Law Commons^™

International Issues In Common Law Choice Of Law, Harold G. Maier

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In the year 1274, Sir Hugh LaPape, knight, vassal, and retainer of his liege lord, Edward the First of England, stood on a hill outside the city of Florence, Italy, and wept. Four years before, Sir Hugh had set off for the Holy Land at the call of his king, leaving behind him a beautiful palace with tall towers, shining in the morning sun. Now he surveyed the remains of that palace, a pile of rubble, in growing anger. Although a vassal of the English king, Sir Hugh had some years before removed himself from England to Florence, Italy, where …

Professor Lowenfeld Responds, Andreas F. Lowenfeld

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Professor Silberman is as usual gracious in acknowledging my writings in various formats, and my efforts to restore conflict of laws to its place as a branch of international law, a place it has occupied in most of the world outside the United States, and occupied here as well in the view of Story and others who wrote before the balkanization of American law in the latter part of the nineteenth century. We have no disagreements on the value of the comparative method in teaching conflict of laws, civil procedure, or international litigation.

This brief response is addressed only to …

The 1994 Inter-American Convention On The Law Applicable To International Contracts, And Trends For The 1990s, Harold S. Burman

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article emphasizes the importance of teaching transnational materials in the conflict of laws class. The rapid development of the "global village" has increased the importance and need for law students to understand how conflicts issues are resolved throughout the world. A failure to address transnational issues will leave students unprepared for the world, especially the legal marketplace, that they will enter after law school.

The author suggests that the traditional study of public international law, regarding the law governing relations between states, as well as the law between states and intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, is insufficient for contemporary law …

The Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal: The Compatibility Of Peace, Politics, And International Law, Karl A. Hochkammer

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Since 1991, a brutal war has raged among ethnic groups of the former Yugoslavia. Outraged by the atrocities that have pervaded the war, the United Nations established an international tribunal in 1993 to adjudicate violations of international humanitarian law committed in the Yugoslav conflict. Although well-intentioned, the Yugoslav Tribunal nevertheless may fail to accomplish its goals. A number of practical and legal obstacles may impede its success. In particular, the United Nations lack of physical control over the combatants in the Yugoslav conflict may frustrate the Tribunal's ability to bring accused war criminals to justice. This Note surveys the problems …

Why Teach International Family Law In Conflicts?, William L. Reynolds

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Professor Reynolds sets forth a challenge to conflicts professors: to teach international family law in their conflict of laws classes. At present, many conflicts professors avoid teaching international family law, in part because the study of this subject is complicated by several statutes addressing particularly difficult issues. Ignoring international family law is unwise, because many United States citizens and lawyers are likely to confront such problems.

Moreover, this Article suggests several additional reasons for including international family law in the general conflicts course. First, litigants entangled in divorce and custody proceedings with international complications face high financial and emotional costs; …

The Internationalization Of Contractual Conflicts Law, Patrick J. Borchers

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Professor Borchers maintains that United States conflict of laws rules regarding contracts have long had an international character. This Article reviews the development of contractual conflicts law and examines how, through Joseph Story's treatises, the United States law in this area assumed an international perspective.

These international influences have played and will increasingly play an important role in the development of U.S. contractual conflicts rules. This influence can be seen in both choice-of-forum and choice-of-law agreements. Both have been upheld by U.S. courts initially in international cases, which presented starker contrasts in choice of law or choice of forum. Once …

Urban Despair And Nietzsche's "Eternal Return:" From The Municipal Rhetoric Of Economic Justice To The International Law Of Economic Rights, Barbara Stark

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Urban poverty has had a devastating impact, especially on African Americans in the United States, who have been ill-served by the rhetoric of opportunity. In this Article, the author argues that economic rights must be recognized as rights if the urban poor are even to dream of economic justice. The author uses the writings of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche to explain how the past can be reclaimed. Urban poverty must be understood in an historical context. Limiting the inquiry to a domestic historical context not only blinds people to the relationship between domestic and international poverty, and domestic and international …

International Law And The Protection Of Biological Diversity, Daniel M. Bodansky

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This article provides a general overview of international environmental law and biodiversity. First, the article argues that biodiversity is an international issue because international cooperation is necessary to implement national preservation policies effectively and because the benefits of biodiversity accrue in part to the international community. Second, the article discusses existing international law relevant to biodiversity, including wildlife and habitat protection treaties, the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity, and general principles of international environmental law such as the precautionary principle, the principle of intergenerational equity, and the principle of differentiated responsibilities. Finally, the article recommends that the international community use …

Patrimonicide: The International Economic Crime Of Indigenous Spoliation, Ndiva Kofele-Kale

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In the past two decades, the organized and systematic theft of a state's wealth and resources by its leaders has reached unprecedented levels in developing and less-developed states. Unlike previous acts of embezzlement by political leaders, this new wave of corruption-referred to as indigenous spoliation--involves billions of dollars and causes widespread social and economic devastation. This Article defines indigenous spoliation and presents some examples of this practice. The author describes the inadequacy of domestic law in dealing with the problem and suggests that international law should provide a remedy. Next, the author proposes a framework for holding persons involved in …

Changing The Approach To Ending Child Labor: An International Solution To An International Problem, Timothy A. Glut

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

A recent study by the United States Department of Labor has revealed that oppressive child labor is a serious problem in many countries. This Note begins by examining the international scope of the child labor problem, including the underlying reasons for its continued existence. The Note then discusses measures, both unilateral and multilateral, for curtailing child labor. The author determines that these measures are insufficient to end the child labor problem and discusses potential solutions to the problem. The author concludes that the most effective measure to end child labor would be a multilateral agreement with clear standards and an …

Why Redraw The Map Of Africa: A Legal And Moral Inquiry, Makau Wa Mutua

Journal Articles

This article questions the legitimacy of the African state and the imperial cartography on which it is based. It argues that African states are conceptually faulty because they are the crude and thoughtless handiworks of European colonial powers. It is the artificiality of the African state that has been responsible for its failure to cohere into a nation that is viable. The piece argues for geographic and normative re-articulation of the African state - by smashing the current states - to endow them with moral, political, and legal legitimacy. It concludes that democratic entities are unlikely to develop where pre-colonial …

International Law Of Trade Preferences: Emanations From The European Union And The United States., Kele Onyejekwe

St. Mary's Law Journal

This Article posits that the increase of tariff arrangements, like the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), is evidence of the “hardening” of a body of international trade-preference law. It contends that the law of trade preferences is widely practiced in international affairs and the developed nations which terminate all trade preferences for developing countries most likely engage in illegal conduct under international law. Classical international law principally consisted of the law between nations and an international law of trade preferences in any form was unthinkable. Thus, neither international cooperation nor a duty for developed countries to assist developing countries is …

External Sovereignty And International Law, Ronald A. Brand

Articles

This essay addresses the need to redefine current notions of sovereignty. It returns to earlier concepts of subjects joining to receive the benefits of peace and security provided by the sovereign. It diverges from most contemporary commentary by avoiding what has become traditional second-tier social contract analysis. In place of a social contract of states, this redefinition of sovereignty recognizes that international law in the twentieth century has developed direct links between the individual and international law. The trend toward democracy as an international law norm further supports discarding notions of a two-tiered social contract relationship between the individual and …

Limited Mandates And Intertwined Problems: A New Challenge For The World Bank And The Imf, Daniel D. Bradlow, Claudio Grossman

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

The sovereign states that participated in the establishment of the post-Second World War international order had a specific vision of how international organizations should function. This view was based on two premises. The first premise was that the sovereign state was the most significant actor in the international order. Consequently, only states could join and participate in the affairs of the new international organizations. Furthermore, international organizations were limited in their ability to interfere in the internal affairs of their member states.

The Legality Of Humanitarian Intervention, Malvina Halberstam

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

A Transnational Perspective On Extending Nepa: The Convention On Environmental Impact On Assessment In A Transboundary Context, Laura Carlan Battle

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

Introduction In recent years, the potential adverse impacts of transboundary pollution have received heightened attention both domestically and abroad. 1 International pollution may detrimentally affect outer space, the atmosphere, the oceans, the weather, and possibly the climate, freshwater bodies, groundwater aquifers, farmland, cultural heritage, and life forms. 2 Specific pollution threats include acid deposition, nuclear contamination, debris in outer space, stratospheric ozone depletion, and toxic petroleum spills. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, on April 26, 1986, raised the world's consciousness about the potentially devastating effects of transboundary nuclear pollution. 3 Given this backdrop and the emerging interdependence of nations, …

The Regulation Of Hazardous Substances In Mexican Law, Carl E. Koller Lucio

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

Introduction Unlike U.S. environmental legislation, which governs different environmental media and was instituted through various congressional Acts, 1 the current Mexican environmental legislation, implemented in 1988, covers the principal environmental media in one law. 2 This one law contains most of the implementation and enforcement mechanisms including the regulation of hazardous substances. There has been much debate and concern on both sides of the United States-Mexican border regarding Mexico's ability to strictly enforce its hazardous substance regulations. Furthermore, the North American Free Trade Agreement, which established an international Commission on Environmental Quality, will influence future use of trade laws to …