Digital Commons Network^™

Large Language Models And International Law, Ashley Deeks, Duncan Hollis

Chicago Journal of International Law

Large Language Models (LLMs) have the potential to transform public international lawyering in at least five ways: (i) helping to identify the contents of international law; (ii) interpreting existing international law; (iii) formulating and drafting proposals for new legal instruments or negotiating positions; (iv) assessing the international legality of specific acts; and (v) collating and distilling large datasets for international courts, tribunals, and treaty bodies.

This Article uses two case studies to show how LLMs may work in international legal practice. First, it uses LLMs to identify whether particular behavioral expectations rise to the level of customary international law. In …

Interpretation As Creation: Article Vi Of The Outer Space Treaty, Charles Stotler

Chicago Journal of International Law

From the launch of Sputnik I in 1957 to proposals for In-Space Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing (ISAM) and new lunar activities such as resource utilization, advancing technology has always been a driving factor in the creation of space law. From a legal-historical perspective, the notion of law as creation should be contextualized in a broader legal-philosophical transition that began with the rise of positivism. Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty orbits unsteadily between international obligations and national implementation measures, rendering significant States’ understandings of those provisions. Our understanding of Article VI turns on perhaps the most creative legal endeavor: …

Distinction, Proportionality, And Precautions In Attacks At Sea In The New Era Of The Law Of Naval Warfare, James Kraska

Chicago Journal of International Law

China has upset the security balance in East Asia through the development of a long- range strike complex composed of anti-ship ballistic missiles, drones and cruise missiles, and hypersonic missiles that put U.S. naval fleets at risk. Beijing’s innovative approach to sea control through the projection of power from land-based fires highlights three important differences between the law applicable to naval warfare and the law of armed conflict (LOAC) as it is implemented on land.1 These legal distinctions are subtle in law, but they shape concrete choices available to naval commanders and could determine the outcome of war at sea. …

Removing “Black Marks”: How States Can Preserve Wrongful Birth Suits Without Reliance On “Eugenic” Rhetoric, Paul J. Wuennenberg

Missouri Law Review

“[L]ebensunwertes Leben—Life Unworthy of Life.” Those words, used by the National Socialist (Nazi) Party in Germany to describe people with genetic disorders, ring throughout world history as a moral indictment of the Nazi German state and all those who collaborated with it. Unfortunately, Germany was not alone in its designation of some people as unworthy of life; the United States has also, throughout its history, given the same designation to portions of its population. From Japanese-Americans during the Second World War to people with disabilities in the era of eugenics, the American government has frequently singled out those whom it …

The Illusion Of Redemption: Examining Gubernatorial Pardons, Collateral Consequences, And The Ineligibility For Public Office In Missouri, Anna Claire Parker

Missouri Law Review

Imagine you have just pled guilty to a felony offense in Missouri. While the court may inform you of certain rights that will be lost, additional rights remain unmentioned. Suddenly, you find yourself stripped of fundamental liberties such as voting, serving on a jury, holding public office, and owning firearms. Additionally, the right to a trial by jury, the assistance of a lawyer at trial, and protection against self-incrimination have been forfeited. In this bleak scenario, a glimmer of hope emerges: the possibility of a gubernatorial pardon. This pardon represents a chance at redemption, potentially restoring all the rights you …

Toward A Politically Neutral Approach To K-12 Pedagogy, Cameron S. Kang, John M. Kang

Missouri Law Review

Professors Linda McClain and James Fleming have written an intellectually stimulating book manuscript, “What Shall Be Orthodox” in Polarized Times? It is a privilege to have been afforded access to an early iteration of the book and an opportunity to share our thoughts about it. We (with “we” and its related “our” and “us” denoting Cameron and John) were inspired by Professors McClain and Fleming to reflect about the relationship between pedagogy and the Constitution.

From Australian Influence To Rohingya Refugees: A Systematic Literature Review Of Asylum Seekers And Refugees In Indonesia, Bilal Dewansyah

The Indonesian Journal of Socio-Legal Studies

The fact that Indonesia hosts asylum seekers and refugees attracted not only policy debate and media attention but also academic research. However, no systematic review has been conducted to assess the scholarly literature on this topic. This article is intended to fill this gap by presenting a systematic literature review (SLR) on asylum seekers and refugees in Indonesia. As a result, I found five major themes in the reviewed literature: (1) the focus on the Indonesia – Australia relationship; (2) people smuggling; (3) refugees’ journey and living conditions in Indonesia; (4) Rohingya refugees; (5) legal protection and refugee status. However, …

Rationale And Justification Of The Overarching Principles In The Governance Maturity Framework, Janna Wong, Eugene K. B. Tan, Steve Loh

Lien Centre for Social Innovation: Research

This research addresses the lack of a unified framework for measuring the governance maturity of impact organisations across countries with diverse legal landscapes and cultures, which complicates international assessment and collaboration. In response, we propose a governance framework tailored to the legal context of six countries: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Our analysis identifies six overarching principles embedded in the non-profit laws of the six countries: (1) purpose and impact, (2) leadership, (3) integrity, (4) communication, (5) efficacy, and (6) financial transparency and accountability. These six overarching principles form the proposed framework, which was operationalised and further …

(Law) School To Prison Pipeline, Cheyenne Petrich

Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality

No abstract provided.

Multiplicity As An Ai Governance Principle, Michal Shur-Ofry

Indiana Law Journal

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in our daily lives, this Article explores one of its critical, yet overlooked, societal implications: the propensity of large language models (LLMs) to generate mainstream, standardized content, potentially narrowing their users’ worldviews.

Taking a close look at the technological underpinnings of LLMs, the analysis suggests that—due to the combination of human judgments, training datasets, and inherent features of the underlying technological paradigm—LLMs’ outputs are likely to be geared toward the popular and to project to their users concentrated, mainstream worldviews, sidelining a broader spectrum of perspectives. This Article explores the asymmetrical power relations between LLMs …

All-American Crime: Reflections On Welcome The Wretched By César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, Kit Johnson

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

In his 2024 book, Welcome the Wretched, Professor César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández questions why it is that non-citizens who have committed crimes are slated for removal from this country. After all, he notes, “Migrants don’t bring crime here. It’s already here. It always has been and always will be.”

We may not readily admit it, but crime in the United States is truly All-American. Section I of this Essay tries to shed light on the widespread nature of criminality in the United States by recounting my own crimes and those of family and friends, with the goal of pushing the …

The Wretched All Around, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Putting A Band-Aid On A Bullet Hole: The Deaf Individual's Subdued Constitutional Right Against Self-Incrimination, Alexandra Kotowski

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

Unlocking Platform Data For Research, Niva Elkin-Koren, Maayan Perel, Ohad Somech

Indiana Law Journal

Digital platforms, which control unique access points to the rich data stored on their servers, have become a “living lab” of real-time information. Scientists and researchers increasingly use platform data for various purposes, such as training machine learning (ML) systems and Natural Language Processing (NLP) models, and for studying diverse fields such as medicine, humanities, and social sciences, including the influence of digital platforms on society. However, researchers increasingly encounter significant barriers when attempting to access platform data. Although platforms typically lack proprietary rights over the data itself, they exert strong control over its use by imposing digital locks and …

Moving Slow And Fixing Things, Scott Shackelford, Janine Hiller, Christos Makridis, Iain Nash, Kathryn Kisska-Schulze, Hannibal Travis

Indiana Law Journal

Silicon Valley, and the U.S. tech sector more broadly, have changed the world in part by embracing a “move fast and break things” mentality popularized by Mark Zuckerberg. While it is true that the tech sector has attempted to break with such a reactive and flippant response to security concerns, including at Microsoft itself through its Security Development Lifecycle, cyberattacks continue at an alarming rate. As a result, there are growing calls from regulators around the world to change the risk equation. An example is the 2023 U.S. National Cybersecurity Strategy, which argues that “[w]e must hold the stewards of …

Governing Global Gig Platforms In The Age Of Ai: When The Manager Is An Algorithm, David S. Lee, Felicia F. Chen Prosecution Development Fellow

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Gig workers are vulnerable to discrimination from the sharing economy platforms on which they work. This challenge is worsened by these platforms’ dependence on algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) systems, which are used to control and direct gig workers. These platforms also often operate globally, and discrimination embedded within their algorithms can be magnified when exported into new cultural contexts.

These platforms exercise significant influence over gig workers, but their for-profit nature means that their boards and directors often prioritize shareholder value over gig worker protection. This tension has led to intense debates, as platforms attempt to minimize the rights …

Legitimacy Throughlines In The Structural Design Of International & "Internationalized" Criminal Tribunals, Michael J. Kelly

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

Today, the rather surprising and sudden surfeit of prosecutions for international crimes by states utilizing universal jurisdiction as we open the second decade of the 21^st Century may represent a preference for domestic over international criminal prosecution altogether. Yet, the legitimacy quotient remains a key part of the discussion. For example, as discussed in section V below, with respect to the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine, opinion is divided as to whether prosecution for this crime should proceed from a newly created international tribunal or from an “internationalized” court within the Ukrainian judicial system.[1] Ukraine backs the …

Bankruptcy Law, E. Tate Crymes, Siena Berrios Gaddy, Victoria Barbino Grantham

Mercer Law Review

This Article focuses on bankruptcy opinions issued by the Supreme Court of the United States and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Topics addressed include: (1) whether an insurer with financial responsibility for a bankruptcy claim is a “party in interest” under 11 U.S.C. § 1109; (2) appropriate remedies for a constitutional violation described in Siegel v. Fitzgerald; (3) whether the bankruptcy code authorizes a court to extinguish claims and potential claims without the consent of those affected or without martialing total assets for creditors; (4) finality of a contempt order; (5) revival under Rule 69(a) …

You Are Your Child’S Keeper: People V. Crumbley Opens The Door To Parental Criminal Liability, Abigail C. Letts

Mercer Law Review

In the spring of 2024, James and Jennifer Crumbley, parents to Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter after their son shot and killed four Oxford High School classmates. This decision marks the first time in the history of the United States that the parents of a school shooter have been charged criminally for contributing to the death of the shooting victims, and comes in the midst of an era where our nation is wracked by gun violence.

In the quarter century since the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, a generation of children have lived under the …

Sustainability-Competent Lawyering In The International Context, Amy L. Edwards, John C. Dernbach

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Desegregating Criminal Codes, Root And Branch: The Duty Not To Enforce Unconstitutional Laws, Gabriel J. Chin

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Competition In The Global Law Market: Offshore Development Of The Statutory "Rule In Hastings-Bass", Andrew P. Morriss

Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the competitive dynamics in the global law market through the lens of the statutory evolution of the Rule in Hastings-Bass across various International Financial Centers (IFCs). Following the UK Supreme Court's 2013 decision in Pitt v Holt and Futter v Futter, which significantly restricted the judiciary's ability to void trustee decisions under the Rule, seven IFCs (Jersey, Bermuda, The Bahamas, the Dubai International Financial Center, the Cayman Islands, and the British Virgin Islands) enacted statutes to preserve and clarify the Rule within their jurisdictions. These legislative actions highlight the strategic adaptations by IFCs to enhance their legal …

Thailand V. Katanyu Muenkhamruang “Pan”, Andrew Khoo, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

The criminal proceedings against Ms. Katanyu Muenkhamruang (“Pan”), a 27-year-old Thai student and pro-democracy activist, violated international fair trial standards and Thailand’s human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Pan was convicted under Thailand’s sedition law and the Computer-Related Crimes Act for Facebook posts promoting peaceful anti-government protests in 2021. The trial revealed numerous due process violations, including violation of the presumption of innocence, reliance on unsubstantiated claims, and a lack of reasoned judgment. Despite the absence of direct evidence linking Pan to the alleged posts, the court inferred guilt, and arbitrarily disregarded exculpatory …

Digital Investigations Of Systematic And Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: Practice And Possibilities, Alexa Koenig

Chicago Journal of International Law

This article discusses a new guide that has been developed to support the responsible use of digital open-source information to investigate systematic and conflict-related sexual violence (SCRSV). Drafted by the Institute for International Criminal Investigations and the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley School of Law, the just-published pilot version of the Open- Source Practitioner’s Guide to the Murad Code aims to minimize the risks and maximize the potential for digital investigations into SCRSV. Part I of this article opens with a brief history of accountability for SCRSV, touching on the need to strengthen SCRSV investigations and providing a brief …

From Human Mapping To Machine Embedding: Uncovering Key Legal Drivers And Deterrents Of Isds Filing Frequencies, Sangchul Park

Chicago Journal of International Law

International investment agreements (IIAs), while intended to prop cross-border investment, have faced persistent criticism for potentially undermining the regulatory sovereignty of developing countries. Various mechanisms have been proposed as alternatives to traditional bilateral investment treaty (BIT) models, often with the goal of curbing investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) filings. While existing research has uncovered the impact of nonlegal factors, such as macroeconomic crises, little has been done to systematically examine how legal provisions in either major model BITs or ISDS reform toolboxes influence ISDS filing patterns. To address this gap, this Article analyzes the interplay between (i) legal texts of 2,148 …

Lost And Found: The Forgotten Origins Of The “Cruel And Unusual Punishments” Prohibition, John D. Bessler

Articles

The U.S. Supreme Court and legal scholars have long traced the origins of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishments” to the English Declaration of Rights, codified as the English Bill of Rights (1689). The English Declaration of Rights recited that, in King James II’s reign, “illegal and cruel punishments” had been “inflicted,” with its tenth clause then declaring in hortatory fashion: “That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” The prohibitions against excessive bail and excessive fines and the final phrase—“nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted”—were later …

The Crime Victims' Rights Movement: Historical Foundations, Modern Ascendancy, And Future Aspirations, Paul G. Cassell

University of the Pacific Law Review

No abstract provided.

To Keep Our Nation Breathing: The Impact Of State Legislation And The Prep Act On Covid-19 Liability Immunity Defenses For Healthcare Providers In The Eleventh Circuit, J. Bailey Hotard

Mercer Law Review

This Comment is not intended to patronize you with statistics related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The odds suggest that you or someone you love dealt with these gruesome realities in real-time. Instead, allow me to paint a picture:1 You direct hospital operations. You have built your career at a trauma hospital, so you are familiar with the stress that comes with a daily ratio of six patients to one nurse—and yet, COVID-19 brings constantly evolving challenges that no one anticipated. On a typical day, during the height of the pandemic, your consecutive twelve-hour workdays become a blur as you and …

Anything No Longer Goes: How The Eleventh Circuit Has Settled On One Standard To Determine Deliberate-Indifference Claims, Sarah Beth Scarborough

Mercer Law Review

Deliberate indifference to the medical care of a loved one, or oneself, rightly causes outrage. When such an occurrence takes place behind prison walls, inmates or loved ones on their behalf, file a deliberate indifference claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983,and they allege a violation of their Eighth Amendment right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment. However, the test for deliberate indifference has been misconstrued and misapplied for decades within the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Such a malleable test leads to different standards of proof for a plaintiff to meet, and confusion among …

Repugnant Verdicts For $1000: Navigating The Intersection Of Double Jeopardy And Conflicting Verdicts In Mcelrath V. Georgia, Talia Levine

Mercer Law Review

“No man is to be brought into jeopardy of his life, more than once, for the same offense.” This ancient maxim, preserved in the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment, is a hallmark of the American justice system. The Double Jeopardy Clause gives a criminal defendant the constitutional right not to be tried again for the same offense after being acquitted. This guarantee stands as “[p]erhaps the most fundamental rule in the history of double jeopardy jurisprudence.”

The Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly upheld these principles; by refusing to allow retrial following an acquittal, the Court …