Law Commons^™

Copla: A Transnational Criminal Court For Latin America & The Caribbean, Robert Currie, Jacob Leon

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

States in the Latin American and Caribbean regions have long called for the creation of an independent, international court to prosecute members of transnational organized crime gangs. These organizations not only profit from the illicit traffic in drugs, people and cultural property, but are able to corrupt and undermine the domestic legal systems and judiciaries of the affected states. This paper examines the current proposal for the creation of the "Latin American and Caribbean Criminal Court Against Transnational Organized Crime" (COPLA). It reviews the rationale for creating such a court, examines the main pillars of the current proposal, and suggests …

Towards Ocean Peace: Resolving Disputes Cooperatively And Empathetically Through Negotiation, Nayha Acharya

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Oceans have immeasurable value. They are replete with natural resources and food sources; they enable transportation and recreation; they regulate earth’s climate. In sum, they make invaluable contributions to our physical, economic, and political well-being. And wherever there is something valuable, there are disputes over how that value should be maintained, grown, owned, and distributed. Internationally, disputes over maritime boundaries, access routes, drilling rights, and resource exploration are prolific. A sizeable bulk of international litigation is generated by ocean disputes. In the domestic context, disagreement among stakeholders as to environmental quality and pollution, natural resource management and conservation, geo-engineering, and …

The Quest For Justice For Victims Of Terrorism: International Law And The Immunity Of States In Canada And The United States, Karinne Lantz

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The paper begins with an overview of international law and the principle of state immunity, which is included to provide a necessary introduction for readers who are unfamiliar with these topics. Part two assesses the practice of Canada and the United States by examining the legislated exceptions to state immunity that allows claims against foreign states that sponsor terrorism, as well as the decision in Tracy (Appeal). Part three returns to international law and explores the decision of the ICJ in Jurisdictional Immunities. This examination calls into question whether, through Tracy (Appeal), Canada has violated Iran’s right to …

Conclusions: The Value Of An Innovation Framework For International Law, Sara L. Seck, Alastair Neil Craik

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The concluding chapter to Global Environmental Change and Innovation in International Law provides an assessment of the value of an innovation framework for further scholarship in the field of international environmental law. The authors note that thinking more systematically about how international law structures innovation and how innovation within law arises has potential to generate new insights into the role of law in the development of sustainable transitions and may provoke greater attention to the sources and processes of legal transformations themselves. Identifying the constraints to legal innovation, particularly in the context of increasingly complex system demands, was identified as …

Edging Towards Principled Ocean Governance: Law Of The Sea And Beyond, David Vanderzwaag

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Elisabeth Mann Borgese is well known for her commitment to advancing the legal order for the improved regulation of the world’s oceans. Her advocacy with respect to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the subject of other essays in this volume. However, in the decades since 1982, legal principles, sometimes linked to provisions in treaties, have become critical in the global quest for sustainable seas and healthy coastal communities. Principles, such as precautionary and ecosystem approaches, have influenced the negotiation, implementation, and interpretation of international agreements. They may also guide national ocean law and …

Conclusions: The Value Of An Innovation Framework For International Law, Alastair Neil Craik, Sara Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The concluding chapter to Global Environmental Change and Innovation in International Law provides an assessment of the value of an innovation framework for further scholarship in the field of international environmental law. The authors note that thinking more systematically about how international law structures innovation and how innovation within law arises has potential to generate new insights into the role of law in the development of sustainable transitions and may provoke greater attention to the sources and processes of legal transformations themselves. Identifying the constraints to legal innovation, particularly in the context of increasingly complex system demands, was identified as …

Submission To The Open Call For Input Regarding The Working Group’S Report On The Gender Lens To The Un Guiding Principles On Business And Human Rights, Sara Seck, Penelope Simons

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In October 2017, we co-hosted a conference and policy meeting on the subject of extractive industries and the human rights of women and girls, at the Human Rights Resource Education Centre in Ottawa. This submission will reflect on some of the insights that emerged from the conference and policy meeting, as well as our own subsequent research. A selection of conference papers are forthcoming in a special issue of the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law. We have inserted our submissions in response to some of the specific questions raised by the Working Group.

Copla: A Transnational Criminal Court For Latin America & The Caribbean, Robert Currie, Jacob Leon

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

States in the Latin American and Caribbean regions have long called for the creation of an independent, international court to prosecute members of transnational organized crime gangs. These organizations not only profit from the illicit traffic in drugs, people and cultural property, but are able to corrupt and undermine the domestic legal systems and judiciaries of the affected states. This paper examines the current proposal for the creation of the "Latin American and Caribbean Criminal Court Against Transnational Organized Crime" (COPLA). It reviews the rationale for creating such a court, examines the main pillars of the current proposal, and suggests …

Lessons For The Treaty Process From The International Law Commission And International Environmental Law, Sara L. Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The chapter examines Amnesty case studies in order to document the state practice identified and the gaps that need to be filled. The chapter will then consider the work of the ILC in its progressive codification of the law on prevention and loss allocation with respect to transboundary harm arising from hazardous activities, culminating in draft Articles8 and draft Principles,9 respectively, in 2001 and 2006. The modest claim of this chapter is that as the key United Nations body responsible for the progressive development and codification of international law, the work of the ILC should surely be of relevance to …

Testing International Legal Regimes: The Advent Of Automated Commercial Vessels, Aldo Chircop

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

International shipping is on the eve of a new era where remotely controlled and partially or fully automated and unmanned Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) will be carrying international trade. The regulation of navigation and shipping in the contemporary international law of the sea and international maritime law are premised on human presence and control onboard ships. Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 and several maritime conventions will need to be revisited to determine how MASS may be accommodated, and where not possible, what further legal development may be needed. Recently, the IMO …

Paris To Projects Research Initiative, Robert B. Gibson, Karine Peloffy, Meinhard Doelle

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This working paper explores the key components and provisions that need to be incorporated into impact assessment legislation to ensure that assessed undertakings help meet Canadian climate change mitigation commitments and duties.

This discussion paper includes a summary that serves as a basic briefing note on the core climate components that should be included in the new federal legislation. It also includes a box presenting the tests for determining an undertaking's contributions to meeting Canada's international climate change mitigation commitments, and a more detailed discussion of implications for the new law.