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Holding Aggressors Responsible For International Crimes: Implementing The Unequal Enforcement Doctrine, Nancy Amoury Combs

Faculty Publications

It is a fundamental tenet of the laws of war that they apply equally to all parties to a conflict. For this reason, a party such as Russia — that illegally launches a war — benefits from all the same rights as a party such as Ukraine — that is forced to defend against the illegal aggression. Countless philosophers have shown that this so-called equal application doctrine is morally indefensible because defenders should have more rights and fewer responsibilities than aggressors. Legal scholars continue to support the equal application doctrine, however, because they reasonably fear that applying different rules to …

What Figures Lurk On Madame Elysé’S Path? Reflections On Philippe Sands’ The Last Colony, Diane Marie Amann

Scholarly Works

One person’s life forms the core around which Philippe Sands’ The Last Colony explores the events leading up to the advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences of Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965. That person is Liseby Bertrand Elysé, who was born in 1953 in Chagos, then forcibly removed to Mauritius in 1973. Her efforts to return home eventually brought her to a 2018 hearing at The Hague, where she spoke to the International Court of Justice bench by means of a subtitled video. This essay, which appears in a symposium issue on Sands’ book, investigates the ethics, the effectiveness, …

Protection From Warlords & Celebrities: How Anti-Slapp Legislation Is Making International Headway To Protect Free Speech, Olivia Augustat

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) are increasingly being used by powerful individuals and entities to silence dissent and criticism, posing a significant threat to free speech globally. This misuse of legal systems undermines democratic principles by intimidating those who speak out on matters of public interest. My paper argues for the urgent need for effective Anti-SLAPP legislation, focusing on a comparative analysis of the U.S. and European Union (EU) approaches. While the U.S. has a fragmented but largely pro-defendant framework, the EU is moving toward an arguably vaguer but more unified, cross-border solution. This paper takes a unique approach …

Providing Community Protection From Sex Offenders – At What Cost?, Jessica Novick

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review (CICLR) Blog

With the release of The Ken and Barbie Killers: The Lost Murder Tapes mini-series documentary on HBO’s Max recently, a renewed focus can be put on the “dangerous offender” status that murderer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo has who is one of the two central figures of the docuseries. Sexual offenders are some of the most feared types of criminals in our current society. Law & Order: SVU just began airing its 25th season, and the enduring legacy of this show and others similar to it has enriched the cultural fear of sex offenders. Now is an important time culturally …

What's Said In The Booth Never Stays In The Booth: A Comparative Analysis Of The Use Of Rap Lyrics In American And English Criminal Trials, Yekaterina Shrayber

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Middle East, Kelly Blount, Howard L. Stovall, Mamoun Aidoud, Tania Tossa, Hassan Radhi, Noor Radhi, Nicolas Bremer, Joseph Busa Arop, Seyed Mohsen Rowhani, Jeremy Benjamin, Elad Sharabi, Sam Habbas, Ibrahim Sattout, Fouad Debs, Michela Cocchi, Ravinder Singh, Mansoor Malik, Khalid Rehman, Frank Lucente, Yessine Ferah, Anne Bodley

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

Women's Interest Network, Dana Katz Ed., Lisa Savitt Ed., Hannah Alderks, Marie Elena Angulo, Melodie K. Arian, Michela Cocchi, Estefanía Díaz González, Haydee Dijkstal, Angela M. Gallerizzo, Dolly Hernandez, Kristina J. Holm, Elisa Kim, Christine Korper, Molly O'Casey, Sierra Paola, Sandhya Taneja, Leanna R. E. Torres

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

Aggressor Status And Its Impact On International Criminal Law Case Selection, Nancy Amoury Combs

Pace International Law Review

The laws of war apply equally to all parties to a conflict; thus, a party that violates international law by launching a war is granted the same international humanitarian law rights as a party that is required to defend against the illegal war. This doctrine—known as the equal application doctrine—has been sharply critiqued, particularly by philosophers, who claim the doctrine to be morally indefensible. Lawyers and legal academics, by contrast, defend the equal application doctrine because they reasonably fear that applying different rules to different warring parties will sharply reduce states’ willingness to comply with the international humanitarian law system …

Throwing Tomato Soup At A Van Gogh: How Climate Activists Leveraged Legal Theory, Criminal Law, And Moral Outrage To Conduct A Radical Protest Campaign In The World's Most Famous Museums, Joe Udell

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Budding Solutions: Weeding Out Obstacles To Bankruptcy Protections For Marijuana Ventures, Jessica Lowen

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

No abstract provided.

The Interconnectedness Of The Classroom To The Health Of Black Men Who Have Sex With Men, Travis Hardee

Immigration and Human Rights Law Review

The human right to education and health are inherently interrelated, both key in ensuring the health and development of an equitable and just society.1 Yet, the series of bills currently threatening the inclusion of essential conversations about race, sexuality, and sexual orientation is an overt attempt to obscure the honest history of the United States and further supplant the current social hierarchy. The United States’ failure to acknowledge the essential role representational education plays in undermining the disparate outcomes that afflict vulnerable communities in the country deserves more attention than it has garnered. Here, the disparate health status of Black …

False Promises Of Protection: Town Of Castle Rock V. Gonzales And The Supreme Court’S Failure To Protect Human Rights, Kylie Rhoton

Immigration and Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

287(G): Ice Deputizing Local Law Enforcement Harms Migrants And Local Communities, Charles Powers

Immigration and Human Rights Law Review

Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to form agreements with local law enforcement departments; deputizing them for ICE’s objectives while they continue to serve their local municipalities. This program has resulted in racial profiling, the stripping of liberties, and wrongful detentions. In recent years, municipalities have signed 287(g) agreements at a staggering rate. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued a report pleading for the US to end this practice, yet there seems to be no end in sight. In this essay, I hope to explain …

Should We Reform The Jury? An Australian Perspective, Keith Thompson

Washington International Law Journal

Jury trials are a necessary part of American and Australian jurisprudence. However, critics question whether both jurisdictions should consider eliminating or reforming jury trials. High-profile jury cases in Australia and the United States elicit criticism regarding the ongoing relevance of the institution. Jury trials function differently in both countries and hold different levels of public trust in the institution. Despite the criticisms of jury trials, neither country has engaged in serious conversations to abolition this ancient institution. This article discusses the trials of Lindy Chamberlain and Cardinal George Pell, placing the use of criminal jury trial in their ancient English …

The Implementation Of Law Enforcement In Combating Terrorist Financing In Indonesia, Nova Vincentia Pati, Emma Valentina Senewe, Merry Elisabeth Kalalo, Caecilia Johanna Waha, Theodorus Hw Lumunon

Indonesian Journal of International Law

Law enforcement in Indonesia terrorism has encountered enormous difficulties when it comes to combating terrorist financing. In contrast, the terrorists who have been imprisoned found that the punishment given by the judge in the court and the deradicalization programs offered by BNPT, the National Counter Terrorism Agency, does not deter them from recidivism. Our research question is whether or not the implementation of law enforcement in combating terrorist financing in Indonesia has deterred terrorists from re-offending. The methodology used in this research is a qualitative method that employs two case studies through in-depth interviews to determine whether or not the …

Artificial Intelligence, Cyberspace And International Law, Tripti Bhushan

Indonesian Journal of International Law

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a significant technology that has transformed different sectors, including cyberspace. As AI continues to advance, it poses complex challenges to the existing international legal frameworks that govern cyberspace. This research paper examines the relationship between AI, cyberspace, and international law. It explores the impact of AI on the development of cyberspace and its potential consequences for international law. It also examines the existing international legal frameworks that regulate cyberspace and the challenges posed by the development of AI. This paper investigates the legal implications of AI and cyberspace on international law, specifically in the context …

Conceptions Of Legitimacy Under International Human Rights Law And Islamic Rights Law, Raas Nabeel

Indonesian Journal of International Law

Islamic law, or the shariah, is a rich body of legal rules and obligations that aims to protect individuals from wrongs committed to each other and wrongs committed to God. However, Islamic law is often considered to be at odds with international human rights law, particularly in certain domains such as gender rights, the freedom of expression, the freedom of religion, and the right to dignity. Muslim-majority States have criticized the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Bill of Rights, as well as other international human rights conventions for the seeming incompatibility of their obligations with the rules, practices, …

Injustice Anywhere: A Comparative Law Analysis Of Saudi Arabia’S Criminal Justice System, Cooper C. Millhouse

UC Law SF International Law Review

A narrow understanding of other nations’ judicial systems begets unsupported assumptions about the way a justice system should operate. While many western commenters have publicized the failures of Middle Eastern societies to protect individual rights, much of the existing literature fails to analyze the legal structures which perpetuate injustice and the motivations that keep the institutions in place. This article illuminates the goals Saudi Arabia’s justice system, inspects how those goals parallel the goals of other common law and civil law systems, and evaluates whether Saudi Arabia’s system is able to effectively accomplish its aims.

This article argues that Saudi …

Ukraine, Urban Warfare, And Obstacles To Humanitarian Access: A Predicament Of Public International Law, Harriet Norcross Eppel

BYU Law Review

Humanitarian assistance is not carried out in a vacuum. As urban warfare historically complicates humanitarian aid’s access to civilians in war zones, Ukraine, having suffered and still facing highly publicized violence in civilian-dense areas, has encountered dire obstacles in acquiring necessary resources for civilians’ survival, including both direct and incidental attacks on humanitarian access. Thus, it is vital the international legal community take measures to mitigate current and future dangers of urban warfare, as well as design new solutions, such as strengthening current international law under which obstructing humanitarian access constitutes a violation of jus cogens principles, attempting to induce …

Zero-Option Defendants: United States V. Mclellan And The Judiciary's Role In Protecting The Right To Compulsory Process, Wisdom U. Onwuchekwa-Banogu

JCLC Online

How does one obtain evidence located outside the United States for a criminal trial? For prosecutors, the answer is an exclusive treaty process: Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs). Defendants, on the other hand, may only use an unpredictable, ineffective, non-treaty process: letters rogatory. The result is a selective advantage for law enforcement at the expense of the defendant. Though this imbalance necessarily raises Sixth Amendment Compulsory Process Clause concerns, MLATs have remained largely undisturbed because defendants still have some form of process, albeit a lesser one. But what happens when the letters rogatory process is also closed off to the …

Fleeing Terror In Southern Mexico: Why Numerous Guerrero Refugees Qualify For Asylum, International Human Rights Clinic Of Seattle University School Of Law, Kino Border Initiative

International Human Rights Clinic

This report sheds light on the crisis confronting residents of Guerrero, a state in Southern Mexico plagued by rampant, indiscriminate violence and human rights violations. It utilizes research and first-person interviews to methodically provide a rationale for granting these refugees asylum under U.S. law.

The Post-Ongwen Case Period And The Reconciliation Process In Northern Uganda: Local Communities As A Site Of Knowledge, Christelle Molima Bameka

Scholarly Articles

By providing victims with more space in the Ongwen case, the International Criminal Court (icc) has significantly contributed to the healing of the trauma and community reconciliation in northern Uganda. That said, this court has also raised issues that could affect local efforts to achieve peace, namely the positioning of victims of child soldiers vis-à-vis criminal child soldiers. Drawing on qualitative data collected through focus group discussions with some community members from locations under investigation by the icc, this sociolegal study examines the victims’ narratives about child soldiers and the different ideas of human rights that emerge. Then, it explores …

Restorative Justice For International Traditional Cultural Expression Ownership Disputes, Sandra H. Sulzer

Michigan Journal of International Law

Traditional cultural expressions (“TCE”), which include dances, songs, and pottery, and traditional knowledge (“TK”), which includes plant properties, agricultural practices, and artistic techniques, are inarguably valuable both to the groups that create them and to outsiders who wish to use or sell them. International law broadly, and intellectual property (“IP”) law more specifically, are not well-suited to protect the interests of creators of TCE and TK. A persistent pattern of exploitation of traditional expressions and knowledge has been well-documented. But responses have been dissatisfying, and sometimes begin from a place of disregarding the value of these contributions. At present, when …

Kim Scheppele’S Vision For Restoring Democracy - And Why We Must Accept The Challenge, Manuel José Cepeda Espinosa

American University International Law Review

Discussant commentary on the Twenty-Fifth Annual Grotius Lecture.

Navigating The Battlefield Of Hunger During Armed Conflicts: Obligations, Obstacles And Solutions, Ying Chen, Tarisa Yasin

American University International Law Review

Despite sufficient global food supplies, food insecurity remains a persistent problem in many countries. In recent years, conflict has emerged as one of the key drivers of acute food insecurity, affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The situation has worsened since 2022, as the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war are felt worldwide. This Article investigates food security challenges arising from armed conflicts and proposes potential solutions to tackle these challenges. It first examines the right to food as enshrined in both international and national laws. These legal frameworks set out the rules that govern the responsibilities of States and …

Measuring The Unmeasurable: Foreign Aid And The Rule Of Law, Natallia Karkanitsa

American University International Law Review

This article provides an analysis of the international indexes and rankings that assess and compare the rule of law globally. It first starts with a discussion on the necessity of the international measurements of the rule of law in context of the foreign aid allocation to developing countries. Then, this article defines the rule of law and explains its relationship with governance and human rights. This article further reviews three rule of law indexes from the World Bank, the World Justice Project, and Bertelsmann Stiftung and Sustainable Development Solutions Network, using the position of Belarus in these measurements as a …

Law Enforcement Use Of Facial Recognition - A Comparative Approach Between The United States And Europe To Tackle The Racial Bias Of Facial Recognition Against People Of Color, Louise Grégoire

American University International Law Review

This article is focused on the use of Facial recognition technology (FRT) by law enforcement in the United States and Europe and the issue of racial bias.

From Alienation To Rootedness: Discrimination Against Indigenous Peoples In The Philippines Through Education, Katrina Isabela F. Blanco

American University International Law Review

This article tackles the existing discrimination against indigenous peoples in the Philippines in law, policy, and practices. This article discusses indigenous peoples in context, the international and domestic legal framework on IP rights, and the legal (and moral) right to education and the right to indigenous education.

Same Crime, Different Time: Sentencing Disparities In The Deep South & A Path Forward Under The Fourteenth Amendment, Hailey M. Donovan

Seattle University Law Review

The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. The American obsession with crime and punishment can be tracked over the last half-century, as the nation’s incarceration rate has risen astronomically. Since 1970, the number of incarcerated people in the United States has increased more than sevenfold to over 2.3 million, outpacing both crime and population growth considerably. While the rise itself is undoubtedly bleak, a more troubling truth lies just below the surface. Not all states contribute equally to American mass incarceration. Rather, states have vastly different incarceration rates. Unlike at the federal level, …

Negotiating Environmental Justice In Ukraine, Paul R. Williams, Sindija Beta

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

This Article examines the dynamics of negotiating environmental justice in Ukraine amid pressure from certain international actors for an Amnesty-Based Peace in Ukraine. While it is currently unclear how Russia’s war in Ukraine will end, it is likely that there will be significant discussion around forms of justice, including how to address the grave environmental damage Russia has caused in Ukraine. This Article looks at previous precedents of Amnesty-Based Peace in Angola, Haiti, and Uganda and decisions and commentaries by international actors to argue that appeasement has not fostered durable peace and is generally disfavored by judicial and non-judicial bodies. …