Law Commons^™

Conceptions Of Authority And The Anglo-American Common Law Divide, Dan Priel

Articles & Book Chapters

This essay seeks to explain the puzzle of the divergence of American law from the rest of the common law world through the lens of legal theory. I argue that there are four competing ideal-type theories of the authority of the common law: reason, practice, custom, and will. The reason view explains the authority of the common law in terms of correspondence to the demands of pure practical reason; the practice view sees the authority of the common law as derived from the expertise of practitioners (especially judges and practice-oriented academics) who try to develop the common law as a …

Poverty In The Human Rights Jurisprudence Of The Nigerian Appellate Courts (1999-2011), Obiora C. Okafor, Basil E. Ugochukwu

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The major objective of this article is to examine the extent to which the human rights jurisprudence of the Nigerian appellate courts has been sensitive and/or receptive to the socio-economic and political claims of Nigeria’s large population of the poor and marginalized. In particular, the article considers: the extent to which Nigerian human rights jurisprudence has either facilitated or hindered the efforts of the poor to ameliorate their own poverty; the kinds of conceptual apparatuses and analyses utilized by the Nigerian courts in examining the issues brought before it that concerned the specific conditions of the poor; and the key …

Sales Or Plans: A Comparative Account Of The "New" Corporate Reorganization, Stephanie Ben-Ishai, Stephen J. Lubben

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In this article, Professors Stephanie Ben-Ishai and Stephen Lubben explore the recent surge in popularity of “quick-sales,” essentially the pre-reorganization plan sale of an insolvent debtor’s assets. In their examination of quick sales, the authors use the recent examples of Lehman Brothers and Chrysler to illustrate the popularity and relevance of the pre-plan sales. The authors then move on to a more detailed discussion of the quick sales process in both Canada and the United States, isolating the differences and similarities between both countries, and weighing the costs and benefits of each approach. Ultimately, the authors argue that questions of …

Irrigating The Famished Fields: The Impact Of Labour-Led Struggles On Policy And Action In Nigeria (1999-2007), Obiora Chinedu Okafor

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Between 1999 and 2007, a broad-based labour-led movement which focused most of its energies on its struggle against unpopular fuel price hikes in Nigeria was able to exert considerable, though limited, influence on an Obasanjo-led executive arm of government that was at best quasidemocratic in its orientation. This article argues that, despite the very important roles played by other factors (notably the presence of more democratic space in Nigeria post-1999), the movement's adoption of a mass social movement approach facilitated its ability to exert such influence.

Payment Transactions Under The Eu Payment Services Directive: A U.S. Comparative Perspective, Benjamin Geva

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This article endeavours to analyse the provisions of Title IV governing rights and obligations in relation to the provision and use of payment services. Analysis is particularly from a US comparative perspective. Attention will be given to Uniform Commercial Code ("UCC") Article 4A, which governs U.S. wire and other credit transfers as well as federal laws governing consumer retail payment systems. A broader but related objective of the article is the assessment of the contribution of Title IV to the harmonization of funds transfer and payment law, not only by comparison to the U.S., but also by reference to a …

Poverty, Agency And Resistance In The Future Of International Law: An African Perspective, Obiora Chinedu Okafor

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This article enquires into the likely posture of future international law with respect to African peoples. It does so by focusing on three of the most important issues that have defined, and are likely to continue to define, international law’s engagement with Africans. These are: the grinding poverty in which most Africans live, the question of agency in their historical search for dignity, and the extent to which these African peoples can effectively resist externally imposed frameworks and measures that have negative effects on their social, economic and political experience. International law’s future posture in these respects is considered through …

The African System On Human And Peoples' Rights, Quasi-Constructivism, And The Possibility Of Peacebuilding Within African States, Obiora Chinedu Okafor

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This article examines the influence that IHIs (such as the African System on Human and Peoples' Rights) can exert within states, with the facilitative work of local popular forces, and relates that to the possibility of valuable IHI contributions to peacebuilding within deeply fragmented African states. Of all the existing approaches to the study of IHIs, constructivism comes the closest to accounting for the highly significant incidences of IHIjostered (and popular forces-facilitated) 'correspondence' that occurs outside the 'compliance radar'. In this sense the article is a contribution to the growing constructivist human rights and institutional literature sets. In particular the …

Diffusing Environmental Regulation Through The Financial Services Sector: Reforms In The Eu And Other Jurisdictions, Benjamin J. Richardson

Articles & Book Chapters

The financial services sector has the potential to be an important facet of future systems of environmental governance. But, so far, only ad hoc policy initiatives have arisen in the EU and other countries addressing the environmental roles of banks or insurers. Because the financial services sector is where wholesale decisions regarding future development, and thus pressures on the environment, arise, reform of investment, banking and insurance services to promote long term investment and better consideration of environmental impacts may be an effective way to promote sustainable development. Reforms such as corporate environmental reporting requirements, mandatory environmental liability insurance, and …

The Van Ert Methodology Of Domestic Reception, Jamie Cameron

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A review of Gibran van Ert's book: Using International Law in Canadian Courts. This review approaches the author's methodology of domestic reception from a constitutionalist's perspective.

Organized Corporate Criminality: The Creation Of A Organized Crime Smuggling Market: Tobacco Smuggling Between Canada And The Us, Margaret E. Beare

Articles & Book Chapters

The intention of this paper is to serve in part as a warning to the international community concerned about corruption, to keep the focus based on the critical analysis of empirically verifiable information. In ways similar to how theorists spoke about organized crime in the 1960s and 1970s, articles today attempt to refer to corruption as if there were one agreed upon definition. However, like the concept “organized crime”, the term “corruption” involves diverse processes which have different meanings within different societies. Corruption (or a focus on corruption), may be the means toward very diverse ends and each may have …

A Choice Among Values: Theoretical And Historical Perspectives On The Defence Of Necessity, Benjamin Berger

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The author explores various theoretical approaches to the defence of necessity, rejecting both excusatory conceptions of the defence and those based on the notion of moral involuntariness. Rather, the author argues that necessity is properly understood as a justificatory defence based on a lack of moral blameworthiness. After extensively surveying the history of the defence in Canadian law, the author critiques the way in which the Supreme Court of Canada has restricted the defence. He contrasts the current Canadian approach with the treatment of the defence in other jurisdictions and concludes that Canadian law would be served best by a …

The Process Geography Of Law (As Approached Through Andalucian Gitano Family Law), Susan G. Drummond

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Comparative law and legal anthropology have for long theorized on the basis of a traditional geography which saw states, regions, locales and social fields as having durable boundaries containing stable and homogenous cultures. This idea of place is now undergoing a massive transformation in response to the effects of and theories about globalization. The emerging ‘process geography’ rejects these traditional ideas, arguing that they are not, and indeed have never been aspects of reality, which is better represented by an imagery of processes. However, it is argued here that globalization is not a synonym for homogenization, nor has place suddenly …

Parallel Proceedings-Converging Views: The Westec Appeal, Janet Walker

Articles & Book Chapters

The flexibility afforded by new rules for jurisdiction and judgments creates opportunities for parallel proceedings and the potential for inconsistent results. Could mechanisms developed in other systems be adopted, such as the lis pendens rule in Europe, or would they merely replace the 'race to judgment' with a 'race to file'? What might a "made in Canada" solution look like? Would it succeed in preventing abuse without compromising fairness in the individual case?

Corruption And Organized Crime: Lessons From History, Margaret E. Beare

Articles & Book Chapters

The intention of this paper is to serve in part as a warning to the international community concerned about corruption, to keep the focus based on the critical analysis of empirically verifiable information. In ways similar to how theorists spoke about organized crime in the 1960's and 1970's, articles today attempt to refer to corruption as if there were one agreed upon definition. However, like the concept “organized crime”, the term “corruption” involves diverse processes which have different meanings within different societies. Corruption (or a focus on corruption), may be the means toward very diverse ends and each may have …

International Law And Terrorism: Age-Old Problems, Different Targets, Sharon A. Williams

Articles & Book Chapters

In the context of increasing terrorist attacks and a unified, internal approach to addressing the problem, this article will consider the following issues: first, should the eradication of the so-called "root causes" of terrorism take precedence over conventions to suppress or punish terrorists; second, the gaps that have been found in the existing multilateral convention approach to international terrorism, and third, the steps that have been taken recently by the concerned specialized agencies of the United Nations to remedy the situation.

Compelling Disclosure By A Non-Party Litigant In Violation Of Foreign Bank Secrecy Laws: Recent Developments In Canada-United States Relations, Jean-Gabriel Castel

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The question whether Canadian or American courts should enforce their laws in a manner that respects the laws of friendly sovereign states has recently been examined by the Supreme Court of Canada and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Their decisions will be the object of this note in the light of recent developments in Canada-United States relations in the area of legal assistance in civil and criminal matters.

Often our courts are asked to compel a person not a party to the litigation or investigation to produce documents or give evidence in Canada when to …

Digest Of Important Canadian Cases Reported In 1977 In The Fields Of Public International Law And Conflict Of Laws, Sharon A. Williams

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No abstract provided.

Recognition And Enforcement Of Foreign Judgments In Personam And In Rem In The Common Law Provinces Of Canada, Jean-Gabriel Castel

Articles & Book Chapters

Although it is hardly necessary to stress the advantages to international relations and international trade which may result from universal recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, it appears that the increasing volume of international and inter- provincial trade and business has not been followed by a com- parable development of the facilities granted to creditors to recover on their claims. Each country has a tendency to protect itself against the intrusion of foreign judgments, to the prejudice of creditors in whose favour the judgments lie. The principle of territorial sovereignty is said to prevent foreign judgments from having any direct …

Procedure And The Conflict Of Laws, Jean-Gabriel Castel

Articles & Book Chapters

The enforcement of a validly acquired foreign or domestic right is a matter of procedure governed by the lex fori. A Canadian court always applies its own procedural rules to a case involving a foreign element pending before it even though the merits of the controversy .are governed by some foreign law. Never will the court apply a foreign rule that is procedural. The court in which the action is pending cannot be expected to submit to foreign procedural rules. It must conduct the proceedings according to its own rules. Although it may be bound to apply foreign law, this …