Law Commons^™

Généticisation Et Responsabilité: Les Habits Neufs De La Gouvernance Néolibérale (Uncorrected Proofs), Antoinette Rouvroy

Antoinette Rouvroy

Loin du phantasme spectaculaire d’une “maléabilité” génétique de l’être humain, et nonobstant les discours grandiloquants qui ont accompagné la très coûteuse exploration du génome humain, la “nouvelle génétique humaine” ne révèle ni ne porte atteinte à l’essence de l’être humain (encore faudrait-il qu’une telle essence puisse jamais être définie), mais révolutionne notre perception des causes des smilitudes et variations au sein de l’espèce humaine. Le néologisme ‘généticisation’ désigne la contamination progressive des discours sociétaux (médicaux, juridiques, politiques, sociologiques,...) par une logique réductionniste et essentialiste faisant des gènes la cause privilégiée sinon exclusive des variations inter-personnelles et inter-communautaires au sein de …

تونل, Sajjad Khaksari

SAJJAD KHAKSARI

برداشتی از فیلم سینمایی تونل؛ فیلمی که صدا و سیمای خامنه ای همواره سعی در سوء استفاده از آن را داشته اما واقعیت این است که اوضاع و احوال «حقوق کارگر» و به خصوص فعالان سندیکایی آنان اسفناک است آنچنان که در فیلم هم به خوبی به نمایش گذاشته می شود. این تنها نسخه پی دی افی است که برای ام باقی مانده چرا که در بازداشت ها و دستگیری های سربازان گمراه حضرت آقا، ظالمان موفق شدند تا نوشته هایم در این زمینه را معدوم کنند! غافل از آنکه «حق» پا برجا بوده و خواهد بود

Réinventer L'Art D'Oublier Et De Se Faire Oublier Dans La Société De L'Information?, Antoinette Rouvroy

Antoinette Rouvroy

Ce qu’il nous intéresse d’explorer à travers une réflexion sur le « droit à l’oubli » dans la société de l’information, c’est la manière dont les nouvelles technologies – et les formes inédites de production du savoir et de constitution de la mémoire qui les accompagnent - instigatrices de changements culturels, transforment les processus de « subjectivation » ou de développement par l’individu d’une personnalité qui lui soit propre. L’enjeu de ce détour, plus philosophique que juridique, est fondamental pour le droit: puisque l'auto-détermination, ou le libre développement de la personnalité se trouvent être les concepts clés des régimes de …

Polycentric Governance Of Normative Technologies: Democratic And Constitutional Issues / Gouvernance Polycentrique Des Technologies Normatives: Enjeux Démocratiques Et Constitutionnels., Antoinette Rouvroy

Antoinette Rouvroy

English abstract: This personal project, funded by the FNRS, addresses the relationships between Law and the myriad of norms generated by non-state actors involved in the governance of the Information Society. A first question is about both the specificities, if any, of the legal norms, or of the Law, in the regulatory landscape of the Information Society, and the role that the law might have in the assessment and guarantee of the legitimacy of 'non-state norms'. Assuming that a basic condition of the legitimacy of norms, whatever their kinds, would reside in the possibility that individuals have to contest them, …

The Organismic State Against Itself: Schelling, Hegel And The Life Of Right, Joshua D. Lambier

Joshua D Lambier

Focusing on the political thought of Schelling and Hegel – beginning with the early texts (1796–1802), then moving briefly to Hegel’s well known Philosophy of Right (1821) – this essay revisits the Romantic-Idealist theory of the organic state by returning to its genesis in the turbulent political, cultural and scientific debates of the post-Revolutionary period. Given the controversial nature of its historical (mis)appropriations, the organic idea of the state has become synonymous with totality and closure. This essay argues, however, that the contemporary rejection of organicism relies on narrow interpretations of Romantic and Idealist notions of organic life, interpretations that …

The Ilusion Of Security, David Wright, Michael Friedewald, Wim Schreurs, Michiel Verlinden, Serge Gutwirth, Yves Punie, Ioannis Maghiros, Elena Vildjounaite, Peteri Alahuhta

Serge Gutwirth

While most stakeholders paint the promise of ambient intelligence (AmI) in sunny colours, there is a dark side to AmI as well. In a way, this dark side is inherent in the very nature of AmI. Intelligent networks embedded everywhere will enable data aggregators to acquire a lot more personal information, far more than in today’s world, greatly magnifying the risk of abuse of that data. Most AmI scenarios show the benefits of AmI. The dark scenarios developed by the SWAMI project (Safeguards in a World of Ambient Intelligence) , one of which follows, are different from most other AmI …

Towards Accountability For Mass Crimes: A Report Of The Indian Campaign On International Criminal Court 2000-2007, Saumya Uma, Pouruchisti Wadia

Saumya Uma

This contains a detailed narrative on the activities undertaken by ICC-India - an anti-impunity campaign on mass crimes and international law, from 2000 to 2007. The publication elaborates the work of the campaign on information dissemination, campaign and advocacy, research and publication, alliance-building and media outreach. It includes 16 pages of colour photographs, as well as illustrations in the form of graphs, tables and maps. Published by Women's Research & Action Group, 2008, English, 90 pages.

Alumni Awards: Lucia R. Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award, Robert Spoo

Robert E. Spoo

No abstract provided.

Chapter 01: Anthropology Of Law As A Science - Prefatory Materials, Wolfgang Fikentscher

Wolfgang Fikentscher

Inclusive online updates jan10. Chapter 1 redefines the position of legal anthropology within the social sciences. A new definition of law for anthropological purposes is sought, and in this context authority as an indispensable conceptional element of law is discussed in a new light. The relationship of law and justice will appear in a new light. Legal pluralism willo show two separable dimensions. Among the social science aspects of anthropology, empirical thinking and guidance by models are being contrasted and related to Pre-socratic, Platonic and Kantian epistemology.

Droits De L'Homme, Droits Du Citoyen: Les Présupposés De La Jurisprudence Américaine Et Européenne, Gregory Lewkowicz

Gregory Lewkowicz

This paper proposes a comparative analysis of some rulings of the US Supreme Court and of the European Court of Human Rights. Reviewing cases related to international legal problems or using comparative legal reasoning, the paper suggests that the difference of attitudes between the two courts in human rights cases is embedded in the classical opposition between men and citizen.

Can A Person Subject To Islamic Law Make A Will In Nigeria?: Ajibaiye V Ajibaiye And Mr. Dadem’S Wild Goose Chase, Abdulmumini A. Oba

Abdulmumini A Oba

Subsequent to the controversial case of Yunusa v Adesubokan (1971) where Supreme Court which held that a Muslim can make will under the Wills Act even if the terms of the will are inconsistent with inheritance laws under Islamic law, the Wills Act and the various State Wills Laws were amended by making them subject to Islamic law and customary law. While the amendments have been upheld severally by the Supreme Court in relation to customary law, the Court of Appeal case of Ajibaiye v Ajibaiye (2007) is the first reported case in relation to Islamic law. Mr. Dadem in …

Solidarity And Subsidiarity In A Changing Climate: Green Building As Legal And Moral Obligation, Jamison E. Colburn

Jamison E. Colburn

This essay grew out of a symposium on Catholic social thought. It makes the case for solidarity and subsidiarity as principles of applied (secular) ethics by injecting them into what must be their most challenging context: catastrophic global climate disruption. It argues that the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity hold tremendous potential within our liberal constitutional tradition by exploring the developing trend toward "green building" in the United States. Part I describes what we know about greenhouse gases and climate disruption while Part II frames the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity. Part III explores the phenomenal growth of green building …

John Rawls, La Razón Pública Y El Papel Del Poder Judicial (Traducción), Leonardo García Jaramillo

Leonardo García Jaramillo

No abstract provided.

Some Reflections On The Transplantation Of British Company Law In Post Ottoman Palestine, Ron Harris, Michael Crystal

Ron Harris

Company law is considered as a prime field for legal transplantation. Conventional wisdom is that company legislation in Palestine during the majority of the British Mandate was based on the simple importation of the English Companies Act 1929. Reliance is placed on the facts that the Palestine Companies Ordinance was enacted in the same year as the English Companies Act 1929, that the British Empire gave priority to commercial law transplantation and that the Palestine Companies Ordinance was the first in several commercial Ordinances that were considered as the climax of the legislative anglicization of Ottoman law in Mandatory Palestine. …

Racial Formation In Quebec: A Legal Retospective, Roozbeh (Rudy) B. Baker

Roozbeh (Rudy) B. Baker

This Article shall use the experience of the Quebecois in Canada to survey the linkage between cultural formation and race in Quebecois racial identity, and then map out these linkages and their relations to the political and legal discourse that has emerged in Canada on the place of the Quebecois in the country. Cultural formation and racial formation are unmistakably linked. Specific social and linguistic separatism can over time crystallize into racial formation, especially if aided by official government recognition and legal codification. As this Article shall demonstrate, the verification of this idea can be clearly seen the experience of …

Assuming Bosnia: Taking The Polity Seriously In Ethnically Divided Societies, Timothy W. Waters

Timothy W Waters

This essay is a reflection on democracy, justice and intervention. It focuses on the Bosnian experience, where since the Dayton Accords the indispensable context for reform has been the international protectorate. This essay examines the assumptions used by the international community to govern Bosnia, which suggest a policy premised upon resistance to the fragmentation of the state under any circumstances, and a belief that the international intervention is simultaneously morally justified and a purely technical process for increasing efficiency. How necessary – indeed, how related at all – are those commitments to the dictates of justice? What is their relationship …

Prolegomena To A Process Theory Of Natural Law, Mark C. Modak-Truran

Mark C Modak-Truran

Two contemporary quandaries in legal theory provide an occasion for a revival of interest in natural law theories of law. First, the debate about legal indeterminacy has made it clear that law cannot function autonomously—as a self-contained set of rules—but requires a normative justification of judges’ decisions in hard cases. In addition, Steven D. Smith has persuasively argued that there is an "ontological gap" between the practice of law, which presupposes a classical or religious ontology, and legal theory, which presupposes a scientific ontology (i.e., scientific materialism) that rejects religious ontology. This article demonstrates how the process philosophy of Alfred …

De Paradojas Y Neocons, Mario Šilar

Mario Šilar

No abstract provided.

Political Liberalism And Public Reason, Mario Šilar

Mario Šilar

The paper explores John Rawls´s idea of public reason, as reflected in Political Liberalism and The Idea of Public Reason Revisited. In Rawls’s later works, public reason acquires fundamental significance as a criterion by which the principles to be assumed from the outset in a theory of political justice may be determined. The starting-point for Rawls´s theory -the idea of citizens as free and equal reveals- that this abstraction falls short of an authentic conception of human beings as social by nature. A brief study of key issues concerning marriage and the family shows the difficulties that underlie this question. …

The Practical Value Of Natural Law Theory In The Work Of St Thomas Aquinas, Mario Šilar

Mario Šilar

No abstract provided.

The Doubtful Impact Of An Optional Federal Charter On The Reinsurance Collateral Debate, Gregory S. Arnold

Gregory S Arnold

Article published in the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, Summer/Fall 2008 (Vol 43:4/44:1). Standards and practices in the field of reinsurance regulation and supervision vary widely among jurisdictions, with prudential approaches varying from direct supervision of reinsurers, to supervision through cedants, to little or no supervision at all. The supervision of reinsurance is experiencing a convergence in significant jurisdictions, including the European Union and the United States. Important topics include the anticipated single passport to Europe and, in the United States, the reinsurance collateral debate and the potential move toward an optional federal charter. Who is behind these …

Pacifist Aggressives Vs. The Second Amendment: An Analysis Of Modern Philosophies Of Compulsory Non-Violence, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

This Article examines the strengths and weaknesses of modern pacifist religious philosophy. The Article suggests that some intellectual arguments for pacifism are logically solid (once certain premises are granted), while others have serious flaws. The article discusses five influential philosophical advocates of non-violence Thomas Merton, Stanley Hauerwas, Leo Tolstoy, Tony Campolo, and John Howard Yoder. In addition, the Article examines three real-world cases where the practice of non-violence was put into action: the Danish rescue of the Jews during WW II, the American Civil Rights movement in the South in the 1960s, and the invasion of the Chatham Islands—the home …

Dhimmitude And Disarmament, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

Under shari'a law, non-Muslims, known as dhimmi, have been forbidden to possess arms, and to defend themselves from attacks by Muslims. The disarmament is one aspect of the pervasive civil inferiority of non-Muslims, a status known as dhimmitude. This Essay examines the historical effects of the shari'a disarmament, based on three books by Bat Ye'or, the world's leading scholar of dhimmitude. As Ye'or details, the disarmament had catastrophic consequences, extending far beyond the direct loss of the dhimmi's ability to defend themselves. The essay concludes by observing how pretend gun-free zones on college campuses turn the adults there into 21st …

The Natural Right Of Self-Defense: Heller's Lesson For The World, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller constitutionalized the right of self-defense, and described self-defense as a natural, inherent right. Analysis of natural law in Heller shows why Justice Stevens' dissent is clearly incorrect, and illuminates a crucial weakness in Justice Breyer's dissent. The constitutional recognition of the natural law right of self-defense has important implications for American law, and for foreign and international law.

Poisoned Milk And The Poisoning Of Democracy: Some Cautions About China Trade And Taiwan Sovereignty, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

This Paper examines some of the benefits and dangers of Taiwan's deepening economic ties to China.

In brief, the expansion of cross-Strait economic relations has benefited Taiwan economically, but may pose serious dangers to Taiwan's democratic sovereignty. China's rising Comprehensive National Power - which aims to suppress Taiwan's sovereignty and self-government - has been significantly enhanced by investment from Taiwan itself. China's trade policies are directed for political purposes, particularly for drawing the people of Taiwan into a subordinate relationship with the Chinese dictatorship.

China's strategy has already succeeded in imposing self-censorship on many Taiwanese voices, including many businesses and …

Lawsuits In Context, Ernest Metzger

Ernest Metzger

The study of Roman procedure has benefited enormously from the discovery of wooden tablets near Pompeii. Unfortunately, the tablets are sometimes misinterpreted, for the simple reason that the procedures they describe do not always match the procedures which more familiar sources have led us to believe existed. The tablets, in fact, give us the rare opportunity to revise our understanding of procedure, particularly when taken together with another remarkable find, the lex Irnitana. This article gives a sketch of the ‘new’ Roman civil procedure now available to us as a result of these exciting finds.

In: J. W. Cairns and …

Legal And Technological Normativity: More (And Less) Than Twin Sisters, Mireille Hildebrandt

Mireille Hildebrandt

Within science technology and society studies the focus has long been on descriptive micro-analyses. Several authors have raised the issue of the normative implications of the findings of research into socio-technical devices and infrastructures, while some claim that material artifacts have moral significance or should even be regarded as moral actors. In this contribution the normative impact of technologies is investigated and compared with the normative impact of legal norms, arguing that a generic concept of normativity is needed that does not depend on the intention of whoever designed either a law or a technology. Furthermore this contribution develops the …

Law, Fact And Narratives In Ancient Rhetoric: The Case Of The Causa Curiana, Miklós Könczöl

Miklós Könczöl

The present article examines the role of narratives in rhetoric and jurisprudence, trying to understand the ancient system of ‘issues’ (staseis), an essential part of the rhetorical curriculum in antiquity, with the help of some basic notions of legal semiotics. After a brief reconstruction of the doctrine, I argue that narratives are essential to classical rhetoric, that the basic types of issues correspond to particular stories in and of the trial, and finally that the system of ancient rhetorical theory is capable of giving an account of the narrativisation of the pragmatics of the trial. Then I turn to a …

Privacy 2.0 ?, Gloria González Fuster, Serge Gutwirth

Serge Gutwirth

Les différentes pratiques qui sont généralement regroupées sous le terme « web 2.0 » représentent sans aucun doute un défi majeur pour la protection de la vie privée et la protection de données personnelles. Ce défi ne découle cependant pas que des traits particuliers du phénomène « web 2.0 » en tant que tel, c’est-à-dire, en tant que phénomène reposant sur la participation active des utilisateurs à la création et au fonctionnement de sites ou applications. Il est aussi fortement lié au fait que le « web 2.0 » se place au cœur d’une dynamique globale de numérisation croissante aussi …

Legal Pluralism And Islam In The Scales Of The European Court Of Human Rights : The Limits Of Categrorical Balancing, Karen Meerschaut, Serge Gutwirth

Serge Gutwirth

Starting from the Refah v. Turkey case we dig deeper in the issue of conflicting rights in pluralist legal systems, comparing the Strasbourg Court’s case law with solutions devised in the Malaysian legal system. Legal pluralism generally includes a set of tensions between the minorities’ rights to live following their own norms and rules (article 27 ICCPR and article 8 ECHR), the religious freedom (article 9 ECHR) and, the equality and non-discrimination principles. The idea of the separation of state and church and the principle of secularism are also often brought up as an argument against legal pluralism. How to …