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Occupation Failures And The Legality Of Armed Conflict: The Case Of Iraqi Cultural Property, Mary Ellen O'Connell Dec 2004

Occupation Failures And The Legality Of Armed Conflict: The Case Of Iraqi Cultural Property, Mary Ellen O'Connell

The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Working Paper Series

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld dismissed the looting of the Iraqi National Museum in April 2003 by remarking, “stuff happens.” In doing so, he gave an early indication that in planning to invade Iraq, the Bush Administration failed to take seriously the legal obligations of an occupying power. Occupying powers have a variety of binding legal obligations, including obligations to stop looting, protect cultural property, and protect persons in detention. Yet, the Administration sent a wholly inadequate force to fulfill those obligations, and, more seriously, the force received no direct and imperative orders to do so. As a result, …

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Justice In The Palestine-Israel Conflict, John B. Quigley Dec 2004

Justice In The Palestine-Israel Conflict, John B. Quigley

The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Working Paper Series

Military-territorial conflicts are typically addressed by the international community on the basis of considerations of justice, meaning relevant standards accepted by the community of states for conduct among states and peoples. If such standards are followed, resulting agreements stand a greater chance of providing for a lasting peace. In the conflict over historic Palestine, considerations of justice have had to compete with considerations of major-power policy, from early twentieth century to the present. When negotiations re-commence, the international community should ensure that they be conducted with considerations of justice at the forefront. If that approach is taken, in particular regarding …

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Mental Disorder And The Civil/Criminal Distinction, Grant H. Morris Sep 2004

Mental Disorder And The Civil/Criminal Distinction, Grant H. Morris

University of San Diego Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series

This essay, written as part of a symposium issue to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the University of San Diego Law School, discusses the evaporating distinction between sentence-serving convicts and mentally disordered nonconvicts who are involved in, or who were involved in, the criminal process–people we label as both bad and mad. By examining one Supreme Court case from each of the decades that follow the opening of the University of San Diego School of Law, the essay demonstrates how the promise that nonconvict mentally disordered persons would be treated equally with other civilly committed mental patients was made and …

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Iran: Civil Society Versus Judiciary, A Struggle For Human Rights, Anisseh Van Engeland-Nourai Apr 2004

Iran: Civil Society Versus Judiciary, A Struggle For Human Rights, Anisseh Van Engeland-Nourai

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

Iran faces many different challenges, both international and internal when it comes to human rights. Since the beginning of the improvements in 1997, the civil society voices its will for changes. It has grown stronger and today the Iranian civil society attempts to reform the country’s rough human rights. Their efforts are grounded in social actions. Reforms are consequently no longer coming from the top to the bottom but from the bottom to the top. Conservatives disagree with those threatening changes and respond through a variety of forms. One of the methods used are legal means. The Iranian judiciary represses …

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Human Rights Treaty Drafting Through The Lens Of Mental Disability: The Proposed International Convention On Protection And Promotion Of The Rights And Dignity Of Persons With Disabilities, Aaron A. Dhir Apr 2004

Human Rights Treaty Drafting Through The Lens Of Mental Disability: The Proposed International Convention On Protection And Promotion Of The Rights And Dignity Of Persons With Disabilities, Aaron A. Dhir

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

In this piece I explore whether, if established, the proposed International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities will be an effective way to limit abuses of the rights of persons diagnosed with mental disabilities. In Section I, I discuss the failure of international human rights law to effectively address these abuses to date. In Section II, I consider the debate surrounding the need for a disability-specific Convention. In Section III, I argue that in order for the proposed Convention to be effective, and not simply a hollow mechanism, it must reject the …

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Etat Des Lieux Des Droits De L’Homme, Du Droit International Humanitaire Et Du Droit International Pénal Face Aux Requêtes En «Réparation» Des Grands Crimes De L’Histoire: Bilan Prospectif (In French), Bartram Brown Jan 2004