Law Commons^™

International Trade And Investment Law And Carbon Management Technologies, Shi-Ling Hsu

Shi-Ling Hsu

Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases will require the development of carbon management technologies that are not currently available or that are not currently cost-effective. While market mechanisms such as carbon pricing must play a central role in stimulating the development of these technologies, governmental policy aimed at fostering carbon management technologies and lowering their costs must also play a part. Both types of policies will form part of an optimal greenhouse gas control portfolio.

This article develops a framework of international trade and investment law insofar as they may affect carbon management technologies. While it is commonly perceived that international …

After Privacy: The Rise Of Facebook, The Fall Of Wikileaks, And Singapore’S Personal Data Protection Act 2012, Simon Chesterman

Simon Chesterman

This article discusses the changing ways in which information is produced, stored, and shared — exemplified by the rise of social-networking sites like Facebook and controversies over the activities of WikiLeaks — and the implications for privacy and data protection. Legal protections of privacy have always been reactive, but the coherence of any legal regime has also been undermined by the lack of a strong theory of what privacy is. There is more promise in the narrower field of data protection. Singapore, which does not recognise a right to privacy, has positioned itself as an e-commerce hub but had no …

The United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement: Exporting Art By The Numbers, James A.R. Nafziger, Mary P. Rooklidge

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Chaos Machine: The Wto In A Social Entropy Model Of The World Trading System, David Collins

David Collins

This article applies social entropy theory to international trade law, suggesting that observed shifts in world trading system towards disorder are the consequence of insufficient “energy” inputs in the form of an effective, centralized legal framework. In support of this claim, the article draws attention to recognized and substantive deficiencies in the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’). These include trade round negotiation impasse, the rise of bilateralism, indeterminacy in the treaty texts and inadequate enforcement procedures. These problems represent increasing disorganization, or entropy, in the world trading system, a phenomenon characterized most notably by growing income inequality between states and failure …

Law Of Trade In Human Rights: A Legal Analysis Of The Intersection Of The General Trade Agreement Of Tariff’S Article Xx(B) And Labor Rights Of Children., Paul Cook

Paul Cook

China's child labor is on the rise with its 8% annual economic growth. Children are valued for their labor for several reasons: their cheaper price, their ignorance of their legal rights, their dexterous hands, and good eye sight. The use of juvenile labor is most prevalent in the following industries: toy production, textiles, construction, food production, and light mechanical work. Underage laborers are particularly vulnerable to job related hazards resulting in injury and death, and this is because they tend to be less aware of workplace hazards than do adult workers. Children begin work as early as twelve years old …

Prospects For Satisfactory Dispute Resolution Of Private Commercial Disputes Under The North American Free Trade Agreement, Jonathan I. Miller

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Africa Must Walk Before She Runs: The Case For Agricultural Stability In Sub-Saharan Africa In Advance Of A Global Trade Initiative, Michael Palollo Lehloenya Lld

Michael Palollo Lehloenya

No abstract provided.

The Who Framework Convention On Tobacco Control As An International Standard Under The Tbt Agreement?, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski

Lukasz A Gruszczynski

In this article Lukasz Gruszczynski argues that there are good grounds for considering the Guidelines to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (‘FCTC’) relevant international standards under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (‘TBT Agreement’). The structure of the article is as follows: (1) Part I provides an overview of the relevant sections of the TBT Agreement and its ambiguities with respect to defining an international standard; (2) Part II sets out the aims, purpose and governance structure of the FCTC; (3) In light of the overviews of the TBT Agreement and the FCTC, Part III then considers whether …

Deepening Confidence In The Application Of Cisg To The Sales Agreements Between U.S. And Japanese Companies, Yoshimochi Taniguchi

Yoshimochi Taniguchi

Parties between U.S. and Japanese companies usually agree to exclude the application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (“CISG”) to the sales agreement due to concerns about how CISG will be interpreted and/or incompatibility with US or Japanese law or both. In this paper the author will suggest that the more countries amend their laws in accordance with CISG standards and the more national courts develop unified interpretation of CISG, CISG will represent harmonized law and contracting parties should not exclude it.

This paper begins with the trend concerning the application of CISG …

Providing A Foundation For Wealth For Wealth Creation And Development In Africa: The Role Of The Rule Of Law, John Mukum Mbaku

JOHN MUKUM MBAKU

PROVIDING A FOUNDATION FOR WEALTH CREATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: THE ROLE OF THE RULE OF LAW JOHN MUKUM MBAKU ABSTRACT This paper examines the struggle in Africa to alleviate and eventually eradicate poverty. It is argued that the most effective way for African countries to deal with poverty is to create wealth. Unfortunately, these countries have not been able to create the wealth that they need to confront poverty. This is due primarily to the fact that since independence, these countries have not been able to undertake democratic institutional reforms to create and adopt institutional arrangements that guarantee and …

Museum Strategies: Leasing Antiquities, Silvia Beltrametti

Silvia Beltrametti

This is the first attempt to study leasing in the context of the international trade in cultural artifacts. This article advances a heated debate in the field of cultural heritage law, which centers on whether cultural artifacts of ancient civilizations should belong to the modern nation states from which they are excavated or to humankind in general, by proposing an alternative analytic framework based on leasing, which would make it possible for objects to circulate but at the same time stay under the ownership and jurisdiction of their respective source countries.

Raising Cane: Sugar Sugarcane Ethanol’S Economic And Environmental Effects On The United States, Jonathan M. Specht

Jonathan M Specht

In the coming decades the United States will need to change its energy policy to face two enormous challenges: adjusting to peak oil (declining petroleum production output), and halting the advance of climate change. Liquid biofuels — made from renewable, biologically-based sources of energy, rather than finite and climate change-inducing fossil fuels — will be an important component of any strategy to deal with the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change. While the United States has encouraged the production of biofuels in recent decades, the domestic ethanol industry, which is almost entirely corn-based, has a number of major …

Raising Cane: Cuban Sugarcane Ethanol’S Economic And Environmental Effects On The United States, Jonathan M. Specht

Jonathan M Specht

In the coming decades the United States will need to change its energy policy to face two enormous challenges: adjusting to peak oil (declining petroleum production output), and halting the advance of climate change. Liquid biofuels — made from renewable, biologically-based sources of energy, rather than finite and climate change-inducing fossil fuels — will be an important component of any strategy to deal with the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change. While the United States has encouraged the production of biofuels in recent decades, the domestic ethanol industry, which is almost entirely corn-based, has a number of major …

Raising Cane: Sugar Sugarcane Ethanol’S Economic And Environmental Effects On The United States, Jonathan M. Specht

Jonathan M Specht

In the coming decades the United States will need to change its energy policy to face two enormous challenges: adjusting to peak oil (declining petroleum production output), and halting the advance of climate change. Liquid biofuels — made from renewable, biologically-based sources of energy, rather than finite and climate change-inducing fossil fuels — will be an important component of any strategy to deal with the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change. While the United States has encouraged the production of biofuels in recent decades, the domestic ethanol industry, which is almost entirely corn-based, has a number of major …

Politics And Legal Regulation In The International Business Environment: An Fdi Case Study Of Alstom, S.A., In Israel, Jeffrey A. Van Detta

Jeffrey A. Van Detta

This article identifies and carefully considers the panoply of municipal and international legal issues that arise from a hypothetical Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by one of the world’s largest Multi-National Enterprises (MNEs). Specifically, the article fleshes out a detailed FDI analytic framework as we considered the hypothesized—yet, entirely plausible—investment by Alstom, S.A., in Israel’s energy sector: joint-venturing with Israel’s Multimatrix, Ltd., to employ Alstom’s world-class wind-power expertise in developing a 75-turbine wind farm on the wind-swept Golan Heights, one of the Occupied Territories.

Among the specific issues addressed are:

1. The political situation in Israel, Syria, and Iran;

2. The …

U.S.Foreign Trade Zones, Tax-Free Trade Zones Of The World, And Their Impact On The U.S. Economy, Susan W. Tiefenbrun

Susan W Tiefenbrun

ABSTRACT

U.S. Foreign Trade Zones, Tax-Free Trade Zones of the World, and Their Impact on the United States Economy , by Susan Tiefenbrun

Free trade zones (FTZs) date back to the time of the Phoenicians; they developed in the l970s and proliferated from 1980 until today. FTZs are duty-free areas where goods may be warehoused, processed, sold, serviced, distributed, showcased, packaged, labeled, sorted, assembled, and/or manufactured as finished goods prior to re-exporting them as duty-exempt finished products. More than one 135 countries operate tax-free trade zones. There are more than 3,500 of these zones and subzones all over the world, …

The Ease Of Doing Business And Land Grabbing:Critique Of The Investing-Across-Borders Indicators, David Hofisi, Araya Araya

David Tinashe Hofisi Mr

This paper analyses the policy implications and other potential impacts of the Investing Across Borders (IAB) indicators vis-à-vis cross border land investment deals. It analyses the theoretical underpinnings of the indicators and compares them with the other body of norms and standards in the International Development Architectures whilst suggesting reform and revision of the indicators to ensure harmony and more effectiveness.

How General Should The Gatt General Exceptions Be? A Critique Of The Interpretation Approach In China – Raw Materials, Wenwei Guan

Wenwei Guan

The paper offers a critical examination of the “common intention” approach of treaty interpretation in applying general exceptions to China’s commitments under its Accession Protocol in recent cases. The paper suggests that both the Panel and Appellate Body have misled due to confusion developed in previous discussions of China’s trading right commitment, and erred in their interpretation of the Accession Protocol as “an integral part of the WTO Agreement” and their understanding of the nature of contingency measures. Moreover, the judicial activist “common intention” approach further reveals an “origin-seeking retrospective” mechanism that locates “common intentions” statically at the founding moment …

Danbury Hatters In Sweden: An American Perspective Of Employer Remedies For Illegal Collective Actions, César F. Rosado Marzán, Margot Nikitas

All Faculty Scholarship

The European Court of Justice's ("ECJ") Laval quartet held that worker collective actions that impacted freedom of services and establishment in the E.U. violated E.U. law. After Laval, the Swedish Labor Court imposed exemplary or punitive damages on labor unions for violating E.U. law. These cases have generated critical discussions regarding not only the proper balance between markets and workers’ freedom of association, but also what should be the proper remedies for employers who suffer illegal actions by labor unions under E.U. law. While any reforms to rebalance fundamental freedoms as a result of the Laval quartet will have to …

The (Too) Long Arm Of The S.E.C.: When A Foreign Employee Of A U.S.-Based Multinational Financial Services Client Is Threatened With A Subpoena, Jonathan R. Law

Jonathan R Law

As businesses and financial institutions engage in transactions with increasingly international scope, U.S. regulatory agencies follow closely behind, investigating potential violations of the securities and exchange laws. Of all the investigative powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission, one of the more feared is the ability to issue administrative subpoenas and have them enforced by a Federal court. What is troubling, however, is the SEC’s recent foray into investigating possible misconduct across U.S. borders through subpoenaing foreign employees conducting business overseas. This article argues that in certain circumstances, the SEC does not have the authority to issue or enforce an …

Illuminating Corruption Pathways: Modifying The Fcpa’S “Grease Payment” Exception To Galvanize Anti-Corruption Movements In Developing Nations, Ivan Perkins

Ivan Perkins

The Article proposes a new web-based reporting and publication system for “grease” or “facilitating” payments under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). The FCPA penalizes the bribery of foreign government officials, but contains an exception for facilitating payments, made to expedite “routine governmental actions” such as mail or telephone services. Noting the ambiguities within the exception, many commentators and practitioners have called for its abolition. The Article proposes a different solution: entities making facilitating payments should be required to report these payments to the Department of Justice (“DOJ”). Then, the DOJ would publish this information on a website, with graphics …

The Impact Of Economic Integration N Drug Trafficking Between Turkey And Iran, Ekici Behsat, Unlu Ali

Ekici Behsat

Turkish foreign trade and security policy has been undergoing profound transformations over the past decade. One of the major changes has been observed in Turkey`s bilateral relations with Iran. Ankara and Tehran sought political entente and economic integration through various energy and trade agreements. In 2007, the governments of Turkey and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding on energy and trade. At the subsequent press speeches the state leaders promised to boost bilateral trade, eliminate barriers and encourage free movement of people. The agreement indicated that Ankara and Tehran began to experience a new era of entente after decades of …

The Impact Of Economic Integration N Drug Trafficking Between Turkey And Iran, Behsat Ekici, Ali Unlu

Ekici Behsat

Turkish foreign trade and security policy has been undergoing profound transformations over the past decade. One of the major changes has been observed in Turkey`s bilateral relations with Iran. Ankara and Tehran sought political entente and economic integration through various energy and trade agreements. In 2007, the governments of Turkey and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding on energy and trade. At the subsequent press speeches the state leaders promised to boost bilateral trade, eliminate barriers and encourage free movement of people. The agreement indicated that Ankara and Tehran began to experience a new era of entente after decades of …

Effects Of Globalization On The Theory Of International Law, Marcelo Dias Varella

Marcelo D. Varella

International legal theory is an object that is intensely reshaped and rebuilt, largely due to globalization processes. The way that actors create, implement and control international law is far more prevalent today than it used to be thirty years ago. There is an intensification of the transnational legal process. The dichotomy between national and international law is much less clear. The primary actor continues to involve States, but there is a multiplication and densification of the role of sub-state and non-state actors. A dynamic process prevails over the static one; there is a continuous transformation of international law, by both …

Intellectual Property And Agriculture: The Brazilian Case On Soybeans And Monsanto, Marcelo D. Varella

Marcelo D. Varella

This article analyzes different strategies of an agricultural company (Monsanto) to enforce intellectual property rights on soybeans in Brazil, during the last ten years. A court decision in April 2011 condemned Monsanto to pay up to 7.5 billion dollars in compensations. This is probably one of the most important cases on discussion on IPR and Agriculture today. On the one hand, there is complex company strategy to create intellectual property rights through patents, plant variety protections, import market controls, and thousands of agreements and extensions of those rights through different lawsuits. The strategy was complemented by the acquisition of major …

The Limits Of Wto Adjudication: Is Compliance The Problem?, Juscelino F. Colares

College of Law - Faculty Scholarship

Mainstream international trade law scholars have commented positively on the work of WTO adjudicators. This favorable view is both echoed and challenged by empirical scholarship that shows a high disparity between Complainant and Respondent success rates (Complainants win between 80 and 90 percent of the disputes). Regardless of how one interprets these results, mainstream theorists, especially legalists, believe more is to be done to strengthen the system, and they point to instances of member recalcitrance to implement rulings as a serious problem. This article posits that such attempts to strengthen compliance are ill-advised. After discussing prior empirical analyses of WTO …

Charging Less To Make More: The Causes And Effects Of The Corporate Inversion Trend In The U.S. And The Implications Of Lowering The Corporate Tax Rate, Tyler Dumler

Tyler M. Dumler

This article explores the effect lowering the corporate tax rate would have on U.S. multinational corporations (MNCs). Instead of creating patchwork legislation, such as section 7874 to the Internal Revenue Code, this article advocates adopting changes to the underlying problems which give MNCs incentives to expatriate. By attacking the underlying problems of corporate tax legislation, this article concludes that lowering the corporate tax rate is the long-term solution for the U.S. government to address MNC tax avoidance.

The Container Security Initiative: A Layered Security Strategy For Securing Containerized Cargo, Tyler M. Dumler

Tyler M. Dumler

This article breaks down the various security measures implemented by the Department of Homeland Security when dealing with international trade through containerized cargo. The Container Security Initiative, Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, "24-Hour Rule," International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, and Secure Freight Initiative are all thoroughly explained and analyzed. This article is of great importance as the July 2012 deadline for 100% scanning approaches. This deadline will not be met. This article explains why 100% scanning will not be achieved, and discusses how the U.S. should proceed with balancing international trade and security moving forward.

Los Acuerdos De Libre Comercio Norte-Sur Desde La Perspectiva Del Análisis Económico Del Derecho De Los Contratos, Iván A. Rojas V, José Manuel Alvarez

Iván Rojas V

Chinese Investment In Africa: China’S Empathetic Support Of Poor And Despotic Regimes, And The Competition Western Companies Face, Richard W. Gove

Richard W Gove

This paper discusses the recent economic parallels and interconnections between China and the different nations in Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa. In 2009, China surpassed the United States to become Africa’s largest trade partner, and China has committed to establishing stronger connections with African economies. Much of the increase in trade is a result of China’s thirst for oil and Africa’s desperate need for foreign investment. However, many legal issues surround Chinese involvement in Africa, especially public corruption, and the instability of African regimes has created political risk that leaves China with little competition and Africa with few alternatives. The main …