Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

Treatment Injury In New Zealand, Stephen Todd

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The New Zealand accident compensation scheme makes provision for the payment of compensation to the victims of personal injury that is caused by medical treatment, but at the same time it bars actions for damages based upon such injury. This article gives a brief overview of the scheme as a whole and its relation- ship with the common law, and then focuses on the particular provisions governing medical injury. It includes discussion of the extent of the statutory cover, problems of causation, the operation of the medical scheme in practice, costs and funding, and issues of accountability. It ends with …

Discussion At Second U.S.-China Rule Of Law Dialogue, Stanley B. Lubman

Hong Yen Chang Center for Chinese Legal Studies

Professor Cheng analyzes the foundation and structure of the present configuration of Chinese legal institutions and its desirable future in a very small number of pages--- a brave and suggestive approach. (I am avoiding the term “Chinese legal system” for reasons that will be clear.) She begins by noting NPC Chairman Wu Banguo’s recent statement that China has now created “a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics” (hereafter SSLCC).

Divorce And The Best Interest Of The Child: Disputes Over Visitation And The Japanese Family Courts, Takao Tanase, Matthew J. Mccauley

Washington International Law Journal

The following is a translation of an article written by Professor Takao Tanase for the December 2009 edition of Jiyū to Seigi, a Japanese legal periodical. Divorce and familial breakdown has become a major problem in modern Japanese society, yet the law does not provide any meaningful protection for the noncustodial parent. Professor Tanase analyzes this issue from a comparative and theoretical perspective, looking at the current Japanese visitation laws in place today, while contrasting those with the system in the United States. He also looks at how those laws affect actual families, and how the courts have implemented …

Divorce And The Welfare Of The Child In Japan, Matthew J. Mccauley

Washington International Law Journal

Current Japanese legal institutions are ill-equipped to resolve the complicated issues surrounding visitation, custody, and divorce. Japanese views toward family and society have changed greatly since the post-World War II family law was enacted in the 1950s, but the law has not evolved accordingly. This is especially clear in the methods used to determine custody and visitation, as well as the kyōgi rikon, or divorce by mutual consent system. Policy makers and activists are both working to resolve this problem, but their ongoing struggle has yet to produce any tangible results. This comment argues that the Japanese legal system …

To Plea Or Not To Plea: The Benefits Of Establishing An Institutionalized Plea Bargaining System In Japan, Priyanka Prakash

Washington International Law Journal

Plea bargaining, the practice that permits the prosecution and defense to negotiate reduced charges or a lighter sentence in exchange for the defendant’s guilty plea, is a bedrock component of the criminal justice system in many nations. The Japanese legal community, however, has resisted introducing plea bargaining into Japan’s legal system. From 2001 to 2004, the Japanese legislature passed over twenty reform laws to prepare the country’s criminal justice system for the demands of the twenty-first century, but provisions for plea bargaining were conspicuously absent from the reform package. This is largely because the Japanese legal community views plea bargaining …

Development For The Past, Present, And Future: Defining And Measuring Sustainable Development, Max Cantor

Senior Honors Projects

In 1987, the United Nations released the Brundtland Report, which defined sustainable development as “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” While this definition provides a relatively stable theoretical base from which development economists and political scientists can begin to tackle issues surrounding sustainable development, the inherently amorphous nature of this definition has also created a fair amount of ambiguity in both the economic literature surrounding sustainable development and the subsequent attempts by economists to measure it.

Historically, those interested in the science of development have typically …

It’S A Mad, Mad Internet: Globalization And The Challenges Presented By Internet Censorship, Jessica E. Bauml

Federal Communications Law Journal

The advent of the Internet has brought tremendous technological advancements and growth to the world. However, it has also become a source of conflict, particularly when different countries attempt to regulate this very ubiquitous and amorphous medium. The most notable controversy has arisen in China home to the world's most advanced system of Internet censorship, which levies harsh penalties on those who violate the country's strict censorship laws. China's "Great Firewall" has raised many eyebrows and is garnishing substantial criticism in response to the human rights abuses that result from the jailing and reported torture of Chinese dissidents. Yet the …

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.

Israel's Supreme Court Appellate Jurisdiction: An Empirical Study, Theodore Eisenberg, Talia Fisher, Issi Rosen-Zvi

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This Essay reports the results of an empirical study of the Israel Supreme Court (ISC). It covers the outcomes of 3,562 cases (as of this writing), all decided in 2006 and 2007, and describes the cases by subject area, litigant-pair characteristics, and source of jurisdiction - mandatory or discretionary. In mandatory-jurisdiction cases ending with clear affirmances or reversals, the ISC affirmed lower court rulings in about 75% of district court criminal case appeals and about 67% of district court civil case appeals. In discretionary- jurisdiction cases, the ISC rarely granted review. It agreed to review about 6 % of petitions …

Handbook Of Comparative Criminal Law [Book Review], Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Imagine gathering the views of some of the leading criminal law academics from around the world – traversing 16 countries, 6 continents, and 5 different legal systems, to be precise – by way of essays designed to provide an introductory framework for almost all of the major criminal law systems in the world to be compared and contrasted. This 660-page book is supposed to be a compelling manifestation of that imagination, and indeed is touted as a first of its kind in terms of the depth and breadth in coverage.

Foreign Law As Legislative Fact In Constitutional Cases, A. Christopher Bryant

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Patent, Technology, And The Role Of University, Agus Sardjono

Indonesia Law Review

University has significant contribution to the development of nanotechnology. The role of university can be implemented through the TTLO, particularly in an effort to build a bridge for bottom-up nanotechnology for commercial purposes. There will be an increasingly significant link between the patent system and the university role in the development of nanotechnology.

Domestic Violence In The United States: A Preliminary Report Prepared For Rashida Manjoo, U.N. Special Rapporteur On Violence Against Women, Brenda V. Smith, Caroline Bettinger-Lopez, Farrah Elchahal, Miraisy Rodriguez, Monika Siwiec, Christina Brandt-Young, Kirsten Carlson, Gabrielle Davis, Margaret Drew, Rebecca Landy, Adam Dubin, Rachel Natelson, Sandra Park, Ana Romes, Jessica Rubenstein, Cynthia Soohoo, Cheryl Thomas, Sandra Jezierski, Casey R. Schultz

Research Reports & White Papers

Domestic violence is a distinctive and complex type of violence. The intimate relationship between the victim and the perpetrator is historically construed as private and therefore beyond the reach of law. The often hidden site of the violence buttresses this conceptualization. The victim is often financially dependent on her abuser, and other economic and familial factors complicate the victim’s response to abuse. Moreover, women who complain of domestic violence frequently face intimidation, retaliation, and stigmatization, and thus incidents of domestic violence are notoriously under-reported and under-prosecuted throughout the world, including the United States.

Any meaningful analysis of the nature and …

¿Viva La Data Protection? Chile As A Touchstone For The Future Of Information Privacy, Nicola Carah Menaldo

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

This article attempts to uncover a puzzle: although the traditional levers for strong privacy protection are present in Chile - a history of dictatorship, an information technology revolution, and strong trade with the European Union - its data protection laws are in fact very weak. What explains this apparent disconnect? This article challenges the conventional wisdom that Chile's weak data protection regime is the result of weak democratic institutions, collective action problems, or the prioritization of credit data protections. Instead, it argues that Chile's stunted regime results from a political culture in which privacy protections, generally, are traded off for …

Foreword – Communication And Investigation In 2011: Can Our Jury System Cope?, Brian Barker

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Introduction To Comparative Jury Systems, Nancy S. Marder

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Should Criminal Juries Give Reasons For Their Verdicts?: The Spanish Experience And The Implications Of The European Court Of Human Rights Decision In Taxquet V. Belgium, Stephen C. Thaman

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This article uses the European Court of Human Rights judgment of Taxquet v. Belgium, decided by the Grand Chamber in 2010, which held that in some cases the trial jury's failure to give reasons for its verdict of guilt could constitute a violation of the right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights, as a springboard for discussing whether or not criminal trial juries in Europe and the United States should be more accountable for their verdicts. The article explains the special jury verdicts traditionally used in Europe and the new Spanish requirement …

The French Jury At A Crossroads, Valerie P. Hans, Claire M. Germain

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Since its inception, the French jury system has generated controversy and passionate argument. The jury originated at the time of the French Revolution as a potent symbol of democratic self-governance. Alternately praised and attacked by successive governments over two centuries, the jury became entrenched in the French justice system and in the French mind. Yet, in recent years, the French jury's future has become the subject of intense political debate. This article provides an overview of historical changes to the French jury system, describing how it was transformed from an independent body of lay citizens into a mixed decisionmaking body …

Jury Trials For Violent Hate Crimes In Russia: Is Russian Justice Only For Ethnic Russians?, Nikolai Kovalev

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The article examines issues of potential anti-victim jury bias in hate crime trials of skinheads in Russia. The study is based on the analysis of court transcripts and interviews with judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and victims' lawyers who participated in four high profile criminal cases. The cases selected for analysis resulted in scandalous acquittals, which raised many questions within the Russian society as to whether lay citizens can and should adjudicate hate crimes committed against members of ethnic and racial minority groups. The results of the study have revealed that the juries in these cases did not demonstrate any bias …

Silent Lay Judges—Why Their Influence In The Community Falls Short Of Expectations, Stefan Machura

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Lay judges in Germany serving at mixed courts are ascribed an "education function," and they should communicate their experience. Data from surveys of German lay assessors are used to investigate this claim. The results are likely to apply to other countries which employ mixed courts. While many lay judges talk about their experience with their families—partly to ease their minds—they are more reluctant to tell colleagues and friends. For a start, many lay judges are no longer part of the work force because they are older in age, and therefore, have a limited number of contacts. Lay judges serving at …

Metropolitan And Town Juries: The Influence Of Social Context On Lay Participation, María Inés Bergoglio

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Lay participation in Argentinean criminal trials, even if prescribed by the 1853 Argentine Constitution, was not established in the country until 2004, when the province of Cordoba created a mixed court to deal with cases of aberrant crimes and corruption.

This article describes the initial experience with mixed courts in the metropolitan area of Great Cordoba, and in small cities of the province, to depict the impact of different social contexts on lay participation. The support for citizen participation in legal decision making, the responses to the introduction of the new mixed courts, and jury-judge agreement rates are some of …

The Canadian Criminal Jury, Regina Schuller, Neil Vidmar

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The Canadian criminal jury system has some unique characteristics. In contrast to American law, that gives precedent to free speech over fair trial, and English law, that favors fair trial over free speech, Canadian law occupies a middle ground balancing these competing values. Jury selection procedure in most trials is similar to that of England: jurors are assumed to be "impartial between the Queen and the accused" and are selected without voir dire. However, in cases involving exceptional pretrial publicity or involving accused persons from racial or ethnic minority groups, jurors are vetted by a "challenge for cause" process in …

Two Weeks At The Old Bailey: Jury Lessons From England, Nancy S. Marder

Chicago-Kent Law Review

I spent two weeks observing jury trials and interviewing judges and barristers at the Old Bailey in London. There were several jury practices at the Old Bailey that would benefit American jurors, such as providing them with a "jury bundle," and we should introduce such practices in the United States. There are other practices, such as eliminating peremptory challenges, which are worth adopting over time because there would be some initial resistance. There are many practices that the two systems share in common, such as allowing jurors to take notes, to ask questions of witnesses, and to have a written …

Japan's Quasi-Jury And Grand Jury Systems As Deliberative Agents Of Social Change: De-Colonial Strategies And Deliberative Participatory Democracy, Hiroshi Fukurai

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Direct participatory democracy touches Japan anew in its current attempt to reform and reconstruct the criminal justice system through the introduction of two tiered systems of quasi-jury (saiban-in) and grand jury (kensatsu shinsakai) institutions. Not only did the twin systems of lay deliberation help create an effective and investigative mechanism against the corporate predation and governmental abuse of power, they also allowed the prosecution of military crimes committed by U.S. Armed Forces personnel and their families stationed in Japan. My paper then examines the historical evolution of these newly established lay justice institutions, exploring the increasing adoption of lay forms …

Glass Cages In The Dock?: Presenting The Defendant To The Jury, David Tait

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The architecture of the courtroom provides insights into the philosophy of justice espoused by the community—it embodies particular perspectives about the presumption of innocence, the dignity of the person, the right to effective representation, and more generally, the right to a fair trial. The physical position of the accused in a criminal trial, the subject of this Article, varies considerably between jurisdictions, from a privileged place at the defense table to a dock isolated from other courtroom participants. The legal issues associated with the place of the accused are particularly evident when the dock is enclosed in glass. This Article …

Jury Selection And Jury Trial In Spain: Between Theory And Practice, Mar Jimeno-Bulnes

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Even though Spain has traditionally followed a civil law system, it is at present the only European country to have introduced the common law model of jury trials into its criminal proceedings through the Spanish Jury Law of 1995. Despite counterproposals for mixed courts composed of professional judges consulting with lay assessors (escabinado), the Spanish jury system is now fully functional and diligently applies its sometimes extremely complex content. The rules on jury selection mean that the selection process is tong and somewhat tedious in both theory and practice. However, theory and practice can differ in jury trials, as a …

Why Do You Persecute Me? Proving The Nexus Requirement For Asylum, Christian Cameron

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Out Of The Desert And To The Oasis: Legislation On Predatory Debt Investing, Ryan E. Avery

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Legal Process Of Cultural Genocide: Chinese Destruction Of Tibetan Culture V. U.S. Destruction Of Native American Culture, Evan Mascagni

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.