Law Commons^™

Relative Normativity: Challenging The Sovereignty Norm Through Human Rights Litigation, William J. Aceves

UC Law SF International Law Review

Since 1945, two developments in human rights law have challenged the dominion of the sovereignty norm. First, the international community has recognized the existence of competing human rights norms, some of which now compete with the sovereignty norm for primacy. Second, a diverse group of institutions has applied these norms to challenge the sovereignty norm by imposing civil and criminal liability on government officials when they commit human rights violations. This essay examines how the sovereignty norm has been challenged through human rights litigation. Two recent human rights cases. Filartiga v. Pena-Irala and Regina v. Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, …

Extradition And The Conflict In Northern Ireland: The Past, Present And Future Of An Intractable Problem, Margaret I. Branick

UC Law SF International Law Review

British government efforts to extradite members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) from the United States have posed challenges to U.S. extradition policy since the 1970s. Under extradition law, "political offenses" traditionally are treated as non-extraditable offenses. Use of the political offense exception to deny extradition of IRA fugitives from the United States prompted the United Kingdom and the United States to sign a Supplementary Treaty in 1985, which eliminated the political offense exception for broad categories of violent acts.

This Note briefly reviews the background of the conflict in Northern Ireland, and discusses extradition law and the political …

Relative Sovereignty Of The Twenty First Century, Ivan Simonovic

UC Law SF International Law Review

The quality of state sovereignty in the contemporary world, both in internal and external relations, has fundamentally changed. Sovereignty of the state in international relations is changing from a system of international relations based on concentration of power in states alone into a system of power-sharing and balance between state and non-state actors. The principle of noninterference in the "internal affairs of a state" is being challenged by the international community's belief in its "responsibility to protect" the world's citizens from persecution, large-scale human rights abuses, and other sufferings. However rational, the process of increasing power-sharing between states, international organizations, …

Governance Of Internet Domain Names Against Cybersquatters In China: A Framework And Legal Perspective, Mo Zhang

UC Law SF International Law Review

Registration of domain names in China has been burgeoning at an accelerated pace in recent years. Due to the lack of an effective link between domain name registration and protection of trademarks, speculators, driven by the potential profit derived from registering famous marks and service marks of others, often abuse the registration and use of domain names. Consequently, trademark infringement stemming from illegal registration and use of domain names has emerged as a serious legal issue. Despite China's efforts to manage and control the registration of domain names through administrative schemes, such remedial measures seem inadequate to solve the thorny …

The International Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women: A Comparison Of Its Implementation And The Role Of Non-Governmental Organisations In The United Kingdom And Hong Kong, Carole J. Petersen, Harriet Samuels

UC Law SF International Law Review

Although the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women ("CEDAW") was implemented in Hong Kong a full ten years after its enactment in the United Kingdom, evidence suggests that it is having a more practical impact in Hong Kong than in the United Kingdom largely because Hong Kong women's organizations are making more use of CEDAW in their current lobbying efforts. This article introduces CEDAW and its enforcement mechanisms, and compares its implementation in the two jurisdictions. The authors analyze the extent to which CEDAW is considered in public policy making, the extent to which the …

State Sponsorship And Support Of International Terrorism: Customary Norms Of State Responsibility, Scott M. Malzahn

UC Law SF International Law Review

International terrorists survive and flourish while working underground and out of sight. However, for all its secrecy, terrorism develops within national borders, often in cooperation with public officials or at the acquiescence of political leaders. This note explores the symbiotic relationship between states and private persons who commit crimes of international terrorism, and analyzes the relevant customary norms of international law that may serve as a legal device to hold states accountable in damages for state sponsorship and support of international terrorism. Although legal remedies to acts of terrorism are not always satisfactory, the potential value and positive externalities of …

Nobody's Perfect: Proximate Cause In American And Jewish Law, Steven F. Friedell

UC Law SF International Law Review

Although it may seem counterintuitive, wrongdoers are not liable for most of the damage they cause. The law leaves most of the burden of torts on the victims because it would be neither just nor practical to hold culpable defendants liable for all the harm they cause. The difficult task for any legal system is to define the criteria that determine the limits of liability and to prescribe the procedures for applying those criteria.

This Article will explore the problem in both the American and Jewish legal systems and suggest ways in which the American system can be reformed. First, …

The Brazilian Legal Tradition And Environmental Protection: Friend Or Foe, Janelle E. Kellman

UC Law SF International Law Review

Brazil is home to almost forty-two percent of the area known worldwide as the Amazon basin. Despite its tremendous beauty and ecological richness, the Amazon forest is being destroyed at an unprecedented rate. Legal historians and international scholars have argued that the controversy surrounding the Amazon has stemmed from conflicting economic uses of the forest. Economics, however, is only one piece of the puzzle that accounts for the massive destruction of the rainforest and its surrounding ecosystem. Brazil has a complex set of environmental regulations and statutes. This Article examines how Brazilian legal culture and society have made it virtually …

Electronic Signatures: A Comparison Of American And European Legislation, Lance C. Ching

UC Law SF International Law Review

The federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, effective on October 1, 2000, established that a signature, contract, or record related to an interstate or foreign transaction cannot be denied legal effect simply because it is in electronic form, subject to certain exceptions. For much the same purpose, the European Parliament and Council adopted the Directive on a Community Framework for Electronic Signatures in December 1999.

This Note discusses the approaches taken by the United States and the European Union toward establishing the validity of electronic signatures. It provides a brief overview of the history of electronic commerce …

Identifying Terrorists: Privacy Rights In The United States And The United Kingdom, Joyce W. Luk

UC Law SF International Law Review

While the privacy concerns raised by technological advances are widely recognized, recent terrorist attacks and developments in surveillance and information technologies have led to a convergence of technologies that present new challenges to the right to privacy.

This Note gives a general background on video surveillance and facial recognition software and discusses the technology behind, and uses of, closed circuit television in the United States and elsewhere. The Note also explores the meaning of privacy, privacy rights, and their applicability to facial recognition technology, video surveillance, and other emerging surveillance technologies in the United States. It discusses privacy rights and …

Sovereignty: The State, The Individual, And The International Legal System In The Twenty First Century, Ronald A. Brand

UC Law SF International Law Review

In its origins, the concept of sovereignty dealt with the relationship between the individual and the "sovereign." Its application to the role of the state in international law developed as a secondary matter, bringing with it discussions of relationships between "sovereign" states. However, international law has moved beyond contemporary notions of sovereignty. Concerns about "giving up sovereignty" through participation in multilateral organizations are often misplaced. In this century the most important developments in international law will not be in state-state relationships but rather in the status and rights of the person in international law. The ultimate propriety of new international …

The Sovereignty Continuum And Conflict Resolution, Dennis Cusack

UC Law SF International Law Review

The history of Tibet's relations with China is itself an interesting study in notions of sovereignty, autonomy and "suzerainty," the label the British gave to their view of Tibet's status at the turn of the last century. Under the 1988 Strasbourg Proposal, the Dalai Lama offered to negotiate a status for Tibet under which Tibet would surrender its right to formal sovereignty, defer to China on matters of foreign relations and defense, but retain control over all domestic matters. This article offers examples and patterns of cases in which conflicts over sovereignty have been successfully resolved through non-violent conflict resolution.

Sovereignty, Territoriality, And The Rule Of Law, Joan Fitzpatrick

UC Law SF International Law Review

On November 13, 2001, President George W. Bush issued a Military Order in which he claimed power as Commander in Chief to detain indefinitely and to try, by ad hoc military commissions, persons designated by him as international terrorists. This Order represents a stunning claim to absolutist power and a rejection of any meaningful legal constraints on the treatment of the captives. The Order and the "War on Terrorism" on which it is premised challenge the most commonly accepted principles of post-Westphalian sovereignty: exclusive control over territory, noninterference, and equality among states.

The legal premise for the Order is the …

Sovereignty, Influence, Realpolitik And The World Trade Organization, Matthew Schaefer

UC Law SF International Law Review

During the U.S. governmental consideration of the Uruguay Round agreements creating the World Trade Organization ("WTO"), claims of "lost sovereignty" were used as a rhetorical device by numerous groups opposed to the WTO. The primary users of the rhetoric were supporters of a more protectionist trade policy, most prominently Pat Buchanan and environmental activists associated with Lori Wallach. However, the ease with which the legalistic response debunked the claim of lost sovereignty and the selective application of sovereignty rhetoric by these groups suggested that their actual concerns did not match the rhetoric. Instead, the underlying concern appears to be over …

A Proposal To Use Alternative Dispute Resolution As A Foundation To Build An Independent Global Cyberlaw Jurisdiction Using Business To Consumer Transactions As A Model, Victoria C. Crawford

UC Law SF International Law Review

Alternative Dispute Resolution ("ADR") has traditionally operated on the outskirts of the law as an alternative or supplement to traditional court constructs. ADR is typically described as operating in the shadow of the law and certainly not as the foundation for it. The uniqueness of the internet has the potential to reverse this traditional relationship. This paper suggests that online ADR techniques could be used as a foundation upon which to build an independently existing global cyberlaw jurisdiction for business to consumer transactions.

International Law And The Internet: An Ill-Suited Match - Case Note On Uejf & Licra V. Yahoo! Inc., Caitlin T. Murphy

UC Law SF International Law Review

Internet users, legal scholars, and international observers have been predicting a clash over ideas on the Internet for quite some time. The truly global nature of the medium, the uncertain status of Internet jurisdiction, and the fact that international laws about speech are divergent have created a sense that a collision of ideology and practical legal concerns was imminent. These predictions were realized in May, 2000 when various human rights groups in France filed suit against the American internet giant Yahoo! Inc. over the posting and selling of Nazi paraphernalia on American Web sites that French users can access. This …

Commanding International Judicial Respect: Reciprocity And The Recognition And Enforcement Of Foreign Judgments, Susan L. Stevens

UC Law SF International Law Review

The recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments have become one of the most prominent areas of interest for many countries in this day of heightened globalization. While the United States has been generous in its recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, many foreign countries have been unwilling to honor U.S. judgments. U.S. recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments is currently handled on a state-by-state basis, governed by state statute or common law. From a foreign country perspective, this "system" provides no unified procedure indicating under what conditions foreign judgments will be recognized and enforced. The Council of the American Law …

Some Realism About Comparativism: Comparative Law Teaching In The Hegemonic Jurisdiction, Ugo Mattei

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.