International Law Commons^™

The Illegally Traded Elephant In The Room: Species Terrorism & Combating Illegal Wildlife Trade, Áine Dillon

Pace International Law Review

The illegal wildlife trade has been a dilemma for decades

and remains prevalent globally – international intervention is

required now. While most countries participate in the Convention

on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

Fauna and Flora (“CITES”), not all countries have the same approaches

to combating the illegal wildlife trade. Unique approaches

can be beneficial because each illegally traded species

requires a different response, and countries with limited resources

can also participate. However, the lack of a unified response

hinders the global fight against the illegal wildlife trade.

While traditional methods to combat crime, such as passing

laws, …

Securing The Precipitous Heights: U.S. Lawfare As A Means To Confront China At Sea, In Space, And Cyberspace, Garret S. Bowman

Pace International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corporate Wealth Over Public Health? Assessing The Resilience Of Developing Countries' Covid-19 Responses Against Investment Claims And The Implications For Future Public Health Crises, Tim Hagemann

Pace International Law Review

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, states around the world swiftly enacted a multitude of far-reaching emergency responses to contain the viruses’ spread and to cope with the economic repercussions of the ensuing crisis. However, these measures detrimentally impacted the operating conditions of many businesses or, at the least, decreased their profitability. As this inevitably affected foreign investments, investors could be tempted to invoke “Investor State Dispute Settlement” (“ISDS”) clauses in International Investment Agreements (IIAs) to initiate proceedings before arbitral tribunals and seek compensation for loss of profit caused by states’ Covid-19 responses. Due to the specific circumstances in …

The Power Of Being Present: Lessons From Diplomacy In Latin America And The Caribbean For The Private Sector, Kimberly Breier, Daniel Korn

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

Successful modern diplomacy and private sector engagements require being physically present. Based on the experience of the authors in diplomacy and corporate government affairs, this article argues that the trust that forms the basis of effective diplomacy and corporate engagement with the communities in which they operate is established best through direct physical interaction. With examples from Latin America and the Caribbean, the article explores how both diplomacy and corporate government affairs have evolved into a model of being present that emphasizes seeking to empower local populations. The article delves into how and why the United States carries out its …

Transnational Legal Process: An Evolving Theory And Methodology, Regina Jefferies

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Harold Koh introduced Transnational Legal Process in 1996 as a constructivist theory of international legal compliance which draws lessons from international legal theory and the discourse between international law and international relations scholarship. This article situates Transnational Legal Process (TLP) within the broader literature on international legal compliance and traces the theory’s evolution over the years, highlighting scholarship which addresses three critical theoretical limitations: (1) insufficient description of the actors and processes of norm internalization; (2) insufficient explanation of why States internalize certain norms; and (3) insufficient identification and description of norm-creation processes. This article uses the legal origins of …

Autonomous Weapons Systems And The Procedural Accounta- Bility Gap, Afonso Seixas-Nunes

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The development and well-established principles of Internationla Humanitarian Law have been progressively establishing limits to the means and methods of warfare. Those principles and rules are necessarily applicable to future autonomous weapon systems (AWS), but questions regarding liability for violations of IHL caused by AWS have been looming the international debate. This article has two parts. The first part aims to identify a technical dimension of AWS that has been neglected by international lawyers: States responsibility for IHL violations caused by errors in AWS’ software. This article argues that “errors” can neither be identified with “malfunctions” nor attributed to human …

High Time For A Change: How The Relationship Between Signatory Countries And The United Nations Conventions Governing Narcotic Drugs Must Adapt To Foster A Global Shift In Cannabis Law, Alexander Clementi

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Since the early 1970’s, the inclusion of cannabis and its byproducts in the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs has mandated a strict prohibition on cultivation and use of the substance, which has led to a largely global practice of criminalization and imprisonment of anyone found to be in its possession. Yet recently, mostly in response to growing public health concerns, countries like Uruguay, Portugal, The Netherlands, Canada, and the United States have enacted laws which seek to decriminalize or even legalize cannabis use and possession. Yet, cannabis remains classified as a Schedule IV narcotic under the Single Convention, …

Redefining The Safe Third Country Exception Of The Immigration And Nationality Act In The Wake Of Trump, Daniel E. Rabbani

Brooklyn Law Review

The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act lays out when an asylum seeker has the right to apply for asylum in the United States. This right is not available, however, when an asylum seeker passes through a designated Safe Third Country. A Safe Third Country is an internationally used concept that, pursuant to an international agreement, requires refugees to seek asylum in the first safe country that they step foot in. As the Safe Third Country exception on the Immigration and Nationality Act stands now, there are no guidelines on how to evaluate whether a country is in fact safe. This …

Whose Water? Corporatization Of A Common Good, Vanessa Casado-Pérez

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter encourages readers to think of agricultural communities in the era of climate change-induced droughts and population growth similar to when western Pennsylvania’s steel industry collapsed in the 1980s. If water must flow uphill to money, it should not leave a dust bowl behind. While this chapter’s proposals to address the effects on community build on examples of water reallocation where those effects have been addressed, both the just-transition literature and the experiences of some of the towns successfully adapting to abrupt changes in their economic tissue can offer lessons for areas suffering big water losses. In addition, privatization …

Bolstering Juliana: Enforceability Of Environmental Claims Through International Treaty Obligations In U.S. Courts, Lindsey Laielli

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming.

Justice For Venezuela: The Human Rights Violations That Are Isolating An Entire Country, Andrea Matos

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Binational Reflections On Pathways To Groundwater Security In The Mexico-United States Borderlands, Rosario Sanchez, Jose Agustin Brena-Naranjo, Alfonso Rivera, Randall T. Hanson, Antonio Hernandez-Espriu, Rick J. Hogeboom, Anita Milman, Jude A. Benavides, Adrian Pedrozo-Acuna, Julio Cesar Soriano-Monzalvo, Sharon B. Megdal, Gabriel Eckstein, Laura Rodriguez

Faculty Scholarship

Shared groundwater resources between Mexico and the United States are facing unprecedented stressors. We reflect on how to improve water security for groundwater systems in the border region. Our reflection begins with the state of groundwater knowledge, and the challenges groundwater resources face from a physical, societal and institutional perspective. We conclude that the extent of ongoing cooperation frameworks, joint and remaining research efforts, from which alternative strategies can emerge, still need to be developed. The way forward offers a variety of cooperation models as the future offers rather complex, shared and multidisciplinary water challenges to the Mexico–US borderlands.

Christian Accounts Of Religious Liberty: Two Views Of Conscience, Joel Harrison

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Catholicism, Liberalism, And Populism, Andrea Pin, Luca P. Vanoni

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legal Construction Of Nationalism And National Identity In The Hashemite Kingdom Of Jordan, Zaina Siyam

Theses and Dissertations

Nationalism is an ideology that is not unique to one nation or one area, but it is a concept unique in the way it is defined. How it is defined and what it really is depends on where the definition is coming from. It is most important to post-colonial nations that relied and still rely on the creation of national identity and construction of an imagined community, in order to reach their liberation. Nations are imagined communities constructed through shared history, beliefs, traditions, and experiences that happen over different periods in time, between individuals that do not necessarily know each …

The United Nations And Human Rights Non-Governmental Organizations (Ngos) - Seventy-Five Years Of Consultations, Collaboration, And Contributions (1945-2000), George E. Edwards

Pace International Law Review

At the San Francisco Conference where the United Nations Charter was negotiated, participants and observers included representatives of “societies and organizations”—non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The precise number and identities of those NGOs is unclear, but 42 of the participants were consultants to the U.S. delegation that successfully lobbied for the Charter to include an official relationship between the U.N. and NGOs, and the promotion and protection of human rights. NGOs thus had a profoundly positive impact on the creation of the United Nations. For the first 75 years of the U.N.’s existence, NGOs have played an invaluable role in supporting the …

United Nations At 75 And The Challenges Facing International Law, Ved Nanda

Pace International Law Review

On September 21, 2020, the Member States celebrated the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. In the Declaration marking the occasion, world leaders recounted the achievements of the body, including catalyzing decolonization, promoting and protecting human rights, working to eradicate disease, helping mitigate dozens of conflicts, and saving lives through humanitarian action. They also enumerated challenges the world faces, such as “growing inequality, poverty, hunger, armed conflicts, terrorism, insecurity, climate change, and pandemics.” These challenges, the Declaration said, are interconnected and can only be addressed through reinvigorated multilateralism, which, it emphasized, “is not an option but a …

The Un At 75: Success Stories From The Trusteeship System, Mark E. Wojcik

Pace International Law Review

The seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations offers an opportunity to review its many contributions to world peace, development, human rights, and the rule of law. Among the purposes stated in its Charter, the United Nations sought “[t]o develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples . . . .” The promotion of “self-determination of peoples” fell to the U.N. Trusteeship Council, one of the six organs of the United Nations. The Trusteeship Council suspended its work on November 1, 1994, one month after the Republic of Palau, the last …

Justice Delayed, Justice Denied? The Search For Accountability For Alleged Wartime Atrocities Committed In Sri Lanka, Aloka Wanigasuriya

Pace International Law Review

During the final stages of its nearly three-decades-long civil war in 2009, Sri Lanka attracted considerable international attention due to the allegations of international crimes that were said to have been committed both by the Sri Lankan government Armed Forces, the Guerilla Force, and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). According to United Nations (UN) experts, an estimated 40,000 civilians were killed during the final offensive, which lasted from January to May 2009. However, the Sri Lankan government has set this figure at 9,000 with no civilian casualties. Several UN bodies found credible allegations that international crimes were committed …

Covid-19 Pandemic, The World Health Organization, And Global Health Policy, Cosmas Emeziem

Pace International Law Review

The emergence and quick spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the focus and dynamics of the debates about global health, international law, and policy. This shift has overshadowed many of the other controversies in the international sphere. It has also highlighted the tensions that often exist in international affairs—especially in understanding the place and purpose of international institutions, vis-à-vis states, in the general schema of public international law. Central to the international response to the current pandemic is the World Health Organization (WHO)—a treaty-based organization charged with the overarching mandate of ensuring “the highest possible level of health” for …

The Role Of Nations-State In Protecting And Supporting Internally Displaced Persons, Daisy Byers

Master's Theses

The rising increase of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) has become a global problem. There are over 40 million internally displaced people globally, and 15.9 million are displaced in Africa. These displacements come into place due to war/conflict, corruption, massive human rights violations, natural disasters, urban renewal projects (at the hands of powerful nations such as America, China, France, UK, etc.), and large-scale development projects. According to UNHCR, refugees are people who have international cross-border. In contrast, internally displaced persons must stay within their own country and stay under the protection of their government, even if the government is the reason …

Prosecuting With Compassion, Defending With Power: Progressive Prosecutors And The Case For Rehabilitative Justice, Cody Mcgraw

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

No abstract provided.

Suspended Sentencing In Spain: Why Their Model Could Alleviate Some Of America's Worst Federal Prison Issues, Ryan Lamon

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

No abstract provided.

Plastic Prohibition: The Case For A National Single-Use Plastic Ban In The United States, Margaret Kolcon

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

No abstract provided.

A Functional Framework To Balance Accountability With The Needs Of International Organizations:International Organization Immunity Post-Jam, Trillium Chang

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

Prior to 2019, international organizations were untouchable. These larger-than-life entities touch almost every corner of the international arena. Yet historically, international organizations enjoyed absolute immunity from liability in U.S. fora.

Champions Of Justice: The Role Of Civil Society In The International Criminal Court's Preliminary Examination And Investigation Into The Situation In Georgia, B. Aloka Wanigasuriya

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

In August 2008, an armed conflict erupted between Georgia and Russia in the pro-Russian breakaway region of South Ossetia. An estimated 850 lives were lost, and more than 100,000 civilians fled their homes during the conflict. On August 14, 2008, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced the commencement of a preliminary examination into the situation in Georgia. Progress was slow. However, on January 27, 2016, Pre-Trial Chamber I granted authorization to the Prosecutor to open an investigation into the situation. In Georgia, despite the presence of the necessary domestic legislative framework for prosecuting international crimes, national investigative …

Decreasing Unintentional War: Governance Considerations For Regulating Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, Aiden Warren, Alek Hillas

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

While the introduction of futuristic technologies will establish new options and precedents for state responses to security scenarios, there are important lessons to be drawn from prior crises. Beginning with a case study of newly sworn-in leaders during their first major foreign policy ‘test,’ this article envisions changes to such security scenarios with reference to the development of policies on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS). Leadership perceptions and the politics of human versus machine error, or sharing accountability of fault by states, is considered in the context of a detailed thought experiment. The second section of the article identifies enhanced …

Reinterpreting The Reinterpretation: Collective Self-Defense As Constitutional Fidelity, C.D.A Evans, Aviel Menter

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

As currently interpreted, Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution requires Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) to operate in a purely defensive capacity. Recently, however, the United States has increasingly asked Japan to participate in joint military operations, in which Japanese forces would defend not only themselves, but also their American allies. This raises an important legal question: does Article 9 permit the JSDF engage in this kind of collective self-defense? Former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo believed so. After a government panel of legal experts found that collective self-defense was consistent with Article 9, the Abe administration adopted the panel’s conclusion. However, …

Foreward

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

No abstract provided.