Law Commons^™

From Origin To Delta: Changing Landscape Of Modern Constitutionalism, Jiunn-Rong Yeh, Wen-Chen Chang

ExpressO

This article deals with the question of whether and to what extent the two forces of democratization and globalization have altered our understandings of constitutionalism. We attempt to theorize a changing landscape of constitutionalism that includes transitional and transnational perspectives and examine respectively their features, functions and characteristics. First, we analyze respective developments of transitional and transnational constitutionalism by identifying their features, perspectives, functions, and characteristics. Then we examine to what extent and in what ways the developments in transitional and transnational constitutionalism pose challenges to our traditional understanding of modern constitutional laws. Finally, we shall picture a new constitutional …

Toward An International Criminal Procedure: Due Process Aspirations And Limitations, Gregory S. Gordon

ExpressO

The breathtaking growth of international criminal law over the past decade has resulted in the prosecution of Balkan and Rwandan mass murderers, the development of a substantial body of atrocity law jurisprudence and the creation of a permanent International Criminal Court with jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The growth of international criminal procedure, unfortunately, has not kept pace. Among its shortcomings, critics have pointed to lengthy pre-trial detention without a real possibility of provisional release, the use of affidavits and transcripts instead of live witnesses at trial, the absence of juries, and the right of prosecutorial …

International Law Happens: Executive Power, American Exceptionalism, And Bottom-Up Lawmaking, Janet K. Levit

ExpressO

This essay introduces “bottom-up transnational lawmaking” in the context of contemporary ideological and theoretical debates regarding the breadth and depth of executive power vis-à-vis international law. In an era of globalization, with a proliferation of transnational actors and regulatory instruments, the international lawmaking universe is disaggregating into multiple, sometimes overlapping, lawmaking communities. Neither the President nor others in the “political leadership” sits at the center of many of these communities. Thus, the nationalist critique of international law, rooted in an all-powerful executive who controls international law, creating it and using it instrumentally, in furtherance of the “national interest,” ignores a …

Global Copyright, Local Speech, Michael Dan Birnhack

ExpressO

Copyright is no longer a matter of "promoting the progress of science" in the words of the U.S. Constitution. It is now more than ever before a matter of trade. Furthermore, under the WTO's TRIPS Agreement, we now have a global copyright (G©) regime.

The globalization of copyright law destabilized previous balances. The shift to a trade environment requires us to reevaluate the previous balance. The concern explored in this article is that the old foundations will collapse under the heavy weight of global forces. The concern is that local culture, access to information, research and free speech in general, …

Beyond A Snapshot: Preventing Human Trafficking In The Global Economy, Janie Chuang

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Current legal responses to the problem of human trafficking often reflect a deep reluctance to address the socioeconomic root causes of the problem. Because they approach trafficking as an act (or series of acts) of violence, most responses focus predominantly on prosecuting traffickers, and to a lesser extent, protecting trafficked persons. While such approaches might account for the consequences of trafficking, they tend to overlook the broader socioeconomic reality that drives trafficking in human beings. Against this backdrop, this article seeks to reframe trafficking as a migratory response to current globalizing socioeconomic trends. It argues that, to be effective, countertrafficking …

Making Visible The Invisible: Strategies For Responding To Globalization's Impact On Immigrant Workers In The United States, Sarah Paoletti

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This article explores the impact of globalization on immigrant workers in the United States. Although Congress created programs to provide vocational training services and cash allowances to workers who qualified by virtue of having lost their jobs as a result of the adverse impacts of trade, these programs have done little to assist many of the immigrant workers displaced by shifting labor markets. Through critical review of two case studies, the article pursues a more comprehensive understanding of the reasons the system failed these workers, in order to better respond to systematic barriers placed in the way of limited-English proficient …

Globalization And The Construction Of Universal Human Rights, Eric K. Leonard

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The History of Human Rights: From Ancient Times to the Globalization Era by Micheline R. Ishay. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004.

and

Constructing Human Rights in the Age of Globalization edited by Mahmood Monshipouri, Neil Englehart, Andrew J. Nathan and Kavita Philip. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2003.

In Plain Sight? Human Trafficking And Research Challenges, Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

In Modern Bondage: Sex Trafficking in the Americas. Edited by David E. Guinn and Elissa Steglich. Ardsley, NY: Transnational Publishers, 2003. 475pp.

Are Workers Rights Human Rights And Would It Matter If They Were?, Richard Mcintyre

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Slaves to Fashion: Poverty and Abuse in the New Sweatshops by J.S. Ross. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004. 396pp.

and

Can Labor Standards Improve Under Globalization? by Kimberly Ann Elliott and Richard B. Freeman. Washington: Institute for International Economics, 2003. 175pp.

China's Acquisitions Abroad - Global Ambitions, Domestic Effects, Nicholas C. Howson

Articles

In the past year or so, the world has observed with seeming trepidation what appears to be a new phenomenon-China's "stepping out" into the world economy. The move, labeled the "Going Out Strategy" by Chinese policy makers, sees China acting in the world not just as a trader of commodities and raw materials, or the provider of inexpensively-produced consumer goods for every corner of the globe, but as a driven and sophisticated acquirer of foreign assets and the equity interests in the legal entities that control such assets. The New Yorker magazine, ever topical and appropriately humorous, highlighted this attention …

Corporate Militaries And States: Actors, Interactions And Reactions, Benedict Sheehy

Benedict Sheehy

Following the military forces of the US and the UK, PMF's make up the third largest contingent in Iraq. The article examines the interaction between states and PMF's, problems with their use for both contracting states and those where the PMF is operating. It provides six case studies and an examination of state legal responses.