Law Commons^™

Understanding Imf Stand-By Arrangements From The Perspective Of International And Domestic Law: The Experience Of Venezuela In The 1990s, Gabriel Garcia

Dr Gabriel Garcia

During the 1990s, international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) promoted the so-called 'Washington Consensus'. One of the premises of the consensus was that developing countries needed to embrace a market economy and build a legal system supportive of the rule of law in order to promote progress and defeat poverty. The onset of financial crises across South America and the inability of governments to deal with problems derived from this financial meltdown provided the proitious conditions for the IMF to implement its agenda of promoting a market economy and the rule of …

Blue Jeans, Chewing Gum, And Climate Change Litigation: American Exports To Europe, Daniel Hare

Daniel Hare

This paper analyzes how American-style climate change litigation might be adopted by the European Union (EU) and projects potential methods by which the EU might employ the U.S. model, if it indeed chooses to take the climate change battle to the courts. By synthesizing existing U.S. case law in the environment and climate change fields, the paper roughly defines the “American model” of climate change litigation as parens patriae actions, oftentimes based in the tort of public nuisance, brought by states and other sovereign entities against polluter-defendants. The structural differences between the common law United States and predominantly civil law …

"Roads? Where We're Going We Don't Need Roads:" The Transformation Of The Roadless Rule Into An American Carbon Sink, Sam W. Gieryn

Sam W. Gieryn

Abstract “Roads? Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads:” The Transformation of the Roadless Rule into an American Carbon Sink. By: Sam Gieryn Climate change continues to become a global problem, but for the United States, part of the solution is closer than we think. In the search for an effective means to halt the adverse effects of global warming, scientists discovered the benefits of carbon sequestration from forests. The United States contains nearly 750 million acres of forest, which this paper proposes the nation uses to combat climate change. In 2001, the Clinton Administration took notice of the importance …

The (Too) Long Arm Of The S.E.C.: When A Foreign Employee Of A U.S.-Based Multinational Financial Services Client Is Threatened With A Subpoena, Jonathan R. Law

Jonathan R Law

As businesses and financial institutions engage in transactions with increasingly international scope, U.S. regulatory agencies follow closely behind, investigating potential violations of the securities and exchange laws. Of all the investigative powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission, one of the more feared is the ability to issue administrative subpoenas and have them enforced by a Federal court. What is troubling, however, is the SEC’s recent foray into investigating possible misconduct across U.S. borders through subpoenaing foreign employees conducting business overseas. This article argues that in certain circumstances, the SEC does not have the authority to issue or enforce an …

Thinking About Tax Malpractice: Outline And Hypotheticals, Michael Lang

Michael B. Lang

There may be a lot of ethical traps that face the tax practitioner but there are also common-sense ways to avoid them.

Doping Control, Mandatory Arbitration, And Process Dangers For Accused Athletes In International Sports , Maureen A. Weston

Maureen A Weston

Athletes in a professional sports league in the United States are members of players unions, which assist their athletes in obtaining representation when they are involved in dispute resolution proceedings associated with disciplinary actions. However, individual athletes who participate in international competitions do not enjoy the same benefits. When these athletes are required to submit to mandatory drug testing, with attendant potential criminal liability, and to mandatory arbitration, they should be provided meaningful access to competent legal representation when their athletic careers are in jeopardy. This article considers the legal framework, process, and recourse for athletes in international competition to …

International Convergence On Flags Of Convenience, Ryan M. Mott

Ryan M Mott

In maritime law, a ship follows the laws of the flag that it flies. Ship owners, however, are not constrained to fly the flag of the country that they are from. Instead, they can choose what flag they will sail under, and thus have their pick of laws among all of the countries in the world. Much like the corporate “internal affairs rule” of common law countries that regulates a business at its place of incorporation instead of its primary source of business, a vessel is governed by the country whose flag it flies, regardless of where the ship conducts …

Holy Mackerel! How A Small Country Of Fishermen Pushed The Boundaries Of Free Press, Ryan M. Mott

Ryan M Mott

This paper is about the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative (“IMMI”), a legislative proposal enacted by the Icelandic parliament on June 16th, 2010.

The IMMI was designed to promote transparency in reaction to an economic crisis and failed gag order that shook Icelanders’ faith in their government.

The parliament set out to create the most journalist-friendly nation in the world, a “media haven,” and did so by grabbing some of the most protective media statutes in the world.

The reformations include, inter alia, protection for the reporter’s privilege and source anonymity, protection for third-party communicators between reporters and sources, whistleblower protection, …

The Shifting Interpretations Of Interpol’S Article Three, Kyle Rene

Kyle Rene

Article Three of INTERPOL’s Constitution prohibits INTERPOL from undertaking “any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.” Notwithstanding this prohibition, INTERPOL itself has taken an active role in pursing the perpetrators of one of the most politically, religiously, and racially charged forms of crime, terrorism. The following Note discusses how INTERPOL has rationalized its pursuit of terrorists in light of Article Three’s mandate. The Note concludes by reassessing the value of Article Three, showing how, although Article Three has been interpreted to afford INTERPOL the latitude to pursue terrorists, it nonetheless represents an effective means of …

Blue Jeans, Chewing Gum, And Climate Change Litigation: American Exports To Europe, Daniel Hare

Daniel Hare

This paper analyzes how American-style climate change litigation might be adopted by the European Union (EU) and projects potential methods by which the EU might employ the U.S. model, if it indeed chooses to take the climate change battle to the courts. By synthesizing existing U.S. case law in the environment and climate change fields, the paper roughly defines the “American model” of climate change litigation as parens patriae actions, oftentimes based in the tort of public nuisance, brought by states and other sovereign entities against polluter-defendants. The structural differences between the common law United States and predominantly civil law …

Intimate Matters: Discovery Avenues Towards Straight Women's Human Rights, Alice Bullard Ph.D.

Alice Bullard Ph.D.

“Intimate Matters: Discovering Avenues toward Straight Women’s Human Rights” © Alice Bullard, Ph.D., J.D. expected May 2012 email: ab654@law.georgetown.edu Abstract: This paper demonstrates the need, and the legal right under international human rights law to support, for developing and teaching intimate strategies for women’s emancipation. The international human rights agenda largely overlooks heterosexual sex is a facet of women’s subjugation; we argue here to correct that oversight, to integrate an understanding of the potential of heterosexual sex to (re)produce women’s subordination, and to sketch a program to combat this tendency. At issue is not overt sexual violence or sexual acts …

Building The Global Green Patent Highway: A Proposal For International Harmonization Of Green Technology Fast Track Programs, Eric L. Lane

Eric L. Lane

As governments around the world recognize the importance of development and implementation of clean technologies in mitigating climate change, they have looked to patenting procedures as a mechanism to promote and accelerate green innovation. In particular, many national intellectual property offices have implemented programs that provide expedited examination of patent applications directed to green technologies. These green patent fast track programs vary widely in their rules, both in eligibility requirements and process parameters. Due to these disparities, it can be costly and time consuming for applicants and their patent attorneys to select which green technology patent fast track programs to …

Internation Equity And Human Development, Anthony C. Infanti

Anthony C. Infanti

In their 1972 essay “Inter-nation Equity,” Richard and Peggy Musgrave added a new dimension to discussions of tax equity by viewing the concept through an international lens. In this chapter written for a collection of essays on tax law and development, I add a new dimension to the Musgraves’ discussion of tax equity by laying a critical lens over their international lens and considering how tax equity might further human development.

In this chapter, I argue that it is time to shed the unbending focus on the economic dimension of people and the tax “exceptionalism” that unduly constrain both the …

A New And Improved Energy Reality—It's No Pipedream, Daniel Hare

Daniel Hare

In this paper, I propose an original policy solution to the complicated issue of permitting and regulatory review for cross-border natural resource projects to allow for a smoother, quicker approval process for certain types of projects. I have specifically designed this new procedure so as to focus on political compromise and minimize political partisanship, while instead concentrating on achieving results. By modifying the current regulatory standard to a more streamlined model, deserving cross-border natural resource projects can swiftly gain approval, yet environmental, economic, foreign policy, national security, and other significant concerns will still receive the attention and thorough evaluation they …