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Full-Text Articles in Law

Kosovo's Controversial 100 Percent Tariff: An Analysis Of Its Imposition And The Issues Bleeding Into The Conflict Between Kosovo And Serbia, Ernira Mehmetaj Jun 2020

Kosovo's Controversial 100 Percent Tariff: An Analysis Of Its Imposition And The Issues Bleeding Into The Conflict Between Kosovo And Serbia, Ernira Mehmetaj

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

On November 6, 2018, Kosovo imposed a 10 percent tariff on products imported from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Later that month, on November 28, 2018, after Kosovo was denied membership in the International Criminal Police Organization, Kosovo increased the custom tariffs on Serbian and Bosnian goods from 10 to 100 percent. These actions resulted in a standstill of the European Union–mandated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue—a dialogue seeking to normalize the relations between the two states. Having the tumultuous history shared by Kosovo and Serbia as a backdrop, this Note analyzes the international agreements Kosovo is party to, specifically the Central European …


The Legal History Of State Legislative Vacancies And Temporary Appointments, Tyler Yeargain May 2020

The Legal History Of State Legislative Vacancies And Temporary Appointments, Tyler Yeargain

Journal of Law and Policy

We love paying attention to special elections. They operate as catharsis for opposition parties and activists, easily serve as proxies for how well the governing party is doing, and are ripe for over-extrapolation by prognosticators. But in thirty states and territories throughout the United States, state legislative vacancies are filled by a combination of special elections and temporary appointments. These appointment systems are rarely studied or discussed in academic literature but have a fascinating legal history that dates back to pre-Revolutionary America. They have substantially changed in the last four centuries, transitioning from a system that, like the Electoral College, …


Reducing The Governance Gap For Corporate Complicity In International Crimes, Seunghyun Nam Dec 2019

Reducing The Governance Gap For Corporate Complicity In International Crimes, Seunghyun Nam

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

With increasing reports of corporations involved in serious human rights abuses that amount to international crimes, there are greater calls for states to hold these corporations accountable. Still, many obstacles and challenges remain when it comes to holding corporations accountable. Complex corporate structures, the extraterritorial dimension of the abuses, competition among states and businesses, lack of institutional capacity on the part of states, and lack of legal coordination among states collectively create an impunity gap. The case studies of the situation in Burma and the Democratic Republic of Congo involving foreign companies aim to illustrate this governance gap. With growing …


The Clone Wars: The Right To Embryonic Gene Editing Under German Law, Keren Goldberger Dec 2019

The Clone Wars: The Right To Embryonic Gene Editing Under German Law, Keren Goldberger

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Germany has the strictest genetic engineering laws in the world and bans virtually all kinds of embryonic gene editing. Since the invention of CRISPR, however, embryonic gene editing is more precise, and the possibilities of curing genetic diseases are more real than ever. This Note will argue for the right to embryonic gene editing through an analysis of German constitutional privacy and right to life jurisprudence. Ultimately, this Note argues for a right to procreate under German law that is backed by the state’s affirmative duty to encourage and protect life. When the technology is available, German Law should not …


Forging Taiwan’S Legal Identity, Margaret K. Lewis Jul 2019

Forging Taiwan’S Legal Identity, Margaret K. Lewis

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The legal system in Taiwan is undergoing a transformation. Over a hundred years since the founding of the Republic of China and over thirty years since the end of martial law on Taiwan, a new legal identity is being forged. Public criticism of “dinosaur” judges and esoteric debates among law-trained elites have galvanized efforts to create a more inclusive discussion surrounding legal reforms. Taiwan is facing the challenge of moving from dinosaurs to dynamism. This Article argues that transparency, clarity, and participation both are animating principles of the current reform debate and are beginning to emerge as characteristics of Taiwan’s …


Grinding Down The Edges Of The Free Expression Right In Hong Kong, Stuart Hargreaves Jul 2019

Grinding Down The Edges Of The Free Expression Right In Hong Kong, Stuart Hargreaves

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

In the liberal-democratic tradition limits on speech must be clear, precise, and subject to justification within the particular constitutional framework of a given jurisdiction. In the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the Court of Final Appeal has developed a line of jurisprudence that explains under which circumstances the Government of Hong Kong (Government) may seek to limit the free speech provisions contained within the Basic Law, Hong Kong's quasi-constitution. In its fight against ‘localists,’ however, rather than legislating a clear speech restriction that is consistent with this jurisprudence, the Government has instead attempted to suppress unwelcome political speech in …


Roots Of Revolution: The African National Congress And Gay Liberation In South Africa, Joseph S. Jackson Jul 2019

Roots Of Revolution: The African National Congress And Gay Liberation In South Africa, Joseph S. Jackson

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

South Africa’s post-apartheid constitutions were the first in the world to contain an explicit prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, and that prohibition established the foundation for marriage equality and broad judicial and legislative protection of gay rights in South Africa. The source of this gay rights clause in the South African Constitution can be found in the African National Congress’s decision to include such a clause in the ANC’s A Bill of Rights for a New South Africa, published when the apartheid government of South Africa was still in power. This article traces the story of that …


The Need For A Shared Responsibility Regime Between State And Non-State Actors To Prevent Human Rights Violations Caused By Cyber-Surveillance Spyware, Anna W. Chan Jul 2019

The Need For A Shared Responsibility Regime Between State And Non-State Actors To Prevent Human Rights Violations Caused By Cyber-Surveillance Spyware, Anna W. Chan

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Technology has undoubtedly contributed to the field of human rights. Internet connection and a smartphone has enabled activists to call out political leaders, shine light on human atrocities and organize mass protests through social media platforms. This has resulted in many authoritarian governments spending large amounts of their resources to purchase cyber-surveillance spyware systems from multi-national corporations to closely monitor and track their citizens for any signs of dissidence. Such technology has enabled authoritarian regimes to commit human right violations ranging from invasion of privacy, arbitrary arrest, arbitrary detention, torture and even murder. Despite the uncovering of such questionable transactions …


The Plight Of Georgia: Russian Occupation And The Energy Charter Treaty, Jennessa M. Lever Jul 2019

The Plight Of Georgia: Russian Occupation And The Energy Charter Treaty, Jennessa M. Lever

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

After the Five-Day Russo-Georgian War, Russia usurped Georgian separatist territories, including a stretch of the Baku-Supsa Pipeline which provides gas to Europe. The continued occupation by Russia endangers Georgian sovereignty, natural resources, and economic security and puts Europe’s gas security at risk. The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), through provisional application, provides a unique opportunity to assist Georgia’s battle for territorial integrity. This Note will examine the ECT’s ability to provide a pathway for Georgian economic and energy security by holding Russia accountable for violations of the ECT and removing Russia’s stronghold on the region.


Comparative Analysis Of The Eu’S Gdpr And Brazil’S Lgpd: Enforcement Challenges With The Lgpd, Abigayle Erickson Jul 2019

Comparative Analysis Of The Eu’S Gdpr And Brazil’S Lgpd: Enforcement Challenges With The Lgpd, Abigayle Erickson

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

In the wake of the adoption of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018, other countries and jurisdictions have contemplated personal data privacy legislation. In August 2018, the former president of Brazil, Michel Temer, signed the country’s comprehensive data privacy regulation, Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados Pessoais (LGPD), into law. Temer, however, vetoed many of the enforcement provisions. Shortly before leaving office, Temer signed an executive order creating a regulatory agency as the bill initially called for, but situated the agency under executive control instead of creating a wholly independent agency. This Note provides a …


Safeguarding Democracy In Europe: A Bulwark Against Hungary’S Subversion Of Civil Society, Hannah J. Sarokin Jul 2019

Safeguarding Democracy In Europe: A Bulwark Against Hungary’S Subversion Of Civil Society, Hannah J. Sarokin

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Spurred in large part by a mounting humanitarian crisis in Syria, the 2015 migrant crisis exposed deeply rooted fractures within the European Union regarding refugee resettlement. While the European Union worked to develop a synchronized response to the influx of refugees and asylees, Hungary defiantly sought to close its borders. In doing so, the Hungarian government targeted not only those seeking refuge, but its own civil society. In a series of opaque and overtly punitive legislative acts passed in the summer of 2018, Hungary criminalized any civil society activities that facilitate or assist with immigration. This Note will analyze the …


Chilling Social Media: Warrantless Border Searches Of Social Media Accounts Infringe Upon The Freedom Of Association And The Freedom To Be Anonymous Under The First Amendment, Atanu Das Jun 2019

Chilling Social Media: Warrantless Border Searches Of Social Media Accounts Infringe Upon The Freedom Of Association And The Freedom To Be Anonymous Under The First Amendment, Atanu Das

Brooklyn Law Review

The Department of Homeland Security has instituted rules to allow Customs and Border Patrol officials to conduct a warrantless search the mobile device data, including social media accounts, of U.S. citizens entering the United States under the border search exception doctrine of the Fourth Amendment. However, U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence has found that there are limits to government interference in the freedom of association and freedom to be anonymous. This essay analyzes such jurisprudence as it applies to the warrantless border search of social media accounts accessible from a mobile device and concludes that this warrantless search infringes the freedom …


A Second Opinion: Can Windsor V. United States Survive President Trump’S Supreme Court?, Artem M. Joukov May 2019

A Second Opinion: Can Windsor V. United States Survive President Trump’S Supreme Court?, Artem M. Joukov

Journal of Law and Policy

This Article examines President Donald Trump’s recent recomposition of the United States Supreme Court and the potential effects on Windsor v. United States and its progeny. The Article considers whether the shifting balance of the Court may lead to reconsideration of Windsor, particularly via attempted exploits of the weaknesses in the standard of review applied to reach the decision. The Article will conclude that while revolutionary, Windsor lacked the doctrinal clarity of its offspring, Obergefell v. Hodges, and therefore may be at greatest risk of reversal by the increasingly conservative Court. In particular, the Court may rely on the conflict …


The Price Is Rights: Getting The United Arab Emirates Up To International Speed In The Labor Law Department, Janae C. Cummings Dec 2018

The Price Is Rights: Getting The United Arab Emirates Up To International Speed In The Labor Law Department, Janae C. Cummings

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Despite a rapidly growing economy and a tremendous accumulation of wealth, the United Arab Emirates has facilitated many human rights abuses against migrant workers from impoverished countries throughout the world. The UAE’s system of recruitment, payment and living conditions put already vulnerable populations in considerably worse economic conditions by exploiting their labor and creating significant barriers to challenging the unjust employment system. After being sold on the idea that migrating to the UAE would bring a semblance of economic advancement, many migrants find themselves in inhumane working conditions and debt from having to pay excessive amounts of money to recruitment …


Armenia And Azerbaijan's Struggle With Occupation In Nagorno-Karabakh, Carolyn Morway Dec 2018

Armenia And Azerbaijan's Struggle With Occupation In Nagorno-Karabakh, Carolyn Morway

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The corrupt occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding areas has resulted in displaced civilians, chaotic military violence, poor judicial law-making, and hostile international relations. Analyzing the international law of occupation’s purposes and its humanitarian requirements illustrates that there is a need for change. Set against the backdrop of Nagorno-Karabakh’s precarious situation, the international community should take this opportunity to reformulate the international law of occupation with sovereignty and humanitarian principles guiding the change. The effort could prevent another such “frozen conflict.”


The Inaugural Brooklyn Lecture On International Business Law: “Isds: The Wild, Wild West Of International Practice”, George Kahale Iii Dec 2018

The Inaugural Brooklyn Lecture On International Business Law: “Isds: The Wild, Wild West Of International Practice”, George Kahale Iii

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The lecture was delivered on April 3, 2018 at Brooklyn Law School and was sponsored by the Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law and the Brooklyn Journal of International Law.


Rethinking Isds, George Kahale Iii Dec 2018

Rethinking Isds, George Kahale Iii

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The author is Chairman of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP and has acted as lead counsel for respondent states in many investor-state arbitrations, including several of the cases referred to herein. His article won the 2019 Burton Award for Distinguished Legal Writing.


Against Aviation Orthodoxy: India's Foreign Investment Regime For The Airline Industry, Jae Woon Lee, Umakanth Varottil Dec 2018

Against Aviation Orthodoxy: India's Foreign Investment Regime For The Airline Industry, Jae Woon Lee, Umakanth Varottil

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The foreign investment regime governing the airline industry has been the subject matter of considerable debate. Our goal in this article is to supplement the literature by embarking on an analysis of the foreign investment regime in India and to cautiously suggest that India’s new regulatory reforms could be a harbinger for other states. A study of the foreign investment regime in the airline industry in India is both interesting and timely, for at least two reasons. First, India has nearly everything that bodes well for the growth of an aviation market, and it is one of the fastest growing …


Moving From Management To Termination: A Case Study Of Prolonged Occupation, David Hughes Dec 2018

Moving From Management To Termination: A Case Study Of Prolonged Occupation, David Hughes

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

In 2017, the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories reached a half-century in duration. This reignited a conversation amongst legal scholars. In articles and books, lawyers questioned the efficacy of occupation law. They asked whether it had become an anachronism. Across Israel and the Palestinian territories, those that directly invoke the law of occupation sought a more effective means of adapting the law to meet the exigencies of a fifty-year-old occupation. The accompanying debates recalled questions concerning the legal treatment of prolonged occupation. This article seeks to fundamentally alter the recurring discourse. Built around a detailed case study of Israel’s …


From Discretion To Law: Rights-Based Concerns And The Evolution Of International Sanctions, Christopher Roberts Dec 2018

From Discretion To Law: Rights-Based Concerns And The Evolution Of International Sanctions, Christopher Roberts

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

This Article considers the manner in which rights-based concerns have increasingly impacted upon the nature of international sanctions regimes. First, this Article considers two better-known instances of this impact—the manner in which general sanctions became more targeted, and the manner in which due process concerns came to receive greater respect in the context of targeting decisions. Following these investigations, this Article turns to explore a third, under-recognized development—the gradual evolution of a sense that sanctions may be required in certain instances. It explores this development by highlighting the growing scope of understandings of responsibility within various bodies of public international …


Chancing The Arm To Save The Face: The Fight For Irish Gaelic Recognition And Ending The Stormont Deadlock, Samantha F. Sigelakis-Minski Dec 2018

Chancing The Arm To Save The Face: The Fight For Irish Gaelic Recognition And Ending The Stormont Deadlock, Samantha F. Sigelakis-Minski

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Since January 2017, the Northern Irish government has been shut down, with both the Executive and Assembly collapsed and the two major political coalitions deadlocked. Since then, civil servants with no major decision-making power have largely run the government. One of the deadlock’s major battlegrounds is whether there should be legislation in Northern Ireland mandating that Gaeilge, or Irish Gaelic, be treated as a language of equal status to that of English. This Note explores this issue and argues that the right to equal language protections is founded in the right to one’s cultural identity, and as such should be …


Pursuing A Universal Threshold For Regulating Incitement To Discrimination, Hostility Or Violence, Rebecca Meyer Dec 2018

Pursuing A Universal Threshold For Regulating Incitement To Discrimination, Hostility Or Violence, Rebecca Meyer

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) recognizes that although the right to freedom of expression is essential, it is not absolute. The ICCPR prohibits speech that incites to discrimination, hostility, or violence. The provision prohibiting such speech is important to protect individuals and communities. Yet, not all countries are adequately enforcing its mandate. Such countries are letting inciting speech spread and, in some instances, violence has ensued. Conversely, some countries are taking enforcement too far, using the criminalization of inciting speech as a tool to silence political dissent. In light of the divergent interpretations—each problematic in its …


Analyzing The Potential For Universal Disarmament Of Autonomous Weapons Systems Or How I Learned To Stop Working And Love The Killer Robot, Frank Nicholas Kelly Dec 2018

Analyzing The Potential For Universal Disarmament Of Autonomous Weapons Systems Or How I Learned To Stop Working And Love The Killer Robot, Frank Nicholas Kelly

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) have recently become the subject of debate among scholars, world leaders, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the popular media. While the dangers of autonomous robotics have existed for decades in science fiction, technology has only recently made the implementation of robots capable of military combat a real possibility. With the advent of this technology, many government leaders, politicians, scientists, and business leaders are advancing the argument that just because autonomous weapons can exist does not mean they should. Some countries, however, have demonstrated a strong interest in the continued developing LAWS, making universal disarmament unlikely. This …


Venezuela: A Uniquely Senian Insight Into A Human Rights Crisis, Andrea I. Scheer Dec 2018

Venezuela: A Uniquely Senian Insight Into A Human Rights Crisis, Andrea I. Scheer

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

For over twenty decades, Venezuelan political leaders have blatantly disregarded their citizens’ human rights, leading to the downfall of Venezuela’s economy and democratic institutions, including severe food and medicine shortages, as well as staggering inflation rates. As a result, Venezuela provides a unique affirmation of the Capabilities Approach introduced by Professor Amartya Sen, which focuses not only on the freedoms that individuals possess, but also on what individuals are capable of doing as possessors of these freedoms. This Note seeks to use Sen’s Capabilities Approach to understand the nature and scope of Venezuela’s multidimensional crisis, arguing that a Senian approach …


All The President's Privileges, Ann M. Murphy Oct 2018

All The President's Privileges, Ann M. Murphy

Journal of Law and Policy

This article provides a historical perspective of the evidentiary privilege doctrines that are in play in the current Special Counsel investigation. New issues of waiver by tweet are addressed. It is well established that a sitting president is subject to judicial process in certain circumstances, and that President Trump and his close advisors have and will continue to claim one or both of these privileges. I predict that these privileges will be inapplicable, applicable but waived, or applicable but fall within the crimefraud exception to the privileges. The crime-fraud exception has never been raised in a Special Counsel investigation of …


Dads Are Parents, Too: Why Amending The Pregnancy Discrimination Act Is Necessary For Courts To Determine If A Parental Leave Policy Violates Title Vii, Krista Gay Oct 2018

Dads Are Parents, Too: Why Amending The Pregnancy Discrimination Act Is Necessary For Courts To Determine If A Parental Leave Policy Violates Title Vii, Krista Gay

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

To attract millennials desiring a work-life balance, large companies have begun to offer new parent leave to both male and female employees and commonly offer longer leave to women than men. Although a company may offer pregnancy disability leave to women without offering similar leave to men, if the company classifies the leave as parental bonding leave, it must be offered equally. If it is not, as highlighted by recent lawsuits against JP Morgan and Estée Lauder, a Title VII claim can arise. Historically, courts have had difficulty deciding if such a policy does in fact violate Title VII, because …


Essay: Corporate Triplespeak: Responses By Investor-Owned Utilities To The Epa’S Proposed Clean Power Plan, Alan R. Palmiter Jun 2018

Essay: Corporate Triplespeak: Responses By Investor-Owned Utilities To The Epa’S Proposed Clean Power Plan, Alan R. Palmiter

Brooklyn Law Review

During the year following the EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan to regulate CO2 emissions in the power sector, the largest investor-owned electric utilities engaged in a curious triplespeak. Employing the moral language of political conservatives, the utilities focused on whether and how the EPA had transgressed its “traditional” regulatory role, thus altering the “structure” of energy federalism and potentially “degrading” orderly power supplies. In disclosure filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the utilities used the moral language of political libertarians, focusing on the “financial risks” that federal government “intervention” poses to efficient power “markets” and to the “freedom” of …


When At Loggerheads With Customary International Law: The Right To Run For Public Office And The Right To Vote, Thompson Chengeta Jun 2018

When At Loggerheads With Customary International Law: The Right To Run For Public Office And The Right To Vote, Thompson Chengeta

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Many populist demagogues in America and Europe have spoken; and continue to speak; against human rights in their campaigns for political office. This article discusses the factors that have contributed to the current wave of populism; and the nature of the challenges that are presented by populism to democracy; human rights; and constitutionalism from an international human rights law perspective. It also focuses on President Donald Trump; who was voted President of the United States; even after he clearly and publicly indicated his support for torture and his intentions to approve it in the United States. To that end; the …


Whistleblowers—A Case Study In The Regulatory Cycle For Financial Services, Ronald H. Filler, Jerry W. Markham Jun 2018

Whistleblowers—A Case Study In The Regulatory Cycle For Financial Services, Ronald H. Filler, Jerry W. Markham

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission were directed by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank) to create whistleblower protection programs that reward informants with massive bounty payments. At the time of its passage, the Dodd-Frank Act was a highly controversial statute that was passed on partisan lines. Its whistleblowing authority was one of its “most contentious provisions.” As the result of the 2016 elections, the Dodd-Frank Act has come under renewed attack in Congress and by the new Trump administration. The stage is being set for possible repeal of …


Political Ideology As A Limited Protected Class Under Federal Title Vii Antidiscrimination Law, Anne Carey May 2018

Political Ideology As A Limited Protected Class Under Federal Title Vii Antidiscrimination Law, Anne Carey

Journal of Law and Policy

As the political climate in the United States becomes increasingly divided, more and more employees are fired for their off-duty political speech. Political speech is highly protected from government interference under the First Amendment, but it is not well protected from discrimination in employment matters. This is despite the fact that employers can be just as powerful and influential as the government. Although employee political speech is not currently protected at the federal level, there are a myriad of state statutes that protect employee speech from employer retaliation. Some of these state statutes protect speech on a broader level, others …