International Humanitarian Law Commons^™

A Mathematical Solution To The Sine Of Madness That Is Pharmaceutical Compulsory Licensing Under The Trips Agreement And The Doha Declaration, Ashley E. Sperbeck

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

A viable economic solution is necessary to address the shortcomings, textual ambiguities, and deficiencies engulfing international patent protection, leading to the inability of LDCs facing public health crises or national emergencies and lacking pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities to obtain generic pharmaceuticals. This Note poses a solution to this problem via another Amendment to the TRIPS Agreement and the Doha Declaration, which provides a mathematical framework to determine when and under what circumstances a compulsory license should be granted. Furthermore, this Note contemplates establishment of a WTO subcommittee to oversee this proposed solution and to ensure compliance with this Amendment. This concrete …

A Step Too Far: Matter Of A-B-, "Particular Social Group," And Chevron, Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer, Hillary Rich

Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy

Every day, thousands of Central American asylum seekers, many fleeing persecution from domestic abusers and gangs, attempt to seek refuge in the United States. To receive asylum, those escaping such violence typically must show membership in a "particulars social group." In Matter of A-B-, issued in June 2018, then-Attorney General Jefferson B. Sessions III attempted to destroy the viability of domestic-violence-related particular social groups altogether. As we demonstrate in this Article, this far-reaching decision should not receive Chevron deference from reviewing courts.

A-B- is concerning both for its potentially calamitous effect on individuals fleeing domestic and gang violence and for …

Sexual Exploitation And Abuse In Conflict: An International Crime?, Clare Brown

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

They Hate U.S. For Our War Crimes: An Argument For U.S. Ratification Of The Rome Statute In Light Of The Post-Human Rights Era, 53 Uic J. Marshall. L. Rev. 1011 (2019), Michael Drake

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Virtual Hatred: How Russia Tried To Start A Race War In The United States, William J. Aceves

Faculty Scholarship

During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Russian government engaged in a sophisticated strategy to influence the U.S. political system and manipulate American democracy. While most news reports have focused on the cyber-attacks aimed at Democratic Party leaders and possible contacts between Russian officials and the Trump presidential campaign, a more pernicious intervention took place. Throughout the campaign, Russian operatives created hundreds of fake personas on social media platforms and then posted thousands of advertisements and messages that sought to promote racial divisions in the United States. This was a coordinated propaganda effort. Some Facebook and Titter posts denounced the …

Lost To The Ages: International Patrimony And The Problem Faced By Foreign States In Establishing Ownership Of Looted Antiquities, William R. Ognibene

Brooklyn Law Review

Centuries ago, it was a widespread practice to travel the world and return with souvenirs from ancient civilizations. As time advanced, national patrimony laws and export restrictions prohibited this practice; but the art market for antiquities continued to grow. The great value proscribed to these objects of cultural heritage created an opportunity for years of illicit looting, smuggling, and sales. Finally, an international solution was deemed necessary, culminating in the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. But what of the works that had been stolen …

Violencia De Género, Internet Y El Derecho A La Libertad De Expresón: Un Nuevo Desafío Para El Derecho Internacional De Los Derechos Humanos, Andrea Pietrafesa

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Striking A Grotian Moment: How The Syria Airstrikes Changed International Law Relating To Humanitarian Interventions, Michael P. Scharf

Faculty Publications

In the years since the 1999 NATO airstrikes on Serbia to prevent ethnic cleansing of the Kosovar Albanians, international law has been moving in fits and starts toward recognition of a limited right of humanitarian intervention in the absence of Security Council approval. But all the ingredients necessary for the crystallization of customary international law were not present until the April 14, 2018 U.S./French/U.K. airstrikes on Syrian chemical weapons facilities. This article examines the unique features of the April 2018 airstrikes – the context of a crisis of historic proportions, the focus on preventing the use of chemical weapons, the …

The Legal Architecture Of United Nations Peacekeeping: A Case Study Of Unifil, Layan Charara

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note explores the ways UNIFIL is a unique peacekeeping force that can still teach broader lessons about UN peacekeeping It is organized into four parts: Part I provides a contour of UN peacekeeping operations; Part II chronicles the history of UNIFIL; Part III analyzes the current legal regime with respect to UN peacekeeping; and Part IV surveys solutions offered in the past and recommends more apposite courses of action to strengthen the legal recourse available to peacekeepers and their families.

The Trump Administration And The International Criminal Court: A Misguided New Policy, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In a recent speech, National Security Advisor John Bolton delivered remarks on "Protecting American Constitutionalism and Sovereignty from International Threats." In his remarks, Bolton announced a new American policy vis-a-vis the International Criminal Court (ICC or Court). According to Bolton, the ICC "has been ineffective, unaccountable, and indeed, outright dangerous." While Bolton and others in the Trump Administration are at liberty to craft new policies, it is important that such policies be based on accurate facts and an accurate understanding of the law.

This Article highlights factual errors from Bolton's remarks and criticizes some of his arguments as misguided and …

Talking Foreign Policy: North Korea Summit, Milena Sterio, Shannon French, Tim Webster, Paul R. Williams, Michael P. Scharf

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Talking Foreign Policy is a one-hour radio program, hosted by the Dean of Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Michael Scharf, in which experts discuss important foreign policy issues.The purpose of the radio show is to cover some of the most salient foreign policy topics and discuss them in a way that can make it easier for listeners to grasp.

Talking Foreign Policy is recorded in the WCPN 90.3 Ideastream studio, Cleveland's NPR affiliate. Michael Scharf is joined each session with a few expert colleagues known for their ability to discuss complex topics in an easy-to-digest manner:

• The ethicist: …

Talking Foreign Policy: Responding To Rogue States, Milena Sterio, Todd F. Buchwald, James Johnson, Michael P. Scharf, Paul R. Williams

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Talking Foreign Policy is a one-hour radio program, hosted by the Dean of Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Michael Scharf, in which experts discuss important foreign policy issues.The purpose of the radio show is to cover some of the most salient foreign policy topics and discuss them in a way that can make it easier for listeners to grasp.

Talking Foreign Policy is recorded in the WCPN 90.3 Ideastream studio, Cleveland's NPR affiliate. Michael Scharf is joined each session with a few expert colleagues known for their ability to discuss complex topics in an easy-to-digest manner:

• The ambassador: …

The Human Rights Movement And The Prevention Of Evil: The Need To Look Inward As Well As Out, Jeffrey A. Brauch

Catholic University Law Review

The modern human rights movement began as a response to great evil perpetrated by individuals and nations against others during and preceding World War II. The movement has been dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals by confronting evil and holding nations accountable should efforts to prevent it fail.

This article contends that while the human rights movement is good at confronting evil “out there,” it has failed in important ways to recognize flaws within itself. In particular, it displays a hubris that shows itself in two ways. First, the movement has embraced a utopian expansion of rights to be …

What Is Puerto Rico?, Samuel Issacharoff, Alexandra Bursak, Russell Rennie, Alec Webley

Indiana Law Journal

Puerto Rico is suffering through multiple crises. Two are obvious: a financial crisis triggered by the island’s public debts and the humanitarian crisis brought on by Hurricane Maria. One is not: the island’s ongoing crisis of constitutional identity. Like the hurricane, this crisis came from outside the island. Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Executive Branch have each moved in the last twenty years to undermine the “inventive statesmanship” that allowed for Puerto Rico’s self-government with minimal interference from a federal government in which the people of Puerto Rico had, and have, no representation. From the point of view …

Submission To The United Nations Universal Periodic Review Of Yemen, Mwatana Organization For Human Rights, Human Rights Clinic, Cairo Institute For Human Rights Studies, International Federation For Human Rights (Fidh), Gulf Centre For Human Rights (Gchr)

Human Rights Institute

Mwatana for Human Rights (Mwatana), the Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic (the clinic), Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) submit this report to inform the examination of Yemen during its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This submission focuses on international human rights and humanitarian law violations by the Government of Yemen and by the armed group Ansar Allah (the Houthis).

Bridging The Information Gap: How Access To Land Contracts Can Serve Community Rights, Lara Wallis, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Land contracts (also known as investor-state contracts, or concession agreements) show what commitments a forestry, farming or renewable energy company has made and what the government has said the company can do on the land. These promises define the positive and harmful effects the company’s project could have on community members’ livelihoods and human rights, and on the environment.

Accessing land contracts is a crucial strategy for local organizations. This briefing note explains how local organizations can use land contracts and the Open Land Contracts repository (OpenLandContracts.org) to help communities to:

• Understand company and government obligations related to a company …

Barriers To Due Process For Indigent Asylum Seekers In Immigration Detention, Cindy S. Woods

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

Evolving Conceptions Of Sovereignty As Applied To Membership In International Organizations, Luke C. Radice

CMC Senior Theses

In the current international climate, both nations and individuals increasingly question both the validity and necessity of international organizations. This paper seeks to answer some of those questions, and to determine why countries choose to surrender significant portions of the national power that they are afforded under traditional perceptions of “Westphalian sovereignty”. This question is answered through an analysis of historical political thought on the concept of Sovereignty, then is applied to two case studies: the United Nations and the European Union, in which the benefits and downsides of surrendering sovereignty are discussed. Ultimately, this thesis concludes that the concept …

Withholding Protection, Lindsay M. Harris

Journal Articles

In June 2018, President Trump wrote a pair of tweets en route to his golf course, calling for “no Judges or Court Cases” at our border and swift deportation of immigrants, essentially without due process. While immigrant advocates were quick to explain the myriad constitutional problems with this proposal, elements of Trump’s dream are already a reality. This Article reveals how a single Customs and Border Protection officer can short-circuit the checks and balances prescribed by U.S. and international law to protect refugees from being returned to harm, and cast a long shadow over a future, meritorious asylum claim. In …

Proceedings Of The Thirteenth International Humanitarian Law Roundtable, Year In Review Lecture, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

What I think I’d like to do is tell three stories of three things that did happen in international criminal justice over the past year, and use my time as a vehicle and doorway to think about law and also how law fits in life. One of the themes that I want to evoke through these stories is what I felt is an important vibe in international criminal law enforcement this past year. And it’s the theme of time and age and coming of age.

Call For Proposals 2019: The Social Practice Of Human Rights, University Of Dayton

Content presented at the Social Practice of Human Rights Conference

2019 marks 30 years since the end of the Cold War and the beginning of an era pregnant with promise and potential for human rights, democracy, and global governance.

Yet today, global capitalism drives widening and deepening inequalities. Its dependence on natural resource extraction and exploitation is hastening ecological collapse. Authoritarianism and populism have risen from the rubble of liberalism’s inability to deliver on its pledges. Technology, once promoted as a panacea for transnational boundary breaking and democratization, further empowers the powerful to reshape politics and upend notions of privacy, social life, information, employment, and even biology.

Critics have questioned …

It Takes A Village: An Analysis Of Multilateralism And The Legal Mechanisms Designed To Prevent Violence Against Women, Madison Ivey

Scripps Senior Theses

Treaties and international organizations work together to create a global environment that protects the rights of a person and actively promotes the well-being of society. However, they do not necessarily guarantee the rights of everyone. Since women are not explicitly named in human rights documents, they are often not granted equal human rights. Therefore, it takes more than just international legal instruments to guarantee women's rights as human rights. A combination of civil society (NGOs), International organizations (IOs), and domestic government creates a perfect coalition to beat the barriers that must be overcome to fully protect women from violence.

Suing Russia: How Americans Can Fight Back Against Russian Intervention In American Politics, William J. Aceves

Faculty Scholarship

The evidence of Russian intervention in American politics is overwhelming. In the midst of the 2016 US presidential campaign, a growing number of inflammatory social media posts addressing various political topics emerged on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. These posts supported the candidacy of Donald Trump, condemned the influx of refugees and migrants, and promoted racial divisions in the United States. Through clicks, likes, shares, and retweets, these messages reached millions of Americans. But, these messages did not originate in the United States; they were drafted and disseminated through inauthentic social media accounts created and controlled by the Internet Research Agency, …

Saving Human Rights From Human Rights Law, John Tasioulas

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article advances the thesis that international human rights law (IHRL) has strayed from its formative purpose. This purpose, as formulated by the Formative Aim Thesis (FAT), is to give expression and effect to an underlying morality of human rights, insofar as it is appropriate to do so, through the medium of individual legal rights ascribed to all human beings. This Article elaborates on two main ways in which IHRL has deviated from the FAT: (1) a tendency to ignore the vital distinction between human rights (which have associated obligations) and universal human interests or values more generally; and (2) …

Doors To Safety: Exit West, Refugee Resettlement, And The Right To Asylum, Betsy L. Fisher

Michigan Law Review

Review of Mohsin Hamid's Exit West.

Academy On Human Rights And Humanitarian Law Articles And Essays On Gender Violence And International Human Rights: Introduction, Claudia Martin, Diego Rodriguez-Pinzon

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

We are delighted to present this year's publication of the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, which includes the three best essays in English and in Spanish recognized in the 2018 Human Rights Essay Award competition. It is satisfying to think that this competition allowed a number of participants an opportunity to expound their thoughts on so many important topics and areas of the world. We hope these participants are able to use their articles as mechanisms for change.

Peacekeeping Operations In West Africa: Mechanisms Of Cooperation Between The United Nations And Ecowas With The Case Studies Concerning The Crises In Liberia And The Gambia, Serigne Cheikh Modou Kara Cisse

Dissertations and Theses

The African continent has significantly suffered from a great number of civil wars and armed conflicts since the beginning of the independence era in late 1960s. On May 28, 1975, the creation of a regional The African continent has significantly suffered from a great number of civil wars and armed conflicts since organization in West Africa called the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) took place. The intent was to achieve "collective self-sufficiency" for its member states by building a full economic and trading union. In the late 1990s, the maintenance of peace and security in the region was …

Countering Nationalist Oligarchy, Ganesh Sitaraman

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The challenge we face today is not one of authoritarianism, as so many seem inclined to believe, but of nationalist oligarchy. This form of government feeds populism to the people, delivers special privileges to the rich and well-connected, and rigs politics to sustain its regime.

Nationalist oligarchy is an existential threat to American democracy. The countries already under its thrall steal technology and use economic power as political leverage. Some of them are actively trying to undermine democracy, through cyber attacks, hacking, and social media disinformation. And they spread bribery and corruption around the world—deepening inequality and threatening to turn …

Armed Conflict At The Threshold, Deborah Pearlstein

Articles

Seventeen years into the United States’ engagement in what America has controversially understood as a global, non-international armed conflict against a shifting set of terrorist groups, a growing array of scholars has called for a reassessment of the significance of the “armed conflict” classification under international humanitarian law (IHL). The existence of an “armed conflict” has long been understood as a proxy on/off switch of inescapable importance. When an “armed conflict” exists, lethal targeting—without regard to particular self-defensive need or immediacy of threat—is permitted as a first resort. When an “armed conflict” does not exist, it is not. Challenging the …

The United Nations Human Rights Council: Is The United States Right To Leave This Club?, Sarah Joseph, Eleanor Jenkin

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.