Law Commons^™

Law And The Political Economy Of Privatization In Sub-Saharan Africa, Maxwell Chibundu

Maxwell O. Chibundu

No abstract provided.

Liberal Internationalism, Community And Citizenship At The Start Of The Twenty-First Century, Maxwell O. Chibundu

Maxwell O. Chibundu

No abstract provided.

The Other In International Law: 'Community' And International Legal Order, Maxwell O. Chibundu

Maxwell O. Chibundu

There is a built-in paradox in the emergence of international law over the last decade as a core concern of academics and policy-makers. On the one hand, it is difficult to imagine any other period in history that has witnessed such a profusion of attempts to tame the anarchical society by hedging it in a straight-jacket of legalities. Throughout the 1990s, international conferences generated reams of treaties, codes, and agendas for action. International adjudicatory tribunals proliferated, and endeavored to give teeth to ideas and obligations hitherto thought to be essentially aspirational. And yet, the ability of international law to regulate …

Liberalism In The Age Of Terror: On Defining Our Barbarians, Maxwell Chibundu

Maxwell O. Chibundu

No abstract provided.

Making Customary International Law Through Municipal Adjudication: A Structural Inquiry, Maxwell O. Chibundu

Maxwell O. Chibundu

No abstract provided.

Education, Labor Rights, And Incentives: Contract Teacher Cases In The Indian Courts, Varun Gauri, Nick Robinson

Varun Gauri

Since the liberalization of India\'s economy beginning in the early 1990\'s, the government has increasingly employed contract workers to perform various state functions, including in the education sector. Yet, little research has been done to examine how courts have reacted to this shift in government labor policy. This paper looks at all reported cases involving contract teachers in the Indian Supreme Court and four High Courts over the last thirty years. It finds that although almost never explicitly overturning precedent, the judiciary in India has increasingly become less sympathetic to contract teachers demands, particularly at the Supreme Court level. The …

Many Voices: Combining International Human Rights Advocacy And Grassroots Activism To End Sexual Violence In Haiti, Yifat Susskind

City University of New York Law Review

No abstract provided.

Panelist, Deportation And Human Rights, Daniel Kanstroom

Daniel Kanstroom

No abstract provided.

Prosecution Of Trafficking In Persons Cases: Integrating A Human Rights-Based Approach In The Administration Of Criminal Justice, Anne T. Gallagher, Nicole Karlebach

Anne T Gallagher

Derecho Y Diversidad Sexual: Concretando La Universalidad De Los Derechos. Principales Hallazgos Del Informe Anual De Derechos Humanos De Personas Trans, Lesbianas, Gays Y Bisexuales En El Perú 2010., Beatriz Ramirez, Soledad Arriagada

Beatriz Ramirez

No abstract provided.

Freedom Of Religion In Practice: Exemptions Under Anti-Discrimination Laws On The Basis Of Religion, Neil J. Foster

Neil J Foster

Recognition of “human rights” often involves the need to balance one set of rights against another. While anti‐discrimination laws generally are designed to outlaw decision‐making on irrelevant grounds, recognition of “freedom of religion” (a clear human right acknowledged in the international covenants on the area) requires acknowledging that decision‐making in many areas on religious grounds is not irrelevant, and hence requires careful crafting of appropriate exemptions to otherwise blanket prohibitions against discrimination. But in many ways there has been a subtle shift in recent decades away from a fully‐orbed recognition of human rights, towards an absolutist prohibition of discrimination alone. …

Referenda And The District Of Columbia's Human Rights Act: Voting On Same-Sex Marriage In The Nation's Capital, Jacob Stewart

Legislation and Policy Brief

Beginning with Massachusetts in 2003, the courts and legislatures of many states have had to decide whether same-sex marriage is or should be a fundamental right under their respective constitutions. Although only five states and the District of Columbia legally perform same-sex marriages, a few other jurisdictions are in the process of proposing laws moving in that direction. However, the vast majority of states are holding fast to the traditional heterosexual definition of marriage. Thirty-eight states have adopted some sort of Defense of Marriage Act, constitutional amendment, or similar measure that defines marriage as the union between one man and …

Do We Need Regional Human Rights Institutions In The Asia-Pacific Region?, Buhm-Suk Baek

Buhm Suk Baek

Since the adoption of the Bangkok Declaration in 1993, there have been numerous initiatives to establish regional human rights institutions and charters in the Asia‐Pacific region, but all efforts have been impeded by deep cultural, political, and historical issues. Over the last two decades, human rights scholars have also published a large number of studies exploring the possibilities for creating RHRIs in the Asia‐Pacific region. They, however, have mainly focused on examining the reasons why such regional human rights systems have not emerged in the Asia‐Pacific region and on suggesting ways in which RHRIs in this region can be created, …

Technical Bulletins: Ada Amendments Act Of 2008 (Adaaa): Back To Basics (2011), Bonnie Jones

MTAS Publications: Technical Bulletins

The ADAAA ensures protections for people with disabilities whose conditions have been denied as ADA eligible through years of Supreme Court ADA interpretation.

Social Contract Theory Of John Locke (1932-1704) In The Contemporary World, Daudi Mwita Nyamaka Mr.

Daudi Mwita Nyamaka Mr.

The 17th century period was marked by an attempt to erect effective safeguard against violations of natural law by governments. Law in this period was conceptualized as an instrument for the prevention of autocracy and despotism. Absolutism in Europe that was associated with governmental encroachments necessitated a strong shield of individual liberty. In this period legal theory placed the main emphasis on liberty, thus the law was to render governments capable of functioning as a guarantor of individual rights. This paper aims at examining the social contract theory of the 17th-century English philosopher, John Locke, its parameters, limitations and its …

Evidence Obtained By Cruel, Inhuman Or Degrading Treatment: Why The Convention Against Torture’S Exclusionary Rule Should Be Inclusive, Akmal Niyazmatov

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

Convention against Torture (CAT) prohibits admissibility of evidence obtained by torture but fails to extend similar prohibition to evidence obtained by cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT evidence). Manfred Nowak argues that CAT's failure to prohibit CIDT evidence can be resolved if in interpreting torture we take the purposive element, instead of severity, as the main element that distinguishes torture from CIDT. He argues that both torture and CIDT require infliction of severe pain and thus it must be the purpose for which severe pain was inflicted that distinguishes torture from CIDT. If the purposive element is key in distinguishing …

Eine Reine Demokratie Ist In Syrien Schwer Vorstellbar, Marcel Stuessi

Marcel Stüssi

Eine reine Demokratie ist in Syrien schwer vorstellbar Es wird sich in Syrien kaum ein Demokratiemodell verwirklichen lassen, das mittels individu-eller Partizipationsrechte, dem Einzelnen grösstmögliche Würde und Eigenverantwortung überträgt. Von Marcel Stüssi Wenn die Syrer auf die Strassen gehen, dann ringen sie nicht um ihre höchst persönlichen Freiheitsrechte, sondern um die Mitwirkungsrechte und Machtansprüche ihrer jeweiligen Gemeinschaft. In den Städten wie Daraa, Homs, Latakia, Hama, wo der Aufstand syrische Geschichte schreibt, leben hauptsächlich konservative Muslime. Diese gehören weitgehend der sunnitischen Mehrheit an, die von der alawitischen Minderheit rechtlich wie auch tatsäch-lich unterdrückt wird. Machtansprüche Beispielsweise wird der sunnitische Glaubensführer, der …

June Roundtable: Human Rights In Central America, Introduction, Claudia Fuentes

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“The Tormented Isthmus ”. The Economist. April 14 2011.

The Hearts And Minds Of The Citizens, Brooke Ackerly

Human Rights & Human Welfare

If the US contributes increased military support to Guatemala under the premise of curtailing the drug trade, it could inadvertently further destabilize this already politically unstable country. It certainly will not contribute to developing a sense of political alliance in the hearts and minds of its citizens. Concerns about destabilization in Guatemala (and Central America more generally) and the role of this destabilization in facilitating the drug trade have led the Economist to suggest that the solution is to increase military foreign aid to Guatemala.

Generic Wish-Lists For State-Centric Policies, Edzia Carvalho

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Central America depicted in the article under review resembles a region visited by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—colonial Conquest, civil War, Famine and other natural disasters, and poverty, disease and Death. Added to this list of woes are the recent drug-fueled conflict, democratic instability, weak state capacity, and the socio-economic fallout of the economic recession in the United States. While the first half of the article records these problems, the author shifts gears in the second half and provides an array of responses to these challenges, with a forceful recommendation that states in the region focus their efforts …

Conflict Resolution Agenda: Approaching Its Expiration Date, Jonas Claes

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Conflict resolution scholars and policy-makers have traditionally prioritized research and policy measures dealing with political violence, treating criminal violence as a contextual factor in their analysis or as a subordinate policy concern. One may wonder why the value of a casualty differs depending on whether the fatal blow was caused by a tank, a gang knife, or even a typhoon. The prioritization of political violence over criminal violence seems morally unjustified considering that the killing rates in Guatemala and El Salvador are higher now than during the civil wars that ended in the 1990s. Despite similarities in the causes, manifestations, …

A Centrist Solution To Central American Violence And Inequality, Devin Joshi

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The northern triangle of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) has experienced horrific violence, poverty, and a vicious cycle of human rights violations for decades. Repeated natural disasters and the re-routing of the drug trade through Central America are not helping the situation. On the other hand, nearby Costa Rica has achieved a much higher standard of human rights, public safety, and political stability. Why? Costa Rica has put in place four pillars of development and stability lacking in most other countries in the region: a stronger state, an educated population, inter-racial cooperation, and a more inclusive democracy. For …

"A Perfection Of Means, And Confusion Of Aims": Finding The Essence Of Autonomy In Assisted Death Laws, Mary Shariff

Mary J. Shariff

This article explores whether the principles of autonomy and self-determination are indeed at the root of the assisted death laws currently in place in a number of jurisdictions. It is written to appeal to a very broad audience and to those who wish to become better informed about the legal aspects of the assisted death debate. The article first provides a comprehensive and comparative examination of the assisted death laws in the jurisdictions that have promulgated express legislation to regulate assisted death – The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Oregon and Washington and also includes an examination of Switzerland, which does not …

Key Issues Of The Optional Protocol To The International Covenant On Economic, Social And Cultural Rights And Its Role In Challenging Systematic Poverty, Mariagiulia Giuffré

Mariagiulia Giuffré

No abstract provided.

The Communal Violence Bill: Countering Impunity, Seeking Accountability, Saumya Uma

Dr. Saumya Uma

Los Lentes De Género En La Justicia Internacional. Tendencias De La Jurisprudencia Del Sistema Interamericano De Derechos Humanos Relacionada A Los Derechos De Las Mujeres., Beatriz Ramirez, Jeannette Llaja

Beatriz Ramirez

Documento que trae una reflexiva mirada a través de los lentes de género, que incluye casos de violaciones de derechos humanos tramitados ante el Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos en los que las víctimas han sido mujeres, nos revela que si bien son importantes los progresos logrados en la jurisprudencia referida a los derechos de las mujeres y al reconocimiento de los derechos violados, queda aún un largo camino por recorrer ya que podemos comprobar a través de esta lectura que sólo una minoría de los casos presentados, han sido analizados desde la óptica de género tanto por la Comisión …

Quality Of Life: A Review Of Martha Nussbaum's Creating Capabilities, Vincent Rougeau

Vincent D. Rougeau

When societal progress is viewed primarily in terms of the overall increase in economic wealth, the human need for membership and meaningful participation soon loses salience in public policy debates and, ultimately, is relegated to the realm of preference. The vehemence of the recent protests against union-busting legislation in Wisconsin was surprising, partly because many of us had assumed that strong unions had long ago been sacrificed to the gods of free market liberalism. Determining whether a society is truly flourishing, however, requires an assessment of a broad range of measures of human flourishing, including meaningful opportunities to engage in …

Governing The Commemoration Of Catastrophic Violence – The Israeli Nakba Law, Markus Gunneflo

Markus Gunneflo

No abstract provided.

Biblioteca Aberta, Jornal Positivo, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

Se o jornalismo quotidiano nos conta desgraças em cima de desgraças, e com o relato da intriga e dos ataques entre políticos nos deixa irritados ou sem esperança, o jornalismo cultural, quando não é pretexto para os mesmos sectarismos, não só nos descansa como edifica, além de instruir. No II Aniversário de "As Artes entre as Letras" editamos um pequeno texto sobre essa publicação em que regularmente colaboramos, mas de que também somos assíduo e entusiástico leitor: pelo descanso e pela formação que propicia, qual museu imaginário e biblioteca ideal em permanente reconstrução.

Manipulación De Información Personal Y Derechos Fundamentales. Crítica Del Proyecto De "Ley De Protección De Datos Personales", Leysser L. Leon

Leysser L. León

Se ha retomado en el Perú el discurso en torno de la conveniencia de formalizar legislativamente el derecho de la persona a la autodeterminación informativa, i.e., la tutela frente a la manipulación de información personal.

El proyecto de ley que actualmente (mayo, 2011) se viene discutiendo en el Parlamento peruano es sometido a revisión crítica en este artículo.