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Articles 1 - 18 of 18

Full-Text Articles in Law

Antiterrorism Military Commissions: Courting Illegality, Jordan J. Paust Jan 2001

Antiterrorism Military Commissions: Courting Illegality, Jordan J. Paust

Michigan Journal of International Law

On November 13, 2001, President Bush issued a sweeping and highly controversial Military Order for the purpose of creating military commissions with exclusive jurisdiction to try certain designated foreign nationals "for violations of the laws of war and other applicable laws" relevant to any prior or future "acts of international terrorism." The Order reaches far beyond the congressional authorization given the President "to use all necessary and appropriate force," including "use of the United States Armed Forces," against those involved in the September 11th attack "in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by …


Is International Bankruptcy Possible?, Frederick Tung Jan 2001

Is International Bankruptcy Possible?, Frederick Tung

Michigan Journal of International Law

Although international business firms proliferate, there is no international bankruptcy system. Instead, bankruptcy law remains a matter for individual states. The failure of a multinational firm therefore raises difficult questions of conflict and cooperation among national bankruptcy laws. In the discourse over the appropriate design for an international bankruptcy system, universalism has long held sway as the dominant idea, embraced nearly universally by bankruptcy scholars. Universalism offers a simple and elegant blueprint for international bankruptcy. Under universalism, the bankruptcy regime of the debtor firm's home country would govern worldwide, enjoying global reach to treat all of the debtor's assets and …


Remembering Chrystal Macmillan: Women's Equality And Nationality In International Law, Karen Knop, Christine Chinkin Jan 2001

Remembering Chrystal Macmillan: Women's Equality And Nationality In International Law, Karen Knop, Christine Chinkin

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article both continues and returns to the story of Chrystal Macmillan and the International Law Association. Some seventy-five years later, gender discrimination still exists in nationality law. For an American audience, Thailand's offer of nationality to U.S. golfer Tiger Woods, whose mother is Thai, highlighted the inequality of Thailand's laws on nationality. Although Thai women, as well as Thai men, can now pass their nationality to their children, the law continues to discriminate against women in other matters of nationality. Whereas the foreign wives of Thai men are specially entitled to apply for Thai nationality, the foreign husbands of …


The Value Vacuum: Self-Enforcing Regimes And The Dilution Of The Normative Feedback Loop, Claire R. Kelly Jan 2001

The Value Vacuum: Self-Enforcing Regimes And The Dilution Of The Normative Feedback Loop, Claire R. Kelly

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article proposes a modified constructivist theory, which links liberalism and constructivism through the normative feedback loop. Part I briefly explains traditional international relations theories such as realism, institutionalism, liberalism and constructivism. A modified constructivist perspective espouses the presence of two constants: (i) assertion of national preferences by constituents for whom the state acts as an agent in international relations, and (ii) social construction of state identities through interaction with other states in the international arena.


Interpreting Urugual Round Agreements Act Section 102(B)'S Safeguards For State Sovereignty: Reconciling Judicial Independence With The United States Trade Representative's Policy Expertise, Brandon Johnson Jan 2001

Interpreting Urugual Round Agreements Act Section 102(B)'S Safeguards For State Sovereignty: Reconciling Judicial Independence With The United States Trade Representative's Policy Expertise, Brandon Johnson

Michigan Journal of International Law

In this Note, I address the concerns of one aspect of this academic commentary-the claim that the WTO Agreement may cause a tectonic shift in domestic regulatory power, away from the states and toward the federal government and/or the WTO. I argue that while the concerns about the loss of national sovereignty are exaggerated, there is a very real threat to the sovereignty of the States. Congress was aware of this danger and included a variety of provisions designed specifically to protect state sovereignty from federal encroachment in the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), the federal legislation incorporating the WTO …


Sexual Orientation And International Law: A Study In The Manufacture Of Cross-Cultural "Sensitivity", Eric Heinze Jan 2001

Sexual Orientation And International Law: A Study In The Manufacture Of Cross-Cultural "Sensitivity", Eric Heinze

Michigan Journal of International Law

Interest groups advocating rights of sexual minorities have been lobbying international organizations for years without success. A standard explanation for that failure is that human sexuality is something complex, even mysterious, which requires that international organizations proceed with special caution. In this essay, it will be argued that such an explanation amounts to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Sexual orientation is neither more nor less complex than many other issues, such as race, ethnicity, religion or gender, which have nevertheless found wide recognition within leading intergovernmental organizations. It is not because sexual orientation is uniquely complex or mysterious that it is barred …


How International Is 'International' Law?, Kurt Taylor Gaubatz, Matthew Macarthur Jan 2001

How International Is 'International' Law?, Kurt Taylor Gaubatz, Matthew Macarthur

Michigan Journal of International Law

The international legal community posits universality as a central characteristic of modern international law. But there has been little work to assess the degree to which international legal norms are widely shared and incorporated into the foreign policy-making of states. Previous work in this area has attempted to describe the distribution of legal values across cultures. This work has proven contradictory and inconclusive. The epistemic communities literature suggests looking at the distribution of practitioners as an alternative approach for assessing the diffusion of norms and practices. In fact, the community of litigators who practice before the International Court of Justice …


The Effectiveness Of European Community Law With Specific Regard To Directives: The Critical Step Not Taken By The European Court Of Justice, Carla A. Varner Jan 2001

The Effectiveness Of European Community Law With Specific Regard To Directives: The Critical Step Not Taken By The European Court Of Justice, Carla A. Varner

Michigan Journal of International Law

The purpose of this Note is to investigate the European Court of Justice's less expansive treatment of directives as compared to other forms of EC law through its failure to apply horizontal direct effect to directives. More specifically, this Note attempts to answer two questions which arise from the current status of ECJ jurisprudence: First, why has the Court been reluctant to implement horizontal direct effect for directives, especially in light of other actions it has taken to increase the potency of EC law? Second, given the alternative steps taken by the ECJ, is it still necessary to establish horizontal …


Prescriptive Treaties In Global Warming: Applying The Factors Leading To The Montreal Protocol, Jasmine Abdel-Khalik Jan 2001

Prescriptive Treaties In Global Warming: Applying The Factors Leading To The Montreal Protocol, Jasmine Abdel-Khalik

Michigan Journal of International Law

In order to combat the ever-increasing problem of global warming, developing nations need technology that will limit emissions while allowing for economic growth. This paper will first examine the problem of global warming. In Part II, the paper will explore the reasons developing nations currently are unable to reduce their emissions. In Part III, the paper will look at the factors leading to the success of the Montreal Protocol and examine the global warming debate in light of these factors.


The Post-Conflict Transitional Administration Of Kosovo And The Lessons-Learned In Efforts To Establish A Judiciary And Rule Of Law, Wendy S. Betts, Scott N. Carlson, Gregory Grisvold Jan 2001

The Post-Conflict Transitional Administration Of Kosovo And The Lessons-Learned In Efforts To Establish A Judiciary And Rule Of Law, Wendy S. Betts, Scott N. Carlson, Gregory Grisvold

Michigan Journal of International Law

The study of post-conflict Kosovo presents an important opportunity to distill lessons that can provide guidance for future post-conflict, transitional administrations. The lessons-learned from an analysis of any post-conflict setting are many and varied. The goal of this short paper is limited to the identification of key lessons-learned in the effort to reestablish the judiciary and rule of law in post-conflict Kosovo. Even within this limited setting, this paper is not intended to provide exhaustive coverage of the issue. Rather, it is intended to provide the reader with basic information and central themes that are essential to a discussion of …


An Empirically Based Comparison Of American And European Regulatory Approaches To Police Investigation, Christopher Slobogin Jan 2001

An Empirically Based Comparison Of American And European Regulatory Approaches To Police Investigation, Christopher Slobogin

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article takes a comparative and empirical look at two of the most significant methods of police investigation: searches for and seizures of tangible evidence and interrogation of suspects. It first compares American doctrine regulating these investigative tools with the analogous rules predominant in Europe. It then discusses research on the American system that sheds light on the relative advantages and disadvantages of the two regulatory regimes.


The Asbestos Case And Dispute Settlement In The World Trade Organization: The Uneasy Relationship Between Panels And The Appellate Body, Sydney M. Cone Iii Jan 2001

The Asbestos Case And Dispute Settlement In The World Trade Organization: The Uneasy Relationship Between Panels And The Appellate Body, Sydney M. Cone Iii

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article deals with the working-level dispute-settlement apparatus of the World Trade Organization ("WTO"). In particular, it discusses the work of the Appellate Body and, functioning below it, panels established by the WTO to conduct proceedings in individual cases. It focuses on the relationship between the Appellate Body and panels, and on the responsibilities of the Appellate Body in the context of that relationship.


The Anatomy Of An Institutionalized Emergency: Preventive Detention And Personal Liberty In India, Derek P. Jinks Jan 2001

The Anatomy Of An Institutionalized Emergency: Preventive Detention And Personal Liberty In India, Derek P. Jinks

Michigan Journal of International Law

Despite many indications of an emerging transnational consensus on the scope of human rights law, fundamental disagreements persist. These disagreements are, in many respects, structured around important cleavages in the international community such as: North/South, East/West, and capitalist/socialist. Whether these cleavages are understood as cultural, economic, or political, international lawyers must develop a better understanding of the specific practices that generate divergent interpretations of human rights standards. Without such an understanding, these factions seem to underscore an irreducibly political conception of human rights. Indeed, the prospects of a global "community of law" turn on the degree to which fundamental differences …


The Role Of The Presiding Judge In Garnering Respect For Decisions Of International Courts, Jean Allain Jan 2001

The Role Of The Presiding Judge In Garnering Respect For Decisions Of International Courts, Jean Allain

Michigan Journal of International Law

The following study considers the role that should be assumed by a presiding judge to ensure full respect for the rule of law internationally. The foundation for this study lies in an examination of the dispute settlement provisions of the Law of the Sea Convention as well as its mechanism for the settlement of disputes-the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The Tribunal was called upon to deliver judgment in the MIV Saiga case. The judgment, along with the primary dissenting opinion, are considered, compared, and analyzed in order to demonstrate the extent to which the judgment is, …


The Impact Of Family Paradigms, Domestic Constitutions, And International Conventions On Disclosure Of An Adopted Person's Identities And Heritage: A Comparative Examination, D. Marianne Brower Blair Jan 2001

The Impact Of Family Paradigms, Domestic Constitutions, And International Conventions On Disclosure Of An Adopted Person's Identities And Heritage: A Comparative Examination, D. Marianne Brower Blair

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article examines the extent to which international law has and will potentially influence the direction of the reform and implementation of adoption disclosure norms. Though it does not yet appear that international law mandates recognition of an absolute right to identifying information when such disclosure is opposed by a birth parent or adoptee, examination of these conventions and the response of the international community underscores the critical importance of identifying information to many adoptees, and a growing movement to afford primacy to their interests.


Game Theory And Customary International Law: A Response To Professors Goldsmith And Posner, Mark A. Chinen Jan 2001

Game Theory And Customary International Law: A Response To Professors Goldsmith And Posner, Mark A. Chinen

Michigan Journal of International Law

In a pair of recent articles, Professors Jack Goldsmith and Eric Posner have used game theoretic principles to challenge the positivist account of customary international law. Their writings join other early attempts to apply game theory to the international law sources. The author has two purposes in this Article. The first is to evaluate game theory's potential for yielding greater insight into customary international law and international law more generally. The second is to respond to the conclusions about customary international law drawn by Professors Goldsmith and Posner.


Further Thoughts On Customary International Law, Jack L. Goldsmith, Eric A. Posner Jan 2001

Further Thoughts On Customary International Law, Jack L. Goldsmith, Eric A. Posner

Michigan Journal of International Law

In two earlier articles, the tools of game theory were used to sketch a positive theoretical account of customary international law ("CIL"). This theory rejected as question-begging the usual explanations of CIL based on legality, morality, opinio juris, and related concepts. It was argued instead that CIL emerges from nations' pursuit of self-interested policies on the international stage. This approach helps explain many overlooked features of CIL, including how CIL originates and changes, why the content of CIL tracks the interest of powerful nations, and why nations change their views of CIL when their interests change. Finally, the practices …


Afterword, Mark A. Chinen Jan 2001

Afterword, Mark A. Chinen

Michigan Journal of International Law

The author prefaces the afterword in the following manner: “Professors Goldsmith and Posner have given an insightful reply to my Article. It has been a pleasure to engage in a discussion of these issues with respected colleagues via this exchange of writings, and I am grateful to the Journal for providing the opportunity to do so. Most of the positions I have taken are already adequately discussed in the body of the Article, and this afterword is not intended to summarize all of the arguments made there. However, I wanted to address some of the points Professors Goldsmith and Posner …