Law Commons^™

Quilombo Land Rights, Brazilian Constitutionalism, And Racial Capitalism, Karen Engle, Lucas Lixinski

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The 1988 Brazilian Constitution, the first in a wave of new democratic and multicultural constitutions in Latin America, contains a transitory provision guaranteeing collective land rights to quilombo communities. These communities are composed of quilombolas, primarily descendants of formerly enslaved Africans, many of whom had escaped slavery. A 2003 executive decree to implement the land title provision became the subject of a constitutional challenge lasting over fifteen years. When the Brazilian constitutional court eventually upheld the decree in 2018, it relied heavily on the work of US political theorist Nancy Fraser to justify quilombo land title as both recognition and …

What Will China Do When Land Use Rights Begin To Expire?, Gregory M. Stein

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

China does not permit the private ownership of land. Instead, private parties may obtain the right to use property for up to seventy years. These parties own the structures on the land but not the underlying real estate. China's recent economic boom hinges on the success of its real estate market, but the government has not yet addressed three critical questions it must answer soon: Does the holder of a land use right have the ability to renew that right when it expires? If the holder has this ability, must it pay to renew the right? And, if the holder …

Finding A Right To The City: Exploring Property And Community In Brazil And In The United States, Ngai Pindell

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Increasing poor people's access to property and shelter in urban settings raises difficult questions over how to define property and, likewise, how to communicate who is entitled to legal property protections. An international movement--the right to the city--suggests one approach to resolving these questions. This Article primarily explores two principles of the right to the city--the social function of property and the social function of the city--to consider how to better achieve social and economic justice for poor people in urban areas. Using Brazil as one example of a country incorporating these principles within constitutional and statutory provisions and employing …

Competing Claims: The Struggle For Title In Nicaragua, Michael Roche

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Nicaragua's Sandinista Revolution of the 1980s left the country's property scheme in a state of disarray. For eleven years, the leftist Sandinista government instituted mass land confiscations and agrarian reform that caused many individuals to lose their property and flee the country. The transition to democracy begun in 1990 has been a difficult process for the country's new presidents who have been forced to reconcile competing claims and fight corruption from within their own ranks. In this Note, the Author examines the property legacy created by the Sandinista Revolution. With another round of presidential elections scheduled for November 2006, the …

The Future Of Hong Kong: Not What It Used To Be, Peter Wesley-Smith

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

With the re-integration of Hong Kong into the People's Republic of China in June 1997, this Article provides an insightful review and analysis of the history of the "Hong Kong question" from the cession of Hong Kong island to the British Crown in 1842 to the territory's current status in 1997. This Article begins with an overview of Hong Kong's early colonial history, examining the acquisition and retention of Hong Kong by the British Government. This Article then continues with a detailed account of the treatment of Hong Kong, including the eventual decision to return Hong Kong to the People's …

What Should Be The Leading Principles Of Land Use Planning? A German Perspective, Clifford Larsen

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Article discussing German land use planning, the author begins by tracing the historical emergence of land use planning in Germany. The author then evaluates the influence of Germany's constitution on the fundamental principles of land use planning. The author reviews German land use planning's historical and constitutional foundations, then examines the goals guiding federal and state planning and the system constructed to achieve these goals. The author proceeds to analyze the challenges presented to German land use planning by reunification, the environment, and European interdependence. In conclusion, the author reviews the relative merits of German land use planning …

Privatization In Eastern Germany: A Comprehensive Study, Rainer Frank

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

One of the greater problems arising from the reunification of Germany has been the privatization of land in eastern Germany. Initially, the principle that shaped the privatization policies was restitution, the idea that land unlawfully taken by the former East German government should be returned to its rightful owner. A second goal of the privatization program was to stimulate investment in the economy of eastern Germany. These two goals, however, have conflicted. The result has been a policy that has created confusion with regard to the ownership of property and clear title. This Article examines two series of amendments, in …

Loan Guarantees, Israeli Settlements, And Middle East Peace, John Quigley

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Professor Quigley questions whether the United States should guarantee loans for Israel in light of Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank. The author believes that Israel's policies of displacing the local Palestinian population and transferring its own population into the West Bank violate the Geneva Civilian's Convention and the accepted principles of belligerent occupation. Consequently, Mr. Quigley argues that any aid the United States gives Israel might facilitate these illegitimate activities and make the aid grant itself an illegal act in the eyes of the international community. Professor Quigley concludes that the United States support of Israel's settlement activities …

Case Digest, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act is Applicable to Aliens on Foreign Vessels Outside the Territory of the United States--Fourth Amendment Held Inapplicable to Searches and Seizures on the High Seas, United States v. Davis, 905 F.2d 245 (9th Cir. 1990)

Executive Order Authorizing Naturalization for Aliens Serving in Designated Geographical Areas During Grenada Campaign Struck Down--President Reagan Held to Have Exceeded His Authority--Severability of Order Impossible as President Did Not Intend that All Aliens Serving in United States Forces at Time of Campaign Become Citizens--Reyes v. United States Dep't. of Immigration & Naturalization, No. 89-55403 (9th Cir. 1990).

Provision of …

Judicial Deference In The Submerged Lands Cases, Jonathan I. Charney

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

When the Constitution established three branches of government, it did not create three hermetically sealed areas of responsibility. The executive, legislative and judicial branches are required to govern through a certain degree of accommodation. One area in which the need for accommodation between the judicial branch and the other two branches was recognized at an early stage is cases containing questions bearing on foreign relations.' Under the Constitution it appears that the conduct of the foreign relations is vested in the Executive with a secondary role for the Congress, but that the courts have no role to play in this …