International Humanitarian Law Commons^™

Data Advantage And Merger Review: Can Entrenchment Theory Reform Antitrust Enforcement?, Shin-Ru Cheng

Seattle University Law Review

A merger involving giant digital companies is likely to dampen competition, as it allows those companies to combine and control data access, enabling them to entrench their dominant positions in relevant markets and extend those positions into related markets. While competition law in many jurisdictions aims to prohibit mergers that may substantially lessen competition or create a monopoly, arguably the review of digital mergers is failing because antitrust agencies lack an effective approach to identify data-generated anticompetitive harms. This Article demonstrates that entrenchment theory, recently reintroduced in the 2023 U.S. Merger Guidelines, would help reform the process of antitrust enforcement. …

Caution: Potholes In E-Scooter Data Collection, Dakota Rakestraw

Seattle University Law Review

Lime scooters keep ending up in major waterways in Washington state metro areas, a testament to the ubiquity of e-scooters in the metropolitan landscape. How they get there is unclear. Why they get there is even murkier. Perhaps the answer lies in the implications of modern geolocation data collection through e-scooters and gaps in current data collection regulation curbing individual liberties.

Since September 2020, electric scooters have run Seattle’s streets and have dramatically overtaken ridesharing bike trips. For example, from September 2020 to September 2021, there were about 1.4 million scooter and bike trips with September 2021 seeing 300,000 scooter …

Machinists Preemption In The New Administrative Law, Andrew J. Ziaja

Seattle University Law Review

This Article assesses Machinists preemption—a labor-specific form of implied field preemption—while freshly considering implications both for and of new developments in administrative law. The radical transformation of administrative law in the Supreme Court, particularly its newfound emphasis on clear-statement rules, provides opportunities to reconsider the Machinists rationale. Aligning with scholars who have called to question the doctrine’s “ossifying” influence on labor and employment policy, it argues that the modern-day version of Machinists preemption clashes with the Supreme Court’s newly constrained view of delegated power and its differing conceptions of the major questions doctrine.

On the other hand, Machinists preemption might …

Contracted Wars, Compromised Oversight: Private Military Companies In Iraq, Afghanistan, And The Decline Of U.S. Accountability Standards, Brianna N. Buzzell

International Studies (MA) Theses

The Global War on Terror, beginning in 2001, started U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, facilitating the expansion of Private Military Contractors (PMCs) through a combination of operational necessity, strategic policy decisions, and systemic oversight failures. Despite their growing role, PMCs operate in legal and oversight grey zones. Despite a growing body of work on PMC accountability, there remains little agreement on how U.S. military interventions created conditions for their proliferation. This paper examines how U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan facilitated the expansion of PMC influence, resulting in reduced oversight and accountability for both the U.S. government …

Newport Manual On The Law Of Naval Warfare, Second Edition, Newport Manual Expert Group

International Law Studies

The Newport Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare, Second Edition, is a continuing effort to restate the law of naval warfare as a purely lex lata exercise. Like the first edition of 2023, it is designed to provide a practical guide for commanders and seafarers, lawyers and officials, and educators and students. In doing so, the Manual includes developments in warfighting technologies in recent decades, which have significantly influenced the nature of war at sea. This second edition has been edited by four of the original authors following an extensive review and revision process.

Analyzing The Role Of Socio-Political And Cultural Factors In The Implementation Of Transitional Justice In Afghanistan From 2001-2021, Narwan Alawi, Tufail Ahmad Peerzada

Indonesian Journal of International Law

After the end of conflicts, countries generally try to prosecute the criminals who committed war crimes and violations of human rights during conflicts and civil wars to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. In some cases, special courts have been established to trial the perpetrators of these crimes. In post-2001 Afghanistan, as foreign forces led by the USA removed the Taliban from power and with the establishment of the Republic of Afghanistan, a new phase of transitional justice was anticipated. Although the Afghans initially hoped that justice would not be ignored, however, preference was given to establish peace, and the …

Inge Viermetz, Woman Acquitted At Nuremberg, Diane Marie Amann

Scholarly Works

Conventional narratives tend to represent the post-World War II international criminal proceedings as a men’s project, thus obscuring the many women who participated, as lawyers, journalists, analysts, interpreters, witnesses, and defendants. Indeed, two women stood trial before Nuremberg Military Tribunals. This article examines the case of the only woman found not-guilty: Inge Viermetz, who had been an administrator at Lebensborn, the Nazi SS adoption and placement agency. The article outlines the prosecution’s child-taking case against Viermetz, as well as her successful gendered self-portrayal as a conventionally feminine caregiver. With references to Professor Megan A. Fairlie, at whose memorial symposium it …

Re-Imagining Tomorrow: A Technology, Innovation Law, And Ethics Symposium On Addictive Technology And Children, Margaret Chon

Seattle University Law Review

In this Foreword, Professor Margaret Chon introduces Seattle University's Technology, Innovation Law, and Ethics (TILE) program, the 2024 TILE Symposium, and Dr. Gaia Bernstein’s Unwired: Gaining Control Over Addictive Technologies.

Keynote Address: The Movement To Protect Kids From Addictive Technologies, Gaia Bernstein

Seattle University Law Review

In this keynote address, I describe my personal journey starting with a school outreach program I created in 2017 to address technology overuse among kids. While I initially advocated for self-help methods, I grew to recognize that the tech industry bore responsibility. This realization led me to write Unwired: Gaining Control over Addictive Technologies, which focused on collective action to pressure the tech industry to redesign its addictive products.

I then describe the movement to control addictive technologies and protect kids, which has gained momentum since the end of the pandemic. This movement combines grassroots parent activism with legal-political action. …

P*Law 2025, Center For Public Service Law

2024–2025 Flyers

This document outlines the full schedule for Cardozo Law School’s 2025 P*LAW Week, hosted by the Center for Public Service Law. Held from January 27 to January 30, the week featured a variety of panels, workshops, and student-led presentations on topics such as reproductive justice, housing, LGBTQ+ immigration, international human rights, labor law, and social justice. Events included guest speakers from leading advocacy organizations, mock interviews, and internship prep sessions, all designed to engage students in public interest law and foster professional development.

Crippled By War: Arguing Russia’S Actions In Ukraine Constitute Disability Persecution Under Article 7(1)(H) Of The Rome Statute, Davis Hayman

American University International Law Review

During the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Russia implemented a “humanitarian aid” program which moved Ukrainian people with disabilities to Russia or Russian-controlled areas. The Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants under the theory that this program constitutes war crimes.

This Comment argues this program further qualifies as the crime of persecution against Ukrainians with disabilities. This piece first analyzes the crime of persecution, its relationship with other crimes and how non-enumerated groups can receive its protection. Next, this piece analyzes international human rights developments related to people with disabilities to show they qualify for such …

Shareholder Expression In A Time Of Heightened Political Tension, Aaron A. Dhir

Seattle University Law Review

In this article, I provide context for my forthcoming research project on shareholder proposals and racial equity audits. Since the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020, progressive shareholder actors have increasingly used the proposal mechanism to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice-related goals. These proposals have frequently gone beyond requesting the usual corporate fare of diversity trainings, intersectionality workshops, affinity groups, etc. Instead, a more ambitious type of proposal asks corporate America to conduct racial equity audits, defined as “an independent, objective and holistic analysis of a company’s policies, practices, products, services and efforts to combat systemic racism …

Corporate Governance Speech, Sarah C. Haan

Seattle University Law Review

The State has always regulated the intra-firm communications that make corporate governance possible, most commonly by mandating disclosures of information by a corporation to its shareholders. Some such laws are labeled “securities regulation,” but securities regulation is a broad category that extends to speech by actors who are outside the corporate enterprise as well. Also, the conventional securities regulation category does not capture all such laws; other examples, including informationforcing mandates, can be found in state corporate law. This Article uses the term “corporate governance speech” to describe the communications among shareholders, directors, and officers through which corporate governance is …

The Employees’ Dilemma: Balancing Internal Reporting, Whistleblowing, And Insider Trading Risks, Geeyoung Min

Seattle University Law Review

The Essay examines how recent developments in insider trading regulations and whistleblower reward programs can lead to unintended and counterproductive results of discouraging employees from using internal reporting channels within corporate compliance programs. While the presence of a robust and well-functioning corporate compliance program is a critical factor both in mitigating the level of public enforcement actions against companies and in protecting corporate managers from liability in private litigation, these programs often provide little incentive for employees to report potential misconduct internally.

Corporate compliance programs are designed to promote the upward information flow within the company, which is essential for …

How The Antidiscrimination Law Of Commercial Transactions Really Works, Helen Norton

Seattle University Law Review

A variety of businesses now cite 303 Creative when seeking First Amendment protection for their refusal to serve certain customers based on those customers’ protected class status. How this litigation will play out remains to be seen. But future courts need not, and should not, repeat the 303 Creative Court’s misunderstanding of how the antidiscrimination law of commercial transactions actually works.

Part I of this Essay explains the Court’s longstanding understanding of the antidiscrimination law of commercial transactions, and then describes the Court’s failure to engage with this precedent in 303 Creative. Part II then identifies the 303 Creative decision’s …

Applicability Of Multilateral Environmental Agreements During International Armed Conflicts, Beatrice L. Hamilton

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

Armed conflicts increasingly contribute to environmental damage and climate change, yet, as proven by recent and ongoing conflicts, the legal framework for the protection of the environment under the law of armed conflict (LOAC) fails to effectively mitigate these damages. With rising temperatures, already diminishing resources, the counter-acting of mitigation and adaptation efforts due to warfare and geo-political tensions on the rise, there is a strong case for considering the potential for enhancing the protection of the environment during armed conflicts.

This Article examines the terms of applicability of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) during international armed conflicts. The article draws …

Green Dividends: A Case Study In Green Dividends And The Conditions For Private Ordering Solutions, Anne M. Tucker

Seattle University Law Review

This Essay introduces a novel private ordering solution to facilitate corporate investments in pro-social and environmental initiatives: Green dividends. Green dividends are an optional increase in shareholder dividends that are returned to the company to be reinvested in environmental initiatives or kept by a shareholder.

Green dividends pose an alternative to the current gridlocked debate that corporations can’t, won’t, shouldn’t, and shouldn’t even try to act in pro-social or environmental ways. Turning the common refrains on their head converts each narrative into an element for a successful private ordering solution: authority, accountability, shareholder buy-in, and government- backed enforcement. With Green …

Civilian Harm And Military Legitimacy: Evidence From The Battle Of Mosul, Benjamin Krick, Jonathan Petkun, Mara R. Revkin

Faculty Scholarship

The legitimacy of armed forces in the eyes of civilians is increasingly recognized as crucial not only for battlefield effectiveness but also for conflict resolution and peace building. However, the concept of “military legitimacy” remains under-theorized and its determinants poorly understood. We argue that perceptions of military legitimacy are shaped by two key dimensions of warfare: just cause and just conduct. Leveraging naturally occurring variation during one of the deadliest urban battles in recent history—the multinational campaign to defeat the Islamic State in Mosul, Iraq—we evaluate our theory using a mixed-methods design that combines original survey data, satellite imagery, and …

War Courts: Fdr, National Security, And The War On Terrorism, Harvey Gee

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.

Book Review, Rumyana Van Ark Et Al., Children’S Rights, ‘Foreign Fighters’, Counter-Terrorism: Children Of Nowhere (2024), Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

The focus of Children’s Rights, ‘Foreign Fighters’, Counter-Terrorism: Children of Nowhere is on foreign fighters who join terrorist groups, ISIS, and other entities engaged in armed conflict in Syria and Iraq. Counterterrorism measures, and the threats of terrorist attacks, have triggered a degradation and distortion of law. I have noted this following the 9/11 attacks and the concomitant refusal to treat children associated with terrorist groups as protected child soldiers. Whereas child soldiers in distant African conflicts are largely seen in the centers of global power as ‘faultless, passive victims’ of a pathological society, child terrorists taken as disruptive of …

The International Law Of Siege And Starvation: The Case Of Gaza After October 7, 2023, R. Field

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

This article will assess the legality of Israel’s current siege of Gaza under international humanitarian law (IHL) and domestic Israeli law. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has implemented a strict siege of Gaza, severely restricting the entry of food, water, fuel, and other humanitarian goods. The civilian population of Gaza now faces ongoing starvation. While sieges are not categorically banned in IHL, under customary IHL a besieging party may not refuse consent to the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid into the besieged area unless it has a valid, non-arbitrary reason to do so. The Israeli High Court of Justice has …

Conflict Related Sexual Violence In Ethiopia: An Applied Approach To Prevention, Liya Yared

Master's Theses

The Ethiopia-Tigray civil war is one of the deadliest conflicts in recent world history and quickly drew international attention for the mass reports of sexual violence, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing by federal militants. Mass rapes and sexual violence were used along ethnic lines to devastate and displace communities in Ethiopia. Despite the signing of the peace agreement in November 2022 to cease hostilities, the sexual violence has not come to an end. The violence has consequently spread to the Afar, Amhara, and Oromia regions, neighboring Tigray. The sexual violence in Ethiopia was core to the armed conflict. Nonetheless, the …

Preventing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence In Ethiopia: An Applied Approach Towards Prevention, Leah Yared

Master's Theses

The Ethiopia-Tigray civil war is one of the deadliest conflicts in recent world history and quickly drew international attention for the mass reports of sexual violence, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing by federal militants. Mass rapes and sexual violence were used along ethnic lines to devastate and displace communities in Ethiopia. Despite the signing of the peace agreement in November 2022 to cease hostilities, the sexual violence has not come to an end. The violence has consequently spread to the Afar, Amhara, and Oromia regions, neighboring Tigray. The sexual violence in Ethiopia was core to the armed conflict. Nonetheless, the …

Too Little, Too Late: The Icc And The Politics Of Prosecutorial Procrastination In Georgia, Marco Bocchese

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

In August 2008, just days after belligerent parties had reached a ceasefire agreement, the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) announced the opening of a preliminary examination into the situation of Georgia. Yet, it was only in March 2022 that International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants in relation to three individuals from Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia. That said, how can such prolonged inaction be accounted for? How much blame does the OTP carry for it? And how did ICC-state relations develop over time? This paper conducts a within-case analysis of the situation of …

The Humanization Of War Reparations: Combatant Deaths And Compensation In Unlawful Wars, Hannes Jöbstl, Dean Rosenberg

Michigan Journal of International Law

Recent events have sparked a renewed interest in the law and practice of war reparations. While today it is uncontroversial that unlawful uses of force, including acts of aggression, entail the obligation of the wrongdoing state to make reparations, including by way of compensation, the precise extent of this obligation remains subject to debate. One particularly contentious aspect is whether, and to what extent, states that violate the prohibition on the use of force are obligated to pay compensation not only for harm caused to civilians and civilian objects, but also for damage caused to the armed forces of the …

The Politics And Consequences Of State Secession, Olawale Olumodimu

St. Mary's Law Journal

This Article argues that the non-express prohibition of state secession in the Nigerian Constitution does not automatically allow component states to break away unilaterally. It appears the framers of the Constitution wanted to ensure political continuity and national unity rather than allow for Nigeria’s disintegration. Beyond Nigeria, international law only allows unilateral secession in the context of decolonization and the people’s right to self-determination.

Nigeria has a responsibility to provide self-determination to its citizens; however, secession is not a legal channel to seek self-determination in the absence of targeted, widespread, or systemic criminal acts committed by or on behalf of …

The Efficacy Of The Legal Infrastructure Of Proportionality In Contemporary Armed Conflicts, Reed Caney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Proportionally in armed conflict is one of the key principles of international law, playing a crucial role in ensuring that both civilians are protected in armed conflict, but also that a military is able to accomplish its goals. This paper attempts to discern if the international legal infrastructure is well equipped to deal with proportionality in armed conflicts, especially in regard to contemporary armed conflicts. In an attempt to answer this question, this paper explores the existing legal infrastructure, looking at International Humanitarian Law as a moral system and International Criminal Law as the accompanying legal system to see how …

Henderson And The Objective Observer Standard: The Future Of Race-Conscious Standards Post-Students For Fair Admissions, Gabriela Dionisio

Seattle University Law Review

On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Students for Fair Admissions v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, which struck down race-conscious admissions policies. Within just a year after its ruling, Students for Fair Admissions has already had a sweeping impact, reaching beyond higher education. Although the Supreme Court did not indicate whether Students for Fair Admissions applies to sectors beyond higher education, law firms, and other employers have already modified their diversity policies and initiatives, erasing race and company diversity considerations. Given those dramatic changes, there is growing fear that Students for Fair Admissions …

Same Crime, Different Time: Sentencing Disparities In The Deep South & A Path Forward Under The Fourteenth Amendment, Hailey M. Donovan

Seattle University Law Review

The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. The American obsession with crime and punishment can be tracked over the last half-century, as the nation’s incarceration rate has risen astronomically. Since 1970, the number of incarcerated people in the United States has increased more than sevenfold to over 2.3 million, outpacing both crime and population growth considerably. While the rise itself is undoubtedly bleak, a more troubling truth lies just below the surface. Not all states contribute equally to American mass incarceration. Rather, states have vastly different incarceration rates. Unlike at the federal level, …

The Pioneers, Waves, And Random Walks Of Securities Law In The Supreme Court, Elizabeth Pollman

Seattle University Law Review

After the pioneers, waves, and random walks that have animated the history of securities laws in the U.S. Supreme Court, we might now be on the precipice of a new chapter. Pritchard and Thompson’s superb book, A History of Securities Law in the Supreme Court, illuminates with rich archival detail how the Court’s view of the securities laws and the SEC have changed over time and how individuals have influenced this history. The book provides an invaluable resource for understanding nearly a century’s worth of Supreme Court jurisprudence in the area of securities law and much needed context for …