International Law Commons^™

A Case Of Motivated Cultural Cognition: China's Normative Arbitration Of International Business Disputes, Pat K. Chew

Articles

The centuries-old conception of judges and arbitrators as highly predictable and objective is being dismantled. In its place, a much more textured, complicated, and challenging understanding of legal decision-making is being constructed. New research on “Motivated Cognition” demonstrates that judges and arbitrators are more human than mechanical, pouring themselves – and the cultural and institutional contexts within which they act – into their decision making. This article extends the emerging model of Motivated Cultural Cognition, a form of Motivated Cognition, to the global stage, investigating arbitration of business disputes between two world-powers: United States and China. Through a first-of-its-kind empirical …

Opening The Red Door To Chinese Arbitrations: An Empirical Analysis Of Cietac Cases (1990-2000), Pat K. Chew

Articles

This article reveals evidence-based details of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) arbitral proceedings (1990-2000), allowing unprecedented insights into Chinese international business arbitration. It begins by confirming the prominence of Chinese foreign trade and foreign investment in the global economy and CIETAC’s critical role in securing that prominence. Among other results, the empirical study of CIETAC awards finds: (i) the parties were of diverse nationalities, most commonly with disputes between a Chinese party and a foreign party; and (ii) the majority of cases were sales and trade disputes, although a sizable number were investment/joint venture disputes. Regarding …

Revisiting The Notion Of Full Protection And Security Of Foreign Direct Investments In Post-Gadhafi Libya: Two Governments, Tribal Violence, Militias, And Plenty More, Nasser A. Alreshaid

Nasser A Alreshaid

The escalating violence and deteriorating conditions in today’s Libya have questioned the very likelihood of the survival of foreign investments there. Deemed an oil-producing hub, many oil concessions have been granted to foreign investors in Libya. The challenge that follows is how to legally ensure the full protection and security of investors. This notion is tested in the post-Gadhafi Libya situation in the context of a two-government state, where militias with extremist ideologies in most instances, defy an internationally recognized government and take control over Libyan territories. Such territories contain oil terminals, which leads to a partial or complete disruption …

Laying Down The "Brics": Enhancing The Portability Of Awards In International Commercial Arbitration, Benjamin C. Mccarty

Benjamin C McCarty

The drafters of the 1958 New York Convention intended Article V(2)(b) to be interpreted narrowly, and while most pro-arbitration national courts do maintain narrowly defined areas of public policy that are sufficient for refusal of the recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award, this is not always the case. Developing states and jurisdictions that maintain corrupt or inefficient judicial systems have shown a greater willingness to invoke the public policy exception for a broader, amorphous variety of reasons. This phenomenon has created a sense of unpredictability among international investors, arbitrators, and business executives as to the amount of deference …

Gandhi’S Prophecy: Corporate Violence And A Mindful Law For Bhopal, Nehal A. Patel

Nehal A. Patel

AbstractOver thirty years have passed since the Bhopal chemical disaster began,and in that time scholars of corporate social responsibility (CSR) havediscussed and debated several frameworks for improving corporate responseto social and environmental problems. However, CSR discourse rarelydelves into the fundamental architecture of legal thought that oftenbuttresses corporate dominance in the global economy. Moreover, CSRdiscourse does little to challenge the ontological and epistemologicalassumptions that form the foundation for modern economics and the role ofcorporations in the world.I explore methods of transforming CSR by employing the thought ofMohandas Gandhi. I pay particular attention to Gandhi’s critique ofindustrialization and principle of swadeshi (self-sufficiency) …

Perceptions And Reality: The Enforcement Of Foreign Arbitral Awards In China, Julian Ku, Roger Alford, Bei Xiao

Julian Ku

This Article represents the most recent comprehensive effort to assess China’s record in the enforcement of arbitration awards issued outside of China. This Article fills two gaps in academic literature on China’s treatment of foreign arbitral awards. First, unlike studies that rely mainly on anecdotal evidence, this study reviews and analyzes the reasoning of leading Chinese judicial opinions interpreting and applying China’s obligations under the New York Convention. Second, unlike prior empirical studies of Chinese courts’ enforcement rates, this study also surveys global arbitration practitioners to find out information about their experiences enforcing foreign arbitral awards in China. The Article …

Rescuing Arbitration In The Developing World: The Extraordinary Case Of Georgia, Steven Austermiller

Steven Austermiller

The country of Georgia has a long and interesting history with arbitration. From “telephone justice” to the criminal underworld to legitimacy, Georgian arbitration has survived many iterations. Now, as Georgia begins the EU accession process, it has a new arbitration law that incorporates international norms. This article analyzes the law, explores how arbitration has been implemented thus far, and discusses some of the challenges that remain. Drawing on his U.S. practice experience in arbitration and his work managing legal reform programs in Georgia and other countries, the author recommends some important changes to Georgia’s new arbitration regime. A particular area …

The Federal Rules At 75: Dispute Resolution, Private Enforcement Or Decisions According To Law?, James R. Maxeiner

Georgia State University Law Review

This essay is a critical response to the 2013 commemorations of the75th anniversary of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were introduced in 1938 to provide procedure to decide cases on their merits. The Rules were designed to replace decisions under the “sporting theory of justice”with decisions according to law.

By 1976, at midlife, it was clear that they were not achieving their goal. America’s proceduralists split into two sides about what to do. One side promotes rules that control and conclude litigation: e.g.,plausibility pleading, case management, limited discovery, cost indemnity for discovery, and summary …

The Cost Of Doing Business In Asia: A Comparative Legal Study Of Environmental Regulations In The Emerging Markets Of Thailand, Malaysia, And Indonesia, Brooke R. Padgett

Brooke R. Padgett

Abstract: This article explores whether voluntary standards, customary law, or more binding bilateral investment treaties are best for corporations, the emerging markets of Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, and the environment itself. While corporations, markets, and the environment facially seem to have divergent priorities, environmental disasters are more costly after the fact than they are to prevent so in reality their priorities may not be so different after all. Some of the potential issues the paper will examine and address are big picture macro level such as fairness to future generations, intergenerational rights; the actual cost through questions of polluter pays, …

The Evolution Of The Digital Millennium Copyright Act; Changing Interpretations Of The Dmca And Future Implications For Copyright Holders, Hillary A. Henderson

Hillary A Henderson

Copyright law rewards an artificial monopoly to individual authors for their creations. This reward is based on the belief that, by granting authors the exclusive right to reproduce their works, they receive an incentive and means to create, which in turn advances the welfare of the general public by “promoting the progress of science and useful arts.” Copyright protection subsists . . . in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or …

Enforcement In A Regime Complex, Sergio Puig

Sergio Puig

Today’s international business environment is fundamentally different than that of fifty years ago. Traditional trade meant selling into one nation goods that were made in another; now trade is mostly about making things in multiple countries and selling them everywhere. Yet the two main branches of public international law that address international business—international trade law and international investment law—have their providence and continue to be viewed as two discrete, separate systems. Through case studies, this Article explores how trade and investment are converging, and the resulting difficulties governments and private interests face when international rules are enforced. The tasks of …

Repsol, Ypf, And Argentina: A Hypothetical Look At The Pending Icsid Arbitration Over Ypf, Stephen Pelliccia

Stephen Pelliccia

In this paper I will discuss the 2012 expropriation of the Repsol subsidiary, YPF S.A., by the Argentine government and the upcoming ICSID arbitration on the legality thereof. Taking in to account basic tenets of international arbitration law, bilateral investment treaties, and ICSID jurisprudence, I will put forward some of the principal arguments of both parties could make and discuss a likely decision by the ICSID Tribunal. In addition to the ICSID award I will also discuss the difficulties of enforcing ICSID and other arbitral awards against Argentina and will discuss Latin American attitudes towards ICSID in general. Keeping in …

Why Is International Law Changing? Primary Factors In The Greater Complexity Of International Law, Marcelo Dias Varella

Marcelo D. Varella

This paper examines factors of change in post-national law, particularly the effects of globalization on the international legal order. The end of the cold enabled the strengthening of international law through new legal norms and the emergence of post-national law. Among the principal factors accelerating the internationalization of law has been the emergence of a multipolar political and economic order. In the political realm, the end of the bipolar system between the United States and the Soviet Union allowed the emergence of various actors and made possible the construction of power in the international sphere through legal rules. Economically, a …

A Decade Of Progress: Promising Models For Children Found In The Turkish Juvenile Justice System, Brenda A. Mckinney, Lauren Salins

Brenda A McKinney

Turkey has improved its approach to interacting with children in conflict with the law over the past decade, moving closer to a system that ensures its children the opportunity to strive for a better future. This Article focuses on two promising Turkish reforms that hold potential to improve juvenile justice systems internationally, namely: open model incarceration and Turkey’s approach to diversion. This Article demonstrates how a child-centered juvenile justice system can improve public safety and outcomes for youth. It also addresses potential challenges to each model and identifies broader issues that may require reform.

Investment Dispute Resolution Under The Transpacific Partnership Agreement: Prelude To A Slippery Slope?, Leon E. Trakman Professor

Leon E Trakman Dean

Intense debate is currently brewing over the multistate negotiation of the Transpacific Partnership Agreement [TPPA], led by the United States. The TPPA will be the largest trade and investment agreement after the European Union, with trillions of investment dollars at stake. However, there is little understanding of the complex issues involved in regulating inbound and outbound investment. The negotiating of the TPPA is shrouded in both mystery and dissension among negotiating countries. NGOs, investor and legal interest groups heatedly debate how the TPPA ought to regulate international investment. However this dissension is resolved, it will have enormous economic, political and …

International Money Laundering: The Need For Icc Investigative And Adjudicative Jurisdiction, Michael R. Anderson

Michael Anderson

Money laundering is one of the most pressing issues in the realm of international financial crimes. One of the biggest issues involved in international money laundering is the problem of adjudication. There is no international organization that currently hears these sorts of claims, forcing nations to adjudicate these crimes on their own, often without adequate resources to effectively investigate and enforce their money laundering statutes.

This article argues that, in order to more effectively prevent and adjudicate international money laundering offenses, the International Criminal Court should adopt an international money laundering statute designating these activities as a crime within the …

Ending Judgment Arbitrage: Jurisdictional Competition And The Enforcement Of Foreign Money Judgments In The United States, Gregory Shill

Gregory Shill

Recent multi-billion-dollar damage awards issued by foreign courts against large American companies have focused attention on the once-obscure, patchwork system of enforcing foreign-country judgments in the United States. That system’s structural problems are even more serious than its critics have charged. However, the leading proposals for reform overlook the positive potential embedded in its design.

In the United States, no treaty or federal law controls the domestication of foreign judgments; the process is instead governed by state law. Although they are often conflated in practice, the procedure consists of two formally and conceptually distinct stages: foreign judgments must first be …

One Country, Two State Immunity Doctrines: A Pluralistic Depiction Of The Congo Case, Chien-Huei

chien-huei wu

This article explores the space for a restrictive state immunity doctrine applicable in Hong Kong in light of its status as a special administrative region of China. After reviewing China’s longstanding position, its domestic legislation and its signature of the UNJISTP, it finds China’s policy shift from conventional absolute state immunity doctrine to a restrictive one. Nonetheless, such shift is not reflected in the Congo case. After examining the rulings of the CFI, CA and CFA, it argues that state immunity is a question of law to be interpreted by the courts. The competence to adopt a different state immunity …

"El Agua No Se Vende: Water Is Not For Sale!" The Latin American Water Tribunal As A Model For Advancing Access To Water, Mikita A. Weaver

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

At the international level, water is now understood to be a basic human right. However, conflict continues to intensify surrounding indigenous people's access to water as the resource becomes scarcer. In particular, this paper will examine the struggle of indigenous people in Latin America and the creation of the Latin American Water Tribunal (LAWT) as a solution. Section II will describe the LAWT, including the formation of the tribunal, case selection, and the structure of the public hearing. Section III will discuss both how the LAWT overcomes problems with the current legal system and the success of the tribunal as …

Clouded Diamonds: Without Binding Arbitration And More Sophisticated Dispute Resolution Mechanisms, The Kimberley Process Will Ultimately Fail In Ending Conflicts Fueled By Blood Diamonds , Shannon K. Murphy

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

In 2003, under an initiative of the United Nations (U.N.), various nations of the world gave life to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS)-a method by which consumers of all levels could know the origin of their diamonds-with the Scheme only certifying those harvested from legal, government-run mines. The Scheme's drafters believed that, if given the choice, consumers would choose to buy diamonds mined legally, with profits flowing to legitimate sources of power. However, the KPCS as it stands is voluntary and lacks the teeth needed to deter its violators. The KPCS lacks a binding arbitration agreement and needs a …

Interest As Damages, John Y. Gotanda, Thierry J. Sénéchal

Working Paper Series

In this article, we posit that when arbitral tribunals decide international disputes, they typically fail to fully compensate claimants for the loss of the use of their money. This failure occurs because they do not acknowledge that businesses typically invest in opportunities that pose a significantly greater risk than the risk reflected in such commonly used standards as U.S. T-bills and LIBOR rates. Claimants also must share the blame when they do not set out a well-constructed claim for interest as damages. However, even when claimants do so, tribunals often award damages at a statutory rate or at rate reflecting …

The Antinomies Of The (Continued) Relevance Of Icsid To The Third World, Ibironke T. Odumosu

San Diego International Law Journal

The international law on foreign investment is commonly accepted as one of the most controversial areas of international law. Not only does international investment law lack clear rules on investment promotion and protection, this area of the law has always generated opposing rules, and implicates divergent interests in the process. In the face of unclear rules, and against the backdrop of the need to protect foreign investment through the internationalization of investment dispute settlement, and the position that this will facilitate investment flows to Third World states, the World Bank established the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes …

Regulatory Marketing Approval For Pharmaceuticals As A Non-Tariff Barrier To Trade: Analysis Under The Wto's Agreement On Technical Barriers To Trade, Mary Hess Eliason

San Diego International Law Journal

At a fundamental level, pharmaceuticals serve two roles: both as a cure for disease and as a product. As a cure for disease, a drug's value cannot be quantified because it saves lives. As a product, profit analysis shapes every step of a drug's progression to market. In least developed nations the barriers to drug access are not solely economic. National regulatory systems for market approval are being used to prevent external pharmaceutical manufacturers from participating in a national market. This article will address how the regulatory framework of pharmaceutical registration may serve as a barrier to trade in drugs, …

The Un: A Situation Report, Benjamin Zawacki

ExpressO

The UN: A Situation Report is a review of two recent books on the past, present, and future of the UN; in short, of its relevance in a changing and uni-polar world at the end of Kofi Annan’s two terms as Secretary-General. The books’ focus is both on the organization’s successes and failures, and its efforts at self-reform in the face of near-constant criticism. They are reviewed as individually divergent in quality but as a formidable “situation report” when read in tandem. Paul Kennedy’s The Parliament of Man, save for its first of three parts, is generally criticized for its …

Charting Developments Concerning Punitive Damages: Is The Tide Changing?, John Y. Gotanda

Working Paper Series

This essay discusses a number of developments outside of the United States concerning punitive damages, which may ultimately signal a change in the way other countries view American awards of such damages.

To date, courts in many countries have refused to recognize and enforce American punitive damages awards on the ground that they violate the host country’s public policy. In most civil law countries, such as France and Germany, penal damages can only be ordered in criminal proceedings; a civil award of such damages has been viewed as contrary to ordre public. In common law countries, while punitive damages generally …

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.

How The Other Half Lives (Revisited): Twenty Years Since Midler V. Ford - A Global Perspective On The Right Of Publicity, Alain Lapter

ExpressO

For celebrities, name and image are, arguably, two of their most valuable assets. From headlining a movie, to starring in a commercial, to endorsing a product, a celebrity’s persona is potentially worth thousands to millions of dollars. However, this intangible commodity’s worth is often siphoned off by those who appropriate a celebrity’s name or image without authorization or remuneration, thus potentially decreasing the property’s value. In order to stifle this unjust enrichment, celebrities greatly desire the absolute right to control the commercial exploitation of their name and likeness.

In this article, I examine the current state of the right of …

Damages In Lieu Of Performance Because Of Breach Of Contract, John Y. Gotanda

Working Paper Series

In contract disputes between transnational contracting parties, damages are often awarded to compensate a claimant for loss, injury or detriment resulting from a respondent’s failure to perform the agreement. In fact, damages may be the principal means of substituting for performance or they may complement other remedies, such as recision or specific performance.

Damages for breach of contract typically serve to protect one of three interests of a claimant: (1) performance interest (also known as expectation interest); (2) reliance interest; or (3) restitution interest. The primary goal of damages in most jurisdictions is to fulfil a claimant’s performance interest by …

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.

Sovereignty Of Aves Island: An Argument Against Standardized, Compulsory Arbitration, Michael S. Garrison

ExpressO

States engaging in preemptive dispute resolution frequently call upon adjudicative or diplomatic means to resolve territorial boundary disputes and comply with international law. In light of reduced efficacy of such dispute resolution mechanisms, however, some propose that all states should engage in compulsory, standardized arbitration subject to International Court of Justice (“I.C.J.”) review to resolve their boundary disputes. Although arbitration is an effective method of international dispute resolution in certain cases, standardized arbitration will not effectively resolve all boundary disputes between neighbor states.

This Comment argues against the proposition that the United Nations (“U.N.”) implement a standardized arbitration mechanism and …