Law Commons^™

Hope For Haiti?, Kurt Mills

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Kara McDonald raises the question of whether or not the international community will go beyond its patchwork response to Haiti's problems. One wonders why the question is even asked, given the international community's track record in Haiti, as well as in other parts of the world. Indeed, setting aside the many positive acts of individuals and states to address the suffering after the earthquake, the response to Haiti illustrates the inability of the international community to respond in a coherent and humane manner to many crises around the world.

Can They Stay The Distance? The International Response To The Earthquake In Haiti, Anna Talbot

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Haiti is devastated again. Over one hundred thousand people are presumed dead. Reports of looting and violence are emerging. The international community is responding, with a statement from the Secretary-General of the UN, a resolution by the Security Council, a Special Session, and resolution from the UN Human Rights Council and numerous aid and UN agencies in the country seeking to help as many survivors as possible. Various commentators, including Kara McDonald, have claimed this is an opportunity for a stronger Haiti. Whether this opportunity is realized or not depends in large part on the international community, and whether it …

A Time For Anger. And A Time For Rights, Not Charity, Anthony Chase

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Sadness but also anger is the immediate reaction to the deaths of 200,000 Haitians. Among the dead are Myriam Merlet, Magalie Marcelin and Anne Marie Coriolan (founders of three leading Haitian feminist organizations) and 14 of the 16 members of SEROvie, the main Haitian organization providing HIV-related services for men who have sex with men and the transgendered – people who have been at the front line in pushing for political change from within Haiti. Kara McDonald’s words that “it is hard to identify another country that has had as many peacekeeping forces, stabilization operations, and crisis responses at work …

Human Rights And Domestic Violence: An Advocacy Manual, Human Rights Clinic

Human Rights Institute

Though international law is traditionally called “the law of nations,” it governs far more than relations between the countries of the world. International human rights law pushes the boundaries of State responsibility and allows individuals to directly demand accountability for both governmental action and inaction that violates basic human rights. International human rights treaties declare the minimum standards by which States (i.e. nation-states, or countries) are expected to comply. The theme of the 2010 Fourteenth Annual Domestic Violence Conference at Fordham Law School, “Expanding Our Vision: Human Rights, Victims’ Rights, and Approaches to Diverse Families,” for which this manual was …

What Is The Best Use Of The International Community’S Resources; Responding To Disasters Or Trying To Strengthen Fragile States?, Richard Burchill

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The recent earthquake in Haiti is, beyond doubt, a truly tragic event. The impact of the quake in terms of the physical destruction of buildings and infrastructure, the massive loss of life, and the inability of the government to respond all demonstrated how fragile the Haitian state is. While Haiti is probably at the extreme end of fragility, it is not alone in terms of states struggling to survive in difficult conditions. And when something unexpected hits a fragile state, the response of the international community is crucial, because the impact is so much greater and the state's own ability …

February Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Tragedy and Opportunity for Haiti” by Kara C. Mc Donald. Council on Foreign Relations. January 14, 2010.

January 23, 2010: Thoughts On Citizens United, The Supreme Court Corporate Speech Case, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Thoughts on Citizens United, the Supreme Court Corporate Speech Case“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Jaunary 21, 2010: What’S Religion Got To Do With It?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “What’s religion got to do with it?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

January 19, 2010: Dances With Wolves Meets The Matrix, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Dances with Wolves Meets The Matrix“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

January 12, 2010: The European Court Of Human Rights, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The European Court of Human Rights“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

January 8, 2010: The 2010 Annual Conference On Christian Legal Thought, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The 2010 Annual Conference on Christian Legal Thought“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Collateral Consequences Of Criminal Convictions: Confronting Issues Of Race And Dignity, Michael Pinard

Faculty Scholarship

This article explores the racial dimensions of the various collateral consequences that attach to criminal convictions in the United States. The consequences include ineligibility for public and government-assisted housing, public benefits and various forms of employment, as well as civic exclusions such as ineligibility for jury service and felon disenfranchisement. To test its hypothesis that these penalties, both historically and contemporarily, are rooted in race, the article looks to England and Wales, Canada and South Africa. These countries have criminal justice systems similar to the United States’, have been influenced significantly by United States’ criminal justice practices in recent years, …

International Migrants Bill Of Rights, Georgetown University Law Center, International Migrants Bill Of Rights Initiative

Georgetown Law Student Series

The International Migrants Bill of Rights (hereinafter IMBR) is the result of a two-year collaboration between students at the American University in Cairo, Georgetown University Law Center, and Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The IMBR is a dynamic blueprint for the protection of the rights of migrants, drawing from all areas of international law, including treaty law, customary international law, areas of State practice and best practices. The IMBR posits a group of rights that are “universal, interdependent and interrelated,” and that populate the continuum from hard to hortatory. Yet even as the result projects a framework for migrants’ rights that …

"A Guantanamo On The Sea": The Difficulties Of Prosecuting Pirates And Terrorists, Eugene Kontorovich

Faculty Working Papers

As a surge in pirate attacks in the seas around the Horn of Africa threatens to seriously damage international trade, the nations of the world have refused to enforce international law against these criminals. The dozens of nations patrolling the Gulf of Aden have ample legal authority to detain and prosecute pirates. Yet the United States and other navies have, as a matter of policy, been releasing apprehended pirates because of the difficulty of detaining or successfully prosecuting them. These fears are not unwarranted. As this Essay shows, while on the one hand international law requires all nations to fight …

International Human Rights At The Close Of The Twentieth Century, Anthony D'Amato

Faculty Working Papers

Speculates as to why the human-rights revolution is increasingly likely to dominate our foreign-policy attentions in the decades to come. Ventures some predictions, of particular interest perhaps to international lawyers, about where the cause of international human rights is heading.

Human Rights As Part Of Customary International Law:A Plea For Change Of Paradigms, Anthony D'Amato

Faculty Working Papers

The question for us international lawyers is how, and how much of, public sentiment for human rights has been transformed into binding international law.

The Relation Of The Individual To The State In The Era Of Human Rights, Anthony D'Amato

Faculty Working Papers

I address the question of the relation of the individual to the state and, in so doing, invoke Hegel, the preeminent philosopher of relationships. As students of international law, we should look forward to achieving the complex synthesis implicit in Hegel's philosophy: to promote the human rights of all persons in the natural context of the unique nation in which they live. Examines a legal problem that highlights this interrelatedness: Frolova v. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

International Human Rights Law In Japan: The View At Thirty, Timothy Webster

Faculty Publications

Japanese courts have become increasingly open to the use of international human rights law in the past two decades. This paper examines several of the key decisions that reflect the judiciary's embrace of international law, particularly in the areas of criminal procedure and minority rights. I argue that the judiciary has eclipsed the other branches of government as the primary disseminator of human rights norms in Japan.

As Old As The Hills: Detention And Immigration, Lenni B. Benson

Intercultural Human Rights Law Review

If you are reading this essay and the related symposium articles, you will learn a great deal about the role detention plays in U.S. immigration law. You will become a witness to our government's use of a tool that directly and undeniably impinges on our most fundamental freedom: personal liberty. It is my hope that by writing this essay, I may contribute to a reexamination by all of us of the reasons we use immigration detention; and that we will ask fundamental questions about whether immigration detention is a legitimate tool. As we learn more, we all become witnesses to …

Reproductive Health As A Human Right, Lance Gable

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

The Promise And Limits Of Local Human Rights Internationalism, Lesley Wexler

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The fourth of a multi-part series of papers that takes a supportive but critical look at the project of bringing international law home. This article focuses on cities as a vital pathway to bring the human rights discussion from the international to the local.

Multilateral Development Banks And The Human Right Responsibility , Leonardo A. Crippa

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Commentary On Achim Steiner's 2009 Grotius Lecture, Dinah Shelton

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Special 301 Of The Trade Act Of 1974 And Global Access To Medicine, Sean M. Flynn

PIJIP Faculty Scholarship

Since its inception in 1988, the United States Trade Representative’s “Special 301” adjudication of foreign intellectual property law standards has been used to promote policies restricting access to affordable medications around the world. President-elect Obama released a platform promising to “break the stranglehold that a few big drug and insurance companies have on these life-saving drugs” and pledged support for “the rights of sovereign nations to access quality-assured, low-cost generic medication to meet their pressing public health needs.” The 2009 and 2010 Special 301 reports, however, indicate that the Obama Administration has not yet implemented this pledge into administration trade …

Lawfare And Counterlawfare: The Demonization Of The Gitmo Bar And Other Legal Strategies In The War On Terror, David J. R. Frakt

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Litigating The Arab-Israeli Conflict In U.S. Courts: Critiquing The Lawfare Critique, Wiliam J. Aceves

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Conservation With Justice: A Rights-Based Approach, Dinah L. Shelton, Thomas Greiber, Melinda Janki, Marcos Orellana, Annalisa Savaresi

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article suggests a rights-based approach (RBA) to conservation of environmental resources. The article points out benefits of an RBA model, such as identifying the causes of environmental impacts on citizens’ human rights and bettering the regulation of environmental resources. However, the RBA also poses challenges, such as resistance from non-State actors, comparing the importance of different rights, and a commitment of many resources. The article next identifies substantive and procedural rights provided by international law. An RBA implicates, among others, the right to life, the right to health, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to …

Eleventh Annual Grotius Lecture Response: Commentary On Achim Steiner's 2009 Grotius Lecture, Dinah L. Shelton

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This commentary discusses the impact of the 2009 Grotius Lecture delivered by Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environmental Program (“UNEP”). The commentary elaborates on a fundamental lesson of the lecture: law can be a conduit for transformative economic change. The commentary emphasizes the need for international entities such as UNEP to address global environmental crises that result from pollution largely generated by industrial countries. The commentary encourages leaders to consider these environmental challenges as possible threats to human rights.

Equitable Utilization Of The Atmosphere: A Rights-Based Approach To Climate Change, Dinah L. Shelton

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This paper advocates for a rights-based approach to climate change. I argue that the government of a state may, and arguably, has the duty to assert and defend the rights of its inhabitants, rather than remaining passive and ultimately defending itself for alleged rights-violating acts and omissions. The premise underlying this approach is that governments exist for the purpose of protecting the sovereign rights of the state and the human rights of their inhabitants, past and future. First, the paper examines the rights of permanent sovereignty over natural rights. Second, it considers interstate cases on trans-frontier pollution, including the landmark …

Edzia Carvalho On Human Rights: Politics And Practice. Edited By Michael Goodhart. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 455pp., Edzia Carvalho

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Human Rights: Politics and Practice. Edited by Michael Goodhart. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 455pp.