Law Commons^™

Uncloaking The Secrecy Behind Large-Scale Land Deals, Jesse Coleman

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Large-scale investments in agriculture and forestry have far-reaching implications for the lives of affected individuals and communities. They are also an integral part of efforts by national governments to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and improve the governance of land resources. Despite their significance, these “land deals” and the contracts that govern them are often cloaked in secrecy, removed from relevant spheres of public scrutiny and debate.

Global Value Chains And Resource Corridors: The Nexus Is Regional Integration, Perrine Toledano

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

To be more involved in the global value chains, sub-Saharan African countries should intensify their regional integration efforts. A first step in this direction can be implementing cross-border resource-based development corridors.

Communicating With The Impatient, Skeptical Legal Reader: The Thesis Sentence, Michael J. Higdon

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

University Extends Unprecedented Tuition Freeze And Guarantee, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Defamation: The Play, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Link Between Food Security And Climate Change, Kaitlin Y. Cordes

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Our growing global population is demanding a more resource-intensive and so-called “Western” diet. And that change in demand has drastic impact on how we must change our supply.

Tpp Would Let Foreign Investors Bypass The Canadian Public Interest, Lisa E. Sachs, Lise Johnson

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In early October, prime ministerial candidate Justin Trudeau promised Canadians “a full and open public debate” on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. With 30 chapters that would bind Canada to sweeping agreements on everything from services to intellectual property to the environment to procurement, there is much to debate.

The Tpp’S Investment Chapter: Entrenching, Rather Than Reforming, A Flawed System, Lise Johnson, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

During the negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, many stakeholders raised strong concerns about the Investment Chapter of the TPP, and in particular, the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS). The US Trade Representative (USTR) and other representatives of the negotiating partners assured the stakeholders that the TPP’s investment chapter would respond to the legitimate concerns about expansive investor protections and ISDS. The actual text, however, when made public, showed the opposite: a further evisceration of the role of domestic policy, institutions, and constituents. In their current form, the TPP’s substantive investment protections and ISDS pose significant potential costs to …

Next Generation Treaty – India’S New Model Bit Makes It Clear That Its Goal Is To Accomplish More Than Investor Protection, Lisa E. Sachs, Lise Johnson, Sudhanshu Roy

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The April release of India’s draft model bilateral investment treaty 1(BIT), which is expected to be approved by the cabinet soon, has generated a rich public debate on its international investment regime. There are important questions about the purpose and content of investment treaties, both in India and other countries. However, some reactions – like Augusts Law Commission report suggesting that the model BIT was not sufficiently investor-friendly – frame the discussion too narrowly, ignoring key questions and objectives behind India’s transitioning investment policy regime.

October 3, 2015: Is Litigation The Way To Stop Global Warming?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Is Litigation the Way to Stop Global Warming?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Shared-Use Mining Infrastructure In Sub-Saharan Africa, Sophie Thomashausen, Glen Ireland

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The IBA’s recent Conference, Investing in Africa: Opportunities for Businesses and

the Lawyers Who Counsel Them, held in New York on 24-26 June 2015, highlighted the growing challenges and opportunities related to infrastructure needed for major mining projects in sub-Saharan Africa. The mining sector, which remains critical to many economies in the region, is being hampered by the lack of adequate transport, power and other infrastructure, as was underscored by participants in the ‘Trends in the Mining Sector’ panel. In the current depressed commodity price environment, large investments in infrastructure required to develop major, ‘world-class’ deposits is difficult to justify, …

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter, Fall 2015

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter

No abstract provided.

F15rs Sgr No. 7 (Water Bottle Fountain Relocation), Sarah Couch

Student Senate Enrolled Legislation

No abstract provided.

F15rs Sgr No. 16 (Geaux Pre-Law Week), Jacob Phagan

Student Senate Enrolled Legislation

No abstract provided.

Limiting Credit Bidding For "Cause" Under § 363(K): Contra Philadelphia Newspapers Footnote 14, George Kuney

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Abortion, Amendment 1, And The Future Of Procreational Rights Under The Tennessee Constitution, Glenn Harlan Reynolds

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

"A Republic If You Can Keep It", Eric Lane

Constitution Day Lectures

On this day, over 200 years ago, thirty-nine brave delegates of the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created, the U.S. Constitution.

This year, Eric Lane, Dean of the Maurice A. Deane School of Law and the Eric J. Schmertz Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Public Service at Hofstra University, gave a presentation, “A Republic If You Can Keep It.” The event was held in the Leo A. Guthart Cultural Center Theater, 1st Floor Axinn Library.

September 6, 2015: Kim Davis Is No Religious Martyr, No Prisoner Of Conscience, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “ Kim Davis is No Religious Martyr, No Prisoner of Conscience“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Measuring Land Rights For A Sustainable Future, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Jeffrey D. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Land rights, both for individuals and for communities, are critical for achieving sustainable development. Security of land tenure and other rights to the land (sometimes held communally rather than individually) can accelerate poverty reduction, strengthen food security, and empower women. Land rights can reduce resource conflicts, as well as encourage the responsible use of natural resources. As the UN member countries begin to implement the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), they should keep land rights in their focus, and measure and protect land rights in order to achieve the SDGs.

August 26, 2015: Introducing Constitutional Law In The Midst Of The Plight, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Introducing Constitutional Law in the Midst of the Plight“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

August 15, 2015: No Religious Right To Refuse Government Service, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “No Religious Right to Refuse Government Service“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

17th Annual Open Government Summit: Access To Public Records Act & Open Meetings Act, 2015, Department Of Attorney General, State Of Rhode Island

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Hyperlegality And Heightened Surveillance: The Case Of Threatened Species Lists, Irus Braverman

Journal Articles

My contribution to the Debate "Thinking about Law and Surveillance" focuses on the project of governing nonhuman species through care, briefly pointing to how law and surveillance are interwoven in this context and to how conservation's biopolitical regimes are increasingly becoming more abstract, standardized, calculable, and algorithmic in scope. I argue that conservation’s focus on governing through care lends itself to heightened modes of surveillance and to hyperlegality - namely, to the intensified inspection and regulation of both governed and governing actors. I start with some preliminary explanations about my atypical use of the terms surveillance, law, and biopolitics.

Memo To Prime Minister Cameron On The Revision Of The U.K. National Action Plan On Business And Human Rights, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In July 2015, CCSI sent a memo to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron to provide input on the 2015 revision of the U.K. National Action Plan on business and human rights, originally published in 2013. The memo applauded the U.K. Government’s early adoption of a National Action Plan consistent with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, noting that responsible and rights-respecting outward investment can support sustainable development in host countries, and that the U.K. Government has an important role to play in promoting responsible business operations. The memo urged the government to highlight the importance of land …

Denying The Dyad: How Criminalizing Pregnant Use Harms The Baby, Taxpayers And Vulnerable Women, Melissa Ballengee Alexander

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter, Summer 2015

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Contract Law [2014], Yihan Goh, Pey Woan Lee, Chee Ho Tham

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.

Child Marriage Legislation In The Asia-Pacific Region, Elisa Scolaro, Aleksandra Blagojevic, Brigitte Fillion, Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli, Lale Say, Joar Svanemyr, Marleen Temmerman

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Child marriage is a human rights violation that robs a girl of her childhood, puts her health, growth, and development at risk, disrupts her education, limits her opportunities for empowerment and social development, and increases her risk of exposure to violence and abuse (for a review of the evidence on the negative effects of child marriage on girls and their children, see Parsons et al. 2015, in this issue). While child marriage is not mentioned specifically in the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention does contain a provision requiring governments to abolish “traditional practices prejudicial …

Scotus Summary: The Supreme Court's Decision In King V. Burwell On Healthcare, Wilson Huhn

Con Law Center Articles and Publications

This report analyzes the Supreme Court’s decision in King v. Burwell, which was handed down on June 25, 2015. In this case the Supreme Court revisited the Affordable Care Act, the statute whose constitutionality was upheld in the 2012 case of NFIB v. Sebelius. In NFIB the Court ruled that it was constitutional for Congress to impose a tax on persons who fail to purchase health insurance.

June 27, 2015: The Supreme Court's Week, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Supreme Court's Week“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.