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The International Security Presence In Kosovo And The Protection Of Human Rights, Federico Sperotto

Human Rights & Human Welfare

On March 11th, 2000, two children who were playing in the neighborhoods of Mitrovica, Kosovo, got hurt by an “unexploded ordnance”. One of them died in the explosion, the other was severely injured. An inquire clarified that the ordnance was a “bomblet”, a part of a cluster bomb dropped during the 1999 NATO air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

© Federico Sperotto. All rights reserved.

This paper may be freely circulated in electronic or hard copy provided it is not modified in any way, the rights of the author not infringed, and the paper is not quoted or …

The Bounds Of Necessity, Jens David Ohlin

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The current controversy surrounding the legality of torture can only be understood through an analysis of the distinction between justified necessity and excused necessity. Although there may be strong prudential reasons for international criminal courts to declare torture unlawful under any circumstance, this would not necessarily prevent a court from recognizing that an excuse may apply. However, the hallmark of the necessity excuse should not be understood, as it is in German law, as an exception that only applies when a defendant breaks the law to save someone close to him. Rather, the basic principle of the excuse ought to …

Retrying The Acquitted In England Part Ii: The Exception To The Rule Against Double Jeopardy For Tainted Acquittals, David S. Rudstein

San Diego International Law Journal

Parliament enacted a statute in 1996 intended to limit the double jeopardy bar in some situations in which the defendant obtained an acquittal through improper means, thereby permitting the government to retry the person for the same offense of which he previously was tried and acquitted. The statute, part of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996, allows a retrial when an individual's acquittal was tainted, which, under the statute, means an acquittal resulting from interference with, or intimidation of, a juror, witness, or potential witness. In allowing a retrial in such circumstances, the statute creates an exception to the …

Title Insurance In Mexico: A Necessary Protection, Duplicative Expense, Or Something In Between, Christina Clemm

San Diego International Law Journal

This Comment is written for those interested in buying property in Mexico and for the professionals who advise them. It begins by analyzing whether title insurance companies provide a necessary service for those purchasing property in Mexico. This section of the Comment addresses issues related to the protections afforded by Mexican law and whether title insurance is duplicative in light of those protections. It also discusses another option for a buyer, obtaining an opinion from a Mexican attorney. It goes on to analyze whether having a title insurance company maneuver the Mexican courts is a justification for its purchase. It …

The Future Of International Criminal Justice, Georgetown University Law Center

Philip A. Hart Memorial Lecture

On March 19, 2008, the Honorable Richard Goldstone, former justice on the Constitutional Court of South Africa, delivered the Georgetown Law Center’s twenty-eithth Annual Philip A. Hart Memorial Lecture: "The Future of International Criminal Justice."

Goldstone graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a BA LLB cum laude in 1962. After graduating, he practiced as an advocate at the Johannesburg Bar.

In 1976 he was appointed senior counsel and in 1980 was made a judge of the Transvaal Supreme Court. In 1989 he was appointed to the Appellate Division.

From 1991 to 1994 he served as the chairperson of …

One Size Fits All? Ghanaian Perceptions Of Law Enforcement And The Importation Of American Community Policing, Angela West Crews, Gordon A. Crews, Kofi Boye-Doe

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

The purpose of this presentation was to introduce a research project that the authors have ongoing with the Ghana National Police Service (Accra, Ghana, Africa). This focus of this project is to assist the Ghanaian police in the development and implementation of a “community policing” program. In 2008, a new Director of Community Policing had been hired, although she expressed that she and the officers had absolutely no training or education in theories and practices related to community policing. This presentation showcased the authors’ initial efforts to help solve that problem. Three major aspects are covered in this presentation, 1) …

Why Ratify? Lessons From Treaty Ratification Campaigns, Uta Oberdorster

Vanderbilt Law Review

n December 18, 1990, the United Nations ("UN") General Assembly approved the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families ("Migrant Convention"). Several years later, international non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") initiated a global campaign to encourage states to ratify the Migrant Convention. Thirteen member organizations continue this campaign today, including Human Rights Watch, International Labour Office, and Amnesty International. The Mexican government and the UN generously funded the campaign for many years, and campaign members worked hard to produce campaign materials, organize awareness raising events, and release press statements. Despite these efforts, the …

The International Review | 2008 Spring, Michael Rhee

The International Review Newsletter

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: Hindering the “War on Terror”?

Regulating sovereign wealth funds

Amending birthright citizenship: A better way to control illegal immigration?

Punishing human rights violations: First corporate jury verdict under the Alien Tort Claims Act

The United States in Iraq: A Five-Year Review of Unresolved Legal Issues (special section)

Unwarranted surveillance in America? The National Security Agency surveillance program

Targeted killings in the war on terror: Legitimate or illegal?

On the road to a new climate agreement?

The European Union: Adopting a failed constitution as a treaty

Jury duty back in Japan

Showdown on harsh CIA interrogation …

Addressing The Global Tragedy Of Needless Pain: Rethinking The United Nations Single Convention On Narcotic Drugs, Allyn L. Taylor

O'Neill Institute Papers

The lack of medical availability of effective pain medication is an enduring and expanding global health calamity. Despite important medical advances, pain remains severely under-treated worldwide, particularly in developing countries. This article contributes to the discussion of this global health crisis by considering international legal and institutional mechanisms to promote wider accessibility to critical narcotic drugs for pain relief.

Fifteen Minutes Of Shame: The Growing Notoriety Of Grand Corruption, Mary Evans Webster

UC Law SF International Law Review

Today the international community is focused, like never before, on efforts to reduce corruption as an essential component of poverty eradication. Grand corruption is the payment of bribes in connection with major interactions such as large infrastructure projects or arms sales and the abuse of political power to extract and accumulate for private gain. In the last five years, the United Nations, the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development have all launched aggressive new agendas to address the crime of grand corruption. But, these agendas are not without their shortcomings and ardent critics. This article explores …

Beyond The Article I Horizon: Congress’S Enumerated Powers And Universal Jurisdiction Over Drug Crimes, Eugene Kontorovich

Faculty Working Papers

This paper explores the Article I limits faced by Congress in exercising universal jurisdiction (UJ) – that is, regulating extraterritorial conduct by foreigners with no affect on or connection the U.S. While UJ is becoming increasingly popular in Europe for the punishment of human rights offenses, Congress's primary use of UJ today is under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act. This obscure law allows the U.S. to punish for violating U.S. drug laws foreign defendants on foreign vessels in international waters. The MDLEA's UJ provisions raise fundamental questions about the source and extent of Congress's constitutional power to regulate purely …

Rethinking "Effective Remedies": Remedial Deterrence In International Courts, Sonja Starr

Faculty Scholarship

One of the bedrock principles of contemporary international law is that victims of human rights violations have a right to an “effective remedy.” International courts usually hold that effective remedies must at least make the victim whole, and they sometimes adopt even stronger remedial rules for particular categories of human rights violations. Moreover, courts have refused to permit departure from these rules on the basis of competing social interests. Human rights scholars have not questioned this approach, frequently pushing for even stronger judicial remedies for rights violations. Yet in many cases, strong and inflexible remedial rules can perversely undermine human …

Karen E. Woody, Putting Pandora On Trial, 98 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 699 (2008) (Reviewing Mark A. Drumbl, Atrocity, Punishment, And International Law (2007)), Karen E. Woody

Scholarly Articles

In the wake of increasing globalization over the past fifty years, international criminal law has transformed from a toothless shadow into a concrete reality; the International Criminal Court is the most recent and impressive institutional accomplishment. Unfortunately, international criminal law has enjoyed this progress on the heels of increasingly horrific international crimes. International adjudicatory institutions have taken many forms and the sentences they deliver have varied widely. In Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law, Mark Drumbl reviews the strides made in international criminal law from the Nuremberg trials through present-day trials, particularly those related to the crimes committed in Rwanda and …

Meddling With The Vienna Convention On Consular Relations: The Dilemma And Proposed Statutory Solutions, Yury A. Kolesnikov

McGeorge Law Review

No abstract provided.

Courting Genocide: The Unintended Effects Of Humanitarian Intervention, Jide Nzelibe

Faculty Working Papers

Invoking memories and imagery from the Holocaust and other German atrocities during World War II, many contemporary commentators and politicians believe that the international community has an affirmative obligation to deter and incapacitate perpetrators of humanitarian atrocities. Today, the received wisdom is that a legalistic approach, which combines humanitarian interventions with international criminal prosecutions targeting perpetrators, will help realize the post-World War II vision of making atrocities a crime of the past. This Article argues, in contrast, that humanitarian interventions are often likely to create unintended, and sometimes perverse, incentives among both the victims and perpetrators of atrocities. The problem …

New Trends In Procedural Law: New Technologies And The Civil Litigation Process, Janet Walker, Garry D. Watson

UC Law SF International Law Review

This report for the International Association of Procedural Law examines the impact of new technologies on the litigation process in six countries: The United States, Australia, Israel, Singapore, England and Wales, and Canada. Drawing on national reports from each of these countries, it considers: how new technologies are re-shaping the ways that we record and store information in the litigation process; the ways that the participants in the process communicate with one another; and the ways in which the case record or file is developed. It also considers whether new technologies are making the litigation process more efficient, more accessible …

Implementing The Prohibition Of Torture On Three Levels: The United Nations, The Council Of Europe, And Germany, Joachim Herrmann

UC Law SF International Law Review

In the fight against terrorism the United States government has tried to draw a line between proper and improper methods of interrogation and treatment of detainees. The question whether and to what extent torture and other kinds of ill-treatment might be justified is widely discussed in the United States today. To date, no satisfying answer has been found. There is doubt that a generally accepted answer could ever be found. In view of this dilemma it might be helpful to look beyond the borders of the United States to see what answers have been given elsewhere. This paper will explain …

Re-Examining International Responsibility: "Complicity" In The Context Of Human Rights Violations, John Cerone

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Recent events have focused the attention of international jurists on international responsibility for complicit conduct.

Victim Participation In Proceedings Before The International Criminal Court, Fiona Mckay

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Lessons From Katrina: What Went Wrong, What Was Learned, Who's Most Vulnerable, Irwin Redlener, David M. Abramson, Richard Garfield

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article examines the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina, emphasizing that while natural disasters are inevitable, their impact can be significantly mitigated through improved planning, addressing social vulnerabilities, and learning from past failures. It argues that Katrina's devastating effects were exacerbated by existing social issues and inadequate preparedness, highlighting the need for comprehensive strategies to reduce future risks.

‘Emaciated’ Defense Or A Trend To Independence And Equality Of Arms In Internationalized Criminal Tribunals?, Richard J. Wilson

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

The Merida Initiative For Mexico And Central America: The New Paradigm For Security Cooperation, Attacking Organized Crime, Corruption And Violence, Steven E. Hendrix

Loyola University Chicago International Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Chinese Criminal Defense Lawyers Become The Criminals, Yanfei Ran

Fordham International Law Journal

This Article tries to find some practical resolutions for the problematic situation of Chinese defense lawyers. Part I introduces how Chinese laws and regulations provide legal protection for criminal defendants and their defense lawyers, and compares Chinese laws with well-established international standards. Part II focuses on examples of the problems and difficulties faced by Chinese lawyers in their defense work. Part III specifically discusses criminal charges that lawyers face in their practice. Part IV argues that the long-awaited new Chinese Lawyers Law cannot solve all of the problems or wipe away all obstacles they face. Rather, solving those problems requires …

Why We Should Abandon The Balance Metaphor: A New Approach To Counterterrorism Policy, Stuart Macdonald

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

One of the central objectives in counterterrorism policy is commonly said to be to balance the competing demands of security and liberty.

Updates From The International Criminal Courts, Anna Katherine Drake, Andrea Mateus, Emily Pasternak, Rachel Katzman, Katherine Anne Cleary, Solomon Shinerock, Howard Shneider

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Funding Justice: The Price Of War Crimes Trials, Rupert Skilbeck

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

International Legal Updates, Matthew Solis, Jennifer Jaimes, Rukayya Furo, Ari Levin, Morgan E. Rog, Mahreen Gillani, Alex Cheng

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Gendercide And The Cultural Context Of Sex Trafficking In China, Susan Tiefenbrun, Christie J, Edwards

Fordham International Law Journal

This paper discusses the interconnection of historic, legal, and cultural contexts that result in the perpetuation of discrimination against women in Chinese society. The contextual analysis attempts to explain the causes for an increase in trafficking of women and the deplorable human rights violations perpetrated upon women in China today. The remedies to eliminate trafficking proposed in this paper are not easily implemented. The OCP must be revised to provide more incentives to rational family planning rather than harsh punishments and coercion. China needs to reverse a long-standing cultural tradition of male son preference and discrimination against women. We know …

The European Counterterrorist As The Next U.S. Cold Warrior: Why The United States Should Select From The German And British Models Of Procedure, Evidence, And Oversight For National Security Wiretapping, Daniel Saperstein

Fordham International Law Journal

The War on Terror is not limited to the United States, but rather, requires the cooperation and dedication of European allies which also have suffered from deadly terrorist attacks. A casualty of President Bush's foreign policy at times during his term was the alienation of the United States' traditional European allies which have acquired invaluable experience in counterterrorist operations and strategy stemming from their historical circumstances. This Note will discuss the historical differences between the U.S. and European attention and approaches to counterterrorism to provide a context in which to contrast the spectrum of national security wiretapping procedures, standards of …

Poverty’S Captives, Tim Brauhn

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Today’s manifestations of bondage are a marked departure from those of pre-modern slavery. Now the value of the human “goods” is so low that slavers do not have to worry about damaging them. Two hundred years ago, slaves had to at least be treated with a modicum of safety, if for no other reason than to ensure continued profitability. But in the 20th and 21st centuries, slavers have become less like “hunters” and more like “gatherers,” since their work no longer involves raids and chains, at least in the physical sense. No, today’s raids are the false promises of work …