Law Commons^™

One New President, One New Patriarch, And A Generous Disregard For The Constitution:, Robert C. Blitt

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The government of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC)--the country's predominant religious group--recently underwent back-to-back changes in each institution's respective leadership. This coincidence of timing affords a unique opportunity to reassess the status of constitutional secularism and church-state relations in the Russian Federation. Following a discussion of the presidential and patriarchal elections that occurred between March 2008 and January 2009, the Article surveys recent developments in Russia as they relate to the nation's constitutional obligations. In the face of this analysis, the Article argues that the government and the ROC alike continue to willfully undermine the constitutional principles of …

How We Should Think About The Constitutional Status Of The Suspected Terrorist Detainees At Guantanamo Bay, Akash R. Desai

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, the United States has held suspected terrorist detainees captured during the military campaign in Afghanistan indefinitely at the United States military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Among those currently detained are members of the al-Qaeda terrorist group and the Taliban. Currently the detainees are in the peculiar situation of generally being outside the scope of protections offered by both the international humanitarian law and the Unites States criminal law regimes.

This Note examines the extraterritorial scope of the United States Constitution as it applies to the suspected terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay. …

Liberty Of Expression In Ireland And The Need For A Constitutional Law Of Defamation, Sarah Frazier

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Judicial and constitutional conservatism have allowed Irish defamation law to remain remarkably close to its English common law origins. But the common law of defamation was not designed for a modem democracy with a free press, and Ireland's libel laws have a profound effect upon freedom of expression. If Ireland is to be a modern democracy, as its constitution asserts that it is, and the European Convention on Human Rights demands, it must protect a core area of free expression in order to allow the press (without the fear of repercussion) to keep the public informed about matters of concern. …

Preface, Laurelyn E. Douglas

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The symposium, HONG KONG'S REINTEGRATION INTO THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA: CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES, POLICY APPROACHES & HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS, AND ECONOMIC & LEGAL IMPLICATIONS, was held at the Vanderbilt University School of Law on March 28-29. 1997. Featuring presentations by diverse speakers from a variety of places and perspectives, the symposium addressed a broad range of issues. Topics ranged from comparative constitutional law to human rights and practical business concerns. While differences emerged, it was clear that fully understanding any one area requires knowledge of the others: the viability of markets may well depend upon the validity of documents proclaiming …

Books Received, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

JAPANESE CRIMINAL JUSTICE

By A. Didrick Castberg

New York, New York: Praeger Publishers, 1990. Pp. 153. $42.95.

THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

By David P. Forsythe

Lexington, Massachusetts; Lexington Books, 1991. Pp. 209.$34.00.

FEDERAL COURTS AND THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PARADIGM By Kenneth C. Randall

Durham, North Carolina; Duke University Press. 1990. Pp. 295. $45.00.

ROMAN LAW AND COMPARATIVE LAW

By Alan Watson

Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1991. Pp. 328. $50.00

THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND FOREIGN POLICY

By Victoria Marie Kraft

New York, New York: Greenwood Press, 1990. Pp. 185. $45.00.

East European Perceptions Of The Helsinki Final Act And The Role Of Citizen Initiatives, Vratislav Pechota

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Human rights are articulable expressions of legal ideas that can be readily identified. The developments of the last thirty-five years have created a duality of sources from which fundamental rights of the individual derive. There are, on the one hand, national human rights. They derive from the constitution and the laws of each nation, from its traditions, values and other elements that make up what may be appropriately called the "national human rights culture." They are expressive of the specific needs of each society and indicate the purposes for which governments are created. They necessarily differ from one country to …

Books Received, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Books Received

AFRICAN GOALS AND DIPLOMATIC STRATEGIES IN THE UNITED NATIONS By Moses E. Akpan

North Quincy, Mass.: Christopher Publishing House, 1976. Pp. 165. $9.95.

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BASIC PROBLEMS OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY

Edited by P.D. Dagtoglou

Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1975. Pp. xvii, 286, $18.00.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TAXATION OF FOREIGN OPERATIONS AND FOREIGNERS: 1968-1975

By Elisabeth Owens & Gretchen Hovemeyer

Cambridge, Mass.: International Tax Program, Harvard Law School,1976. Pp. xiii, 107. $7.50.

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THE CONSTITUTION AND THE CONDUCT OF FOREIGN POLICY

Edited by Francis 0. Wilcox and Richard A. Frank

New York: Praeger Publishers, 1976. Pp. xiv, 145. $12.50.

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The Charter And The Constitution: The Human Rights Provisions In American Law, Oscar Schachter

Vanderbilt Law Review

The United Nations has added new complications to the well-worn subject of treaties and the Constitution. The issues have arisen principally in the field of human rights and, inevitably, constitutional discussions have reflected the political as well as the legal complexities. One consequence has been an apparent shift in legal positions: bar association leaders, long devoted to strict construction, have been inclined recently to stress the broad and expansive character of the treaty power and the supremacy clause ; in contrast, U.S. Government officials normally expected to support federal power have increasingly emphasized constitutional limitations. In political terms, this turnabout …