Law Commons^™

The Status Of State And Nonstate Actors In Postwar Hostilities: Restoring The Rule Of Law To Us Targeted Killing Operations, Claire Finkelstein

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

With the killing of Iranian general Qassim Soleimani, the United States crossed a new frontier in the use of extrajudicial lethal operations outside of armed conflict. As a state actor, Soleimani once would have been entirely off-limits as a target outside the context of a formal armed conflict between the United States and Iran. The Trump administration's choice to conduct a one-off strike on a state military leader indicates that conflicts among state adversaries are increasingly fought using the hybridized tools of the war on terror. This Article will argue that the increasing use of such techniques and the perceived …

The Charming Betsy Canon, American Legal Doctrine, And The Global Rule Of Law, Justin Hughes

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In the 1803 The Schooner Charming Betsy case, Chief Justice Marshall announced a canon of interpretation that "an act of Congress ought never to be construed to violate the laws of nations if any other possible construction remains." The Charming Betsy canon has become as venerable as its name is felicitous: as recently as 1988 the Supreme Court noted that the doctrine "has for so long been applied by this Court that it is beyond debate."

After exploring the traditional justifications for Charming Betsy, this Article proposes that the canon should be justified, not just by Congressional intent or separation …

Samuel Chase: In Defense Of The Rule Of Law And Against The Jeffersonians, Stephen B. Presser

Vanderbilt Law Review

Samuel Chase is not exactly unknown. Indeed, as the only U.S. Supreme Court Justice to be impeached, he achieved a sort of instant fame, or instant infamy. He is, I think, fairly characterized as a "neglected Justice," however, because, in our exclusive focus on his impeachment, we tend to forget that he did possess considerable intelligence, virtue, legal ability, and energy that make him worth our study. His life is also something of an object lesson in how a judge's self-destructive tendencies can harm his reputation. As Richard Peters, his colleague on the Pennsylvania Circuit Court remarked, Chase had a …

Unaccountable? The United Nations, Emergency Powers, And The Rule Of Law, Simon Chesterman

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

For a body committed to the rule of law in theory, the applicability of the rule of law to the United Nations in practice remains oddly unclear. This Article will not consider the personal responsibility of UN officials, who generally enjoy personal or functional immunity from legal process in the territories where they work. Rather the focus of this Article is on the quasi-constitutional question of the liability of the organization itself. As the United Nations has assumed more state-like functions-in particular through the coercive activities of its Security Council--the question of what limits exist on the powers thus exercised …

Are We There Yet?: Measuring Success Of Constitutional Reform, Maria Dakolias

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Like many other countries in the world, the United Kingdom has been modernizing its constitutional arrangements. But unlike all other countries, there is no codified, written constitution. Since 1997, that unwritten constitution has undergone a radical overhaul. Taken together, the changes to systems and institutions represent the most sustained program of reform in the United Kingdom for a century. The main question is whether these reforms were successful. What does success mean? As is well known, implementation is the key to success. So evaluating the reforms and discussing successes and challenges are not only important for the U.K. internal dialogue …

Turning To Tacitus, James Bacchus

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

What do we learn when, finally, we turn to Tacitus? Here, in our middle age, it is true that "the few of us that survive are no longer what we once were." Even so, we may be tempted, like some who opposed the oppressive rule in Rome, to see ourselves as "the last of the free.' If so, what, then, are we willing to do to preserve our freedom? What are we willing to sacrifice to save Rome?

Will we simply salute and shed a tear? Will it be said of us, as Tacitus said of the Romans during the …

The Lives Of Animals, The Lives Of Prisoners, And The Revelations Of Abu Ghraib, Charles H. Brower, Ii

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Article, Professor Brower suggests that the images depicting inhuman treatment of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison contain timely lessons about the function and the importance of legal personality. To illustrate this thesis, the Author first identifies animals as a population condemned to an existence bereft of the protections that accompany legal personality. Next, the Author describes the chilling similarities between the treatment of animals and the treatment of prisoners in Iraq and in the so-called "Global War on Terror." Finally, the Author discusses three potential lessons for a nation widely perceived to have retreated from its commitment …

War And American Constitutional Order, Mark E. Brandon

Vanderbilt Law Review

In their introduction to a fine new edition of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthrop claim that "[i]f the twentieth century has been an American century, it is because the work of America... has been to keep democracy strong where it is alive and to promote it where it is weak or nonexistent." By "democracy" they doubtless intend something akin to "constitutional democracy," "liberal democracy," or "republican government." I take each of these to be a rough proxy for a constitutionalist system that includes (1) institutions authorized by and accountable to the people (both …

Restating Duty, Breach, And Proximate Cause In Negligence Law: Descriptive Theory And The Rule Of Law, Patrick J. Kelley

Vanderbilt Law Review

The American Law Institute ("ALI") set out to restate the general common law in the United States in order to promote clarity and certainty in the common law, which were threatened by "the ever increasing volume of the decisions of the [different state] courts, establishing new rules or precedents, and the numerous in- stances in which the decisions are irreconcilable." Clarity and certainty in the common law across the United States, of course, re- quires uniformity. Naturally enough, then, the Institute recognized that a Restatement would promote clarity and certainty in the law only insofar as "the legal profession accepts …

The Rule Of Law In China, Eric W. Orts

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article explores contemporary meanings of the rule of law with a focus on its meaning in Chinese history and tradition, as well as Chinese legal institutions. Part II considers the concept of law in China, from early understandings in Confucianism and Legalism to more recent treatments in Chinese Communism. It also reviews efforts that the People's Republic of China has made in recent decades to strengthen its legal institutions. Part III begins with a discussion of the Western jurisprudential idea of the rule of law and suggests a distinction between two basic understandings: (1) rule by law as an …

Clinging To Democracy: Assessing The Russian Legislative-Executive Relationship Under Boris Yeltsin's Constitution, Ian R. Brown

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation has received harsh criticism as a document that confers strong powers upon the executive at the expense of a much weaker legislature. Such a disparity is understandable, as the Constitution was conceived out of the violent confrontation between President Boris Yeltsin and the rebellious communist-nationalist Duma in October 1993. Following the adoption of the Constitution in December 1993, many observers predicted a return to dictatorship in Russia.

Yet in practice, despite much heavy-handedness on the part of the president during the Yeltsin administration, the 1993 Constitution and the institutions it created have survived …

The Economic Implications Of The Reunification Of Hong Kong With China, Edwin L.-C. Lai

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Professor Lai presented this essay at the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law Symposium 1997: Hong Kong's Reintegration into the People's Republic of China. Professor Lai has updated his work since Hong Kong and China reunified. The author questions whether Hong Kong will really be able to remain an independent economic entity while also being a dependent political entity under the unprecedented "one country, two systems" concept.

In this essay, the author identifies the conditions under which Hong Kong's economy can prosper, both in the short term and the long term. After reviewing Hong Kong's recent economic performance, the author assesses …

The Inevitability Of Practical Reason: Statutes, Formalism, And The Rule Of Law, Daniel A. Farber

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Symposium commemorates the publication of Karl Llewellyn's assault on the canons of statutory interpretation. This Article seeks to situate Llewellyn's view of statutory interpretation within the ongoing debate between advocates of practical reason and formalism.

Many critics of practical reason question its compatibility with the rule of law. If we cannot precisely describe the operation of practical reason, can we have any confidence in its ability to guide judicial decisions? Or, on the contrary, does formalism provide a greater degree of democratic accountability, certainty, stability, and predictability than practical reason? These questions are the primary concern of this Article. …

A Reevaluation Of The Canons Of Statutory Interpretation, Joseph H. Bates

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Symposium has its genesis in the Vanderbilt Law Review's inaugural symposium, A Symposium on Statutory Construction, published in 1950.' Although the 1950 Symposium included a Foreword by Justice Felix Frankfurter and contributions by several preeminent scholars in the field, Karl Llewellyn's clumsily titled but succinctly written Remarks on the Theory of Appellate Decision and the Rules or Canons About How Statutes are to be Construed has eclipsed the Symposium which brought it to light and has persevered as a highly influential, if not definitive, critique of the canons of statutory construction.

Llewelyn's article, in general, attacks legal formalism and …

After The Gulf War: Prosecuting Iraqi Crimes Under The Rule Of Law, Louis R. Beres

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Article, Professor Beres proposes that Iraqi crimes committed during the Gulf War should be prosecuted under international law. He suggests that the United States should take the lead in this prosecution, utilizing a Nuremberg-style trial.

The Article first discusses history of the antigenocide regime in the international arena. The criminalization of genocide has been built upon the norms of international custom, natural law principles, and generally-accepted principles of law recognized by civilized nations. Moreover, evidence of this regime may be found in the Genocide Convention, the United Nations Charter, and other treaties and conventions.

Professor Beres next examines …

Private International Law As A Means To Control The Multinational Enterprise, Dimitris Tzouganatos

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article explores the different approaches taken by the academic and judicial communities of Germany and the United States in their respective attempts to derive the optimal legal policy to deal with the multinational enterprise phenomenon. It attempts to assess the success of the Private International Law method as applied in most European countries by examining whether its criteria are operational and a reflection of economic reality. The Article also analyzes whether application of such criteria ensures the enforcement of the policies of the forum. It concludes by questioning whether the Private International Law approach is a viable alternative to …

Books Received, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Books Received

THE WORLD OF SCIENCE AND THE RULE OF LAW

By John Ziman, Paul Sieghart, and John Humphrey

New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. Pp. viii, 343. $37.00

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ESSAYS ON INTERNATIONAL LAW

By Stuart S. Malawer

Buffalo: William S. Hein & Co., 1986. Pp. ix, 201. $35.00

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THE IMF IN A CHANGING WORLD, 1945-85

By Margarett Garritsen deVries

Washington: International Monetary Fund, 1986. Pp. x,226

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SOVIET LAW AND SOVIET REALITY

By Olimpiad S. Ioffe

Dordrecht: Martinus Nijohoff Publishers, 1985. Pp. vi, 234

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SWITZERLAND'S ROLE AS AN INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTER

By Benedicte Vibe Christensen

Washington: International …

Book Review -- Federal Courts In The Early Republic, Randall Bridwell

Vanderbilt Law Review

FEDERAL COURTS IN THE EARLY REPUBLIC: KENTUCKY 1789-1816.

By Mary K. Bonsteel Tachau.

Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1978. Pp. ix, 234. $16.50.

Reviewed by Randall Bridwell

The Expansion Of Federal Jurisdiction And The Crisis In The Courts, Harry Phillips

Vanderbilt Law Review

Diversity jurisdiction has undergone intensive scrutiny and criticism for many years, with some commentators advocating repeal, and others urging retention. Among the critics of diversity jurisdiction are some of the legal profession's most prominent members. Roscoe Pound, Louis D. Brandeis, and Charles William Eliot were members of a committee that questioned diversity jurisdiction as long ago as 1914, and Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska led the Senate Judiciary Committee in recommending repeal of diversity jurisdiction in 1928. In 1954, Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter, an ardent foe of diversity jurisdiction, referred to "the mounting mischief inflicted on the federal judicial …

Twenty-Nine Distinct Damnations Of The Federal Practice -- And A National Ministry Of Justice, Arthur J. Keeffe

Vanderbilt Law Review

There are certain fundamental truths. Neither the practicing lawyer nor the best judge has the requisite time to worry about the "why" of a rule of law. And this is true whether the point be one of substantive or adjective law although, as we know, the two are inter-mixed and one.

If the day's work be done, the bar and the judiciary must take the law as they find it, right or wrong, sensible or nonsensical, and do the best they can. Theirs is not to reason why.

I do not mean to deny that now and then a court …

The Rule Of Law And The Modern Social Welfare State, Roscoe Pound

Vanderbilt Law Review

Professor Friedmann, who had already made a notable contribution to jurisprudence in his Legal Theory, now in its second edition, has now made a second and perhaps even more notable contribution toward understanding the role and presaging the future of the common law system in the society of today. His purpose is a reassessment of the function of law and of legal institutions in England a half century after Dicey's Law and Public Opinion in England during the Nineteenth Century, comparing the economic function of law and how the common law was adapted to it in the nineteenth century with …

Annual Survey Of Tennessee Law, John W. Wade

Vanderbilt Law Review

The idea of an annual survey of the law of a particular jurisdiction is not a new one, either in this country or abroad. During a period of at least 25 years an increasing number of publications have undertaken to present such a survey. The task is a delicate one, and performances have been somewhat uneven. A mere digest of appellate opinions or a scissors-and-paste collection of expressed rules of law serves some useful purpose but scarcely justifies separate existence. On the other hand an exhaustive discussion of most of the individual decisions prevents a view of the forest for …