Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

Protection Of Famous Trademarks In Japan And The United States, Kenneth L. Port

Faculty Scholarship

The concepts of trademark jurisprudence in Japan and the United States differ drastically. This difference is apparent in many aspects of trademark protection in both countries and is most evident in the treatment of famous marks. Although Japan and the United States share elements of trademark law that cause some observers to claim that Japan is legally the fifty-first State, the conceptual differences at the foundation of trademark law in each country are so significant that such a claim seems inaccurate and misleading.

The Fallacy Of Neutrality: Diary Of An Election Observer, Jeanne M. Woods

Michigan Journal of International Law

Neutrality is one of many conceptual fictions of liberal discourse. A legal fiction is "contrived by the law" to facilitate adjudication of issues. Such fictions may serve as symbols, to make abstract concepts tangible or, they may be myths designed to promote some normative principle or goal. The problem arises when these fictions cease to be recognized as inventions, or as "presumptions about reality," and are believed to have an independent existence in reality. Then, they "purport to provide us with an objective and impersonal criterion, but they do not." According to the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, a fiction is "a …

Language Of Lullabies: The Russification And De-Russification Of The Baltic States, Sonia Bychkov Green

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article argues that the laws for promotion of the national languages are a legitimate means for the Baltic states to establish their cultural independence from Russia and the former Soviet Union.

Capital Punishment In Jewish Law And Its Application To The American Legal System: A Conceptual Overview, Samuel J. Levine

Scholarly Works

In recent years, a growing body of scholarship has developed in the United States that applies concepts in Jewish law to unsettled, controversial, and challenging areas of American legal thought. One area of Jewish legal thought that has found prominence in both American court opinions and American legal scholarship concerns the approach taken by Jewish law to capital punishment. In this Essay, Levine discusses the issue of the death penalty in Jewish law as it relates to the question of the death penalty in American law, a discussion that requires the rejection of simplistic conclusions and the confrontation of the …

Don't Ride Buses In Honduras, David R. Barnhizer

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The first indication my trip to Honduras might be eventful came when our airplane divebombed the mountain-top runway in a landing that left the passengers looking at each other with relief. We stumbled from the American Airlines flights to the customs windows. That was just the beginning of a fascinating week.

Law And Religion In Israel And Iran: How The Integration Of Secular And Spiritual Laws Affects Human Rights And The Potential For Violence, S. I. Strong

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part I of this article provides a brief sketch of the principles of the two majority religions at issue in this discussion and an overview of the history of both Israel and Iran. It explains why each nation has chosen to structure itself as it has and why the imposition of U.S.-style secularism would be an inappropriate method of dealing with the religio-legal conflict in the two societies. Part II compares the fundamental or constitutional laws of the two nations by analyzing the provisions, policies, and practices most influenced by religion. After identifying and analyzing the laws themselves in Part …

Jewish Legal Theory And American Constitutional Theory: Some Comparisons And Contrasts, Samuel J. Levine

Scholarly Works

In this article, Levine explores some of the ways in which Jewish law may shed light on issues in American constitutional theory. While acknowledging that there are fundamental differences between a religious legal system and a secular one, he attempts to show that certain conceptual similarities between American law and Jewish law allow for meaningful yet cautious comparison of the two systems. Part I provides a broad historical and analytical overview of interpretation in Jewish law. Part II of the Article offers a specific conceptual framework for comparing Jewish law with American law. Levine considers questions of flexibility in legal …

Nafta: The Effect Of The Motor Carrier Provisions On The Future Of The Agreement, Pamela C. Schmidt

UC Law SF International Law Review

The motor carrier provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) provide for gradual implementation that will eventually allow Mexican trucks unfettered access to the U.S. highways. The first phase of the motor carrier provisions were scheduled to go into effect on December 18, 1995. The unilateral delay of the provisions by the Clinton administration has resulted in controversy both in the United States and Mexico. Although the motor carrier provisions are just a small part of NAFTA, they have the ability to undermine the entire Agreement.

This Note will examine the advantages and disadvantages of implementing the NAFTA …

In Tribute, Mary Kay Kane

UC Law SF International Law Review

No abstract provided.

In Tribute, H. G. Prince

UC Law SF International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Equality In The Global Society, Clark D. Cunningham

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

Restitution Regimes In Post-Communist Eastern Europe: A Legal Analysis, Sophia Von Rundstedt

LLM Theses and Essays

When the Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe collapsed at the end of the last decade, the opposition, which had been united in their goal to defeat Communism, quickly disintegrated into a variety of factions. One of their tasks was to decide on enacting a constitution, in order to stabilize and entrench the new democratic institutions. Apart from establishing the legal framework for democracy, politicians had to develop strategies to convert the state-run economy into a free-market economy. Such a transition required as a first step the privatization of state property. Legal reform of property rights raises the question: …

Exclusivity And The Japanese Bar: Ethics Or Self-Interest?, David Hood

Washington International Law Journal

The Japanese bar maintains that ethical considerations mandate a low admission rate. However, the bar's limit on the number of lawyers in Japan has socioeconomic effects that extend beyond the legal profession. Also, because there are too few Japanese lawyers, "quasi-lawyer" legal substitutes have emerged to satisfy pent-up demand for legal services. This comment suggests that the Japanese bar should expand its membership in order to address the shortage of legal services in Japan. An expanded bar could also address many of Japan's hidden socioeconomic ills.

Corruption And Organized Crime: Lessons From History, Margaret E. Beare

Articles & Book Chapters

The intention of this paper is to serve in part as a warning to the international community concerned about corruption, to keep the focus based on the critical analysis of empirically verifiable information. In ways similar to how theorists spoke about organized crime in the 1960's and 1970's, articles today attempt to refer to corruption as if there were one agreed upon definition. However, like the concept “organized crime”, the term “corruption” involves diverse processes which have different meanings within different societies. Corruption (or a focus on corruption), may be the means toward very diverse ends and each may have …

Unilateralism As A Defense Mechanism: An Overview Of The Iran And Libyan Sanctions Act Of 1996, Marc C. Hebert

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Comparing United States And New Zealand Legal Education: Are U.S. Law Schools Too Good?, Gregory S. Crespi

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This Article offers a comparison of the legal education systems of the United States and New Zealand. While it was originally published in 1997 in the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, and has been largely overlooked in more recent years, it is germane to the current vigorous debate regarding what changes need to be made in American legal education. I highlight in this Article several significant differences between these two systems by contrasting their admissions policies, clinical programs, availability of "law-and-economics" electives, and staffing of required courses. Based on this analysis, I concluded that although American law schools were clearly …

Affirmative Action In Question: A Coherent Theory For Section 15(2), Mark A. Drumbl, John D.R. Craig

Scholarly Articles

Affirmative action programs are constitutionally protected in Canada under section 15(2) of the Charter. This section has received little judicial interpretation and, consequently, no coherent approach to the interpretation of section 15(2) has been developed. Furthermore, there is an urgent need to define the meaning of section 15(2), as affirmative action programs can be used to perpetuate stereotypes and discrimination while being given a blanket endorsement through section 15(2). The authors suggest that section 15(2) does not merely promote substantive equality, as this is the function of section 15(1), but embodies the social justice conception of equality, which allocates social …

Human Dignity, Privacy, And Personality In German And American Constitutional Law, Edward J. Eberle

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Undue Influence And Gender Stereotypes: Legal Doctrine Or Indoctrination?, Veena K. Murthy

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note argues that the undue influence doctrine in will contests disproportionately affects female testators, reflecting and reinforcing gender stereotypes. Courts are more likely to invalidate wills of female testators, undermining their testamentary freedom, while male testators are often treated as autonomous decision-makers. This disparity stems from societal gender norms that portray women as vulnerable and men as independent.

Translating & Interpreting Foreign Statutes, Andrew N. Adler

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article aspires to address academics and anyone who must translate or interpret foreign statutes without previous in-depth education in the alien language and law. To make matters more interesting, the author concentrates on the plight of the minority of judges who want to arrive at independently reasoned interpretations of foreign law when given the opportunity. Most judges strive mightily to avoid even having to glance at foreign laws. And, when it becomes absolutely necessary to read a foreign code, most judges and litigators retain the centuries-old habit of relying too slavishly on tendentious expert testimony. Furthermore, while most states …

Securities Market And Securities Regulations In China, Fengxia Dai

LLM Theses and Essays

China is a large developing country with a socialist ideology that is currently undergoing a period of reform and transformation. In December 1990, China opened its first national securities market - the Shanghai Securities Exchange. This was soon followed in November 1991 by the first special shares denominated in foreign currencies and sold only to overseas investors. These important steps in the development of China’s securities industry indicate commitment by Chinese authorities to the two key components of the nation’s economic reform program - economic systemic reform, and opening to the outside world. China’s securities market and securities regulations contain …

Are Tuna And Dolphins The Same? A Rule Of Reason Approach To Resolve The Trade And Environment Conflict, Anantha K. Paruthipattu

LLM Theses and Essays

Trade and environment are both primary values in an ecologically and economically interdependent world; unleashing trade without regard to environmental impact is as detrimental as guarding the environment at the expense of trade and development. Tuna and dolphins have come to symbolize the policy struggle between trade and environment. In early 1990, the United States banned the import of tuna from Mexico and other countries that were fishing in a manner that damaged dolphins in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean. Mexico challenged this ban before a GATT Panel, which ruled against the United States and held that the tuna ban …

Reorganization A Comparative Study Of Reorganization In Denmark And In The United States, Poul Jagd Mogensen

LLM Theses and Essays

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze and discuss a list of specific problems in the current Danish system and in this analysis to examine how these problems are dealt with under the United States laws on reorganization. The thesis consists of five parts in addition to this Introduction. Part II is an introduction to the laws on reorganization in Denmark and in the United States. Part II also includes a brief introduction to out-of-court workouts as an alternative to reorganization under the bankruptcy laws. Part III provides statistical information on the number of reorganizations, the outcome of reorganizations, …

Recent Development, Public Housing In Singapore: The Use Of Ends-Based Reasoning In The Quest For A Workable System, Aya Gruber

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Tragedy Of Hong Kong, Richard Klein

Scholarly Works

While the world watched the fireworks and celebrations occurring in Hong Kong on July 1, 1997, a far sadder event was, in fact, unfolding. The people of Hong Kong, most of whom had originally fled from China -- the country which was now taking over -- have simply never experienced the basic human right of self-determination. Rule was shifting from a colonial power which had denied the people of Hong Kong their basic human rights for virtually all of its 155-year administration, to a country which, immediately upon assuming sovereignty, made it clear that democracy would remain but a dream.

Constitutional Law, Common Market Law, And The European Human Rights Convention, Elisabeth Zoller

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Violence Against Aboriginal Women In Australia: Possibilities For Redress Within The International Human Rights Framework, Penelope Andrews

Articles & Chapters

This Article addresses the issue of violence against Aboriginal women. Part I concerns the historical violenceagainst Aboriginal people generally, and Part II concerns violence against Aboriginal women in particular. Part III considers how the priorities and perspectives of Aboriginal women and non-Aboriginal women differ insignificant ways despite their congruence in others. In particular, the Article evaluates the awkward relationship between Aboriginal women and the largely white feminist movement in Australia as a consequence of these different priorities and perspectives, and suggests how political victories for white or non-Aboriginal women could be translated into gains for Aboriginal women. The fourth part …

Comparative Law And Comparative Literature: A Project In Progress, Mitchel De S.-O.-L'E. Lasser

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Recent Legislation: Constitutional Law – Congress Imposes New Restrictions On Use Of Funds By The Legal Services Corporation – Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions And Appropriations Act Of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321, Benjamin L. Liebman

Faculty Scholarship

Fierce political battles have raged about the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) for much of its twenty-three year history. Critics have attacked LSC for pursuing a "radical agenda" and for "engaging in dubious litigation that is of no real benefit to poor people," while supporters have termed LSC "the one program in the entire war on poverty that made a difference" and have decried the "campaign to deny the right of legal representation to the poor." Last year, in the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996 (OCRAA), Congress reduced LSC funding by thirty percent – to $278 million in …

Square Wheels: U.S. Pass-Through Taxation Of Privately Held Enterprises In A Comparative Law Context, Ann F. Thomas

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.