Law Commons^™

The North-South Divide In International Environmental Law: Framing The Issues, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu

Carmen G. Gonzalez

The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between rich and poor nations (the North-South divide) have compromised the effectiveness of international environmental law, leading to deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and non-compliance with existing agreements. Through contributions from scholars based in five continents, International Environmental Law and the Global South examines both the historical origins of the North-South divide in European colonialism as well as its contemporary manifestations in a range of issues, including food justice, energy justice, …

International Environmental Law And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between rich and poor nations (the North-South divide) have compromised the effectiveness of international environmental law, leading to deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and non-compliance with existing agreements. Through contributions from scholars based in five continents, International Environmental Law and the Global South examines both the historical origins of the North-South divide in European colonialism as well as its contemporary manifestations in a range of issues, including food justice, energy justice, …

Old Poison In New Bottles: Trafficking And The Extinction Of Respect, Winston P. Nagan, Alvaro De Medeiros

Winston P Nagan

The new form of slavery comes by that relatively innocuous title, “trafficking.” Trafficking is an illustration of the dynamic character of the social and antisocial forces that conspire to undermine the idea of human dignity in the world community. The forms of crime are in fact dynamic. Frequently the institutional forces behind crime have capital, lethal functionaries, technology, and a capacity to advance criminal interests, both within states and across state lines. To the extent that crime itself is dynamic it must as well be acknowledged that human rights violations in general also have a dynamic character. In short, when …

The International Law Of Game Of Thrones, Perry S. Bechky

Perry S. Bechky

Game of Thrones depicts a violent and, some might say, lawless world. Few would think that world evidences much international law. Yet, this article identifies several rules of international law observable on the show and relates them to real-world international law. Observable rules include some fundaments of the law of treaties, customary norms, and (most surprisingly) at least one humanitarian peremptory norm. These rules cover a range of subjects, including sovereignty, state responsibility, jurisdiction, immunities, and human rights. The article also discusses the special legal status of the Night’s Watch, which is governed by the most important legal “text” in …

Theories Of State Compliance With International Law: Assessing The African Union's Ability To Ensure State Compliance With The African Charter And Constitutive Act, Stacy-Ann Elvy

Stacy-Ann Elvy

No abstract provided.

Succession By Estoppel: Hong Kong's Succession To The Iccpr, Peter K. Yu

Peter K. Yu

No abstract provided.

A New International Human Rights Court For West Africa: The Ecowas Community Court Of Justice, Karen J. Alter, Laurence R. Helfer, Jacqueline R. Mcallister

Jacqueline McAllister

The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice (ECCJ) is an increasingly active and bold international adjudicator of human rights violations in West Africa. Since acquiring jurisdiction over human rights issues in 2005, the ECCJ has issued several path-breaking judgments, including against the Gambia for the torture of journalists, against Niger for condoning modern forms of slavery, and against Nigeria for failing to regulate the multinational oil companies that polluted the Niger Delta. This article explains why ECOWAS member states authorized the ECCJ to review human rights suits by individuals but did not allow private actors to complain about violations of regional …

Out Of Tune And Out Of Time: The Relationship Between Australia’S International Obligations And Australian Constitutionalism And Why It Matters To Our Identity In The Asian Century, Danielle Ireland-Piper

Danielle Ireland-Piper

The constitutionalism of a nation says much about its national identity. Sections 25 and 51(xxvi) of the Australian Constitution are at odds with Australia’s international obligations under the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Further, Australia’s current asylum seeker policy is a perversion of our obligations under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. These failures to comply with our international obligations are at best, relics of a racist colonial history, and at worst, manifestations of our contemporary national identity. Whilst some may argue that there are other states in …

Taking God Seriously: Why Religion Is Essential To The Defense Of Religious Human Rights, Kristine Kalanges

Kristine Kalanges

The immediate challenge is to transform the “difficult choice” between religious liberty as a universal human right and peaceful coexistence of diverse legal political cultures. The development of a world legal tradition is an important component of that transformation. World legal tradition emphasizes the comparative moral and historical bases of law in the subject spheres of study. Its integrative jurisprudence necessitates consideration of the contributions made by religion, politics, and historical circumstance to the evolution of law. While the elements of a world legal tradition are to be found in the intellectual and institutional resources of the Western and Islamic …

Talking Points On Report Of The Special Rapporteur On Freedom Of Religion Or Belief, Kristine Kalanges

Kristine Kalanges

To support the Holy See in its work at the United Nations, the Caritas in Veritate Foundation, in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, collaborated in preparing reports on current issues discussed at the United Nations. The Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law, and Public Policy, a joint venture between the Center for Catholic Studies and the School of Law at the University of St. Thomas, supports this collaboration, helps identify experts to draft these reports and, with the authors' permission, makes them available on its website. In …

Inciting Genocide With Words, Richard Ashby Wilson

Richard Ashby Wilson

This article calls for a rethinking of the causation element in the prevailing international criminal law on direct and public incitement to commit genocide. After the conviction of Nazi propagandist Julius Streicher at Nuremberg for crimes against humanity, the crime of direct and public incitement to commit genocide was established in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide in 1948. The first (and thus far, only) convictions for the crime came fifty years later at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). The ICTR’s incitement jurisprudence is widely recognized as problematic, but no legal commentator has thus …

Justice As Legitimacy In The European Court Of Human Rights, Molly K. Land

Molly K. Land

Using the example of the prisoner voting cases at the European Court of Human Rights, this chapter builds on existing literature regarding the legitimacy of judicial institutions to consider the role of justice with respect to the normative and sociological legitimacy of international human rights courts. The chapter identifies the pursuit of just outcomes as a significant independent influence on the legitimacy of these courts. Doing justice even when it requires expansive lawmaking in order to protect unpopular groups can be an affirmative source of legitimacy for these institutions. Although the legitimacy challenges faced by the European Court of Human …

Human Rights, Environmental Justice, And The North-South Divide, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

Environmental Justice, Human Rights, And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

From the Ogoni people devastated by oil drilling in Nigeria to the Inuit and other indigenous populations threatened by climate change, communities disparately burdened by environmental degradation are increasingly framing their demands for environmental justice in the language of environmental human rights. Domestic and international tribunals have concluded that failure to protect the environment violates a variety of human rights (including the rights to life, health, food, water, property, and privacy; the collective rights of indigenous peoples to their ancestral lands and resources; and the right to a healthy environment). Some scholars have questioned the utility of the human rights …

Energy Poverty And The Environment, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

Nearly 3 billion people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America (the Energy Poor) face daily hardships due to lack of modern energy for cooking, heating, sanitation, lighting, transportation, and basic mechanical power. Despite their minimal greenhouse gas emissions, the Energy Poor will be disproportionately burdened by the floods, droughts, rising sea levels, and other disturbances caused by climate change. Although climate change has been framed as an issue of climate debt and climate justice, the plight of the Energy Poor has received short shrift in the climate change negotiations. Will efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions consign the Energy Poor …

Corporate "Human Rights" To Intellectual Property Protection, J. Janewa Osei Tutu

J. Janewa Osei-Tutu