Human Rights Law | Open Access Articles | Digital Commons Network™

Updates From The International And Internationalized Criminal Courts, Ivan Carpio, Lindsay Roberts, Zsofia Young, Christopher Tansey, Paul Rinefierd, Slava Kuperstein

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

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Updates From The Regional Human Rights Systems, Sarira Sadeghi, Christopher Tansey, Michael Becker, Emilyrose Johns, Carson Osberg

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

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Rawls And Reparations, Martin D. Carcieri

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

In the past two years, four related events have sharpened debates on race in the U.S.: President Obama's election, the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, that Court's ruling in Ricci v. DeStefano, and the arrest of Obama's friend, Harvard professor Henry Gates. The President has spoken of a "teaching moment" arising from these events. Moreover, his writings, speeches and lawmaking efforts illustrate the contractual nature of Obama's thinking. The President (and all concerned citizens) should thus find useful an analysis of racial policy and justice in light of the work of John Rauls. Rawls may …

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The Domestication Of International Criminal Law: A Proposal For Expanding The International Criminal Court's Sphere Of Influence, 43 J. Marshall L. Rev. 635 (2010), Lisa J. Laplante

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Identity, Effectiveness, And Newness In Transjudicialism's Coming Of Age, Mark Toufayan

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article attempts to expose and problematize the ideological connections and normative commitments between these theoretical explanations of effectiveness and the pragmatic process-oriented proposals made in the 1990s when the United Nations was searching for ways to renew the discipline of international human rights law while avoiding the dual risks of politicization and Third World normative fragmentation. The liberal theory of effective supranational adjudication was the culmination of decade-long efforts by American liberal internationalists to provide a theoretical basis for and programmatic proposals towards achieving a more "effective" international human rights regime. Their theory aims at structuring the interface between …

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Prosecution Of Genocide V. The Fair Trial Principle: Comments On Brown And Others V. The Government Of Rwanda And The Uk Secretary Of State For The Home Department, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

The article examines the 2009 decision of the United Kingdom High Court of Justice to deny the extradition of four genocide suspects to Rwanda owing to fair trial and partiality concerns with the Rwandan judiciary. It begins by reviewing the relevant UK extradition legislation, the pertinent facts and the rationale for the judgment and proceeds to situate this decision within the broader transnational judicial scepticism about the extradition or transfer of genocide suspects to Rwanda. While this scepticism arises from valid concerns regarding the contemporary state of human rights in Rwanda, it nevertheless contributes to the perpetuation of impunity surrounding …

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Watch Your Language: A Review Of The Use Of Stigmatizing Language By Canadian Judges, Jocelyn Downie, Michelle Black

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Despite ongoing advances in understanding the causes and prevalence of mental health issues, stigmatizing language is still often directed at people who have mental illness. Such language is regularly used by parties, such as the media, who have great influence on public opinion and attitudes. Since the decisions from Canadian courtrooms can also have a strong impact on societal views, we asked whether judges use stigmatizing language in their decisions. To answer this question, we conducted a qualitative study by searching through modern Canadian case law using search terms that were indicative of stigmatizing language. We found that, although judges …

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Engagement's Possibilities And Limits As A Socioeconomic Rights Remedy, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Article first analyzes the Constitutional Court of South Africa's three engagement decisions. It then divides engagement into two different categories--litigation engagement and political engagement--and offers suggestions for transforming the process into a more effective remedy in each category. Drawing on the work of Charles Epp, this Article argues that political engagement, if structured correctly, offers the greatest potential as an effective mechanism for enforcing socioeconomic rights. Realization of that potential will require a sustained commitment by civil society organizations active in socioeconomic rights issues and a shift from using engagement as a litigation tactic to using it as a …

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Residents Of Joe Slovo Community V Thubelisha Homes And Others: The Two Faces Of Engagement, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The Constitutional Court of South Africa's "engagement remedy," at its core, is a simple requirement that government consult with residents before evicting them, as engagement offers a creative and flexible tool for advocates of socio-economic rights to enforce these provisions through both political and legal channels. Absent adequate court oversight, engagement can easily turn into nothing more than a requirement that government inform residents of its redevelopment plans. The Constitutional Court in Joe Slovo recognised these two ‘faces' of engagement and strengthened the remedy by adding components that increase the transparency of the process and enhance court control. This note …

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The Use Of Article 31(3)(C) Of The Vclt In The Case Law Of The Ecthr: An Effective Anti-Fragmentation Tool Or A Selective Loophole For The Reinforcement Of Human Rights Teleology?, Vassilis P. Tzevelekos

Michigan Journal of International Law

In Part I the Article will briefly introduce the question of the fragmentation of international law, and will more extensively delineate the role that the ILC attributed to Article 31(3)(c) and the ILC's expectations regarding its success in this role. Next, Part II will give an overview of the special elements of the ECHR socio-normative environment, which gave rise to the case law into which Article 31(3)(c) came into force. The Article will argue that, in addition to benefiting from the very special nature of the ECHR, the Strasbourg Court also has a significant number of interpretative tools that allow …

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Prevention And Complementarity In The International Criminal Court: A Positive Approach, Katharine A. Marshall

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

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The Ioc Made Me Do It: Women's Ski Jumping, Vanoc And The 2010 Winter Olympics, Margot Young

All Faculty Publications

This case comment discusses the judicial decisions in Sagen v. VANOC regarding the constitutional challenge brought by women ski jumpers to their exclusion from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. While the claimants argued that the constitutional equality provision (section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) had been infringed, the BC courts' decisions focussed on the novelty of the state action problem. At least one level of court accepted that the exclusion was discriminatory but the challenge failed because the decision to exclude lay within the power of the International Olympic Committee, an entity beyond the ambit of …

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Introductory Note To The Supreme Court Of The United States: Noriega V. Pastrana, Kenneth Anderson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

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De-Cloaking Torture: Boumediene And The Military Commissions Act, Alan W. Clarke

San Diego International Law Journal

The Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) marked the high tide and endgame for hiding torture. It's unraveling did more to uncover the Bush administration's secret interrogation practices than did the political change in Washington. International and domestic backlash against the government's embrace of harsh interrogation techniques, frequently rising to the level of torture, also played a role. However, the Supreme Court's decisions ending in Boumediene v. Bush played the decisive role. Boumediene, and the Supreme Court decisions that led up to it, made inevitable that which politics had left contingent and reversible. It also provided legal and political cover.

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Civil Partnership: Your Questions Answered - A Comprehensive Analysis Of The Civil Partnership Bill, Fergus Ryan

Reports

The Civil Partnership Bill 2009 arguably represents the most momentous change in Irish Family Law in a generation. The Bill proposes a substantial new legal status for registered same-sex partners, as well as important changes to the law as it relates to cohabitants. This report addresses the provisions of the Bill as initiated, analysing the potential impact of the Bill in clear and accessible language. The Report also highlights potential difficulties with the Bill, and suggests possible enhancements to the Bill as initiated.

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Overcoming Soviet Legacy: Non-Enforcement Of The Judgments Of The European Court Of Human Rights By The Russian Judiciary, Yulia Dernovsky

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note examines the challenges Russia faces in its interactions with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), highlighting the surge in complaints against Russia and the country's increasing resistance to the ECtHR's rulings. It explores the ECtHR's evolving role in interpreting the European Convention on Human Rights as a living instrument and the tensions arising from Russia's domestic legal framework and political hostility toward the Court. The analysis underscores the need for both internal reforms in Russia and external adjustments to the ECtHR's procedures to address the growing caseload and ensure compliance with human rights standards.

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Islamic Headscarves And Slippery Slopes, Murat Borovali

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

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The Lexington Principles On The Rights Of Detainees: A Transnational Legal Process Approach To Due Process, David Alan Jordan, Frederic L. Kirgis, R. Brooke Lewis, Thomas Greenwood, Bennett L. Ross, Kathryn M. Zunich

Scholarly Articles

In Boumediene v. Bush, decided June 12, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court extended the constitutional privilege of habeas corpus to noncitizens detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Courts will now be called upon to assess the propriety of American detainee treatment practices against unclear constitutional standards. The strength and contours of the due process protections the U.S. Constitution will afford these detainees is still an unsettled question. The Lexington Principles are designed to help guide the development of American due process standards as they move outside our borders. These Principles are also intended to serve as a model for those …

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Atrocity Crimes Litigation: 2008 Year-In-Review, Beth Van Schaack

Faculty Publications

This survey of 2008's top developments in these international fora will focus on the law governing international crimes and applicable forms of responsibility. Several trends in the law are immediately apparent. The tribunals continue to delineate and clarify the interfaces between the various international crimes, particularly war crimes and crimes against humanity, which may be committed simultaneously or in parallel with each other. Several important cases went to judgment in 2008 that address war crimes drawn from the Hague tradition of international humanitarian law, and the international courts are demonstrating a greater facility for adjudicating highly technical aspects of this …

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Much Ado About Non-State Actors: The Vanishing Relevance Of State Affiliation In International Criminal Law, John Cerone

San Diego International Law Journal

Much has been made recently of the deficiencies of international law in grappling with violence perpetrated by non-state actors. From transnational terrorist networks to private security contractors (PSCs), organizations that are not officially part of the apparatus of any state are increasingly engaged in protracted episodes of intense violence, giving rise to questions of accountability under international law. Does international law provide rules applicable to such conduct? While the repression of crime, especially that perpetrated by non-state actors, has traditionally been left to the internal law of states, most international jurists will point to the ancient rules of international law …

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The European Court’S Political Power Across Time And Space, Karen Alter

Faculty Working Papers

This article extracts from Alter's larger body of work insights on how the political and social context shapes the ECJ's political power and influence. Part I considers how the political context facilitated the constitutionalization of the European legal system. Part II considers how the political context helps determine where and when the current ECJ influences European politics. Part III draws lessons from the ECJ's experience, speculating on how the European context in specific allowed the ECJ to become such an exceptional international court. Part IV lays out a research agenda to investigate the larger question of how social support shapes …

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Peering Into The Judicial Magic Eight Ball: Arbitrary Decisions In The Area Of Juror Removal, 42 J. Marshall L. Rev. 813 (2009), Kimberly Wise

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Commentary: International Prosecution Of Heads Of State For Genocide, War Crimes, And Crimes Against Humanity, 43 J. Marshall L. Rev. Xxv (2009), Hans Corell

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

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International Advocate For Peace Award Acceptance Speech, Amira Dotan

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

The Ninth International Peace Award Recipient

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Extending The Shadow Of The Law: Using Hybrid Mechanisms To Establish Constitutional Norms In Socioeconomic Rights Cases, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Article challenges the general perception that ADR processes cannot develop public law norms. It follows a recent trend in ADR literature that seeks to define a public norm creation role for ADR in part by connecting these processes to other alternative legal and political problem-solving methods. This Article focuses on a recent South African Constitutional Court case, Occupiers of 51 Olivia Road v City of Johannesburg, in which the court interpreted the right to housing in the South African Constitution. The court held that municipalities must develop processes for negotiating - or, in the court's language "engaging" - with …

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Policentrism, Political Moblization, And The Promise Of Socioeconomic Rights, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

There is an active and heated debate over whether socioeconomic rights should be included in modern constitutions because of their supposed "positive" character and the difficult separation-of-powers and institutional-competence concerns such rights raise. The controversy over the nature of socioeconomic rights and whether constitutions should include them is connected to the issue of how to enforce these rights when they are included. The South African Constitutional Court is the leading example of a court dealing with these enforcement issues, and its early decisions have been hailed by many, including Mark Tushnet and Cass Sunstein, as developing a uniquely effective approach …

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Queer Lockdown: Coming To Terms With The Ongoing Criminalization Of Lgbtq Communities, Ann Cammett

Scholarly Works

The criminal justice system exacts a toll on some Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) communities. The experience of living in poverty and the concomitant exposure to a variety of governmental systems puts all poor, but especially LGBTQ low-income people of color, at risk of incarceration. What typically goes unexamined are the myriad ways that LGBTQ people are drawn into and experience the carceral system because of sexual identities and expression. This negative effect surfaces at every conceivable level: the marginalization and subsequent criminalization of queer youth; anti-gay bias in the judicial system; the rerouting of domestic violence cases …

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Notice Otherwise Given: Will In Absentia Trials At The Special Tribunal For Lebanon Violate Human Rights?, Chris Jenks

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

On March 1, 2009, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) commenced operations in the Netherlands. The mandate of the STL is to try those allegedly responsible for the 2005 bombing in Beirut which killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. A collaborative effort between Lebanon and the United Nations, the STL is to be of “international character based on the highest standards of justice.” However, the STL’s in absentia trial provisions are based on a far different, and lower, standard. This article posits that the STL’s in absentia trial provisions violate human rights norms, indeed the U.N. expressly rejected such …

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Incorporating A 'Best Interests Of The Child' Approach Into Immigration Law And Procedure, Bridgette A. Carr

Articles

United States immigration law and procedure frequently ignore the plight of children directly affected by immigration proceedings. This ignorance means decision-makers often lack the discretion to protect a child from persecution by halting the deportation of a parent, while parents must choose between abandoning their children in a foreign land and risking the torture of their children. United States immigration law systematically fails to consider the best interests of children directly affected by immigration proceedings. This failure has resulted in a split among the federal circuit courts of appeals regarding whether the persecution a child faces may be used to …

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Inter-American System, Claudia Martin

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

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Full-Text Articles in Human Rights Law

Updates From The International And Internationalized Criminal Courts, Ivan Carpio, Lindsay Roberts, Zsofia Young, Christopher Tansey, Paul Rinefierd, Slava Kuperstein

Human Rights Brief

Updates From The Regional Human Rights Systems, Sarira Sadeghi, Christopher Tansey, Michael Becker, Emilyrose Johns, Carson Osberg

Human Rights Brief

Rawls And Reparations, Martin D. Carcieri

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

The Domestication Of International Criminal Law: A Proposal For Expanding The International Criminal Court's Sphere Of Influence, 43 J. Marshall L. Rev. 635 (2010), Lisa J. Laplante

UIC Law Review

Identity, Effectiveness, And Newness In Transjudicialism's Coming Of Age, Mark Toufayan

Michigan Journal of International Law

Prosecution Of Genocide V. The Fair Trial Principle: Comments On Brown And Others V. The Government Of Rwanda And The Uk Secretary Of State For The Home Department, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

Watch Your Language: A Review Of The Use Of Stigmatizing Language By Canadian Judges, Jocelyn Downie, Michelle Black

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Engagement's Possibilities And Limits As A Socioeconomic Rights Remedy, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Residents Of Joe Slovo Community V Thubelisha Homes And Others: The Two Faces Of Engagement, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The Use Of Article 31(3)(C) Of The Vclt In The Case Law Of The Ecthr: An Effective Anti-Fragmentation Tool Or A Selective Loophole For The Reinforcement Of Human Rights Teleology?, Vassilis P. Tzevelekos

Michigan Journal of International Law

Prevention And Complementarity In The International Criminal Court: A Positive Approach, Katharine A. Marshall

Human Rights Brief

The Ioc Made Me Do It: Women's Ski Jumping, Vanoc And The 2010 Winter Olympics, Margot Young

All Faculty Publications

Introductory Note To The Supreme Court Of The United States: Noriega V. Pastrana, Kenneth Anderson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

De-Cloaking Torture: Boumediene And The Military Commissions Act, Alan W. Clarke

San Diego International Law Journal

Civil Partnership: Your Questions Answered - A Comprehensive Analysis Of The Civil Partnership Bill, Fergus Ryan

Reports

Overcoming Soviet Legacy: Non-Enforcement Of The Judgments Of The European Court Of Human Rights By The Russian Judiciary, Yulia Dernovsky

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

Islamic Headscarves And Slippery Slopes, Murat Borovali

Cardozo Law Review

The Lexington Principles On The Rights Of Detainees: A Transnational Legal Process Approach To Due Process, David Alan Jordan, Frederic L. Kirgis, R. Brooke Lewis, Thomas Greenwood, Bennett L. Ross, Kathryn M. Zunich

Scholarly Articles

Atrocity Crimes Litigation: 2008 Year-In-Review, Beth Van Schaack

Faculty Publications

Much Ado About Non-State Actors: The Vanishing Relevance Of State Affiliation In International Criminal Law, John Cerone

San Diego International Law Journal

The European Court’S Political Power Across Time And Space, Karen Alter

Faculty Working Papers

Peering Into The Judicial Magic Eight Ball: Arbitrary Decisions In The Area Of Juror Removal, 42 J. Marshall L. Rev. 813 (2009), Kimberly Wise

UIC Law Review

Commentary: International Prosecution Of Heads Of State For Genocide, War Crimes, And Crimes Against Humanity, 43 J. Marshall L. Rev. Xxv (2009), Hans Corell

UIC Law Review

International Advocate For Peace Award Acceptance Speech, Amira Dotan

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

Extending The Shadow Of The Law: Using Hybrid Mechanisms To Establish Constitutional Norms In Socioeconomic Rights Cases, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Policentrism, Political Moblization, And The Promise Of Socioeconomic Rights, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Queer Lockdown: Coming To Terms With The Ongoing Criminalization Of Lgbtq Communities, Ann Cammett

Scholarly Works

Notice Otherwise Given: Will In Absentia Trials At The Special Tribunal For Lebanon Violate Human Rights?, Chris Jenks

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Incorporating A 'Best Interests Of The Child' Approach Into Immigration Law And Procedure, Bridgette A. Carr

Articles

Inter-American System, Claudia Martin

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals