Human Rights Law Commons^™

2014 Seri Outreach - Eremo Monte Giove May 30-31, 2014, Michele Faioli

Michele Faioli

No abstract provided.

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 ...

What Is The Right To Privacy?, Andrei Marmor

University of Southern California Legal Studies Working Paper Series

A philosophical account of the right to privacy should explain what is the distinct interest that the right is there to protect, what it takes to secure it, and what would count as a violation of the right. In this paper I argue that the right to privacy is grounded on people’s interest in having a reasonable measure of control over ways in which they present themselves (and what is theirs) to others; I argue that in order to secure this kind of interest we need to have a reasonably secure and predictable environment about the flow of information ...

Denial Of Justice: The Latest Indigenous Land Disputes Before The European Court Of Human Rights And The Need For An Expansive Interpretation Of Protocol 1., Giovanna E. Gismondi

Giovanna E. Gismondi

Abstract:

This article analyzes the three latest decisions of the European Court of Human Rights concerning indigenous land rights and concludes that the Court affords scant protection to indigenous peoples. By analyzing each case in terms of substantive and procedural law, the challenges indigenous peoples face when pursuing their claims before the Court come into focus. While emphasizing on the current level of protection, the paper makes reference to the European jurisprudence on indigenous land rights. The article argues that the European Court’s narrow interpretation of the "right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions" codified in art. 1, Protocol 1 ...

Proactive Gatekeepers: The Jurisprudence Of The Icc’S Pre-Trial Chambers, Christodoulos Kaoutzanis, Jocelyn Joan Courtney

Christodoulos Kaoutzanis

Due to the fairly recent inception of the International Criminal Court (“ICC), its

Pre-Trial Chambers has been the only judicial body at the ICC thus far to be exposed to

a wide variety of cases. In the seven years since Pre-Trial Chamber I held the

proceedings against the confirmation of charges against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the

ICC’s two Pre-Trial Chambers have conducted hearings and determined the charges

against 14 individuals for crimes allegedly committed in four Situations. This article

systematically classifies the jurisprudence of the Pre-Trial Chambers in an attempt to

identify the trends that cut across the Pre-Trial ...

California Egg Toss - The High Costs Of Avoiding Unenforceable Surrgoacy Contracts, Jennifer Jackson

Jennifer Jackson

In an emotionally charged decision regarding surrogacy contracts, it is important to recognize the ramifications, costs, and policy. There are advantages to both “gestational carrier surrogacy” contracts and “traditional surrogacy” contracts. However, this paper focuses on the differences between these contracts using case law. Specifically, this paper will focus on the implications of California case law regarding surrogacy contracts. Cases such as Johnson v. Calvert and In Re Marriage of Moschetta provide a clear distinction between these contracts. This distinction will show that while gestational carrier surrogacy contracts are more expensive, public policy and court opinions will provide certainty and ...

Abortion In South Africa And The United States: An Integrative, Contrastive Comparative Analysis Of The Effect Of Legal And Cultural Influences On Implementation Of Abortion Rights, Danielle Y. Blanks

Danielle Y Blanks

Despite similarly progressive abortion rights laws, women in South Africa and the U.S. experience completely different levels of access to legal and safe abortions. In this paper, I will seek to explain the reasons for this disparity by describing the ways in which natural law has influenced the application of law in the U.S. and South Africa while examining the role of cultural values in the realization of abortion rights. I will take an integrative approach to explain ideological similarities and a contrastive approach to denote the cultural differences that have led to a de facto marginalization of ...

A Constitution At A Crossroads: A Conversation With The Chief Justice Of The Constitutional Court Of South Africa, Drew F. Cohen

Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights

No abstract provided.

A Call For Aggressive Media Campaign Regarding Dprk Prison Camps, Hannah Lee

Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights

No abstract provided.

Denying Genocide Or Denying Free Speech? A Case Study Of The Application Of Rwanda’S Genocide Denial Laws, Yakaré-Oulé (Nani) Jansen

Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights

No abstract provided.

The International Rule Of Law In A Human Rights Era, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

The Brandeis Institute for International Judges (BIIJ) has established itself as a significant and world-renowned program that promotes the role of judges working in the domain of international law and justice. Organized by the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life of Brandeis University, the BIIJ provides a venue for judges from international and regional courts to discuss important issues relating to the administration of justice across their varied jurisdictions.

In 2013, the BIIJ was organized, for the first time in its 12-year history, in partnership with outside academic bodies working in the same field. The institute was held ...

“Gate Of The Sun”: Applying Human Rights Law In The Occupied Palestinian Territories In Light Of Non-Violent Resistance And Normalization, Keren Greenblatt

Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights

No abstract provided.

Copy And Paste: Transplanting International Hiv/Aids Model Laws Into African Countries, Maya Berinzon

Maya Berinzon

There has been a recent boon of legislative and regulatory frameworks to govern HIV in Africa. This includes rules on when and how a health practitioner may disclose the HIV status of a patient to a spouse or sexual partner. In balancing the right to privacy against a doctor's duty of care, two international model laws have emerged, and have been copied in whole, or in part, by a number of African countries. This paper questions the usefulness of such model laws as legal transplants in national legislatures through analysis of the regulations developed in thirty-two African countries.

Submission On Proposed Amendments To Part Iia Of The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth), Neil J. Foster

Neil J Foster

This is a submission to the Commonwealth Attorney-General commenting on proposed amendments to s 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.

Book Review: Fresh Water In International Law. By Laurence Boisson De Chazournes, ‎Oxford, Oxford University Press (Dec. 2013). ‎, Itzchak Kornfeld

Itzchak E. Kornfeld

This book review of an extremely timely, far-reaching and comprehensive book by Professor Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, titled Fresh Water in International Law, by an expert in the field. Today, in an era of climate change, wide spread droughts across the globe, the fate of fresh water, which is a fixed resource and is the source of life, is an ominous problem in and for international law. Boisson de Chazournes addresses issues related to treaty design and interpretation, case law, UN initiatives, human rights issues and the development of the human right to water. The author also stresses that today ...

Amended Brief Of Professor Nancy Gertner And Professor Kent Greenfield As Amici Curiae In Support Of Plaintiff, Louisiana Municipal Police Employees' Retirement System V. The Hershey Company, C.A. No. 7996-Ml, Nancy Gertner, Kent Greenfield

Kent Greenfield

Amicus brief filed by Nancy Gertner and Kent Greenfield in the case of Louisiana Municipal Police Employees' Retirement System v. The Hershey Company, C.A. No. 7996-ML.

Preventing Balkanization Or Facilitating Racial Domination: A Critique Of The New Equal Protection, Darren L. Hutchinson

Darren L Hutchinson

Abstract

Preventing Balkanization or Facilitating Racial Domination: A Critique of the

New Equal Protection

The Supreme Court requires that equal protection plaintiffs prove defendants acted with discriminatory intent. The intent rule has insulated from judicial invalidation numerous policies that harmfully impact racial and ethnic minorities. Court doctrine also mandates that state actors remain colorblind. The colorblindness doctrine has caused the Court to invalidate many policies that were designed to ameliorate the conditions of racial inequality. Taken together, these two equality doctrines facilitate racial domination. The Court justifies this outcome on the ground that the Constitution does not protect “group rights ...

Transgender Inpportunity And Inequality: Evaluating The Crossroads Between Immigration And Transgender Individuals, Alexandra Caggiano

Seattle University Law Review

Despite being married to a U.S. citizen, non-citizen transgender individuals and non-citizen spouses married to transgender U.S. citizens still face deportation today due to current immigration policies. When forced to return to their home countries, transgender individuals are likely to encounter violence from those who perpetuate hate towards transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. Instead of protecting these individuals, the United States continues to send people back to their native countries solely because those individuals do not fall within the narrowly constructed definition of marriage some states use that is legally recognized by federal courts. Transgender individuals receive disparate ...

When Art Becomes Free: On Artistic In-Expression & Personal Convictions, Amir H. Khoury

Amir Khoury

In this paper I argue that just as there are moral rights in copyright law, which secure attribution and integrity, so too, there should be 'inverse' moral rights that can protect artists from being impelled or compelled to create in the first place. This research comes against the backdrop of one of the most contentious issues in the Western world today, that pertaining to same-sex marriage. But the discussion applies to all other fields where creativity finds itself in a battle over personal convictions. In my view, the inverse moral rights construct is the true reflection of the extent of ...

Road To Nowhere: Hong Kong's Democratisation And China's Obligations Under Public International Law, Alvin Y. Cheung

Alvin Y Cheung

Does public international law have anything to say about how Hong Kong's Chief Executive should be chosen? The Hong Kong and Beijing Governments have framed the debate on electoral reforms for 2017 purely in terms of domestic law. They reject the relevance of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and have rebuffed any role for the United Kingdom under the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 (Joint Declaration). In so doing, they seek to justify Beijing's insistence on powers of veto over nomination and appointment of the Chief Executive.

However, an analysis purely in terms of ...