Law Commons^™

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 …

Australia's Marine Jurisdictions Under International And Domestic Law, Warwick Gullett, G. Rose

Warwick Gullett

This chapter explains Australia's international maritime zones and domestic marine jurisdictions in order to understand the nature and geographical operation of laws that apply in Australian waters. The task of determining the type of laws that can operate in Australian waters, as well as the geographical extent of those laws, is particularly difficult because Australia is a federation. In addition to authorising the Australian Parliament to make certain laws offshore, the Australian Constitution also enables the state parliaments to regulate some offshore activities. It is helpful if these laws are spatially defined so that people can know which laws apply …

Regulating Fishing In Australia: From Mullet Size Limits To International Hot Pursuits, Warwick Gullett

Warwick Gullett

Fisheries laws simply regulate human interactions with fish. Yet it is an enormous challenge to get them right. The central problem with which fishing laws need to deal is that technological advancements continually enable people (especially commercial fishers) to increase their ability to catch fish. This may be coupled with an increasing number of people fishing, or perhaps a relatively stable number of people fishing but changing their practice such as intensively fishing in one location. Human activities affecting fish are ever changing and, as a result, so too are fisheries laws. Past fishery collapses (such as cod stocks off …

Taiwan's Engagement In The Developing International Legal Regime For Fishing Implications For Taiwanese Officials And Fishers, Warwick Gullett

Warwick Gullett

No abstract provided.

Prompt Release Procedures And The Challenge For Fisheries Law Enforcement: The Judgement Of The International Tribunal For The Law Of The Sea In The 'Volga' Case (Russian Federation V Australia), Warwick Gullett

Warwick Gullett

On 23 December 2002, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ('ITLOS') ordered the prompt release of the Russian 1ongline fishing vessel Volga, at the time detained by Australian authorities in Fremantle, upon the posting of a bond or other security of A$l 920 000. The Volga was arrested for allegedly fishing without authorisation by a boarding party from the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Canberra in the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone ('EEZ') surrounding Heard and McDonald Islands in the Southern Ocean on 7 Februarv 2002. At issue in the ITLOS proceedings was not whether the activities of …

Enforceability Of Forum Selection Clauses: A "Gallant Knight" Still Seeking Eldorado, Nathan M. Crystal, Francesca Giannoni-Crystal

Nathan M. Crystal

Forum selection clauses (“FSC”) are very common in both domestic and international contracts. In Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Company (“Bremen”), 407 U.S. 1 (1972), the Supreme Court established basic standards for the enforceability of such clauses. Relying on Bremen standards, courts today generally enforce FSC. However, the vagueness of Bremen standards leaves room for a party to resist enforcement. The result may be delay and inefficiency. The Supreme Court has said that arbitration clause is a form of FSC, but it has applied different standards for the enforcement of arbitration clauses from FSC. This article argues for a reformulation of …

Developing A World Vision: An Introduction To International Environmental Policy, Beverly Mcqueary Smith

Beverly McQueary Smith

No abstract provided.

The Federal Reserve We Need: It’S The Fed We Once Had, Timothy A. Canova

Timothy A. Canova

This article considers the empirical record of the 1942-1951 period of Federal Reserve history when the Fed was more politically accountable and more independent of private financial interests. During the 1940s, federal spending was nearly twice as high as today, and federal borrowing was more than three times higher. Yet, from 1942 to 1951, the Federal Reserve was directed by the White House and Treasury to peg interest rates at 3/8 of one percent on short-term Treasury borrowing and 2.0 to 2.5 percent on long-term borrowing. The U.S. economy grew at a real annual rate of 15 to 20 percent …

Emerging Applications Of Jewish Law In American Legal Scholarship, Part Ii: A Preface, Samuel J. Levine

Samuel J. Levine

In recent years, the field of Jewish law has gained increasing prominence in American law schools and legal scholarship. At the same time, in the realm of scholarship, a substantial body of literature has developed considering the relevance of Jewish legal thought to a variety of issues in the American legal system. As the substance, scope, and volume of this scholarship demonstrate, an analysis of Jewish law may prove helpful in providing comparisons and contrasts to both controversial and seemingly settled areas of American law. At the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools, the Section on …

Moral And Legal Dilemma: A Legal Analysis Of The Criticisms Leveled Against Arizona Sb 1070, Michael K. Marriott

Michael K Marriott

The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, more commonly known as Arizona SB 1070, is a recently passed bill targeting unlawful immigration. Touted to be the strongest piece of immigration legislation passed in America's recent history, the bill has come under fire on state, national, and international levels.

This paper begins by setting the stage for why SB 1070 was passed, and what legislators sought to accomplish. It then provides a basic overview of the bill, with an emphasis towards its more controversial aspects. From there it groups together certain classes of criticisms that have been publicly leveled …

American Prison Culture In An International Context: An Examination Of Prisons In America, The Netherlands, And Israel, Lucian Dervan

Lucian E Dervan

In 2004, British authorities arrested Abu Hamza al-Masri, an Egyptian born cleric sought by the United States for his involvement in instigating terrorist attacks. As authorities prepared to extradite him in July 2010, the European Court of Human Rights issued a stay. According to the court, al-Masri’s claims that maximum-security prisons in the United States violate European human rights laws prohibiting torture and degrading treatment warranted further examination. Regardless of the eventual resolution of the al-Masri case, the European Court of Human Rights’ inability to summarily dismiss these assertions demonstrates something quite troubling. At a minimum, the court’s actions indicate …

Initiatives On Ip Enforcement Beyond Trips: The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement And The International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force, Christoph Antons, Gabriel Garcia

Dr Gabriel Garcia

No abstract provided.

Comparative Efficiency In Internatonal Sales Law, Larry A. Dimatteo, Daniel Ostas

Larry A DiMatteo

The article employs the method of the economic analysis of law (EAL) in a comparative context. In particular, it assesses the efficiency of select provisions of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The CISG is the law of the United States and over 70 other countries. It reflects a culmination of a century-old process of failed attempts to achieve an international sales law. The drafting process involved intense negotiation and compromise between representatives of the common and civil law legal traditions. As a result, the CISG provides in an interesting amalgam of civil …

Ubiquitous Trio: China, Wto And United States Of America, Yuliya Kostelova

Yuliya Kostelova

No abstract provided.

Deference To Administrative Agencies In Interpreting Treaties: Chevron, Charming Betsy, And Global Decisionmaking, Catherine E. Sweetser

Catherine E Sweetser

This Article examines how national courts in the United States should deal with domestic agency interpretations of international treaties. Under Chevron deference, a court defers to an agency interpretation where it believes that Congress when passing a statute intended to delegate lawmaking power to the agency. The Charming Betsy canon assumes that Congress also has an interest in complying with international norms and in binding the United States to follow international rules. In both these canons, Congressional intent becomes the touchstone. I first examine whether international law itself, as a rule of treaty interpretation, suggests that domestic agencies should receive …

Teaching Negotiation To A Globally Diverse Audience: Ethics, Morality And Cultural Differences, David Allen Larson, Vanessa Seyman

David Allen Larson

"Teaching Negotiation to a Globally Diverse Audience: Ethics, Morality, and Cultural Differences" (by David Allen Larson and Vanessa Seyman) This is a short article discussing the challenges of teaching negotiation, and also the challenge of actually negotiating, in a globally diverse environment. Issues of ethics, morality and culture can surface quite quickly when teaching and negotiating in a multicultural environment. The article builds upon our recent experiences as participants in the Second Generation Global Negotiation conference held Istanbul, Turkey. The article provides examples of how cultural and language differences can impact both actual negotiations and negotiation teaching and provides suggestions …

Pirates Versus Mercenaries: Purely Private Transnational Violence At The Margins Of International Law, Ansel J. Halliburton

Ansel J. Halliburton

Because of the recent surge in piracy emanating from the failed state of Somalia, the world’s navies have focused unprecedented resources and attention on the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. Despite a few successes, this military might has largely failed to reverse the tide of piracy. Shipping companies have begun to hire armed private guards to protect their vessels and crew where the public navies cannot. But should private force take a larger role? Should shipping companies hire mercenaries to go on the offensive against pirates? Does, or should, international law allow them to do so? This paper surveys …

‘Why Do We Try International Criminals?’ A Retributivist Theory Response, Noam Wiener

Noam Wiener

This article examines the foundational justifications for the practice of punishing perpetrators of international crimes. It argues that creating such a foundation is important for the formation of a coherent and consistent criminal process. The article then presents two theories that justify punishment in national systems – retributivist and consequentialist. This presentation includes a critique of these theories and of models that try to combine the two. At its conclusion this presentation raises severe moral concerns with the application of the consequentialist justifications. Next, the article examines the express opinions of the various ad-hoc international tribunals and scholarly writing on …

Opening Up To International Arbitration, Yuval Miller, M. Anderson Berry

M. Anderson Berry

Leah D. Harhay, Managing Editor of the World Arbitration & Mediation Review, provided key insights as an expert on this subject, having co-authored a forthcoming article on the topic with Professor David D. Caron of U.C. Berkeley Law School.

Due to an accident of legislative history, for the past decade California law has barred foreign attorneys from participating in international arbitrations located in the state, and erected significant barriers to such participation by attorneys from United States jurisdictions outside California. A previous proposal that would lower these barriers—endorsed by the California State Bar—failed to gain sufficient political momentum to rouse …

Parallel Importation, Patent Right Exhaustion, And Strategies For Navigating The Evolving Landscape, Bryan J. Su

Bryan J Su

Parallel importation provides a means for purchasers and consumers of commercial goods protected by intellectual property law to acquire products for prices lower than the price set by intellectual property right holders. This form of “legal piracy” of grey-market goods is conducted by legally purchasing products in jurisdictions with lower prices, which allows distributors to import products into jurisdictions with higher prices, leading to a competitive advantage. The doctrine of patent exhaustion, especially when applied internationally, allows this practice by giving authorized purchasers of products unfettered ownership and control over the specific articles they acquire.

Analysis of how the United …

Contracting On Standard Forms For International Sales Of Goods, Angelo Giampietro Avv.

Angelo Giampietro Avv.

In the international sales of goods adopting standard form contract and Incoterms can result in an advantageous manner of contracting. We will try to critically consider the extent to which it can facilitate parties to such agreements. First of all, because standard form contract is a result of experience and legal expertise in the field, which include events that can happen, leading to reasonable solutions, the use facilitate trading ensuring predictability, consistency, and increased efficiency in business relations; saving time and money in negotiating efforts and drafting individual contracts. It is the application of the principle of freedom of contract …

Balancing Judicial Cognizance And Caution: Whether Transnational Corporations Are Liable For Foreign Bribery Under The Alien Tort Statute, Matt A. Vega

Matt A Vega

This article argues that transnational corporate bribery is actionable under the Alien Tort Statute of 1789 (ATS) as a violation of the law of nations. In the early years of the Republic, bribery of a foreign official was commonly understood to violate the law of nations. Today, bribery is occasionally mentioned in passing as a precursor to human rights violations, but the bribe itself is seldom analyzed as a potential violation of the law of nations. However, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently allowed “aiding and abetting” to proceed as a customary international law violation under the ATS in …

India's Integrated Energy Policy: A Source Of Economic Nirvana Or Environmental Disaster?, Deepa Badrinarayana

Deepa Badrinarayana

Abstract: India’s rapidly growing economy naturally demands increasing energy needs from the industrial scale down to the personal. Mindful of potential negative impacts of economic development, India is making efforts to encourage growth while preserving and protecting the environment and human rights. India’s Integrated Energy Policy sets out the roadmap for how the country plans to achieve the balance among development, environmental protection, citizens’ rights, energy security, and a host of other priorities and concerns. Though ambitious and broad in scope, the Policy may prove inadequate in mitigating environmental impacts of development, and thus inadequate in balancing India’s needs, particularly …

Transporting India Into A New Climate: The Implications For Energy Law And Policy, Deepa Badrinarayana

Deepa Badrinarayana

Abstract: India’s rapidly growing economy naturally demands increasing energy needs from the industrial scale down to the personal. Mindful of potential negative impacts of economic development, India is making efforts to encourage growth while preserving and protecting the environment and human rights. India’s Integrated Energy Policy sets out the roadmap for how the country plans to achieve the balance among development, environmental protection, citizens’ rights, energy security, and a host of other priorities and concerns. Though ambitious and broad in scope, the Policy may prove inadequate in mitigating environmental impacts of development, and thus inadequate in balancing India’s needs, particularly …

Repackaging, Pharmaceuticals, And The European Union: Managing Gray Markets In An Uncertain Legal Environment, Robert Bird

Robert C Bird

One of the most robust gray markets in the world is the parallel importation of pharmaceutical drugs in the European Union (EU). Drug manufacturers have tried to stop parallel importation with over thirty years of litigation. The result has applied. This manuscript examines the forces underlying the EU gray market for drugs, discusses how trademark law and not patent law has become the primary basis for legal challenges, and offers strategies for manufacturers to impede importers in a truly chaotic legal environment.

Do Independent Boards Behave Differently? Examining The Voluntary Adoption Of Board Monitoring Mechanisms, Anita I. Anand

Anita I Anand

We ask whether firms with an independent board of directors are more likely than firms without an independent board to adopt recommended corporate governance practices designed to enhance the board's monitoring capabilities. Using hand-collected data from Canadian firms listed on both American and Canadian stock exchanges, we find that firms with both types of boards voluntarily adopt corporate governance practices and that independent boards are no more likely to adopt these practices than their non-independent counterparts. One exception to this statement is the formation of board committees. When boards are independent, the audit and compensation committees are far more likely …