Law Commons^™

Health And Human Rights Of Syrian Women And Children Refugees: Trafficking, Resettlement, And The United Nations Convention On Refugees Revisited, Lori Maria Walton Phd, Dpt, Mph(S), Clt

Journal of Health Ethics

In 2016, there were approximately 22.5 million refugees displaced outside their home country because of armed conflict, over half of whom are minors. Syria reported the highest number, with over eleven million refugees displaced, both internally and externally, from zones of conflict in 2017. Over five million Syrian refugees, between the years 2011 and 2017, have fled to other countries including: Lebanon (1.1 million), Jordan (660,000), Egypt (122,000), Turkey (2.9 million) and Iraq (241,000). Exposure to war, displacement, and violence deprives women and children of the basic right to health, including the “right to control one’s health and body” and …

Saudi Arabia Must Be Held To Account For Human Rights Violations In Yemen, Human Rights Clinic, Mwatana Organization For Human Rights

Human Rights Institute

SANA’A and NEW YORK CITY (May 21, 2018) – The international community must scrutinize Saudi Arabia’s military operation in Yemen, and urge Saudi Arabia to cease its relentless bombing campaign and devastating restrictions on aid and access to healthcare, said the Mwatana Organization for Human Rights and Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Clinic in a new report submitted to the United Nations for the UN’s review of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.

The Human Right Of Property, José E. Alvarez

University of Miami Law Review

Despite the absence of a comprehensive global pact on the subject, the human right to property protection—a right of property but only rarely to specific property—exists and is recognized in 21 human rights instruments, including some of the most widely ratified multilateral treaties ever adopted. The Cold War’s omission of property rights in the two principal treaties on human rights, namely the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, has been overtaken by events. But that reality continues to be resisted by legal scholars, including human rights advocates, as well …

The Uses Of Truth: Rapporteur Notes, Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr)

CLIHHR Reports & Policy Submissions

These rapporteur notes summarize key themes and discussions from The Uses of Truth, a convening co-hosted by the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights (CLIHHR), focusing on truth-telling, accountability, and justice in post-conflict societies. The document captures the perspectives of scholars, advocates, and practitioners exploring the legal, political, and moral dimensions of truth in human rights work.

April 20, 2018: Acts Of Legislative Hatred, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Acts of Legislative Hatred“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The Brandeis Human Rights Advocacy Program: Advancing The Human Rights Of The Immigrant, Noncitizen And Refugee Community, Enid Trucios-Haynes

Journal of Refugee & Global Health

The Human Rights Advocacy Program (HRAP or the Program) at the Brandeis School of Law, University of Louisville, represents a unique collaboration of law faculty and students providing critical resources to the local immigrant, noncitizen and refugee community in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as local service providers to this community. The Program, established in Spring 2014, is distinctive because of its non-hierarchical internal model and the participatory action research and policy focus of its work. The Program is a distinguished from the typical law school clinical model in its focus on community engaged research, policy advocacy, and service, as well …

A Human Rights Code Of Conduct: Ambitious Moral Aspiration For A Public Interest Law Office Or Law Clinic, Lauren E. Bartlett

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I of this Article argues that the lack of moral aspiration in legal ethics rules helps contribute to unhappy and unhealthy law students and lawyers, undermining the legal profession. Part II reviews the existing rules and standards that guide the ethical behavior of lawyers in the United States, arguing that all too often the binding rules focus on providing guide posts, signaling where behavior is unacceptable and disciplinary action is possible, instead of providing moral aspiration and options or next steps to describe what a lawyer should do to deal with an ethical dilemma.

Part III of this …

The Grand Maple Dream: Fulfilled, Fading Or Failed?: Filipino Women Nurses In Manitoba And Their Struggles Against Harassment And Discrimination, Emily Sanchez Salcedo

Center for Business Research and Development

The Philippines is a tiny archipelago in Southeast Asia with over one hundred million people wallowing in a third world economy kept afloat for decades by Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW). In 2017, OFWs collectively sent home cash remittances amounting over $28 billion—roughly $645 million came from Filipinos in Canada. This amount is the eleventh biggest contributor to the Philippine economy (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, 2018).

On the other hand, the Philippines has become the top country for new immigrants to Canada in recent years, surpassing India and China (Friesen, 2018). According to the 2016 Census of Population Program, there are …

Parallel Worlds: Comparing Rural Development To Development In Global Communities, Jena Martin, Karon Powell

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Clearing The Path: Withdrawal Of Consent And Termination As Next Steps For Reforming International Investment Law, Lise Johnson, Jesse Coleman, Brooke Güven, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

This is a crucial moment in international investment policymaking. Two factors have converged, calling for a new direction. First, it has become increasingly difficult to justify investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS); even governments that had been among its strongest proponents are now changing course and have raised a range of fundamental, systemic and inter-related issues relating to ISDS. Second, policy makers and other stakeholders have a greater awareness of the need to design appropriate policies to maximize the contributions cross-border investment can make to sustainable development. Influenced by these factors, various reform efforts related to investment policy are underway at the …

Legalizing Assisted Dying: Cross Purposes And Unintended Consequences, Emily Jackson

Dalhousie Law Journal

In the UK, assisted dying continues to be unlawful, and pro-legalization campaigners have made use of human rights based applications for judicial review and Private Members Bills in order to try to change the law. Interestingly, however, the proposed statute would not offer an assisted death to many of the litigants who have sought to force Parliament's hand. This article considers whether this a one-off peculiarity, or whether there might be other mismatches between what the law can achieve and what matters most to people who are seeking an assisted death for themselves. It also explores what seems to be …

March 28, 2018: Is Donald Trump The Antichrist?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Is Donald Trump the Antichrist?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The Climate For Human Rights, Rebecca M. Bratspies

University of Miami Law Review

Climate change is the defining challenge of the 21st century. The United States government is currently ignoring the problem, but wishful thinking alone will not keep global mean temperature rise below 2ºC. This Article proposes a way forward. It advises environmental decision-makers to use human rights norms to guide them as they make decisions under United States law. By reframing their discretion through a human rights lens, decision-makers can use their existing authority to respond to the super-wicked problem of climate change

Global Intersections: Critical Race Feminist Human Rights And Inter/National Black Women, Hope Lewis

Maine Law Review

In this brief essay, I illustrate how Critical Race Feminist analysis could reconceptualize the human rights problems facing “Inter/national Black women” --in this case, Black women who migrate between the United States and Jamaica. This focus on Jamaican American migrants is very personal as well as political; I was raised by Jamaican American women. However, I have begun to focus on such women in my research not only in a search for “home” but also because there are important lessons to be learned from those who are the least visible in the legal literature. I draw the framework for a …

March 4, 2018: Privatizing Government Policy, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Privatizing Government Policy“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Costs And Benefits Of Investment Treaties: Practical Considerations For States, Lise Johnson, Jesse Coleman, Brooke Guven, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

This paper analyzes the expected benefits of investment treaties, including: increased inward investment, increased outward investment, and depoliticization of investment disputes. It then considers evidence of the costs of investment treaties, including: litigation, liability, reputational cost, reduced policy space, distorted power dynamics, reduced role for domestic law-making, and uncertainty in the law. The authors set forth practical steps that states can take relating to both existing treaties as well as future treaties with an objective of increasing desired benefits and decreasing unexpected and high costs of investment treaties.

International Human Rights Law: An Unexpected Threat To Peace, Ingrid Wuerth

Marquette Law Review

None

February 17, 2018: Nihilism, Opioid Epidemics And School Shootings, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “ Nihilism, Opioid Epidemics and School Shootings“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Joint Declaration On Freedom Of Expression And “Fake News,” Disinformation, And Propaganda, Mickey Huff

Secrecy and Society

No abstract provided.

Resourcing Green Technologies Through Smart Mineral Enterprise Development: A Case Analysis Of Cobalt, Saleem Ali, Perrine Toledano, Nicolas Maennling, Nathaniel Hoffman, Lola Aganga

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires the world to adopt ‘green technologies’ such as renewable energies and electric transportation at an unprecedented scale. While many countries have implemented policies to spur the adoption of such technologies, a lack of focus has been placed on the sourcing of minerals that are required as inputs. As a result, there is likely to be a significant deficit that may constrain the adoption of green technologies.

In this report, we argue that a neglected area in addressing the mineral scarcity challenge is the private sector’s current trajectory for geological mineral exploration and …

Legal Capacities Required For Prevention And Control Of Noncommunicable Diseases, Roger S. Magnusson, Benn Mcgrady, Lawrence O. Gostin, David Patterson, Hala Abou Taleb

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Law lies at the centre of successful national strategies for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases. By law we mean international agreements, national and subnational legislation, regulations and other executive instruments, and decisions of courts and tribunals. However, the vital role of law in global health development is often poorly understood, and eclipsed by other disciplines such as medicine, public health and economics. This paper identifies key areas of intersection between law and noncommunicable diseases, beginning with the role of law as a tool for implementing policies for prevention and control of leading risk factors. We identify actions that the …

Review Of John Whalen-Bridge, Tibet On Fire: Buddhism, Protest, And The Rhetoric Of Self-Immolation, Daniel S. Capper

Faculty Publications

Review of John Whalen-Bridge, Tibet on Fire: Buddhism, Protest, and the Rhetoric of Self-Immolation, in Journal of Contemporary Religion

Reexamining Eli Lilly V. Canada: A Human Rights Approach To Investor-State Disputes, Cynthia M. Ho

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Article provides valuable insight to the broader discussion of reforming investor-state disputes. Many have noted that the system is in a crisis due to a lack of democratic accountability and inconsistent decisions, which create a chilling effect on legitimate domestic law and policy. Despite substantial discussion in recent years concerning how to reform investor-state disputes, there is only limited discussion concerning the extent to which such disputes challenge domestic intellectual property (IP) limits, as well as global IP norms. Moreover, even among those who recognize the challenge to IP limits, the relevance of human rights is generally not addressed. …

Targeted Capture, Alexander K.A. Greenawalt

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article confronts one of the most difficult and contested questions in the debate about targeted killing that has raged in academic and policy circles over the last decade. Suppose that, in wartime, the target of a military strike may readily be neutralized through nonlethal means such as capture. Do the attacking forces have an obligation to pursue that nonlethal alternative? The Article defends the duty to employ less restrictive means (“LRM”) in wartime, and it advances several novel arguments in defense of that obligation. In contrast to those who look to external restraints--such as those imposed by international human …

Corporate Liability For Human Rights Violations: The Future Of The Alien Tort Claims Act, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This paper addresses complex legal issues in light of and in the context of Jesner v. Arab Bank, a case involving the scope of corporate liability for human rights abuses under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA). Part I provides a brief overview of the Jesner case. Part II outlines the case Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. and its holding. Part III discusses Kiobel's shortcomings, including the vagueness of its "touch and concern" test and its failure to specify which law—international or domestic—applies to the issue of corporate liability under the ATCA. Part IV then proposes other …

Book Review: Surrogacy: A Human Rights Violation By Renate Klein, Kate Rose

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

The Broad Implications Of The First Nation Caring Society Decision: Dealing A Death-Blow To The Current System Of Program Delivery On-Reserve & Clearing The Path To Self-Government, Naiomi Metallic

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

On January 26, 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) released a watershed decision in a complaint spearheaded by the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, its Executive Director, Dr. Cindy Blackstock, and the Assembly of First Nations (the “Caring Society” decision). The complaint alleged that Canada, through its Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs (“INAC” or the “Department”), discriminates against First Nations children and families in the provision of child welfare services on reserve. In its decision, the Tribunal found that INAC’s design, management and control of child welfare services on reserve, along with its …

The Effect Of International Ngos On Influencing Domestic Policy And Law, Ashley Macarchuk

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis attempts to understand the impact of international human rights and environmental NGOs on affecting domestic policy and law. In particular, it looks at how State-NGO relations, civil society, and accountability affect the success of international NGOs in enacting change in domestic policy. The focus is on four countries with some of the largest human rights and environmental abuses: Argentina, China, India, and Russia. Through these countries, this thesis shows that NGOs have the most influence when State-NGO relations are strong, civil society is active, and NGOs are accountable to both the State and citizens. A key component to …

2018 Iaohra Gender Equity Toolkit, Human Rights Institute, International Association Of Official Human Rights Agencies (Iaohra)

Human Rights Institute

Human rights provide a valuable tool for assessing and advancing women’s human rights; proactively identifying and changing the laws, policies, and practices that perpetuate inequality; addressing the stereotypes and beliefs that underlie gender discrimination; and shaping initiatives that improve gender equity.

Implementing Shared-Use Of Mining Infrastructure To Achieve The Sustainable Development Goals, Perrine Toledano, Nicolas Maennling

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Many of the Sustainable Development Goals will only be achieved if the population has access to basic services, such as access to water, power, transport, and telecommunications. However, in many developing countries there is a lack of infrastructure to guarantee these services and there are insufficient public funds to finance growing needs. In resource-rich countries, the mining sector can play a key role in increasing access to infrastructure. Mining-related infrastructure is often developed to serve the exclusive need of the investors, but if it is shared and developed to serve the broader needs and uses of the host economy it …