Human Rights Law Commons^™

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Analysis Of Certain Aspects Of The “Long-Term Legal Strategy Project For Preserving Security And Democratic Freedoms In The War On Terrorism” Report In Light Of Customary International Law, Michael P. Hatchell

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Bond Repudiation, Tax Codes, The Appropriations Process And Restitution Post-Eminent Domain Reform, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

This brief comment suggests where the anti-eminent domain movement might be heading next.

Arms Embargoes And The Right To Self-Defense In International Law , Matthew D. Vandermyde

ExpressO

Over the past few decades, a number of nations have argued that the mandatory arms embargoes imposed against them violated their right to self-defense. In some cases the Security Council has responded by adjusting the embargo to exclude its application to arms destined for the government, such as in Rwanda and Sierra Leone. But in other cases the Security Council has rejected the argument and refused to lift or adjust the embargo, such as in Bosnia and Liberia. In December of 2005, Somalia put forth a similar line of argument, asking the Security Council to lift the arms embargo imposed …

Putting Regulation Before Responsibility: Towards Binding Norms Of Corporate Social Responsibility, Thomas F. Mcinerney

ExpressO

Globalization of business has heightened concerns regarding corporate conduct in developing countries. Critics have charged that multinational firms in particular have exported social harms involving labor, the environment, bribery, and human rights to jurisdictions outside of their home countries. Opportunities for regulatory arbitrage and the associated collective action problem such opportunities suggest, highlight the need for strong regulatory responses to these issues. Rather than prioritize the strengthening of national or international regulatory actors to address these social harms, voluntary corporate social responsibility initiatives have emerged as a favored response within the international community. This article undertakes a critical examination of …

Law, Narrative, And The Continuing Colonist Oppression Of Native Hawaiians, David Barnard

ExpressO

The article does three things. First, and for the first time, it brings to bear the perspectives of critical race theory, postcolonial theory, and narrative theory on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2000 decision in Rice v. Cayetano, which dealt a severe blow to Native Hawaiians’ struggles for redress and reparations for a century of dispossession and impoverishment at the hands of the United States. Second, it demonstrates in the concrete case of Hawaii the power of a particular historical narrative—when it is accepted uncritically by the Supreme Court—to render the law itself into an instrument of colonial domination. Third, it …

Refugee Security And The Organizational Logic Of Legal Mandates, Mariano-Florentino Cuellar

ExpressO

While the refugee protection system is one of international law’s most recognizable features, it routinely places massive numbers of refugees in camps in the developing world, where they face chronic threats to their physical security from crime and disorder, coercion, and military attacks. Yet key actors responsible for refugee protection, including host states, advanced industrialized countries, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), generally have failed to prioritize refugee security. This article asks: (1) Why? (2) What have been the consequences? (3) And what do these answers reveal about how organizations carry out legal mandates in complicated political …

On The Legal Construction Of Ethnic Cleansing, Timothy V. Waters

ExpressO

On the Legal Construction of Ethnic Cleansing

Timothy William Waters, Univ. Mississippi School of Law

Abstract

What is the true shape of our commitment to prohibit ethnic cleansing? This Article explores that question by considering a case observers have universally decided does not constitute ethnic cleansing. It examines the recent controversy in the European Union, when Sudeten Germans demanded that the Czech Republic apologize for having expelled them after WWII before being admitted to the EU. Their demands were universally rejected and the legality of the expulsions was reconfirmed by all relevant actors. So what is the consequence for customary …