Law Commons^™

International Law In Asia: An Initial Review, Jeremy Thomas

Dalhousie Law Journal

It is now a little over half a century since the first of the states of Asia to be granted their independence in the aftermath of the Second World War became sovereign and independent of their former colonial masters. In that period there have been very substantial changes in international law. The number of the family of nations has more than tripled and international organisations and even individuals are now subject to the application of international law. Space law, human rights and the law of the environment have appeared, the law of the sea has been transformed, disarmament has reappeared …

Lawyers And The Nuclear Debate, Malcolm Shaw

Dalhousie Law Journal

The volume under review constitutes a valuable and exciting contribution to the whole nuclear debate. Its distinctiveness, perhaps, lies in the format. A mix of more formal and prepared papers, less formal papers, interventions and discussions provides an interesting example of the genre. While one is clearly not dealing with an academic treatise, the style of the compilation enhances the feeling of acute concern, spontaneity and the sense of the contemporary significance of the whole enterprise.

Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, Gunnar Lagergren

Dalhousie Law Journal

On 1 July 1981, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, I had the privilege of declaring open the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, which had been constituted in accordance with the Declarations made by the Government of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, on 19 January 1981, and adhered to by Iran and the United States of America. As I observed at that time, two great nations had, by agreeing to peaceful settlement of their differences through arbitration, brought to an end a crisis of unique complexity which might well have become a threat to world peace.

Rule Of Law In A State Of Emergency, John P. Humphrey

Dalhousie Law Journal

Is there any such thing as an absolute human right? Part of the answer to this question will be found in article 4 of the United Nations' Convenant on Civil and Political Rights. The article says in part that "in time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation ... the States Parties to the present Covenant may take measures derogating from their obligation under the present Covenant to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation ... " Similar provisions will be found in regional conventions on the human rights.

Le Rôle Organisations Internationales Dans La Protection Du Droit À La Vie., Paul Gormley

Dalhousie Law Journal

The emerging role of international and regional organizations toward the realistic protection of the right to life (along with closely related guarantees) constitutes the scope of the scholarly treatise, which is an outgrowth of the author's participation at the Research Center of the Hague Academy of International Law. Precisely Johannes van Aggelen of the Center for Human Rights, United Nations Office at Geneva, is one of the rising scholars of the coming generation of human rights lawyers. Indeed, his work in such closely related fields as humanitarian law, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the right to an adequate food supply and supporting …

The Reunification Of Germany: Comments On A Legal Maze, Jutta Brunnée

Dalhousie Law Journal

In its Preamble, the Basic Law - the constitution - of the Federal Republic of Germany declares itself a transitional order put in place until all Germans can freely decide to live in a reunified Germany. The Preamble is evidence of both history and aspirations of the western part of Germany that emerged from the Second World War. It is now one of the legal foundations for an event that only a year ago few thought was possible: the merging of the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany into one German state. In its preamble and in …

The Office Of The United Nations Secretary-General, B G. Ramcharan

Dalhousie Law Journal

In the last decade of the twentieth century the international community is turning increasingly to international organizations to co-ordinate international protection of the common welfare, to promote global interests, and to help enhance human dignity and freedom. International organizations are not being entrusted with governmental functions per se, but they are being called upon to help develop and operate what may be described as strategies of international governance in the environmental, political, economic, social, and humanitarian sectors. The enhanced role of international organizations is accompanied by related innovations in international law.

The Human Rights Committee And Articles 7 And 10(1) Of The International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights, 1966, P R. Ghandhi

Dalhousie Law Journal

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Optional Protocol thereto, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in Resolution 2200A (XXI) t of 16 December 1966, entered into force on 23 March 1976 in accordance with Articles 49 of the Covenant and 9 of the Protocol respectively. As at 28 July 1989, there were eighty-seven States Parties to the Covenant and forty-five States Parties to the Protocol.

Treaty Interpretation: Theory And Reality, Paul Gormley

Dalhousie Law Journal

The inconsistencies, and conflicting theories of treaty interpretation, constitute the foundation for the present inquiry. The thesis defended is "that neither the judicial praxis nor international legislation, individually or together, have provided a realistic solution to the fundamental challenge facing the International Court of Justice of finding the right balance between stability and progressive development of international law." This fundamental thesis reemerges at several key portions of the text, when the author attempts to prove that existing standards of treaty interpretation are inadequate, on the ground they do not lead toward that degree of predictability and certainty, which he feels …

The Role Of International Law As A Canon Of Domestic Statutory Construction, Ralph G. Steinhardt

Vanderbilt Law Review

From the beginning of our constitutional life, the Supreme Court has articulated principles that structure the juridical relationship between international law and domestic law. These principles purportedly offer rules of decision for resolving in domestic courts the potential in-consistencies between external and internal sources of law, and they do so with the surface simplicity of axioms. Treaties, for example, cannot trump constitutional norms.' Customary international law can provide a rule of decision at least in the absence of controlling legislative or executive acts. In the case of an irreconcilable conflict between a treaty and a statute, the latter-in-time prevails. When …

Acid Rain And Ozone Layer Depletion: International Law And Regulation, Kernaghan Webb

Dalhousie Law Journal

Although international customary and conventional law have addressed aspects of transfrontier pollution problems for decades,' the regional and global environmental degradations which have come to the forefront in the 1980s and 1990s - acid rain, ozone depletion, and global warming, to name but three - represent new challenges to existing international law institutions and concepts. In a sense, the world has over the past two centuries gone through a period of what could be called "technological adolescence", as individuals and corporations, largely from industrialized nations, exploited the earth's resources with little if any concern for the immediate and long-term implications …

The Treatment Of Prisoners Under International Law, L C. Green

Dalhousie Law Journal

As Legal Adviser to Amnesty International, Mr. Rodley is well aware of the numerous occasions on which prisoners and detainees in a variety of countries suffer inhumane treatment, often involving torture or even death. As a contribution to the UNESCO series New Challenges in International Law he has produced this study of The Treatment of Prisoners under International Law seeking to show the extent to which international legal regulation attempts to protect such persons, either by way of the general rules concerning human rights or by way of specific regulations and studies carried out under the auspices of international organizations.

1990 Cslife (Spring), Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Life

Table of Contents:

Cardozo in Budapest, page 1

WALB Symposium on Battered Women, page 2

Law and Humanism Speakers Series To Run Through May, page 2

International Evidence Workshop, page 2

Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature Publishes Second Issue, page 2

A Message from the Chairman of the Board, page 3

Squadron Program Focuses on Cable Television, page 3

Chutick Law Library Offers Interactive Video Education, page 3

Alumni News, page 4

“Sisters on the Move” Through April 18, page 4

Faculty News, page 5

International Law Careers Day Held March 7^th, page 5

Standing To Challenge Human Endeavors That Could Change The Climate, Frederic L. Kirgis

Scholarly Articles

None available.

Testimony Before The Senate Committee On Foreign Relations, Convention Against Torture, David F. Forte

Law Faculty Presentations and Testimony

Hearing to examine issues related to U.S. ratification of the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment requiring nations to take measures to prevent torture and cruel and inhuman treatment, to prosecute or extradite alleged torturers, and to provide civil remedies for torture victims.

Support for U.S. ratification of UN convention against torture; examination of and concerns about proposed reservations and conditions to convention text (related materials, p. 49-60, 69-72); justification for certain reservations relating to U.S. sovereignty.

Attributing Acts Of Omission To The State, Gordon A. Christenson

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

In determining what conduct is attributable to the State under the international law of State responsibility, we normally work from specific behavior of particular government officials acting alone or in concert. Because the abstract "State" acts only through "agents" in control of the State or some part of its apparatus, any such acts of those individuals are attributed to the State if done under actual or apparent authority of the State. Responsibility of the State engages when such conduct causes harm in breach of international obligation.

Terrorism In National And International Law, Caleb M. Pilgrim

Penn State International Law Review

Efforts at regulating terrorism so far illustrate one central fact: the lack of balance between our conception of terrorism as applied by the individual practitioner and our conception of terrorism as practiced by government officials. The balance seems weighted in favor of governments even in those pathological cases where the patients had been rather unceremoniously treated for their allergies to dictatorship. Government in some cases control, in others influence, the sources of information concerned with national security. Stigmatization of sometime legitimate resistance - labeling it as "terrorist" - deprived such protests of legitimacy and protection. The people in power, the …

1990 Cslife (Winter), Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Life

Table of Contents:

Corporate Governance and the Environment: Beyond the Transactional Audit, page 1

“Derrida II” Draws Scholars from Across the Country, page 2

Justice Scalia’s Jurisprudence Examined, page 2

Legal Reform in the Soviet Union: Prospects for Human Rights and Economic Transformation, page 3

Cardozo’s Board of Directors Expands, page 3

A.B.A. Regional Negotiation Competition Held at Cardozo, page 4

The Writer and the State, page 4

Scenes from Cardozo’s Summer Program in Eastern Europe, page 5

New Associate Deans Named, page 6

Faculty News, page 7

AIDS Testing and Rape Cases: Clashing Interests, page 7

International Environmental Bankruptcy: An Overview Of Environmental Bankruptcy Law, Including A State's Claims Against The Multinational Polluter, Rick M. Reznicsek

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note focuses on current environmental bankruptcy law in the United States. It analyzes the claims of a state against a corporate polluter when the corporation discharges a toxic substance in violation of the state's environmental laws, refuses to clean up the waste, and then files bankruptcy in lieu of paying for the cleanup.

This Note analyzes the court decisions subsequent to the United States Supreme Court opinions in Ohio v. Kovacs and Midlantic National Bank v. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to evaluate the current status of United States bankruptcy law on the issues of the automatic stay; …

Can We End The Shame?--Recent Multilateral Efforts To Address The World Child Pornography Market, Julia Foreman

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Note, the author describes the United States and international child pornography markets. The author demonstrates how the United States Congress, judiciary, and law enforcement agencies have addressed the child pornography problem at the national and international level. In addition to the United States efforts to address this problem, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Thailand--who have all exported child pornography to the United States--have taken steps to curb the flow of child pornography. National and international child pornography markets continue to flourish, however, and the author concludes that more steps to eradicate child pornography are necessary. Finally, the author describes …

Comparative Overview Of Service Of Process: United States, Japan, And Attempts At International Unity, Chin Kim, Eliseo Z. Sisneros

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article examines the differing philosophical and legal requirements for service of process in the United States and Japan. Professor Kim and Mr. Sisneros compare service of process laws in the United States, where compliance with the due process clause of the United States Constitution is a fundamental requirement, with service of process laws in Japan, where service of process is an official act of the judiciary. A detailed analysis of valid service of process by a foreign state in Japan follows. The authors then discuss the effect of the Bilateral Consular Convention Between the United States and Japan and …

The Invasion Of Panama Was A Lawful Response To Tyranny, Anthony D'Amato

Faculty Working Papers

The Grenada and Panama interventions contributed to the momentum of popular sovereignty. Not only did the United States remove tyrannical leaders from those two countries, but more importantly it set an example that has undoubtedly shaken other ruling elites that enjoy tyrannical control in their own countries. For even if some of those entrenched elites regard themselves as secure against popular uprising in their own countries (usually by the application of torture and brutality against political dissidents), they cannot now feel totally insulated against foreign humanitarian intervention. Thus, Grenada and Panama may very well act as catalysts in the current …

International Human Rights Law Concerning Women: Case Notes And Comments, Rebecca J. Cook

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Essay addresses the application of international human rights law to women. Most of the cases addressed in this Essay involve alleged discrimination based on sex or marital status. Professor Cook notes that international, regional, and national courts have applied human rights principles to ensure that women's human rights are upheld, although not always to the full extent originally envisioned under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To illustrate this point, Professor Cook reviews cases arising under international, regional, and specialized treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the extent to which such discrimination interferes with …

Contemporary Efforts To Guarantee Indigenous Rights Under International Law, Andre Lawrey

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article examines recent attempts to improve international standards governing the rights of indigenous peoples. In this context, Ms. Lawrey analyzes the Australian Government's 1988 commitment to negotiate a treaty with Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Ms. Lawrey discusses the strained relationship between international law and indigenous peoples. At present, indigenous groups are not guaranteed special rights under international law. Furthermore, traditional individual rights are inadequate to effectively protect indigenous land rights and the right to self-determination. Ms. Lawrey identifies developments in indigenous rights since World War II, including International Labor Organization Convention Number 107 (Convention 107) and …

Major Contemporary Issues In Extradition Law, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

In this piece Professor Blakesley provides remarks on high crimes in international law, and the ability to extradite state and high government officials for committing them.

Exploring The Last Frontiers For Mineral Resources: A Comparison Of International Law Regarding The Deep Seabed, Outer Space, And Antarctica, Barbara E. Heim

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The nations of the world have begun to tap three resource areas--the deep seabed, outer space, and Antarctica. These areas are unique insofar as no nation can claim them exclusively as its own. As a result, these three areas raise unique international questions. Not only are they largely undisturbed, but these areas are also the testing ground for recently developed international treaties that attempt to usher in a new era of international cooperation. This Note examines both the exploration and exploitation of mineral resources in the deep seabed, outer space, and Antarctica. The physical nature of each area, the resources …

Covert Involvement In Essentially Internal Conflicts: United States Assistance To The Contras Under International Law, Helen Michael

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article examines whether contemporary international law is equipped to address the recurrent phenomenon of covert involvement by a state in internal conflicts of another state. Ms. Michael analyzes this phenomenon in the context of United States assistance to the Contras in collective self-defense on behalf of El Salvador, and Nicaragua's concomitant support of the Salvadoran Rebels' attempts to overthrow the existing El Salvador Government. Ms. Michael summarizes the extensive history of conflict between the United States and Nicaragua culminating in the contemporary dispute existing between the Reagan Administration and the Sandinista Government. Both the Sandinistas and the Reagan Administration …

Global Warming: Integrating United States And International Law, Lakshman D. Guruswamy

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Capacity Of International Law To Advance Ethnic Or Nationality Rights Claims, S. James Anaya

Publications

No abstract provided.

Doing Business Under Canadian Environmental Law, Jeffrey C. Bates, Gregory A. Bibler, David S. Blackmar

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

In recent years, the role of the environmental risk management has become increasingly significant to multinational corporations. Corporations from the United States and elsewhere are now undertaking aggressive assessments of environmental regulatory compliance, and are incorporating environmental due diligence into transactions such as mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and divestitures. The first step toward assessing compliance often involves interpretation of complex, vaguely written environmental statutes and regulations. Matters are made more difficult by the fact that each governmental structure is different, and environmental controls inevitably will be administered in ways unfamiliar to foreign companies, even in countries which have emulated the …