International Law Commons^™

Foreign Cyber Interference In Elections, Michael N. Schmitt

International Law Studies

In the 2020 U.S. elections, Russia authorized and conducted influence operations designed to support former President Trump, although it did not attempt to alter any technical aspect of the voting process. Russia was not alone. Iran mounted a multi-pronged covert influence campaign intended to undercut Trump’s reelection prospects, while other foreign actors–like Lebanese Hizballah, Cuba, and Venezuela–also tried to influence the election. Interestingly, China did not conduct operations designed to alter the outcome, although it did consider doing so. The phenomenon of election meddling, however, extends well beyond the United States to such countries as Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, …

Measuring State Compliance With The Right To Education Using Indicators: A Case Study Of Colombia’S Obligations Under The Icescr, Sital Kalantry, Jocelyn Getgen, Steven A. Koh

Sital Kalantry

The right to education is often referred to as a “multiplier right” because its enjoyment enhances other human rights. It is enumerated in several international instruments, but it is codified in greatest detail in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Despite its importance, the right to education has received limited attention from scholars, practitioners, and international and regional human rights bodies as compared to other economic, social and cultural rights (ECSRs). In this Article, we propose a methodology that utilizes indicators to measure treaty compliance with the right to education. Indicators are essential to measuring compliance …

The Power Of The Body: Analyzing The Corporeal Logic Of Law And Social Change In The Arab Spring, Zeina Jallad, Zeina Jallad

Zeina Jallad

The Power of the Body:

Analyzing the Logic of Law and Social Change in the Arab Spring

Abstract:

Under conditions of extreme social and political injustice - when human rights are under the most threat - rational arguments rooted in the language of human rights are often unlikely to spur reform or to ensure government adherence to citizens’ rights. When those entrusted with securing human dignity, rights, and freedoms fail to do so, and when other actors—such as human rights activists, international institutions, and social movements—fail to engage the levers of power to eliminate injustice, then oppressed and even quotidian …

Secession: The Contradicting Provisions Of The United Nations Charter – A Direct Threat To The Current World Order, N. Micheli Quadros

N. Micheli Quadros

The preamble of the United Nations' Charter (hereinafter UN Charter) presents its members declaration under which justice and respect for international law and the international community is supposed to be maintained. To date, the United Nations (UN) has failed to ensure international peace by allowing powerful states to infringe upon other nations’ territorial integrity and manipulate individuals to exercise their right of self-determination.

Outdated, redundant and vague provisions that proved their inefficiency have plagued the UN Charter. Chapter I, Art 1 § 2 of the UN Charter, states that one of the main purpose of the UN is “to develop …

Refugee Law In Context: Natural Law, Legal Positivism And The Convention, Isaac Kfir

Isaac Kfir

The contemporary international refugee system was product of a desire to provide protection and assistance to those who have a well-founded fear of persecution, a somewhat sophistic term in the twenty-first century, which may explain why the system has become cumbersome, incoherent and divisive. One explanation for the tension within the refugee regime is that states—mainly western states—seek to reduce refugee applications while adhering and upholding their international obligations. Another explanation is that it is tensions between two legal traditions—natural law and legal positivism—that are shape the international refugee law that have led to the crisis, preventing a clear legal …

Governing For The Corporations: History And Analysis Of U.S. Promotion Of Foreign Investment, Michael R. Miller

Michael R Miller

This paper explores and analyzes U.S. government support for foreign investors, especially major oil companies.

Throughout the 20th Century the US government has repeatedly used its international political influence to benefit US corporate activities abroad. The US government and others assumed initially that this was in the larger interests of the United States because US companies would represent and promote the United States’ policy agenda.

However, US corporate activities abroad over the last century seem to indicate this assumption was flawed. In numerous examples, US corporations have either ignored or thwarted the stated interests of the US government. At first …

The Ciudades Modelo Project: Testing The Legality Of Paul Romer’S Charter Cities Concept By Analyzing The Constitutionality Of The Honduran Zones For Employment And Economic Development, Michael R. Miller

Michael R Miller

Over the last several years, the Honduran government has been aggressively advancing a "model cities" project that it argues will provide options for its citizens to escape the extreme violence in their country without migrating to the U.S. The model cities, which are formally called "Zones for Employment and Economic Development" ("ZEDEs"), are purported to be autonomously governed areas that will attract foreign investment and compete for residents by establishing safer communities and better managed institutions governed by the rule of law.

The ZEDEs trace their origin to a concept formulated by development economist Paul Romer, who proposed the idea …

Cuba And China: A Comparative Study Of Digital Oppression, Katharine M. Villalobos

Katharine M. Villalobos

The Digital Age has introduced a new form of expression that totalitarian states are struggling to silence. With social sharing websites like Twitter and Youtube, political dissidents living under oppressive governments can expose governmental abuse to web-users worldwide in a matter of seconds. However, while digital media has proved more difficult to control than traditional, non-electronic media, dictatorships like Cuba and China are resolved to prevent its inhabitants from freely using and expressing themselves on the Internet—even if that means violating their obligations as signatories of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Both Cuba and China are …

Behavioral International Law, Tomer Broude

Tomer Broude

Economic analysis and rational choice have in the last decade made significant inroads into the study of international law and institutions, relying upon standard assumptions of perfect rationality of states and decision-makers. This approach is inadequate, both empirically and in its tendency towards outdated formulations of political theory. This article presents an alternative behavioral approach that provides new hypotheses addressing problems in international law while introducing empirically grounded concepts of real, observed rationality. First, I address methodological objections to behavioral analysis of international law: the focus of behavioral research on the individual; the empirical foundations of behavioral economics; and behavioral …

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 …

"To Kill A Cleric?: The Al-Awlaki Case And The Chaplaincy Exception Under The Laws Of War", K Benson

K Benson

Anwar al-Awlaki was the first American citizen to be targeted for extrajudicial assassination by the Obama administration. While scholarly attention has focused on legality of his killing under domestic law, his status as a chaplain under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) has gone unexamined. The possibility that Anwar al-Awlaki may have been a protected person as a chaplain has profound ramifications for the legality of his killing and for the conduct of the war on terror more generally. As the definition of a "Chaplain" under IHL is under-developed at best and vague at worst, ideologues such as Mr. al-Awlaki operate in …

A Regime In Need Of A Balance: The Un Counter-Terrorism Regime Between Security And Human Rights, Isaac Kfir

Isaac Kfir

Since 9/11, the UN’s counter-terrorism regime has developed two distinct approaches on combating international terrorism. The Security Council follows a traditional security doctrine that focuses on how to best protect states from the threat posed by international terrorists. This is largely due to the centrality of the state in Security Council thinking and attitudes. The General Assembly and the various UN human rights organs, influenced by the human security doctrine, have taken a more holistic, human rights-based approach to the threat of international terrorism. This paper offers a review of how the dichotomy above affects the application of UN policy …

Abduction, Torture, Interrogation - Oh My! An Argument Against Extraordinary Rendition, Kaitlyn E. Tucker

Kaitlyn E Tucker

An American citizen waits patiently in an airport terminal in Jordan for a flight back to the United States. Several men – Jordanian officials – are watching the American and waiting for the right moment to approach him. The American gets up and starts to walk away, perhaps to get a cup of coffee. The Jordanian officials stop the American quickly and take him to a secluded part of the airport. For the next several days, the Jordanians question the American relentlessly, trying to discover his connection to the torture of hundreds of Muslim and Middle Eastern individuals. They do …

Enforcing International Law: States, Ios, And Courts As Shaming Reference Groups, Roslyn Fuller, Sandeep Gopalan

Roslyn Fuller

We seek to answer the question as to whether international law imposes meaningful constraints on state behaviour. Unabated drone strikes by the dominant superpower in foreign territories, an ineffective United Nations, and persistent disregard for international law obligations, as evidenced by states killing their own citizens, all suggest that the sceptics have won the debate about whether international law is law and whether it affects state behaviour. We argue that such a conclusion would be in error because it grossly underestimates the complex ways in which IL affects state behaviour. We argue that scholars who claim that the lack of …

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 …

Legal Outlier, Again? U.S. Felon Suffrage: Comparative And International Human Rights Perspectives, Reuven (Ruvi) Ziegler

Dr. Reuven (Ruvi) Ziegler

The judiciousness of American felon suffrage policies has long been the subject of scholarly debate, not least due to the large number of affected Americans: an estimated 5.3 million citizens are ineligible to vote as a result of a criminal conviction. This article offers comparative law and international human rights perspectives and aims to make two main contributions to the American and global discourse. After an introduction in Part I, Part II offers comparative law perspectives on challenges to disenfranchisement legislation, juxtaposing U.S. case law against recent judgments rendered by courts in Canada, South Africa, Australia, and by the European …

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] …

Measuring State Compliance With The Right To Education Using Indicators: A Case Study Of Colombia’S Obligations Under The Icescr, Sital Kalantry, Jocelyn Getgen, Steven A. Koh

Cornell Law Faculty Working Papers

The right to education is often referred to as a “multiplier right” because its enjoyment enhances other human rights. It is enumerated in several international instruments, but it is codified in greatest detail in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Despite its importance, the right to education has received limited attention from scholars, practitioners, and international and regional human rights bodies as compared to other economic, social and cultural rights (ECSRs). In this Article, we propose a methodology that utilizes indicators to measure treaty compliance with the right to education. Indicators are essential to measuring compliance …

Inter-American System, Diego Rodriguez-Pinzon

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Wild-West Cowboys Versus Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys: Some Problems In Comparative Approaches To Extreme Speech, Eric Heinze

Prof. Eric Heinze, Queen Mary University of London

All European states ban some form of hate speech. US law precludes such bans. In view of the political and symbolic importance of free speech, it becomes tempting to assume that trans-Atlantic differences towards hate speech reflect deeper cultural divisions.

However, we must pay attention to comparative methodology before drawing ambitious conclusions about cross-cultural social and political differences that derive solely from differences in formal, black-letter norms. In this volume, Robert Post claims that formal, constitutional requirements of content-neutral regulation reflect a freer public sphere in the US, in contrast to the European public sphere.

Yet a legal-realist approach casts …

Cumulative Jurisprudence And Hate Speech: Sexual Orientation And Analogies To Disability, Age And Obesity, Eric Heinze

Prof. Eric Heinze, Queen Mary University of London

Non-discrimination norms in human rights instruments generally enumerate specified categories for protection, such as race, ethnicity, sex or religion, etc. They often omit express reference to sexual minorities.

Through open-ended interpretation, however, sexual minorities subsequently become incorporated. That ‘cumulative jurisprudence’ yields protections for sexual minorities through norms governing privacy, employment, age of consent, or freedoms of speech and association.

Hate speech bans, too, are often formulated with reference to traditionally recognised categories, particularly race and religion. It might be expected that the same cumulative jurisprudence should therefore be applied to include sexual minorities. In this article, that approach is challenged. …

The Legality Of The Use Of White Phosphorus By The United States Military During The 2004 Fallujah Assaults, Roman O. Reyhani

ExpressO

The assaults on Fallujah by the United States military in April and November 2004 involved the use of white phosphorus. White phosphorus has extremely damaging effects on the health of victims, including severe burns and irritation of the respiratory system. This article examines whether the use of white phosphorus was a violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, Protocol III to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and international humanitarian law. It concludes that the use of white phosphorus was illegal as it could be argued to be a chemical weapon, a riot control agent, or incendiary weapon. Furthermore, the methods and …

Humanitarian Intervention: The New Missing Link In The Fight To Prevent Crimes Against Humanity And Genocide, Paul Williams

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

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 …

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.

Combating Terrorism In Bosnia-Herzegovina: Explaining And Assessing Article 201 Of The Bosnian Criminal Code, Henry M. Lovat

ExpressO

This paper explores the legal measures that have been enacted in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) to counter the threat of terrorism, focusing particularly on the international and domestic political context in which the reform of the Bosnian criminal code was carried out, on the apparent origins of Article 201 of the BiH criminal code in the European Union Framework Decision on Combating Terrorism of June 2002 and on the strengths and weaknesses of this definition in the Bosnian context. The paper argues firstly that the events of 9/11, while certainly of significance, were less salient to the definition of terrorism adopted in …

Of Politics And Policy: Can The U.S. Maintain Its Credibility Abroad While Ignoring The Needs Of Its Children At Home?—Revisiting The U.N. Convention On The Rights Of The Child As A Transnational Framework For Local Governing, Cleveland Ferguson

ExpressO

The article uses the lens of the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a framework for developing solutions. It compares the world’s approach of using the underpinnings of the Convention to create the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This process represents a positive evolution in international human rights law. Use of the MDGs has met with some success. As a result, the article compares the U.S. go-it-alone approach with that of the collaborative model of the MDGs. Pointing out that child law is primarily state law, the article then discusses the ways in which local governments (cities, counties, and …

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.

A Case For The Prosecution Of Kim Jong Il For Crimes Against Humanity, Genocide, And War Crimes , Grace M. Kang

ExpressO

This article provides a factual overview of the deplorable human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea). It shows how the International Criminal Court (ICC) could have jurisdiction over these crimes. It provides the legal framework for establishing individual criminal liability for the crimes under the ICC’s jurisdiction. It applies this framework and the legal standards for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes to the facts existing in the DPRK, as provided by credible sources. It concludes that published facts indicate a reasonable basis to believe that Kim Jong Il, who controls the …

The Unexplored Option: Jewish Settlements In A Palestinian State, David M. Phillips

ExpressO

The withdrawal of Israeli settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip, the recent Hamas victory in the Palestinian Authority elections, and the results of the Israeli elections in which the newly-formed Kadima Party received a plurality of the votes have all focused attention upon the fate of Israeli Jewish settlements on the West Bank. Most parties consider the continued existence of the settlements as precluding a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and their establishment as having violated international law. The assumption that their presence precludes peace is premised primarily on the assumption that Israeli settlements will eventually mean Israeli …