Transnational Law Commons^™

Counting Once, Counting Twice: The Precarious State Of Subsidy Regulation, Wentong Zheng

UF Law Faculty Publications

Subsidy regulation is in a precarious state. While it has been so ever since the conception of the current subsidy regulation regime, the recent disputes between the United States and China over the “double counting” or “double remedies” of subsidies have threatened the mere functionality of the current regime. This Article argues that the double counting controversy reveals the self-contradictions of the current subsidy regulation regime as to the fundamental question of why subsidies need to be regulated. These self-contradictions make it impossible to devise a coherent solution to the double counting problem within the framework of the current subsidy …

Welfare Standards In U.S. And E.U. Antitrust Enforcement, Roger D. Blair, D. Daniel Sokol

UF Law Faculty Publications

The potential goals of antitrust are numerous. Goals matter to antitrust. We believe that it is total welfare rather than consumer welfare that should drive antitrust analysis. We use this Article as an opportunity to explore both a comparative analysis of welfare standards across E. U. and US. competition systems and the impact of welfare standards on global antitrust systemwide welfare.

In this Article, we analyze two types of situations in which there would be a different outcome based on the goal implemented. One scenario involves resale price maintenance (RPM). For RPM, we argue that even if there were a …

The Emerging Restrictions On Sovereign Immunity: Peremptory Norms Of International Law, The U.N. Charter, And The Application Of Modern Communications Theory, Winston P. Nagan, Joshua L. Root

UF Law Faculty Publications

The article provides a fresh re-examination of the conceptual foundations of the sovereign immunity doctrine in the light of the changing character of sovereignty itself. This is done in the context of the changing expectations in international law generated by the UN Charter, and the development of human rights and humanitarian law. The article applies the innovative communications theories generated by the New Haven School to provide a more realistic and relevant approach to the issue of international law-making in this area. The article provides an overview of the emergence of changed expectations relating to the restrictions on the scope …

From Opera To Real Democracy: Popular Constitutionalism And Web 2.0, Elizabeth Dale

UF Law Faculty Publications

On March 17, 2011 the conductor Riccardo Muti stood in the orchestra pit at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and, in the presence of the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, and the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano, denounced the Italian government’s cuts to funding for the arts and culture. He then invited the entire audience to join the opera’s chorus in an encore of Va’ Pensiero, the hymn of the Hebrew slaves in Nabucco, to protest the cuts. Within two days of the sing-a-long, the Italian government reversed the course it set more than ten months before and agreed to a …

Cisg Translation Issues: Reducing Legal Babelism, Claire M. Germain

UF Law Faculty Publications

The CISG (Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods) has remarkably facilitated commercial transactions across boundaries and different legal systems. This article, to be published as a Book Chapter, discusses some possible difficulties caused by using different languages, or words which might be interpreted differently, and some solutions and ways to deal with these difficulties. Three kinds of issues have appeared: the first has to do with drafting issues, and the peculiar problem of the six official languages of the Convention. The second set of issues deals with the interpretation of the Convention and the so-called homeward trend. …

The Inconvenience Of A “Constitution [That] Follows The Flag … But Doesn’T Quite Catch Up With It”: From Downes V. Bidwell To Boumediene V. Bush, Pedro A. Malavet

UF Law Faculty Publications

Boumediene v. Bush, resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court in June of 2008, granted habeas corpus rights, at least for the time being, to the persons detained at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station. The majority partially based its ruling on the doctrine of the Insular Cases, first set forth in the 1901 decision in Downes v. Bidwell. Additionally, the four dissenting justices agreed with the five in the majority that the plurality opinion of Justice Edward Douglass White in Downes – as affirmed by a unanimous court in 1922 in Balzac v. People of Porto Rico – is still the dominant …

Expanding The Nafta Chapter 19 Dispute Settlement System: A Way To Declaw Trade Remedy Laws In A Free Trade Area Of The Americas?, Stephen J. Powell

UF Law Faculty Publications

Chapter 19 of the NAFTA transfers judicial review of U.S., Canadian, and Mexican government investigations under the controversial anti-dumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) laws from national courts to binational panels of private international law experts. The system stands as a unique surrender of judicial sovereignty to an international body, a hybrid of national courts and international dispute settlement with as yet no parallel in the world of international trade or other international law regimes. Binational panel decisions have been controversial because agencies chafe at their intimate examination of agency findings and supporting evidence. Panels also are viewed as substantially more …

"The Constitution Follows The Flag...But Doesn't Quite Catch Up With It": The Story Of Downes V. Bidwell, Pedro A. Malavet

UF Law Faculty Publications

Some may consider a 1901 case to be ancient history, but Downes v. Bidwell and its progeny still govern all of these regions. This chapter will explore the Insular Cases as a way to understand the role of race in articulating the relationship between American territorial expansion and American citizenship-between American empire and American democracy. The chapter begins by historicizing the Downes opinion. My aim here is threefold: (1) to provide a brief description of the effects of Spanish colonial rule on Puerto Rico; (2) to set forth the circumstances leading up to the Spanish American War; and (3) to …

Should Or Must?: Nature Of The Obligation Of States To Use Trade Instruments For The Advancement Of Environmental, Labour, And Other Human Rights, Stephen J. Powell

UF Law Faculty Publications

This article examines whether customs, treaties, and historical facts have caused the ethical human rights obligations of economically powerful states to assume a legal quality. The author argues that the legal quality of these obligations may arise from the global harm principle of international law and human rights obligations found in treaties. As a consequence, states may be held accountable for the human rights violations of transnational corporations. Further, the author examines the possibility of pursuing claims under the U.S. Alien Tort Statute for torts committed in violation of international treaties as another avenue for enforcing human rights obligations.

Sexual Labor And Human Rights, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol, Jane E. Larson

UF Law Faculty Publications

In this Article, we engage the current human rights debate that dichotomizes prostitution either as a modern form of slavery or as the exercise of the right to work. This framework effectively sets up a coercion/consent polarity. These poles raise fundamental human rights issues; both the prohibition against slavery and the right to work are matters addressed by and central to the international human rights paradigm. Yet we argue in this Article that the human rights issues raised by prostitution cannot properly be studied nor moved towards meaningful resolution in the context of the prevailing polarity. Prostitution in its current …

Regional Economic Arrangements And The Rule Of Law In The Americas: The Human Rights Face Of Free Trade Agreements, Stephen J. Powell

UF Law Faculty Publications

We have addressed the widespread criticism that international trade rules are insensitive to basic human rights and that globalization has done little with its enormous power to preserve exhaustible natural resources and otherwise promote sustainable development, to alleviate the gap between rich and poor, to encourage states to grant their citizens basic human rights contained in the U.N. Covenant on Human Rights and other treaties, to resolve the often conflicting policies underlying essential human rights and trade goals, and, in general, to integrate trade and critical human rights law on the global front.

Our focus in this Essay is on …

Traveling The Boundaries Of Statelessness: Global Passports And Citizenship, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol, Matthew Hawk

UF Law Faculty Publications

An independent global citizenship without a local component and in the absence of the much-feared global government creates two concerns. One, an individual may imperil the rights of others, without a structure that can impose sanctions for the heinous conduct. Two, an individual's rights may be imperiled, and there may be no entity to provide protection. This essay proposes a model of a formal global citizenship that will alleviate these concerns and prove both practically and theoretically feasible. The model flows from the concept of dual or multiple nationality and offers global citizenship only as an elective nationality. Such citizenship …

The Cotton And Sugar Subsidies Decisions: Wto's Dispute Settlement System Rebalances The Agreement On Agriculture, Stephen J. Powell, Andrew Schmitz

UF Law Faculty Publications

As far back as David Ricardo's shattering insight as to comparative advantage in 1817, agriculture has enjoyed special favor in trade. The unique place of farming was so well established by the time the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ("GATT") was negotiated that GATT's tight disciplines on government interference with free trade not only exempted government protections to growers, but in fact were drafted to be fully consistent with the agricultural policies of the major signatories. While it would be an exaggeration to argue that GATT' s first half century was without impact on agricultural benefits, the sector …

On Becoming The Other: Cubans, Castro, And Elian -- A Latcritical Analysis, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

UF Law Faculty Publications

It is difficult to imagine that a cute, little, six-year-old boy would be able to change the favorable socially constructed images of cubanas/os virtually overnight. But that is precisely what happened with Elian and the comunidad cubana en Miami en estos estados unidos. The story is sad and poignant, heart-wrenching and surreal, human and political, civil and social, cultural and economic. It reaches into the souls of all who have fought and lost after having thought that they had fought and won.

This essay explores the transformation of the Cuban community in the eyes of the estado unidense majority …

Internet Casinos: A Sure Bet For Money Laundering, Jon L. Mills

UF Law Faculty Publications

Since the end of World War II, American society has seen the emergence of technology promising to make life easier, better and longer lasting. The more recent explosion of the Internet is fulfilling the dreams of the high-tech pundits as it provides global real-time communication links and makes the world's knowledge universally available. Privacy concerns surrounding the develop-ment of the Internet have mounted, and in response, service providers and web site operators have enabled web users to conduct transactions in nearly complete anonymity. While anonymity respects individual privacy, anonymity also facilitates criminal activities needing secrecy. One such activity is money …

Law, Culture, And Equality - Human Rights' Influence On Domestic Norms: The Case Of Women In The Americas, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

UF Law Faculty Publications

This essay originated with a panel on Alternatives to the Regular Courts that took place during the first Legal and Policy Issues in the Americas conference sponsored by the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Some of the possible alternatives to the courts, in the trade field, that have been discussed include mediation, arbitration, constitutional courts and binational dispute panels. This essay reflects upon another alternative to domestic courts that progressively and increasingly is also being invoked in the trade context: international and regional human rights regimes.

I specifically will review the Inter-American Human Rights System to ascertain the …

The Role Of United States Trade Laws In Resolving The Florida-Mexico Tomato Conflict, Stephen J. Powell, Mark A. Barnett

UF Law Faculty Publications

For discussion purposes, we have been asked to assume that the agreement entered into in October 1996 between the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and Mexican tomato exporters, which resulted in suspension of an antidumping investigation of tomatoes from Mexico, has ended. The new owner of many of Florida's winter vegetable producers, concerned with the continuing rise in market share represented by Mexican imports, is considering further action under the trade remedy and other laws. This article will discuss the potential role of the antidumping and countervailing duty laws in these deliberations, as well as the operation of the dispute …

Resolving Property Claims In A Post-Socialist Cuba, Kern Alexander, Jon L. Mills

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article analyzes some of the major Cuban and international legal issues confronting U.S. and Cuban claimants whose property was expropriated by the Cuban government. Part II reviews the history of the Cuban nationalizations and examines the historical development of the property protection provisions of the Cuban Constitution. Part III analyzes the implications of deciding which Cuban legal system should apply to the claims of expropriated property owners.

Part IV discusses the legal and procedural barriers to recovering expropriated property, focusing upon international law of claimant eligibility, abandonment of property, and compensation to expropriated investors. This Part also analyzes both …

Current Administration Of U.S. Antidumping And Countervailing Duty Laws: Implications For Prospective U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Talks, Stephen J. Powell, Craig R. Giesse, Craig L. Jackson

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article discusses the current administration of the U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty laws in proceedings involving products from Mexico. Specifically, this Article begins by providing an overview of the basic statutory and regulatory provisions of the U.S. antidumping duty law, emphasizing the application of certain provisions in cases involving imports from Mexico. The Article then focuses its discussion upon recent developments in the U.S. countervailing duty law that have had a unique effect upon Mexican exporters. The Article continues by highlighting the antidumping and countervailing duty provisions of the recently concluded U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement (the "FTA" or "Agreement"). …