Law Commons^™

Shooting Down Hijacked Airplanes? Sorry, We’Re Humanists. A Comment On The German Constitutional Court Decision Of 2.15.2006, Regarding The Luftsicherheitsgesetz (2005 Air Security Act), Miguel Beltran De Felipe, Jose Maria Rodriguez De Santiago

ExpressO

The article analyzes a very remarkable decision of the Constitutional Court of Germany that struck down a law (2005 Air Security Law) that expressly authorized the federal government to shoot down hijacked airplanes, in case they were likely to be crashed against a target on the ground. The Court ruled that deliberately killing innocent people on board is incompatible with the right to human dignity, as established in the Basic Law. The article focuses on some of the main issues addressed by the Court (among others, the absolutization of human dignity, which makes unconstitutional for the legislature and for the …

Compensation For Property Under The European Convention On Human Rights, Tom Allen

ExpressO

This Article investigates the nature of the right to property guaranteed under the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights ('P1-1'). It argues that the European Court of Human Rights has been torn between two theories of the right to property. The first is the "integrated theory", and it holds that the right to property shares common values and purposes with other Convention rights. Hence, the interpretation of P1-1 should reflect principles developed in the interpretation of other Convention rights. It is argued that the application of the integrated theory should support a "social model" of property. The …

Losing Control: Regulating Situational Crime Prevention In Mass Private Space, Robert E. Pfeffer

ExpressO

In this article the author puts forth an approach to regulating Situational Crime Prevention (SCP) (i.e. steps to preemptively eliminate or reduce crime, such as preemptive exclusion and closed circuit TV monitoring in Mass Private Space (i.e. private property that has characteristics normally associated with public spaces, such as a large shopping mall).

It has become increasingly common for owners of mass private space to employ SCP techniques such as close circuit television monitoring, exclusion of persons based upon behavior or risk factors and limits on attire, such as colors associated with gangs. While there has been a lively scholarly …

The Right To Self-Determination And Statehood: The Case Of Kosovo, Besfort Rrecaj

ExpressO

Introduction To explore self-determination is, in the words of Antonio Cassese”, a way of opening a veritable Pandora’s Box.” Indeed, the historical evolution of the concept reveals that it has been subjected to ambiguity, misconception and contradictory application. Over the years, it was redefined and re-applied on the basis of the interests of particular states. More recent events, namely the dissolution of the USSR and Yugoslavia, have given a new perspective to the meaning of self-determination. In this post Cold War era, greater attention is being paid to the enforcement of human rights and with it, a broader understanding of …

The Anomaly Of Guantanamo: Two Innocent Men Caught In A Devastating Legal Limbo, Lauren S. Elfant

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

The Tragic Foundations Of Human Rights, Louis E. Wolcher

ExpressO

The longing for a theoretical foundation to support the aspiration for universal (international) human rights always precedes the construction of any particular foundation. This essay examines the longing for foundations in its relation to the truth of universal human suffering. Using the phenomenological method, it uncovers a certain moment of distress that shows itself in the form of longing for the constant presence of an authoritative ground that would obscure universal suffering and give focus to the phenomenon of infinite ethical responsibility that attends the I’s encounter with the suffering of others. Thought hungers for a responsibility-relieving warrant (A) for …

Torture: Considering A Framework For Limiting Use, Scott J. Goldberg

ExpressO

Abu Graib, Guantanamo, the War on Terror—the debate over the use of torture is still very much alive in the world today. The debate can be divided into two questions: (1) whether there should be an actual absolute ban where torture is never allowed either ethically or legally, and (2) if torture should be allowed under certain circumstances what form of regulation is best able to ensure that it is used only in those most limited circumstances. Currently, there is an absolute ban in place, yet world leaders, applying a case-by-case utilitarian approach, in fact permit the use of torture …

The Role Of Reservations And Declarations Before The Inter-American Court Of Human Rights: The Las Hermanas Serrano Cruz Case And The Future Of Inter-American Justice, Jessica L. Tillson

ExpressO

Las Hermanas Serrano Cruz is a landmark case in the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights because it excludes a large body of arguably valid claims from meaningful adjudication within the inter-American system. In the Las Hermanas Serrano Cruz decision on preliminary objections, the Court upheld El Salvador’s restriction to rationae temporis. Although the State’s restriction was improper both substantively and procedurally, the Court held it to be valid under the American Convention on Human Rights by misclassifying it as a declaration rather than a reservation. This mistake not only proved detrimental to the Las Hermanas Serrano Cruz …

Superstition-Based Injustice In Africa And The United States: The Use Of Provocation As A Defense For Killing Witches And Homosexuals, Jennifer Dumin

ExpressO

This Article examines two different instances where strong cultural and religious beliefs suggest that an individual is justified in taking another’s life. Focusing primarily on South Africa and the United States, it argues that the rationale used to defend those who kill suspected witches and those who kill suspected homosexuals is the same – merely because a criminal holds a belief that the victim is evil, the criminal is somehow entitled to a lesser punishment. In the United States, those who readily recognize the absurdity of the witchcraft defense may have some difficulty in recognizing the same level of absurdity …

Reinvigorating First Year Criminal Law: Integrating Mental Disability Issues Into The Criminal Law Course, Linda C. Fentiman

ExpressO

This article explores how mental disability issues can be incorporated into a traditional criminal law class, in order to enrich student understanding of both mental disability law and criminal law doctrine. The intersection of mental disability with the doctrinal aspects of criminal law can be broken into five major categories: 1) the justifications for punishment; 2) the definition of crime in general, e.g., the requirements of a voluntary act, mens rea, and causation; 3) the definition of particular crimes, such as murder, manslaughter, rape, and burglary; 4) defenses to crime, including mistake of law and of fact, as well as …

Assassination Under The International Human Law, Wasem Mawlana

ExpressO

Israel has adopted a policy of assassinations, much earlier than its racist assassination policy that was renewed during the Palestinian uprising against the occupation. It goes back as far as 1947, when Israeli terrorists assassinated special UN Representative Count Bernadette . International law prohibits without exception the extra-judicial killing of protected persons. Israel's policy of assassination clearly amounts to intentional or willful killing; such killings violate international humanitarian law, and human rights protocols. Since 9 November 2000 the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has actively pursued a policy of deliberately targeting those alleged to have carried out, or to have planned …

Minority Rights, Minority Wrongs, Elena A. Baylis

ExpressO

Many of the new democracies established in the last twenty years are severely ethnically divided, with numerous minority groups, languages and religions. In conflicts between minorities and the state, human rights and minority rights values are one set of battlefields, and claimed abuses are the weapons of choice for all sides.

National human rights institutions stand at the center of these conflicts. Minority groups should be a primary constituency for these institutions. Nonetheless, only a few of the human rights institutions in severely divided states report developing programs directed at minorities, and many shy away from involvement in their conflicts. …

The W Visa: A Legislative Proposal For Female And Child Refugees Trapped In A Post-9/11 World, Marisa S. Cianciarulo

ExpressO

Abstract of The W Visa: A Legislative Proposal for Female and Child Refugees Trapped in a Post-9/11 World Marisa S. Cianciarulo, Reuschlein Clinical Teaching Fellow, Villanova University School of Law This article addresses an urgent humanitarian crisis affecting unaccompanied or abused refugee children and widowed, divorced, abandoned or abused female heads of refugee households. Such women and children suffer the consequences of the post-9/11 U.S. refugee resettlement backlog more severely than the general refugee population. They are far more at risk of life-threatening harm such as trafficking, sexual exploitation and rape. Moreover, they are far less likely to present a …

Atca, Doe V. Unocal: A Paquete Habana Approach To The Rescue, John Haberstroh

ExpressO

The article's centerpiece is the Ninth Circuit litigation (Doe v. Unocal) charging Unocal Corp. with complicity in the Burma’s government’s use of forced labor. The article first examines the Alien Tort Claims Act, under which the action is brought, through an exploration of that statute’s original purpose and historical context. The article then looks at the modern revival of ATCA in international human rights claims, and finally closely considers the Unocal litigation, in particular the September 18, 2002 decision favoring the plaintiffs. (The 2002 decision is undergoing review by an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit, with the panel’s …