International Humanitarian Law Commons^™

But For Borders: The Protection Gap For Internally Displaced Persons, Anita Sinha

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Internal displacement, the phenomenon of people who are dislocated from their homes but remain within the border of their countries of origin, was once a forced migratory occurrence interchangeable with cross-border migration. This changed after the Second World War with the promulgation of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which was premised on an insistence on drawing a legal line in the sand based on which side of a border displacement transpires upon. Internally displaced persons (IDPs)-both in recent history and in the projected future-far outnumber people displaced across borders. Both rhetorical maneuverings and traditional international legal …

But For Borders: The Protection Gap For Internally Displaced Persons, Anita Sinha

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Internal displacement, encapsulating the phenomenon of people who are dislocated from their homes but remain within the border of their countries of origin, was once a forced migratory occurrence interchangeable with cross-border migration. This changed after the Second World War with the promulgation of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which was premised on an insistence of making a legal line in the sand based on which side of a border displacement ultimately transpires. Internally displaced persons (IDPs)—in recent history, presently, and in the projected future—far outpace the number of people displaced outside the border of their …

Criminalizing Ecocide, Rebecca Hamilton

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Amid widespread acknowledgment that we live on a planet in peril, the term “ecocide” packs a powerful rhetorical punch. Extant regulatory approaches to environmental protection feel insufficient in the face of the triple threat of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. International criminal prosecution for ecocide, by contrast, promises to meet the moment, and a recent proposal to introduce ecocide into the canon of core international crimes is gaining traction. Assuming the push to criminalize ecocide continues to gain momentum, this Article argues that the primary (and perhaps, sole) benefit that international criminal law can offer in this context is …

Russian Irregular Forces: Pursuing Accountability, Susana L. Sacouto

Research Reports & White Papers

This memo examines the prospects of pursuing criminal charges against individuals involved in such groups through universal or other forms of jurisdiction that permit the prosecution of grave crimes committed abroad. Specifically, it seeks to identify opportunities to bring to account members of irregular armed groups, as well as public and private actors directing or supporting their criminal activity, particularly in Ukraine, by determining which jurisdictions would be most disposed to pursuing an investigation and, if warranted, a prosecution of their crimes.

The Importance Of Administrative Appeals As Second Instance Bodies To Strengthen Migration And Asylum Systems, Gabriela Richard Rodriguez

Refugee Law & Migration Studies Brief

According to data from UNHCR's Report, "Global Trends - Forced Displacement in 2022," there were 108.4 million forcibly displaced people worldwide in 2022; in the first half of 2023 alone, there were 110 million displaced people, indicating that 2023 could double the figures of 2022. Based on my experience as an administrative judge in the Administrative Migration Tribunal in Costa Rica— a body of second instance in the migration system— I consider that, in view of the impact that the migration and asylum systems had had in countries of transit and destination, it is essential that there be second instances …

Advancing The Due Process Right To Appointed Counsel In Immigration Removal Proceedings, Chloe Schalit

Refugee Law & Migration Studies Brief

Right now, noncitizens only have the right to an attorney if they can afford one. While courts have grappled with the inherent due process issue accompanying this standard, no court has held that noncitizens have the right to a government- appointed attorney. This paper promotes the provision of government-appointed attorneys to noncitizens in removal proceedings in immigration court under a due process lens. This paper will first briefly examine the difference between criminal and civil matters related to the Sixth Amendment right to an appointed attorney. Next, the paper will engage in a Fifth Amendment due process analysis, ultimately concluding …

Hurricane Katrina: When A Crisis Is An Opportunity In Government Innovation For Migration Solutions, Camilo Mantilla

Refugee Law & Migration Studies Brief

No abstract provided.

Barriers Beyond The Border: Addressing The Economic And Racial Disparities Created By Cbp One, Ann-Renee Rubia

Refugee Law & Migration Studies Brief

CBP One is a mobile app that allows asylum seekers to schedule appointments for inspection before entering the United States ("U.S."). First, this paper will discuss the ethical issues posed by CBP One—specifically asylum seekers' unequal access to the app. Second, this paper will examine the equal protection implications posed by CBP One and the application of constitutional rights to noncitizens inside and outside the U.S. Next, it will address the ongoing litigation concerning the extension of constitutional rights to noncitizens arriving at the southern border. Lastly, it will discuss the incompatibility of CBP One with the Immigration and Nationality …

"What Kind Of Court Is This?": Perceptions Of International Justice Among Rohingya Refugees, Rebecca Hamilton, Payam Akhavan, Antonia Mulvey

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

In the context of mass atrocities, the legitimacy of institutions for international justice—such as the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice—is based on the assumption that they vindicate demands for accountability by the survivors of horrific human rights violations. Yet, notwithstanding advances in victim representation at these Hague-based courts, victim-centered justice remains elusive. This article contributes to centering the voices of survivors in their specific cultural contexts, against the backdrop of existing efforts that too often render invisible their perspectives. Through semi-structured interviews, conducted in late 2022, with 444 Rohingya survivors of genocide who have fled Myanmar to …

Key Developments At The World Bank Inspection Panel (2013-2024), Dilek Barlas

Perspectives

Through the lens of important cases, this essay reflects on major developments that occurred at the Panel during the tenure of the author as the Executive Secretary of the World Bank Inspection Panel and shows how the Panel has evolved to improve accessibility, has influenced overall development policies, and has become a catalyst for institutional change. The essay observes that the Panel’s success has largely been due to its structural and operational independence, reporting as it does directly to the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors. However, there are challenges facing the Panel on certain issues, including most importantly its independence, …

Ending 30 Years Of Imf Exceptionalism: A Call For An Accountability Mechanism At The International Monetary Fund, Luiz Vieria

Perspectives

This year marks the 30^th anniversary of the World Bank’s Inspection Panel (WBIP or Panel), created as the result of grass-roots and international pressure on the Bank to address the well-documented negative impacts on marginalised communities of the Bank-financed Narmada dam and similar projects.

The establishment of the world’s first independent accountability mechanism (IAM) at the World Bank led to the creation of similar mechanisms at nearly all international financial institutions (IFIs), with the IMF an important exception. The establishment of the WBIP and other IAMs was a step-change in accountability, as previously IFIs were only accountable to shareholders …

Achieving Effective Procurement During A Global Crisis: A Study Of The Uncitral Model Law On Public Procurement And The Wto Agreement On Government Procurement, Dmitri Goubarkov

American University International Law Review

The global nature of the COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges for public procurement systems around the world. Governments everywhere faced an immense pressure to facilitate the rapid procurement of supplies and services needed to support overburdened health and social care systems. Speed and flexibility were needed to address the shortages of protective personal equipment, distribution of ventilators, and increased demand for medications, all of which required governments to forego traditional public procurement methods. Governments had to balance the underlying principles of their procurement systems—namely, competition, integrity, and transparency—against urgency, and do so in a way that does not erode public …

A Dam Over Troubled Waters? The Obligation To Negotiate In Good Faith In Annex "C" Of The Treaty Of Itaipu, Rene Figueredo Corrales

American University International Law Review

The year 2023 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty of Itaipú (“the Treaty”). According to paragraph VI of the Treaty, its provisions are to be reviewed after fifty years have elapsed from the date the Treaty entered into force. In October 2021, João Francisco Ferreira, the former Brazilian representative of the Itaipú binational entity, stated in a press conference what seemed to be a new interpretation of the review provision contained in Annex “C” of the Treaty of Itaipú. He noted that there is no obligation to negotiate Annex “C” if an agreement is …

Navigating The Battlefield Of Hunger During Armed Conflicts: Obligations, Obstacles And Solutions, Ying Chen, Tarisa Yasin

American University International Law Review

Despite sufficient global food supplies, food insecurity remains a persistent problem in many countries. In recent years, conflict has emerged as one of the key drivers of acute food insecurity, affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The situation has worsened since 2022, as the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war are felt worldwide. This Article investigates food security challenges arising from armed conflicts and proposes potential solutions to tackle these challenges. It first examines the right to food as enshrined in both international and national laws. These legal frameworks set out the rules that govern the responsibilities of States and …

Measuring The Unmeasurable: Foreign Aid And The Rule Of Law, Natallia Karkanitsa

American University International Law Review

This article provides an analysis of the international indexes and rankings that assess and compare the rule of law globally. It first starts with a discussion on the necessity of the international measurements of the rule of law in context of the foreign aid allocation to developing countries. Then, this article defines the rule of law and explains its relationship with governance and human rights. This article further reviews three rule of law indexes from the World Bank, the World Justice Project, and Bertelsmann Stiftung and Sustainable Development Solutions Network, using the position of Belarus in these measurements as a …

El Repudio Y La Aversión A Lo Étnico, Confrontando A La Discriminación Racial En México, Roxana Rosas Fregosa

American University International Law Review

This article examines the concepts of ethnicity (ethnic), racism and the legal principle of equality and non-discrimination with a focus on the historical, social, political and legal factors that are linked to contempt and aversion to ethnicity.

La Relación Entre La Discriminación Racial Y Los Derechos Humanos En El Sistema Interamericano De Derechos Humanos: Estándares Establecidos Vinculados Al Principio De Igualdad Y No Discriminación, Dewi Zamora Mendoza

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Are The Mdbs Accountable? Reflecting On The Independent Accountability Mechanisms Of The Multilateral Development Banks, Susan Park

Perspectives

The International Accountability Mechanisms of the Multilateral Development Banks provide important insights into how to hold intergovernmental organizations to account for their environmental and social impacts. This perspective identifies how the IAMs hold the Banks to account according to the six standard questions of accountability: who is accountable, to whom, for what are they accountable, and what are the standards, processes, and sanctions employed to demonstrate that the MDBs are accountable. This highlights what the IAMs can and cannot hold the MDBs to account for, and how this might shape further international grievance mechanisms for people seeking to defend their …

Destruction And Discrimination: How France Violated The Fundamental Rights Of Irregular Migrant Children In Mayotte, Molly E. Smith

American University International Law Review

Articles 2 and 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) guarantee freedom from status-based discrimination in any state action involving children and require states to properly consider children’s best interests. Despite France’s position as a UNCRC state party, its government denied access to housing and conducted improper detention and expulsion procedures based on the irregular migratory status of children in its small overseas department of Mayotte. This Comment argues that France therefore violated international human rights law under UNCRC Articles 2 and 3. Furthermore, this Comment recommends three possible action steps, particularly that France …

Equality And Human Rights: Confronting Racial Discrimination Introduction, Claudia Martin, Diego Rodríguez-Pinzón

American University International Law Review

Introduction of this special issue of the American University International Law Review and the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and acknowledgments.

Slavery Still Exists And May Have Produced Your Hairdryer, Katherine Pratty

American University International Law Review

In 2020, the International Labour Organization (“ILO”) estimated that forced labor generated $51 billion USD. Many profiteers are not individual bad actors, but rather, corporations. Recently it came to light that one corporate profiteer is the multinational technology manufacturing company, creator of the most awarded hair care device in 2021: Dyson Limited. While Dyson has received praise for its products, Malaysia charged Dyson’s main production factory, ATA IMS, with labor law violations. Shortly thereafter, in February 2022, UK law firm Leigh Day publicly announced its suit against Dyson on behalf of the workers in Dyson’s Malaysia factory.

This Comment analyzes …

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, …

Amnesty Laws In Modern Peace Agreements: An Analysis Of The Northern Ireland Legacy Act Under International Law, Mckenzie Gallagher

American University International Law Review

In September 2023, the United Kingdom passed the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act (“Legacy Act”), which grants amnesty to anyone who discloses information regarding murders, disappearances, or other unsolved crimes during the period known as “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland. The Legacy Act’s amnesty provision is expected to hinder the peace process in Northern Ireland and in turn, avert accountability for serious international crimes. This Comment considers to what extent the Legacy Act’s amnesty provision violates the Good Friday Agreement, the peace accord ending decades of conflict in Northern Ireland, the European Convention on Human Rights, the United …

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 …

The Exceptional Dead: Human Remains As Property, Non-Property, And Cultural Property In Armed Conflict, Ronald Alcala

American University Law Review

International humanitarian law mandates that the dead must be respected and protected in armed conflict. Among other things, parties to an armed conflict must ensure that the dead are treated with dignity and that their bodies are not despoiled, pillaged, mutilated, or otherwise maltreated. Not all human remains located on the battlefield, however, will have a direct nexus to the fighting. Some, like those of Prince Grigory Potemkin, a historical figure whose bones were seized by Russian forces from a Ukrainian church in 2022, might even pre-exist an ongoing conflict. Whether rules applicable to the dead apply to such remains …

Measuring The Unmeasurable: Foreign Aid And The Rule Of Law, Natallia Karkanitsa

Celebrating WCL Student Authors

This article provides an analysis of the international indexes and rankings that assess and compare the rule of law globally. It first starts with a discussion on the necessity of the international measurements of the rule of law in context of the foreign aid allocation to developing countries. Then, this article defines the rule of law and explains its relationship with governance and human rights. This article further reviews three rule of law indexes from the World Bank, the World Justice Project, and Bertelsmann Stiftung and Sustainable Development Solutions Network, using the position of Belarus in these measurements as a …

Developments At The United Nations International Law Commission On Sea-Level Rise, Claudio Grossman

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Sea-level rise is a pressing global challenge that could generate catastrophic consequences for humankind. The implications for States and people all over the world are grave, making rising sea-levels a matter of utmost urgency. This paper will examine some of the challenges presented by the phenomenon of sea-level rise in relation to international law with a focus on the analysis undertaken by the Study Group on Sea-Level Rise (“Study Group”) of the United Nations International Law Commission (“ILC”).

International Agreements Shaping Migration Solutions, Camilo Mantilla

Refugee Law & Migration Studies Brief

In an increasingly complex and interdependent state of international relations, international treaty negotiation, adoption, and implementation constitute an important component of global foreign policy and activity of states. International agreements embody sovereign and state-to-state relations and behavior in a global forum. International agreements manifest in ways that vary in form, subject, formalities, parties, scope, forum and many other elements.

Nefarious Notarios: Responding To Immigration Scams As White Collar Crime As A Matter Of Public Policy, Sarah Cossman

Refugee Law & Migration Studies Brief

Immigration scams targeting non-citizens can have devastating impacts on an individual's status and ability to remain in the United States legally. The phenomenon of notario fraud occurs when an individual misrepresents themself as a notario publico in an effort to defraud immigrants seeking legal services. In Spanish-speaking countries, a notario publico is a highly trained legal professional, akin to an attorney, who provides legal advice and drafts legal documents. The term is a false cognate. The English equivalent, a notary, is an individual with narrow witnessing duties and much less discretion. Problems arise when individuals obtain a notary public license …

Anti-Corruption’S Next Great Migration?: Strengthening U.S. Refugee And Asylum Law Under Existing U.S. Anti-Corruption Commitments, Bianka Ukleja

Refugee Law & Migration Studies Brief

First, this paper will describe the U.S.’s anticorruption commitments under international law. Next, it will present the general features of current U.S. refugee and asylum law, pertaining to particular social group (PSG) and political opinion claims. Last, this paper will discuss how the Biden Anti-Corruption Memo provides fertile ground for DHS to initiate an informal rulemaking process under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to engage civil society on how U.S. refugee and asylum laws can better support a pathway to citizenship for anti-corruption activists in pursuit of key U.S. foreign policy interests abroad and who find themselves unable to seek …