Law Commons^™

Benin’S Constitutional Court: An Institutional Model For Enforcing Human Rights, Anna Rotman

ExpressO

This piece is based on field research the author conducted in Benin, West Africa during January 2003. The paper explores how the Court operates as a hybrid institution, by combining the competences traditionally associated with a constitutional court with the mandate of a national human rights commission. The paper argues that the Beninese Constitutional Court could provide an institutional model for guaranteeing human rights through a state-sponsored institution.

National Identity Cards: Fourth And Fifth Amendment Issues, Daniel J. Steinbock

ExpressO

In the past two years there have been serious calls for a national identity system whose centerpiece would be some form of national identity card. Such a system is seen mainly as a tool against terrorists, but also as a useful response to illegal immigration, identity theft, and electoral fraud. Both proponents and opponents have noted the potential constitutional problems of such an identity system, but as yet there has been no published legal analysis of these questions. This article aims to fill that gap by analyzing the Fourth and Fifth Amendment issues in two major features of any likely …

Atca, Doe V. Unocal: A Paquete Habana Approach To The Rescue, John Haberstroh

ExpressO

The article's centerpiece is the Ninth Circuit litigation (Doe v. Unocal) charging Unocal Corp. with complicity in the Burma’s government’s use of forced labor. The article first examines the Alien Tort Claims Act, under which the action is brought, through an exploration of that statute’s original purpose and historical context. The article then looks at the modern revival of ATCA in international human rights claims, and finally closely considers the Unocal litigation, in particular the September 18, 2002 decision favoring the plaintiffs. (The 2002 decision is undergoing review by an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit, with the panel’s …

Canadian Fundamental Justice And American Due Process: Two Models For A Guarantee Of Basic Adjudicative Fairness, David M. Siegel

ExpressO

This paper traces how the Supreme Courts of Canada and the United States have each used the basic guarantee of adjudicative fairness in their respective constitutions to effect revolutions in their countries’ criminal justice systems, through two different jurisprudential models for this development. It identifies a relationship between two core constitutional structures, the basic guarantee and enumerated rights, and shows how this relationship can affect the degree to which entrenched constitutional rights actually protect individuals. It explains that the different models for the relationship between the basic guarantee and enumerated rights adopted in Canada and the United States, an “expansive …

In The Name Of National Security Or Insecurity?: The Potential Indefinite Detention Of Non-Citizen Certified Terrorists In The United States And The United Kingdom In The Aftermath Of September 11, 2001, Dana L. Keith

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Freedom From Fear: Prosecuting The Iraqi Regime For The Use Of Chemical Weapons, Margaret A. Sewell

ExpressO

Since the recent war with Iraq, there is a lingering question as to how to prosecute Saddam Hussein (if captured) and the Iraqi regime for their past atrocities, particularly, the use of chemcial weapons against Iran during the Iran-Iraq War and the Kurds. This article provides a background of the crimes committed by the Iraqi regime, a discussion and recommendation of the various proseution fora, as well as a presentation of the evidence that can be used in a prosecution.

The "No Property" Problem: Understanding Poverty By Understanding Wealth, Jane Baron

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

The Last Line Of Defense: The Doctrine Of Command Responsibility, Gender Crimes In Armed Conflict, And The Kahan Report (Sabra & Shatilla), Sherrie L. Russell-Brown

ExpressO

“THE LAST LINE OF DEFENSE” addresses using the doctrine of command responsibility - the doctrine according to which military and non-military leaders can be held individually criminally responsible for the crimes committed by their subordinates - before the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a way to prevent gender crimes in armed conflict. The prevention of gender crimes in armed conflict is an important issue for a variety of reasons. One extremely important reason is the connection that the United Nations has cited between the AIDS pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa and rape in armed conflict. In addition, in the August 25, …

Discourse In Development: Viewing The United Nations Committee On Economic, Social And Cultural Rights Through The Post-Colonial Lens, Beth Lyon

Working Paper Series

This article uses post-colonial theory to examine the cluster of international human rights known as economic, social and cultural rights. The article surveys the jurisprudence of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, making it relevant for scholars of international human rights as well as post-colonial theory.

Traditionally, international human rights divide into two branches: 1) civil and political rights, and 2) economic, social and cultural rights (ESCRs). ESCRs were virtually ignored during the cold war era, but they now receive expanded attention at the international and regional levels. The creation of the UN Committee on Economic, Social …

Ecocide And Genocide In Iraq: International Law, The Marsh Arabs And Environmental Damage In Non-International Conflicts, Aaron Schwabach

ExpressO

In 1991, after the first Gulf War, the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq rose up against the Hussein government, with U.S. encouragement. The rebellion failed; in retaliation the government embarked on a massive water diversion project to drain the wetlands. In 1970 the wetlands covered nearly 11,000 square kilometers; today they cover fewer than a thousand. The Marsh Arabs whose ancestors had lived in the wetlands for five thousand years were forced to flee; many died. The drainage of the wetlands was a deliberate and calculated act of genocide and ecocide. At the time, Iraq was a party to several …

Bridging The “Divide” Between Feminism And Child Protection Using The Discourse Of International Human Rights , Sherrie L. Russell-Brown

ExpressO

“Bridging the Divide” is an essay that addresses the perceived tension or “divide” between feminism and child protection. While, in theory, women’s and children’s rights are not necessarily antithetical, the policies that have been devised (allegedly to preserve and promote those rights) are, at times, at odds. For example, the policy of social services to remove a child from the home of the mother, rather than assist both mother and child by the creation of a better home environment, is certainly at odds with rights of the mother. To simplify the issue greatly, the right of women to have and …

The Cambodian Amnesties: Beneficiaries And The Temporal Reach Of Amnesties For Gross Violation Of Human Rights , Ronald C. Slye

ExpressO

This article uses the two amnesties granted by the Cambodian government in 1994 and 1996 to explore two important legal issues raised by amnesties generally: 1) to whom is the amnesty granted; and 2) for how long will the amnesty last.

The first issue addresses the beneficiary question – who is able to take advantage of an amnesty. The most interesting issue raised by the beneficiary question is whether an amnesty should be restricted to either superiors or subordinates. The article discusses this choice in the context of the Cambodian amnesties, other amnesties, and international law, and highlight the moral, …

Lawrence And Same-Sex Marriage Bans: On Constitutional Interpretation And Sophistical Rhetoric, Mark Strasser

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Used, Abused, Arrested And Deported: The Case For Extending Immigration Benefits To Protect Victims Of Trafficking And Secure Prosecution Of Traffickers, Dina F. Haynes

ExpressO

Trafficking is a hot issue, and as such, there have been a number of articles written on the issue. My article, however, is unique in many respects.

I address this article from my perspective of working directly with the governments of Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro to combat escalating trafficking in their countries over the course of four years in the Balkans.

This is the first article that pinpoints errors that governments continue to make in preparing legislation and anti-trafficking programs,

The first to enumerate proposals for enhancing victim protection measures,

The first to identify how enhancing victim protection will …

Reservations, Human Rights Treaties In The 21st Century: From Universality To Integrity, Pierrick Devidal

LLM Theses and Essays

This thesis is a study of the question of the legality of reservations to international human rights treaties. The evolution of reservations law demonstrates that the system seek to promote universal adherence to multilateral treaties through flexible rules that reflects the superiority of national sovereignty in the international society. However, the flexibility of reservation law as codified in the Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties has facilitated wide acceptance of multilateral treaties at the cost of their integrity. In the case of human rights treaties, this issue is of paramount importance considering the essentiality of a balance between integrity …

Reconciling State Sovereignty And Protections For The Internally Displaced, Bartram Brown

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Inter-American Human Rights System: Activities From Late 2000 Through October 2002, Richard J. Wilson

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Inter-American System, Claudia Martin

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Inter-American System, Diego Rodriguez-Pinzon

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Regionalization Of International Criminal Law Enforcement: A Preliminary Exploration, William W. Burke-White

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Functional Democracy: Responding To Failures Of Accountability, Molly K. Land

Molly K. Land

No abstract provided.

Reconciling State Sovereignty And Protections For The Internally Displaced, Bartram Brown

Bartram Brown

No abstract provided.

"Unlawful Combatants' In The United States: Drawing The Fine Line Between Law And War, Daniel Kanstroom

Daniel Kanstroom

No abstract provided.