Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

The Validity Of Trade Restrictions On Artificial Intelligence Technology Under The General Agreement On Tariffs And Trade's National Security Exception, Isabelle Brundieck

American University International Law Review

This Comment argues that the U.S. restrictions on the export of semiconductors and other AI technology to China do not violate the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994). Instead, such measures are legitimate expressions under GATT 1994’s Article XXI national security exception, which allows a country to break other articles within the agreement if necessary to protect the country’s essential national security interests. Given the national security risks associated with the rise of AI technology and the likelihood that such technology will be supplied to a military enterprise, the current trade restrictions qualify for the exception. However, …

"Bricolage" As Comparative Research Method For Critical Legislative Innovation, Marie-Claire Belleau

FIU Law Review

Comparative law incentivize imagination to create new solutions to social problems intrinsically linked to different parts of the world. It consists in the analysis of multiple legal solutions revealed by research. Meanwhile, the understanding of the documentation put forward is influenced by the social, cultural, linguistic, political, and economic context where it evolved in the first place. Consequently, the interpretation of those elements leads to varying results. In response to this reality, we offer a modest comparative methodology rooted in creativity inspired by the concept of “bricolage” for the purpose of legislative innovations. In light of some descriptive examples pertaining …

Conscientious Objection And Abortion: The Italian Pseudo-Exceptionalism, C. Crea

FIU Law Review

Threats to abortion and reproductive rights are well-rooted in global discursive and strategic practices promoted by conservative and ‘pro-life’ movements and narratives. Starting from these premises, this essay will focus on abortion access in Italy and the barrier caused by conscientious objection among medical personnel, which appears indefensible in light of both international human rights regimes and philosophical-theoretical perspectives. The main questions explored here are the following: Is conscientious objection to abortion really based on Catholic moral teaching, which constitutes the conventional religious wisdom of the national societal fabric? How and to what extent are Catholic and conservative moral narratives …

"I Can't Breathe": A Comparison Of Racial Inequity And Police Brutality Observed In France And The United States, Jasmine Oesterling

Akron Law Student Publications

This paper explores the unanticipated convergence of human experiences among Black and Brown citizens of France and the United States, despite their historical and legislative differences. Investigating racial inequity and police brutality through a comparative lens, this paper highlights global connections forged by racial and ethnic minorities in their shared anti-racist struggles. Emphasizing the transformative potential of acknowledging and sharing these narratives, this paper navigates linguistic, social, and legislative dimensions, providing insights into legal standings and communal ideologies. Addressing the lasting consequences of racial bias, this paper urges a reevaluation of societal structures and legal frameworks to foster global racial …

The Need For Corporate Guardrails In U.S. Industrial Policy, Lenore Palladino

Seattle University Law Review

U.S. politicians are actively “marketcrafting”: the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act collectively mark a new moment of robust industrial policy. However, these policies are necessarily layered on top of decades of shareholder primacy in corporate governance, in which corporate and financial leaders have prioritized using corporate profits to increase the wealth of shareholders. The Administration and Congress have an opportunity to use industrial policy to encourage a broader reorientation of U.S. businesses away from extractive shareholder primacy and toward innovation and productivity. This Article examines discrete opportunities within the …

Securities Regulation And Administrative Deference In The Roberts Court, Eric C. Chaffee

Seattle University Law Review

In A History of Securities Law in the Supreme Court, A.C. Pritchard and Robert B. Thompson write, “Securities law offers an illuminating window into the Supreme Court’s administrative law jurisprudence over the last century. The securities cases provide one of the most accessible illustrations of key transitions of American law.” A main reason for this is that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a bellwether among administrative agencies, and as a result, A History of Securities Law in the Supreme Court is a history of administrative law in the Supreme Court of the United States as well.

Prosecution Of Russian Corporations For War Crimes In Ukraine, Milena Sterio, Michael J. Kelly, Federica D'Alessandra, Dmytro Koval, Lydia Korostelova

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Russian corporate assets worth billions of dollars are frozen in western capitals pursuant to a robust sanctions regime imposed in the wake of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022. While frozen, those assets accrue interest. The costs of rebuilding Ukraine after the war are estimated to exceed $400 billion. This Article offers a legal framework to seize those assets through criminal prosecution of Russian corporations that were complicit in the commission of war crimes. By adapting the practice of securing international arbitration awards, which are regularly satisfied through attachment of assets by courts in foreign jurisdictions, the authors lay …

Delegated Corporate Voting And The Deliberative Franchise, Sarah C. Haan

Seattle University Law Review

Starting in the 1930s with the earliest version of the proxy rules, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has gradually increased the proportion of “instructed” votes on the shareholder’s proxy card until, for the first time in 2022, it required a fully instructed proxy card. This evolution effectively shifted the exercise of the shareholder’s vote from the shareholders’ meeting to the vote delegation that occurs when the share-holder fills out the proxy card. The point in the electoral process when the binding voting choice is communicated is now the execution of the proxy card (assuming the shareholder completes the card …

Capitalism Stakeholderism, Christina Parajon Skinner

Seattle University Law Review

Today’s corporate governance debates are replete with discussion of how best to operationalize so-called stakeholder capitalism—that is, a version of capitalism that considers the interests of employees, communities, suppliers, and the environment alongside (if not before) a company’s shareholders. So much focus has been dedicated to the question of capitalism’s reform that few have questioned a key underlying premise of stakeholder capitalism: that is, that competitive capitalism does not serve these various constituencies and groups. This Essay presents a different view and argues that capitalism is, in fact, the ultimate form of stakeholderism. As such, the Essay urges that the …

The Esg Information System, Stavros Gadinis, Amelia Miazad

Seattle University Law Review

The mounting focus on ESG has forced internal corporate decision-making into the spotlight. Investors are eager to support companies in innovative “green” technologies and scrutinize companies’ transition plans. Activists are targeting boards whose decisions appear too timid or insufficiently explained. Consumers and employees are incorporating companies sustainability credentials in their purchasing and employment decisions. These actors are asking companies for better information, higher quality reports, and granular data. In response, companies are producing lengthy sustainability reports, adopting ambitious purpose statements, and touting their sustainability credentials. Understandably, concerns about greenwashing and accountability abound, and policymakers are preparing for action.

In this …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

The Marijuana Insurgency: Federalism And Social Reframing In Policy Reform, Matthew P. Cavedon

Seattle University Law Review

After fifty years of federal prohibition, marijuana reform efforts have won political and legal success. These victories hold lessons for anyone seeking to resist federal law without being able to directly affect it.

Victory can come from reframing an issue. For marijuana reform, social reframing—not formal legal analysis or material factors—provides the best explanation for how advocates achieved change. Their unconventional political tactics, akin to those used by insurgents in wartime, undercut federal prohibition by winning hearts and minds.

This is an analysis of the sociology of legal change. It is also the story of how ordinary Americans retook personal …

What Is In Your Tampon? Increasing Transparency In Menstrual Products, Elianna Spitzer

Seattle University Law Review

The average person who menstruates will bleed for an average of five days, every twenty-four to thirty-eight days, over several decades and could use thousands of disposable menstrual products in their lifetime. Menstrual products line retail shelves. They can be found in homes, bags, and bodies—but until 2021, manufacturers were not required to disclose the ingredients used to make these products to consumers at all. In fact, they still are not federally required to disclose menstrual product ingredients on product packaging. Instead, in recent years, changes to menstrual product labels have largely been the result of state legislation. In 2019, …

End-Of-Life Choice For People Living With Alzheimer’S Disease And Related Dementias: Comparing American And Canadian Approaches, Amy Subach

Lewis & Clark Law Review

This Note argues for an expansion of end-of-life choice for people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias in the state of Oregon, using both Canadian waiver of final consent and Supported Decision-Making models, with additional proposed safeguards to prevent coercion and missed diagnoses of treatable conditions.

Sticker Shock: The Icj, Russia, And A $300 Billion Price Tag For War, Caitlyn Quinn

American University National Security Law Brief

Ukraine has experienced unprecedented devastation since Russia launched a full scale invasion into its Eastern territory in February 2022. Thousands have been killed, and billions of dollars of infrastructure has been damaged. As a result, over the past three years, the international community has been evaluating ways to hold Russia accountable and to help rebuild Ukraine upon the cessation of the war. Billions of dollars in Russian Central Bank assets have been frozen, and multiple states have proposed seizing Russia’s frozen assets to meet these objectives. However, outright asset seizure presents genuine legal concerns about foreign sovereign immunity and may …

A Taxonomy Of Impeachment Methods Used Worldwide, Lucas Brown

Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design

Impeachment is a charge of misconduct against a government official who, if convicted, is removed from office before the term is set to end. A country can impeach any number of elected or appointed officials but is most frequently discussed in its use against the president of a particular country. This paper explores impeachment by looking at the impeachment methods used world-wide, attempting to draw a correlation between the method of impeachment used and the frequency of impeachment. The analysis shows that a correlation exists between the frequency of impeachment and the impeachment method used. It will also demonstrate how …

Alternative Routes For Military Grievance, Courtney Kintz

Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design

Once a country experiences a coup, that country is likely to experience another coup within six years and, since 1950, there have been at least 240 military coups. On average, about half of all coup attempts involve fatalities, with most resulting in governmental and civilian deaths. So, once a country experiences a coup, it is statistically likely that another coup will expose citizens to more uncertainty about their safety. For a citizen whose country has experienced a recent coup, this data is alarming as an incident of one coup starts the stopwatch for another coup occurring within a few years. …

Thirty-Five Years Of The 1988 Brazilian Constitution: Rights, Promises And Democratic Resilience, Luis Roberto Barroso, Patricia Perrone Campos Mello

Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design

This article provides a historical perspective on the moments anticipating the formation of Brazil’s 1988 Constitution, as well as a reflection on the future of Brazilian democracy. It is divided into four parts. Part I recounts the historical circumstances prior to the convening of the Constituent Assembly, which led to the 1988 Constitution. Part II analyzes the changes brought about by the new Constitution, especially regarding the three branches of government, as well as the evolutions in Brazilian constitutional theory over the period. Part III evaluates some of the critical moments experienced during its thirty-five years in force. The article …

The Extent To Which The Humanistic Approach In Japanese Juvenile Training Schools Affects Recidivism, Natalie Bui

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

Japan’s juvenile justice system is regarded as one of the most unique and successful implementations of reformative justice. This approach has remained effective in maintaining Japan’s low rates of juvenile delinquency and recidivism, despite massive changes in Japanese society over the past decade. While Japan’s crime seems to be on an impressive decline, the United States continues to struggle with social control, juvenile delinquency, and, more recently, demands for justice reform from social movements like the Black Lives Matter Movement. The American juvenile justice system needs reform now more than ever and where better to get inspiration, than the industrialized …

The Eu-China Cai And The Uyghur Challenge In The Context Of China's Domestic Law Barriers To International Labor And Human Rights Standards, Ronald C. Brown

American University Business Law Review

While China engages in world commerce as a global player and is signatory to international labor and human rights standards, at the same time it uses treaty reservations and its own domestic laws to limit and undermine the full application of those standards. Concern from Western governments and global human rights groups regarding China’s longstanding treatment of the Uyghur people has resulted in a freeze in negotiations for the EU-China Comprehensive Investment Agreement (CAI). This was also a result of China’s failure to ratify or implement relevant United Nations (U.N.) covenants and International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and placing reservations …

Misery, Melancholy, And Misfortune: A Migrant Case Study, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

There is an ongoing crisis of despair involving migrants from abroad who are seeking refuge in one of the world’s longest-standing, post-World War II democracies—India. There are roughly 4.9 million noncitizen migrants in India, with most coming from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Because these migrants often live in the shadows, they are frequently deprived of fundamental human rights.

On the one hand, it may seem surprising that this population remains so vulnerable. After all, India’s Supreme Court has been a leading institutional light in safeguarding the rights of many marginalized groups. Supreme courts in other countries point …

Exiting The Disaster, Evading The Responsibility? Wadi Al-Qamar -- The Moon Valley, Suzan Nada

Perspectives

This essay explores a case that delivered no results for the complainants, where harm was not prevented, and where stakeholders who filed the complaint were not compensated. Investigated by the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Wadi al-Qamar case illustrates some of the limitations of accountability mechanisms in limiting the harms caused directly or indirectly by projects in which the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) invest.

Shareholder Primacy Versus Shareholder Accountability, William W. Bratton

Seattle University Law Review

When corporations inflict injuries in the course of business, shareholders wielding environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) principles can, and now sometimes do, intervene to correct the matter. In the emerging fact pattern, corporate social accountability expands out of its historic collectivized frame to become an internal subject matter—a corporate governance topic. As a result, shareholder accountability surfaces as a policy question for the first time. The Big Three index fund managers, BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, responded to the accountability question with ESG activism. In so doing, they defected against corporate legal theory’s central tenet, shareholder primacy. Shareholder primacy builds …

Verses Turned To Verdicts: Ysl Rico Case Sets A High-Watermark For The Legal Pseudo-Censorship Of Rap Music, Nabil Yousfi

Seattle University Law Review

Whichever way you spin the record, rap music and courtrooms don’t mix. On one side, rap records are well known for their unapologetic lyrical composition, often expressing a blatant disregard for legal institutions and authorities. On the other, court records reflect a Van Gogh’s ear for rap music, frequently allowing rap lyrics—but not similar lyrics from other genres—to be used as criminal evidence against the defendants who authored them. Over the last thirty years, this immiscibility has engendered a legal landscape where prosecutors wield rap lyrics as potent instruments for criminal prosecution. In such cases, color-blind courts neglect that rap …

Why Is There No Social Citizenship In Puerto Rico? The Demise Of Section 20, Haley Powell

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

Part I will define T.H. Marshall’s theory of citizenship rights and explain how that framework pertains to the denial of social welfare rights in Puerto Rico’s constitution. It will also delineate the larger context of social welfare in the United States using the contract versus charity paradigm posited by two historians, New School Professor Nancy Fraser and New York University Professor Linda Gordon. Part II will explore the legislative history of the Puerto Rican Constitution at the Puerto Rican Constitutional Convention and the U.S. Congress debates following the convention. Part III will examine the ramifications of the removal of Section …

Comparative Intellectual Property & Religion, Tabrez Y. Ebrahim

IP Theory

This Article introduces religion to comparative IP scholarship and explains how faith-based considerations can enhance it. Comparative IP scholars have extensively studied different IP laws in different jurisdictions, but they seemed to suggest an erroneous view that comparative IP and religion are like two parallel lines without intersection. Building on these scholars’ work, this Article discusses religion’s role in fostering a new vehicle for discussion and a new normative lens with the aim of ascertaining the existence and extent of religion in legal systems, serving as part of the comparison methodology between legal systems with potential for influencing the policy …

Australia As A Model For Batson Reform, Evan M. Luellen

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor, Barrett Cole

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Global Civil Justice, Cesare Cavallini

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Corporate Law As Decolonization, Martin W. Sybblis

Faculty Articles

After centuries of colonial subordination, Black and Brown former colonies are still fighting to achieve the fruits of decolonization. The traditional theory is that former colonies will emerge from the colonial period with the legal mandate and international recognition needed to chart their own futures. But, for those Black and Brown British colonies that achieved political independence, it became clear that, without economic strength to care for their societies, legal separation could not deliver on its promise of freedom from subordination. This Article argues that investments in corporate law innovations by some jurisdictions, such as Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, …