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Pirate Accessory Liability – Developing A Modern Legal Regime Governing Incitement And Intentional Facilitation Of Maritime Piracy, Roger L. Phillips

Roger L Phillips

Despite the exponential growth of piracy off the coast of Somalia since 2008, there have been no prosecutions of those who have profited most from ransom proceeds; that is crime bosses and pirate financiers. As U.S. courts begin to charge higher-level pirates, they must ascertain the status of customary international law as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. UNCLOS includes two forms of accessory liability suited to such prosecutions, but a number of ambiguities remain in the interpretation of these forms of liability. These lacunae cannot be explained by reference to the plain terms of …

The Cuban Embargo: Should It Go The Way Of Prohibition?, John W. Van Doren

John W Van Doren

No abstract provided.

Losers' Law: A Metatheory For Legal Disappointments, John Martinez

John Martinez

"Losers"

We are all losers at one time or another. If you're seated in economy class on an airplane, you can't use the business class toilet, even if it's just two steps in front of your seat. Instead, you have to run back to the back of the plane and use the economy class toilets. The operative rule prohibits a mere economy class passenger from exercising the much more convenient choice of using the business class toilet. You are understandably disappointed (and discomforted) that you can't use the more convenient business class toilet: you are a "loser" because your obtained …

On The Legal Issues (Including Human Rights) Regarding The Prosecution Of Sea Pirates; A Case Of History Repeating Itself?, Barry Dubner, Sara Fredrickson

Barry Dubner

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre recorded 439 incidents of piracy and armed robbery in 2011 (“armed robbery” is an unfortunate definition of “sea piracy” ) compared to 445 in 2010. Worldwide, in 2011, 45 vessels were hijacked, 176 vessels were boarded, 113 vessels were fired upon, and 155 vessels reported attempted attacks. There were a total of 802 crew members taken hostage, ten were kidnapped and eight were killed as a direct result of the incidents. Those are world-wide statistics. Somali pirates accounted for more than half of all attacks in 2011. While the overall number of …

Does International Law Matter?, Shima Baradaran

Shima Baradaran

The importance of international law has grown in an increasingly global world. States and their citizens are interconnected and depend on each other to enforce and comply with international law to meet common goals. Despite the expanding presence of international law, the question that remains is whether international law matters. Do individuals comply with international law? And when they comply, do they comply because they fear penalties or because they desire to behave appropriately? This Article presents results from a randomized field experiment designed to investigate these questions. Major findings include that roughly one in seven international actors is willing …

Does International Law Matter?, Shima Baradaran

Shima Baradaran

The importance of international law has grown in an increasingly global world. States and their citizens are interconnected and depend on each other to enforce and comply with international law to meet common goals. Despite the expanding presence of international law, the question that remains is whether international law matters. Do individuals comply with international law? And when they comply, do they comply because they fear penalties or because they desire to behave appropriately? This Article presents results from a randomized field experiment designed to investigate these questions. Major findings include that roughly one in seven international actors is willing …

Environments, Externalities And Ethics: Compulsory Multinational And Transnational Corporate Bonding To Promote Accountability For Externalization Of Environmental Harm, Matthew A. Susson

Matthew A Susson

Developing nations often look to their bounty of natural resources or willing labor as a means of attracting international investors. While national and local governments frequently perceive the arrival of a multinational corporate presence as a boon to their economy, the potential for government instability, ineffectiveness or corruption may facilitate environmentally exploitive corporate practices. Furthermore, residents of the subject nation may be left without proper legal recourse. Legislators have made various efforts in both the United States and abroad to propound Corporate Codes of Conduct to address such concerns, but despite laudable intentions, features of the increasingly global economy “accentuate …

The Prosecution Of Piracy Under The Offenses Clause, James J. Woodruff Ii

James J. Woodruff II

The United States has had a long, storied history dealing with piracy. While it has had success in getting convictions under the Offenses Clause against pirates who attacked U.S. flagged shipping, prosecution under the clause does have its limits. This article examines the use of the Offenses Clause in the recent prosecutions by the United States of crimes on the high seas.

From Start To Finish: A Historical Review Of Nuclear Arms Control Treaties And Starting Over With The New Start, Lisa M. Schenck, Robert A. Youmans

Lisa M Schenck

This article provides a historical review of nuclear arms control agreements from 1925 to 2011, describing how these agreements helped diminish the nuclear arms threat and build up. As this article explains, nuclear arms control agreements can be segmented into distinct periods reflecting different approaches to the nuclear arms threat, with each stage addressing different focused objectives. As negotiations evolved throughout history, the United States and Soviet Union undertook a nuclear arms race, each striving to gain a military advantage over the other by building more and more nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. Accordingly, a debate evolved …