Digital Commons Network^™

Between Penal Code And Mob Justice: Pakistan's Violations Of The Iccpr Through Blasphemy-Driven Violence, Natasha Ali

Loyola University Chicago International Law Review

Blasphemy in Pakistan is not merely a legal offense—it is an allegation that can ignite a mob. For decades, the country’s blasphemy laws have been the subject of international scrutiny, particularly as they intersect with civil society and fuel the rise of extrajudicial violence perpetrated under a collective mob-justice mentality. The killing of Tahir Ahmed Naseem, a fifty-seven-year-old American citizen, shot in a courtroom while awaiting trial on blasphemy charges, is not an anomaly but a chilling illustration of a system where an accusation alone can become a death sentence.

The continued existence of these blasphemy laws has entrenched a …

The Emerging Framework For The Recognition & Enforcement Of Annulled Arbitral Awards In U.S. Jurisprudence, Sarah Klim

Articles

The recognition and enforcement of foreign awards are governed almost universally by the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the "New York Convention"). However, this recognition and enforcement necessarily invokes national judicial power. The New York Convention does not devise a harmonized set of rules for courts to follow when faced with a request to recognize and enforce an annulled award. This has resulted in divergent approaches by national courts, which derive "not from any perversity of judges but from good faith variants in perspectives on how to construe the treaty."  This paper seeks …

A Faster Way To Yes: Re-Balancing American Asylum Procedures, Michael Kagan

Scholarly Works

The United States asylum system, like many other asylum systems, is under immense pressure to process asylum applications faster. The primary response to this pressure is negative, namely to deny asylum claims quickly by categorizing them as manifestly unfounded. In the United States, this is done through the “credible fear” process. This negative orientation leads to a structural imbalance in which denials can be fast and easy for the system, but approvals take time and extensive effort. Using domestic and international comparative examples, this Article proposes re-balancing the asylum system by establishing a process for expedited approvals of clearly eligible …

Volume 48 Masthead, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead

Voting Matters: Materiality Considerations And The Shareholder Vote, Renee M. Jones

Seattle University Law Review

For the shareholder franchise to have meaning, shareholders must have access to relevant information to inform their voting decisions. The securities laws’ disclosure requirements play an essential role in informing the shareholder vote.

This Essay focuses on the question of the materiality of information in the context of shareholder voting. It addresses the question of whether ESG-related information is material, positioning the materiality inquiry within the context of shareholders’ voting decisions. It explores the definition of materiality with a focus on the “reasonable investor” concept embedded within the definition. The Essay argues that the implicit expectations of many commentators that …

Volume 48 Masthead, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead

Understanding The Big Three’S Wavering Support Of Environmental And Social Shareholder Proposals, Jeff Schwartz, Jefferson Jensen

Seattle University Law Review

Because of their substantial equity portfolios, BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street (the Big 3) are central players in corporate governance. It is, therefore, critical to understand how they vote. One puzzle is that their support for shareholder proposals on environmental and social matters appears to waiver. In 2020, for instance, BlackRock supported 11.1% of environmental proposals at S&P 500 firms. In 2021, it seemingly reversed course, supporting 55.2%. It then flipped again, supporting 32.1% in 2022. Such statistics suggest that the Big 3 are constantly changing their views on these topics. This Article seeks to better understand whether this is …

Volume 48 Masthead, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead

The Haitian Revolution, Anti-Haitianism, And The Evolution Of Exclusionary Immigration Policy In The United States, Joseph M. Frengel

Student Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Charting The Course : The Role Of Imo Within The Unclos Legal Framework In Tackling Challenges Of Contemporary Shipping, M. C. Romero, R. Beckman, T. Nguyen, J. Ong, G. Theocharidis

Reports

This report documents the proceedings of the two-day workshop, "Charting the Course: The role of IMO within the UNCLOS legal framework in tackling challenges of contemporary shipping," jointly organized by the World Maritime University (WMU) and the Centre for International Law (CIL) of the National University of Singapore (NUS). The event took place in Malmö, Sweden, from June 9 to 10, 2025.

The central theme was the complementary relationship between the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and IMO regulations, with an emphasis on the flag State’s duties under UNCLOS Article 94. The workshop’s core …

Reimagining The Asylum Law In India: A Study On The Duty Of Of Non-Refoulement, Siddeeqa Iram

National Law School of India Review

The right of refugees to seek asylum is undisputedly provided by international instruments but traditionally, the right to grant asylum has been the prerogative of the state concerned. States have a duty of non-refoulement under Article 33 of the Refugee Convention, prohibiting the expulsion or return of refugees. Given the correlation between International Human Rights Law and International Refugee Law, non-refoulement comprises non-rejection at the frontiers as well. Despite the principle being a part of customary international law, due to the ambiguity prevailing in its application, it is constantly flouted by the member-states. Further, as the principle of non-refoulement includes …

Resistance: The Mura Struggle Against Canadian Potash Mining In Brazil’S Amazon, Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr), Federal University Of Rio Grande Do Sul, Graduate Program In Law (Ppgd/Ufrgs), International Human Rights Program (Ihrp), University Of Toronto Jackman Law, Observatory Of Socio-Environmental Law And Human Rights In The Amazon (Odsdh/Ufam)

CLIHHR Reports & Policy Submissions

A comprehensive human rights and environmental report documenting the Mura Indigenous people’s resistance to Brazil Potash’s Autazes Potash Project in the Brazilian Amazon. The report details environmental risks, human rights violations, failures in consultation processes, litigation history, corporate accountability, and the ongoing struggle for land demarcation.

International Law And The Rise Of Populism, Shruti Rana, Peter G. Danchin, Jeremy Farrall, Jolyon Ford, Imogen Saunders

Faculty Publications

Contemporary legal scholarship seeks to diagnose populist antagonism towards national and international law and warn about the challenges it poses to the cooperation needed to respond to global threats. What this scholarship overlooks, however, is the role that major shifts in international legal normativity and conceptions of global governance have themselves played in incubating the conditions far the rise of populism. Against the prevailing literature, this Article argues that the key to unlocking this puzzle is recognition that populism, rather than constituting an external social pathology, is a mode of politics arising internal to the intellectual history and practice of …

Implementation Of International Nuclear Counterterrorism Legal Instruments: The Case For Nuclear Forensics, Jerry S. Davydov

International Journal of Nuclear Security

In the past three decades, the international community and national governments have made great strides in addressing the threat posed by non-state actors or terrorist groups acquiring and maliciously using nuclear or other radioactive material. Although many argue that accomplishments have adequately addressed nuclear security threats, major gaps still remain within the global nuclear security system. Predetonation nuclear forensic science, commonly referred to as nuclear forensics, like all forms of forensic science, supports the implementation of national laws and statutes and international legal instruments through investigative science. Nuclear forensics provides law enforcement and nuclear security investigators with a technical …

An Ecofeminist Approach To Climate Risks, Angela Hefti

Michigan Journal of International Law

Climate change poses significant risks to the human right to life. However, international adjudicators have either neglected to examine right to life claims in the context of climate risks or dismissed them as prospective and speculative. International human rights bodies have long applied the standard of imminence to determine whether a threat to the right to life exists and the extent to which it constitutes a violation. In climate change cases, this standard has hardened, requiring a tight temporal connection between climate risks and a violation of the right to life. This article argues that failing to recognize the impact …

Transparency, Accountability, And Influence In The International Investment Law System, Jarrod Wong, Jason Yackee

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article offers the first interdisciplinary critique of transparency in international investment law (“IIL”) that draws on transparency-skeptical and accountability scholarship in political science and public administration. Not only has the expansive IIL literature overlooked these disciplines, but much of it fails to define the core concept of transparency. Building on contributions from the fields of administrative law, international relations, and system theory in classic political science, we provide a novel functionalist account of transparency that traces a line from transparency to accountability to influence in the IIL system.

We make three arguments. First, transparency involves access to data that …

Automating International Human Rights Adjudication, Veronika Fikfak, Laurence R. Helfer

Michigan Journal of International Law

International human rights courts and treaty bodies are increasingly turning to automated decision-making (“ADM”) technologies to expedite and enhance their review of individual complaints. These tribunals have yet to consider many of the legal, normative, and practical issues raised by the use of different types of automation technologies for these purposes. This article offers a comprehensive and balanced assessment of the benefits and challenges of introducing ADM into international human rights adjudication. We argue in favor of using ADM to digitize documents and for internal case management purposes and to make straightforward recommendations regarding registration, inadmissibility, and the calculation of …

Green Dividends: A Case Study In Green Dividends And The Conditions For Private Ordering Solutions, Anne M. Tucker

Seattle University Law Review

This Essay introduces a novel private ordering solution to facilitate corporate investments in pro-social and environmental initiatives: Green dividends. Green dividends are an optional increase in shareholder dividends that are returned to the company to be reinvested in environmental initiatives or kept by a shareholder.

Green dividends pose an alternative to the current gridlocked debate that corporations can’t, won’t, shouldn’t, and shouldn’t even try to act in pro-social or environmental ways. Turning the common refrains on their head converts each narrative into an element for a successful private ordering solution: authority, accountability, shareholder buy-in, and government- backed enforcement. With Green …

Does Climate Disclosure Work To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions? Emerging Evidence Suggests Cautious Optimism, Cynthia A. Williams

Seattle University Law Review

Significant regulatory resources have been spent developing global, voluntary climate and sustainability disclosure standards, such as the TCFD, TNRD, and ISSB’s Sustainability and Climate Disclosure standards, or domestically required disclosures, such as in the EU and in the U.S. Thus, it is important to evaluate whether this disclosure, particularly voluntary, qualitative disclosure, will have the power to shift the allocation of capital, will have a significant effect on the management of climate risk within firms, and ultimately will reduce climate change risk and biodiversity loss.

In this Article, several interrelated questions will be discussed. First, what does the empirical evidence …

A Comparative Law Analysis Of The Military Justice Systems Of Poland And The United States Of America, Frank Rosenblatt, Szymon Kulmaszewski

Journal Articles

Most authors agree that "military justice" does not have a clearly defined normative definition. Nevertheless, the term is anchored in the area of institutionalized activities of a military organization (armed forces) and for this reason it functions in the language of both legal science and military science. The text presents a synthetic outline of the history of military justice in Poland and in the U.S. Underlying the assumptions of the military justice system, such as the need to exercise jurisdiction over military persons, and the need to handle military cases within the framework of separated, common features can be discerned. …

Beyond Policy: Overcoming Challenges In Prosecuting Gender Persecution At The International Criminal Court, Milena Sterio, Yvonne Dutton

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

While the ICC’s jurisdictional and resource constraints undoubtedly pose significant obstacles to its ability to tackle all cases of gender persecution worldwide, the Court’s efforts serve as a catalyst for progress in the field of international criminal law. By shining a spotlight on the crime of gender persecution and prioritizing its investigation and prosecution, the ICC sets a precedent for national jurisdictions to follow suit. Furthermore, the ICC’s engagement with gender-based crimes underscores the unique intersectionality of gender discrimination and conflict, highlighting the broader societal ramifications of such crimes, and the imperative to address them comprehensively.

In moving forward, the …

Crisis And Change At The United Nations: Non-Amendment Reform And Institutional Evolution, Oona A. Hathaway, Maggie M. Mills, Heather Zimmerman

Michigan Journal of International Law

The Security Council’s inaction in response to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine has once again put a spotlight on structural problems at the United Nations (“U.N.”). Security Council paralysis—particularly the (mis)use of the veto power afforded to the permanent five (“P5”) members of the Council—has long prompted calls for reform. Yet the same veto power prevents nearly all efforts to reform the organization through the formal amendment process provided in the U.N. Charter.

This article argues that there is an alternative way forward: what we call “non-amendment reform.” Rather than seek formal amendments that are unlikely to survive the …

Litigating The Gaza Crisis: Legal And Political Strategies In South Africa V. Israel, Michael Ramsden

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

The article examines the strategic use of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case of South Africa v. Israel, highlighting how states leverage the ICJ to influence international relations beyond legal compliance. It evaluates the efficacy of the ICJ's provisional measures in addressing the conflict in Gaza, emphasizing the intersection of legal strategy with political and humanitarian objectives.

Anti-Discrimination At The Icj: Ukraine, Palestine And The Freedom To Advocate For Human Rights In Canada, Faisal Bhabha

Articles & Book Chapters

In 2024, the ICJ released two judgments that dealt, at least in part, with the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (“ICERD”). This is an opportune moment to (1) examine doctrinal developments in international law pertaining to racial discrimination arising from these two judgments; and (2) consider the possible practical implications of these developments. The question that is considered in this paper is whether the ICJ rulings can offer a legal counter-weight to the domestic political pressures that prevent Canada from being clear, credible and consistent in opposing all international human rights abuses.

Rectifying The Rome Statute And Draft Articles On Prevention And Punishment Of Crimes Against Humanity To Include The Slave Trade, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum

Articles

The slave trade is commonly misperceived as a historical crime. Yet, the scourge of the slave trade is present throughout the world today. Combatting these ongoing atrocity crimes is essential to ensure that human rights are upheld by the international community. The crime of the slave trade fills an impunity gap, especially in light of recentharms perpetuated by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) against the Yazidi in Iraq. Revitalization of the conceptualization of the slave trade as a crime under international law might ensure greater enforcement of one of the oldest core international crimes. Critical proposed amendments …

Crafting An Exception To The Principle Of Non-Intervention To End Military Coups, Ronnie R. Gipson Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

Oftentimes, when a foreign state refuses to get involved when another country is subjected to a military coup, the foreign state uses the principle of non-intervention as the reason for inaction. The principle of non-intervention in those instances takes on the role of becoming a shield against preserving or protecting human rights. Specifically, in Myanmar, the principle of non-intervention is being used as a weapon by the military junta, allowing it to strengthen its grip on the levers of power and crush any fledgling opposition to its rule with unimaginable cruelty and violence. This article advances the premise that a …

A Multiple Perspective Analysis On Urban Poverty In Developing Nations: A Case Study On Nigeria, Colonial Implications, And Modern-Day Outcomes, Julian Rivera-Williams

CMC Senior Theses

This paper will dissect urbanization and poverty in Nigeria as a case study of the challenges of underdevelopment and the lingering effects of colonialism in Africa. To draw a complete understanding of challenges faced by developing nations facing systemic underdevelopment, high poverty, and low productivity– nations like Nigeria, my research will uncover colonial impacts and post-colonial policies that initiated urban poverty and underdevelopment outcomes we see today. The purpose of my thesis is to encompass existing fragmented academia on the causes and consequences of underdevelopment and connect historical implications to current impacts of global development today including the influence of …

Invisible No More: Looking And Listening Locally To Build Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Resilience, Anjali Thakore

CMC Senior Theses

The ubiquity of sexual violence, with its devastating physical and psychological consequences, has rendered conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) one of the most effective and enduring “invisible crimes” of war. Despite receiving growing attention across academic, political, and activist circles, wartime sexual violence remains pervasive in contemporary conflict zones. Against the backdrop of these frequent and recurring violations, this thesis explores the dissonance between high-level rhetorical commitments to preventing and punishing CRSV and on-the-ground realities. What soon emerges is a troubling pattern in which gendered violence—and women’s lived experiences more generally—while increasingly visible in theory, remains marginalised in practice. By investigating …

Land Back To Right Of Return: Proposing Paths Forward In Palestine, Melanie Kallah

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis presents a parallel case study of the settler colonial histories of Canada and Palestine. The Land Back Movement was first analyzed to determine what conditions enabled the success of Indigenous land restitution in Canada. Subsequently, a cross-analysis with Palestine was conducted to ascertain whether the same enabling conditions could facilitate Palestinian land restitution, known as the Right of Return.

The Time Has Come To Stop The Bloodshed In Myanmar And Restore The People's Democratically Elected Government, Ronnie R. Gipson Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

Although the Myanmar coup occurred in February 2021, the world paid little attention mostly because the citizens were not white, not European, and the country did not hold huge oil reserves. Subsequent to the coup, Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and Israel responded to the Hamas attack on its territory by invading Gaza in 2023. Both of these events assured that the international community paid little to no attention to the plight of the people of Myanmar under the thumb of a repressive military dictatorship after having their freely elected democracy ripped away. If Ukraine is worthy of global attention, …