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Full-Text Articles in Rule of Law

Ending Corporate Anonymity: Beneficial Ownership, Sanctions Evasion, And What The United Nations Should Do About It, Vineet Chandra Feb 2021

Ending Corporate Anonymity: Beneficial Ownership, Sanctions Evasion, And What The United Nations Should Do About It, Vineet Chandra

Michigan Journal of International Law

In the vast majority of jurisdictions around the world, there is a generous array of corporate forms available to persons and companies looking to do business. These entities come with varying degrees of regulation regarding how much information about the businesses’ principal owners must be disclosed at the time of registration and how much of that information is subsequently available to the public. There is little policy harmonization around the world on this matter. Dictators and despots have long taken advantage of this unintended identity shield to evade sanctions which target them; in July of 2019, the Center for Advanced …


Can The Liberal Order Be Sustained? Nations, Network Effects, And The Erosion Of Global Institutions, Bryan H. Druzin Feb 2021

Can The Liberal Order Be Sustained? Nations, Network Effects, And The Erosion Of Global Institutions, Bryan H. Druzin

Michigan Journal of International Law

A growing retreat from multilateralism is threatening to upend the institutions that underpin the liberal international order. This article applies network theory to this crisis in global governance, arguing that policymakers can strengthen these institutions by leveraging network effect pressures. Network effects arise when networks of actors—say language speakers or users of a social media platform—interact and the value one user derives from the network increases as other users join the network (e.g., the more people who speak your language, the more useful it is because there are more people with whom you can communicate). Crucially, network effect pressures produce …


The Aba Rule Of Law Initiative Celebrating 25 Years Of Global Initiatives, M. Margaret Mckeown Jan 2018

The Aba Rule Of Law Initiative Celebrating 25 Years Of Global Initiatives, M. Margaret Mckeown

Michigan Journal of International Law

Relying on extensive reports, program documentation, and interviews with important actors in the rule of law movement, this article will explore how one key player in the international-development field—the ABA—has furthered rule of law values through its global programs. The first half of the article surveys the ABA’s involvement in rule of law initiatives. Part I explores the origins of the ABA’s work in this field, which date back to the organization’s founding and took shape after the demise of the former Soviet Union. Part II surveys the expansion of the ABA’s programs beyond Eastern Europe to other regions—a growth …


The Two Faces Of Bribery: International Corruption Pathways Meet Conflicting Legislative Regimes, Jeffrey R. Boles Jun 2014

The Two Faces Of Bribery: International Corruption Pathways Meet Conflicting Legislative Regimes, Jeffrey R. Boles

Michigan Journal of International Law

Suppose a government agency tasks its purchasing agent with buying a set of computer servers for the agency’s use, and the agent contacts a technology company to make the purchase. After selecting the needed servers, the agent learns of the servers’ fair market value but does not negotiate with the technology company to obtain the lowest possible price. Instead, unbeknownst to the government, the agent agrees with the technology company’s sales manager to purchase the servers on behalf of the government for an amount significantly above their fair market value, and, in return, the company agrees to give the agent …


Technology, Ethics, And Access To Justice: Should An Alogrithm Be Deciding Your Case?, Anjanette H. Raymond, Scott J. Shackelford Jan 2014

Technology, Ethics, And Access To Justice: Should An Alogrithm Be Deciding Your Case?, Anjanette H. Raymond, Scott J. Shackelford

Michigan Journal of International Law

At a time of U.S. budget cuts, popularly known as the “sequester,” court systems across the nation are facing financial shortfalls. Small claims courts are no exception. Among the worst hit states is California, which is suffering staffing cutbacks that result in long delays prompting consideration of the old maxim, “justice delayed is justice denied.” Similar problems, albeit on a larger scale, are evident in other nations including India where the Law Commission has argued that the millions of pending cases combined with the lagging uptake of technological best practices has impeded judicial productivity, leading to “disappointment and dissatisfaction among …


Reconceptualizing States Of Emergency Under International Human Rights Law: Theory, Legal Doctrine, And Politics, Scott P. Sheeran Jan 2013

Reconceptualizing States Of Emergency Under International Human Rights Law: Theory, Legal Doctrine, And Politics, Scott P. Sheeran

Michigan Journal of International Law

States of emergency are today one of the most serious challenges to the implementation of international human rights law (IHRL). They have become common practice and are associated with severe human rights violations as evidenced by the Arab Spring. The international jurisprudence on states of emergency is inconsistent and divergent, and what now constitutes a public emergency is ubiquitous. This trend is underpinned by excessive judicial deference and abdication of the legal review of states' often dubious claims of a state of emergency. The legal regime, as positively expressed in international human rights treaties, does not adequately reflect the underlying …


A Global Panopticon - The Changing Role Of International Organizations In The Information Age, Jennifer Shkabatur Oct 2011

A Global Panopticon - The Changing Role Of International Organizations In The Information Age, Jennifer Shkabatur

Michigan Journal of International Law

The outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003 and Swine Flu (H1N1) in 2009 captured a great deal of global attention. The swift spread of these diseases wreaked havoc, generated public hysteria, disrupted global trade and travel, and inflicted severe economic losses to countries, corporations, and individuals. Although affected states were required to report to the World Health Organization (WHO) events that may have constituted a public health emergency, many failed to do so. The WHO and the rest of the international community were therefore desperate for accurate, up-to-date information as to the nature of the pandemics, their …


An Emerging Norm - Determining The Meaning And Legal Status Of The Responsibility To Protect, Jonah Eaton Jan 2011

An Emerging Norm - Determining The Meaning And Legal Status Of The Responsibility To Protect, Jonah Eaton

Michigan Journal of International Law

The responsibility to protect, from its recent nativity in the 2001 report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS), is the latest round in an old debate pitting the principle of nonintervention in the internal affairs of states against allowing such intervention to prevent gross and systematic violations of human rights. Advocates for the concept see it as an important new commitment by the international community, injecting new meaning into the tragically threadbare promise to never again allow mass atrocities to occur unchallenged. ICISS offered the concept of responsibility to protect as a new way to confront …


Competing Legal Cultures And Legal Reform: The Battle Of Chile, James M. Cooper Jan 2008

Competing Legal Cultures And Legal Reform: The Battle Of Chile, James M. Cooper

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article explores the competition that exists between U.S. and German legal cultures and examines Chilean legal reform efforts since the late 1990s as a case study of this competition. A country's legal culture is comprised of the self-governing rules and operations of national and regional bar associations, the format of legal education, the structure of the legal and judicial profession, the role of the judiciary, jurisprudential style, and the reputation of the legal sector according to the general public. The influence of predominant legal cultures on developing nations has been explored in a number of contexts, while the importance …


Keynote Address, Jeffrey H. Smith Jan 2007

Keynote Address, Jeffrey H. Smith

Michigan Journal of International Law

This afternoon, I want to touch briefly on a number of issues rather than discuss one or two to death. I chose this approach because it seemed an appropriate way to open a conference. I also chose it because I hope I can convince you that intelligence and international law interact in a way that simultaneously strengthens the law and improves intelligence; that law matters, especially in time of war; and that both good intelligence and good law have one common core value: integrity. So that you will have a sense of the perspective that I bring to this, I …


Secrets And Lies: Intelligence Activities And The Rule Of Law In Times Of Crisis, Simon Chesterman Jan 2007

Secrets And Lies: Intelligence Activities And The Rule Of Law In Times Of Crisis, Simon Chesterman

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article will consider generally the prospects for an approach to intelligence activities based on the rule of law, focusing on the problem of covertness. In particular, it will examine the debate over how law should deal with crises, epitomized by the "ticking time-bomb" hypothetical. On the one hand, some call for a pragmatic recognition that, in extremis, public officials may be required to act outside the law and should seek after-the-fact ratification of their "extra-legal measures." On the other hand, others argue that the embrace of "extra-legal measures" misconceives the rule of law, underestimates the capacity of a …


Towards A Right To Privacy In Transnational Intelligence Networks, Francesca Bignami Jan 2007

Towards A Right To Privacy In Transnational Intelligence Networks, Francesca Bignami

Michigan Journal of International Law

Privacy is one of the most critical liberal rights to come under pressure from transnational intelligence gathering. This Article explores the many ways in which transnational intelligence networks intrude upon privacy and considers some of the possible forms of legal redress. Part II lays bare the different types of transnational intelligence networks that exist today. Part III begins the analysis of the privacy problem by examining the national level, where, over the past forty years, a legal framework has been developed to promote the right to privacy in domestic intelligence gathering. Part IV turns to the privacy problem transnationally, when …


Individual And State Responsibility For Intelligence Gathering, Dieter Fleck Jan 2007

Individual And State Responsibility For Intelligence Gathering, Dieter Fleck

Michigan Journal of International Law

It is the purpose of this contribution to examine relevant norms and principles for assessing acts of intelligence gathering under international law (Part I), evaluate legal problems of attribution of such acts (Part II), and, where governments commit wrongful acts, look into circumstances precluding their wrongfulness (Part III). Based on these considerations, legal consequences for criminal accountability (Part IV) and reparation (Part V) will be discussed. Finally, some conclusions may be drawn (Part VI).


An Unrecognized State In Foreign And International Courts: The Case Of The Republic Of China On Taiwan, Pasha L. Hsieh Jan 2007

An Unrecognized State In Foreign And International Courts: The Case Of The Republic Of China On Taiwan, Pasha L. Hsieh

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article provides a comparative analysis of the status of the Republic of China on Taiwan in foreign and international settings. Most existing literature written from the traditional public international law perspective focuses on Taiwan's separate statehood from China. This Article addresses an important pragmatic issue that international courts and courts in foreign countries frequently face: whether Taiwan is a "foreign State" for particular salutatory purposes in judicial proceedings. Part I of this Article provides an overview of China-Taiwan relations and the status of Taiwan under international law. I argue that the ROC on Taiwan has been a sovereign State …


Global Markets And The Evolution Of Law In China And Japan, Takao Tanase Jan 2006

Global Markets And The Evolution Of Law In China And Japan, Takao Tanase

Michigan Journal of International Law

The first angle of this Article concerns the exclusivity of rights, which is the notion that a right has an exclusive boundary of ownership. The socialist system and traditional customary law in China gave only weak recognition to this concept, especially prior to China's move toward a market economy and the introduction of modern law. The second angle addresses the functionality of extralegal norms. Law reforms tend to be measured by the efficiency gains they produce, a process intensified by competition among systems. The third angle involves the ideological nature of the market-oriented development of law. The foreign enterprises and …


How Does Culture Count In Legal Change?: A Review With A Proposal From A Social Movement Perspective, Setsuo Miyazawa Jan 2006

How Does Culture Count In Legal Change?: A Review With A Proposal From A Social Movement Perspective, Setsuo Miyazawa

Michigan Journal of International Law

We have in this volume four articles on legal change in China and Japan written by four distinguished authors. These articles vary with regard to subject state, specificity of issues, and breadth of analytical scope. They commonly discuss one factor, however: culture. The purpose of this Comment is to examine the way each article uses culture in its explanations of legal change. The Comment concludes with a brief suggestion, from a social movement perspective, on employing culture as an explanatory tool in a non-essentialist way.


What Have We Learned About Law And Development? Describing, Predicting, And Assessing Legal Reforms In China, Randall Peerenboom Jan 2006

What Have We Learned About Law And Development? Describing, Predicting, And Assessing Legal Reforms In China, Randall Peerenboom

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article applies existing conceptual tools for describing, predicting, and assessing legal reforms to the efforts to establish rule of law in China, in the process shedding light on the various pathways and methodologies of reform so as to facilitate assessment of competing reform strategies. While drawing on China for concrete examples, the discussion involves issues that are generally applicable to comparative law and the new law and development movement, and thus it addresses


Illegal Peace?: An Inquiry Into The Legality Of Power-Sharing With Warlords And Rebels In Africa, Jeremy I. Levitt Jan 2006

Illegal Peace?: An Inquiry Into The Legality Of Power-Sharing With Warlords And Rebels In Africa, Jeremy I. Levitt

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article represents the first conscientious attempt to address these questions, present a conceptual framework for examining the legal and political efficacy of coercing democratically constituted governments into sharing power, and define a lawful basis or approach to sharing power when governments are confronted with the aforementioned scenario. The Article is polemical and questions the dominant logic that political power-sharing is lawful, legitimate, and unequivocally serves the public good, arguing that power-sharing deals that ignore controlling rules are unlawful and not viable.


Rebus Sic Stantibus: Notification Of Consular Rights After Medellin, Aaron A. Ostrovsky, Brandon E. Reavis Jan 2006

Rebus Sic Stantibus: Notification Of Consular Rights After Medellin, Aaron A. Ostrovsky, Brandon E. Reavis

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Comment examines, through principles of public international law and U.S. jurisprudence, the relationship between U.S. courts and the ICJ to determine if the former are indeed bound by the latter's decisions, proprio motu, or if instead some Executive action is required to make the decisions binding on the judiciary. Part of this examination will entail a discussion of the potential for dialogue between the ICJ and U.S. courts to "pierce the veil of sovereignty" that traditionally conceals the inner workings of sovereign states from the scrutiny of international tribunals. Based on this assessment, the Comment then addresses how …


Law And Culture In China And Japan: A Framework For Analysis, John O. Haley Jan 2006

Law And Culture In China And Japan: A Framework For Analysis, John O. Haley

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Comment is divided into two parts. The first sets forth a series of definitional propositions intended for a more general analysis of the interrelationships of law and culture. The second comprises an introduction to the evolution of legal institutions that enables us to understand better the reception and development of Western legal institutions in East Asia and provides context for the four articles and their individual and collective insights.


Signaling Conformity: Changing Norms In Japan And China, David Nelken Jan 2006

Signaling Conformity: Changing Norms In Japan And China, David Nelken

Michigan Journal of International Law

Whatever their differences, the articles in this issue also have much in common in addition to their regional focus. The author of this Comment shall discuss in turn three (related) theoretical issues that arise, to a greater or lesser degree, in all four contributions. The first Part of this Comment considers the insights of these articles on the need to move from discussing transplants to focusing on transnational legal processes. The second Part examines what the contributions tell us about culture, legal culture, and the so-called "norm of conformity." I shall concentrate in particular on the cultural sources of choices …


International Treaty Enforcement As A Public Good: Institutional Deterrent Sanctions In International Environmental Agreements, Tseming Yang Jan 2006

International Treaty Enforcement As A Public Good: Institutional Deterrent Sanctions In International Environmental Agreements, Tseming Yang

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article approaches the issues through the lens of two general questions. First, what are the functions of treaty enforcement and institutional deterrent sanctions? Second, what are the obstacles to the effective deployment of institutional deterrent sanctions in response to noncompliance? This Article elaborates on the instrumental purposes of enforcement as well as its independent normative function. Much of the analysis follows the recent stream of works that combines both international law and international relations theory. These works offer a rich understanding of the conduct of states and the functioning of international legal regimes.


Transitional Justice In Times Of Conflict: Colombia's Ley De Justicia Y Paz, Lisa J. Laplante, Kimberly Theidon Jan 2006

Transitional Justice In Times Of Conflict: Colombia's Ley De Justicia Y Paz, Lisa J. Laplante, Kimberly Theidon

Michigan Journal of International Law

The authors of this Article were committed to researching the impact of the paramilitary demobilization process "on the ground"-that is, conducting qualitative research that would allow us to test the validity of different debates with the goal of generating recommendations on how future conflict and post-conflict countries might benefit from the merging of DDR and transitional justice. In this text we draw upon the preliminary results of our research on the individual and collective demobilization programs. The first stage of the project included 112 in-depth interviews with demobilized combatants from the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ej rcito del Pueblo (FARC-EP) …


Supporting Sustained Economic Development, Steven Radelet Jan 2005

Supporting Sustained Economic Development, Steven Radelet

Michigan Journal of International Law

There is no magic formula for sustained economic development in poor countries. Strategies that succeed in one country may not be appropriate in another. Yet there are several broad similarities across the countries that have been most successful in achieving development over the past forty years. This Article takes a very broad overview of economic development in low-income countries over this period and makes three basic points.


What Can The Rule Of Law Variable Tell Us About Rule Of Law Reforms?, Kevin E. Davis Jan 2004

What Can The Rule Of Law Variable Tell Us About Rule Of Law Reforms?, Kevin E. Davis

Michigan Journal of International Law

In 2001 per capita income in Haiti was $480, the infant mortality rate was seventy-nine per 1000 live births and the illiteracy rate (age fifteen and over) hovered around fifty percent. By comparison, in the United States, less than two hours flying time away, the per capita income was $34,280, the infant mortality rate was seven per 1000 live births, and the illiteracy rate was negligible. Understanding the reasons why these sorts of disparities in important measures of development arise and persist is one of the greatest challenges in all of the social sciences.


Legal Institutions And International Trade Flows, Daniel Berkowitz, Johannes Moenius, Katharina Pistor Jan 2004

Legal Institutions And International Trade Flows, Daniel Berkowitz, Johannes Moenius, Katharina Pistor

Michigan Journal of International Law

Why do domestic legal institutions matter, and why can trading parties-in particular exporters of complex goods-not easily opt-out of their domestic legal institutions? The authors argue that domestic institutions remain important even in a globalized world, because they are the final option for enforcing a claim against a party in the event of a breach of contract. International contracts take place in the shadow of the parties' home institutions. Unless parties can negotiate a settlement, or the losing party voluntarily complies with a foreign court or arbitration ruling, the winning party must seek enforcement against the assets of the losing …


The Future Of Law And Development: Second Generation Reforms And The Incorporation Of The Social, Kerry Rittich Jan 2004

The Future Of Law And Development: Second Generation Reforms And The Incorporation Of The Social, Kerry Rittich

Michigan Journal of International Law

This paper probes the manner in which the IFIs are managing the incorporation of social justice and greater participation in the development agenda, and describes how the pursuit of social objectives, in turn, is affected by the governance agenda as a whole.


Commentary To Professor Stephen D. Krasner, Jürgen Kurtz Jan 2004

Commentary To Professor Stephen D. Krasner, Jürgen Kurtz

Michigan Journal of International Law

Comment on Professor Stephen D. Krasner's The Hole in the Whole: Sovereignty, Shared Sovereignty, and International Law


A Commentary To Montserrat Guibernau Nations Without States: Political Communities In The Global Age, Beatrice Tice, Jason Nelson Jan 2004

A Commentary To Montserrat Guibernau Nations Without States: Political Communities In The Global Age, Beatrice Tice, Jason Nelson

Michigan Journal of International Law

Commentary on Professor Montserrat Guibernau's Nations Without States: Political Communities in the Global Age


Nations Without States: Political Communities In The Global Age, Montserrat Guibernau Jan 2004

Nations Without States: Political Communities In The Global Age, Montserrat Guibernau

Michigan Journal of International Law

The nation has become one of the most contested concepts of our times. The multifarious definitions of the nation focus on cultural, political, psychological, territorial, ethnic, and sociological principles according to different scholars, politicians, and political activists willing to shed some light into such a disputed term. Their lack of agreement suggests a major difficulty in dealing with such a complex phenomenon. The crux of the matter probably resides close to the link which has been established between nation and State, and to the common practice of using the nation as a source of political legitimacy. To be or not …