Law Commons^™

Hamdan V. Rumsfeld: The Functional Case For Foreign Affairs Deference To The Executive Branch, John C. Yoo, Julian Ku

John C Yoo

The Supreme Court's decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld represents a radical new judicial approach to the interpretation of laws relating to foreign affairs. Not only did the Hamdan Court fail to defer to the executive's reasonable interpretations of the relevant statutes, treaties, and customary international law of war relating to military commissions, but it did not even justify its failure to depart from longstanding formal doctrines requiring such deference. In this Essay, we offer a functional defense of the doctrines requiring judicial deference to executive interpretations of laws affecting foreign affairs in wartime; doctrines that the Hamdan Court largely ignored. …

The International Tribunal For The Law Of The Sea And The Possibility Of Judicial Settlement Of Disputes Involving The Fishing Entity Of Taiwan - Taking Ccsbt As An Example, Yann-Huei Song

San Diego International Law Journal

The main purpose of this paper is to assess the possibility of judicial settlement of fishery disputes involving the fishing entity of Taiwan and examine the legal questions regarding jurisdiction over the disputes. This analysis is based on the articles related to dispute settlement that are provided in the SBT Convention, the ITLOS Statute and the international law of the sea and the judicial practice of the ITLOS and other relevant arbitration courts in the Southern Bluefin Tuna case. Following this introductory section, Section II describes the establishment of the CCSBT and the selection and application of the methods of …

Slides: Taking The Long View: Doing Something About Climate Change, David Getches, Susan Avery, Maggie Fox, Roger Pielke

Climate Change and the Future of the American West: Exploring the Legal and Policy Dimensions (Summer Conference, June 7-9)

Presenter: Maggie Fox, President, America Votes, Boulder, CO.

Presenter: Susan Avery, Interim Provost and Executive Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of Colorado.

Presenter: Roger Pielke, Jr., Professor, Environmental Studies, Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Colorado.

4 slides.

Circumventing The Supremacy Clause? Understanding The Constitutional Implications Of The United States' Treatment Of Treaty Obligations Through An Analysis Of The New York Convention, Amber A. Ward

San Diego International Law Journal

The United States participation in treaties and other international agreements is becoming more necessary and an increasingly prevalent occurrence as a result of globalization. The rapid pace of technological innovation and more effective means of transportation have caused our world to shrink, making countries even more interconnected. The corresponding explosion of international business and commercial transactions has resulted in high levels of risk and uncertainty due to a complex mix of laws, monetary factors, politics and cultures that vary across countries. For global players, it has become essential to have international agreements that can mitigate the risks inherent in international …

Biopiracy And Beyond: A Consideration Of Socio-Cultural Conflicts With Global Patent Policies, Cynthia M. Ho

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article provides afresh and multi-dimensioned approach to a long-standing claim of biopiracy patents made by developing countries and communities. The basic principles of patent law and policy are first established to provide a foundation from which to evaluate the claim that genetic resources and traditional knowledge from developing countries are being misappropriated in a variety of ways that are loosely referred to as biopiracy. The Article distinguishes rhetoric from reality in examining biopiracy allegations from the perspective of national patent laws, as well as international agreements. In addition, the Article explains the underlying conflicts, misconceptions, and historical biases that …

Negligence And Nuclear Nonproliferation: Eliminating The Current Liability Barrier To Bilateral U.S.- Russian Nonproliferation Assistance Programs, Patrick F. Speice Jr.

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Brief Of Law Professors David D. Cole Et Al. As Amici Curiae Supporting Petitioner (Geneva-Enforceability), Hamdan V. Rumsfield, No. 05-184 (U.S. Jan. 6, 2006), David Cole, Julie R. O'Sullivan, Carlos Manuel Vázquez

U.S. Supreme Court Briefs

No abstract provided.

Take The Long Way Home: Sub-Federal Integration Of Unratified And Non-Self-Executing Treaty Law, Lesley Wexler

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article introduces the longstanding treaty compliance debate and expands it to include the question of whether treaties influence sub-federal actors in non-ratifying countries. This Part draws on norm theory to conclude that sub-federal actors may use treaties and treaty processes as: (a) a framework to understand the underlying substantive issue, (b) a way to reduce drafting costs, (c) a focal point to measure compliance, (d) evidence of an international consensus, (e) a mechanism to express or signal a cosmopolitan identity, or (f) a springboard to criticize the current administration.

Transparency: An Analysis Of An Evolving Fundamental Principle In International Economic Law, Carl-Sebastian Zoellner

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note will first sketch the theoretical underpinnings of transparency in an interdisciplinary overview of its possible meanings and advantages in the present context. It will then survey documents and instruments of international economic law in which language embracing the transparency principle is already present. The Note's main section proceeds to ask whether, in the actual application of those agreements, the transparency principle has had any notable impact on the interpretation of state obligations. Finally, in addressing transparency's future role in international economic law, this Note briefly discusses additional problems which might be resolved through a transparency-based approach.

The Universal Declaration On Bioethics And Human Rights: Promoting International Discussion On The Morality Of Non-Therapeutic Research On Children, Anna Gercas

Michigan Journal of International Law

After describing the Declaration and its drafting history, this Note will summarize several international, national, and regional guidelines regarding children as research subjects. The Note then argues for a prohibition of non-therapeutic research on children and concludes that international human rights law offers the most appropriate basis for the development of regulations on human experimentation.

Paper Dragon: Inadequate Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights In China, Omario Kanji

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note will explore the extent to which China is in violation of its obligations under TRIPs. Section I surveys the current state of IPR infringement in China. Section II analyzes relevant TRIPs provisions, case law, and treaties that supplement TRIPs provisions. Section III analyzes Chinese criminal law, the December 2004 Judicial Interpretation of Chinese criminal law, and Chinese IP law as they pertain to IPR infringement. Section IV outlines enforcement efforts in China against the backdrop of the law analyzed in the previous section. Section V evaluates these enforcement efforts given China's capabilities and obligations, and Section VI concludes …

Principles Of Fairness For International Economic Treaties: Constructivism And Contractualism, John Linarelli

Scholarly Works

No legal system deserving of continued support can exist without an adequate theory of justice. A world trade constitution cannot credibly exist without a clear notion of justice upon which to base a consensus. This paper examines two accounts of fairness found in moral philosophy, those of John Rawls and Tim Scanlon. The Rawlsian theory of justice is well-known to legal scholars. Scanlon's contractualist account may be less well-known. The aim of the paper is to start the discussion as to how fairness theories can be used to develop the tools for examining international economic policies and institutions. After elaborating …

Regional Treaties, G. L. Rose

Faculty of Law - Papers (Archive)

An investigation of trends in Australian treaty-making with countries in the region of South East Asia and the South West Pacific, projected forwards from the middle of 2006.

The Salmon People, Judge Boldt, And The Rule Of Law, Charles F. Wilkinson

Publications

No abstract provided.

Reserving, Edward T. Swaine

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The law of treaty reservations - which enables states to ask that their multilateral obligations be tailored to their individual preferences - has been controversial for over fifty years, and is at present subject to pitched battles within (and between) the International Law Commission and numerous other international institutions. There is broad agreement that existing scheme under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties involves a sharp tradeoff between honoring the unalloyed consent of non-reserving states (that is, those agreeing to the treaty as originally negotiated, which may object to proposed reservations) and respecting the conditioned consent of reserving …

The United States As Global Sheriff: Using Unilateral Sanctions To Combat Human Trafficking, Janie Chuang

Michigan Journal of International Law

By situating the U.S. rise to dominance in historical and political context, this Article underscores the significance of U.S. unilateralism for international anti-trafficking law and policy.

Illegal Peace?: An Inquiry Into The Legality Of Power-Sharing With Warlords And Rebels In Africa, Jeremy I. Levitt

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article represents the first conscientious attempt to address these questions, present a conceptual framework for examining the legal and political efficacy of coercing democratically constituted governments into sharing power, and define a lawful basis or approach to sharing power when governments are confronted with the aforementioned scenario. The Article is polemical and questions the dominant logic that political power-sharing is lawful, legitimate, and unequivocally serves the public good, arguing that power-sharing deals that ignore controlling rules are unlawful and not viable.

Rebus Sic Stantibus: Notification Of Consular Rights After Medellin, Aaron A. Ostrovsky, Brandon E. Reavis

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Comment examines, through principles of public international law and U.S. jurisprudence, the relationship between U.S. courts and the ICJ to determine if the former are indeed bound by the latter's decisions, proprio motu, or if instead some Executive action is required to make the decisions binding on the judiciary. Part of this examination will entail a discussion of the potential for dialogue between the ICJ and U.S. courts to "pierce the veil of sovereignty" that traditionally conceals the inner workings of sovereign states from the scrutiny of international tribunals. Based on this assessment, the Comment then addresses how …

International Treaty Enforcement As A Public Good: Institutional Deterrent Sanctions In International Environmental Agreements, Tseming Yang

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article approaches the issues through the lens of two general questions. First, what are the functions of treaty enforcement and institutional deterrent sanctions? Second, what are the obstacles to the effective deployment of institutional deterrent sanctions in response to noncompliance? This Article elaborates on the instrumental purposes of enforcement as well as its independent normative function. Much of the analysis follows the recent stream of works that combines both international law and international relations theory. These works offer a rich understanding of the conduct of states and the functioning of international legal regimes.

Power, Norms, And International Intellectual Property Law, Tai-Heng Cheng

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article begins with the premise that international law is the net result of global processes of interactions among state and non-state participants in the international system. The Article builds on the author’s previous work by proposing a theory of international law that fills the interstices between private and public international law. Participants generally deploy power and invoke legal and social norms in pursuit of interests and in response to the strategies of other participants. Eventually, outcomes that reflect both power and norms result, and these outcomes in turn modify norms and reallocate power. New outcomes then follow in future …

An Analysis Of Potential Conflicts Between The Stockholm Convention And Its Parties' Wto Obligations, D. Dean Batchelder

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Comment examines the compatibility of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants with parties' WTO obligations under the GATT Agreement. The Stockholm Convention represents a broad-based attempt to regulate persistent organic pollutants (POPs), some of the most damaging chemicals to the environment and human health. The commitments that parties to the Stockholm Convention have undertaken to control POPs may implicate international trade commitments. Hopefully the discussion in this Comment may also be relevant to other multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), especially those involving trade measures.

The Cape Town Approach: A New Method Of Making International Law, Mark J. Sundahl

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The use of multilateral treaties in the field of international commercial law has been in a state of steady decline. Traditional treaty law has been gradually replaced in recent years by softer methods of making international law, such as the use of restatements and model laws. Some scholars even claim that treaty law is dead or dying. This Article explains how the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (which entered into force on March 1, 2006) provides an innovative approach to the creation of treaties that promises to revive the status of treaties in international law. The …

The False Panacea Of Offshore Deterrence, James C. Hathaway

Articles

Governments take often shockingly blunt action to deter refugees and other migrants found on the high seas, in their island territories and in overseas enclaves. There is a pervasive belief that when deterrence is conducted at arms-length from the homeland it is either legitimate or, at the very least, immune from legal accountability.

Case Comment, Sanchez-Llamas V. Oregon, Curtis A. Bradley

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Notice Under Article 36: The Vienna Convention Dilemma, Linda Holshouser

South Carolina Journal of International Law and Business

No abstract provided.

Enforcing The Avena Decision In U.S. Courts, Curtis A. Bradley

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Regulatory Purpose And 'Like Products' In Article Iii:4 Of The Gatt (With Additional Remarks On Article Iii:2), Donald H. Regan

Book Chapters

In EC-Asbestos the Appellate Body has told us that (l) in interpreting Article III:4 of the GATT, we must take explicit account of the policy in Article III: l that measures should not be applied "so as to afford protection to domestic production" [hereafter just "so as to afford protection"]. In Chile- Alcohol the Appellate Body has told us that (2) in deciding whether a measure is applied "so as to afford protection," we must consider "the purposes or objectives of a Member's legislature and government as a whole"- in other words, the regulatory purpose of the measure. Chile- Alcohol …

Restoring (And Risking) Interest In International Law, Edward T. Swaine

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Jack Goldsmith of Harvard Law School and Eric Posner of the University of Chicago Law School articulate a comprehensive and engaging theory of state behaviors in their new book, “The Limits of International Law,” but with several internal flaws. Their book uses rational choice theory to explain how states act rationally to maximize their interests, and how, in doing so, states align themselves (sometimes) with international law. This book review argues that while Limits is a skilled and pioneering work that deserves to be taken seriously, it also suffers from tensions and over-generalizations that undermine its claims. As a result, …

Refugees' Human Rights And The Challenge Of Political Will, James C. Hathaway

Articles

Governments in all parts of the world are withdrawing in practice from meeting the legal duty to provide refugees with the protection they require. While states continue to proclaim a willingness to assist refugees as a matter of political discretion or humanitarian goodwill, many appear committed to a pattern of defensive strategies designed to avoid international legal responsibility toward involuntary migrants. Some see this shift away from a legal paradigm of refugee protection as a source of enhanced operational flexibility in the face of changed political circumstances. For refugees themselves, however, the increasingly marginal relevance of international refugee law has …

Judicial Enforcement Of Treaties: Self-Execution And Related Doctrines, Carlos Manuel Vázquez

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This morning we will be discussing the judicial enforcement of treaties in the United States. In particular, I would like to focus on the relationship between a treaty's status as self-executing or not, and the question of its judicial enforceability.