International Law Commons^™

The North American Agreement On Labor Cooperation: A New Frontier In North American Labor Relations, Leonard Bierman, Rafael Gely

Connecticut Journal of International Law

During the debate leading to the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement ("NAFTA"),' a great deal of concern focused on the effect that a trade agreement such as the NAFTA might have on workers' rights.2 As a condition for the ratification of the NAFTA, Congress provided that the treaty would not "enter into force until the three countries enact their own national agreement on labor cooperation."3 In response to this concern, the three signatory countries negotiated the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation ("NAALC" or "Labor Agreement"). 4 The NAALC establishes a formal and elaborate procedure to settle …

The Nafta Labor Accord In Canada: Experience, Prospects, And Alternatives, Ian Robinson

Connecticut Journal of International Law

The labour "side-deal" (the "Labour Accord)1 to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)2 has an important federalist dimension, found in Annex 46, that applies only to Canada. The scheme outlined in this Annex means that unless the three largest provincial governments--Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia-choose to participate, the Accord will apply to only a small fraction of the Canadian workforce. The first section of this paper explains how this federal dimension works, and describes which portions of the Canadian workforce are "covered" by the Accord under various scenarios. The second section considers the pros and cons of "opting into" …

The Promotion Of International Labor Standards And Nafta: Retrospect And Prospects, Jorge F. Perez-Lopez

Connecticut Journal of International Law

The purpose of this paper is to examine the promotion of international labor standards by the United States before and after the move toward hemispheric economic integration epitomized by the NAFTA, a process that is likely to accelerate as a result of the agreements reached by hemispheric leaders during the December 1994 Summit of the Americas. The paper is divided into three parts. Part I reviews efforts on the part of the United States to promote international labor standards through trade and economic legislation. Part II focuses on the NAALC as an instrument to promote labor standards in North America. …

Nafta's North American Agreement On Labor Cooperation: The Present And The Future, Betty Southard Murphy

Connecticut Journal of International Law

The North American Free Trade Agreement ("NAFTA") and its companion treaty, the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation ("NAALC") increased trade among the signatories. The issue now is whether NAFTA and the side Agreement will or should expand to a hemisphere-wide free trade zone in the Americas. The second issue is whether the failure to include any worker rights provision in the World Trade Organization weakened the position of the United States in linking special trade benefits to internationally recognized worker rights such as those set forth in the NAALC.

The Treatment Of Labor And Environmental Issues In Future Western Hemisphere Trade Liberalization Efforts, Robert F. Housman

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Part I of this article provides an overview of the accession provisions of the relevant NAFTA package agreements, the legal backdrop for this debate. Part II provides a brief description of how the NAFTA package deals with labor and environmental issues, and discusses the debate over how these issues should be handled in future hemispheric trade liberalization efforts. Part III lays out the three general approaches that have been proposed for dealing with these issues: the NAFTA Package Approach,'0 the NAFTA Clean Approach," and the NAFTA Plus Approach. 2 This Part explains the pros and cons of each of these …

Legal Solutions Vs. Environmental Realities: The Case Of The United States-Mexico Border Region, Irasema Coronado

Connecticut Journal of International Law

This paper will address how environmental realities defy centralized government efforts which are legalistic in nature in this region, especially in the community of Ambos Nogales. The paper also addresses how the inconsistencies found in legal solutions, agreements such as NAFTA, plans elaborated by the EPA and a statute passed by the State of Arizona, The Arizona Groundwater Management Act, 2 affect this binational community. The environmental realities of the border environment require immediate and binational attention at the local government and grass root level in order to be effective. The twin cities of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, known …

Symposium: Nafta At Age One: A Blueprint For Hemispheric Integration?

Connecticut Journal of International Law

On March 16-17, 1995, the University of Connecticut School of Law, the Connecticut Journal of International Law, and the University of Puerto Rico co-sponsored a symposium entitled NAFTA at Age One: A Blueprint for Hemispheric Integration? The Journal is proud to publish many of the papers that were presented at this exciting event. Scheduling difficulties prevented the inclusion of several others, but we plan to publish them in future issues of the Journal.

Addressing Environmental Concerns Regarding Chilean Accession To Nafta, Joseph G. Block, Andrew R. Herrup

Connecticut Journal of International Law

This Article first addresses the differing Democratic and Republican approaches to trade and the environment. The Article traces the history and support for such positions and identifies their significance for the Chilean negotiations. The Article reviews how such positions were addressed in the NAFTA negotiations and in the debate concerning the Clinton Administration's proposal for extension of fast-track negotiating authority, 2 which held up submission of the GATT implementing legislation for several months and ultimately failed. The Article asserts that both sides focus too heavily on ideological issues without addressing the current realities of trade negotiations. Both sides need to …

Receiving The International, David Kennedy

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Let me begin by thanking the University of Connecticut School of Law for the honor to deliver the first Elihu Burritt Lecture in International Law. I would like to use this opportunity to reflect on a commonplace in current discussions about government, politics and law: namely, that things are becoming more and more international in ways that will change both public law and political culture. For some, this internationalization is exciting: new opportunities, new technologies, an escape from all the rigidities and disappointments of local politics. Others see internationalization more as something to be gotten used to; a necessary, if …

Apostasy And Blasphemy In Pakistan, David F. Forte

Connecticut Journal of International Law

This article analyzes how the law against blasphemy has become a weapon against religious minorities in Pakistan. It begins with a brief overview of the constitutional struggle between the forces for religious tolerance and that element of Pakistani society seeking a particularized Islamization of Pakistan's law and culture. The second section of the article explains the manner in which classical Islamic law (the Shari'a) treated apostasy and blasphemy, and how it permitted private acts of religious vengeance to be immune from legal liability. In the final section, I describe how the current law on. blasphemy imposes a harsh regime on …

The United States' 1993 Family And Medical Leave Act: How Does It Compare With Work Leave Laws In European Countries?, Carol Daugherty Rasnic

Connecticut Journal of International Law

The concept of guaranteed leave from work for family needs and other personal duties has long been one of the basic assumed rights in most European countries. Indeed, for those member nations of the European Community,' compliance with Community law generally includes the enactment and enforcement by members of maternity leave statutes.2 In contrast, until 1993 the United States and South Africa were unique among industrialized countries as being the only such nations without a federal maternity or parental leave policy. 3 The passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 ("FMLA"),4 the first bill signed into law …

Towards International Norms On Linguistic Rights: The Russian-Romanian Controversy In Moldova, John Quigley

Connecticut Journal of International Law

The right to use one's native language might seem so basic as to be uncontroversial. There is little that is more essential to the human personality than self-expression in the language an individual knows best. One who is impeded in communication ability for linguistic reasons is unable to participate fully in society and to protect him or herself from violations of civil rights. If the world were composed of authentic nation states, and if foreigners did not enter as immigrants, there would be little difficulty over language use. However, in many states ethnic minorities speak languages different from that of …

Does The United Nations' Use Of Collective Sanctions To Protect Human Rights Violate Its Own Human Rights Standards?, Joy K. Fausey

Connecticut Journal of International Law

The imposition of collective sanctions' is a tool used increasingly by the United Nations (U.N.) in response to violations of international human rights law.' Sanctions are intended to alter the policies of the government of a target nation and/or to exact a punishment for human rights violations.4 The recent increase in use of collective sanctions stems in large part from the perception of this technique as a more moderate approach, falling between the extremes of diplomacy and military intervention.

This Comment investigates whether the imposition of collective sanctions by the U.N. to punish or alter the behavior of a target …

The Convention On International Trade In Endangered Species: An Answer To The Call Of The Wild?, Michelle Ann Peters

Connecticut Journal of International Law

This Comment will explore the adequacy of international legal protection of the endangered chimpanzee and gorilla. Following an introduction to the sociobiological parallels between humans and apes, Part I analyzes the need for protection of the gorilla and chimpanzee. Part II explains the enforcement mechanisms used by the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora2 ("CITES") to regulate wildlife trade. The discussion will address CITES' administrative structure, categorization by a three-tiered appendix system established to control species-specific trade levels on the basis of an animal's danger of extinction, and permit requiremetits and enforcement provisions. …

The Future Of The Right To Self-Determination, Eric Kolodner

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Self-determination has recently assumed a salience within the international arena: the dissolution of the Soviet Union; the bloody conflict in former Yugoslavia; the attempted secession of Quebec from Canada; the apparent settlement between Eritrea and Ethiopia; the partition of Czechoslovakia; and the continued warfare in Sri Lanka have all implicitly or explicitly raised questions of self-determination.' That is, in each of these cases, communities have demanded a change in their international identities and greater control over their everyday social, economic, and political lives.

Since the end of World War I, the international community has actively emphasized principles of self-determination. "Perhaps …

Tax Harmonization And Coordination In Europe And America, Stephen G. Utz

Connecticut Journal of International Law

This paper describes the problems of tax design that arise because of global economic integration, examines the means already developed for dealing with these problems, including the chaotic federal approach to taxation that is characteristic of the United States, and looks ahead to new but as yet untried solutions, especially those pioneered by the European Union. Part II provides a brief explanation of the effect of global economic integration on the structure and efficacy of nationally based tax systems. Part III offers an account of the source of problems, both in principle and in practical application, that international tax policy …

Balancing National And European Competence In Environmental Law, Marcel M.T.A. Brus, Rex R. Raimond, Thijs G. Drupsteen

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Over the last few decades the protection of the environment has become an issue of great concern. As a result, this growing awareness of environmental problems has led to a development of environmental law at a local, regional, national, and international level. At every level the responsible authorities have tried to formulate adequate answers to the challenges posed by continuing environmental degradation.

Not always is it simple to determine at which level problems can be addressed most efficiently. In particular in a situation in which boundaries have gradually been taken away, it is sometimes difficult to find the best balance …

Merger Control In The European Community, Mario Siragusa

Connecticut Journal of International Law

European economic integration is a dynamic process involving a continuous balancing of national and Community interests in an attempt to create a single European market. The Merger Regulation seeks to ensure control at the European level of concentrations with a Community dimension, while leaving the review of purely national mergers to national authorities. Implementation of the Regulation by the Commission has proved thus far a success. However, the jurisdictional dividing line of the Regulation - a political compromise - though simple, is crude, and leaves many mergers with implications in more than one Member State not covered by the Regulation. …

Recent United States Department Of Justice Actions In The Electric Utility Industry, Jade Alice Eaton

Connecticut Journal of International Law

I am pleased to participate in this program regarding the Electric Industry in the European Community and the United States. I will review with you today a number of actions undertaken by the United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division aimed at preserving and promoting competition in the electric industry as it is evolving in the United States.' First, I will explain the two ways the Department fulfills its duties with regard to the regulated electric industry. Second, I will discuss four specific filings we have made before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

A Federal Form Of Electric Power Generation, Vicky A. Bailey

Connecticut Journal of International Law

In 1791, the U.S. Constitution was amended to include the Bill of Rights.' The Tenth Amendment of the Bill of Rights said that, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are preserved to the States respectively, or to the people."2 Thus the U.S. federal system of government was created such that the federal government in Washington, D.C. is vested with enormous powers under the Constitution, yet the individual states are vested with sometimes equally formidable authority not expressly found in the Constitution. This federal system of splitting authority between …

The Development Of A Competitive Internal Energy Market In The European Community, Rudiger Dohms

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Ever since its entry into force on January 1, 1958, the most fundamental objective of the Treaty on the European Economic Community (EEC Treaty) has been the establishment of a common market. This project of economic integration involved, inter alia, the realization of the socalled four basic freedoms, i.e. the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital between the Member States of the Community, the institution of a system ensuring that competition in the common market is not distorted as well as the approximation of the laws of Member States to the extent required for the proper functioning of …

Toward Federal/State Regulatory Harmony: Perspective Of A State Regulator, Ronald E. Russell

Connecticut Journal of International Law

The topic of our panel this morning is, "Balancing Harmonization and State Sovereignty." Therefore, I decided that the best use of my time would be to describe, from a state perspective, a few of the contentious issues that we are facing as the U.S. electric industry changes. I will conclude by describing what the states are doing, under the auspices of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), to try to resolve these issues amicably with federal regulators - primarily the FERC

Observations On Integration Of Corporation And Individual Income Taxes Within The European Community, Kees Van Raad

Connecticut Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Coordination Of Sales Taxes In Federal Countries And Common Markets, Sijbren Cnossen

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Retail sales taxes (RSTs) and value-added taxes (VATs), if properly coordinated, are eminently suitable for being administered by middle-level governments, in either single or common markets. The experience in the United States and the European Union attests to this fact. In the United States, forty-five states and the District of Columbia have their own RST. Although the kind of tax is the same, tax bases and rates differ widely from one state to another. Interstate cooperation is required to collect the tax on out-of-state purchases. In the European Union, all member states have a VAT. The tax base is largely …

Environmental Law In The United States' Federal System, Kurt A. Strasser

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Modem environmental protection law in the United States, mostly created since 1970, has been introduced into a mature federal system in which the principal legal issues of allocation of governmental power had already been resolved. Thus, with some exceptions, most of the federalism legal issues presented by environmental law have involved application of known principles in a new factual context, rather than the working out of new basic principles. While some legal issues remain, federalism issues in U.S. environmental law are much more concerned with political issues and effective program implementation than with strictly legal determinations of the allocation of …

The Limitations To The Implementation Of A Uniform Environmental Policy In The European Union, Isabelle Martin

Connecticut Journal of International Law

This article focuses on the particular characteristics of the European Community legal and administrative system which prevent consideration of the European Union as a homogeneous environmental regulatory territory. First, I will examine the respective powers of the European Community and of the Member States under the EEC Treaty to take environmental initiatives. The European Community has not been conferred exclusive jurisdiction to protect the environment. Environmental policy in the European Union results from the conjunction and superposition of legislative actions by the EC and the Member States. In a second part, I will change the perspective and look at the …

Competence And Harmonization Problems In Hungary, Gyula Bandi

Connecticut Journal of International Law

January 1994 is marked by an important step forward in environmental legal development - the Government of Hungary finally accepted the draft environmental law - so the next phase is to introduce it to the Parliament. Although there is less chance for further consideration on the merits, as the election time gets closer, it is worth remembering that date. The draft, a framework law, contains most contemporary environmental measures. Unfortunately it gives too much room for further enforcing regulation by giving wider discretionary power to the Government. Thus, it is difficult to predict just what its effect will be in …

Antitrust-Merger Control - A German Perspective, Kurt Stockmann

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Merger control in the European Union (EU) is the historical product of intense, and from the perspective of some Member States, not entirely successful political bargaining. When the EU Merger Regulation was adopted on December 21, 1989,' few of the Member States which already had their own established merger policies2 were fully satisfied with the outcome. Still, soon after this date suggestions were made that the German Federal Cartel Office should adjust its merger control policy to that of the EC Commission and that the German legislature should harmonize German competition law in general, and merger control law in particular, …

State And Federal Antitrust Enforcement In The United States: Collision Or Harmony?, Donald L. Flexner, Mark A. Racanelli

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Since the fundamental United States antitrust law was enacted in 1890 to prohibit anticompetitive agreements and monopolies, and was amended in succeeding years to deal more effectively with mergers and acquisitions, public enforcement policy has developed primarily at the federal level through the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Put differently, when U.S. businesses have worried whether joint ventures, acquisitions or licensing agreements would pass antitrust muster, the historical focus of such concerns has been the federal antitrust agencies, not the separate states. In this regard, the concept of a central decision-maker formulating …

Symposium: Balancing Harmonization And State Sovereignty: The Creation Of Single Markets In The European Union And The United States

Connecticut Journal of International Law

On March 17 and 18, 1994, the Connecticut Journal of International, Law, the University of Connecticut School of Law and Rijksuniversiteit Leiden sponsored an international legal symposium entitled "Balancing Harmonization and State Sovereignty: The Creation of Single Markets in the European Union and the United States." The Symposium, held at Rijksuniversiteit, Leiden, The Netherlands, brought together legal scholars and practitioners from both sides of the Atlantic to discuss and debate the obstacles and solutions to the creation of single markets in the European Union. The Connecticut Journal of International Law is proud to publish the articles presented at the Symposium …