Digital Commons Network^™

Child Laundering: How The Intercountry Adoption System Legitimizes And Incentivizes The Practices Of Buying, Trafficking, Kidnapping, And Stealing Children, David M. Smolin

David M. Smolin

This article documents and analyzes a substantial incidence of "child laundering" within the intercountry adoption system. Child laundering occurs when children are taken illegally from birth families through child buying or kidnapping, and then "laundered" through the adoption system as "orphans" and then "adoptees." The article then proposes reforms to the intercountry adoption system that could substantially reduce the incidence of child laundering.

Flattening The World Of Legal Services? The Ethical And Liability Minefields Of Offshoring Legal And Law-Related Services, Carole Silver, Mary Daly

Carole Silver

This article examines offshore outsourcing of legal and law-related services as the newest twist in the international market for legal services. We consider the impact of offshore outsourcing on the profession generally and analyze the ethical issues raised by offshore outsourcing, both as it exists today and as the practice may develop in the future. The article begins by situating offshore outsourcing in the framework of relationships created in the context of delivery of legal services. This framework is used, in turn, to construct a structure of analysis for the ethical implications of offshore outsourcing. Lawyers who outsource to offshore …

The New U.S. Approach To The Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty: Will Deletion Of A Verification Regime Provide The Way Out Of The Wilderness?, David S. Jonas

David S. Jonas

No abstract provided.

Bringing Locus Into Focus: A Choice-Of-Law Methodology For Cisg-Based Concurrent Contract And Product Liability Claims, Antonin I. Pribetic

Antonin I. Pribetic

The article discusses choice-of-law theories for both contractual and tort/product liability claims governed by the CISG. The underlying theme is that concurrent claims are not necessarily equivalent claims. While concurrent liability in contract and tort (namely, product liability) may be applicable or alternative remedies available, the focus of the CISG is the harmonization of rules governing international sale contracts. The article argues that factors such as the place of injury or where the damages are sustained are less relevant than the situs of the contract, based upon the view that, without privity of contract, the concurrent tort would not arise. …

Is Resisting Genocide A Human Right?, David B. Kopel, Paul Gallant, Joanne D. Eisen

David B Kopel

The genocide in Darfur, Sudan, is perhaps the worst human rights crisis of the new century. This article examines the failures of the international response so far, and offers a solution based on international human rights law.

Conducting an in-depth study of the Darfur genocide, and also discussing other genocides, the Article details the inadequacy of many of the international community's response to genocides, including “targeted sanctions” or international peacekeeping forces.

The Article then examines international legal authorities such as the Genocide Convention, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Court of Justice, and demonstrates that groups which …

Orange Revolution In Red, White, And Blue: U.S. Impact On The 2004 Ukrainian Election , Natalie Prescott

Natalie Prescott

This article discusses the impact of the U.S. political efforts and the role of the U.S. judiciary in the 2004 Ukrainian election. The article provides an extensive background of Ukrainian election laws, the 2004 controversy, and the impact of U.S. landmark cases on the Ukrainian Supreme Court's decision. The author concludes that the United States played a major role in facilitating the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, and that its influence is likely to continue in the future. This article was presented at Yale Journal of International Law Fourth Annual Young Scholars Conference on March 4, 2006.

Trips And Traditional Knowledge: Local Communities, Local Knowledge, And Global Intellectual Property Frameworks (Trips Symposium), Olufunmilayo B. Arewa

Olufunmilayo B. Arewa

Intellectual property treatment of traditional or local knowledge is a major issue of contention today, particularly since the implementation of the TRIPs Agreement, which establishes minimum levels of intellectual property protection for members of the World Trade Organization. Discourse surrounding local knowledge is highly charged with accusations of "piracy" from Western countries countered with allegations of "biopiracy" from Third World countries. Flowing beneath the surface of this dialogue are multiple levels of historical experience. Intellectual property frameworks were formed in the nineteenth century during a period when evolutionary views of the development of human societies were paramount. Local knowledge was …

The Issue Of A Foreign Company Wholly Owned By National Shareholders In The Context Of Icsid Arbitration, Omar E. Garcia-Bolivar

Omar E Garcia-Bolivar

This article deals with the issue of nationality of corporations in the context of ICSID arbitrations.

The Future Of Transatlantic Economic Relations: Continuity Amid Discord, Gregory C. Shaffer, Mark Pollack

Gregory C Shaffer

No abstract provided.

Mutual Recognition And Enforcement Of Arbitral Awards In Mainland China And Taiwan: A Breakthrough In Cross-Strait Relations, Jason A. Blatt

Jason A Blatt

While political relations between China and Taiwan have gone from bad to worse in recent years, the growing importance of economic relations between both sides of the Taiwan Strait has compelled governments on both sides to amend relevant laws and regulations so that courts may recognize and enforce arbitral awards rendered by each other's arbitral organizations. This historic trend started in 1992, when Taiwan passed a statute authorizing courts to recognize and enforce Chinese arbitral awards. China reciprocated in 1998 by issuing regulations permitting recognition and enforcement of Taiwan-issued arbitral awards. Significantly, courts on both sides have recently begun enforcing …

Theseus's Ship Of State: Confederated Europa Between The Scylla Of Mere Alliance And The Charybdis Of, Eric A. Engle

Eric A. Engle

The article argues that Europe is a confederation, that confederations can be one form of state, and that the EU is best apprehended not as a sui generis entity like the British Commonwealth but as a weak and limited confederal state.

Framing Political Theory Of International Courts And Tribunals: Reflections At The Centennial, David D. Caron

David D. Caron

This lecture given at the 100th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law explores the lack of agreement on political theory informing scholarship regarding international courts and tribunals. The lecture provides a sketch of such a frame in which the primary object is to identify different generating impulses for courts and tribunals in the international arena. It is not an effort to theorize about which of several forms of institution is chosen ultimately, but instead to understand the impulse to create a court or tribunal at all and therefore the contours of the phenomena that scholars studies.

International Law And The Rise Of China, John C. Yoo, Eric Posner

John C Yoo

The rise of China raises questions about the future of international law. The current system of international law depends largely on American hegemony, along with the dominance of western European states that share America's general goals and values. It is possible that China in the future will not threaten this system, either because China comes to share these goals and values or because China breaks apart. But the more likely scenario is that China will compete with the U.S. for regional and then global influence. We argue that in such a world the current system of international law will not …

Force Rules, John C. Yoo

John C Yoo

This piece criticizes U.N. proposals to reform the international legal rules on the use of force. While they properly identify threats to international peace and security as arising outside the context of great power warfare, they make it even more difficult for nations to address these new challenges. They codify a rule that gives the Security Council complete authority over all uses of force short of national self-defense, rather than providing nations with flexibility. They expand the size of the Security Council, which will only aggravate the body's collective action troubles in authorizing force. Reform should begin by modifying the …

Contemporary Private Military Firms Under International Law: An Unregulated “Gold Rush”, Jackson N. Maogoto, Benedict Sheehy

Jackson Nyamuya Maogoto

Clearly, the issues raised by the ascendance of contemporary PMFs would be suitable for a book length treatment; however, in light of the pressing nature of the present situation expediency dictates a shorter but timelier piece. This article has as its modest aim an exploration of the thorny legal issues raised by the commodification of force. It discusses the nature of the contemporary PMF noting that it bears vestiges of yester year mercenaries. It then grapples with their uncertain status under international law despite the fact that they potentially pose problems for state authority and the direct control of states …

Rational War And Constitutional Design, John C. Yoo, Jide Nzelibe

John C Yoo

Contemporary accounts of the allocation of war powers authority often focus on textual or historical debates as to whether the President or Congress holds the power to initiate military hostilities. In this Essay, we move beyond such debates and instead pursue a purely functional or comparative institutional analysis of the relationship between Congress and the President on war powers. More specifically, we focus on the following question: Which war powers system would best enhance the effectiveness of the United States in making decisions on war and peace? Our answer draws on one of the few facts considered to be close …

Boyakasha, Fist To Fist: Respect And The Philosophical Link With Reciprocity In International Law And Human Rights, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan