Law Commons^™

Nafta Title Vi Customs Modernization Act: An Importer’S Obligation To Use “Reasonable Care” Vs. Its Desire To Maximize Profits, Rosi Lehr

Rosi Lehr

No abstract provided.

Plain Packaging And The Interpretation Of The Trips Agreement, Daniel J. Gervais, Susy Frankel

Daniel J Gervais

Plain packaging of cigarettes as a way of reducing tobacco consumption and its related health costs and effects raises a number of international trade law issues. The plain packaging measures adopted in Australia impose strict format requirements on word trademarks (such as Marlboro or Camel) and ban the use of figurative marks (colors, logos, etc.). As a result, questions have been raised as to plain packaging’s compatibility with the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). WTO members can validly take measures to protect and promote public health, but in doing so they …

International Cooperation Over Water Use In Central Asia, Jaume Saura Estapà

Jaume Saura Estapà

The aim of this paper is to analyse one of the key factors for understanding the region ofCentral Asia: its distinctive relationship to water resources. The first section examines the management of water resources in the region from the viewpoint of the obligation of cooperation established in general international law. Then, we explore the implications of water management in terms of the rights of citizens, regional cooperation in the management, conservation and sustainable development of the inland fisheries of Central Asia, and cooperation in the generation and distribution of hydroelectric power in the region.

Affirming The Ban On Harsh Interrogation, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Mary Ellen O'Connell

Beginning in 2002, lawyers for the Bush Administration began producing the now infamous legal memoranda on the subject of interrogation. The memoranda advise interrogators that they can torture people without fear of prosecution in connection with the so-called global war on terror. Much has been and will be written about the expedient and erroneous legal analysis of the memos. One issue at risk of being overlooked, however, because the memos emphasize torture, is that the United States must respect limits far short of torture in the conduct of interrogations. The United States may not use any form of coercion against …

When Is A War Not A War? The Myth Of The Global War On Terror, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Mary Ellen O'Connell

It is essential to correctly classify situations in the world as ones of war or peace: human lives depend on the distinction, but so do liberty, property, and the integrity of the natural environment. President Bush's war on terror finds war where suspected members of al Qaeda are found. By contrast, war under international law exists where hostilities are on-going. To the extent there is ambiguity, the United States should err on the side of pursuing terrorists within the peacetime criminal law enforcement paradigm, not a wartime one. Not only does the criminal law better protect important human rights and …

Public Policy In International Investment And Trade Law: Community Expectations And Functional Decision-Making, Diane A. Desierto

Diane A Desierto

This article uses a contextual policy-oriented approach to assess how the standing debate on a State's regulatory freedom has been treated within international investment law (e.g. case-by-case interpretation of variant treaty design in each case), in contrast with how the issue of domestic regulatory autonomy in international trade law has evolved towards coordination (e.g. attempted harmonization of the same set of instruments). The article submits a different view from many primarily trade law/investment law scholars (and other systemic integrationists who idealize a seamless shift from trade law to investment law), who have postulated that this fundamental issue of State regulatory …

The International Criminal Court And Lubanga: The Feminist Critique And Jus Cogens, Eric Allen Engle

Bocconi Legal Papers

The Lubanga decision, despite procedural missteps, further anchors the prohibition of child soldiers and child auxiliaries under international law. Feminist criticisms of Lubanga misapprehend the potential of Lubanga to attain the types of legal victories feminists strive for. While one can criticize Lubanga as a matter of procedure, Lubanga methodically strengthens the prohibition of child soldiery. The prohibition of child soldiers, like the prohibition of wartime rape, forced prostitution, and child sex-tourism are or are becoming jus cogens norms. Lubanga contributes to this coherence of jus cogens and sets the stage for extension of its logic into other wrongs committed …

Efficient Breach In The Common European Sales Law (Cesl), Wenqing Liao

Wenqing Liao

In the classic economic theory, it is suggested that contract law should be structured in such a way that efficient breaches (i.e. those increasing social welfare) would be promoted. The default remedy of expectation damages was justified on this cognition. Nowadays, more and more suspects and critiques are raised against the so called simple efficient breach model. The aim of this paper is to re-sketch the theory of efficient breach and to compare the consequences resulting from economic analysis with the remedy rules of the Common European Sales Law (CESL). It is proposed that the doctrine of efficient breach has …

Efficient Breach In The Common European Sales Law (Cesl), Wenqing Liao

Wenqing Liao

In the classic economic theory, it is suggested that contract law should be structured in such a way that efficient breaches (i.e. those increasing social welfare) would be promoted. The default remedy of expectation damages was justified on this cognition. Nowadays, more and more suspects and critiques are raised against the so called simple efficient breach model. The aim of this paper is to re-sketch the theory of efficient breach and to compare the consequences resulting from economic analysis with the remedy rules of the Common European Sales Law (CESL). It is proposed that the doctrine of efficient breach has …

Border Searches In The Age Of Terrorism, Robert M. Bloom

Robert Bloom

This article will first explore the history of border searches. It will look to the reorganization of the border enforcement apparatus resulting from 9/11 as well as the intersection of the Fourth Amendment and border searches generally. Then, it will analyze the Supreme Court's last statement on border searches in the Flores-Montano27 decision, including what impact this decision has had on the lower courts. Finally, the article will focus on Fourth Amendment cases involving terrorism concerns after 9/11, as a means of drawing some conclusions about the effect the emerging emphasis on terrorism and national security concerns will likely have …

Flawed Transparency: Shared Data Collection And Disclosure Challenges For Google Glass And Similar Technologies, Jonathan I. Ezor

Jonathan I. Ezor

Current privacy law and best practices assume that the party collecting the data is able to describe and disclose its practices to those from and about whom the data are collected. With emerging technologies such as Google Glass, the information being collected by the wearer may be automatically shared to one or more third parties whose use may be substantially different from that of the wearer. Often, the wearer may not even know what information is being uploaded, and how it may be used. This paper will analyze the current state of U.S. law and compliance regarding personal information collection …

The Problem Of Risk In International Criminal Law, Mark Summers

Mark Summers

This article explores the question of attribution of liability for international crimes via doctrines predicated on risk or recklessness. It traces the development of risk attribution from the Tadic case, the first decided by the International Crminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia, to the Lubanga case, the first decided by a Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC). It argues that because of the inherent difficulty in holding senior political or military leaders responsible for the conduct of subordinates, liability for risky or reckless conduct is necessary if international criminal courts are to avoid impunity. Nonetheless, the development of …

Can Self-Regulation Work? Lessons From The Private Security And Military Industry, Daphne Richemond-Barak

Daphne Richemond-Barak

Various efforts have been undertaken in recent years to clarify the legal framework governing the outsourcing of security and military functions to private actors. While national and international legislation have made little progress, self-regulation has advanced steadily. The article provides the first normative assessment of self-regulation in the private security and military industry – and as such offers interesting insights for other industries that are transnational in reach and under-regulated by domestic, regional, and international law. Though industry critics tend to deplore the normative 'softness' of self-regulation and its voluntary nature, it appears to have shifted behavioral norms and triggered …

Enhancing Human Rights Through European Integration: How Recent Litigation Before The European Court Of Human Rights And The Court Of Justice Of The European Union Has Advanced European Aslyum Law, Clara Presler

Clara Presler

Recent case law from the two European courts charged with protecting human rights -- the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice for the European Union -- reveals mutual influence that has enhanced protection of asylum seekers. The two courts’ willingness to engage in the other’s legal reasoning has resulted in rapid development in the areas of eligibility for asylum protection, detention of asylum seekers, and the Dublin II Regulation. This interplay has occurred despite the fact that the courts are not formally bound to each other, and each employs different procedures, mandates, and substantive law. In …

A Spectrum Of International Criminal Procedure: Shifting Patterns Of Power Distribution, Jessica S. Peake

Jessica S Peake

International criminal procedure is characterized by a fundamental structural shift in the allocation of power between the actors in a criminal trial – the judges, Prosecution and defense - away from that traditionally ascribed under an adversarial system and towards the power distribution structure more common to the inquisitorial system. By looking at the Statutes and RPEs of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), it is possible to identify varying degrees of power shifts in each court: across each we see a …

Integrating African Markets Into The Global Exchange Of Services: A Central African Perspective, Regis Y. Simo

Regis Y. Simo

Services liberalisation has gradually become very important for growth in developed and less-developed countries alike and can, as such, be seen as development prospects for sub-Saharan Africa where numerous economic integration attempts are stories of repeated failures. Despite the abundant literature on PTAs, however, little attention has been given to Central Africa Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) as a trade bloc. This is an attempt to address that dearth

At a time when “boosting intra-African trade” is gaining currency on the continent, this article tests the compatibility of the potential CEMAC economic integration agreement (EIA) against the background of the …

A Proposal For Resolving The Justice Versus Peace Dilemma, Kenneth Williams

Kenneth Williams

Those who commit human rights violations have historically not been held accountable for their actions. That is no longer the case. The modern trend is to prosecute individuals who commit human rights atrocities. As the United Nations Secretary General has noted, international law has evolved from an "old era of impunity" to a "new age of accountability." Most international scholars would support this trend. However, the prospect of criminal prosecution may cause human rights violators to be more reluctant to give up power and agree to any peaceful resolution of a conflict. This article makes the case that a one …

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 Problem Of Thirst: The Right To Equality And The Unlawful Privatization Of Water, Kasari Jl Govender

Kasari JL Govender

The problem of thirst is a massive one, and a child dies every 15 seconds from disease related to lack of access to safe, clean water. Privatization is touted as the solution to water injustice, despite evidence that privatization of water services only increases water deprivation for the poorest citizens. This paper examines whether a privatized for-profit system of water access for personal use infringes the human right to water, and whether states have a legal responsibility to protect their citizens from any and all third party business interests in water. The problem of thirst is considered from the perspective …

Conflict Minerals And The Law Of Pillage, Patrick J. Keenan

Patrick J. Keenan

The illicit exploitation of natural resources—often called conflict minerals—has been associated with some of the worst violence in the past half-century, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Prosecutors and scholars have struggled to develop legal tools to adequately hold accountable those who have been responsible for the exploitation of civilians and resources in conflict. The most common legal tool, the crime of pillage, has been inadequate because it has been applied only to discrete, relatively small episodes of theft. As important as it has been, the episodic theory is of limited utility when applied to what have been called …

Foreign Direct Investment In Post-War Iraq: An Investor's Introductory Guide To The Legal Framework, Jordan E. Toone

Jordan E. Toone

In spite of its troubled past and ongoing internecine violence, Iraq today stands at the threshold of economic opportunity in ways that few developing states—much less war-torn states like Iraq—could imagine. The Iraq National Investment Commission reported, for example, that in 2010, 178 companies filed for investment licenses totaling $10.5 billion. Currently, the primary foreign participants in Iraq’s post-war economic expansion are sophisticated multinational corporations (MNC), many of which have experience investing in politically and economically unstable markets, including those in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In their efforts to capitalize on Iraq’s unrivalled natural resources and …

Theory Of Constitutional Comparison, Sebastian Müller-Franken Prof. Dr

sebastian müller-franken prof. dr

The article looks into constitutional comparison from a theoretical perspective. It shows the variety of different purposes this juridical discipline pursuits. So constitutional comparison for example takes advantage creating constitutional theory or gives an orientation for constititional politics. The article also shows how constitutional comparison can render benefits for the application of constitutional law without giving up national sovereignty.

The Rule Of Law Goes To Work: How Collective Bargaining May Promote Access To Justice In The U.S., Canada, And Around The World, Christopher David Ruiz Cameron

Christopher David Ruiz Cameron

No abstract provided.

Right To Asylum Under International Human Rights Law And Edward Snowden Case, Dr Nafees Ahmad

Dr Nafees Ahmad

No abstract provided.

A Maelstrom Of International Law And Intrigue: The Remarkable Voyage Of The S.S. City Of Flint, Andrew J. Norris

Andrew Norris

No abstract provided.

„Zuerst Schlichten, Dann Richten“: O Modelo Suíço De Solução De Litígios Pré-Processual É Adequado Para O Brasil?, Nelson Rodrigues Netto

Nelson Rodrigues Netto

Dieser Aufsatz analysiert die Schlichtung und die Mediation in der Schweizerische Zivilprozessordnung.

Kiobel, Extraterritoriality, And The "Global War On Terrorism", Craig Martin

Craig Martin

For the purpose of exploring the issues of extraterritoriality raised in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., this project sought to examine how the federal courts have considered extraterritoriality in cases arising in the so-called “global war on terror” (GWOT). The inquiry leads to some new and arguably important observations about extraterritoriality in the GWOT policies and related jurisprudence. The plaintiffs in Kiobel claimed, under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), that the defendant corporations were liable for complicity in Nigeria’s conduct of indefinite detention, torture, and extrajudicial killing. The U.S. Supreme Court departed from the issue of corporate liability under …

Foreign Investment-Induced Migration In Colombia: Rethinking The Legal Schemes Of Protection And Accountability, Marco A. Velásquez-Ruiz

Marco A. Velásquez-Ruiz

This paper intends to explore the relation between foreign investment and forced Migration in the context of Colombian armed conflict. Through the illustration of recent cases, it shows the various forms in which the operation of multinational corporations has generated adverse effects to the vulnerable communities located at their area of influence, thus generating processes of involuntary human mobility. In that way, it is established that there is a symbiotic relation between conflict and development, affecting the structure and scope of the norms for both the protection of forced migrants and accountability for human rights violations. This is so because …

Global Poverty And The Right To Development In International Law, Patrick Macklem

Patrick Macklem

This Article advances an account of the right to development as a legal instrument that holds the international legal order accountable for its role in the production and reproduction of global poverty. It first distinguishes moral conceptions of human rights, as instruments that protect universal features of humanity, from legal conceptions, which tie their existence to their specification in international instruments promulgated in compliance with international legal norms governing the creation of legal rights and obligations. Despite textual ambiguities in the various instruments in which it finds expression, the right to development vests in individuals and communities who have yet …

International Environmental Law As An Art And A Craft, Jae-Hyup Lee

Jae-Hyup Lee

This is a review article about Professor Daniel Bodansky's "The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law." The book provides an accessible, yet comprehensive, overview of international environmental law, a field that has undergone rapid development and has become one of the most important issues of our time. Although there are many treatises and casebooks on this subject, this single source stands out because of its thematic and pragmatic approaches to the problem. Author's characterization of international environmental law as an "art" and a "craft" quite convincing and every reader will enjoy reading this excellent book.