Law Commons^™

5 Legal Developments You May Have Missed In 2015, Donald Roth

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Posting summarizing important, but less headline-making, developments in American law during the past year from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/5-legal-developments-you-may-have-missed-in-2015/

Covernance: Feminist Theory, The Islamic Veil, And The Strasbourg Court's Jurisprudence On Religious Dress-Appearance Restrictions, Amina Haleem

DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law

This paper explores how the human right of religious freedom has been conceptually and pragmatically developed under international law within the European Court of Human Rights as applied to veiled Muslim women. This paper analyzes the application of human rights guarantees as established in the European Convention on Human Rights and case law established by the European Court that has interpreted international documents to determine the religious freedoms of veiled Muslim women in the public sphere. The analytical framework identifies the divergence between liberal and third wave feminist approaches to the Islamic veil, and identifies the feminist approaches to international …

Advancing Human Rights In Patient Care: The Law In Seven Transitional Countries, Leo Beletsky, Tamar Ezer, Judith Overall, Iain Byrne, Jonathan Cohen

Jonathan R. Cohen

No abstract provided.

Advancing Human Rights In Patient Care: The Law In Seven Transitional Countries, Leo Beletsky, Tamar Ezer, Judith Overall, Iain Byrne, Jonathan Cohen

Jonathan R. Cohen

No abstract provided.

The Failure Of The Canadian Human Rights Regime To Provide Remedies For Indigenous Peoples: Enough Time Has Passed, Jeffery Gordon Hewitt

LLM Theses

In 2008, Canada amended the Canadian Human Rights Act to remove s.67, which in essence precluded Indigenous Peoples from bringing complaints as against Canada and Band governments. Since the amendment took effect in 2010, a multi-fold increase has occurred in the number of complaints filed with the Human Rights Commission of Canada from dozens to hundreds. The first such significant complaint to be heard by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal was filed by the First Nation Child and Family Caring Society along with the Assembly of First Nations (the Complaint). The Complaint alleges Canada's funding with respect to First Nation …

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.

Incentives To Incarcerate: Corporation Involvement In Prison Labor And The Privatization Of The Prison System, Alythea S. Morrell

Master's Projects and Capstones

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the entire world. The United States accounts for approximately 5% of the world’s population, yet it accounts for 25% of the world’s prisoners. Not only does the United States mercilessly incarcerate its own citizens, it disproportionately incarcerates African American and Latino men. This fact on its own is disturbing; however, when it is coupled with the fact that corporations profit from and lobby for an overly aggressive and ineffective criminal justice system, makes these statistics even more horrendous. Private prison companies such as Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group admit …

Liberty At The Borders Of Private Law, Donald J. Smythe

Akron Law Review

Liberty is both dependent upon and limited by the State. The State protects individuals from the coercion of others, but paradoxically, it must exercise coercion itself in doing so. Unfortunately, the reliance on the State to deter coercion raises the possibility that the State’s powers of coercion might be abused. There is, not surprisingly, therefore, a wide range of literature on the relationship between law and liberty, but most of it focuses on the relationship between public law and liberty. This Article focuses on the relationship between private law and liberty. Private laws are enforced by courts. Since the judiciary …

Embodying The Population: Five Decades Of Immigrant/Integration Policy In Sweden, Leila Brännström

Leila Brännström

Schrems And The Faa’S “Foreign Affairs” Prong: The Costs Of Reform, Peter Margulies

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Assessing Baxi’S Thesis On The Emergence Of A Trade-Related Market-Friendly Human Rights Paradigm: Recent Evidence From Nigerian Labour-Led Struggles, Obiora Chinedu Okafor

Obiora Chinedu Okafor

The objective of the article is to assess some of the sub-claims that emerge from Baxi’s thesis on an emergent trade-related market-friendly human rights paradigm in the light of the available evidence regarding the intense contestations and confrontations that have occurred between Nigeria’s politically and economically transitional Obasanjo regime and a local labour-led coalition. The piece sets out to ascertain the contextual and localised validity of these ‘Baxian’ sub-claims, within the wider context of the government vs. labour confrontations in Nigeria during the neo-liberal socio-economic reforms undertaken in that country between 1999 and 2005.

Discussion Of John Tasioulas' 'Or 'Emet Lecture: Is Dignity The Foundation Of Human Rights?, John Tasioulas, Louis-Philippe Hodgson, Dan Priel

Dan Priel

Follow-up seminar on John Tasioulas' ‘Or ‘Emet Lecture, delivered on Thursday, March 10, 2011. Part of the Legal Philosophy Between State and Transnationalism Seminar Series.

Respondents: Louis-Philippe Hodgson York Philosophy and Dan Priel, Osgoode Hall Law School.

New Human Rights Institute Report On Birmingham, Alabama Human Rights Dialogue And Efforts To Promote And Protect Human Rights In Cities Across The United States, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

New York, NY (October 1, 2015) – The Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute is pleased to announce the release of a new report, Bringing Human Rights Home: The Birmingham Mayor’s Office Human Rights Dialogue, developed in collaboration with the Office of Birmingham Mayor William Bell.

La Búsqueda De Una Agenda En Común: Una Mirada Feminista A Las Organizaciones Lgbti En Nicaragua, Rachel Crane

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the global context, we are amidst a rapidly changing rights landscape for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) as more and more governments begin to recognize same-gender partnerships. This gain in LGBT rights worldwide is in no small part to the political organizing and lobbying done by LGBT-rights organizations. Nicaragua’s history with gaining LGBT rights is relatively new, as the government did not repeal the anti-sodomy law here until 2008, thus stagnating the fight for acceptance in the country. As it stands, Nicaragua has a few legal protections for LGBT people, but they continue to …

Constant Development And The Right To The Right To The Environment As The Third Generation Of Human Rights, Masume Zareie

masume zareie

From among the third generation of human rights , the right of Constant development is Considered as the basis for Other Crucial rights. The rights of the environment are part of general international rights which regulate the Occasions between those obedient of international rights (governments and international organizations.)this legal order is mainly based on bilateral and multilateral treaties and judicial international Convention the right to the environment is reflective of high and basic values similar to the environment is reflective of high and basic values similar to the right to life , the right to health and life of standard …

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.

Bringing Human Rights Home: The Birmingham Mayor's Office Human Rights Dialogue, Human Rights Institute, Office Of The Mayor Of The City Birmingham

Human Rights Institute

Human rights begin close to home. Local governments have jurisdiction over a range of human rights issues, including those related to housing, education, employment, and criminal justice. Indeed, local agencies and officials are essential to the promotion and protection of human rights in the United States. They work every day to create conditions under which all communities can flourish. Mayors are particularly well-situated to advance human rights and build a culture of human rights based on dignity, freedom from discrimination, and opportunity.

Rethinking Limited Liability Of Parent Corporations For Foreign Subsidiaries’ Violations Of International Human Rights Law, Gwynne Skinner

Washington and Lee Law Review

The doctrine of limited liability of shareholders often prevents victims harmed by a corporation’s foreign subsidiary’s violation of international human rights norms from obtaining a remedy when that subsidiary operates in a country that has a weak or ineffective judicial system. This is because victims are often unable to obtain a remedy in these countries, and the doctrine almost always prevents victims from seeking a remedy from the parent corporation. Given this problem, in what situations should parent corporations be liable for the tortious activities of their foreign subsidiaries? This Article discusses the circumstances where imposing liability on parent corporations …

The North-South Divide In International Environmental Law: Framing The Issues, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu

Carmen G. Gonzalez

The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between rich and poor nations (the North-South divide) have compromised the effectiveness of international environmental law, leading to deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and non-compliance with existing agreements. Through contributions from scholars based in five continents, International Environmental Law and the Global South examines both the historical origins of the North-South divide in European colonialism as well as its contemporary manifestations in a range of issues, including food justice, energy justice, …

International Environmental Law And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between rich and poor nations (the North-South divide) have compromised the effectiveness of international environmental law, leading to deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and non-compliance with existing agreements. Through contributions from scholars based in five continents, International Environmental Law and the Global South examines both the historical origins of the North-South divide in European colonialism as well as its contemporary manifestations in a range of issues, including food justice, energy justice, …

Old Poison In New Bottles: Trafficking And The Extinction Of Respect, Winston P. Nagan, Alvaro De Medeiros

Winston P Nagan

The new form of slavery comes by that relatively innocuous title, “trafficking.” Trafficking is an illustration of the dynamic character of the social and antisocial forces that conspire to undermine the idea of human dignity in the world community. The forms of crime are in fact dynamic. Frequently the institutional forces behind crime have capital, lethal functionaries, technology, and a capacity to advance criminal interests, both within states and across state lines. To the extent that crime itself is dynamic it must as well be acknowledged that human rights violations in general also have a dynamic character. In short, when …

International Intellectual Property, Access To Health Care, And Human Rights: South Africa V. United States, Winston Nagan

Winston P Nagan

This Article examines the question of access to patented medicines in international law. It analyzes the extent to which international agreements may lawfully limit affordable versions of these medicines that may be available through parallel imports or compulsory licensing procedures. It considers the concept of intellectual property rights from a national and international perspective to determine how these rights must be sensitive to matters of national sovereignty when extraordinary, life-threatening diseases afflict societies in catastrophic ways. This Article suggests that viewing property (including intellectual property) as a human right requires that its scope be delimited and understood in the context …

Property, Wealth, Inequality And Human Rights: A Formula For Reform, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol, Shelbi D. Day

Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

This essay scrutinizes the persistence of inequality in the United States through a human rights lens and grapples with the troubling disparities unearthed by two works: American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass and Black Wealth/White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality. These two highly enlightening and, simultaneously, deeply troubling and depressing books elucidate the myriad locations at which inequalities persist and the historical, social, psychological, and legal foundations of, and explications for, such disparities in the African American community. This work proposes a human rights paradigm that provides a methodology to analyze, deconstruct and unravel the …

Building Bridges Iv: Of Cultures, Colors, And Clashes--Capturing The International In Delgado's Chronicles, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

Sex, race, gender, sexuality, color, religion, language, nationality, ethnicity, culture, poverty - socially constructed categories, social tropes that relegate "others" to subordinated positions in the varied and various cultural and economic marketplaces of both global and local societies. Richard Delgado's transformational work engages all of these tropes insightfully, disturbingly, and illuminatingly. His rich literature conceptualizes persons as multidimensional, complex beings and exposes society as the pre-fabricated stage in which diverse interactions evolve. Delgado's epistemological stance is fluid, non-rigid, and grounded on subjectivity. In this essay I will focus on Delgado's latest book When Equality Ends: Stories About Race and Resistance. …

Afterword – Straightness As Property: Back To The Future-Law And Status In The 21st Century, Symposium: Liberalism And Property Rights, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol, Shelbi D. Day

Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

As is evident from the other works in this Symposium, throughout history in both the United States and the greater Western World, status-based exclusion of individuals and groups from property rights has been central to the existence of political and social hierarchies. Specifically, exclusion based on status — whether it be nationality, culture, race, sex or sexuality — has plagued our history and has been integral in the formation and development of both constitutional and property law regimes. Consequently, both regimes are at best uneven in the grant and distribution of rights and benefits. A forward-looking examination of the link …

Latinas, Culture And Human Rights: A Model For Making Change, Saving Soul, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

This essay provides an overview of progresses achieved for women in the Americas by virtue of the use of the human rights model to further women's rights and attain betterment of their lives. Specifically, this work reviews the location of Latinas both within and outside the United States fronteras. As women of color within larger U.S. society and as women within their comunidad Latina, Latinas experience different multifaceted subordinations. A human rights model that recognizes the multidimensional nature of gendered racial discrimination and of racialized gender discrimination can serve to improve the lives of Latinas as well as non-Latina women …

Globalized Citizenship: Sovereignty, Security And Soul, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

Human rights law has redefined the concepts of sovereignty and citizenship. Just as transnationalization has weakened the hegemony of the political elites (corporate economic elites and domestic ruling classes) by strengthening citizenship claims of all persons, so, too, a globalized citizenship grounded on a human rights model will strengthen personhood by denationalizing states' claims on individuals' rights. The human rights narrative has been imagined, crafted and delivered by Northern/Western powers--the hegemon--however, for the human rights model to be of utility to the globalized citizen project, it must be reconstituted with an antisubordination agenda. It must include the voices of the …

The International Law Of Game Of Thrones, Perry S. Bechky

Perry S. Bechky

Game of Thrones depicts a violent and, some might say, lawless world. Few would think that world evidences much international law. Yet, this article identifies several rules of international law observable on the show and relates them to real-world international law. Observable rules include some fundaments of the law of treaties, customary norms, and (most surprisingly) at least one humanitarian peremptory norm. These rules cover a range of subjects, including sovereignty, state responsibility, jurisdiction, immunities, and human rights. The article also discusses the special legal status of the Night’s Watch, which is governed by the most important legal “text” in …

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.

Third-Party Trial Observers: A Proposal For Codification And Implementation Of International Procedural Due Process In The Americas, Jay D. Terry

Akron Law Review

Over twenty years have passed now since Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt expressed the hope that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights "may well become the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere." In the same breath, she recognized that the Universal Declaration did not "purport to be a statement of law or of legal obligation." But the members of the world community had unanimously enumerated the rights of men and all that remained was for men of good will to provide for the effective implementation of those rights.