Rule of Law Commons^™

Lessons From A Small And Troubled Country: Bosnia’S Struggling Judiciary Paints An Ominous Picture For The Future Of The Rule Of Law In The United States, David Pimentel

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

No abstract provided.

Haiti: Confronting An Immense Challenge, Irwin Stotzky

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

This article analyzes the history of Haiti, from its origins as a slave colony of France, which was the richest colony in the Americas, to its war of independence leading to the first Black independent nation in the Americas, to its economic re-enslavement under the power of France and then the United States. The article discusses the great harm the French caused the Haitian people by imposing through force a ransom of billions of dollars that has led Haiti to its present position of being on the brink of becoming a failed state, with all of the disastrous consequences for …

A Deliberative Democratic Theory Of Precedent, Glen Staszewski

University of Colorado Law Review

Stare decisis is widely regarded as a vital mechanism for promoting the rule of law. Yet high courts can always overrule prior decisions with a special justification, and different justices will inevitably have different perspectives on when such a justification exists. Moreover, when courts rely on stare decisis to follow a mistaken or unjustified decision, they arguably undermine the rule of law. Stare decisis therefore does not, and probably cannot, reliably promote a formal conception of the rule of law.

While this reality might lead us to conclude that we should give up on horizontal stare decisis, presumptive deference to …

Textualism As Fair Notice?, Benjamin Minhao Chen

Washington Law Review

The opportunity to know the law is one of the bedrocks of legality. It is also a powerful and attractive reason for giving statutory language the meaning it has in everyday discourse. To do otherwise would be to hide the law from those it governs.

Or so the argument goes. Despite its intuitive force, the fair notice argument for textualism is vulnerable to two challenges. The first challenge is to the notion that fair notice requires congruence between ordinary and legal meaning. There is no normative gauge for determining the time and expense people ought to spend learning their legal …

Polish Road Toward An Illiberal State: Methods And Resistance, Adam Bodnar

Indiana Law Journal

Since 2015, Poland has experienced a backsliding in democratic and rule of law standards. The ruling party, “Law and Justice,” has adopted a series of legislative changes affecting the independence of courts and checks and balances mechanisms. Some reforms were copied from Hungary, which, as the first Member State of the European Union, started the way toward illiberal democracy in contemporary Europe. Despite pressure from international organizations, the process of changes in Poland did not stop. However, it is important to look at methods implemented to dismantling democracy, as they can be used in other countries. This paper also analyzes …

The Conceptual Gap Between Doré And Vavilov, Mark Mancini

Dalhousie Law Journal

This paper argues that there is a fundamental conceptual gap between the cases of Doré and Vavilov. This is because both cases are motivated by different conceptions of administrative law. In Vavilov, the paper suggests that the Court melded together two theories of judicial review; a Diceyan theory based on a harmonious understanding of the principles of legislative sovereignty and the Rule of Law; and a “culture of justification” for administrative decision-makers. On the other hand, Doré is motivated by a functionalist understanding of administrative law, in which the expertise of decision- makers is emphasized. The paper explores the doctrinal …

Cause Lawyering And Compassionate Lawyering In Clinical Legal Education: The Case Of Chile, Fernando Munoz L.

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

In order to contribute from a situated perspective to a global narrative of access to justice, in the next sections I will trace the origins of compassionate and cause lawyering in the history of Chilean legal aid and training. Part II will explain how legal assistance to the poor was codified as a duty of legal professionals during the Middle Ages, in both canon law and in Castilian legislation. Part III will show that practical legal training, both in Spain and in Chile, began much later as the result of the ambition among prominent members of the legal profession to …

Devotion ̶T̶O̶ And The Rule Of Law: Acknowledging The Role Of Religious Values In Judicial Decision-Making, Priya Purohit

Indiana Law Journal

This Comment advocates for the acknowledgment of religious values in judicial decision-making in three parts. Part I explores the role of religion in American politics, and more specifically, the role of religion in federal judicial confirmation hearings and state-level judicial elections. Membership to an institutionalized religion often performs an essential gatekeeping function when it comes to assessing the background or personal values of a candidate for political or judicial office. The initially positive role of religion in judicial selection processes suggests that the practice of refusing to acknowledge the role that religion likely already plays in judicial decision-making is wholly …

An Alternative Path To Rule Of Law? Thailand's Twenty-First Century Administrative Courts, Frank Munger

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This study examines why courts made sense to those who established them and how the courts' authority is being utilized. For relatively powerless and resource-poor litigants, barriers to litigation may be many, but when these barriers are overcome, administrative courts exercise extraordinary influence, even when they fail to render a decision fully vindicating a plaintiffs legal rights. Administrative courts serve multiple functions, not only by exercising power, in the famed words of Chief Justice Marshall, "to say what the law is," 13 but also by decentering the concentrated power of Thailand's insular and tradition bound ministries as well as its …

Private Law, Fundamental Rights, And The Rule Of Law, Hugh Collins

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Soft Solution For A Hard Problem: Using Alternative Dispute Resolution In Post-Conflict Societies, James D. Mcginley

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Place Of Policy In International Law, Oscar Schachter

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Rhetoric Of Constitutional Absolutism, Eric Berger

William & Mary Law Review

Though constitutional doctrine is famously unpredictable, Supreme Court Justices often imbue their constitutional opinions with a sense of inevitability. Rather than concede that evidence is sometimes equivocal, Justices insist with great certainty that they have divined the correct answer. This Article examines this rhetoric of constitutional absolutism and its place in our broader popular constitutional discourse. After considering examples of the Justices’ rhetorical performances, this Article explores strategic, institutional, and psychological explanations for the phenomenon. It then turns to the rhetoric’s implications, weighing its costs and benefits. This Article ultimately argues that the costs outweigh the benefits and proposes a …

Reconciliation And The Rule Of Law: The Changing Role Of International War Crimes Tribunals, Oriana Lavilla

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This paper explores the relationship between international war crimes tribunals and reconciliation in post-conflict societies. The aim of the present study was to examine how the role of international war crimes tribunals has changed in the peacebuilding process since the early years after World War II. Due to the evolving nature of international law and the international criminal legal system, international tribunals have become increasingly recognized as an integral component of peacebuilding in post-conflict societies. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was the first international tribunal with a mandate to contribute to international peace and security. The …

The Nacirema Revisited, Jeffrey D. Kahn

SMU Law Review

In 1956, anthropologist Horace Miner published the article for which he is best known, "Body Ritual among the Nacirema." This short but groundbreaking essay described personal rituals practiced by a fascinating but poorly understood people. Inspired by Miner's work and based on close-quarters field research, this essay revisits the strange world of the Nacirema. Two of the more "legal" features of their society are explored: (1) what might be termed the higher-order constitutional design of their society, and (2) the mechanisms of day-to-day maintenance of their social order.

Ethics In Legal Education: An Augmentation Of Legal Realism, Gerald R. Ferrera

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Money Can't Buy You Law: The Effects Of Foreign Aid On The Rule Of Law In Developing Countries, Katherine Erbeznik

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The rule of law is often touted as a panacea for the problems faced by the developing world. As a result, billions of dollars in foreign aid have been spent trying to promote the rule of law in developing countries. However, in many cases, little observable progress has been made. This Note explores some of the reasons rule of law reform efforts have stalled. One reason is that reform has focused solely on formal rule of law institutions, rather than on the informal political or cultural norms that are needed to support such institutions. Little is known, however, about how …

Human Rights In China And The Rule Of Law, Xu Wenli

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Subverting The Rule Of Law: The Judiciary's Role In Fostering Unethical Behavior, Richard Lavoie

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Is The “R” In “Irac”?, Michael B. W. Sinclair

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Law As Largess: Shifting Paradigms Of Law For The Poor, Deborah M. Weissman

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rules Of Law: The Pinochet Case, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes competing rules of law that are being unmasked during the ongoing legal odyssey of Augusto Pinochet.

Insanity And The Rule Of Law, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes the effects of the construct of insanity on the rule of law.

Pins Jurisdiction, The Vagueness Doctrine, And The Rule Of Law, All Katz, Lee E. Teitelbaum

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

International Commission Of Jurists: The Rule Of Law In A Free Society: A Report On The International Congress Of Jurists, William B. Harvey

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Rule of Law in a Free Society: a Report on the International Congress of Jurists. Geneva, Switzerland: International Commission of Jurists, 1960.

Post-War Thinking About The Rule Of Law, Charles W. Joiner

Michigan Law Review

The seven papers that follow are the words and thoughts of the Michigan Law School faculty members who delivered the lectures in this series. Each paper was written for oral presentation and was spoken to an audience. The reaction of those attending the lectures was so favorable that arrangements were made for their publication. In the audience at the time these papers were given were lawyers from many parts of the United States and many foreign countries.

The Rule Of Law In Historical Perspective, W. Burnett Harvey

Michigan Law Review

Events of the past two decades have made imperative a fundamental re-examination of the basis of government and the legal order. The gross inhumanities of the German and Japanese regimes during the Second World War are fresh in our memories. In many areas of the world today, the force of law is being used for the systematic suppression of claims to freedom and human dignity. The revolutionary ferment of the post-war years has brought into existence new governments with the task of determining their fundamental orientation and the direction of their legal orders.

The Rule Of Law And The Judicial Process, Luke K. Cooperrider

Michigan Law Review

An anecdote which I believe I recall from one of Professor Brogan's ·writings concerns a conversation between the archbishop and the chief justice about the relative importance of their respective powers. After the conversation had continued for some time the archbishop sought to administer the coup de grâce. "I have the advantage of you, your lordship, because you see, in the long run, the most you can say to a man is, 'You shall be hanged!' whereas it is within the functions of my office to say, 'You shall be damned!' " To this, after a moment of thought, …