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The Training, Appointment, And Supervision Of Islamic Judges In Malaysia, Najibah M. Zin

Washington International Law Journal

Shari‛a court judges and the decisions they make clearly have an effect on the interpretation and application of Islamic law in contemporary Muslim societies, and the educational background of those who staff these courts obviously informs the way they understand, interpret, and apply the law. To date, however, little research has been done on the educational processes by which judges who serve on Islamic courts are trained to think about Islamic law. Likewise, the means by which Islamic court judges are appointed and regulated has received little scholarly attention. This article offers a descriptive overview of the training, work, and …

The Islamic Legal System In Singapore, Ahmad Nizam Bin Abbas

Washington International Law Journal

In a country that is staunchly secular, it would appear to be an anomaly that the Muslim minority are free to practice their personal law when it comes to marriage, divorce, and to a certain extent inheritance. This article seeks to provide a general overview of the introduction and applicability of Muslim law in Singapore, from the colonial administration of the British to the contemporary period. The article also examines the infrastructure developed for implementing the Muslim law in Singapore and explores conflicts in jurisdiction between the country’s Syariah Court and the civil courts. Written from the perspective of a …

The Training, Appointment, And Supervision Of Islamic Lawyers In Singapore, Nik Hasyila Bte Nik Ibrahim

Washington International Law Journal

This article provides a snapshot of the administration of Muslim law as practiced in Singapore through the prism of the legal profession. In particular, it provides a brief background on the role of the legal profession in the administration of justice at the Syariah Court of Singapore. While it is beyond the scope of this paper to urge for institutional and legal reform, the paper nonetheless highlights the absence of a dedicated and specialized training program that can aid lawyers to be familiar with Muslim law and jurisprudence and provide better representation to their clients at the Syariah Court.

The Islamic Legal System In Malaysia, Farid S. Shuaib

Washington International Law Journal

This article describes the historical evolution and the current structure of the Islamic legal system in Malaysia. The structure of the modern Malaysian state has its roots in the region’s colonial history. By the end of the nineteenth century the territory that comprises contemporary Malaysia had been subjected to British colonial authority. The British did not, however, rule the region as a single colonial unit. In the directly ruled colonies most matters were governed by English common law, and while Islamic doctrine governed family law, it was applied by colonial courts that were staffed by British or British-trained judges. In …

Rolling Back The Tide: Challenging The Criminalization Of Immigrants In Washington State, Angélica Cházaro

Articles

No abstract provided.

A Call For Standards: An Overview Of The Current Status And Need For Guardian Standards Of Conduct And Codes Of Ethics, Karen E. Boxx, Terry W. Hammond

Articles

The role of trust in guardianships is rarely discussed, perhaps because of the assumption that court supervision of guardians reduces their power to act in any way other than trustworthy. However, as the number of persons needing guardianship protection increases while the resources available to courts to finance supervision decreases, the role of guardian is starting to become a more conventional fiduciary relationship complete with a hallmark downside-lack of supervision. Because of this trend, the concept of delineated standards for performance of a guardian's duties has taken on critical importance.

The 2001 Wingspan Conference, the second national conference on guardianship …

Uwlaw, Summer 2011, Vol. 63

Alumni Magazines

No abstract provided.

The Singapore Chill: Political Defamation And The Normalization Of A Statist Rule Of Law, Cameron Sim

Washington International Law Journal

Recent cases involving opposition politicians and foreign publications, in which allegations of corruption leveled against both the executive and the judiciary were found to be defamatory and in contempt of court, struck at the heart of Singapore’s ideological platform as a corruption-free meritocracy with an independent judiciary. This article examines the implications of these cases for the relationship between the courts, the government, and the rule of law in Singapore. It is argued that judicial normalization of the government’s politics of communitarian legalism has created a statist and procedural rule of law that encourages defamation laws to chill political opposition. …

An Alternative To Impact Litigation In China: The Procurator As A Legal Avenue For Cases In The "Private Family Sphere" Of Domestic Violence, Hai-Ching Yang

Washington International Law Journal

Impact litigation, a popular technique among non-governmental organizations, while yielding numerous benefits, exercises limited influence over traditional family matters in China, like those of domestic violence. A closer examination of the factors attributed to the failure of the domestic violence case litigated by the Peking University’s Center for Women Law Studies and Legal Aid Services highlights the need to explore the potential of the procurator. As cases and events show “family matters” transgressing from the private to the public sphere and as setbacks continue to plague non-governmental organizations in their struggle to advance social causes, the institutionalized procurator can utilize …

Best Practices For Hiring And Retaining A Diverse Law Faculty, Kellye Y, Testy

Articles

As with all institutions, the history, character, identity, and accomplishments of each law school are the direct result of its people and their acts. For that simple reason, diversity is critical; it goes to the very core of what the institution is and what it does. With legal institutions, in particular, diversity plays a critical role in shaping the perception of the institution held by persons outside of it. In order for our system of law to function as the bedrock of our democratic society that it aims to be, legal institutions must be perceived as fair and just. If …

Tax Lawyers, Tax Defiance, And The Ethics Of Casual Conversation,, Michael Hatfield

Articles

This essay is to help tax lawyers decide how to handle casual conversations centered on denying, defying, or destroying the tax system. One option is to walk away, ending the conversation and silencing the dialogue. The next option is to engage. I want to persuade tax lawyers that they should usually engage in the conversation. I try to do this in Part III.

There are two kinds of legal ethics essays, and one must choose which kind to write, and it is useful to the reader to know upfront which kind the author chose to write. One kind begins with …

Internationalization And Integration Of Doctrine, Skills And Ethics In Legal Education: The Contrasting Situations Of The United States And Japan, Daniel H. Foote

Articles

This article addresses two trends in legal education: internationalization and integration of doctrine, skills and legal ethics. In the United States, international and comparative law, skills training, and legal ethics all have deep historical roots in legal education, and the past few decades have seen further major increases in each of those areas. A particularly noteworthy recent development is the rise in efforts to integrate skills training and attention to ethical issues with doctrinal analysis, rather than just teaching each of those elements separately, Notably, Harvard Law School, which continues to influence educational patterns at other law schools within the …

Legal Education For The Future: Global Perspectives, Daniel H. Foote

Articles

This is a report on "FutureEd 2: Making Global Lawyers for the 21st Century," a conference on legal education held at Harvard Law School (HLS) on October 15-16, 2010, In which this author had the opportunity to participate. The conference was the second In a series of three conferences jointly organized by HLS and New York Law School (NYLS). The first conference was held at NYLS in April 2010; the third and final conference was held at NYLS, in April 2011．The goals of the conferences were to stimulate thinking and research about the future of legal education; to promote concrete …

Law Library Budgets In Hard Times, Taylor Fitchett, James Hambleton, Penny Hazelton, Anne Klinefelter, Judith Wright

Articles

This article begins by looking at the environment of the academic law library of the twenty-first century, followed by an analysis of the current economic climate and an assessment of how these difficult economic times will affect academic law libraries. The next section discusses strategies a law library director can marshal to manage a multimillion-dollar budget in face of reduced resources. Focusing in on the institution's own budget and accounting framework, creative thinking, and planning for use of resources can have successful and innovative outcomes for law libraries and the schools they support. Finally tools and strategies that can help …

Uwlaw, Fall 2010, Vol. 62

Alumni Magazines

No abstract provided.

A Service-Learning Project: Disability, Access And Health Care, Elizabeth Pendo

Articles

Last summer, I was thinking about a public service project for my disability discrimination law course. I teach the course in fall, and try to incorporate a project each year. Integrating a public service project into a traditional doctrinal course fits within the trend toward expanding teaching techniques beyond the case method in order to better prepare students for the practice of law., It was also inspired in part by the Carnegie Foundation's 2007 report, "Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law," as a way to foster "civic professionalism," and to "[link] the interests of legal educators with the …

Reducing Disparities Through Health Care Reform: Disability And Accessible Medical Equipment, Elizabeth Pendo

Articles

People with disabilities face multiple barriers to adequate health care and report poorer health status than people without disabilities. Although health care institutions, offices, and programs are required to be accessible, people with disabilities are still receiving unequal and in many cases inadequate care. The 2009 report by the National Council on Disability, The Current State of Health Care for People with Disabilities, reaffirmed some of these findings, concluding that people with disabilities experience significant health disparities and barriers to health care; encounter a lack of coverage for necessary services, medications, equipment, and technologies; and are not included in the …

A Few Inconvenient Truths About Michael Crichton's State Of Fear: Lawyers, Causes And Science, Lea B. Vaughn

Articles

Although Crichton has lost the battle regarding global warming, his characterization of lawyers and law practice remains unchallenged. This article challenges his damning portrait of lawyers as know-nothing, self-aggrandizing manipulators of various social and environmental causes. A more nuanced examination of "cause lawyering" reveals that lawyers are not part of a vast conspiracy to grab power through the causes for which many work; in fact, the rules of professional responsibility as well as the structure of "cause lawyering" limit their power and influence. Regardless, lawyers are nonetheless vital, and generally principled, participants in the debates and causes that inform environmental …

Rise Of Political Populism And The Trouble With The Legal Profession In China, Dongsheng Zang

Articles

This essay looks into recent efforts by the ruling party in China to tighten control of the judiciary, the lawyers and prosecutors under the slogan of "harmonious society" in the last couple of years. This reversed the direction of judicial reform under the leadership of Xiao Yang, during his tenure as President of the Supreme People's Court before 2008. The trouble with the legal profession in China, the essay asserts, is not only that it loses its professional autonomy thus its ability to act as a sociopolitical force that is independent from the ruling political party; but also, by virtue …

Uwlaw, Fall 2009, Vol. 60

Alumni Magazines

No abstract provided.

Uwlaw, Spring 2009, Vol. 59

Alumni Magazines

No abstract provided.

A Shift Toward Gender Equality In Prosecutions: Realizing Legitimate Enforcement Of Crimes Committed Against Women In Municipal And International Criminal Law, Tamara F. Lawson

Articles

A new era of law enforcement has emerged recognizing the importance of punishing gender-specific violence. This first wave of "gender-sensitive prosecutors" has changed the way crimes against women are handled in the criminal justice system. The enactment of gender neutralizing laws and policies has dramatically improved the enforcement of crimes against women and attempts to end the era of impunity. This Article addresses the changes in prosecutions and further considers international human rights treaties that require gender equality in law enforcement.

In criminal law, it is the willingness of a prosecutor to exercise his or her discretionary authority to file …

10 Tips For Getting Jurors To Talk, Maureen A. Howard

Articles

“Jury selection” is a misnomer because lawyers don’t actually get to “select” ideal jurors; they get a limited opportunity to “deselect” the worst prospective jurors. The goal of voir dire is to identify these jurors by uncovering their attitudes, beliefs, opinions, preconceptions, biases, and prejudices. To accomplish this, a lawyer has a difficult task: she must foster an honest, intimate conversation among strangers in a very public, formal environment.

Even honest jurors may give misleading answers during voir dire due to nervousness, inattention, faulty memory, or misunderstanding. The formal courtroom atmosphere can have a chilling effect at odds with the …

Success Or Failure?: Japan's National Strategy On Intellectual Property And Evaluation Of Its Impact From The Comparative Law Perspective, Toshiko Takenaka

Articles

This short Article will discuss Japan's national IP strategy and changes brought to the IP system, focusing on features that follow the U.S. IP system. Additionally, it will review these changes from the comparative law perspective and evaluate whether the new system has accomplished its national strategy mission.

Uwlaw, Fall 2008, Vol. 58

Alumni Magazines

No abstract provided.

Four-Factor Disaster: Courts Should Abandon The Circuit Test For Distinguishing Government Speech From Private Speech, Lilia Lim

Washington Law Review

A recent addition to First Amendment jurisprudence, the government-speech doctrine was developed by the Supreme Court to insulate government speech from certain First Amendment challenges. Broadly, the doctrine rests on the notion that when the government speaks for itself, it may say what it wishes. Recently, government entities facing claims of viewpoint discrimination against speech have asserted a government-speech defense, claiming that their viewpoint-based actions were justifiable because they were not regulating private speech but speaking for themselves. Several federal courts deciding these cases have applied a circuit-developed, four-factor test to determine whether the speech at issue was private speech …

Ethical Duties To Prospective Clients Who Send Unsolicited Emails, Nicole Lindquist

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Recent Iowa and Massachusetts ethics opinions declared that an attorney may owe ethical obligations to prospective clients who send the attorney just a single email regarding legal assistance. These ethics opinions are part of a trend whereby jurisdictions are extending the duty of confidentiality to prospective clients who send unsolicited emails to attorneys, when those persons reasonably believe that the conveyed information will be held in confidence. These opinions highlight the importance for all attorneys to disclaim duties of confidentiality and representation, particularly when advertising online. This article discusses ethical opinions regarding prospective clients who send unsolicited emails and concludes …

Access To Justice For The Poor: The Singapore Judiciary At Work, Gary Chan Kok Yew

Washington International Law Journal

This Article examines the concrete efforts and programs of the Singapore judiciary to maintain and enhance access to justice for the poor. This examination is undertaken via overlapping economic, procedural, and institutional approaches. The Article will examine three main contentions. First, that the Singapore judiciary’s concrete efforts in maintaining and promoting access to justice for the poor have been fairly comprehensive and pro-active. Second, that abstract constitutional discourse on the right of access to justice and the associated rights of legal representation and legal aid are virtually absent in Singapore. Thus, the judicial practice for enhancing access to justice for …

Teaching Ip From An Entrepreneurial Counseling And Transactional Perspective, Sean M. O'Connor

Articles

The traditional law school appellate case method is not well-suited to teaching students either the substance and process of counseling entrepreneurial clients or helping such clients create IP strategies that effectively advance their business vision. This Article describes the author’s creation of new courses and clinics to advance teaching IP in the emerging field of entrepreneurship and innovation law

Advocacy Strategies To Fight Eviction In Cases Of Compulsive Hoarding And Cluttering, Tom Cobb, Eric Dunn, Vanessa Torres Hernandez, Jake Moroni Okleberry, Riana Pfefferkorn, Chelsea Spector

Articles

No abstract provided.