Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

The End Of The Viarsa Saga And The Legality Of Australia's Vessel Forefeiture Penalty For Illegal Fishing In Its Exclusive Economic Zone, Laurence Blakely

Washington International Law Journal

The world’s fish stocks are suffering from over-utilization. The earth’s oceans are subject to exploitation by all nation states and very little preservation. Because of the nature of the international legal regime of the Law of the Sea, enforcement of what conservation and management measures exist is challenging. Boundaries, ephemeral on land, are even more so on water, making rights allocation and management particularly difficult. Nevertheless, as fish stocks continue to decrease and it becomes clearer that oceans require more effective management, coastal states have begun to undertake more significant enforcement procedures corresponding to their rights in their exclusive economic …

The Need For Effective Licensure Laws For Mid-Level Health Care Providers In Countries Facing Chronic Physician Shortages: A Case Study Of The Marshall Islands' Health Assistants, Jeffrey P. Lane

Washington International Law Journal

Facing a global physician shortage and high international emigration rates, developing countries are increasingly looking to mid-level health care providers to provide critical primary health care services. Mid-level providers have more training than nurses but less than full physicians and are typically authorized to prescribe medications and perform simple medical procedures. As the demand for health care providers continues to grow, mid-level providers are increasingly being asked to provide a broader array of clinical services. In response to this growing need, mid-level providers are increasingly practicing outside of their licensed scope of practice, which may both compromise patient safety and …

Protecting Egg Donors And Human Embryos—The Failure Of The South Korean Bioethics And Biosafety Act, Mukta Jhalani

Washington International Law Journal

Human embryonic stem cells have the potential to treat many physical and neurological disorders due to their unique ability to transform into any type of human cell. The process of deriving stem cells from human embryos, however, raises important ethical and regulatory issues. Embryonic stem cell research requires a steady source of human eggs to create embryos that are destroyed during stem cell extraction. International declarations and guidelines protect the two most vulnerable participants of embryonic stem cell research: women who donate eggs for research purposes and human embryos that are destroyed in the research. In 2005, South Korea passed …

Korean Divorce Law On Claims For Property Division: Dividing Retirement Allowance In Divorce, Faye Y. Park

Washington International Law Journal

As South Koreans divorce closer to the retirement age, the issue of whether retirement allowance should be divided upon divorce has become more prevalent. The applicable law in the division of the retirement allowance in a divorce is Article 839-2 of the Civil Code. This article provides that property realized through the cooperation of both spouses shall be divided in divorce by agreement. The Korean courts have historically undervalued the contribution of spouses who provide housework by giving them less property in the division of acquired marital property. Retirement allowances pose problems because a spouse can contribute in acquiring them …

Japan And The Moneylenders—Activist Courts And Substantive Justice, Andrew M. Pardieck

Washington International Law Journal

Problems with sub-prime loans roiled financial markets worldwide in 2007 and brought renewed attention to predatory lending practices by loan brokers in the United States. Questionable lending practices, however, plague consumer financial markets worldwide, including one of the largest, found in Japan. This Article addresses the Japanese response to systemic problems in its consumer finance market. Over the last forty years, the judiciary has led and the Diet followed. Most recently, in 2006, the Supreme Court handed down a series of decisions that turned the single most important earnings driver for the consumer finance industry into dead letter law. The …

As A Negative Right, Article 25 Can Have A Positive Effect Combating Japan's Poverty, Amelia S. Kegan

Washington International Law Journal

Article 25 of the Showa Constitution guarantees everyone in Japan a minimum standard of “wholesome and cultured living.” Contrary to the force originally envisioned by the Constitution’s framers, the Supreme Court of Japan has interpreted the provision as merely a programmatic declaration that guides the legislature rather than as an enforceable right under which an individual may sue. As a result, individuals cannot seek relief from the judiciary for Article 25 violations. The Supreme Court should recognize Article 25 also as a negative, concrete right, allowing individuals to seek judicial relief when the government fails to appropriately apply laws intended …

Access To Justice For The Poor: The Singapore Judiciary At Work, Gary Chan Kok Yew

Washington International Law Journal

This Article examines the concrete efforts and programs of the Singapore judiciary to maintain and enhance access to justice for the poor. This examination is undertaken via overlapping economic, procedural, and institutional approaches. The Article will examine three main contentions. First, that the Singapore judiciary’s concrete efforts in maintaining and promoting access to justice for the poor have been fairly comprehensive and pro-active. Second, that abstract constitutional discourse on the right of access to justice and the associated rights of legal representation and legal aid are virtually absent in Singapore. Thus, the judicial practice for enhancing access to justice for …

Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals In China: Could Changes Bring Stronger Protection For Intellectual Property Rights And Human Health?, Dina M. Bronshtein

Washington International Law Journal

Although China seeks to improve its image as a legitimate participant in the global intellectual property (“IP”) market, Chinese companies continue to produce more than thirty percent of the counterfeit drugs circulating in the world today. The counterfeit pharmaceutical industry profits from efficient and cost-effective production systems by producing counterfeits at an exceedingly low cost. This poses a serious problem because the production and sale of counterfeit drugs leads to negative economic and social health-related effects. China’s existing penalties for counterfeit pharmaceutical production are considered a mere cost of doing business in China, rather than a deterrent from engaging in …

Australia's Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act: Addressing Indigenous And Non-Indigenous Inequities At The Expense Of International Human Rights?, Jenna Gruenstein

Washington International Law Journal

In 2007, Australia passed the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act (“NT Emergency Response Act”), ostensibly reacting to a recent report detailing exceedingly high levels of sexual abuse of Aboriginal children. This Comment argues that the NT Emergency Response Act likely violates Australia’s obligations under the United Nations’ (“U.N.”) International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (“Racial Discrimination Convention”). The NT Emergency Response Act provides an opportunity for the Racial Discrimination Convention’s enforcement body, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (“CERD”), to extend its application of the specialized guidelines for indigenous peoples beyond the …

Making Good On The Promise Of International Law: The Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities And Inclusive Education In China And India, Vanessa Torres Hernandez

Washington International Law Journal

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities conceptualizes disability as a human rights issue and requires state parties to provide an inclusive education to all children with disabilities. However, China and India, the two most populous signatory countries, do not currently provide inclusive education—described by the Convention as nondiscriminatory access to general education, reasonable accommodation of disability, and individualized supports designed to fulfill the potential of individual children with disabilities. Though both India and China have laws that encourage the education of children with disabilities, neither country’s laws mandate inclusive education and neither country currently provides universal education …

Granting Permanent Resident Aliens The Right To Vote In Local Government: The New Komeitō Continues To Promote Alien Suffrage In Japan, Miles E. Hawks

Washington International Law Journal

Throughout the world, the dominant suffrage model has been voting rights based on citizenship. However, the trend of globalization, the increase of cross-border migration, and the advent of supranational institutions such as the European Union have prompted many countries to reconsider the relationship between nationality and voting rights. This has resulted in a growing trend, beginning in Europe and spreading most recently to South Korea, of adopting a notion of suffrage based on residency and community rather than citizenship. Japan is currently considering legislation, known as the “Local Suffrage Bill,” which would allow permanent resident aliens (“PRAs”) to vote in …

The Representative Power Of The Shareholders' General Meeting Under Chinese Law, Charles Zhen Qu

Washington International Law Journal

Under China’s company law regime, the power to represent the company resides not in the board of directors but in an individual person called a legal representative (fading daibiaoren) who is a senior officer of the company. The mechanism of legal representative, however, is often rendered ineffective as it is inherently susceptible to abuse. The mechanism becomes dysfunctional when the legal representative is unavailable. The legal representative’s unavailability, especially when the board of directors is also ineffective, raises the question of whether the general meeting has the power to control corporate actions. To answer this question, this Article considers the …

Picking Up On What's Going Underground: Australia Should Exempt Carbon Capture And Geo-Sequestration From Part Iiia Of The Trade Practices Act, Adam M. Andrews

Washington International Law Journal

Australia has identified carbon capture and geo-sequestration (“CCS”) as a partial solution to the problem of global warming. CCS involves capturing carbon dioxide from large point-source emitters, such as power plants, and injecting it deep below ground level for disposal. Australia has not yet enacted CCS-specific regulations. As it stands now, Australia’s third-party access law, Part IIIA of the Trade Practices Act, creates regulatory uncertainty for CCS infrastructure projects and will deter investment in the industry. This regulatory uncertainty results from the ambiguous criteria used to determine whether a piece of infrastructure is appropriate for third-party access. Legislators could address …

Geographical Indications In China: Why Protect Gis With Both Trademark And Oac-Type Legislation?, Bradley M. Bashaw

Washington International Law Journal

Geographical indications identify the place of origin of a good and signify a distinctive quality, reputation, or other characteristic of the good that is essentially attributable to that geographic source. Besides serving as source-identifiers and guarantees of quality, they are valuable business interests. Consequently, World Trade Organization members are required to afford them protection under the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. Signatories are free to choose the legal means by which they comply with TRIPS. While a few states rely solely on unfair competition law to meet their obligations, most primarily rely on either trademark law …

Money For Nothing, Your Crisis For Free?: A Comparative Analysis Of Consumer Credit Policies For Post-1997 South Korea And Thailand, Jasper Kim, Kemavit Bhangananda

Washington International Law Journal

Both the South Korean and Thai governments encouraged consumer credit card usage to boost consumer spending and reinvigorate the national economy following the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Today, almost a decade following the crisis, the authors provide a comparative analysis of how policymakers in both South Korea and Thailand have attempted to regulate the rapid upsurge in consumer credit card debt in their respective economies. This Article also notes some of the benefits and risks of the approaches taken by the South Korean and Thai governments, using as focal points the South Korean government’s Individual Debtor Rehabilitation Act, a personal …

Toward A Legislative Solution To The Growing Hiv/Aids Epidemic In Russia: A Case For Expanded Health Privacy, Carrie C. Gage

Washington International Law Journal

The Russian Federation faces one of the fastest growing rates of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (“HIV”) infection in the world. In 1995, Russia adopted comprehensive legislation addressing HIV and the disease caused by this virus, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (“AIDS”). The legislation prohibited discrimination based on HIV infection and provided access to medical care for people living with HIV/AIDS. Having recognized that Injecting Drug Users involved in sex work will likely act as a bridge to the general population, the Russian government has recently taken greater steps to curb transmission. Russia has moved to decriminalize the distribution of hypodermic needles for …

Sociolegal Islands?, Daniel H. Foote

Articles

In 1992, in an address at the American Society of Comparative Law annual meeting, Professor Mary Ann Glendon of Harvard Law School bemoaned the state of comparative legal studies in the United States. Many scholars specialized in comparative law, she observed. But at Harvard and other law schools, they were like islands; they conducted research and teaching largely in isolation, having little contact with the core curriculum or other faculty. From the many nods of agreement. it was evident she had voiced a common concern.

Primarily due to increased globalization, the situation has changed. At many law schools comparative perspectives …

Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court: Managing Constitutional Conflict In An Authoritarian, Aspirationally Islamic State, Clark B. Lombardi

Articles

No abstract provided.

Tipping The Scale To Bring A Balanced Approach: Evidence Disclosure In Chinese International Arbitration, Bryant Yuan Fu Yang, Diane Chen Dai

Washington International Law Journal

Due to the ever-increasing trade between China and the rest of the world, commercial disputes have risen dramatically. Many foreign companies choose to resolve these disputes through arbitration to circumvent the Chinese courts and to retain more autonomy and control. Arbitration itself can also be a problem because rules and laws differ, depending on the jurisdiction and the institution involved. Under China’s civil law tradition, arbitrators are restricted in their ability to force parties to disclose evidence that may be detrimental to their case. Additionally, arbitrators have no authority to obtain evidence from uncooperative third parties. This Article seeks to …

Reconciliation In The Wake Of Tragedy: Cambodia's Extraordinary Chambers Undermines The Cambodian Constitutiton, Tessa V. Capeloto

Washington International Law Journal

Between 1975 and 1979, the Khmer Rouge regime was responsible for approximately 1.7 million deaths caused by deportation, starvation, murder, and torture. In 2001, Cambodia established the Extraordinary Chambers, an internationalized domestic tribunal, or “hybrid court,” to prosecute the perpetrators most responsible for these atrocities. As the Cambodian government’s primary legal response to the Khmer Rouge, the tribunal conflicts with the requirements of Article 52 of the Cambodian Constitution, an article that requires a policy of national reconciliation to ensure national unity. Cultural conceptions of national reconciliation coupled with the legislative history and purpose of the constitution strongly suggest that …

Litigating Labor Rights Across A Demilitarized Zone: The South Korean Constitutional Court As A Forum To Address Labor Violations In North Korea's Kaesong Special Economic Zone, Lavanga V. Wijekoon

Washington International Law Journal

South Korea heralds North Korea’s Kaesong Special Economic Zone as a shining example of inter-Korean cooperation. South Korean corporations at Kaesong combine South Korean expertise with North Korean labor. However, Kaesong operations violate the North Korean workers’ labor rights. This Comment explores the legal mechanisms available in South Korea to hold violative South Korean Kaesong corporations accountable. The South Korean Constitutional Court should entertain a constitutional petition from the North Korean workers. Such petition will compel the South Korean government to recognize the North Korean workers’ rights under the South Korean Constitution and hold violative South Korean corporations at Kaesong …

Vietnam's Decree On Microfinance: A Flawed Attempt To Create An Enabling Legal Environment For Microfinance, Elin M. King

Washington International Law Journal

Despite its increasing as a development tool microfinance still faces significant barriers in reaching the poorest of the poor. Microfinance programs often respond well to short-term needs but are not designed to handle the long-term struggles faced by lending institutions. To resolve these problems, many in the microfinance field have begun to tout the concept of creating “enabling” legal and regulatory frameworks. Such an enabling environment would ideally eliminate unreasonable barriers to entry into the field, encourage innovation, and reinforce industry best practices. An enabling regulatory scheme could also increase legal certainty, encourage more investors to enter the field and …

Women's Land Rights In Rural China: Transforming Existing Laws Into A Source Of Property Rights, H. Ray Liaw

Washington International Law Journal

In the aftermath of legal reforms designed to secure land tenure for farmers, women in rural China lost rights to land at marriage, divorce, and widowhood. Despite a central legal framework that facially protects women’s property interests, ambiguity in the property and marriage laws have allowed village leaders to reassert traditional social norms and deny constitutional equal rights guarantees for women. Recent attempts to ameliorate landlessness for women, specifically in the Rural Contract Law and the Property Law, offer little promise of providing a significant solution for rural women. New proposals to mitigate rural women’s loss of land rights must …

A Condom Versus The Philippine Aids Prevention And Control Act Of 1998: Which Has Holes Leaving Filipinos Unprotected?, David M. Iseminger

Washington International Law Journal

In 1998, the Philippine legislature passed pioneering HIV/AIDS legislation in Southeast Asia called the AIDS Prevention and Control Act (“APCA” or “Act”). This comprehensive legislation sought, in part, to ensure access to health care information and to stop the spread of diseases like HIV/AIDS. Regulations were promulgated by the Philippine National AIDS Council in 1999 to implement the Act. APCA effectively addresses several important HIV/AIDS issues, including prohibiting discrimination and mandatory HIV testing, while ensuring access to basic health care. However, both the regulations and the Act fail to ensure that all scientifically accurate information regarding HIV/AIDS prevention reaches Filipinos. …

Bortz V. Suzuki, Judgment Of October 12, 1999, Hamamatsu Branch, Shizuoka District Court, Timothy Webster

Washington International Law Journal

The Bortz case links a series of truly comparative moments. In the first, the unsuspecting foreigner crosses into another culture’s blind spot, and emerges a very different person. Ana Bortz was shopping for a necklace in a Japanese jewelry store when the owner asked her where she was from. A westerner in Japan, Bortz likely thought little of the question, having answered it many times. She answered first in Japanese, and then in English, “from Brazil.” Neither response pleased the storeowner. Foreigners, or perhaps just Brazilians, were not allowed in the store. Their ensuing argument revealed other comparative moments. Enraged …

The Nireco Poison Pill: The Impact Of A Court Injunction, Toshihiko Shimizu, Toshihiro Igi, Christopher J. Kodama

Washington International Law Journal

The emergence of a market for corporate control in Japan is a phenomenon that many commentators on Japan’s business and legal environs had been anticipating since the turn of the new millennium. A gradual decline in corporate crossshareholding and stable shareholding by financial institutions along with a concomitant increase in foreign and individual shareholders, a significant number of inefficient firms still being affected by Japan’s prolonged recession until recent years and trading at prices below their market value, and Commercial Code revisions making the legal environment more conducive to merger and acquisition activity and providing for more flexible restructuring mechanisms, …

The Applicability Of The Consumer Protection Law In Medical Malpractice Disputes In Taiwan, Ya-Ling Wu

Washington International Law Journal

The issue of whether or not no-fault liability under the Consumer Protection Law (“CPL”) applies in medical malpractice disputes has been a contentious battle in Taiwan. In Bo-Li Li v. Mackay Memorial Hospital, the Taipei District Court interpreted medical care as “services” under Article 7 of the CPL. Under this interpretation, patient services must meet “reasonably expected safety standards,” while health care providers are subject to no-fault liability. This interpretation was strenuously opposed by the medical profession and invoked much debate over its validity in the legal field. After the Bo-Li case, the lower courts expressed different views on …

Intellectual Property Rights And The Public Sector: Why Compulsory Licensing Of Protected Technologies Critical For Food Security Might Just Work In China, Gregory C. Ellis

Washington International Law Journal

The majority of people in the developed world have the luxury of never having to address food shortages and malnutrition. In developing countries, however, ensuring food security presents greater challenges. Agricultural biotechnology has the potential to alleviate many of the food crises occurring in developing countries. Unlike private sector corporations, public sector entities are creating genetically modified (“GM”) crops to ensure food security. However, the intellectual property rights (“IPRs”) to the many technologies required to create a single GM crop are often fragmented across the private and public sectors. Fragmentation of IPRs creates a “patent thicket” that increases the challenges …

No Refills: The Intellectual Property High Court Decision In Canon V. Recycle Assist Will Negatively Impact The Printer Ink Cartridge Recycling Industry In Japan, Scott M. Tobias

Washington International Law Journal

In its decision in Canon v. Recycle Assist, the Japanese Intellectual Property High Court held that Recycle Assist had infringed on Canon’s patent for a printer ink cartridge by importing used Canon cartridges that had been cleaned and refilled with ink by a third party. The court found that the third party had modified essential elements of Canon’s patented ink cartridge, and therefore the modifications constituted not permissible repair, but infringing and impermissible remanufacture. The court defined essential elements as those intended to solve the technical problems present in similar, prior inventions. Unfortunately, the court failed to define clearly …

Extending The Reach Of The Chinese Labor Law: How Does The Supreme People's Court's 2006 Interpretation Transform Labor Dispute Resolution, Jill E. Monnin

Washington International Law Journal

Chinese workers are taking advantage of the dispute resolution tools that legal reform has provided in the past decade, including mediation, arbitration, and litigation. Despite a history of resolving disputes through informal mediation, more and more workers are relying on the new pathways of arbitration and civil suits in local courts. The 1993 Regulations on the Resolution of Enterprise Labor Disputes and the 1994 Labor Law facilitated workers’ access to formal legal forums. Then, in 2006, a Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) interpretation made a number of important changes to the application of the Labor Law and workers’ access to dispute …