Law Commons^™

Openness In International Adoption, Malinda L. Seymore

Malinda L. Seymore

After a long history of secrecy in domestic adoption in the United States, there is a robust trend toward openness. That is, however, not the case with international adoption. The recent growth in international adoption has been spurred, at least in part, by the desire of adoptive parents to return to closed, confidential adoptions where the identity of the birth mother is secret and there is no ongoing contact with her. There is, however, an emergent interest in increased openness in international adoption, spurred by the success of domestic open adoptions, health concerns when an adoptee's genetic history is important, …

Jurisdictional Standards (And Rules), Adam I. Muchmore

Adam I. Muchmore

This Article uses the jurisprudential dichotomy between two opposing types of legal requirements — “rules” and “standards” — to examine extraterritorial regulation by the United States. It argues that there is natural push toward standards in extraterritorial regulation because numerous institutional actors either see standards as the best option in extraterritorial regulation or accept standards as a second-best option when their first choice (a rule favorable to their interests or their worldview) is not feasible. The Article explores several reasons for this push toward standards, including: statutory text, statutory interpretation theories, the nonbinary nature of the domestic/foreign characterization, the tendency …

Conditions In U.S. Treaty Practice: New Data And Insights Into A Growing Phenomenon, Cindy G. Buys

Cindy G. Buys

The U.S. Senate often adds various types of conditions, also known as reservations, understandings, and declarations, to its advice and consent to multilateral treaties. The ability to add conditions to a treaty likely increases the number of States willing to join a treaty because it allows States to modify their treaty obligations to address domestic concerns. However, the use of conditions also has the potential to undermine the integrity of the treaty by allowing States to opt out of important legal obligations and to create legal uncertainty regarding treaty obligations and relationships. This article examines U.S. treaty practice with respect …

The Dumping Dragon: Analysing China's Evolving Anti-Dumping Behaviour, Umair H. Ghori

Umair H. Ghori

China is a major target for anti-dumping measures by both developed and developing countries. Its rapid industrial transition to higher value-added sectors brings it in direct conflict with the US and the EU. Anti-dumping measures have consistently been employed by the US and the EU to protect their domestic markets from encroaching Chinese exports. In the initial few years of joining the WTO, China rarely initiated any complaint in the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM), while facing several complaints itself. This approach has now evolved. China appears to have acquired the knowledge and capacity to access the WTO DSM for …

Prosecutions Of Extraterritorial Criminal Conduct And The Abuse Of Rights Doctrine, Danielle Ireland-Piper

Danielle Ireland-Piper

Under international law, states can in certain circumstances institute domestic prosecutions over conduct occurring extraterritorially. Such exercises of extraterritorial jurisdiction sit at the crossroads of domestic and international law and can be highly controversial. This paper considers whether the abuse of rights doctrine is useful in regulating assertions of extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction. Part I introduces the principles of extraterritorial jurisdiction under international law. Part II provides examples of some of the problems that can arise in domestic prosecutions of extraterritorial criminal conduct, compromising the ability of an individual to enjoy a fair trial. Part III considers the effectiveness of the …

Female Genital Mutilation And Designer Vaginas In Britain: Crafting An Effective Legal And Policy Framework, Lisa Avalos

Lisa Avalos

“Ya Me Canse”: How The Iguala Mass Kidnapping Demonstrates Mexico’S Continued Failure To Adhere To Its International Human Rights Obligations, Justin A. Behravesh

Justin A. Behravesh

This article addresses the recent kidnapping and disappearance of forty-three college students from Iguala, Mexico (the “Iguala Mass Kidnapping”), under the lens of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (the “Convention”). While Mexico’s reporting documents on its compliance with the Convention paint a positive picture of how that country is adhering to Convention, any notion that the country was in compliance with the Convention was completely shattered through the Iguala Mass Kidnapping. The article concludes that the actions of state officials during the Iguala Mass Kidnapping violated articles one, six, and twenty-three of the …

The Proposed Inheritance Tax And Its Impact On China's Economy, Michael Steve

Michael Steve

No abstract provided.

The International Politics Of Combating Piracy In Southeast Asia, Christopher Rahman

Chris Rahman

No abstract provided.

Legal Education As A Rule Of Law Strategy: Problems And Opportunities With U.S.-Based Programs, David Pimentel

David Pimentel

Education can be powerful force in building the rule of law in developing countries and transitional states—especially in light of its power to influence culture and its ability to sustain meaningful change. Building a more effective system of legal education is a long term project, however, and a difficult sell given the way rule of law reform gets funded. Shorter term impacts are possible, however, through U.S.-based educational opportunities, which therefore present a compelling opportunity for rule of law promotion. Addressing short-term legal education deficiencies with U.S.-based education can contribute to a vision for the future of legal education in …

Avenues To Foreign Investment In China’S Shipping Industry—Have Lease Financing Arrangements And The Free Trade Zones Opened Markets For Foreign Non-Bank Investment?, Rick Beaumont

Rick Beaumont

No abstract provided.

Jurisdictional Salvation And The Hague Treaty , Kevin M. Clermont

Kevin M. Clermont

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Effective Lawyer-Client Communication: An International Project Moving From Research To Reform, Clark D. Cunningham

Clark D. Cunningham

No abstract provided.

Nuclear Chain Reaction: Why Economic Sanctions Are Not Worth The Public Costs, Nicholas C.W. Wolfe

Nicholas A Wolfe

International economic sanctions frequently violate human rights in targeted states and rarely achieve their objectives. However, many hail economic sanctions as an important nonviolent tool for coercing and persuading change. In November 2013, the Islamic Republic of Iran negotiated a temporary agreement with major world powers regarding Iran’s nuclear program. The United States’ media and politicians have repeatedly and incorrectly attributed Iran’s willingness to negotiate to the effectiveness of economic sanctions.

Politicians primarily focus on immediate domestic effects and enact sanctions without a thorough understanding of the long-term effects on the United States economy and the public within a targeted …

The Cost Of Doing Business In Asia: A Comparative Legal Study Of Environmental Regulations In The Emerging Markets Of Thailand, Malaysia, And Indonesia, Brooke R. Padgett

Brooke R. Padgett

Abstract: This article explores whether voluntary standards, customary law, or more binding bilateral investment treaties are best for corporations, the emerging markets of Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, and the environment itself. While corporations, markets, and the environment facially seem to have divergent priorities, environmental disasters are more costly after the fact than they are to prevent so in reality their priorities may not be so different after all. Some of the potential issues the paper will examine and address are big picture macro level such as fairness to future generations, intergenerational rights; the actual cost through questions of polluter pays, …

Navigating Pacific Fisheries: Legal And Policy Trends In The Implementation Of International Fisheries Instruments In The Western And Central Pacific Region, Quentin Hanich, Ben M. Tsamenyi

Quentin Hanich

Navigating Pacific Fisheries analyses the legal and policy context for the conservation, management and exploitation of tuna fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific region.

Time To Try Mediation Of International Commercial Disputes, Harold Abramson

Harold I. Abramson

No abstract provided.

Revisiting The Tax Treatment Of Citizens Abroad: Reconciling Principle And Practice, Michael S. Kirsch

Michael Kirsch

In an increasingly mobile world, the taxation of citizens living abroad has taken on increased importance. Recent international administrative developments — most notably, the weakening of foreign bank secrecy and expansion of global information sharing norms — have further raised the profile of this issue. While U.S. law traditionally has taxed U.S. citizens living abroad in the same general manner as citizens living in the United States, a number of scholars have proposed abandoning the use of citizenship as a jurisdictional basis to tax. In its place, they would apply residence-based principles — i.e., exercising full taxing rights over U.S. …

Gandhi’S Nightmare: Bhopal And The Need For A Mindful Jurisprudence, Nehal A. Patel

Nehal A. Patel

No abstract provided.

Gaps, Issues And Prospects: International Law And The Protection Of Underwater Cultural Heritage, Lowell Bautista

Lowell Bautista

The protection and preservation of underwater cultural heritage is becoming an increasingly important issue as technologies develop which allow for its exploitation. The UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage ("UCH Convention") is an important step in the international regulation of this resource. This paper examines the theoretical and historical antecedents of the UCH Convention, and outlines the Convention's most significant provisions. Specifically, this paper examines how the UCH Convention protects underwater cultural heritage in six areas: internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, the continental shelf, and the Area. This paper then …

Using Trade To Enforce International Environmental Law: Implications For United States Law, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Mary Ellen O'Connell

No abstract provided.

Enforcement And The Success Of International Environmental Law, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Mary Ellen O'Connell

Professor O'Connell discusses the traditional methods used for international law "enforcement," and she argues that international law is generally obeyed. Its enforcement is based primarily on compliance, not enforcement. Accordingly, the author argues against using international enforcement mechanisms to enforce international environmental law. Instead, she posits that domestic courts should be used for international environmental law enforcement; however, certain obstacles, such as sovereign immunity, the doctrine of standing, and the principle of forum non conveniens, must be overcome. Professor O'Connell argues that it may be possible to overcome many of these court-made obstacles to enforcing international law through domestic courts. …

Ensuring The Preservation Of Submerged Treasures For The Next Generation: The Protection Of Underwater Cultural Heritage In International Law, Lowell Bautista

Lowell Bautista

In a historic moment that culminated almost a decade of negotiations, the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH Convention) was adopted on 2 November 2001.2 The UCH Convention is the fourth international instrument dealing with cultural heritage adopted under the aegis of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the first one specifically addressing the protection of underwater cultural heritage (UCH) in international law.3 The UCH Convention is the first universal instrument that exclusively deals with the preservation of UCH in international waters. The UCH Convention builds upon and addresses the gaps of …

The Implications Of Recent Decisions Of International Courts And Tribunals On The Territorial And Maritime Boundary Disputes In East And Southeast Asia (Nbr Special Report No.37 - Pp105-128), Lowell Bautista

Lowell Bautista

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This essay examines recent decisions of international courts and tribunals—specifically, the 2009 Maritime Delimitation in the Black Sea case between Romania and Ukraine—and draws implications for the territorial and maritime boundary disputes in East and Southeast Asia.

Main Findings The judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Black Sea case is a landmark jurisprudential contribution to the development of the law of maritime delimitation. In this case, the ICJ explicitly provided a three-stage delimitation method—which, although not novel, is a clarification and clear articulation not seen in previous cases.

The peaceful settlement of disputes over …

The Legal Status Of The Philippine Treaty Limits In International Law, Lowell Bautista

Lowell Bautista

The fundamental position of the Philippines is that the limits of its national territory are the boundaries laid down in the 1898 Treaty of Paris which ceded the Philippines from Spain to the United States. The position of the Philippine Government is contested in the international community and runs against rules in the Law of the Sea Convention, which the Philippines signed and ratified. The issue of the legal status of the Philippine Treaty Limits in international law has been subject of much academic debate and serious criticisms. This paper will analyse the legal status of the Philippine Treaty Limits …

International Legal Implications Of The Philippine Treaty Limits On Navigational Rights In Phillipine Waters, Lowell Bautista

Lowell Bautista

The Philippine Treaty Limits define the colonial territorial limits of the Philippine Archipelago and impose serious restrictions on navigational rights andfreedoms accorded to ships under the Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC), which the Philippines has signed and ratified. This paper discusses these navigational rights and freedoms and analyses the inconsistencies between the navigational regimes provided for in LOSC and their implementation in various Philippine maritime zones of jurisdiction.

The Philippine Treaty Limits And Territorial Water Claim In International Law, Lowell Bautista

Lowell Bautista

The fundamental position of the Philippines regarding the extent of its territorial and maritime boundaries is based on two contentious premises: first, that the limits of its national territory are the boundaries laid down in the 1898 Treaty of Paris which ceded the Philippines from Spain to the UnitedStates; and second, that all the waters embraced within these imaginary lines are its territorial waters. The position of the Philippine Government is contested in the international community and runs against rules in the Law of the SeaConvention, which the Philippines signed and ratified. This situation poses two fundamental unresolved issues of …

Taxing Citizens In A Global Economy, Michael S. Kirsch

Michael Kirsch

This Article addresses a fundamental issue underlying the U.S. tax system in the international context: the use of citizenship as a jurisdictional basis for imposing income tax. As a general matter, the United States is the only economically developed country that taxes its citizens abroad on their foreign income. Despite this broad general assertion of taxing jurisdiction, Congress allows citizens abroad to exclude a limited amount of their income earned from working outside the United States. Influential lobbying groups, including businesses that employ significant numbers of U.S. citizens abroad, argue that this exclusion is necessary in order to keep American …

A Framework Of Norms: International Human-Rights Law And Sovereignty, Douglass Cassel

Douglass Cassel

The international legal boundary between states; rights and human rights is not fixed. Long ago, the Permanent Court of International Justice - the judicial arm of the League of Nations and the precursor to the present International Court of Justice - recognized that "the question whether a certain matter is or is not solely within the jurisdiction of a State is an essentially relative question; it depends on the development of international relations." In recent decades international relations concerning both sovereignty and rights have developed quickly. An examination of those rights and the evolving realities of sovereignty are examined.

International Human Rights Law And Security Detention, Douglass Cassel

Douglass Cassel

This article analyzes the grounds, procedures, and conditions required by International Human Rights Law for preventive detention of suspected terrorists as threats to security. Such detention is generally permitted, provided it is based on grounds and procedures previously established by law; is not arbitrary, discriminatory, or disproportionate; is publicly registered and subject to fair and effective judicial review; and the detainee is not mistreated and is compensated for any unlawful detention. In Europe, however, preventive detention for security purposes is generally not permitted. If allowed at all, it is permitted only when a State in time of national emergency formally …