Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

Reflections On The Future Of Global Legal Studies, Mark Fathi Massoud

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This Article proposes a set of theoretical ideas and practical innovations for the future of global legal studies in the three areas that make up the academic profession: research, teaching, and service. The future directions of global legal studies will involve building intellectual bridges that connect law with global politics, society, history, religion, and human behavior. Constructing these bridges preserves global legal studies as both an interdisciplinary enterprise and a movement for justice. This twin commitment to rigorous inquiry and social justice involves sustaining a welcoming community for graduate students and early career scholars, and prioritizing the experiences of those …

Gender In The Context Of Same-Sex Divorce And Relationship Dissolution, Suzanne A. Kim, Edward D. Stein

Articles

This article identifies ways that judges, lawyers, researchers, and policy makers may attend to the role of gender and gender dynamics facing same-sex couples upon divorce or other relationship dissolution. When same-sex couples marry, the legal system and society at large may project conceptions of gender onto same-sex couples, often in a manner that conflicts with couples’ intentions and practices. Gender and gender dynamics may affect the bases for dissolution, the financial aspects of dissolution, and the determination of child custody. The article also suggests directions for future research on the impact of gender on the dissolution of same-sex relationships.

The Failure Of International Law In Palestine, Svetlana Sumina, Steven Gilmore

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

Fiction In The Code: Reading Legislation As Literature, Thomas J. Mcsweeney

Georgia State University Law Review

One of the major branches of the field of law and literature is often described as “law as literature.” Scholars of law as literature examine the law using the tools of literary analysis. The scholarship in this subfield is dominated by the discussion of narrative texts: confessions, victim-impact statements, and, above all, the judicial opinion. This article will argue that we can use some of the same tools to help us understand non-narrative texts, such as law codes and statutes.

Genres create expectations. We do not expect a law code to be literary. Indeed, we tend to dissociate the law …

China's Anti-Corruption Crackdown And The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Daniel C.K. Chow

Texas A&M Law Review

China’s highly publicized crackdown on corruption may affect the type and number of cases in China that arise under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), but it should not be assumed that the crackdown will necessarily lead to fewer FCPA prosecutions. Although there is some overlap of the goals of China’s corruption crackdown and the goals of the FCPA, China’s crackdown also serves important goals of the ruling Communist Party. The main goal of the current crackdown is to reinforce the Party’s power by targeting enemies and rivals of the current leadership. The crackdown is not aimed at prohibiting bribes …

Entering The Trump Ice Age: Contextualizing The New Immigration Enforcement Regime, Bill Ong Hing

Texas A&M Law Review

During the early stages of the Trump ICE age, America seemed to be witnessing and experiencing an unparalleled era of immigration enforcement. But is it unparalleled? Did we not label Barack Obama the “deporter-inchief?” Was it not George W. Bush who used the authority of the Patriot Act to round up nonimmigrants from Muslim and Arab countries, and did his ICE not commonly engage in armed raids at factories and other worksites? Are there not strong parallels that can be drawn between Trump enforcement plans and actions and those of other eras? What about the fear and hysteria that seems …

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Pregnant: The Jurisprudence Of Abortion Exceptionalism In Garza V. Hargan, Kaytlin L. Roholt

Texas A&M Law Review

Since a majority of Supreme Court justices created the abortion right in 1973, a troubling pattern has emerged: The Supreme Court has come to ignore—and even nullify—longstanding precedent and legal doctrines in the name of preserving and expanding the abortion right. And with a Supreme Court majority that is blithe to manipulate any doctrine or principle—no matter how deeply rooted in U.S. legal tradition—in the name of expansive abortion rights, it should come as no surprise that lower courts are following suit. Most recently, the D.C. Circuit fired up the “ad hoc nullification machine,” but this time, its victim of …

Planning For Excellence: Insights From An International Review Of Regulators’ Strategic Plans, Adam M. Finkel, Daniel E. Walters, Angus Corbett

Faculty Scholarship

What constitutes regulatory excellence? Answering this question is an indispensable first step for any public regulatory agency that is measuring, striving towards, and, ultimately, achieving excellence. One useful way to answer this question would be to draw on the broader literature on regulatory design, enforcement, and management. But, perhaps a more authentic way would be to look at how regulators themselves define excellence. However, we actually know remarkably little about how the regulatory officials who are immersed in the task of regulation conceive of their own success.

In this Article, we investigate regulators’ definitions of regulatory excellence by drawing on …

Islam's (In)Compatibility With The West?: Dress Code Restrictions In The Age Of Feminism, Lisa M. La Fornara

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Many secular Western countries have adopted some form of legislation regulating a woman's ability to wear traditional "Islamic" coverings. These governments often cite concerns for gender equality to justify the regulations. Although it is certainly true that some women are forced to wear hijab, many women cover by choice. These women's choices may be rooted in their faith, but the decisions are also commonly linked to other factors like culture. Thus, this Note argues, regulations that prevent a woman from choosing how to dress do not enhance her rights. Rather, the regulations replace a feared authoritarian man with an overly …

The Songs Of Other Birds, Anya Bernstein

Contributions to Books

Published as Chapter 14 in Insiders, Outsiders, Injuries, and Law: Revisiting The Oven Bird’s Song, Mary Nell Trautner, ed..

In this essay, written for a volume that re-engages with David Engel's classic article, The Oven Bird's Song, I consider how we decide how to situate what we encounter in our research. Comparing the findings of my own research in Taipei with Engel's work in Thailand and America, I ask how we can decide to give different interpretations of seemingly similar social phenomena -- specifically, our interlocutors' evident distaste for invoking the law.

Although many of my interlocutors in Taiwan expressed …

Joutsing At Windmills: Cervantes And The Quixotic Fight For Authorial Control, H. Parkman Biggs

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Achieving the appropriate balance between the right of first authors to control the later use of their work and freedom for follow-on authors to further develop from that text has long been challenging. Currently, under United States law in particular, fair use stands as a nebulous to buffer between the two creative camps, granting a significantly limited right to the second author to work from the first authors’ text. While that tension excites its own debate, a less considered aspect of this tension involves the degree to which the first author might be creatively and productively affected by the follow-on …

Safeguarding The Future Of Bangladeshi Children: The Need For A Comprehensive National Educational System, Samantha A. Barach

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)—the human rights treaty ratified by the most States Parties—is binding international law which enumerates the rights guaranteed to all children worldwide. Despite the widespread ratification of the CRC, many countries lack the proper legislation and agencies to ensure that these rights are afforded to all children. One such country is Bangladesh. A relatively new country, Bangladesh gained its independence in 1971 and was one of the first twenty countries to ratify the CRC. Notwithstanding this eagerness to promote children’s rights, Bangladeshi children suffer from a high level of abuse …

Sovereign Debt Restructuring And English Governing Law, Steven L. Schwarcz

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

The problem of sovereign indebtedness is becoming a worldwide crisis because nations, unlike individuals and corporations, lack access to bankruptcy laws to restructure unsustainable debt. Decades of international efforts to solve this problem through contracting and attempted treaty-making have failed to provide an adequate debt-restructuring framework. A significant amount of outstanding sovereign debt is governed, however, by English law. This Article argues that the U.K. Parliament has the extraordinary power to help solve the problem of unsustainable country debt by changing English law to facilitate fair and consensual debt restructuring. This Article also proposes modifications to English law that Parliament …

Possession Of Child Exploitation Material In Computer Temporary Internet Cache, Sungmi Park, Yunsik Jake Jang, Joshua I. James

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

When considering the possession of child exploitation material U.S. and German courts have the same focus, but slightly different interpretations. This slight difference in interpretation could mean that in one country a defendant will be found guilty of possession while in the other country he or she could be found not guilty. In this work we examine the standards courts in Germany and the United States have used to combat child pornography, and analyze the approaches specifically related to viewing and possession of CEM. A uniform solution is suggested that criminalizes “knowing access with the intention to view” as a …

The Iran-United States Claims Tribunal: The Effect Of Future Awards On International Terrorism, Casey J. College

Arbitration Law Review (2009 - Present)

No abstract provided.

“So Come Put On De Handcuff Dem”; Jamaica’S Dancehall Superstar’S Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Of Life In Prison, Amanda Preston

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

In the United States, it was O.J. Simpson. In South Africa, it was Oscar Pistorius. But in Jamaica, it was Adidjah Palmer. Labeled by many as the trial of the century, the case against Palmer—a dancehall superstar better known as Vybz Kartel—saw controversial rulings, immense media scrutiny, and an unprecedented level of public discourse. When the 39-year-old music artiste was sentenced to life in prison, the island’s 2.7 million population was divided among those who applauded with approval and those who wept and cried foul. The latter category claimed that it was not Palmer who was prosecuted, but rather his …

Are Legal Disputes Just About The Money? Answers From Mediators On The Front Line, Hal Abramson, Bennett G. Picker, Bill Marsh, Birgit Sambeth Glasner, Jerry Weiss

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

This Article offers insights from four mediators at the front line of mediation practice-two from the United States and two from Europe. They are not part-time mediators with safe day jobs. Mediating is their day job. They are all Distinguished Fellows of the International Academy of Mediators ("IAM").

Collectively, they present a mindset for mediating that affords opportunities for uncovering needs and options that go beyond the presenting financial demands. Drawing on their years of experience, each contributor describes and illustrates how mediators can and must dig beneath the presenting claims to succeed in really resolving a dispute.

Each contribution …

The Role Of The State Towards The Grey Zone Of Employment: Eyes On Canada And The United States, Susan Bisom-Rapp, Urwana Coiquaud

Faculty Scholarship

In most countries, precarious working is on the rise and nonstandard forms of work are proliferating. What we call the “grey zone” of employment is generated by transformations at and with respect to work both in standard and nonstandard forms of working. Focusing on legal and policy regulation, and on the role of the state in the creation and perception of the grey zone, our contribution explains the way the government acts or fails to act, and the consequences of that activity or inactivity on the standard employment relationship. Examining and juxtaposing conditions in our two countries, Canada and the …

Introduction, Julian Conrad Juergensmeyer, Karen Marie Johnston

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

Social Capital Of Directors And Corporate Governance: A Social Network Analysis, Zihan Niu, Christopher Chen

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

This Article examines how a director’s social capital might affect his or her behavior, the board’s performance, and corporate governance, as well as the potential normative implications of the director’s social network. We argue that the quality of board performance could be improved where the social network closure within the board is high and there are many non-redundant contacts beyond the board. Network closure can improve trust and collaboration within a board, while external contacts may benefit a company with more diverse sources of information. Moreover, different network positioning leads to the inequality of social capital for directors. With more …

Sex Quotas And Burkini Bans, Darren Rosenblum

Faculty Publications

This Essay recounts how feminist theorists and activists managed to write their ideals into the fabric of French law and culture, and how nonfeminists began to appropriate those ideals. Parité, the 2000 law that requires half of all candidates for public office be women, saw French feminists first engineer a change in French universalism to respect sex difference; although not wholly successful, Parité advanced women's political inclusion. Then, like a drop of water in a pond, these feminist ideas disappeared in plain sight: they became intrinsic to French state norms and public values. As they became woven into such norms, …

Can Mediation Deliver Justice?, Sherif Elnegahy

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

Can mediation deliver justice? This article seeks to answer this controversial question by exploring the idea of justice through a number of perspectives, including the historical, philosophical, and religious perspectives. After reaching an understanding on the idea of justice, the article discusses two main means of delivering justice: formal justice-including an analysis of its strength and limitations-and creative justice. The article proceeds to demonstrate the relationship between mediation and justice and mediation's ability to deliver several justice outcomes, which include procedural justice, distributive justice, and restorative justice. The article concludes by highlighting the possible challenges that can accrue when attempting …

Accountability In Corporate Governance In China And The Impact Of Guanxi As A Double-Edged Sword, Andrew Keay, Jingchen Zhao

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Accountability is an essential aspect of corporate governance and it has been argued that the “wenze” system of accountability in China comes very close to the accountability systems developed in Anglo-American corporate governance. This Article examines the role of cultural factors, namely guanxi and its derivatives, in corporate governance in China to determine what effect, if any, these cultural factors have on the operation and development of the “wenze” system in large listed companies. The Article specifically considers whether the cultural elements affect accountability, and if so, how and to what extent. It also explores whether these cultural factors are …

Revisiting The Economic Community Of West African States: A Socio-Legal Analysis, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Recent years have seen a growing scholarly interest in the conditions of emergence of regional trade agreements in Africa. These analyses have advanced our knowledge on a range of technical issues, from specific institutional transformation of regional economic communities such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to broad legal issues relating to the provisions of the regional trade agreements. Most literature on ECOWAS is, however, informed by legal formalism that interprets the text of the treaties strictly and without context, leading to a dominant interpretation of failure.

By contrast, this thesis adopts a socio-legal approach and argues …

Next Up: A Proposal For Values-Based Law Reform On Unilateral Withholding And Withdrawal Of Potentially Life-Sustaining Treatment, Jocelyn Downie, Lindy Willmott, Ben White

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

As the legalization of assisted dying shifts from a project for law reform to one of implementation, the gaze for Canadian end of life law and policy academics and practitioners should be turned quickly to another pressing issue – the unilateral withholding and withdrawal of potentially life-sustaining treatment. What should happen when the health care team believes that treatment should not be provided and the patient’s loved ones believe that it should? While the future of end of life law and policy no doubt includes many other issues, this is an urgent and immediate horizon issue for Canada as well …

Voice And Exit As Accountability Mechanisms: Can Foot-Voting Be Made Safe For The Chinese Communist Party?, Roderick M. Hills Jr., Shitong Qiao

Faculty Scholarship

According to Albert 0. Hirschman's famous dichotomy, citizens can express their preferences with their "voice" (by voting with ballots to elect better representatives) or by "exit" (by voting with their feet to choose better places to live). Suppose, however, that ballot-voting is ineffective: Can exit not merely aid but also replace voice? Using the People's Republic of China, a party state without elective democracy as a case study, we argue that exit is not a substitute for, but rather a complement to, voice. China's bureaucratic promotion system plays the same role that local elections do in the United States, promoting …

Constitutional Law—Extraditing The Foreign Fugitive: Disentitlement In Civil Forfeiture, United States V. All Assets Listed In Attachment A, 89 F. Supp. 3d 817 (E.D. Va. 2015), Nicole Murray

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Human Rights Law And Racial Hate Speech Regulation In Australia: Reform And Replace?, Dr. Alan Berman

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Big Questions Comparative Law, Anna Di Robilant

Faculty Scholarship

This essay reflects on Ran Hirschl’s book "Comparative Matters." Feeling that historical comparative law methodologies have been found wanting it looks to newer methods. For example, the critical approach to comparative law relies on comparison to expose the implicit biases and assumptions of the observer’s own system and to denounce the illusory and ideological nature of “legalism,” namely, the claim that law is both neutral and necessary. Comparative law and economics seeks to explain in precise terms the convergence of legal rules by using efficiency as a key metric. Comparative law and economics also gives a comparative twist to the …

Book Review: The Soviet Union In World Affairs, A Documented Analysis, 1964-1972. By Professor W. W. Kulski. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1972. Pp. 526. $17.50., Jacob D. Beam

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.