Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

Interrogation Of Detainees: Extending A Hand Or A Boot?, Amos N. Guiora

ExpressO

The so called “war on terror” provides the Bush administration with a unique opportunity to both establish clear guidelines for the interrogation of detainees and to make a forceful statement about American values. How the government chooses to act can promote either an ethical commitment to the norms of civil society, or an attitude analogous to Toby Keith’s “American Way,” where Keith sings that “you’ll be sorry that you messed with the USofA, ‘Cuz we’ll put a boot in your ass, It’s the American Way.”

No aspect of the “war on terrorism” more clearly addresses this balance than coercive interrogation. …

Yukos Risk: The Double Edged Sword, Joseph Tanega, Dmitry Gololobov

ExpressO

Abstract The article focuses on elucidating the meaning of Yukos risk mainly in terms of corporate bankruptcy litigation in multiple jurisdictions, including, the U.S., U.K., The Netherlands, and Russia. The emphasis is on understanding the various legal theories and the court decisions reached so far in this continuing legal saga.

A Balancing Act: The Introduction Of Restorative Justice In The International Criminal Court's Case Of The Prosecutor V. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Mary Will

Florida State University Journal of Transnational Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

All In The Family: The Influence Of Social Networks On Dispute Processing, Manuel A. Gómez

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Selective Prosecution In Russia - Myth Or Reality?, Yelina Kvurt

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note examines the issue of selective prosecution, focusing on the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and argues that the Russian legal system lacks an explicit defense against such practices, which violate constitutional guarantees of equality before the law. It advocates for the adoption of a legal standard to address selective prosecution, drawing parallels with the U.S. legal framework while acknowledging the need to adapt it to Russia's unique judicial context.

Domestic Violence And Legal Reforms In Nigeria: Prospects And Challenges, Itoro Eze-Anaba

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article examines the challenges and prospects of legal reform aimed at addressing domestic violence against women in Nigeria. It highlights the inadequacy of current laws, the cultural and societal barriers that discourage victims from seeking redress, and the need for comprehensive legal and systemic changes to protect women's rights. The analysis emphasizes the importance of addressing economic, cultural, and educational disparities to create a more just and equitable legal framework.

Plea-Bargaining, Negotiating Confessions And Consensual Resolution Of Criminal Cases, Stephen C. Thaman

All Faculty Scholarship

This report explores the various types of consensual procedures that make up the procedural arsenals of modern criminal justice systems and if and how they have contributed to procedural economy in the respective country. It discusses whether or not important procedural principles have been compromised, undermining the legitimacy of the criminal justice system.

The Good, The Bad, Or The Indifferent: '12 Angry Men' In Russia, Part Of Symposium: The 50th Anniversary Of '12 Angry Men', Stephen C. Thaman

All Faculty Scholarship

Sidney Lumet’s 1957 film, 12 Angry Men, based on the screenplay by Reginald Rose, has become the emblem of the American jury trial as an anti-authoritarian institution based on democratic consensus building. This essay discusses the interplay of literature and criminal justice in pre-Revolution Russia, for this is the cultural soil upon which the film 12 Angry Men was received in Soviet Russia, when it was first screened in 1961. It discusses the reception of 12 Angry Men in Soviet Russia in 1961 and the impact it had on Soviet-era citizens in their understanding of American and Soviet criminal justice, …

Consensual Penal Resolution, Stephen C. Thaman

All Faculty Scholarship

Volume I: This is an encyclopedia entry on consensual penal resolution.

Self-Incrimination And The European Court Of Human Rights: Procedural Issues In The Enforcement Of The Right To Silence, Mark Berger

Faculty Works

This article provides an analysis of the procedural aspects of the right to silence falling within Art. 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The author examines the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights under the following areas: overview, appearance to answer questions, a demand for documents, false responses, warnings and adverse inferences. The subject is discussed at investigation stage, just prior to and during civil and criminal proceedings. The piece concludes with summaries of the jurisprudence in these varying circumstances.

Penal Court Procedures: Doctrinal Issues, Stephen C. Thaman

All Faculty Scholarship

Volume III: This is an encyclopedia entry on doctrinal issues in penal court procedures.

Why U.S. Federal Criminal Penalties For Dealing In Illicit Cultural Property Are Ineffective, And A Pragmatic Alternative, Derek Fincham

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Guilty Pleas And Barristers' Incentives: Lessons From England, Peter W. Tague

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

When considering the defendant's plea, barristers, like lawyers, have two overriding, selfish interests: maximizing remuneration and avoiding sanction. The tension between defendant and defender is most acute when the defendant is indigent and the defender has been chosen to represent him. It is their relationship that is addressed in this article.

The goal is to align the defender's selfish interests with the defendant's need for thoughtful advice over how to plead, so that, behind the guise of apparently disinterested advice, the advocate is not pursuing his interests at the defendant's expense. By contrast to most American practice, the method of …

A Comparison Of Criminal Jury Decision Rules In Democratic Countries, Ethan J. Leib

Faculty Scholarship

This paper furnishes jury system information about the twenty-eight democracies (excluding the United States) that have been consistently democratic since at least the early 1990s and have a population of five million people or more (with allowance for Mexico and South Africa). I describe general rules that do not always apply to every crime in every context. In the United States, for example, we tend to use a randomly-selected jury of twelve people that sits for a single case; laws generally require unanimity to convict and unanimity to acquit. Failure to reach unanimity results in a “hung” jury, with the …

Taking Judicial Notice Of Genocide? The Problematic Law And Policy Of The Karemera Decision, Ralph Mamiya

ExpressO

On June 16, 2006, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda issued a decision in Prosecutor v. Karemera taking judicial notice of the fact that genocide occurred in Rwanda in 1994. This decision startled many court observers. While no internationally respected commentator would today question whether the Rwanda genocide took place, should such an event be judicially noticed without evidence? This paper examines that question, arguing that the ICTR Appeals Chamber’s expansive use of judicial notice in Karemera was both illogical and unwise. Genocide, whether as an historical fact or legal charge, fails to meet the “common …

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Combating Terrorism In Bosnia-Herzegovina: Explaining And Assessing Article 201 Of The Bosnian Criminal Code, Henry M. Lovat

ExpressO

This paper explores the legal measures that have been enacted in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) to counter the threat of terrorism, focusing particularly on the international and domestic political context in which the reform of the Bosnian criminal code was carried out, on the apparent origins of Article 201 of the BiH criminal code in the European Union Framework Decision on Combating Terrorism of June 2002 and on the strengths and weaknesses of this definition in the Bosnian context. The paper argues firstly that the events of 9/11, while certainly of significance, were less salient to the definition of terrorism adopted in …

Transnational Criminal Law And Procedure: An Introduction, Sadiq Reza

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Incorporating Transnational Law In First Year Criminal Law And Procedure Classes, Ellen S. Podgor

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Transnational Law And Regulation Of The Police, Christopher Slobogin

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Approach To Teaching Criminal Procedure And Its Application To The Post-Investigative Stage, Stephen C. Thaman

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Toward An International Criminal Procedure: Due Process Aspirations And Limitations, Gregory S. Gordon

ExpressO

The breathtaking growth of international criminal law over the past decade has resulted in the prosecution of Balkan and Rwandan mass murderers, the development of a substantial body of atrocity law jurisprudence and the creation of a permanent International Criminal Court with jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The growth of international criminal procedure, unfortunately, has not kept pace. Among its shortcomings, critics have pointed to lengthy pre-trial detention without a real possibility of provisional release, the use of affidavits and transcripts instead of live witnesses at trial, the absence of juries, and the right of prosecutorial …

Redefining The Right To Be Let Alone: Privacy Rights And The Constitutionality Of Technical Surveillance Measures In Germany And The United States, Nicole E. Jacoby

ExpressO

U.S. and German courts alike long have struggled to find the proper balance between protecting the privacy rights of criminal suspects and granting law enforcement officials the adequate tools to fight crime. The highest courts in each country have produced different paradigms for determining where the public sphere ends and the private sphere begins. In a series of cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has inquired whether a criminal defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy when the state conducted a warrantless search of the suspect’s person, premises, or belongings. Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court, in contrast, has asked whether an investigative …

Bond Repudiation, Tax Codes, The Appropriations Process And Restitution Post-Eminent Domain Reform, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

This brief comment suggests where the anti-eminent domain movement might be heading next.

To Charge Or Not To Charge, That Is Discretion: The Problem Of Prosecutorial Discretion In Chile, And Japan's Solution, Kirtland C. Marsh

Washington International Law Journal

Chile’s recent criminal procedure reform is an ambitious program to bring greater transparency, fairness, and effectiveness to the country’s legal system. However, the success of the reform is not assured. To a great extent, the reform’s success will depend on the new national Office of the Public Prosecutor’s ability to enforce laws and direct law enforcement within the confines of the new system. Prosecutors must balance the interests of the Chilean public’s demands for order and convictions with the reform’s underlying principles of impartiality and enhanced rights for defendants. If prosecutors resort to the excesses used by investigating judges under …

Litigating Child Recruitment Before The Special Court For Sierra Leone, Noah B. Novogrodsky

San Diego International Law Journal

In May 2004, the Special Court for Sierra Leone issued a landmark decision finding that an individual may be held criminally responsible for the offense of recruiting child soldiers into armed conflict. As a hybrid tribunal established by the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone to try those who "bear the greatest responsibility" for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed during the country's civil war after November 1996, the Special Court is the first international criminal body to indict a person for the crime of recruiting and employing children in war. The decision in the case of …

Brief Of The University Of Toronto International Human Rights Clinic As Amicus Curiae To The Special Court For Sierra Leone, Noah B. Novogrodsky

San Diego International Law Journal

This brief addresses three questions: 1) the illegality of recruiting child soldiers into armed conflict; 2) the application of penal sanctions in international humanitarian law; and 3) the proper application of the principle of nullum crimen sine lege. Part I of our argument will establish that the recruitment of children into armed conflict is and was unquestionably a violation of international humanitarian law at the time the alleged offences took place. Part II will explain when international law permits prosecution of violations of international humanitarian law irrespective of whether penal sanctions are attached. Amici conclude that such prosecutions are permitted …

Europeanizing Self-Incrimination: The Right To Remain Silent In The European Court Of Human Rights, Mark Berger

Faculty Works

Since it came into force in September, 1953, the European Convention on Human Rights has served as a reflection of Europe's movement toward the establishment of common standards of individual human rights and freedoms. The forty-five countries that are currently signatories to the Convention are subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) which was established in 1959 as a mechanism to interpret and enforce the obligations created by the Convention. Although the Convention contains no explicit reference to a right to remain silent, and despite the differing legal systems of the contracting states, the Court …

Christ, Christians & Capital Punishment, Mark Osler

ExpressO

Last year, I came to a startling conclusion: That the debate over the death penalty in the United States is largely among Christians, but has ignored the capital sentencing which is at the center of that faith. The result of this epiphany is Christ, Christians & Capital Punishment.

In this article, I argue that the story of Christ parallels modern capital practice in many respects: Christ was turned in by a paid informant (Judas), arrested in a strategic manner, given an arraignment and stood mute, was tried, convicted and sentenced, appealed to two separate sovereigns, and finally was denied a …

Gender Equality, Social Values And Provocation Law In The United States, Canada And Australia, Caroline A. Forell

ExpressO

In this article I examine and compare the partial defense of provocation as it applies to domestic homicide in Australia, Canada, and the United States on both the gendered-male basis of jealous rage and gendered-female basis of fear. I explain why substantive equality, prevalent under Canadian constitutional law, has not resulted in woman-friendly provocation rules in Canada and the United States and why Australia is the leader in incorporating substantive equality into its provocation doctrine. I conclude that the main reason why some Australian jurisdictions have abolished provocation and others have female-friendly versions of the doctrine is that, unlike Canada …