Law Commons^™

Junior Bar Law Review 1 (2010), 21-40 Judicial Activism Revisited: Reflecting On The Role Of Judges In Enforcing Economic, Social And Cultural Rights, Gehan D. Gunatilleke Mr.

Gehan D Gunatilleke Mr.

Following the conclusion of military operations in Sri Lanka in 2009, the issue of economic development and distributive justice appears to have remerged on the country’s agenda. Within this post-conflict context, the judiciary in Sri Lanka is confronted with a major challenge in terms of defining its proper role in the promotion of Economic Social and Cultural (“ESC”) rights. The precise extent to which judges should be ‘activist’ in promoting these rights should be contrasted with the level of activism required of judges in the sphere of civil and political rights. Advocating ESC rights in Sri Lanka simply cannot be …

Human Trafficking: Iraq - A Case Study, Ali Allawi

Ali Allawi

The accompanying Article explores the issue of human trafficking and sexual exploitation in postwar Iraq. It attempts, in three steps to firstly identify the issue of human trafficking and how it pertains to Iraq, secondly to examine Iraq’s international legal obligations to address the human rights violations and human trafficking issues, and lastly, recommend implementable solutions that the Iraqi government can take to meet its international obligations and remedy the problem at hand. The Article sheds new light on the growing humanitarian crisis in post war Iraq and brings awareness of the monumental challenges that face both the government and …

Freedom Of Movement Under The Framework Of Regional Integration Processes In South America, Marco A. Velásquez-Ruiz

Marco A. Velásquez-Ruiz

This Study addresses the question on whether the migratory phenomenon –considering with special attention the admission of non-nationals– might be regulated under the framework of regional integration processes, using the case of South America as an instance proclive to show how international law can be complemented and adapted to a specific context. It firstly elaborates a theoretical argument on the need to re-lecture the sovereign paradigm –according to which States have exclusive and excluding capacity to regulate the issue– so as to utilize cooperative schemes to develop a comprehensive legal framework provided the identification of migration as a common interest. …

Never Say Never: Searching For Common Ground Between Muslim And Western Nations On The Issues Of Human Dignity And Human Rights, Travis Weber

Travis Weber

Travis Weber 3736 Silina Drive Virginia Beach, VA 23452 703-470-5411 tsweber@gmail.com May 4, 2010 To Whom It May Concern: Enclosed is an abstract for my article, entitled Never Say Never: Searching for Common Ground Between Muslim and Western Nations on the Issues of Human Dignity and Human Rights. My article examines the gap between Islamic and Western views of human rights, explores how this gap developed, and briefly reviews how different theories of jurisprudence would approach this gap. Due to the current world-wide increase in religious activity, including the prominence of Islam, and the version of morality that Islam brings …

Citizenship And Its Erosion: Transfer Of Populated Territory And Oath Of Allegiance In The Prism Of Israeli Constitutional Law, Ilan Saban

ilan saban

No abstract provided.

International Law & Politics: The Same Under Another Name?, Ana M. Nacvalovaite

Ana M Nacvalovaite

ABSTRACT: The Article examines the perceived dichotomy between international law and international politics from a legal perspective. It presents a brief over-view of the sources of international law and shows how and why the perceived legal/political dichotomy has been prevalent in the academic discourse surrounding the sources and nature of international law. Consequences of legal truth as to whether treaty bodies are analogous with political bodies will serve as a practical lens through which to ground the relevance and importance of this topic today. From this, one will be able to establish that such a distinction between a legal system …

Trips And Human Rights - The Case Of India, Subramanya Sirish Tamvada

Subramanya Sirish Tamvada

Intellectual Property Rights and Human Rights often come in conflict. There is a need to give heed to the voices of the developing countries. Human Rights have gained primacy in the world today. Developing countries through international treaties and conventions are obliged to protect human rights in their countries. At the same time trade and innovation is also of priority for a countries development. Hence, there is a need to understand and bring clarity to the debate between the two namely; trade especially, the intellectual property rights and human rights. Intellectual Property Interests mentioned in UDHR and ICESCR cannot be …

42 U.S.C. § 1983: A Legal Vehicle With No International Human Rights Treaty Passengers, Matthew J. Jowanna

Matthew J. Jowanna

How do international human rights treaties interact with the domestic civil rights law of the United States, and particularly 42 U.S.C. § 1983? How should international human rights treaties interact with the domestic civil rights law of the United States? “International law is part of our law, and must be ascertained and administered by the courts of justice of appropriate jurisdiction as often as questions of right depending upon it are duly presented for their determination.” Whether fully implemented in domestic law or not, the United States is obligated to respect the international treaties it ratifies. However, exactly how has …

A Name Of One's Own: Gender And Symbolic Legal Personhood In The European Court Of Human Rights, Yofi Tirosh

Yofi Tirosh

Legal regulation of surnames provides a fascinating venue for examining how women negotiate their interests of autonomy and of stable personhood vis a vis a patriarchal naming structure. This is a study of 25 years of adjudication of surnames and personal status at the European Court of Human Rights. It explores the intricate ways in which legal norms governing surnames (and their judicial interpretation) sustain, shape, and reify social institutions such as gender, family, and citizenship.

As a pan European court, the adjudication of the ECHR operates within the framework of human rights. The universal characteristics of human rights principles …

Bringing The Spies In From The Cold: Legal Cosmopolitanism, And Intelligence Under The Laws Of War, Peyton A. Cooke

Peyton A. Cooke

Recently, as never before, intelligence operations have come under international humanitarian law. The Supreme Court has handed down the Hamdan and Boumediene decisions; President Obama has required the CIA and other interrogators to abide by Geneva Conventions Common Article 3 standards for all interrogations; district courts have declared stringent law of war criteria for overseas detentions; the Executive has applied the laws of war to terrorist targeting; and the private groups which have initiated this litigation, and pressed for these changes, continue to work for even more reform. This paper addresses the roots and effects of such changes. It begins …

Plural Vision: International Law Seen Through The Varied Lenses Of Domestic Implementation, D. A. Jeremy Telman

D. A. Jeremy Telman

This essay introduces a collection of essays that have evolved from papers presented at a conference on “International Law in the Domestic Context.” The conference was a response to the questions raised by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Medellín v. Texas and also a product of our collective curiosity about how other states address tensions between international obligations and overlapping regimes of national law.

Our constitutional tradition speaks with many voices on the subject of the relationship between domestic and international law. In order to gain a broader perspective on that relationship, we invited experts on foreign law to …