Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

Abduction From The Seraglio: Feminist Methodologies And The Logic Of Imagination, Jeanne L. Schroeder

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The article critiques the "different voice" theory in feminist jurisprudence, arguing that it risks reinforcing gender stereotypes and lacks a normative framework to challenge dominant masculinist perspectives. It also examines MacKinnon's contributions to feminist legal theory, highlighting both her strengths, such as her recognition of the need for a comprehensive alternative to masculinist theories, and her limitations, particularly her failure to develop a robust methodology for hypothesis verification. The article emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between hypothesis formation and proof in jurisprudence and advocates for a more nuanced approach to gender jurisprudence that avoids essentialism and integrates psychological insights without …

Confessions And The Right To Silence In Japan, Daniel H. Foote

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In several highly-publicized recent cases in Japan, individuals convicted of murder and sentenced to death were acquitted in retrials obtained after decades on death row. These so-called "death penalty retrial cases'" generated great controversy and considerable reflection about the criminal justice system in Japan. A central, substantive issue presented by these cases relates to the procurement and use of confessions; each of these cases-and several other major recent Japanese cases in which defendants have been acquitted following bitterly contested trials-turned on the validity of repudiated confessions.

Consequently, much recent commentary has focussed on conf essions and related issues. Not surprisingly, …

Nōryoku Shōgai Wo Motsu Amerikajin Ni Kansuru Hōritsu (Ada) To Amerikahō Ni Okeru Sabetsu No Gainen [The Americans With Disabilities Act And Concepts Of Discrimination In U.S. Law], Daniel H. Foote

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Paradoxical as it may seem, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (hereinafter, "ADA"), which deals with employment of the disabled, at one and_ the same time represents only a gradual advance over existing law and a pathbreaking new statute with far-reaching implications. On the one hand, the ADA merely builds on the foundations laid in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, with the key provisions of the ADA closely parallelling approaches taken in the Rehabilitation Act and regulations implementing it. On the other hand, the ADA vastly expands the coverage of the Rehabilitation Act, thereby establishing that integration of …

Of Outlaws, Christians, Horsemeat, And Writing: Uniform Laws And Saga Iceland, William I. Miller

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Our word law is a loanword from Old Norse.1 It makes its earliest appearances in Old English manuscripts in the late tenth century. At that time the Old English word for law was, believe it or not, æ, written as a digraph called "ash." Now most readers, myself included, tend to experience anxiety when we confront a ligatured vowel like ae and so we untie it as a prelude to getting rid of it altogether: we turn an aesthete2 into an aesthete before finally humiliating him (or her) as an esthete, all to resolve our nervousness. King Æthelred the Unready …

The Substantial Identity Rule Under The Japanese Novelty Standard, Toshiko Takenaka

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This article compares the novelty standard under Japanese patent law with the novelty standard under American patent law. This article first explains the structure of the novelty and inventive step provisions under Japanese patent law and examines the interpretation and basic legal theories of these provisions. The inventive step standard developed out of the novelty standard. Thus, to understand the inventive step standard, it is necessary to understand the novelty standard.

Next, this article discusses the unique features of the Japanese novelty standard. The strict novelty requirements of the patent laws of the United States and European countries are contrasted …

Brazil's New Constitution: An Exercise In Transient Constitutionalism For A Transitional Society, Keith S. Rosenn

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No abstract provided.

Reaction To Terrorism: A Jewish Law Caveat, J. David Bleich

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No abstract provided.

Diagnosis Of The Current Code Of Criminal Procedure, Daniel H. Foote

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Approximately 35 years have passed since the current Code of Criminal Procedure went into effect, and today the manner in which that Code is interpreted and applied appears nearly stable. In truth, for most of the provisions and systems under the current Code about which there had been many questions of interpretation and application (e.g., interpretation of the provisions concerning hearsay evidence, discovery, exclusion of illegally-obtained evidence, and abuse of the authority to prosecute), some sort of conclusion (ichid no ketsuron) has been reached. In that sense, matters have "stabilized." However, in my view much more deep-seated problems remain unresolved. …

Summary Of Tokugawa Criminal Justice, Daniel H. Foote

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The summary set forth below is derived principally from the late Professor Yoshiro Hiramatsu's-comprehensive study of Tokugawa criminal justice. Hiramatsu's work focusses on the period from the promulgation of the Osadamegaki by the Shogun Yoshimune in 1742 through the end of the Tokugawa era in 1867. (As described by Professor Dan F. Henderson, Conciliation and Japanese Law, Tokugawa and Modern (1965), Vol. 1, at 7, fn. 26, the Osadamegaki, which consisted of two books, constituted "a compilation and rough codification of prior decrees and precedents", and "was the only such official attempt to systematize the law in the Tokugawa period." …

General Principles Of Civil Law Of The People's Republic Of China (Translation), Whitmore Gray, Henry R. Zheng

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(Adopted April 12, 1986, at the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People's Congress, to take effect on January 1, 1987)

Opinion Of The Supreme People's Court On Questions Concerning The Implementation Of The General Principles Of Civil Law Of The People's Republic Of China (Translation), Whitmore Gray, Henry R. Zheng

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The General Principles of Civil Law of the People's Republic of China ("General Principles") came into force on January 1, 1987. We now issue the following Opinion concerning issues encountered when implementing the General Principles

Freedom Of Expression In A Pluralistic Society, James W. Nickel

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No abstract provided.

Irregular' Asylum Seekers: What's All The Fuss?, James C. Hathaway

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In 1985, the Executive Committee of UNHCR noted its concern about "the growing phenomenon of refugees and asylum-seekers who, having found protection in one country, move in an irregular manner to another country..." (Conclusion No. 36, para. j). At first glance, one might not view this conclusion as objectionable. With all of the millions of refugees in the world, most of who have no protection, why should we be concerned about the lot of a bunch of ingrates who, having already found protection, now want to move on in search of greener pastures? Don't we really have better things to …

Beating Up On Women And Old Men And Other Enormities: A Social Historical Inquiry Into Literary Sources, William I. Miller

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The Icelandic sagas, besides being one of the most impressive literatures existing in any language, preserve detailed accounts of feud and legal action, and describe with intelligence and care the general techniques and strategies of dispute processing. They also contain, incidental to the narrative, information about values and law, marriage and death, householding arrangements and the systems of exchange, naming patterns, and so on, for those who care to coax such information from the texts.

Ordeal In Iceland, William I. Miller

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Ordeal holds a strange fascination with us. It appalls and intrigues. We marvel at the mentality of those cultures that officialize it; we feel a sense of horror as we imagine ourselves intimately involved with boiling water or glowing irons. And we don't feel up to it. So our terror and cowardice becomes their brutality and irrationality. I am not about to urge to reinstitution of ordeals, although most practicing lawyers will tell you that that is still what going to law is, a crapshoot they say. What I want to do is call attention to the difficulty of not …

Performer's Rights And Digital Sampling Under U.S. And Japanese Law, Jessica D. Litman

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A year or two ago, one of my copyright students called to my attention a problem that seemed to him to pose unique difficulties for the copyright statute. The problem arises because of a technology called digital sampling.' Digital sampling is a new threat to performers' rights that has grown out of the combination of digital recording technology with music synthesizer technology. This threat is a very recent one. Indeed, the digital sampling problem is so new that copyright lawyers haven't yet figured out how to think about it.

Some Aspects Of Householding In The Medieval Icelandic Commonwealth, William I. Miller

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There has been much, mostly inconclusive, discussion about how to define the household in a manner suitable for comparative purposes. Certain conventional criteria are not very useful in the Icelandic context, where it appears that a person could be attached to more than one household, where the laws suggest it was possible for more than one household to be resident in the same uncompartmentalised farmhouse; and where headship might often be shared. Definitions, for example, based on co residence or on commensalism do not jibe all that well with the pastoral transhumance practised by the Icelanders. Sheep were tended and …

The Humane And Just Alternative For Canada, James C. Hathaway

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The essence of C-55 ignores the admonition of the Standing Committee that we must be "knowledgeable and sensitive to human rights issues rather than immigration issues. The determination decision is not an immigration matter but instead a decision as to who are Convention refugees in need of Canada's protection." In stark contrast, immigration authorities have spoken of the importance of refugee law reform as a means of "enabling us to continue our strategy of controlled growth in immigration to Canada." By speaking of refugees in the same breath as immigration policy, the department has effectively confused the privilege of immigration …

The American Advantage: The Value Of Inefficient Litigation, Samuel R. Gross

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In a recent article, The German Advantage in Civil Procedure,1 Professor John Langbein claims that the German system of civil litigation is superior to the American; in an earlier article he makes a parallel claim about German criminal procedure.2 Roughly, Professor Langbein argues that by comparison to the German process, American litigation is overly complex, expensive, slow, and unpredictable - in short, inefficient.3 Professor Langbein is not the first and will not be the last to criticize American legal institutions in these terms, but he expresses this criticism particularly well: he is concise and concrete, he describes American practice by …

Corruption In Mexico: Implications For U.S. Foreign Policy, Keith S. Rosenn

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No abstract provided.

Prosecutorial Discretion In Japan: A Response, Daniel H. Foote

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Marsha Goodman's Prosecutorial Discretion in Japan, with its thoroughly researched description of the manner in which that discretion is exercised-including several new case studies-is an important addition to English-language literature on the Japanese legal system and raises numerous interesting issues regarding the Japanese criminal justice system.

Goodman focuses much of her attention on the lengthy battle over the abuse of prosecutorial discretion doctrine in Japan. This discussion provides a fine example of a classic pattern of legal debate in Japan. As in this case, defense counsel familiar with an issue frequently initiate movements for change in criminal procedure standards …

The Drafting Process For Cabinet Bills, Daniel H. Foote

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I have undertaken this article in hope that it may be of some help in promoting public understanding of the actual manner of review by the Cabinet Legislation Bureau-one step in the drafting process for legislation introduced by the Cabinet-and of the diligent efforts of the r��presentatives of the various ministries with whom we regularly come into contact. It goes without saying that the views and explanations contained herein, along with any inadequacies or inaccuracies in this account, are solely the responsibility of this author.

Some Thoughts On Legal Education In Japan, Daniel H. Foote

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This piece is based upon a talk given at the Harvard Law Association of Japan meeting on December 4, 1985, by Daniel H. Foote.

Published in Japanese - English original draft provided.

Dreams, Prophecy And Sorcery: Blaming The Secret Offender In Medieval Iceland, William I. Miller

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An eminent legal historian once noted that the fundamental problem of law enforcement in primitive societies is that of the secret offender. The Icelandic legal and dispute processing systems depended on a wrongdoer publishing his deed, or at least committing it in an open and notorious manner. No state agencies existed to investigate and discover the non-publishing wrongdoer. But there were strong normative inducements to wrong openly; one's name was at stake. There was absolutely no honor in thievery, only the darkest shame; the ransmadr, on the other hand, suffered no shame for his successful raids, even if he did …

General Principles Of Civil Law Of The People's Republic Of China (Translation), Whitmore Gray, Henry R. Zheng

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(Adopted April 12, 1986, at the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People's Congress, to take effect on January 1, 1987.)'

Civil Procedure In Brazil, Keith S. Rosenn

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No abstract provided.

Gift, Sale, Payment, Raid: Case Studies In The Negotiation And Classification Of Exchange In Medieval Iceland, William I. Miller

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Near the end of Eyrbyggja saga Porir asks Ospak and his men where they had gotten the goods they were carrying. Ospak said that they had gotten them at Pambardal. "How did you come by them?" said Porir. Ospak answered, "They were not given, they were not paid to me, nor were they sold either." Ospak had earlier that evening raided the house of a farmer called Alf and made away with enough to burden four horses. And this was exactly what he told Porir when he wittily eliminated the other modes of transfer by which he could have acquired …

Compassion And Pragmatism, James C. Hathaway

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Open wide the floodgates?

Much of the initial media reaction to the recently released Plaut Report on the refugee status determination process unfortunately has given the impression that the changes proposed will in some sense give rise to "gatecrashing" by persons unwilling to comply with ordinary immigration requirements, thereby jeopardizing the ability of Canada to ensure the integrity of its borders. We are told that the adoption of the study's proposals would "encourage purported refugees to arrive here in numbers that would soon overwhelm [the proposed] procedures" (Globe and Mail editorial, June 20, 1985).

This is far from accurate.

It …

Use And Non-Use Of Contract Law In Japan, Whitmore Gray

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This article first defines the scope of enquiry, then surveys some of the existing literature, and finally, presents the results of my preliminary survey interviews and questionnaire. It is my hope that it will serve as a basis form discussion leading to better definition of the problems for research in this area, and will suggest ways to proceed to gather the information necessary for more sophisticated exposition and commentary.

Brazil's Legal Culture: The Jeito Revisited, Keith S. Rosenn

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No abstract provided.