Law Commons^™

Lessons From The Efforts To Manage The Shift Away From Defined Benefit Plans To Defined Contribution Plans In Australia, The United Kingdom, And The United States, Elizabeth F. Brown

Elizabeth F Brown

This is an earlier version of this Article that was published in the 53 American Business Law Journal 315 (Summer 2016). Please see that journal for the final version of this Article. This Article examines what lessons may be learned from examining how Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States have tried to manage the shift away from defined benefit plans towards defined contribution plans. This shift has fundamentally changed the relationship between workers and the financial industry. While defined contribution plans provide employees with some advantages over defined benefit plans (e.g., portability, early vesting, greater autonomy), they also …

The Divergent Evolution Of English Property Law, Jerry L. Anderson

Jerry L. Anderson

Despite the common origins of American and English property law, there are now some significant, and interesting, differences. This article examines five divergent aspects in the areas of title registration, limitations on ownership, condominiums, adverse possession, and foreclosure. In each case, the differences should cause us to think about whether our system represents the best approach, in terms of efficiency and fairness.

Market Corrective Rulemaking: Drawing On Eu Insights To Rationalize U.S. Regulation, Reeve T. Bull

Reeve T Bull

When justifying the government’s role in intervening in the free market, economists and legal scholars alike point to the problem of “market failures”: laissez-faire capitalism may not produce optimal outcomes in certain cases, and government interventions can promote overall market efficiency. The existence of such market failures is not terribly controversial; the question of whether government regulators can correctly identify these flaws and devise appropriate solutions, by contrast, is significantly more contentious. Unfortunately, under the existing regulatory framework, government officials are not especially well-positioned to make these difficult determinations. Congress does not, as a general matter, consider the economic costs …

Equity Crowdfunding: All Regulated But Not Equal, Garry A. Gabison

Garry A. Gabison

This paper describes how different countries have approached equity crowdfunding. This paper focuses on countries or regulatory authorities that either expressed their awareness of the phenomenon but decided to adopt a holding pattern (monitoring and investigating) or that decided to adopt new laws and regulations. Countries like Australia have opted to reaffirm how their current set of regulations applies to crowdfunding whereas others like the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, and France have elected to create new exemptions in an effort to facilitate equity crowdfunding. This paper compares how each country decided to regulate the different participants in the …

Can The Center Hold? The Vulnerabilities Of The Official Legal Regimen For Intercountry Adoption, David M. Smolin

David M. Smolin

Amidst controversy, a legal regimen for intercountry adoption (ICA) has been developed over the past twenty-five years. The primary constituent parts are the 1989 UN-based Convention on the Rights of the Child (“CRC”) and the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Convention). Since the creation of those conventions, international and national legal efforts have focused on delineation and implementation of a set of standards based on their principles in the attempt to create a stable and reliable intercountry adoption system. This project of the creation of a stable and reliable intercountry …

The Posse Comitatus And The Office Of Sheriff: Armed Citizens Summoned To The Aid Of Law Enforcement, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

Posse comitatus is the legal power of sheriffs and other officials to summon armed citizens to aid in keeping the peace. The posse comitatus can be traced back as least as far as the reign of Alfred the Great in ninth century England. The institution thrives today in the United States; a study of Colorado finds many county sheriffs have active posses. Like the law of the posse comitatus, the law of the office of sheriff has been remarkably stable for over a millennium. This Article presents the history and law of the posse comitatus and the office of sheriff …

La Rebeldía De J.Waldron: ¿Es Democrático El Control Judicial Constitucional?, Joshimar De La Cruz Aroni

Joshimar De la cruz Aroni

Constitutional Law

Brian H. Stuy (With Foreward By David Smolin), Open Secret: Cash And Coercion In China's International Adoption Program, Brian H. Stuy

David M. Smolin

Open Secret is a documentation and analysis of seriously abusive practices in China's intercountry adoption system. The article describes three kinds of abuses: baby-buying programs at Chinese orphanages, "confiscations" of children by population control officials, and "education" programs in which orphanages falsify the ages and family situation of teenagers in order to make them paper eligible for intercountry adoption. The article questions the effectiveness of the Hague legal regimen for intercountry adoption, particularly in the context of China. A brief foreward by David Smolin places Brian Stuy's extensively-researched article about adoptions from China in a broader context.

Desvelando Los Intereses Ocultos: Neoliberalismo En La Nueva "Defensa Posesoria Extrajudicial", Joshimar De La Cruz Aroni

Joshimar De la cruz Aroni

Visión crítica de la Nueva Defensa Posesoria Extrajudicial

The National Historic Preservation Act: Preserving History, Impacting Foreign Relations?, Mark P. Nevitt

Mark P Nevitt

The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) is a remarkable statutory success story, properly lauded for protecting American historic properties since its passage in 1966. But there is another, more intricate story to the NHPA. Congress added a unique extraterritoriality provision to the NHPA, implementing U.S. obligations under the World Heritage Convention (WHC), a treaty that protects properties of cultural and natural heritage worldwide. This provision requires federal agencies to take into account the effect of any undertaking outside the United States on the applicable nation’s equivalent National Register. Its proper scope and jurisdiction were unclear–until recently.A federal district court ruled …

Ensayo Sobre La Nueva Ley Universitaria 30220, Joshimar De La Cruz Aroni

Joshimar De la cruz Aroni

No abstract provided.

Plead Guilty, Without Bargaining: Learning From China’S “Summary Procedure” Before Enacting Indonesia’S “Special Procedure” In Criminal Procedure., Choky Risda Ramadhan Mr.

Choky Risda Ramadhan Mr.

Because Indonesian courts are increasingly overrun with criminal cases, Indonesian lawmakers recently introduced a criminal procedure bill to include “special procedure” (jalur khusus), a procedure that allows defendants to plead guilty in order to increase efficiency. Unlike plea-bargaining in the U.S., this procedure more resembles China’s “summary procedure,” which is solely conducted by a judge, not negotiated independently by prosecutors and defendants. Before enacting the provision of special procedure, however, Indonesian lawmakers should learn from China’s successes and failures implementing summary procedure. While this procedure resulted in increased efficiency in China, it did not provide for defense counsel, and …

Cuba And China: A Comparative Study Of Digital Oppression, Katharine M. Villalobos

Katharine M. Villalobos

The Digital Age has introduced a new form of expression that totalitarian states are struggling to silence. With social sharing websites like Twitter and Youtube, political dissidents living under oppressive governments can expose governmental abuse to web-users worldwide in a matter of seconds. However, while digital media has proved more difficult to control than traditional, non-electronic media, dictatorships like Cuba and China are resolved to prevent its inhabitants from freely using and expressing themselves on the Internet—even if that means violating their obligations as signatories of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Both Cuba and China are …

The Time Has Not Yet Come To Repair The World In The Kingdom Of God: Israeli Lawyers And The Failed Jewish Legal Revolution Of 1948, Assaf Likhovski

Assaf Likhovski

At certain moments in Israel's legal history, Jewish lawyers were forced to choose between their commitment to the professional interests of their guild and their commitment to Jewish nationalism. This dilemma was especially apparent in the debates surrounding what can be called the failed Jewish legal revolution of 1948, when Israeli lawyers had to decide whether they wanted to maintain the legal status quo by retaining the legal system that Israel inherited from the British rulers of Palestine, or whether this legal system would be replaced by one that was connected in some way to Jewish law (the Halakha). What …

Sources Of Law And Pluri-Lingualism (In Greek), Nikitas E. Hatzimihail

Nikitas E Hatzimihail

This study (which replaces an earlier article published at the law journal Χρονικά Ιδιωτικού Δικαίου - Chronicles of Private Law, vol. 12 (2012)) examines issues arising from the translation of authoritative legal texts (constituting sources of law in the legal system under consideration), with an emphasis on legislation.

The first part of the article examines instances where authoritative texts of the same legal instrument co-exist in two or several languages, notably in the case of international uniform law instruments, such as the Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

The second part addresses instances of an instrument being …

A Preliminary Look At State Structures For Regulating Financial Services, Elizabeth F. Brown

Elizabeth F Brown

Within the past thirty-five years approximately fifty nations have consolidated their financial regulatory agencies into either a single integrated agency or into two semi-integrated agencies. The United States has resisted this trend, due in part to a concern that the costs of such significant consolidation would exceed its benefits. The existing studies that compare the costs of the consolidated regulators around the world with the United States regime have often been discounted because they have been unable to control for differences in culture and regulatory intensity between those other countries and the United States. This article attempts to address this …

Uganda’S New Sentencing Guidelines: Introduction, Initial Assessment And Early Recommendations, David B. Dennison

David Brian Dennison

In April of 2013 the Chief Justice of Uganda issued the Constitution (Sentencing Guidelines for the Courts of (Practice). In doing so Uganda joined a movement of criminal justice reform that cuts across anglophone jurisdictions. This article includes a general background on the emergence of sentencing guidelines and the two primary structural approaches to sentencing guidelines design.

This article’s primary purpose is to offer a preliminary critical assessment of Uganda’s Sentencing Guidelines. An overview of key features in the Sentencing Guidelines serves as a prelude to the analytical content.

Uganda’s Sentencing Guidelines are a commendable effort. They are more than …

The Political Question Doctrine In Uganda: A Reassessment In The Wake Of The Cehurd, David B. Dennison

David Brian Dennison

The political question doctrine protects certain governmental actions and decisions from judicial review. The doctrine emerged in the United States in the early 19th Century. It reached Ugandan jurisprudence in Ex parte Matovu in 1966. After Matovu, the doctrine existed in relative obscurity in Uganda. The doctrine made a dramatic resurgence in the Constitutional Court’s judgment in Centre of Health Human Rights & Development (CEHURD) and Three Others v. Attorney General.

In CEHURD, the Constitutional Court held that the political question doctrine prevented the court from reviewing government policy concerning the provision of maternal health care. The CEHURD judgment ruffled …

Responsabilidad Civil, Libertad De Procreación Y Derecho De Nacer Sano, Leysser L. Leon

Leysser L. León

El autor analiza críticamente la acaso primera sentencia de la administración de justicia peruana en un caso de responsabilidad civil por "wrongful life". En particular, ante la desestimación ligera de las pretensiones, se cuestiona la ausencia de un fundamento técnico frente a la temática de derechos de la personalidad, tutela resarcitoria y remedios contractuales vinculados con la controversia específica (demanda de resarcimiento formulada por una persona que padece osteogénesis imperfecta).

The Concept Of Objectivity In The Uk Supreme Court Through A Comparative Looking Glass, Vito Breda

Vito Breda

This essay reports on the result of hermeneutical research entitled Objectivity in the UK Judicial Discourse. The concept of objectivity generates a plurality of analysis. For instance, in legal theory, MacCormick suggests the possibility of an objective interpretation of cases. Objectivity in the UK Judicial Discourse focuses on the interpretation of the concept by common law judges. In particular, the project sought to map out the cluster of interpretations (and arguments derived therefrom) on the concept of objectivity by the House of Lords and the UK Supreme Court. The result of the study shows that within UK law there …

„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.

Courtroom Drama With Chinese Characteristics: A Comparative Approach To Legal Process In Chinese Cinema, Stephen J. Mcintyre

Stephen J McIntyre

While previous “law and film” scholarship has concentrated mainly on Hollywood films, this Essay examines legal themes in Chinese cinema. It argues that Chinese films do not simply mimic Western conventions when portraying the courtroom, but draw upon a centuries-old, indigenous tradition of “court case” (gong’an) melodrama. Like Hollywood cinema, gong’an drama seizes upon the dramatic and narrative potential of legal trials. Yet whereas Hollywood trial films turn viewers into jurors, pushing them back and forth between the competing stories that emerge from the adversarial process, gong’an drama eschews any recognition of opposing narratives, centering instead on the punishment of …

The Regulation Of U.S. Money Market Funds: Lessons From Europe, Latoya C. Brown

Latoya C. Brown, Esq.

The recent financial crisis challenged long held perceptions of money market funds (“MMFs”) as stable and highly liquid instruments. Regulators in the US and in Europe now seek to impose additional rules on MMFs to avoid another significant failure as happened to the Reserve Fund. In the US, the debate is drawing even more media attention as question of which regulatory body - such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Treasury Department, and the Financial Stability Oversight Council – should lead the way has taken interesting twists and turns. This paper examines primary reform options being proposed in the …

Институт Парламентского Расследования В Российской Федерации И Зарубежных Странах: Сравнительно-Правовой Аспект, Leonid G. Berlyavskiy, Nickolay Taraban

Leonid G. Berlyavskiy

Legislative branch of the power, carrying out representative functions has the right to exercise own control of a condition of legality in the state. One of forms of such control is the institute of parliamentary investigation. Experience of world parliamentarism testifies to very large powers of parliamentary investigation doing by its very effective instrument of control over executive power

Do Social Ties Matter In Corporate Governance: The Missing Factor In Chinese Corporate Governance Reform, Yu-Hsin Lin

Yu-Hsin Lin

In the past decade, Asian countries have adopted various corporate governance measures with the hope that good law will facilitate capital market development. One of the measures adopted by Asian countries to revamp corporate boards is to enhance board independence by introducing the institution of the independent director. Empirical studies have shown that social ties could compromise independent directors’ monitoring capacity and, thus, do matter in corporate governance. Using theoretical and empirical studies, this article analyzes the effects that independent directors' social ties to corporate insiders can have on director efficacy and discusses how the United States, where the institution …

Ancient Hebrew Militia Law, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

The history of the laws of warfare and of arms possession in the ancient Hebrew kingdoms.

Mexico's Gun Control Laws: A Model For The United States?, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

This article explicates Mexico’s constitutional right to arms and Mexico’s main gun-control statute, the Federal Law of Firearms and Explosives (Ley Federal de Armas de Fuego y Explosivos). Along the way, the article notes various proposals to move U.S. gun laws in a Mexican direction.

Part II of this article is an English translation of the Mexican constitution’s guarantee of the right to arms, as well as predecessor versions of the guarantee.

Part III explains the operation of Mexico’s gun-control system and provides some historical and statistical information about gun ownership and gun smuggling in Mexico.

Part IV describes some …

After Privacy: The Rise Of Facebook, The Fall Of Wikileaks, And Singapore’S Personal Data Protection Act 2012, Simon Chesterman

Simon Chesterman

This article discusses the changing ways in which information is produced, stored, and shared — exemplified by the rise of social-networking sites like Facebook and controversies over the activities of WikiLeaks — and the implications for privacy and data protection. Legal protections of privacy have always been reactive, but the coherence of any legal regime has also been undermined by the lack of a strong theory of what privacy is. There is more promise in the narrower field of data protection. Singapore, which does not recognise a right to privacy, has positioned itself as an e-commerce hub but had no …

Lobbying:The Italian Regulatory Framework Under The Comparative Perspective, Andrea Bortoluzzi

Andrea Bortoluzzi

The intention of the Author is to examine all the rules that the Italian legal system imposes on lobbying, in part for the purpose of limiting certain lobbying practices and in part to promote access to public decision-makers by establishing the requirement for transparency and trustworthiness in the relations between the lobbyist and the decision-maker. Lobbying is heavily dependent on the opportunities for the lobbyist to access the public decision-maker. The issue of access, however, viewed in terms of lobbying, relates not to the right to know the content of administrative documents but to the right to provide information to …

The Law Of Indicators On Women’S Human Rights: Unmet Promises And Global Challenges, Marta Infantino

Marta Infantino

Global indicators on human rights (HRs) aim to measure HRs scores against HRs standards. In other words, they aim to measure legal phenomena against legal benchmarks.

Despite HRs indicators’ reliance on legal knowledge, lawyers have so far neither made substantial contributions to their production, nor studied in depth the legal implications of their uses. The current state-of-the-art in the world of HRs indicators is the result of an ongoing process led by bureaucrats, economists, statisticians, and activists with limited legal training. It is these actors who are developing a new body of professional knowledge, and a new technology of governance …