Human Rights Law Commons^™

Introductory Note To The Extraordinary Chambers Of The Courts Of Cambodia: Decision On The Appeals Against The Co-Investigative Judges Order On Joint Criminal Enterprise (Jce), Benjamin E. Brockman-Hawe

Benjamin E. Brockman-Hawe

No abstract provided.

Islam In The Secular Nomos Of The European Court Of Human Rights, Peter G. Danchin

Peter G. Danchin

Since 2001 the European Court of Human Rights has decided a series of cases involving Islam and the claims of Muslim communities (both majorities and minorities) to freedom of religion and belief. This Article suggests that what is most interesting about these cases is how they are unsettling existing normative legal categories under the ECHR and catalyzing new forms of politics and rethinking of both the historical and theoretical premises of modern liberal political orders. These controversies raise anew two critical questions for ECHR jurisprudence: first, regarding the proper scope of the right to religious freedom; and second, regarding the …

Just Laws Versus Unjust Laws: Asserting The Morality Of Civil Disobedience, Amin George Forji

Amin George Forji

How is a citizen living under a merciless totalitarianism such as the Nazi but opposed to its philosophies expected to respond to the law? Where does his primary obligation as a citizen reside? Is it to the laws of the land that command total submission or to his convictions by which he is convinced that the system is totally unjust? Does one have a moral obligation to always obey the law? Conversely, should one obey an unjust law? Obviously, such an individual like Antigone in ancient Greece is naturally torn between two loyalties. (Note 1)If he obeys the law, he …

The Ties That Bind: International Law As Peacemaker, Peter G. Danchin

Peter G. Danchin

Ever since the League of Nations, there has been hope that collective security could be attained by pure international will. Can the present U.N. and worldwide "laws" contain the threats of a post-9/11 society?

Child Labor In India, A Consumer’S Perspective: Identifying Causes, Acknowledging Realities, And Proposing Incentives For Improvement, Vanessa L. Deniro Esq.

Vanessa L. De Niro

The exploitation of modern child labor in developing countries persists in part because of consumers like us. However, in light of increased global trade liberalization in developing countries and free market principles, cheap labor is what allows these nations to have a competitive edge in the global economy. With that said, a category of people that work longer hours for meager wages, absent unionization or labor protections, is an efficient means of production and justified by the economy of scales. Child laborers, exploited by employers competing in the global economy, are simply a product of laissez-fair economics, participating and contributing …

Behind The Red Curtain: Environmental Concerns And The End Of Communism, Joseph W. Dellapenna

Working Paper Series

Twenty years ago, the edifice of Communism collapsed constructed over the preceding three-quarters of a century from Berlin to Vladivostok and from Murmansk to Addis Ababa. Suddenly, between 1989 and 1991, all of the Communist states in Europe collapsed, as well as some Communist states in Asia and Africa, while most of the surviving Communist states largely abandoned Communist economic systems. While the crumbling edifice still hangs on, at least in vestigial forms, in some parts of the world, the collapse of the wall serves as an apt metaphor for the destruction of that edifice. The two years between 1989 …

Drawing The Right Lessons From Icsid Jurisprudence On The Doctrine Of Necessity, Amin George Forji

Amin George Forji

Bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) have over the years injected an important dynamic into public international law, that is, the replacement of a political remedy (peaceful cooperation amongst nations) by a legal one (settlement of investment disputes). The institution of ICSID and the revision of BITs in line with its rules have opened the way for direct investors’ claims and investor-state arbitration. The obvious implication of a compulsory arbitration provision is that it has made up for many shortcomings of the diplomatic protection mechanism with, “the potential for an individual …

The Relevance Of International Law To The Domestic Decision On Prosecutions For Past Torture, Bartram Brown

All Faculty Scholarship

The US, as a champion of human rights abroad, has often been skeptical and even critical when other states have granted de facto amnesty allowing impunity for gross violations of human rights. Nonetheless, some now argue that the US should turn a blind eye to the evidence indicating that under the Bush Administration US government officials formulated and implemented a policy of torture. Naturally, arguments about US national security have been central to the debate. The CIA’s own reports insist that enhanced interrogation techniques have been effective in yielding valuable information vital to the national security of the United States, …

Is Imminent Enough?: The Status Of Importation Under Section 337, Anne Marie Morris

Anne Marie Morris

No abstract provided.

A Dark Descent Into Reality: The Case For An Objective Definition Of Torture, Michael W. Lewis

Michael W. Lewis

Abstract The definition of torture is broken. The malleability of the term “severe pain or suffering” at the heart of the definition has created a situation in which the world agrees on the words but cannot agree on their meaning. The “I know it when I see it” nature of the discussion of torture makes it clear that the definition is largely left to the eye of the beholder. This is particularly problematic when international law’s reliance on self-enforcement is considered. After discussing current common misconceptions about intelligence gathering and coercion that are common to all sides of the torture …

International Idealism Meets Domestic-Criminal-Procedure Realism, Stephanos Bibas, William W. Burke-White

All Faculty Scholarship

Though international criminal justice has developed into a flourishing judicial system over the last two decades, scholars have neglected institutional design and procedure questions. International criminal-procedure scholarship has developed in isolation from its domestic counterpart but could learn much realism from it. Given its current focus on atrocities like genocide, international criminal law’s main purpose should be not only to inflict retribution, but also to restore wounded communities by bringing the truth to light. The international justice system needs more ideological balance, more stable career paths, and civil-service expertise. It also needs to draw on the domestic experience of federalism …

Singapore And The Universal Periodic Review: An Unprecedented Human Rights Assessment, Mahdev Mohan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Singapore will soon submit a national report to and subsequently appear before the UN Human Rights Council for a universal periodic review of its human rights laws and practices. This review will elicit a rare and unprecedented expression of whether and how Singapore feels it has adhered to international human rights law, and ways in which it may further refine or calibrate its domestic practices. This article seeks to identify Singapore’s human rights achievements; highlight challenges it should be prepared to address; and recommend measures it should adopt to promote human rights.

International Legal Updates , Evan Wilson, Tracey Begley, Caitlin Shay, Shubra Ohri, Annamaria Racota, Bhavani Raveendran, Ri Yoo, Aileen Thomson

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

International Legal Updates, Evan Wilson, Tracey Begley, Caitlin Shay, Shubra Ohri, Annamaria Racota, Bhavani Raveendran, Ri Yoo, Aileen Thomson

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

International Legal Updates, Aimee Mayer, Jessica Lynd, Christopher Tansey, Molly Hofsommer, Misty Seemans, Kaitlin Brush, Leah Chavla

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

A Dark Descent Into Reality: Making The Case For An Objective Definition Of Torture, Michael W. Lewis

Michael W. Lewis

The definition of torture is broken. The malleability of the term “severe pain or suffering” at the heart of the definition has created a situation in which the world agrees on the words but cannot agree on their meaning. The “I know it when I see it” nature of the discussion of torture makes it clear that the definition is largely left to the eye of the beholder. This is particularly problematic when international law’s reliance on self-enforcement is considered. After discussing current common misconceptions about intelligence gathering and coercion that are common to all sides of the torture debate, …

Aking Prevention Seriously: Developing A Comprehensive Response To Child Trafficking And Sexual Exploitation, Jonathan Todres

Jonathan Todres

Millions of children are victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation each year. Governments have responded with a range of measures, focusing primarily on seeking to prosecute perpetrators of these abuses and offering assistance to select victims. These efforts, while important, have done little to reduce the incidence of these forms of child exploitation. This Article asserts that a central reason why efforts to date may not be as effective as hoped is that governments have not oriented their approaches properly toward prioritizing prevention - the ultimate goal - and addressing these problems in a comprehensive and systematic manner. Instead, …

The Relevance Of International Law To The Domestic Decision On Prosecutions For Past Torture, Bartram Brown

Bartram Brown

Taking Prevention Seriously: Developing A Comprehensive Response To Child Trafficking And Sexual Exploitation, Jonathan Todres

Jonathan Todres

Millions of children are victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation each year. Governments have responded with a range of measures, focusing primarily on seeking to prosecute perpetrators of these abuses and offering assistance to select victims. These efforts, while important, have done little to reduce the incidence of these forms of child exploitation. This Article asserts that a central reason why efforts to date may not be as effective as hoped is that governments have not oriented their approaches properly toward prioritizing prevention - the ultimate goal - and addressing these problems in a comprehensive and systematic manner. Instead, …

The U.N. Security Council Ad Hoc Rwanda Tribunal: International Justice, Or Judicially-Constructed “Victor’S Impunity”?, C. Peter Erlinder

C. Peter Erlinder

ABSTRACT The U.N. Security Council Ad Hoc Rwanda Tribunal: International Justice, or Juridically-Constructed “Victor’s Impunity”? Prof. Peter Erlinder [1] ________________________ “…if the Japanese had won the war, those of us who planned the fire-bombing of Tokyo would have been the war criminals….” [2] Robert S. McNamara, U.S. Secretary of State “…and so it goes…” [3] Billy Pilgrim (alter ego of an American prisoner of war, held in the cellar of a Dresden abattoir, who survived firebombing by his own troops, author Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) Introduction Unlike the postWW- II Tribunals, the U.N. Security Council tribunals for the former Yugoslavia [10] …