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Articles 1 - 30 of 38
Full-Text Articles in Law
The Trees Speak For Themselves: Nature’S Rights Under International Law, Samantha Franks
The Trees Speak For Themselves: Nature’S Rights Under International Law, Samantha Franks
Michigan Journal of International Law
This note argues that the United Nations should center nature’s rights in the upcoming Global Pact on the Environment, solidifying the patchwork of international environmental law and encouraging domestic protection of the environment. Part II explores the current state of international environmental law, outlining the ways in which the doctrine remains incomplete. Part III establishes that Earth jurisprudence is an effective method to fill the gaps existing within traditional international environmental law. Part IV emphasizes the importance of soft law in international law. It draws a parallel between the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human’s Rights and a potential …
Is Climate Change A Threat To International Peace And Security?, Mark Nevitt
Is Climate Change A Threat To International Peace And Security?, Mark Nevitt
Michigan Journal of International Law
The climate-security century is here. Both the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”) and the U.S. Fourth National Climate Assessment (“NCA”) recently sounded the alarm on climate change’s “super-wicked” and destabilizing security impacts. Scientists and security professionals alike reaffirm what we are witnessing with our own eyes: The earth is warming at a rapid rate; climate change affects international peace and security in complex ways; and the window for international climate action is slamming shut.
The Possibility Of Prosecuting Corporations For Climate Crimes Before The International Criminal Court: All Roads Lead To The Rome Statute?, Donna Minha
Michigan Journal of International Law
Due to rapid developments in climate science, scientists are now able to quantifiably link significant greenhouse gas emissions caused by major oil and gas corporations to specific climate impacts. These scientific advances have been accompanied by the publication of documents and studies suggesting that the oil and gas industry allegedly had knowledge of climate change as early as sixty years ago, and yet it actively worked to promote climate change denial and to delay governmental regulation on this matter. Though climate-related litigation is proceeding against the industry in different jurisdictions, proceedings brought against oil and gas corporations mainly focus on …
Food Miles: Environmental Protection Or Veiled Protectionism?, Meredith Kolsky Lewis, Andrew D. Mitchell
Food Miles: Environmental Protection Or Veiled Protectionism?, Meredith Kolsky Lewis, Andrew D. Mitchell
Michigan Journal of International Law
Eat local. Such a small phrase yet such a loaded proposition. Buying food from nearby sources has become a popular objective. This aim is associated with helping farmers in one’s country or region; observing the seasonality of one’s location; eating fresher foods; striving for food security; and protecting the environment. One of the unmistakable messages of the “locavore” movement is that importing food—particularly food that comes from far away—causes environmental harm. The theory is that transporting food long distances results in the release of high levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere and is thus a dangerous contributor to …
Human Rights And The New Reality Of Climate Change: Adaptation's Limitations In Achieving Climate Justice , Zackary L. Stillings
Human Rights And The New Reality Of Climate Change: Adaptation's Limitations In Achieving Climate Justice , Zackary L. Stillings
Michigan Journal of International Law
In 2005, the Inuit of Canada and the United States filed a petition with the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, alleging that their respective governments had violated their human rights by failing to mitigate climate change harms. The Inuit alleged violations of several specific human rights, including the right to enjoy their culture; the right to enjoy and use the lands they have traditionally occupied; the right to use and enjoy their personal property; the right to health; the right to life, physical integrity, and security; the right to their own means of subsistence; and the right to residence …
International Law In The Anthropocene: Responding To The Geoengineering Challenge, Karen N. Scott
International Law In The Anthropocene: Responding To The Geoengineering Challenge, Karen N. Scott
Michigan Journal of International Law
From The Odyssey to The Tempest and beyond, the control and deliberate manipulation of the weather constitutes an enduring and universal theme in myth and literature. In the twenty-first century, it is scientists and engineers rather than authors and artists who dream of weather and climate control, and their story, as described by James Rodger Fleming, "is not, in essence, a heroic saga about new scientific discoveries that can save the planet, as many of the participants claim, but a tragicomedy of overreaching, hubris, and self-delusion." This notwithstanding, the argument that we should deliberately manipulate earth systems and natural processes …
The New International Law-Makers? Conferences Of The Parties To Multilateral Environmental Agreements, Annecoos Wiersema
The New International Law-Makers? Conferences Of The Parties To Multilateral Environmental Agreements, Annecoos Wiersema
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article adds to a nascent and still limited awareness that something important is afoot in international law: the activity of Conferences of the Parties (COPs) to multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). Some of this activity-such as formal amendments to a treaty or protocol- requires a state party's consent before it will be binding on that state. This activity fits easily within traditional categories of the sources of international law and gives rise to new obligations for states that are identifiable as hard law. However, other activity by COPs does not require the consent of every state party to the treaty …
Canada-United States Cooperative Approaches To Shared Marine Fishery Resources: Territorial Subversion?, Ted L. Mcdorman
Canada-United States Cooperative Approaches To Shared Marine Fishery Resources: Territorial Subversion?, Ted L. Mcdorman
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Essay will focus on how Canada and the United States have both succeeded and failed in adopting cooperative approaches to managing ocean fishery resources. A critical factor that has influenced these efforts is the introduction of an international legal construct dictating that States have exclusive sovereign rights respecting all marine living resources within 200 nautical miles of their shores. Cooperative approaches to managing transboundary marine living resources between Canada and the United States are necessary for two reasons. First, in the case of marine living resources, the resource pays scant attention to human-constructed national boundaries. Put another way, marine …
Conserving Marine Wildlife Through World Trade Law, Eric A. Bilsky
Conserving Marine Wildlife Through World Trade Law, Eric A. Bilsky
Michigan Journal of International Law
Part I of this Essay marshals the evidence that fisheries around the world are in peril from destructive fishing practices. Part II argues that most fisheries management regimes are ineffective at counteracting the political pressures and economic incentives that lead to unsustainable fishing. Part III makes the case that government subsidies are major enablers of overfishing. The fourth and final Part discusses the continuing efforts to use international trade regulation to eliminate overfishing subsidies and halt the collapse of the world's marine fish populations.
Scaling "Local": The Implications Of Greenhouse Gas Regulation In San Bernardino County, Hari M. Osofsky
Scaling "Local": The Implications Of Greenhouse Gas Regulation In San Bernardino County, Hari M. Osofsky
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Essay analyzes local climate regulation in San Bernardino County as a window into the complexities of defining a local scale in an interconnected world. In so doing, it aims to contribute to the Symposium's broader dialogue about "Territory Without Boundaries" and the Panel's more specific discussion of "Urban Territory in a Global World." As a purely territorial matter, U.S. cities and counties differ substantially in their sizes, the quantity and physical characteristics of their land, the size and density of their populations, and the needs of their citizens. Structurally, these localities remain administrative subunits of states, but they also …
Assemblage-Oriented Ocean Resource Management: How The Marine Environment Washes Over Traditional Territorial Lines, John A. Duff
Assemblage-Oriented Ocean Resource Management: How The Marine Environment Washes Over Traditional Territorial Lines, John A. Duff
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Essay assesses challenges that arise when marine territorial boundaries do not encompass the appropriate assemblage of resources and relationships necessary for effective authority and management. It reviews the manner in which certain offshore resource uses have been "quasi-territorialized" by the application of other forms of jurisdiction. It also highlights regime-jurisdiction-private interest-oriented responses to territory-oriented challenges in the form of assemblages of authority, interests, space, and time. Given the scalar progression of the links in the discussion, the assessment moves from international principles to exercises of national sovereignty to domestic administration of space and resources to private legal interests.
Regional Projects Require Regional Planning: Human Rights Impacts Arising From Infrastructure Projects, Abby Rubinson
Regional Projects Require Regional Planning: Human Rights Impacts Arising From Infrastructure Projects, Abby Rubinson
Michigan Journal of International Law
Regional projects require regional planning to avoid potentially disastrous environmental and human rights abuses. Focusing on the Rio Madeira project in Brazil as a case study in the impacts of infrastructure projects, this Note identifies the harm anticipated from these projects and highlights the need for verification of official predictions of such harm. It then proceeds to a legal analysis, addressing the applicable international law, Brazilian law, and regional legal frameworks and outlining the negative legal consequences arising from inadequate impact assessments. In light of these negative legal implications, the Note concludes by illustrating the need to proceed with planning …
International Treaty Enforcement As A Public Good: Institutional Deterrent Sanctions In International Environmental Agreements, Tseming Yang
International Treaty Enforcement As A Public Good: Institutional Deterrent Sanctions In International Environmental Agreements, Tseming Yang
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article approaches the issues through the lens of two general questions. First, what are the functions of treaty enforcement and institutional deterrent sanctions? Second, what are the obstacles to the effective deployment of institutional deterrent sanctions in response to noncompliance? This Article elaborates on the instrumental purposes of enforcement as well as its independent normative function. Much of the analysis follows the recent stream of works that combines both international law and international relations theory. These works offer a rich understanding of the conduct of states and the functioning of international legal regimes.
An Analysis Of Potential Conflicts Between The Stockholm Convention And Its Parties' Wto Obligations, D. Dean Batchelder
An Analysis Of Potential Conflicts Between The Stockholm Convention And Its Parties' Wto Obligations, D. Dean Batchelder
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Comment examines the compatibility of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants with parties' WTO obligations under the GATT Agreement. The Stockholm Convention represents a broad-based attempt to regulate persistent organic pollutants (POPs), some of the most damaging chemicals to the environment and human health. The commitments that parties to the Stockholm Convention have undertaken to control POPs may implicate international trade commitments. Hopefully the discussion in this Comment may also be relevant to other multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), especially those involving trade measures.
Wto And Gmos: Analyzing The European Community's Recent Regulations Covering The Labeling Of Genetically Modified Organisms, Brian Schwartz
Wto And Gmos: Analyzing The European Community's Recent Regulations Covering The Labeling Of Genetically Modified Organisms, Brian Schwartz
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Note explores the compatibility of the EC's GMO regulations within the framework of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures ("SPS Agreement"), the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade ("TBT Agreement"), and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 ("GATT 1994" or "GAT"), all integral parts of the WTO Agreement. Part II presents arguments for or against the use of GM-products. Part III explores the concept of ecolabeling by analyzing the general goals of such programs, including the economic theory behind green consumerism and the characteristics necessary for effective schemes. Part IV describes the core …
The New Codex Alimentarius Commission Standards For Food Created With Modern Biotechnology: Implications For The Ec Gmo Framework's Compliance With The Sps Agreement, Aaron A. Ostrovsky
The New Codex Alimentarius Commission Standards For Food Created With Modern Biotechnology: Implications For The Ec Gmo Framework's Compliance With The Sps Agreement, Aaron A. Ostrovsky
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Note makes two assertions. First, despite the fact that the Codex guidelines do not specifically invoke the Precautionary Principle in name, it can indeed be read into the guidelines in the amount of deference given to states in how they assess risk. This in turn means that the E.C.'s Deliberate Release Directive should be enjoy a presumption of compliance with both the SPS Agreement and the GATT. The second assertion is that even if the adjudicating body of the WTO finds that the Deliberate Release Directive, in relying on the Precautionary Principle, prescribes a higher level of protection than …
Lessons From The Protracted Mox Plant Dispute: A Proposed Protocal On Marine Environmental Impact Assessment To The United Nations Convention On The Law Of The Sea, Maki Tanaka
Michigan Journal of International Law
Although the ITLOS order attempted to facilitate dialogue between the parties, the Tribunal was incapable of addressing the root cause of the MOX plant controversy, namely the lack of an adequate mechanism for transboundary environmental impact assessment at the onset of the conflict under UNCLOS. Similarly, the OSPAR and Annex VII tribunals have failed to bring about the efficient resolution of this procedural environmental dispute. This Article addresses the prevention of similar incidents by proposing the creation of a marine environmental impact assessment protocol to UNCLOS to make assessment procedures operational from the initial stage of controversial projects.
Inordinate Chill: Bits, Non-Nafta Mits, And Host-State Regulatory Freedom- An Indonesian Case Study, Stuart G. Gross
Inordinate Chill: Bits, Non-Nafta Mits, And Host-State Regulatory Freedom- An Indonesian Case Study, Stuart G. Gross
Michigan Journal of International Law
A number of structural factors, which are beyond the immediate scope of this Note, may influence less wealthy countries to cave in to investor threats of arbitration, as Indonesia appears to have done here. However, their hesitancy to fight may also be based, in part, on an inadequate understanding of the applicable law, which allows investors to inordinately influence host-State decisions through threats of arbitration that have little or no chance of success. In regard to the mining companies' threat, this at least appears to be the case. As this Note will demonstrate, the GOI could have likely beaten the …
The Precautionary Principle: Development Of An International Standard, Sonia Boutillon
The Precautionary Principle: Development Of An International Standard, Sonia Boutillon
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Note characterizes and evaluates the current status of the precautionary principle in international law and suggests how it could be more effectively incorporated into bodies of law such as trade law. Much of the literature focuses on whether the principle is a legal rule. This Note shows that precaution need not necessarily fit into the traditional categories of international legal sources' but may derive its legal force from being interpreted as a standard. While the theme-and thesis-of this Note will strike some as provocative, it will appear as an understatement to others, thereby reflecting the ongoing controversy about the …
Prescriptive Treaties In Global Warming: Applying The Factors Leading To The Montreal Protocol, Jasmine Abdel-Khalik
Prescriptive Treaties In Global Warming: Applying The Factors Leading To The Montreal Protocol, Jasmine Abdel-Khalik
Michigan Journal of International Law
In order to combat the ever-increasing problem of global warming, developing nations need technology that will limit emissions while allowing for economic growth. This paper will first examine the problem of global warming. In Part II, the paper will explore the reasons developing nations currently are unable to reduce their emissions. In Part III, the paper will look at the factors leading to the success of the Montreal Protocol and examine the global warming debate in light of these factors.
Racing The Rising Tide: Legal Options For The Marshall Islands, J. Chris Larson
Racing The Rising Tide: Legal Options For The Marshall Islands, J. Chris Larson
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Note first describes the threat posed by accelerated sea-level rise. A review of scientific data shows that global warming causes ocean levels to rise and that RMI may need to be evacuated. The current diplomatic efforts to decrease global warming offer few assurances to RMI. In fact, the countries that have obligated themselves to reduce global warming are actually increasing emissions of gases that cause global warming.
Environmental Disputes In The Gatt/Wto: Before And After Us-Shrimp Case, Dukgeun Ahn
Environmental Disputes In The Gatt/Wto: Before And After Us-Shrimp Case, Dukgeun Ahn
Michigan Journal of International Law
This paper aims to present the legal analysis of the rulings by the Panel and, with more emphasis, the Appellate Body in US-Shrimp. Section I briefly reviews general dispute settlement mechanisms provided in international environmental conventions. Section II summarizes the practices regarding Article XX of the GATT in the GATTIWTO dispute settlement systems prior to US-Shrimp. Section III presents the factual background of US-Shrimp case and the legal analysis of several procedural and substantive issues specifically addressed in the Appellate Body report. Section IV examines the remaining issues to be addressed in trade disputes with environmental implication after …
Does The Emperor Have No Clothes? Enforcement Of International Laws Protecting The Marine Environment, David S, Ardia
Does The Emperor Have No Clothes? Enforcement Of International Laws Protecting The Marine Environment, David S, Ardia
Michigan Journal of International Law
This article examines existing structures and mechanisms for the enforcement of international environmental laws, particularly international laws that must confront violations on the high seas in order to protect marine organisms. Although the tenor of the present analysis is general, many of the most influential international marine agreements to date are highlighted, including the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, the Convention on Future Multilateral Co-Operation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, and the United Nations Agreement on the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stock and Highly Migratory Fish Stock.
Trade Policy Harmonization: Too Much Of A Good Thing?, Alexander W. Sierck
Trade Policy Harmonization: Too Much Of A Good Thing?, Alexander W. Sierck
Michigan Journal of International Law
Review of Fair Trade and Harmonization: Prerequisites for Free Trade? by Jagdish N. Bhagwati & Robert E. Hudec
"Green Helmets": A Conceptual Framework For Security Council Authority In Environmental Emergencies, Linda A. Malone
"Green Helmets": A Conceptual Framework For Security Council Authority In Environmental Emergencies, Linda A. Malone
Michigan Journal of International Law
Although 1995 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the birth of the United Nations, the year also marks the fifth anniversary of a newly revitalized Security Council. In this period of five years, scholarly debate on the Security Council has shifted from what it might do if it could act to what substantive limits, if any, exist on the Security Council's authority to act under the Charter. The legitimacy of the Security Council's authority under the Charter arises both in its initial determination of when it can act and in its determination of the appropriate scope of its actions once it …
Trade And The Environment: Equilibrium Or Imbalance?, Douglas J. Caldwell, David A. Wirth
Trade And The Environment: Equilibrium Or Imbalance?, Douglas J. Caldwell, David A. Wirth
Michigan Journal of International Law
Review of Greening the GATT: Trade, Environment, and the Future by Daniel C. Esty; Freer Trade, Protected Environment: Balancing Trade Liberalization and Environmental Interests by C.Ford Runge, François Ortalo-Magné, and Philip Vande Kamp; Trade and the Environment: The Search for Balance (James Cameron, Paul Demaret & Damien Geradin, eds.); and Trading Up: Consumer and Environmental Regulation in a Global Economy by David Vogel
Controlling The Environmental Consequences Of Power Development In The People's Republic Of China, Homer Sun
Controlling The Environmental Consequences Of Power Development In The People's Republic Of China, Homer Sun
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Note proposes a strategy to mitigate the environmental degradation resulting from China's power development. Part I introduces China's power industry - its excessive dependence on coal, its antiquated and inefficient infrastructure, its pollutive effects, and its projected expansion. Part II appraises the ways in which China's environmental laws, macroeconomic controls, and foreign investment restrictions influence the growth of power development and its corresponding effect on the environment. Part III assesses the role that governments, development banks, and international organizations can play in curbing the environmental impact of Chinese power projects. Considering the problems associated with current Chinese and international …
The International Convention To Combat Desertification: Drawing A Line In The Sand?, William C. Burns
The International Convention To Combat Desertification: Drawing A Line In The Sand?, William C. Burns
Michigan Journal of International Law
The purpose of this article is to assess the potential efficacy of the Convention in the face of devastation of the world's dryland resources. In this pursuit, I will: 1) Outline the causes and implications of desertification; 2) Present a brief history of past efforts to battle desertification; 3) Discuss the contours and the Convention; and 4) Assess the prospects for the Convention to make a meaningful difference in the struggle to save the world's land.
Multidisciplinary Perspectives On The Improvement Of International Environmental Law And Institutions, Linda C. Reif
Multidisciplinary Perspectives On The Improvement Of International Environmental Law And Institutions, Linda C. Reif
Michigan Journal of International Law
Review of Environmental Change and International Law: New Challenges and Dimensions (Edith Brown Weiss ed.), Institutions for the Earth: Sources of Effective International Environmental Protection (Peter M. Haas, Robert O. Keohane, & Marc A. Levy eds.), and The Uncertain Promise of Law: Lessons from Bhopal. by Jamie Cassels
Institutional Misfits: The Gatt, The Icj & Trade-Environment Disputes, Jeffrey L. Dunoff
Institutional Misfits: The Gatt, The Icj & Trade-Environment Disputes, Jeffrey L. Dunoff
Michigan Journal of International Law
The central thesis of this article is that neither trade bodies, like the GATT or NAFTA, nor adjudicatory bodies, like the ICJ or the proposed International Court for the Environment, ought to resolve these issues. Instead, trade-environment conflicts should be heard before an institution that recognizes the interdependent nature of global economic and environmental issues and that has a mandate to advance both economic development and environmental protection. This body should have ready access to the scientific and technical expertise that would enable it to resolve trade-environment disputes knowledgeably. It should possess tools to encourage nations to comply with its …