April 2013 in Kiobel. It will be published in the Fall 2013 edition of the British Journal of American Legal Studies

International Law, The Civilizing Mission And The Ambivalence Of Development In Africa: Conceptual Underpinnings, Amin George Forji

Amin George Forji

International law, past and present has had to constantly wrestle with striking a balancing act between legality and imperialism. Following the Agrarian and Industrial revolutions, European1 economies increasingly witnessed profound boosts in productivity and net output beginning from the 17th century. By the start of the 19th century when explorations and discoveries were the currency of the day, European powers increasingly saw the acquisition of Africa as crucial to satisfy its economic imperatives namely: reinforcing home industries and instituting a market for finished products. While professing liberal moralism, European encroachment into Africa became suddenly exemplified with a turn from informal …

Social Protection Afforded To Irregular Migrant Workers: Thoughts On International Norms, The Southern African Development Community, Botswana And South Africa, Bruno Ps Van Eck, Felicia Snyman

Bruno PS Van Eck

The majority of migrant workers target those countries in southern Africa that have stronger economies. Irregular migrants are in a particularly vulnerable position, and this article discusses the protection that this category of persons may expect to experience in the southern African region. The authors recommend that the broad notion of “social protection”, rather than the narrower concept “social security” should be emphasized. International, continental and regional instruments providing protection to irregular migrants are traversed and the constitutional and legislative frameworks in relation to social protection in Botswana and South Africa are compared. The article concludes that there are significant …

U.S. Asylum Law As A Path To Religious Persecution, Jack C. Dolance Ii

Jack C Dolance II

U.S. asylum law protects against persecution “on account of . . . religion.” But must the law protect a non-believer seeking religious asylum in the United States? Many may instinctively answer “no,” for a non-believer is by most definitions not “religious.” Such a response misses the mark however — at least in the context of U.S. asylum law, which is subject to the First Amendment. The protection of religious liberty enshrined in the First Amendment embodies freedom from persecution on account of one’s “religion” — in whatever form that religion may take. In the asylum context, then, “religion” must be …

South Dakota: Making Dollars And Sense Of Indian Child Removal, Rachael Whitaker

Rachael Whitaker

South Dakota- Making Dollars and Sense of Indian Child Removal By: Rachael Whitaker In 2004, a South Dakota Governor’s Commission report adamantly denied claims that the state’s Department of Social Services (DSS) is “harvesting Indian children as a cash crop” and “runs nothing more than a state sponsored kidnapping program.” National Public Radio (NPR) broke a story in 2011, claiming South Dakota removed Indian children for profit. Since NPR’s report, the state has remained tight-lipped, advocates have threatened litigation, and Congress has asked for answers. South Dakota has a small population and economy, and it receives almost half of its …

From Peacekeepers To Slave Traders: An Australian's Journey To The Un And Beyond, Anne T. Gallagher Ao

Anne T Gallagher

Presentation to the New York Chapter of the Law Council of Australia, February 2013

Indigenus Peoples' Rights At The Intersection Of Human Rights And Intellectual Property Rights, Chidi Oguamanam

Chidi Oguamanam

Exploration of the interface between human rights (HRs) and intellectual property rights (IPRs) is a venture still at a gestational stage. One of the major challenges of that initiative is how to map indigenous peoples’ rights into the discourse. Indigenous peoples’ rights pose significant challenges to both HRs and IPRs jurisprudence. Not only is there a clarity gap over indigenous peoples’ rights in the international bill of rights. Indigenous people’s rights are analogous misfits to any head of conventional HRs as well as conventional IPRs. Overall, indigenous people’s rights are a source of irritation to both HRs and IPRs. The …

Direct Participation In Hostilities From Cyberspace, Collin Allan

Collin Allan

As demonstrated by the cyber attacks against Georgia in 2008 and the cyber attacks against Aramco in 2012, civilians are increasing their participation in armed conflicts through cyber attacks. In 2009, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) published a document on how to determine when a civilian’s participation in armed conflict reaches the necessary level to render him or her targetable by one of the parties to the conflict. The Tallinn Manual was published this year to provide legal guidance in cyber situations. While professionals have written in this area previously, it is the first time that experts …

Reclassifying "Terrorists" As Victims: Integrating Terrorism Analysis Into The Particular Social Group Framework Of Asylum, Emily Naser-Hall

Emily Naser-Hall

After the September 11th terrorist attacks at the hands of al-Qaeda operatives who slipped through the cracks of the US immigration system, immigration and asylum law became increasingly focused on ensuring that potential terrorists are not allowed into the United States. The USA PATRIOT Act and its subsequent legislation created what has become an unyielding bar to admission for any individual who is a member of a terrorist organization or who has committed terrorist activities. While the terrorism bar developed in response to real or perceived threats to US national security and has recently regained public light with the trial …

Torture In Us Jails And Prisons: An Analysis Of Solitary Confinement Under International Law, Anna Conley

Anna Conley

No abstract provided.

Concerning Summary Repatriations Of Sex-Trafficking Victims Out Of Cambodia Part I (Legal And Administrative System), Patrick M. Talbot

Patrick M Talbot

ABSTRACT

In 2010, I (along with a group of students from Handong International Law School, and some Cambodian colleagues), was asked to assist a Cambodian human rights and justice organization with a problem they encountered in their efforts to assist rescued victims of sex-trafficking. The victims were being rounded up after rescue and summarily repatriated out of the country; essentially, they were deported as illegal aliens. The victims were primarily Vietnamese and likely some Thai. This was happening apparently without regard to the protections of assessment and assistance that should be afforded them under the law, and this was the …

Concerning Summary Repatriations Of Sex-Trafficking Victims Out Of Cambodia Part Ii (Law And Steps For Repatriation), Patrick M. Talbot

Patrick M Talbot

No abstract provided.

Equality For All: Equal Protection For Queer Individuals In International Community, David C. Bell

David C Bell

This paper will address the need for international protections of the LGBTI community. After looking at some definitions and theories of international law, this paper will address the question of why protections are needed for the LGBTI community. Then the paper will look at previous attempts to create international precedent to protect these groups. Following those topics, this paper will take a look at the Yogyakarta Principles and conclude by speculating on the future to see where protections for these communities may lie.

Intellectual Property, Ag-Biotech And The Right To Adequate Food: A Critical African Perspective, Chidi Oguamanam

Chidi Oguamanam

Recent transformations in agricultural innovations have resulted in the consolidation of intellectual property rights in the agricultural arena resulting in an ongoing struggle for the control of plant genetic resources. For many developing countries, especially in Africa, traditional and communal-based artisanal farmers are the producers of over three quarters of regional food supply. But contemporary techno-legal transformations in agriculture undermine the critical role of these informal actors in a manner that aggravates the state of regional food insecurity in Africa. The aspirations of African countries to implement their obligations in regard to the right to adequate food under the International …

Les Codes De Conduite: Source Du Droit Global?, Gregory Lewkowicz

Gregory Lewkowicz

La doctrine récente en théorie et en philosophie du droit examine depuis plusieurs années les transformations du droit dans la mondialisation à partir de l’hypothèse de la formation d’un droit global. Les codes de conduites constitueraient un élément typique de ce droit global naissant.

Confrontés au phénomène massif de multiplication des codes de conduite, considéré comme extérieur au droit, selon la théorie et les critères classiques des normes juridiques, mais qui évolue pourtant en interaction sinon en concurrence avec lui, les auteurs examinent dans cette contribution le problème des rapports entre codes de conduite et sources du droit. Ce problème …

Is Torture Justified In Terrorism Cases?: Comparing U.S. And European Views, Stephen P. Hoffman

Stephen P. Hoffman

This essay discusses issues of torture and some of the philosophical underpinnings. First, I define torture as it is used in international and human rights law. Then, I discuss three primary theories of torture: deontology, consequentialism, and threshold deontology. After setting this groundwork, I introduce particular issues in terrorism cases such as the “ticking bomb” scenario, which is often used to argue that torture may be appropriate and possibly required when done to save many lives. This invariably must include a discussion of the necessity doctrine, the legal doctrine allowing an individual to take extraordinary — even illegal — measures …

Freedom From Food: On The Need To Restore Fdr’S Vision Of Economic Rights In America, And How It Can Be Done, Evgeny Krasnov

Evgeny Krasnov

Within the U.S. policy discourse, it has long been taken for granted that the body of human rights law does not—and should not—include economic rights, which include the right to adequate food, shelter, and health care. This is an irony of history, since the origins of modern-day economic rights law lie in the policies advocated by the U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

This Article argues that (1) the common justifications for neglecting economic rights are not sound; (2) there is a pressing need to recognize economic rights in the United States; and (3) the best way to do so is …

"Dignitizing" Constitutions Worldwide: On The Proliferation Of Human Dignity In National Constitutions, Guy E. Carmi, Doron Shultziner

Guy E Carmi

Human dignity became widely used in national constitutions after WWII. This Article explores the scope of this increase of uses in constitutions worldwide, and within constitutions, and the different functions that the term serves at present. Our research demonstrates that human dignity is rapidly gaining more place and functions in national constitutions, some of them liberal and some are not. This Article also analyses three functions of human dignity: symbolic-declaratory uses for political purpose; guidelines to the implementation of rights; and also a limitation on fundamental rights. This Article demonstrates the increase in the use of dignity in constitutions over …

Corporate Liability In Regional Human Rights Courts, Diana Kearney

Diana Kearney

No abstract provided.