Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

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

Michigan Law Review

Embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the evocative proposition that "[e]veryone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression." Beneath that abstraction there is anything but universal agreement. Modern democratic societies disagree on the text, content, theory, and practice of this liberty. They disagree on whether it is a privileged right or a subordinate value. They disagree on what constitutes speech and what speech is worthy of protection. They disagree on theoretical foundations, uncertain if the right is grounded in libertarian impulses, the promotion of a marketplace of ideas, or the advancement of participatory democracy. They …

Scandal, Sukyandaru, And Chouwen, Benjamin L. Liebman

Michigan Law Review

This Review proceeds in four parts. Part I describes West's account of scandal in Japan and the United States and explores some of the ramifications of his account. Part II examines the formation of scandal in contemporary China. Part III compares scandal in China with West's conclusions about scandal in Japan and the United States. Part IV discusses defamation litigation in China, with a view to adding further comparative insight to West's discussion of Japanese libel suits.

Reconstituting Japanese Law: International Norms And Domestic Litigation, Timothy Webster

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Essay proceeds in four parts. Part I situates these lawsuits in the context of Japan's growing ethnic diversity. Part II analyzes a decade of racial discrimination lawsuits in Japan, ultimately synthesizing the elements of a compensable act of racial discrimination under current Japanese law. Part III begins with a brief examination of the role of international law in Japan before turning to discussions between the Japanese government and U.N. bodies regarding the proper treatment of foreigners in Japan and the desirability of anti-discrimination laws. Part IV then discusses several failed attempts by national and local lawmakers to pass anti-discrimination …

East Asia Institutionalizes: China, Japan And The Vogue For Free Trade, Timothy Webster

Faculty Publications

In the past decade, East Asia has taken steps to increase regional integration. This paper examines the vogue for Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) currently raging in China and Japan. After mapping the regional links that knit East Asia together during the 1990s and 2000s, the focus then shifts to the specific trade agreements that China and Japan have signed. Both countries exhibit a particular FTA “style;” Japan has adopted a more orthodox and comprehensive approach to its treaties, while China has shown greater flexibility and gradualism when dealing with FTA partners. It is still unclear whether these efforts will lead …

Japanese Prefectural Scapegoats In The Constitutional Landscape: Protecting Children From Violent Video Games In The Name Of Public Welfare, Susan Minamizono

San Diego International Law Journal

Part I of this comment will examine the history and application of freedom of expression in Japanese case law and the evolution of the public welfare concept and its circumscribing effect on individual freedoms. Part II will explore the recent local regulatory efforts and the historical underpinnings for these laws that place restrictions on materials to children. Part III will compare the Japanese legislative endeavors with their American counterparts and highlight the reasons why United States laws will continue to be struck down by courts. Part IV will analyze the response of the video game industry to the onslaught of …

Bilateral Regionalism: Paradoxes Of East Asian Integration, Timothy Webster

Faculty Publications

Like many other countries, China and Japan have recently signed a spate of Free Trade Agreements with countries in the Asia Pacific. This paper analyzes both countries’ styles of integration. While China favors multidisciplinary engagement (politics, security, economics), Japan is mainly interested in deepening economic integration with the countries in which it has already established transnational production lines. After analyzing individual FTAs signed by China and Japan, the paper ends by predicting that China’s multifaceted approach will promote greater integration in the Asia Pacific, and a more robust profile for China in regional affairs.

Criminal Conspiracy Law In Japan, Chris Coulson

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part II of this Note describes CATOC's group criminality requirement. Part III outlines the provisions of several versions of Japan's conspiracy bill and compares these provisions to common-law conspiracy. Part IV analyzes Japan's conspiracy law by examining both substantive and procedural laws in Japan related to criminal conspiracy, as well as criticism within Japan of the conspiracy bills.

Beyond Litigation: Legal Education Reform In Japan And What Japan's New Lawyers Will Do, George Schumann

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Law And Culture In China And Japan: A Framework For Analysis, John O. Haley

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Comment is divided into two parts. The first sets forth a series of definitional propositions intended for a more general analysis of the interrelationships of law and culture. The second comprises an introduction to the evolution of legal institutions that enables us to understand better the reception and development of Western legal institutions in East Asia and provides context for the four articles and their individual and collective insights.

The Culture Of Legal Change: A Case Study Of Tobacco Control In Twenty-First Century Japan, Eric A. Feldman

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article argues that the interaction of international norms and local culture is a central factor in the creation and transformation of legal rules. Like Alan Watson's influential theory of legal transplants, it emphasizes that legal change is frequently a consequence of learning from other jurisdictions. And like those who have argued that rational, self-interested lawmakers responding to incentives such as reelection are the engine of legal change, this Article treats incentives as critical motivators of human behavior. But in place of the cutting-and-pasting of black-letter legal doctrine it highlights the cross-border flow of social norms, and rather than material …

Law, Norms, And Legal Change: Global And Local In China And Japan, Nicholas C. Howson, Mark D. West

Michigan Journal of International Law

The editors of the Michigan Journal of International Law have boldly brought together four articles and commentary that focus on different aspects of the same problem in China and Japan: the relationship between domestic legal change and foreign and/or "international" law and regulation, "soft" agreements, norms, or even cultural practices. The compilation is bold in part because scholarship on change in East Asian law and legal systems often suffers from one of two defects. First, it often focuses on purely domestic phenomena in only one system, ignoring the comparative connections. Second, scholars often attack the problem from an exclusively comparative …

Law, Norms, And Legal Change: Global And Local In China And Japan, Nicholas C. Howson, Mark D. West

Articles

The editors of the Michigan Journal of International Law have boldly brought together four articles and commentary that focus on different aspects of the same problem in China and Japan: the relationship between domestic legal change and foreign and/or "international" law and regulation, "soft" agreements, norms, or even cultural practices. The compilation is bold in part because scholarship on change in East Asian law and legal systems often suffers from one of two defects. First, it often focuses on purely domestic phenomena in only one system, ignoring the comparative connections. Second, scholars often attack the problem from an exclusively comparative …

Note, Sisyphus In A Coal Mine: Responses To Slave Labor In Japan And The United States, Timothy Webster

Faculty Publications

This Note argues that the recent wave of litigation brought by former Chinese slave laborers, while important in its own right, highlights the need for a more comprehensive solution. Although ideally the Japanese Diet will devise its own response to the problem of compensation, the experiences arising from the Holocaust litigation in the United States provide a meaningful yardstick for comparison. In the United States, a large-scale settlement scheme followed, and finalized, numerous lawsuits brought by former forced and slave laborers from World War II Europe. The American response, though based on different circumstances, led to a multibillion-dollar fund that …

What's Your Sign? -- International Norms, Signals, And Compliance, Charles K. Whitehead

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article proposes a new approach to understanding state compliance with international obligations, positing that increased interaction among the world's regulators has reinforced network norms, as evidenced in part by a greater reliance among states on legally nonbinding instruments. This Article also begins to fill a gap in the growing scholarship on state compliance by proposing a better framework for understanding how international norms influence senior regulators and how they affect both state decisions to comply as well as levels of compliance.

How Does Culture Count In Legal Change?: A Review With A Proposal From A Social Movement Perspective, Setsuo Miyazawa

Michigan Journal of International Law

We have in this volume four articles on legal change in China and Japan written by four distinguished authors. These articles vary with regard to subject state, specificity of issues, and breadth of analytical scope. They commonly discuss one factor, however: culture. The purpose of this Comment is to examine the way each article uses culture in its explanations of legal change. The Comment concludes with a brief suggestion, from a social movement perspective, on employing culture as an explanatory tool in a non-essentialist way.

The Next Generation: Milhaupt And West On Japanese Economic Law, Kent Anderson

Michigan Journal of International Law

Review of Economic Organizations and Corporate Governance in Japan: The Impact of Formal and Informal Rules by Curtis Milhaupt & Mark West

Global Markets And The Evolution Of Law In China And Japan, Takao Tanase

Michigan Journal of International Law

The first angle of this Article concerns the exclusivity of rights, which is the notion that a right has an exclusive boundary of ownership. The socialist system and traditional customary law in China gave only weak recognition to this concept, especially prior to China's move toward a market economy and the introduction of modern law. The second angle addresses the functionality of extralegal norms. Law reforms tend to be measured by the efficiency gains they produce, a process intensified by competition among systems. The third angle involves the ideological nature of the market-oriented development of law. The foreign enterprises and …

Signaling Conformity: Changing Norms In Japan And China, David Nelken

Michigan Journal of International Law

Whatever their differences, the articles in this issue also have much in common in addition to their regional focus. The author of this Comment shall discuss in turn three (related) theoretical issues that arise, to a greater or lesser degree, in all four contributions. The first Part of this Comment considers the insights of these articles on the need to move from discussing transplants to focusing on transnational legal processes. The second Part examines what the contributions tell us about culture, legal culture, and the so-called "norm of conformity." I shall concentrate in particular on the cultural sources of choices …

Jury Trials In Japan, Robert M. Bloom

ExpressO

The Japanese are seeking to involve their citizens in the judicial system. They are also establishing a check on the power of the judiciary. Towards these goals, they have enacted legislation to create jury trials. These remarkable ambitions envision adopting a mixed-jury system, slated to take effect in 2009. In this mixed-jury system, judges and citizens participate together in the jury deliberation.

This article first explores the differences between mixed-juries and the American jury system. It then suggests why the Japanese opted for a mixed-jury system. The article explores psychological theories surrounding collective judgment and how dominant individuals influence group …

Why "Bad" Patents Survive In The Market And How Should We Change?--The Private And Social Costs Of Patents, Jay P. Kesan

ExpressO

In this paper, we formally demonstrate that incorrectly issued patents can survive in the market without judicial review, even when the invention is neither novel nor non-obvious. We support this contention by presenting a game theoretic model that studies the interaction between the patentee and an alleged infringer/challenger. Using this model, we demonstrate the impact of the transaction costs in the patent system at the administrative stage in the Patent Office and at the enforcement stage in the courts, and highlight the inability in our current system to mount effective challenges to improperly granted patents in the current system. We …

The Japanese Issues And Perspective On The Convergence Of International Accounting Standards, Mitsuru Misawa

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Japan is negotiating diligently with the European Union and is asking for its approval of the Japanese accounting standard as an equivalent to the IFRSs. If the Japanese accounting standard fails to be recognized as an equivalent of the IFRSs, disclosure by Japanese companies based on the Japanese accounting standard currently in the European Union would not be allowed. This would severely affect the financing activities of Japanese companies seeking to raise funds in the European Union. Japanese corporations are also concerned about the possibility that Japanese accounting standards could be branded as inferior to the European or U.S. Accounting …

The Law And Culture Of The Apology In Korean Dispute Settlement (With Japan And The United States In Mind), Ilhyung Lee

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article addresses the apology in civil dispute settlement in Korea, Japan's neighbor across the East Sea, using the U.S.-Japan comparative discussion as a helpful frame of reference. Part I provides the necessary background on the meaning of the apology and the leading commentary along the U.S.-Japan axis, beginning with the work of Wagatsuma and Rosett. Culture appears in this discussion in two regards. First, a question arises as to whether the very meaning of the apology as noted in the commentary reflects the U.S. cultural orientation, or instead has universal application. Second, some argue that cultural norms explain the …

Article 9 Of The Constitution Of Japan And The Use Of Procedural And Substantive Heuristics For Consensus, Mark A. Chinen

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article’s purpose is to examine the revision debates through the lens of recent scholarship on constitutional decisionmaking to see what lessons might be drawn about constitutionalism in Japan and elsewhere. In Part I, the author discusses Article 9's text and interpretation and focus on three controversies: first, Japan's ability to use force to defend itself and the related issue of the constitutionality of the Japan Self Defense Force (SDF); second, Japan's ability to engage in collective self-defense, which impacts the state's security relationship with the United States under the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Agreement; and finally, Japan's ability to participate …

The Rise Of The Code Of Conduct In Japan: Legal Analysis And Prospect, Koji Ishikawa

ExpressO

A code of conduct is a set of rules adopted by transnational corporations (“TNCs”) to regulate mainly working conditions and the management of contract factories. TNCs adopted codes of conduct to cope with the rising criticisms from the public in late 1980s and 1990s about unfair labor practices in contract factories in Third World countries. As the globalization of the economy progressed, like American TNCs, Japanese TNCs also transferred their production bases to developing countries like China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia in search of low wage labor. The development of a code of conduct in Japan is, however, quite different …

Sovereign Immunity: Ramifications Of Altmann, Jenny Adelman

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

The Altmann family has tried for half a century to recover their valuable paintings from the Austrian government.

Are Your Click-Wrap Agreements Valid?—Internet Contracting In The Global Electronic Age: Comparative Perspectives For Taiwan, James Maxeiner

All Faculty Scholarship

Addresses the issue of standard terms in click-wrap and shrink-wrap licenses generally and in some detail how the laws of Taiwan, Germany, the European Union, the United States and Japan.

The Professional In Legal Education: Foreign Perspectives, James Maxeiner

All Faculty Scholarship

Japan is about to change its system of legal education. In April 2004 Japan will introduce law schools. Law schools are to occupy an intermediary place between the present undergraduate faculties of law and the national Legal Training and Research Institute. The law faculties are to continue to offer general undergraduate education in law, while the law schools in combination with the national Institute are to provide professional legal education. A principal goal of the change is to produce more lawyers. Law schools are charged with providing "practical education especially for fostering legal professionals." But just what is professional legal …

The Status Of Scientific Research Whaling In International Law, Nobuyuki Yagi

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

It is an honor to speak before you at this panel. The issue of whaling has been extensively debated in various international occasions for at least one quarter of the century.

Stakeholder Protection In Germany And Japan, Mark J. Loewenstein

Publications

This Essay considers the stakeholder debate in the context of the German and Japanese legal systems. Although, nominally, corporations in those countries must operate in the interests of shareholders, in fact nonshareholder constituencies have considerable influence on corporate decision makers. Of equal importance, weak securities markets and ineffective or nonexistent legal protections for shareholders are also important factors in strengthening the position of nonshareholder constituencies and freeing directors to consider their interests. Thus, the stakeholder debate is more of an issue in the United States and Britain, where more shareholder-centic models flourish.

Citizen Participation In Judicial Decision Making: Juries, Lay Judges And Japan, Richard O. Lempert

Articles

In the late 1920s and 1930s Japan had a jury system. It was suspended in 1943 as a wartime measure, but it had fallen into desuetude long before that. Arguably it was like the Spanish jury, which has several times risen during periods of relative political liberalism or populism and been suppressed during periods of militarism and autocracy. That is, it may be more than a coincidence that use of the Japanese jury fell precipitously during the 1930s as militarism took hold of the Japanese nation. Now the reinstatement of the Japanese jury is again being seriously considered. Similarly it …