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Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2015

International Law

Michael A Helfand

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

Between Law And Religion: Procedural Challenges To Religious Arbitration Awards, Michael Helfand Dec 2014

Between Law And Religion: Procedural Challenges To Religious Arbitration Awards, Michael Helfand

Michael A Helfand

This Essay presented at the Sharia and Halakha in America Conference explores the unique status of religious law as a hybrid concept that simultaneously retains the characteristics of both law and religion. To do so, the Article considers as a case study how courts should evaluate procedural challenges to religious arbitration awards. To respond to such challenges, courts must treat religious law as law when defining the contractually adopted religious procedural rules and treat religious law as religion when reviewing precisely what the religious procedural rules require. On this account, constitutional and arbitration doctrine combine to insulate religious arbitration awards …


The Persistence Of Sovereignty And The Rise Of The Legal Subject, Michael A. Helfand Dec 2014

The Persistence Of Sovereignty And The Rise Of The Legal Subject, Michael A. Helfand

Michael A Helfand

Several states have considered bills aimed at preventing courts from enforcing, considering, or relying on both religious and international law. This legislative pushback on international and religious law reflects a concerted effort to consolidate legal authority by asserting the state as the only source of legitimate law. As the core of this controversy stands an age-old philosophical dispute over the relationship between sovereignty and law: Does state sovereignty preclude the possibility of law both above the state – that is, international law – and below the state – that is, religious and customary law? This tension tracks a long-standing fissure …