Law Commons^™

Diversity In The Boardroom: A Content Analysis Of Corporate Proxy Disclosures, Aaron A. Dhir

Aaron A. Dhir

My work in this field has focused on regulation by quota and regulation by disclosure. With regard to quotas, strikingly, the Norwegian law is not located in regulation that explicitly deals with human rights or equality issues; rather, it is found in the heart of the legal regime that gives life and personality to corporations – in Norwegian corporate law. I have conducted qualitative, interview-based research with Norwegian corporate directors, both men and women. It is only through understanding how the goals of the law have translated into the day-to-day existence of these individuals that we can begin to consider …

Shared Responsibility Regulation Model For Cross-Border Reproductive Transactions, Sharon Bassan

Sharon Bassan

The term “cross-border reproductive transactions” refers to the phenomenon of tens of thousands of people who travel from one country to another to purchase reproductive services, in order to have a child. The foci of this paper are the lion share of cross-border reproductive transactions, specifically between consumers, i.e., intended parents from affluent countries, and suppliers of reproductive services, egg sellers and surrogate mothers, the majority of whom are from lower middle-income countries. Strong concerns regarding the morality of consumers’ states’ policy arise when a country nationally restricts or bans commercial surrogacy, while accepting the results of cross-border reproductive transactions …

Women, Pmscs And International Law, Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

It is deeply ironic that as the implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law and human rights law has been strengthened, in the last decades, through the establishment of individual complaint procedures, specialist tribunal and courts covering breaches of human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law, there has been an erosion of these principles and protections through the privatisation of governmental and intergovernmental functions. Despite an exponential increase in the contracting out of these activities to PMSCs since 2001, the legal regulation of these companies and their personnel has been slow and fragmented.

The failure of the …

Can The Center Hold? The Vulnerabilities Of The Official Legal Regimen For Intercountry Adoption, David M. Smolin

David M. Smolin

Amidst controversy, a legal regimen for intercountry adoption (ICA) has been developed over the past twenty-five years. The primary constituent parts are the 1989 UN-based Convention on the Rights of the Child (“CRC”) and the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Convention). Since the creation of those conventions, international and national legal efforts have focused on delineation and implementation of a set of standards based on their principles in the attempt to create a stable and reliable intercountry adoption system. This project of the creation of a stable and reliable intercountry …

Widening Our Lens: Incorporating Essential Perspectives In The Fight Against Human Trafficking, Jonathan Todres

Jonathan Todres

In 2000, the international community formally launched the modern movement to combat human trafficking with the United Nations' adoption of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (Trafficking Protocol). With the Trafficking Protocol, the international community created a new cornerstone upon which to build a global initiative to combat this modem form of slavery. As the first major international treaty on human trafficking in half a century, the Trafficking Protocol represented a significant step forward. One hundred forty-seven countries are now party to the …

Female Genital Mutilation And Designer Vaginas In Britain: Crafting An Effective Legal And Policy Framework, Lisa Avalos

Lisa Avalos

The prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Britain and Europe has grown in recent years as a result of international migration, and European institutions have grown increasingly concerned with eradicating the practice. According to the European Parliament, approximately 500,000 girls and women living in Europe have undergone FGM and are suffering with the lifelong consequences of the procedure, and more than 30,000 girls in Britain are thought to be at risk of future FGM. Although Britain strengthened its law against FGM in 2003, the number of girls at risk continues to grow, and there have been no convictions for …

The Law And Economics Of Microfinance, Katherine Helen Mary Hunt

Katherine Helen Mary Hunt

Financial inclusion may be jargon which appeals to international donors and academics, but the strategic implementation in developing countries is often based on international du jour priorities, such as microfinance. The topic of microfinance is highly debated in the academic literature, although little empirical work has been published. Further, no literature to date has considered microfinance from a law and economics perspective. This paper seeks to contribute to the gap in the literature by considering how microfinance has evolved to address the credit market failure, and how microfinance regulation should be designed to promote long term financial inclusion via financially …

"That Gear Stick Is Not Your Husband's P----." Why The Dissent In Vance V. Ball State University Got It Right, And A Comparison Of The Law Of Employer Vicarious Liability For Sexual Harassment In The United States And South Africa, Justin A. Behravesh

Justin A. Behravesh

This article provides unique critical analysis of the United States Supreme Court's June 2013 decision of Vance v. Ball State University, by comparing that decision to recent South African common law and statutory developments. I argue that Vance's redefinition of what constitutes a "supervisor" for purposes of vicarious liability will have devastating effect on working women in the United States. Ultimately using South African law as a model framework, I conclude that the factors that should trigger vicarious liability should be based on policy concerns, not arbitrary definitions of what constitutes a "supervisor."

Reforming Irish Abortion Law In The Wake Of Tragedy: Looking To Portugal And Germany For Culturally Sensitive Models, Kimi M. Ide-Foster Miss

Kimi M. Ide-Foster Miss

On October 18, 2012, “inhumane laws, lack of guidelines on how to apply the laws that do exist, fear of prosecution on behalf of doctors, medical incompetence, [and] influences of the most conservative wing of the Catholic Church over hospitals” all merged together to end in one of the saddest deaths in modern medicine. The death of Savita Halappanavar, a thirty one-year old married dentist, in an Irish hospital shocked the country. Dying at the Galway University Hospital Intensive Care Unit after being 17 weeks pregnant and found to be miscarrying, her repeated requests for an abortion fell on deaf …

The Importance Of Realizing 'Other Rights' To Prevent Sex Trafficking, Jonathan Todres

Jonathan Todres

International law has long prohibited sex trafficking. The current international legal framework on sex trafficking sets forth a three-pronged approach to anti-trafficking efforts: (1) criminalization of acts of trafficking, (2) trafficking prevention programs, and (3) aid for victims of trafficking. To date, efforts undertaken by various countries have focused primarily on the first component, with comparatively minimal resources being allocated to prevention or victim assistance programs. Those countries that have initiated prevention measures tend to adopt a narrow view of "prevention programs" – focusing on activities such as public awareness campaigns warning of the penalties associated with such crimes or …

Beyond Paroline: Ensuring Meaningful Remedies For Child Pornography Victims At Home And Abroad, W. Warren H. Binford

W. Warren H. Binford

This article considers how the United States could fulfill its international treaty obligations to support the full restoration of child pornography victims in the aftermath of the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Paroline v. United States. The article details how the United States provided leadership historically in creating a skeletal legal framework domestically and internationally to help combat child pornography and restore victims, and highlights how that framework is failing victims on a near-universal basis in an age dominated by technological innovation and globalization. The article proposes the adoption and implementation of effective domestic and international …

Addressing Early Marriage: Culturally Competent Practices And Romanian Roma (“Gypsy”) Communities, Judith Hale Reed

Judith A Hale Reed

Early marriage affects many communities around the world. Examples of commonly practiced early marriage can be found today in the U.S., India, Syria, and many other places. Although most countries have instituted minimum age laws for marriage, so that legal marriage can only occur after an age set by law, early marriage is still practiced for tradition, control, security, and other reasons. This article explores the harms of early marriage and the international instruments meant to defend against these harms in Part II. Part III reviews theoretical perspectives from legal anthropology and presents a case study of early marriage in …

The Family Responsibilities Convention Reconsidered: The Work-Family Intersection In International Law Thirty Years On, Lee Adams

Lee Adams

This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981, No. 156 coming into force. Family responsibilities in the context of paid work and its implications for gender equality have been the subject of international regulation most specifically in ILO 156, although it remains a marginalized convention. Since then, the interaction of work and family and the conflict between them have exploded as a subject of scholarly importance. This article examines ILO 156 in the context of chronological development of other major international legal instruments which address the intersection of work and …

Post-Conflict Justice In The Aftermath Of Modern Slavery, Roy L. Brooks

Roy L. Brooks

Abstract

Modern slavery is defined as human exploitation over a period of time effectuated through coercion, fraud or trickery. An estimated 12.3 million people worldwide are held in some form of modern slavery, including forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, and sexual servitude. Children and women bear the brunt of modern slavery. Divided into three stages—trafficking, exploitation, and post-conflict—modern slavery has attracted much scholarly interest in recent years. However, relatively little scholarly attention has been given to the post-conflict stage. This article attempts to initiate such discussion by drawing upon the reparative framework crafted in the years since the …

U.S. Institutionalized Torture With Impunity: Examining Rape And Sexual Abuse In Custody Through The Icty Jurisprudence, Allison Rogne

Allison Rogne

It is a well-established principle, both domestically and internationally, that rape is torture when suffered as part of confinement. It is also well documented, both domestically and internationally, that rape is rampant in U.S. prisons. And it is well established, both domestically and internationally, that those who torture should not do so with impunity, that that impunity is an affront to civilization and the human rights principles to which we all strive. And yet, in U.S. prisons, shocking numbers of women are systematically raped and sexually abused by those that would rehabilitate them. Female prisoners are victims of vaginal and …

Critical Tax Policy: A Pathway To Reform?, Nancy J. Knauer

Nancy J. Knauer

The Global Recession of 2008 and ensuing austerity measures have renewed the urgency surrounding the call for fundamental tax reform. Before embarking on fundamental tax reform, this Article proposes adding a critical lens to existing US tax policy to ensure that any proposals for change are informed, transparent, and responsive to the needs (and abilities) of individual taxpayers. This Article makes the case for a specific method of inquiry – Critical Tax Policy – that is built on the articulation of difference rather than false assumptions of sameness. Critical Tax Policy incorporates the insights of a growing international tax equity …

"Destinations:" A Comparison Of Sex Trafficking In India And The United States, Sarah Montana Hart

Sarah Montana Hart

This paper finds similarities in the sex trafficking industries in the United States and India, and offers some suggestions for the international community moving forward.

Too Rough A Justice: The Ethiopia-Eritrea Claims Commission And Civil Liability For Claims For Rape Under International Law, Ryan S. Lincoln

Ryan S. Lincoln

The developments in international law prohibiting rape during armed conflict have grown at a rapid pace in recent decades. Whereas rape had long been considered an inevitable by-product of armed conflict, evolution in international humanitarian law (IHL) has relegated this conception mostly to the past. The work of international criminal tribunals has been at the forefront of this change, developing the specific elements of the international crime of rape, and helping to change the perception of rape in international law. Violations of IHL, however, also give rise to civil liability. Despite the advances with respect to rape made in the …

The Debate, David M. Smolin, Elizabeth Bartholet

David M. Smolin

This chapter is taken from a forthcoming book on Intercountry Adoption, edited by Judith L. Gibbons and Karen Smith Robati and forthcoming in June of 2012. The chapter constitutes a debate between Professor Elizabeth Bartholet and Professor David Smolin. Each independently was given three questions to answer, and then one opportunity to respond to the other's answers to those three questions, all with strict space limitations. The debate illustrates some of the starkly different perspectives regarding the law, policies, and facts relevant to intercountry adoption.

Women's Legal History Symposium Introduction: Making History, Felice J. Batlan

Felice J Batlan

This essay introduces the Chicago-Kent Symposium on Women's Legal History: A Global Perspective. It seeks to situate the field of women's legal history and to explore what it means to begin writing a transnational women's history which transcends and at times disrupts the nation state. In doing so, it sets forth some of the fundamental premises of women's legal history and points to new ways of writing such histories.

Un Women: Keeping The Gender Equality Flag Flying, Ufuoma Barbara Akpotaire

Ufuoma Barbara Akpotaire

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about my dinner with Marie Wilson and about the role of women in International Economic Development. In keeping with that theme, I was excited to read about the launch of U.N. Women on Thursday last week.

What is U.N. Women you might ask, and why do we need another agency pushing for gender equality? It is pretty simple actually. What U.N. Women does is that it combines four pre-existing U.N. agencies into one task force, i.e. the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office …

Hiv And Women: Incongruent Policies, Criminal Consequences, Aziza Ahmed

Aziza Ahmed

The new agency UN WOMEN must play an active role in the standardization of laws and policies at the global and national level where their incongruence has negative and often criminal consequences for the health and lives of women and girls. This article focuses in on three such examples: opt-out testing for HIV, criminalization of vertical transmission, and the new World Health Organization guidelines on breastfeeding.

Sex And Hiv Disclosure, Aziza Ahmed, Beri Hull

Aziza Ahmed

No abstract provided.

Violence Against Women And The Special Rapporteur On Traditional Practices Affecting The Health Of Women And The Girl Child, Ana M. Nacvalovaite

Ana M Nacvalovaite

The Article portrays a facet of the conflict between the universalism of human rights, and comprehensive analysis of the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women in the case of a woman of Malian origin sentenced to prison in France for Female Genital Mutilation. It synthesizes recognized issues in the discussion and extends them in several important directions that continue to be overlooked, such as ethno-cultural and religious diversity, conflict between the universalism of human rights, the clash between particular cultural practices concerning women and human rights norms concerning the individual, in specifically in the context of liberal democratic states. …

Women And Private Military And Security Companies, Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

Lack of clarity about the application of international law norms and inadequacies of existing regulatory regimes covering private military and security companies have reinforced concerns about transparency and accountability in respect of gender-related violence, harassment and discrimination. This chapter focuses on the main issues and legal concerns raised by the impact of the privatisation of war on women, both as PMSC employees and civilians. Part I highlights how armed conflict, civil unrest, occupation and transition have a detrimental effect upon the lives of women with particular reference to safety, displacement, health and economic disadvantage. Part II provides a summary of …

Women's Rights: The Possible Impact Of Private Military And Security Companies, Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

Armed conflict and occupation are by definition necessarily violent for all participants, be they civilians or combatants. However, for women it heralds an exacerbation in existing violence, discrimination and inequalities. While international humanitarian law (IHL) has dedicated or ‘special’ provisions for women, feminist legal scholars have done much to exposed the gendered nature of this branch of international law. In recent decades, the United Nations’ campaign of mainstreaming of women’s issues has impacted significantly on relevant human rights law (HR Law), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has actively sought to investigated and address women’s concerns. However, …

Behavioral Economic Issues In American & Islamic Marriage & Divorce Law, Ryan M. Riegg

Ryan M. Riegg

What Is Choice? Examining Sex Trafficking Legislation Through The Lenses Of Rape Law And Prostitution, Marisa S. Cianciarulo

Marisa S. Cianciarulo

Sex trafficking has proven particularly immune to attempts to eradicate it. One reason may be that some types of demand will always be illegal and thus always vulnerable to trafficking, such as violent sex or sex with minors. Another reason, however, and the one that is the subject of this article, is the lack of cohesive policy on one of the main issues surrounding trafficking: consent. As discussed below, conflicting perspectives on the nature of consent have impeded the development of effective anti-trafficking efforts. One of the main debates plaguing efforts to eliminate sex trafficking involves the definition of the …

For Women, A Court Of Last Appeal, Saumya Uma

Dr. Saumya Uma

Post-Colonialism, Gender, And Customary Injustice: Widows In African Societies, Uche Ewelukwa

Uche Ewelukwa

By amending discriminatory laws and practices related to the treatment of widows in Africa, widows can gain new rights based on evolving international human rights standards on equality. In Nigeria, both common law and statutes perpetuate discrimination against widows by subjecting them to dehumanizing treatment. The current laws ignore the deep social changes that have been present in Africa since the onset of colonialism. Due to the piecemeal way in which African legal systems were constructed, patently discriminatory laws are routinely upheld by the courts. This is done despite constitutional provisions espousing the principles of equality and non-discrimination, thereby creating …