Law Commons^™

Techniques For Regulating Military Force, Monica Hakimi

Book Chapters

This chapter draws on the five chapters that follow—each of which describes the war powers in a single country—to identify and analyze some of the techniques for regulating this area of foreign affairs and then to reflect on the value of comparative research on it. Three basic techniques are: (1) to establish substantive standards on when the government may or may not use force, (2) to divide among different branches of government the authority to deploy the country’s armed forces, and (3) to subject such decisions to oversight or review. There is considerable variation, both across countries and over time …

Statutory Progress And Obstacles To Achieving An Effective Criminal Legislation Against The Modern Day Forms Of Slavery: The Case Of France, Bénédicte Bourgeois

Michigan Journal of International Law

In August 2013, the French Parliament passed a statute meant to bring domestic law into conformity with several European legal instruments recently adopted. The statute explicitly addressed for the first time contemporary forms of slavery, servitude, and forced labor by establishing a set of four offenses that criminalize these three types of severe labor exploitation. For lawmakers as well as for many stakeholders in the fight against modern-day slavery, that achievement marked the culmination of a series of piecemeal amendments to criminal law and narrow advances in case law, which gradually enhanced the penal repression of modern-day slavery over the …

Beyond Seduction: Lessons Learned About Rape, Politics, And Power From Dominique Strauss-Kahn And Moshe Katsav, Hannah Brenner

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

n the last decade, two influential international political figures, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former head of the International Monetary Fund, and Moshe Katsav, former President of Israel, were accused of engaging in extreme and ongoing patterns of sexual violence. The collection of formal charges against the two men included rape, forcible indecent assault, sexual harassment, and obstruction of justice. The respective narratives surrounding the allegations against Katsav and Strauss-Kahn have their own individual characteristics, and each of the cases unfolded in diverging ways. Yet, the actions of these two men taken together, and the corresponding response of the legal systems in France, …

Under Color Of Law: Siliadin V. France And The Dynamics Of Enslavement In Historical Perspective, Rebecca J. Scott

Book Chapters

When is it appropriate to apply the term ‘slavery’—a concept that appears to rest on a property right—to patterns of exploitation in contemporary society, when no state extends formal recognition to the possibility of the ownership of property in a human being? Historians, who generally position themselves as enemies of anachronism, may be particularly resistant to the use of an ancient term to describe a twenty-first century reality. And jurists have often been understandably reluctant to employ a word whose historical meaning was so closely tied to a specific property relationship that has long since been abolished in Europe and …

The French Huissier As A Model For U.S. Civil Procedure Reform, Robert W. Emerson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Huissiers de justice serve multiple roles in the French legal system. One is that of a court officer who compiles dossiers (reports). In that role, the huissier is d'audiencier (literally translated as "hearing" or "assisting") and works directly for the court system itself.

The huissier's report remains alien to the American lawyer, who is steeped in notions of procedure and "testimonialism" and in principles of fairness which appear ancient, but are rather modern dissimulations of law and equity's rich history in the American tradition. An important aspect of most legal processes, the collection of data in preparation for litigation is …

Pursuing The Perfect Mother: Why America's Criminalization Of Maternal Substance Abuse Is Not The Answer- A Compartive Legal Analysis, Linda C. Fentiman

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

In this Article the author will examine not only the substantive legal differences between the United States, Canada, and France, but will also explore how these legal rules fit within a broader social, political, and religious setting. This Article will pursue four lines of inquiry. First, it will briefly chronicle the history of criminal prosecution of pregnant women in America and show how these prosecutions have become markedly more aggressive over the last twenty years. Second, it will situate these prosecutions in the full context of American law and culture, demonstrating how the fetus has received increasing legal recognition in …

Review Of Napoleon And The British, Donald J. Herzog

Reviews

Was he fascinating or repulsive? The bold courier of republican liberty under law or the scabrous carrier of lethal Jacobin corruption? Heaven-sent deliverer or providential scourge? Even his name was up for grabs: was it Bonaparte or Buonaparte? One need only dip into contemporary sources to realize that the British were obsessed with Napoleon. Stuart Semmel has done a first-rate job combing through those sources and using them to illuminate political culture. (Semmel does not offer the primary quotations I will use here. I offer them for fun, or to pile on with glee, and not at all to reproach …

La Responsabilisation De L'Economie: What The United States Can Learn From The New French Law On Consumer Overindebtedness, Jason J. Kilborn

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article on the French law continues a study of European consumer debt-relief systems, which the author began previously in an article on the German system. With rapid legal and practical developments in consumer debt-relief law, Europe provides an excellent comparative legal laboratory for observing the potential benefits and pitfalls of consumer bankruptcy reforms. In particular, French and German experiences with long-term payment plans shed useful light on the great debate raging in the United States over similar plans.

Can The Sauvegarde Reform Save French Bankruptcy Law?: A Comparative Look At Chapter 11 And French Bankruptcy Law From An Agency Cost Perspective, Robert Weber

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note will attempt to explain the intersection of agency costs and bankruptcy law, looking first to general agency problems involved when firms are insolvent and moving next to discussions of how U.S. Chapter 11 and French bankruptcy laws attempt to address these problems. First, I will attempt to articulate the relationship between agency costs and (1) debtor control over the firm during Chapter 11 reorganizations and (2) deviations from the absolute priority rule in Chapter 11. Specifically, I will argue that creditors voluntarily accede to plans proposed by management that impair the same creditors' legal entitlements, and that this …

Why Europe Rejected American Judicial Review - And Why It May Not Matter, Alec Stone Sweet

Michigan Law Review

In this Article, I explore the question of why constitutional review, but not American judicial review, spread across Europe. I will also argue that, despite obvious organic differences between the American and European systems of review, there is an increasing convergence in how review actually operates. I proceed as follows. In Part I, I examine the debate on establishing judicial review in Europe, focusing on the French. In Parts II and III, I contrast the European and the American models of review, and briefly discuss why the Kelsenian constitutional court diffused across Europe. In Part IV, I argue that despite …

The Emerging International Consensus As To Criminal Procedure Rules, Craig M. Bradley

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article will demonstrate that these general claims, as well as certain observations about specific countries, were, with one significant exception, substantially wrong when they were written. More importantly, due to significant developments in several countries in the years since those reports came out, they are even more wrong now. That is, not only have the U.S. concepts of pre-interrogation warnings to suspects, a search warrant requirement, and the use of an exclusionary remedy to deter police misconduct been widely adopted, but in many cases other countries have gone beyond the U.S. requirements.

The Beginning Of The Constitutional Era: A Bicentennial Comparative Study Of The American And French Constitutions, Rett R. Ludwikowski

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article is intended only to be introductory. The author is quite aware that the period surrounding the creation of the American Constitution has been profoundly studied; thorough analysis has been provided concerning both the origin and historical development of the American Constitution, as well as the intellectual background of the "founding generation." Characteristically, these studies have focused on the "American constitutional tradition," which means that they have been limited to little more than two centuries of colonial experience. This essay follows a different vein of inquiry. The author's purpose is not to add another article to the numerous works …

The Triumph Of Justice, Stephan Landsman

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Affair: The Case of Alfred Dreyfus

Political Asylum In The Federal Republic Of Germany And The Republic Of France: Lessons For The United States, T. Alexander Aleinikoff

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The recent flood of asylum claims, and the concerns it engenders, are not peculiar to the United States. Western European nations have witnessed similar increases in asylum applications over the past decade, .and institutions charged with adjudicating claims have become severely overburdened. This Article will describe the experience of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of France in coping with the explosion of asylum claims. A comparative analysis may provide perspective on the American situation and perhaps suggest - or rule out - proposals for change currently under consideration in the United States. To appreciate the saliency of …

The Role Of Planning Contracts In The Conduct Of French Industrial Policy, Saul Estrin, Peter M. Holmes

Michigan Journal of International Law

The French have a long history of state economic planning, of comprehensive industrial policy, and of contractualised relations between the state and firms, though the links between them have not always been close. In the following section we review the relevant history of French planning and industrial policy. We focus in the second section on the development of contractual relations between corporations and the state in postwar France until the Socialists took office in 1981. In the third section we discuss recent developments, and we conclude with a theoretical appraisal of the experience.

The Large Civil Aircraft Industry: Applying Legal Policy-Making Tools To Accommodate A Changing Industry, Dennis G. Terez

Michigan Journal of International Law

This note first examines the emergence of Airbus Industrie (Al or Airbus) and identifies some of the legal and policy instruments which the European governments have employed to make Al a successful competitor. After a brief discussion of the growing difficulties with subsidy policies, the note considers European Community legislation for a common European industrial policy and the creation of a European Export Bank as possible alternative solutions for maintaining Al's competitiveness. The note finally argues that international industrial agreements are necessary legal tools for effective regulation of the manufacture and sale of large civil aircraft. International agreements currently in …

Industrial Policy And The Rights Of Labor: The Case Of Foreign Workers In The French Automobile Assemble Industry, Mark J. Miller

Michigan Journal of International Law

The foreign labor which made possible Western Europe's postwar economic growth has become a permanent, if belatedly recognized, component of the region's labor markets. Technological change and new industrial policies stressing efficiency, skilled labor, and rationalization threaten foreign workers, raising complex and important issues of law and social policy in the debate over labor's role in industrial policy. These changes already have resulted in grave problems which make agreement and clarification of the rights of foreign workers in national and international law a matter of considerable urgency.

The Political Offense Exception As Applied In French Cases Dealing With The Extradition Of Terrorists, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article does not attempt to deal with all of the multifarious aspects of contemporary terrorism; its ambition is much more modest in scope, centering upon traditional legal mechanisms and doctrines that can be adapted to deal with terrorism. Using the decisional law of France as an illustrative model, this article analyzes the transnational and political character of terrorist acts and seeks to establish the implications of those characteristics for litigation dealing with the extradition of terrorist offenders. Several assumptions underlie the analysis. First, the effort to repress international crime is seen as a laudable objective of the international legal …

Iii. Recent French Extradition Cases, Michigan Journal Of International Law

Michigan Journal of International Law

This section of the appendix contains the first published collection of recent French extradition cases dealing with the application of the political offense exception to terrorists. Because of the selective fashion in which French decisional law is reported, many French extradition cases are never reproduced in any French case reporter. The purpose of this appendix is to provide an English speaking audience with the substance of opinions which are otherwise nearly impossible to obtain. The editors hope that this collection will aid comparative research and contribute to an informed debate on the political offense exception.

Political Crime In Europe: A Comparative Study Of France, Germany, And England, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Political Crime in Europe: A Comparative Study of France, Germany, and England by Barton Ingraham

What Causes Fundamental Legal Ideas? Marital Property In England And France In The Thirteenth Century, Charles Donahue Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Categorizing broadly, the marital property systems of the Western nations today are divided into two types: those in which husband and wife own all property separately except those items that they have expressly agreed to hold jointly (in a nontechnical sense) and those in which husband and wife own a substantial portion or even all of their property jointly unless they have expressly agreed to hold it separately. The system of separate property is the "common law" system, in force in most jurisdictions where the Anglo-American common law is in force. The system of joint property is the community property …

Developments In The Control Of Foreign Investment In France, Charles Torem, William Laurence Craig

Michigan Law Review

This Article will first review the legal provisions for the control of foreign investment in France and then will analyze them in light of France's position in the Common Market and its other international obligations. Finally, it will attempt to describe the developing guidelines established by the government for foreign investment and will illustrate the application of these guidelines by a survey of recent investment cases.

Procedural Due Process In Administrative Law: Some Thoughts From The French Experience, Richard L. Herrmann

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

As administrative law has grown so have the suggestions for change and reform. During the last thirty years a recurrent proposal has been that Congress create a federal administrative court. The first such bill was introduced in 1933 by Senator George Norris. In the same year the American Bar Association also championed the creation of such a court. Bills advocating an administrative court were again introduced in the Seventy-Fourth, Seventy-Fifth, and Seventy-Sixth Congress. The most recent proposal came in 1949. None were ever passed.

Control Of Foreign Investment In France, Charles Torem, William Laurence Craig

Michigan Law Review

The principle of freedom of investment by foreigners in France has, with few statutory exceptions, long been recognized in French law. In practice, however, exchange controls, requiring French government authorization for all foreign exchange transactions within France, have supplied the legal foundation for governmental control of foreign investment. Initiated in 1939 as a wartime measure to stem the outflow of the nation's currency to safer havens,1 exchange controls were continued in the postwar era to protect a weak currency and were elaborated, in piecemeal fashion, to suit diverse and changing governmental policies. The complex and pervasive regulations provided an instrument …

Comparative Conflict Resolution Procedures In Taxation: An Analytic Comparative Study, L. Hart Wright, Jean Van Houtte, Pierre Kerlan, Helmut Debatin, James Arthur Johnstone, H. Schuttevaer, Elizabeth G. Brown

Michigan Legal Studies Series

Tax administrators in well developed countries rarely have either occasion or opportunity to compare experiences or exchange opinions regarding procedures and practices utilized in administering complicated tax laws. Moreover, there is little comparative literature on the subject. Even the tax institutes which are internationally oriented usually focus on substantive tax principles, not procedures and practices. Hopefully, therefore, administrators in highly developed countries will find useful this analytic comparison of practices and procedures through which six of their number resolve disputable income tax questions -administratively and judicially.

Concern for tax administrators in well developed countries, however, was not the prime motivation …

Specific Performance In France And Germany, John P. Dawson

Michigan Law Review

Edgar Durfee studied long and closely the subject of specific performance. He taught it for many years, wrote about it and planned to ·write more. He conceived it broadly, as he did every subject that ever had his attention, but he had a lively interest in details, including very technical details. Long before others and much more than most, he saw the importance of our remedial system both in shaping law and as a reflection of its larger purposes. All those who learned from him will remember as long as memory lasts the insight he gave and the hidden meanings …

Restraints On Alienation Of Legal Interests In Michigan Property: I, William F. Fratcher

Michigan Law Review

During the century and a half which followed the Norman Conquest, the owner of land who attempted to transfer it might meet with opposition from three interested parties, his feudal overlord, his heir apparent and his tenant. His feudal overlord might object to a transfer by way of substitution, that is, one under the terms of which the transferor did not retain a reversion; because the proposed transferee was not a suitable person to perform the feudal services due for the land. As these services were frequently of a personal or military nature such an objection was not necessarily captious. …

Foreign Exchange Restrictions And Public Policy In The Conflict Of Laws: Part Ii, Evsey S. Rashba

Michigan Law Review

Political Laws have been the subject of a much disputed doctrine. It has been stated by Dicey, and by other authoritative writers in various countries, that a court has no jurisdiction to entertain an action for the enforcement of a "political law" of a foreign state. The term "political law" is not limited to the field of public law. It is, of course, only exceptionally that rules governing the relations between a state and its citizens are given extraterritorial effect. The doctrine goes further. It holds that rules which are technically a part of private law, but which are designed …

Legal Techniques And Political Ideologies: A Comparative Study, Alexander H. Pekelis

Michigan Law Review

The problem with which we are going to deal is one of comparative law, a discipline probably even more illusory than legal science itself. A body of laws represents in itself neither a social reality nor a social ideal. One of the difficulties that every historian faces in trying to reconstruct a period of the past with the help of legal monuments is due to the great variety of relations existing between legal rules and social reality. So, e.g., legal monuments generally contain in an inextricable confusion at least two contradictory types of rules: rules which are a simple restatement …

Review Of Administrative Acts : A Comparative Study Of The Doctrine Of The Separation Of Powers And Judicial Review In France And The United States, Armin Uhler

Michigan Legal Studies Series

The present study was originally inspired by the widespread interest in the doctrine of the separation of powers stimulated by current discussions of vital problems of administrative law. Frequent reference to this doctrine occurs especially in recent legal literature concerned with the relation between the administrative and judicial departments of government. Particular mention may be made of the attention which has been given the doctrine by the Special Committee on Administrative Law of the American Bar Association. However, the allusions to the doctrine in these discussions to prevalent separation of powers in the organization of government have not always been …