Law Commons^™

Reporters As Refugees: Applying United States Asylum Laws To Persecuted Journalists In Mexico, Katy Mann

UC Law SF International Law Review

In 2010, Jorge Luis Aguirre became the first known journalist from Mexico to receive asylum in the United States. Aguirre, like many of his colleagues, had received several threats to his life for reporting on the drug-related violence and government corruption in Mexico. In fact, since Felipe Calderon assumed the presidency in Mexico in December 2006, more than thirty journalists in the country have been murdered or have disappeared. Faced with the possibility of becoming the next casualty in the ongoing drug war, several Mexican journalists have fled to the United States to apply for asylum.

Although the United States …

Applying The Doctrine Of Superior Responsibility To Corporate Officers: A Theory Of Individual Liability For International Human Rights Violations, Brian Seth Parker

UC Law SF International Law Review

With the Supreme Court set to hear Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petrol. Co., a principal means of seeking redress for corporate complicity in egregious international law violations under the Alien Tort Statute hangs in the balance. This Article examines the doctrine of superior responsibility, otherwise known as command responsibility, as a functional theory of liability in filling some of the gaps potentially left by Kiobel or by adding another arrow to the quiver if the Supreme Court refuses to grant corporations immunity. The doctrine of superior responsibility imposes liability on superiors when they knew or should have known about their …

Transforming Accountability: A Proposal For Reconsidering How Human Rights Obligations Are Applied To Private Military Security Firms, Lauren Groth

UC Law SF International Law Review

This Article argues that there is an [a]ccountability gap within the legal frameworks that apply to private military security contractors (PMSCs) that has led to widespread impunity and human rights violations. Recent legal efforts to address the problem have been unsuccessful because they fail to consider and reflect the larger transformations taking place in international relations. This failure is, in essence, the [A]ccountability gap: international law no longer accurately reflects the nature of the realities it is meant to regulate, allowing those organizations which now hold power in global politics, yet are unrecognized by international law, to escape accountability. Thus, …

Litigating Palestine Before International Courts And Tribunals: The Prospects Of Success And Perils Of Failure, Victor Kattan

UC Law SF International Law Review

This Article examines the claim that United Nations (UN) membership will improve Palestine's ability to have recourse to international courts and tribunals. With the exception of seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) upon a referral from the UN General Assembly or as a result of a request from a specialized agency, Palestine must be a state in order to become a party to the ICJ in a contentious case and in order to accede to the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Because admission to the UN is based on the assumption that the …

The Nonjusticiability Of Palestine: Human Rights Litigation And The (Mis)Application Of The Political Question Doctrine, Gwynne Skinner

UC Law SF International Law Review

The Political Question Doctrine is a problematic and an often misused doctrine that prevents courts from fulfilling their Article III responsibilities. Nowhere is this misuse more prevalent than in human rights cases involving Palestine, and in particular, human rights cases alleging misconduct by the Israeli government or officials. This Article discusses in detail courts' decisions regarding the Political Question Doctrine raised in human rights litigation, and analyzes courts' decisions in such cases involving Palestine. It notes the stark difference in both outcome and analysis regarding cases against the PLO, Arab Bank, or others acting in Palestinian interests - all of …

International Surrogacy Contract Regulation: National Governments' And International Bodies' Misguided Quests To Prevent Exploitation, Emily Stehr

UC Law SF International Law Review

Over the past decade, a growing number pf American and European women have begun to travel to other countries, often developing countries, in search of surrogates. The surrogates are usually "gestational surrogates," meaning that the children to whom they give birth are conceived via in vitro fertilization. The children are thus genetically related to the commissioning parents, or to the commissioning men and third-party women who provide eggs, but not to the surrogate birth mothers. Uncertainty about the legality of such surrogacy contracts in the United States, and outright bans on the contracts in some European countries, fuel the "reproductive …

Face-Veil Bans And Anti-Mask Laws: State Interests And The Right To Cover The Face, Evan Darwin Winet

UC Law SF International Law Review

In the past decade, numerous nations have responded to the perceived threat of the Islamic face-veil (niqab) by taking steps to implement laws restricting the right to cover the face in public. France and Belgium have passed general bans. Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and several states of Australia have introduced similar measures. Syria, Egypt and Sweden have all passed laws banning face-veils in public schools. Many other nations and more local governments have considered anti-veil legislation or upheld the denial of basic services to citizens who cover their faces.

This Note begins with a historical approach to the practice …

The Opaque Future Of Tax Information Sharing Between The United States And China: An Analysis Of Bank Secrecy Laws And The Likelihood Of Entrance Into A Tax Information Exchange Agreement, Emily Wang

UC Law SF International Law Review

Offshore tax evasion and barriers to tax information exchange between countries have been an increasing problem for tax authorities around the globe. Since the launch of the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) in 2002 by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United States and China have signed TIEAs with various other countries, but not with each other. This Note examines the possibility of China and the U.S. entering into a TIEA for the purpose of a better tax information exchange between the two countries.

This Note first explains the nature of offshore accounts tax evasion and the …

An Examination Of The Law, Or Lack Thereof, In Refugee And Displacement Camps, Kelsey Kofford

UC Law SF International Law Review

When people envision refugee and displacement camps, rarely do they conjure up images or symbols of justice. There are no courthouses, no judges, no attorney offices, and no actual law enforcement in their virtual depictions - and with good reason. In reality, there is little to no access to justice in camplife. Refugee and displacement camps are essentially lawless. This Note endeavors to answer why there is no legal infrastructure in camps by examining the rise of the camp model, the law on the books versus the law in action in camps, and some on-the-ground problems that occur and inhibit …

The Rule Of Law In Outer Space: The Effects Of Treaties And Nonbinding Agreements On International Space Law, Brian Wessel

UC Law SF International Law Review

Since the 1980s, states have increasingly relied on nonbinding agreements over binding treaties to govern activities in outer space. Although this trend has produced considerable debate among both scholars and practitioners, it appears likely to continue in the near future. Recently, commentators have begun using the concept of the rule of law to criticize this reliance on nonbinding space agreements, but these commentators rarely discuss what is meant by "the rule of law." This Article examines several theories of rule of law and applies those theories in evaluating recent criticisms of current and proposed nonbinding space agreements. Through the lens …

International Law And Limitations On The Exercise Of Extraterritorial Jurisdiction In U.S. Domestic Law, Dan E. Stigall

UC Law SF International Law Review

With the rise of transnational crime, domestic courts are increasingly called upon to make decisions, within the context of a national court and domestic legal system, which implicate international issues and the interests of other sovereign states. This Article explores the role of international law in U.S. law in the context of an area of law which marks the intersection between domestic law and international affairs: the exercise of extraterritorial jurisdiction. The analysis demonstrates the continued force of international law in the body of U.S. domestic law which governs this realm and highlights both the advantages and dangers attendant to …

Where Does The Dirham Stop In A Sukuk Default, Irina Marinescu

UC Law SF International Law Review

Socioeconomic unrest across Shari'ah (Islamic law) - abiding jurisdictions comes at a time of expanding Islamic financial markets. This Note focuses on one prominent financial instrument fueling growth in the Islamic finance landscape: sukuk. This Note explores legal uncertainties around sukuk default mechanisms and their implications for creditors and the world at large. In so doing, this Note argues that holders of sukuk, which are participatory certificates evidencing Shari'ah-compliant interests, stand to lose their capital depending on whether they have true recourse to the underlying assets. Part II frames the discussion by briefly introducing the reader to Islamic finance and …

Introduction To "Litigating Palestine: Can Courts Secure Palestinian Rights?", George Bisharat

UC Law SF International Law Review

This brief introduction outlines the premises of a conference entitled "Litigating Palestine: Can Courts Secure Palestinian Rights?" where two articles from this issue of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review were first presented. The conference premises were: first, that Palestinians have human, civil, and collective national rights; second, that Israel has a lengthy and well-documented record of violating Palestinian rights; and third, that it is an empirical fact that a number of efforts have been launched to protect Palestinian rights in a number of court systems throughout the world. This being the case, it seems appropriate to evaluate these …

Open Oceans And Marine Debris: Solutions For The Ineffective Enforcement Of Marpol Annex V, Andrew Rakestraw

UC Law SF International Law Review

Located midway between Hawaii and California, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a vast soup of plastic and other garbage from land- and ship-based sources. Plastics are the primary component of this mass and wreck havoc on marine animal populations and present a serious threat to human health.

Regulating this debris dumped from cargo ships at an international level presents numerous challenges. The immensity of the ocean and the lack of state jurisdiction beyond 200 miles off the coast make effective enforcement of plastics dumping regulations very challenging. The current regulatory system essentially leaves compliance with international standards up to …

Licensing And Access Problems Producers Of Video Games Face In Foreign Markets: A Case Study, Jason Ross

UC Law SF International Law Review

Nearly a decade ago an American online video game called Everquest swept the world markets and generated enormous profits. Since then a genre of video games known as Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games has developed. Capitalizing on the genre's huge success, Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft (WoW) has catapulted gaming to new heights earning over USD $1 billion annually. While the game is sold globally, Chinese players account for nearly half of WoWs player base. Keeping this enormous market has, however, been challenging and for nearly two years Blizzard lost its market access in China.

Using Chinese WoW as …