Legal History Commons^™

Reassessing Aspects Of The Contribution Of African States To The Development Of International Law Through African Regional Multilateral Treaties, Tiyanjana Maluwa

Michigan Journal of International Law

For decades, debates about Africa’s contribution to the development of international law have been dominated by two opposing schools of thought. First, that European colonial powers deliberately erased Africa and Africans from the history of the creation and use of international law. Second, that, on the contrary, over the last six decades (since the emergence of the newly independent African states in the late 1950s and early 1960s), Africa has contributed to the making of international law and has not been merely a passive recipient of a Eurocentric international law.

This article underscores the role of the postcolonial periphery in …

Book Review, Anna Spain Bradley

Publications

No abstract provided.

Oil Under Troubled Waters?: Some Legal Aspects Of The Boundary Dispute Between Malawi And Tanzania Over Lake Malawi, Tiyanjana Maluwa

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article examines the legal aspects of the respective claims by the two claimants to the northeastern stretches of the lake: to the eastern shoreline by Malawi and to the median line by Tanzania. Maluwa proceeds as follows. First, the Article sketches out the historical and political background of the dispute and examines some preliminary legal issues in Part I. Part II discusses the legal significance of boundaries, state succession to boundary treaties, and the relevance of post-colonial African state practice in this respect. A central aspect of this practice is the adoption by African states of the principle of …

The Effect Of The 1886 Berne Convention On The U.S. Copyright System's Treatment Of Moral Rights And Copyright Term, And Where That Leaves Us Today, Samuel Jacobs

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The 1886 Berne Convention was the most influential copyright related treaty for over a century, and provided important minimum substantive protections for authors. Key provisions included the establishment of the principle of National Treatment, the abolishment of formalities in order to receive copyright protection, a required copyright term of life of the author plus fifty years, and most offensive to the U.S. copyright system, the mandate that signatories provide authors non-economic moral rights. Despite the international importance and widespread acceptance of the Berne Convention, the U.S. did not join the Convention for over one hundred years, making it one of …

Reservations And The Cisg: The Borderland Of Uniform International Sales Law And Treaty Law After Thirty-Five Years, Ulrich G. Schroeter

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

The Great Power Origins Of Human Rights, Seth Mohney

Michigan Journal of International Law

For years, historians depicted the history of human rights as the inexorable triumph of universal norms. This account underestimates both the historical and contemporary uncertainty surrounding many international human rights. As even casual observers must note, the tale of human rights progress is not littered with beneficent heads of state persuaded to pursue progress by the moral charge of universal norms. Instead, this history’s primary scenes feature struggles among great powers, peoples, and movements advancing diverse interests. Recognizing the complexity of human rights history, a new generation of historians has emphasized that human rights progress is not preordained, but rather …

Treaty Options: Towards A Behavioral Understanding Of Treaty Design, Jean Galbraith

All Faculty Scholarship

Rational choice theory is the dominant paradigm through which scholars of international law and international relations approach treaty design. In this Article, I suggest a different approach using a combination of empirical observations of state behavior and theoretical insights from behavioral economics. I focus on one aspect of multilateral treaty design: namely, treaty reservations and associated legal mechanisms which allow states to vary the degree of their formal commitments to treaties. I call these mechanisms “treaty options.” I argue that the framing of treaty options matters powerfully — and does so in ways inconsistent with rational choice theory, but consistent …

Chief Justices Marshall And Roberts And The Non-Self-Execution Of Treaties, Carlos Manuel Vázquez

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article is a response to David L. Sloss, Executing Foster v. Neilson: The Two-Step Approach to Analyzing Self-Executing Treaties, 53 Harv. Int'l L L.J. 135 (2012).

David Sloss’s article, Executing Foster v. Neilson, is an important contribution to the literature on the judicial enforcement of treaties. The author agrees with much of it, as he agrees with much of Professor Sloss’ other writing on treaties. In particular, the author agrees that the two-step approach to treaty enforcement that Professor Sloss proposes is generally the right approach, and he agrees that the “intent-based” approach to the self-execution issue …

Sovereignty And The American Courts At The Cocktail Party Of International Law: The Dangers Of Domestic Invocations Of Foreign And International Law, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

With increasing frequency and heightened debate, United States courts have been citing foreign and “international” law as authority for domestic decisions. This trend is inappropriate, undemocratic, and dangerous. The trend touches on fundamental concepts of sovereignty, democracy, the judicial role, and overall issues of effective governance. There are multiple problems with the judiciary’s reliance on extraterritorial and extra-constitutional foreign or international sources to guide their decisions. Perhaps the most fundamental flaw is its interference with rule of law values. To borrow from Judge Harold Levanthal, the use of international sources in judicial decision-making might be described as “the equivalent of …

The Legitimacy Crisis In Investment Treaty Arbitration: Privatizing Public International Law Through Inconsistent Decisions, Susan Franck

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Re-Establishing The Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate's Reservation Boundaries: Building A Legal Rationale From Current International Law, Angelique A. Eaglewoman

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

Two Case Studies In Self-Determination: The Rock And The Bailiwick, Inge V. Porter

San Diego International Law Journal

After looking at the concept of self-determination, its history, meaning, and possible future development in Part II, this Paper will develop two case studies. Part III examines the right of self-determination for the people of Gibraltar, analyzing the relevant U.N. resolutions, agreements, treaties, and legislation that have defined the dispute between Great Britain and Spain. For example, Great Britain has ruled the Rock of Gibraltar for 280 years, primarily using it as a military base; but, today, Spain insists that it did not relinquish absolute sovereignty over Gibraltar to the British by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Part IV …

Curtailing Tax Treaty Overrides: A Call To Action, Anthony C. Infanti

Articles

During the past 25 years, Congress has with increasing frequency enacted legislation that is intended to override inconsistent provisions in U.S. tax treaties. These legislative overrides are harmful, and have been decried by our treaty partners, members of the executive branch, and commentators.

Until now, commentators have generally devoted themselves to describing and deploring legislative overrides of tax treaties, and have done no more than repeatedly call on Congress to cease enacting such legislation. Congress has ignored these pleas, and has continued to enact legislative overrides with impunity.

Given this background, the essay calls on commentators to cease pleading with …

Globalization And The Design Of International Institutions, Cary Coglianese

All Faculty Scholarship

In an increasingly globalized world, international rules and organizations have grown ever more crucial to the resolution of major economic and social concerns. How can leaders design international institutions that will effectively solve global regulatory problems? This paper confronts this question by presenting three major types of global problems, distinguishing six main categories of institutional forms that can be used to address these problems, and showing how the effectiveness of international institutions depends on achieving “form-problem” fit. Complicating that fit will be the tendency of nation states to prefer institutional forms that do little to constrain their sovereignty. Yet the …

Nineteenth-Century Orthodoxy, Richard B. Collins

Publications

No abstract provided.

Jurisprudence Of The Committee On The Rights Of The Child: A Guide For Research And Analysis, Cynthia Price Cohen, Susan Kilbourne

Michigan Journal of International Law

The purpose of this article and the attached tables is to give child rights advocates and scholars: 1) a bird's-eye view of the Convention and its implementation mechanism; 2) an introduction to the jurisprudence that is being developed as governments begin to put the Convention into effect; and 3) a guide to assist in research and analysis of the developing jurisprudence of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Two Centuries Of Participation: Ngos And International Governance, Steve Charnovitz

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article explores the past and present role of NGOs in international governance. Part One reviews the history of NGO involvement, focusing on the period between 1775 and 1949. It shows how NGO activism helped to engender international organizations. Part Two examines some key issues that arise from the expanding involvement of NGOs. It catalogs the pros and cons of an active NGO role, discusses various functions that NGOs fulfill, and lists ten techniques of NGO participation. Part Two also considers a hypothesis that NGO involvement is cyclical.

Toward The Enforcement Of Universal Human Rights Through Abrogation Of The Rule Of Non-Inquiry In Extradition, Richard J. Wilson

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Reflections On State Responsibility For Violations Of Explicit Protectorate, Mandate, And Trusteeship Obligations, W. Michael Reisman

Michigan Journal of International Law

There is a rich body of law dealing with breach of treaty, its consequences and the procedural options it gives to the complying party. But violations of treaty obligations by a protecting state are procedurally different from violations between states in legal and political parity and negotiating at arm's length. The protected state or state under protectorate has, by definition, a restricted if not completely suspended competence to operate at the international level and hence is unable to protect its interests against violations by the erstwhile protector. Thus, it should be no surprise that international decision has suspended the operation …

Indian Consent To American Government, Richard B. Collins

Publications

No abstract provided.

Agenda: External Development Affecting The National Parks: Preserving "The Best Idea We Ever Had", University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

External Development Affecting the National Parks: Preserving "The Best Idea We Ever Had" (September 14-16)

Conference organizers and/or faculty included University of Colorado School of Law professors Lawrence J. MacDonnell and Daniel Magraw.

The conference will be held at the Aspen Lodge, adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, Colorado.

It was Wallace Stegner who called the national parks "the best idea we ever had." The continuing increases in usage attest to their popularity. National parks are created to preserve areas of special scenic and cultural value for enjoyment and use. Managing the parks in a manner that protects the important values and purposes for which they were created presents important and difficult …

A Historical Survey Of The International Regulation Of Propaganda, Elizabeth A. Downey

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article traces international efforts to regulate propaganda through the pre- and post-UN periods, charting its development from a rather peripheral concern of international law to its important role in the currently evolving law of international communication.