Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

Selective Entrenchment In State Constitutional Law: Lessons From Comparative Experience, David Landau

Scholarly Publications

While the U.S. Constitution has long been viewed as an outlier along a number of dimensions, recent work has explored the similarities between comparative constitutionalism and the constitutionalism of the states. Scholars have noted that state constitutions look more like the constitutions often found abroad along several key dimensions. Most importantly for our purposes, they are often long, detailed, and specific documents that go well beyond merely setting up a basic framework, and they are often relatively flexible and easy to amend. In contrast, the U.S. Constitution seems unusually sparse and rigid.

This essay argues that the recent work on …

Bar, Bench, And Civic Culture, Geoffrey C. Hazard Jr.

UC Law SF International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Two Comparative Perspectives On Copyright's Past And Future In The Digital Age, Timothy K. Armstrong

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

A review of two recent scholarly books on digital copyright law: The Copyright Wars: Three Centuries of Trans-Atlantic Battle by Peter Baldwin (Princeton, 2014), and Copyfight: The Global Politics of Digital Copyright Reform by Blayne Haggart (Univ. of Toronto, 2014). Both books are meticulously researched and carefully written, and each makes an excellent addition to the literature on copyright. Contrasting both titles in this joint review, however, helps to reveal a few respects in which each work is incomplete; indeed, at times each book reads as a critique of the other.

Baldwin's The Copyright Wars argues that modern debates over …

A Future For A Forgotten Predator: Assessment Of The Global And Regional Legal Frameworks For Protection And Recovery Of The Caribbean Sawfishes Pristis Pristis And Pristis Pectinata And Recommendations For The Course Forward, Olga Koubrak

LLM Theses

Two species of sawfish, Pristis pristis and Pristis pectinata, used to be common in the coastal waters of the Caribbean Region. However, due to direct and incidental fishing pressures, national and international trade in body parts, and habitat loss, the populations of these ecologically and culturally significant species have drastically declined. This thesis identifies and reviews global and regional, binding and non-binding legal instruments in effect in the Caribbean Region that encourage states to protect biodiversity in general or address identified threats to sawfishes specifically. Despite the presence of obligations that call upon states to adopt sawfish conservation and habitat …

Emerging International Trends And Practices In Guardianship Law For People With Disabilities, Robert Doinerstein, Esme Grant Grewal, Jonathan Martinis

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

The concept of adult guardianship has existed for hundreds of centuries in the intenational sphere and dates back to ancient Greek and Roman times and English common law.

Political Support And Structural Constitutional Law, David Landau

Scholarly Publications

The field of comparative constitutional law has paid insufficient attention to judicial decisions on structural issues. This Article seeks to begin the process of constructing a comparative analysis of structural constitutional jurisprudence. Using both theoretical analysis and a case study, it seeks to demonstrate that courts are more likely to be successful in their programs of structural constitutional law when they enjoy support from other political and social actors. This simple point has significant implications for constitutional theory. First, it suggests that the structural safeguards theory long assumed in United States constitutional law may have only limited applicability. Under common …

The Bill Of Lading In An Era Of Electronic Commerce: Legal Developments And The Reform Options For Nigeria, Kenneth Ugwuokpe

LLM Theses

One of the pervasive effects of the advancement in information and communication technology is a radical shift in the means of conducting business transactions. With the digitalization of the global economy, business transactions are increasingly conducted in an electronic medium. The bill of lading, as the most important ocean transport document, has, in response to the needs of the times, passed through many phases of development to its present electronic nature. The problem however, is adapting the challenges of electronic commerce to the old contractual legal order. For the bill of lading, the challenge is the replication of all its …

Why Reforms Alone Are Insufficient To Strengthen The Judiciary: A Case Study Of Guatemala's Judicial Selection Processes, Mirte Postema

UC Law SF International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Can Law Stop Prosecution Of Afghanistan's Women And Girls For Moral Crimes? Searching For An Effective, Practical Legal Methodology, Tara S. Neal

Intercultural Human Rights Law Review

As a woman working in rule of law in Afghanistan, I was confronted on a daily basis by what it means to be female and the severity of those constraints. This realization began every morning with the choice of what to wear. The daily task of dressing myself in a manner that protected my safety, security, and reputation gave me a tiny glimpse into the lives of Afghan women. I discovered how law is used to reinforce traditional and cultural beliefs and the grave injustices served on Afghanistan's women and girls. I also discovered how vast sums of foreign money …

Gender And Non-Normative Sex In Sub-Saharan Africa, Johanna Bond

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

This Article argues for the adoption of a gender-based framework to supplement rights promotion strategies and campaigns based on LGBTI identity. The Article draws upon feminist, queer, and trans theory to develop an expansive understanding of gender within international human rights law. An analysis incorporating such theory will catalyze more systematic promotion of LGBTI rights. Although the approach is applicable across a variety of geographic contexts, this Article uses sub-Saharan Africa as an illustrative case study. A focus on gender rights as supplementary to and interrelated with LGBTI rights offers both conceptual and pragmatic benefits in the struggle to promote …

Liability For Damage Caused By Small Satellites—A Non-Issue?, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Small satellites have become a welcome addition to the existing tools to benefit from space applications—they are relatively simple and cheap to construct, and being small, relatively cheap to launch as well, as secondary payloads on launch vehicles where the primary payload may not take up all of the (often standardized) payload bay capacity. As they, moreover, usually orbit for relatively short times in low trajectories before burning up in the atmosphere, they might not seem to pose major or even merely realistic liability risks.

As a consequence, sometimes the issue of liability for damage caused by small satellites has …

Phoenix Within A Phoenix: Google Campus Warsaw And The Fascinating, Intentional Rebirth Of Warsaw’S Praga District, Leila Lawlor

Scholarly Articles

The Praga district of Warsaw has been experiencing a rebirth. This phoenix district, lying within the eastern central part of Warsaw, is experiencing a period of rapid growth and revitalization. Five years ago Praga was thought of as crime-ridden and impoverished, but the area’s low rents and large, historic spaces have started attracting creative types – web designers, artists, musicians and others. In June 2014, Praga landed a windfall when internet giant Google announced plans to build a center for technology startup companies in the district. The location of Google Campus Warsaw will undoubtedly have beneficial effects on employment and …

Furthering The Enjoyment Of Freedom Of Assembly In Sub-Saharan Africa Through Its Legal Systems, Sarah E. Hager

Intercultural Human Rights Law Review

This paper will examine the legal right to assemble in sub- Saharan Africa before turning to discuss historic and present protest movements. I will examine the tactics activists today employ in sub Saharan Africa, from flash mob protests to hunger strikes to mass mobilization as they continue to express their right to protest, often in very challenging environments. I will then detail the legal systems through which individuals can attempt to assert their right to assemble and how they have been utilized to this point. I will conclude with recommendations activists and citizens can implement as they further their right …

Son Los Inmigrantes Cubanos Injustamente Favorecidos En Comparacion Con Inmigrantes De Otras Nacionalidades? La Comprension De La Realidad Comunista En Cuba Y La Legitimidad De La Ley De Ajuste Cubano, Leslie Perez Perez

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Creemos que el pueblo cubano ser libre de toda tirania

Balancing Judicial Independence And Accountability In A Transitional State: The Case Of Thailand, David Pimentel

Articles

Balancing judicial independence against judicial accountability is a classic problem, but the debate has often taken place without reference to specific legal cultures and traditions, and there is compelling reason to believe that the “right” balance may be different in different societies. Thailand is in transition, so the models of established Western democracies may be ill-suited to the problems and issues of the Thai judiciary. Moreover, independence and accountability are not ends in themselves, but means to the same end: that of fair, impartial, and effective justice. Independence can help, primarily by bolstering the “judicial courage” exercised by judges called …

Enhancing Justice Administration In Nigeria Through Information And Communications Technology, 32 J. Marshall J. Info. Tech. & Privacy L. 89 (2016), Halima Doma

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The end of the twentieth century brought about the system of In-formation Communication Technologies (“ICT”) which represents the start of a new era. Communication is faster and more efficient than ever before. As a result, the world is brought closer together. Our means of communication and social interactions have changed dramatically. Due to the technological communication advances, we are no longer tied to our desks to make phone calls or have to travel thousands of miles for meetings. ICT enables us to contact friends, family and business colleagues at the touch of a button whatever the time, wherever the place. …

The Protection Of Pioneer Innovations – Lessons Learnt From The Semiconductor Chip Industry And Its Ip Law Framework, 32 J. Marshall J. Info. Tech. & Privacy L. 151 (2016), Thomas Hoeren

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

In the second half of the 20th century, semiconductor technology as integrated circuits (IC), commonly known as microchips, became more and more dominating in our lives. Microchips are the control center of simple things like toasters as well as of complex high-tech machines for medical use. Of course, they also define the hearts of each computer. With the invention of semiconductor technology, a whole new economic sector began its rise and soon played a major role in the economies of the large industrial countries like the U.S., Japan and the EC. Especially, it stands out for its innovational power and …

Protecting Trade Secrets Under International Investment Law: What Secrets Investors Should Not Tell States, 15 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 228 (2016), Daria Kim

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

The article addresses specifics of trade secret protection under international investment law. As a particular example, it analyzes protection of pharmaceutical regulatory data against the background of the growing public policy campaign for broader access to clinical trial data and the recent unprecedented practice of the European Medicines Agency of disclosing clinical dossiers submitted for drug marketing approval. Given the significant role of foreign direct investment in the global pharmaceutical industry and substantial, exponentially increasing costs incurred by drug originator companies in conducting clinical trials, the prospect of investor-state dispute over data disclosure does not appear purely hypothetical. The question …

From Tragedy To Triumph In The Pursuit Of Looted Art: Altmann, Benningson, Portrait Of Wally, Von Saher And Their Progeny, 15 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 394 (2016), Donald Burris

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

This article is a broad and approachable overview of American law regarding the potential repatriation of Nazi-looted art—an area which the author and his now-retired partner, Randy Schoenberg, helped develop from the ground up starting with the development of the Altmann case, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2004, and continuing on through a number of fascinating looted-art cases of a more recent vintage. Parts of the article read as much like a detective story as a summary of cases and Mr. Burris has been kind enough to share both his approach to these cases and his prognosis for …

The Icc And The Security Council: How Much Support Is There For Ending Impunity?, 26 Ind. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 33 (2016), Stuart Ford

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Religious Law And Women's Human Rights: Reflections Upon The African Human Rights System, Julia L. Ernst

UC Law SF International Law Review

In many countries, governments have permitted the application of religious laws and have delegated judicial authority to religious courts. These practices may violate women's human rights for at least four reasons. First, women are barred from leadership positions within many religious institutions, and are therefore prevented from helping interpret the religious precepts and develop the law that is being applied by the religious courts. This exclusion of women violates their right to participate in governance, democracy, and decision-making, which are essential components of law-making. Second, women are excluded from serving as judges on religious courts, thereby calling into question the …

Professional Integrity And Professional Regulation: Nonlawyer Practice And Nonlawyer Investment In Law Firms, Deborah L. Rhode

UC Law SF International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cultural Factors And Ethical Integrity, Jessica Vapnek

UC Law SF International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Ethical Integrity: Challenges And Solutions, Morris A. Ratner

UC Law SF International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Building Judicial Integrity In China, Hualing Fu

UC Law SF International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Independence Of Bulgarian Judges, Evgeni Georgiev

UC Law SF International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Capturing The Insights: Commonalities And Differences, Naomi Roht-Arriaza

UC Law SF International Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Perspective: Recognition Of The Continuous Injury Trigger In Insurance Law In The United States And The United Kingdom, Emalie Diaz Sundale

UC Law SF International Law Review

The standard Commercial General Liability coverage form obligates an insurer to indemnify the insured for bodily injury and property damages caused by an "occurrence" during the policy period. The form defines "occurrence" as "an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same harmful condition." When an injury occurs over a period of time, questions arise in pinning down a precise moment when such a continuous injury begins. The question of whether the resulting injury is covered under a given insurance policy, or, whether the insurance policy has been "triggered," vexes courts in the United States and the United …

Victims, Violence, And Voice: Transitional Justice, Oral History, And Dealing With The Past, Anna Bryson

UC Law SF International Law Review

Transitional justice is concerned with the legal and social processes established to deal with the legacy of violence in post-authoritarian and post-conflict contexts. The interview-in different guises, contexts and settings-is at the heart of most transitional justice processes. Prosecutorial mechanisms, truth recovery commissions, assessments for reparations, applications for amnestyall of these and more are fueled by the art of one human being interviewing another and then presenting or "re-presenting" the material recorded, to make it "fit" with the broader transitional goals of a particular institution. Most transitional justice institutions are, in the final analysis, "creatures of law." They are typically …

More Behavioral Vs. More Economic Approach: Explaining The Behavioral Divide Between The United States And The European Union, Philipp Hacker

UC Law SF International Law Review

While U.S. courts and regulatory agencies have set sail towards what may be dubbed a "more behavioral approach," their European counterparts still navigate the charted waters of a neoclassical "more economic approach," as first advocated in E.U. competition law. This paper claims that this "behavioral divide" can be explained by a theory of social norms and expectations.