Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

Refugees In The European Union: The Harsh Reality Of The Dublin Regulation, Lana Maani

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

The refugee crisis is a highly contested and controversial issue. The world, and specifically Europe, has seen a rapid increase in the number of refugees applying for asylum. In fact, the European Union (“EU”) has received well over one million refugees: the highest number of refugees since the Second World War. The crisis is testing the EU’s main building blocks, including, most importantly, its Member States’ notion of an ever-closer union. Some Member States have been more responsive to the crisis than others. For example, Germany is the highest refugee hosting country in the EU. On the other hand, Hungary …

Combating Statelessness In The Wake Of The Syrian Conflict: A Right Without A Remedy, Tim Schultz

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

In the wake of the Syrian Civil War, millions of persons have been displaced from their homes. As desperate families flee zones of conflict, they leave all but their most precious belongings behind, in search of safety in neighboring countries. The path to safety and security, however, is a dangerous one. Displaced persons must traverse national borders, military checkpoints, and journey great distances to find safe haven. Unfortunately, Syrian families often do not carry identification documents to establish a legal recognition of their nationality in foreign lands. Consequently, this population of refugees is left vulnerable to the ugly reality of …

The Law Of Deception, Amit Pundik

Notre Dame Law Review Reflection

The purpose of this Essay is both descriptive and normative. On the descriptive level, this Essay details the Israeli jurisprudence and scholarly opinions on the issue of rape by deception in a way accessible to non-Hebrew readers, and briefly compares it with approaches taken elsewhere. On the normative level, the Essay seeks to show that the various attempts to answer the question of which characteristics can constitute deception all fail. In particular, it seeks to show that the Israeli approach is the least attractive, a conclusion that, it is hoped, may serve as a warning to reformers in other jurisdictions …

How Would The European Court Of Human Rights Decide Holt V. Hobbs?, Francesca M. Genova

Notre Dame Law Review Reflection

This Essay inquires: How would the ECtHR decide Holt v. Hobbs, given the same evidence provided at the district court level and the reasoning of the court of appeals? Analyzing this case through the ECtHR’s lens will elucidate the implications of the proportionality test in American jurisprudence. To do so, Part I will compare the two jurisdictions. Part II will summarize Holt v. Hobbs. Part III will describe the ECtHR’s relevant recent free exercise jurisprudence. Part IV will discuss how, based on this analysis, the ECtHR could decide Holt v. Hobbs in light of its overarching principles. Finally, …

Letter From The Editor, Annie Bach Yen Nguyen

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

The Notre Dame Journal of International and Comparative Law, Volume 8, Issue 1 (2018).

Fairness At A Price: Protecting The Integrity Of Athletic Competitions At The Expense Of Female Athletes, Annie Bach Yen Nguyen

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

Ever since women were allowed to compete in the Olympics, they have been subjected to some form of gender verification. Initially, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) required female athletes to present certificates from their doctors confirming that they were in fact women. In 1966, the IOC and the IAAF “decided they couldn’t trust individual nations to certify femininity, and instead implemented a mandatory genital check of every woman competing at international games.” This process was dubbed the “nude parades”. In response to the overwhelming disapproval of such examination, the IOC and IAAF began implementing …

Masthead Volume 8

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Amateur Vs. Professional In Cold War Hockey: A Consideration Of Relative Skill Levels And Their Implications For Professional Hockey Today, John Soares

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

Americans who follow sports often consider amateur sport inferior, by definition, to the skill level of professionals. This article argues that during the 1970s and 1980s, new competitions between amateur (mainly Soviet and Czechoslovakian) and professional (mostly Canadian and American) hockey teams demonstrated that the amateur game could be as skilled –or even more so – than the professional counterpart. The article considers the problematic nature of “amateurism,” international rules changes that made possible the new amateur-vs.-professional competitions, and the results of some of these Cold War confrontations. It concludes with consideration of the relative merits of styles of play …

The Vatican View On Sport At The Service Of Humanity, Ed Edmonds

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

Participation in sport, particularly the opportunity for children to enjoy and learn through play, is a human right and strongly supported by the goals of Catholic social teaching and the efforts of the Olympic Movement and the United Nations. On October 5-6, 2016, the Vatican held the Sport at the Service of Humanity Conference, the first global conference on sport and faith, an initiative promoted by Pope Francis and supported by the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations. This essay focuses on the conference, its vision and goals, and a challenge to use sport to advance human development and …

Forced Evictions, Homelessness, And Destruction: Summer "Games"? Olympic Violations Of The Right To Adequate Housing In Rio De Janeiro, Leigha C. Crout

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

This article details the violations of the right to housing that took place in preparation for the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Analyzed under the international, regional, and domestic instruments that enumerate this guarantee, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the Charter and the Declaration of the Rights and Duties of the Organization of American States, and the Constitution of Brazil, the aim of this work is to draw attention to the systematic deprivation of one of the most central human rights in the name of the Games.

The Vatican View On Sport At The Service Of Humanity, Ed Edmonds

Journal Articles

Participation in sport, particularly the opportunity for children to enjoy and learn through play, is a human right and strongly supported by the goals of Catholic social teaching and the efforts of the Olympic Movement and the United Nations. On October 5-6, 2016, the Vatican held the Sport at the Service of Humanity Conference, the first global conference on sport and faith, an initiative promoted by Pope Francis and supported by the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations. This essay focuses on the conference, its vision and goals, and a challenge to use sport to advance human development and …

Is There A Place For Islam In The West? Adjudicating The Muslim Headscarf In Europe And The United States, Andrea Pin

Notre Dame Law Review Reflection

Part I of this short Article explains the relevance of the Micropole and Achbita decisions; Part II explores the common line of reasoning behind them; and, finally, the conclusion analyzes their impact within the European scenario of religious freedom—especially for Muslims—and contrasts them with the United States’ approach to the topic.

The Unsung Virtues Of Global Forum Shopping, Pamela K. Bookman

Notre Dame Law Review

Forum shopping gets a bad name. This is even more true in the context of transnational litigation. The term is associated with unprincipled gamesmanship and undeserved victories. Courts therefore often seek to thwart the practice. But in recent years, exaggerated perceptions of the “evils” of forum shopping among courts in different countries have led U.S. courts to impose high barriers to global forum shopping. These extreme measures prevent global forum shopping from serving three unappreciated functions: protecting access to justice, promoting private regulatory enforcement, and fostering legal reform.

This Article challenges common perceptions about global forum shopping that have supported …

White Paper: Options For A Treaty On Business And Human Rights, Douglass Cassel, Anita Ramasastry

Journal Articles

The United Nations Human Rights Council decided in June 2014 to establish an Intergovernmental Working Group to “elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises.” The first meeting of the Working Group will take place in Geneva in July 2015.

The Council did not further specify what sort of instrument should be drafted. The Center for Human Rights of the American Bar Association and the Law Society of England and Wales have asked the present authors to prepare a “White Paper” on possible options for a …

International Legal Protections For Migrants And Refugees: A Response To Father Brennan, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Journal Articles

Father Brennan’s Essay, “Human Rights and the National Interest: The Case Study of Asylum, Migration, and National Border Protection,” is a complex legal and ethical analysis of refugee law. This Commentary focuses on one aspect of the international law relevant to the Essay, namely, state obligations to migrants. Father Brennan’s main argument that migrants and refugees may be turned back, so long as the action respects human rights law, is consistent with the human right to life. Justly stopping migrants and refugees requires states to stop them before they enter either international waters or the state’s territorial waters. Further, Father …

Who Owns Villa La Pietra? The Story Of A Family, Their Home, And An American University Under Italian Law, Felicia Caponigri

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

In 1994 Harold Acton, son of Arthur Acton, an English art dealer in Florence, and Hortense Mitchell Acton, an American banking heiress, donated his family home, Villa La Pietra, to New York University. Today, this Tuscan villa is at the center of a declaration of paternity lawsuit and a claim of inheritance brought by Liana Beacci, Arthur Acton's daughter by his Italian secretary. In this Note, Felicia Caponigri presents the facts of the case, focusing on the provenance of the Villa, and the procedural posture of the case. Caponigri applies Italian law to argue that New York University might claim …

Multiculturalism And Constitutionalism In Latin America, José Antonio Aguilar Rivera

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

José Antonio Aguilar Rivera discusses recent reforms to the constitutions of several Latin American states. According to Aguilar Rivera, these reforms tend to recognize and protect the multiethnic and multicultural nature of Latin American socieites. While acknowledging that some have lauded these changes as progressive moves towards a more developed form of democracy, Aguilar Rivera reaches the opposite conclusion. He argues that these trends in Latin American constitutionalism represent an "authoritarian regression" rather than an enhancement of democracy. Aguilar Rivera begins by discussing and critiquing prevalent Western theories of multiculturalism, particularly the versions set forth by Canadian theorists Charles Taylor, …

Latin American Constitutionalism: Social Rights And The “Engine Room” Of The Constitution, Roberto Gargarella

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

Roberto Gargarella surveys the landscape of Latin American Constitutionalism from 1810 to 2010, with particular emphasis on efforts in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries to enhance protections of multiculturalism and human rights. Gargarella begins by surveying the "founding period" of Latin American constitutionalism, a period marked by compromise between liberals and conservatives. He proceeds to discuss the increasing incorporation of social rights—primarily economic and labor rights—during the early twentieth century. Gargarella then discusses a final wave of reforms, which introduced increasing human rights protections in the latter half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first. …

Nigeria And Mali: The Case For Repatriation And Protection Of Cultural Heritage In Post-Colonial Africa, Elizabeth A. Klesmith

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

Writing in early 2013, Elizabeth A. Klesmith explores the challenges of African nations in protecting their cultural heritage in the post-colonization era. She identifies two major challenges to the preservation of African cultural heritage: the multi-billion dollar global trade in illicit heritage and, in certain parts of Africa, the threat of destruction of cultural treasures during bouts of sectarian violence. Klesmith discusses these challenges utilizing case studies concerning the cultural treasures of Nigeria and Mali. In the case of Nigeria, the country is striving to reacquire artifacts looted from the Benin Kingdom in the late nineteenth century and recently purchased …

Constitutional Borrowing As Jurisprudential And Political Doctrine In Shri D.K. Basu V. State Of West Bengal, Sam F. Halabi

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

The discipline of comparative constitutional law today is focused in significant part on the study of how and why judges use foreign precedent. Scholars debate the propriety of using foreign precedent as “authority,” circumstances under which such use is consistent with democracy (or a product of democratization), and which constitutional traditions may derive the greatest benefit from comparison. While comparative law theorists have long reflected on, and struggled with, a standard disciplinary vocabulary to describe what judges do when they engage in “comparative constitutional law,” the existing scholarship generally distributes judges’ use of foreign precedent into one of three modes …

Conscientious Objection Of Health Care Providers: Lessons From The Experience Of The United States, Soledad Bertelsen

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

In recent years, legislation and regulations in different countries of the world have raised questions about the conscientious objection of health care providers. In Spain, the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Act of 2010 (Sexual and Reproductive Health Act) recognizes the right to conscientious objection of professionals directly involved in the termination of pregnancy but also expands the possibility to perform abortions in relation to previous legislation. The application of the conscientious objection clause, however, leaves multiple questions open, and both the administration and the judiciary have reached different conclusions in its interpretation. The discussion about …

Volume 2 Masthead

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Volume 3 Masthead

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Masthead Volume 1

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editors, Trevor Jack, Jolie Schwarz

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

With the establishment of this journal, NDLS joins the ranks of dozens of top law schools with international law journals and we hope this journal will contribute to the development and appreciation of international, comparative and human rights law.

Volume 2 Masthead

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor, Manasi Raveendran

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Free Speech And The Case For Constitutional Exceptionalism, Roger P. Alford

Journal Articles

Excerpts from the Article

Embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the evocative proposition that [e]veryone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. But beneath that level of abstraction there is anything but universal agreement.

This book review argues that the dissonance between countries need not be challenged in pursuit of uniformity. Indeed, in those cases in which the differences reflect an appropriate balance of competing goods, it should be celebrated. Constitutional exceptionalism recognizes and celebrates each country's attempt to optimize the general welfare of that country by balancing competing goods in a manner consistent with …

Lower Courts And Constitutional Comparativism, Roger P. Alford

Journal Articles

The issue of constitutional comparativism has been a topic of significant commentary in recent years. However, there is one aspect of this subject that has been almost completely ignored by scholars: the reception, or lack thereof, of constitutional comparativism by state and lower federal courts. While the Supreme Court's enthusiasm for constitutional comparativism has waxed and now waned, lower state and federal courts have remained resolutely agnostic about this new movement. This is of tremendous practical significance because over ninety-nine percent of all cases are resolved by lower state and federal courts. Accordingly, if the lower courts eschew constitutional comparativism, …

"Technical" Defenses: Ethics, Morals, And The Lawyer As Friend, Thomas L. Shaffer, Robert F. Cochran Jr.

Journal Articles

This essay examines the question of lawyer-client counseling on the issue of raising "technical" defenses, such as statutes of limitations. The authors challenge the prevailing notion of American lawyers that technical defenses raise no moral issue worthy of dialogue between lawyers and clients. Looking at the history of legal ethics and modern treatment in European law, they suggest that questions of limitations do raise moral issues. They go on to explore how those moral issues ought to be discussed and decided between lawyers and clients, using the framework of lawyers as godfathers, hired guns, gurus, and friends that they laid …