International Humanitarian Law Commons^™

The Inter-American Court Of Human Rights: Emerging Patterns In Judgment Compliance, Shelom Velasco

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (ICHR) is one of the central institutions promoting adherence to fundamental human right norms in the Americas, yet States fully comply with only 5% of its judgments. This low rate of compliance threatens the Court’s effectiveness and undermines the legitimacy of this regional human rights system. This dissertation analyzes the problem of noncompliance with ICHR judgments. Furthermore, it connects the problem of noncompliance and existing explanations in the ICHR with broader theories from the study of international relations in order to ground this regional case study in the larger debates about international legal norms …

Rape And Sexual Violence: Questionable Inevitability And Moral Responsibility In Armed Conflict, Katherine W. Bogen

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

Wartime sexual violence is a critical human rights issue that usurps the autonomy of its victims as well as their physical and psychological safety. It occurs in both ethnic and non-ethnic wars, across geographic regions, against both men and women, and regardless of the “official” position of commanders, states, and armed groups on the use of rape as tactic of war. This problem is current, pervasive, and global in spite of the status of wartime sexual violence perpetration as a crime against humanity and the capacity of the international criminal court to indict offenders. Though some scholars have argued that …

Foreign Terrorist Fighters In Syria: Challenges Of The “Sending” State, Marten Zwanenburg

International Law Studies

This article discusses domestic measures taken by the Netherlands to combat the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters, predominantly in the context of the Syrian conflict. It discusses criminal prosecution, asset freezes, deprivation of nationality and revocation of travel documents. The author concludes that in each of these fields, there is a close relationship between international law and national law.

Discussion On The Control And Sale Of Arms, Henry C. Lauerman, Robert E. Clute

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

"Uniting For Peace" And Humanitarian Intervention: The Authorising Function Of The U.N. General Assembly, Michael Ramsden

Washington International Law Journal

Although the end of the Cold War has seen the functional expansion of the United Nations Security Council, concerns still remain over its legitimacy, driven in part by its failure to address serious and persistent human rights abuses. While this has resurrected arguments in favour of the doctrine of humanitarian intervention outside the U.N. Charter framework, little attention has been paid to how the U.N. General Assembly may authorise such enforcement action under a U.N. mandate through the invocation of the Uniting for Peace mechanism. Some dismiss Uniting for Peace as little more than a relic of the Cold War, …

Monitoring And Evaluation Of International Counter-Trafficking Programs: Definitions, Challenges, And A Way Forward, Norman L. Greene

Journal of International and Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Custom's Method And Process: Lessons From Humanitarian Law, Monica Hakimi

Book Chapters

A central question in the literature on customary international law (CIL) goes to method: what is the proper method for "finding" CIL - that is, for determining that particular norms qualify as ClL? The traditional method is to identify a widespread state practice, plus evidence that states believe that the practice reflects the law (opinio juris). That method has long been criticized as incoherent, unworkable, and out of touch with modern sensibilities. Thus, much of the CIL literature addresses its perceived problems. The principal goals of this literature are to help resolve whether norms that are claimed to be CIL …

Stuck In The Pipeline: An Analysis Of The Hague Convention And Its Effects On Those In The Process Of International Adoptions, Sarah M. Baird

Journal of International and Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Complementarity As Politics, Laura Clarke

Journal of International and Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Restoring Separation Of Powers In Foreign Affairs, Martin S. Flaherty

Journal of International and Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Corporate Agricultural Investment And The Right To Food: Addressing Disparate Protections And Promoting Rights-Consistent Outcomes, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Anna Bulman

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Over the past decade, the world has witnessed heightened corporate interest in large-scale land-based agricultural investment. While such investments can potentially have positive effects for local communities, they also can have wide-ranging negative impacts on human rights, including through forced displacement and the loss of livelihoods. This Article examines the impact of large-scale corporate agricultural investment on the right to food, as well as on human rights more generally. It considers the protections offered by the investment and human rights legal regimes to both corporations and individuals, including recent international developments relating to transnational corporate accountability and efforts to integrate …

El Salvador Must End Immunity For Wartime Crimes, Lauren Carasik

Media Presence

No abstract provided.

The Outsized Costs Of Investor–State Dispute Settlement, Lise Johnson, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The negotiation of several mega-treaties in 2015, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), and other regional agreements, has generated substantial public discussion about the protections and privileges afforded to multinational enterprises through the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism in these treaties. ISDS has increasingly raised concerns among certain governments and civil society groups, particularly as a growing number of ISDS cases involve investors challenging a range of governmental measures taken in good faith and in the public interest, including measures related to environmental protection, public health …

The Dod Law Of War Manual And Its Critics: Some Observations, Charles J. Dunlap Jr.

International Law Studies

The U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) new Law of War Manual has generated serious debate about its treatment of a variety of issues including human shields, the status of journalists, cyber operations, the precautions to be taken prior to attacks and even the role of honor in war. Although this article does not purport to be a comprehensive response to every critique of the Manual and, indeed, cites opportunities for its improvement, it nevertheless concludes that on balance the Manual provides an excellent, comprehensive and much-needed statement of DoD’s view of the lex lata of the law of war.

The Combatant’S Stance: Autonomous Weapons On The Battlefield, Jens David Ohlin

International Law Studies

Do Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS) qualify as moral or rational agents? This paper argues that combatants on the battlefield are required by the demands of behavior interpretation to approach a sophisticated AWS with the “Combatant’s Stance”—the ascription of mental states required to understand the system’s strategic behavior on the battlefield. However, the fact that an AWS must be engaged with the combatant’s stance does not entail that other persons are relieved of criminal or moral responsibility for war crimes committed by autonomous weapons. This article argues that military commanders can and should be held responsible for perpetrating war crimes through …

Access To Essential Medicines In African Countries: An Introduction, Peter G. Danchin, Diane Hoffmann

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Shibboleth Of Discretion: The Discretion, Identity, And Persecution Paradigm In American And Australian Lgbt Asylum Claims, Heather Kolinsky

Scholarly Articles

While the High Court in Australia has made it clear that discretion is not to be considered when determining if an applicant may avoid persecution upon returning home, there are concerns that discretion persists in the decision-making process with respect to discrediting identity claims. In addition, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom handed down a retooled formulation of discretion, which once again created subcategories of applicants and suggested discretion is an appropriate consideration so long as it is not exercised out of a fear of persecution. This discussion will focus on a comparison of the evolution of LGBT asylum …

Transitional Justice Moments, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

Human rights are admittedly abstract but remain deeply personal. Often, however, it is easier for transitional justice to grapple with abstracted rights than it is to come to terms with actual human beings with all our indecision, nuance, resilience and unpredictability. A transitional justice brimming with abstractions and guidelines but that condescends flesh-and-blood beings quickly becomes ineffective and dehumanized. The vacillations of the human condition may well exasperate and confound, but they may also surprise and please. They may demonstrate growth and reveal great beauty. Senegalese writer Mariama Ba, in So Long a Letter, recounts how Ramatoulaye responds to …

Fortifying The Rights Of Unauthorized Immigrant Workers: Why Employee-Focused Incentives Under The Nlra Would Help End The Cycle Of Labor Rights Abuse, Caitlin E. Delaney

Journal of Law and Policy

Over the past several decades, there has been an unmistakable tension between labor law and immigration law in the United States. That tension, addressed by the Supreme Court most recently in 2001, still exists for unauthorized immigrant workers who wish to assert their labor rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). While the Obama Administration has made significant strides in easing the concerns that unauthorized immigrant workers may have before filing an NLRA claim, the unavailability of the back pay remedy and the uncertainty of protection from immigration authorities leave little incentive for such workers to assert their labor …

Brief Of Amicus Curiae The John Marshall Law School International Human Rights Clinic In Support Of Plaintiff - Appellant And Urging Reversal, Ahmed Salem Bin Ali Jaber, Et Al V. Usa, Et Al, Docket No. 16-05093 (D.C. Cir. 2016), Steven D. Schwinn, John Marshall Law School International Human Rights Clinic

Court Documents and Proposed Legislation

No abstract provided.

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.

Drawing Lines Among The Persecuted, Kate Evans

Faculty Scholarship

Should a victim of persecution be denied protection in the United States if his persecutors forced him to participate in their campaign of terror? In its 2009 decision, Negusie v. Holder, the Supreme Court recognized the “difficult line drawing problems” presented by this question, but failed to offer concrete guidance to the lower courts or the executive agencies charged with drawing those lines. Circuit courts employ a variety of standards, leaving the law in disarray.

This Article offers original historical research to argue that asylum seekers charged with participating in persecution should be afforded a duress defense. It traces the …

The Dod Law Of War Manual And Its Critics: Some Observations, Charles J. Dunlap Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

The U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) new Law of War Manual has generated serious debate about its treatment of a variety of issues including human shields, the status of journalists, cyber operations, the precautions to be taken prior to attacks and even the role of honor in war. Although this article does not purport to be a comprehensive response to every critique of the Manual and, indeed, cites opportunities for its improvement, it nevertheless concludes that on balance the Manual provides an excellent, comprehensive and much-needed statement of DoD’s view of the lex lata of the law of war.

How International Law Can Eradicate Torture: A Response To Cynics, Juan E. Mendez

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

The United Nations: The Syrian Refugee Crisis, Zahra R. Syed

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The main objective of this research paper is to analyze the international effects the Syrian Conflict has had to the global community. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has declared this conflict to be the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. Millions of Syrians have fled their home country to avoid unjust persecution and are looking to not only neighboring countries, but the European Union for assistance in resettlement.

Since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011, more than 220,000 people have been massacred, leaving fifty percent of the population in unrest due to home displacement. According …

Virtual Violence - Disruptive Cyberspace Operations As "Attacks" Under International Humanitarian Law, Ido Kilovaty

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Power outages, manipulations of data, and interruptions of Internet access are all possible effects of cyber operations. Unfortunately, recent efforts to address and regulate cyberspace operations under international law often emphasize the uncommon, though severe, cyber-attacks that cause deaths, injuries, or physical destruction. This paper deals with cyber operations during armed conflicts that cause major disruption or interruption effects – as opposed to deaths, injuries, or physical destruction. The purpose of this paper is to explore the consequences of these cyber operations that cause major disruption or interruption effects, and to argue that they might still constitute “acts of violence,” …

“Modern Day Slavery”- Implications Of A Label, Mary Graw Leary

Scholarly Articles

Over the last decades much progress has been made in the fight against human trafficking. As with any social movement, divisions exists among activists and scholars on the most effective direction to execute social change. Often, these focus on language. One such critical discussion is whether it is appropriate to label human trafficking “Modern Day Slavery.” Although the term has existed for several years, the analogy gained a more full acceptance with its use by President Obama in September 2012 when he described “the injustice, the outrage, of human trafficking which must be called by its true name -- modern …

Accountability And Autonomous Weapons: Much Ado About Nothing?, Charles J. Dunlap Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

This purpose of this essay is to critique a 2015 report entitled Mind the Gap: The Lack of Accountability for Killer Robots by Human Rights Watch (HRW) produced with the assistance of the Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC). The HRW/IHRC paper attempted to establish that autonomous weapons should be banned because, they claim, “neither criminal law nor civil law guarantees adequate accountability for individuals directly or indirectly involved in the use of fully autonomous systems.” Contrary to HRW/IHRC assertions, this article maintains that although no one can “guarantee” accountability, there are sufficient legal tools to do so …

International Human Rights, Noor Ahmad, Del Atwood, Jeffrey L. Bleich, Cindy Galway Buys, Nicholas J. Leddy

The International Lawyer

No abstract provided.

From Surviving To Thriving? An Investigation Of Asylee Integration In The United States, Lindsay M. Harris

Journal Articles

This article assesses the efficacy of the legal framework for asylees, individuals granted refugee status within the United States, through an examination of the human outcomes following the grant of asylum. To understand how the asylee benefits system actually functions, I conducted more than fifty field interviews with advocates, service providers, and government officials in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. This research fills a conspicuous gap in our understanding of what happens after the grant of asylum and reveals a number of insights about the ways in which the prevailing laws, policies, and programs …