International Law Commons^™

Our Most Important Export: The Influence Of The United States Constitution Abroad, Albert P. Blaustein

Connecticut Journal of International Law

The United States Constitution is this nation's most important export. From its inception its influence has been felt throughout the world. Even where that influence has not resulted in democracy and freedom, it has still brought the hope of, in Abraham Lincoln's words, "government of, by and for the people."

The story of that influence is a story worth telling. The protagonists of this story, America's Founding Fathers, were constitutional proselytizers. The constitution they had written was a unique breakthrough in the ever-continuing struggle for human freedom and liberty-and they knew it. The Founding Fathers wanted every nation to have …

Selected Readings On International Courts And The Protection Of Human Rights, Dennis C. Benamati, David R. Voisinet

Connecticut Journal of International Law

These materials are designed for scholars and students interested in further examining the subject of international courts and the protection of human rights. Included are analytical works and sources of information on the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and emerging regional organizations. The selected readings complement the speeches and articles presented in the conference issue and are therefore quite limited in scope. They include only English language titles and, except for the most relevant, omit materials published prior to 1980. United Nations sources are also excluded.

Commentary, Brian Walsh

Connecticut Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Human Rights In The Asian Context: Prospects For Regional Human Rights Instruments, Virginia A. Leary

Connecticut Journal of International Law

This conference issue concerns International Courts and the Protection of Human Rights; it appears incongruous to include an article on Asia, a region where there is no court of human rights, no regional convention on human rights, not even an inter-governmental commission on human rights. But no discussion of worldwide protection of human rights would be complete without considering developments in that immense part of the globe labeled "Asia."

It has been said that the American regional human rights system is in its infancy. Using the same analogy, it would be appropriate to observe that an Asian human rights system …

Commentary, Thomas Buergenthal

Connecticut Journal of International Law

There is much I would like to say in commenting on the subjects touched upon by our panelists. But since you are no doubt impatient to adjourn for lunch, I shall limit myself to a few brief remarks about the problems we face in getting domestic judges to apply international human rights law. Two stories illu

Kampuchean Genocide And The World Court, Gregory H. Stanton

Connecticut Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

The European Court Of Human Rights, Brian Walsh

Connecticut Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Introductory Address: Conference On International Courts And The Protection Of Human Rights, Joseph I. Lieberman

Connecticut Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Soviet Attitudes Toward International Human Rights Law, Olimpiad S. Ioffe

Connecticut Journal of International Law

The Soviet approach to human rights is very complicated. Three factors have contributed to the complexity: Marxist-Leninist dogmata, the requirements of international law and a very peculiar domestic situation. Marxist-Leninist dogmata, the official doctrines in the Soviet Union, are incompatible with the very concept and substance of human rights. Human rights are, by definition, inseparable from human beings, yet Marxist-Leninist doctrine treats these rights as emanating from the state. Thus, in the Marxist-Leninist future, when communism truly exists, the state and its laws will wither away and the need for human rights will cease to exist.

Foreword: International Courts And The Efficacy Of International Law, Mark Weston Janis

Connecticut Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

The Law Of Nations' Effect Upon Free Speech: Finzer V. Barry, Gregory T. D'Auria

Connecticut Journal of International Law

The international law obligations of the United States are seldom the subject of Supreme Court opinions. This is true even though Congress has the constitutional power to "define and punish .. .Offenses against the Law of Nations."' The United States Supreme Court has recently granted certiorari in the case of Finzer v. Barry2 in which the the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals held that an international law obligation on the part of the United States creates an interest sufficient to justify a viewpoint-based statute which would otherwise be found unconstitutional because of its infringement upon the first amendment …

Assessing The Cost Of Terrorism, Orrin G. Hatch

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Reviewing:

TERRORISM: How THE WEST CAN WIN. Edited by Benjamin Netanyahu. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1986. 254 pp. $18.95.

HYDRA OF CARNAGE: INTERNATIONAL LINKAGES OF TERRORISM-THE WITNESSES SPEAK. Edited by Uri Ra'anan, Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr., Richard H. Shultz, Ernst Halperin, and Igor Lukes. Lexington, Mass. & Toronto: Lexington Books, 1986. 656 pp. $42.00.

GOVERNMENT VIOLENCE AND REPRESSION: AN AGENDA FOR RESEARCH. Edited by Michael Stohl and George A. Lopez. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1986. 267 pp. $35.00.

Four Decades After Nuremberg: The Prospect Of An International Criminal Code, Gerhard O.W. Mueller

Connecticut Journal of International Law

On February 19, 1986, the United States Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide [Genocide Convention].1 President Reagan, who has long urged approval of the Genocide Convention, recently signed the Genocide Convention into law.' These developments augur well for the future of international criminal law. This commentary examines the history of international penal law instruments and analyzes efforts by the world community to create an international penal code. The commentary will also discuss the arguments against such a code, which may have contributed to the thirty-seven year delay in approval …

The U.S.-U.K. Supplementary Extradition Treaty: Justice For Terrorists Or Terror For Justice?, Phyllis Jo Baunach

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Acts of international terrorism directed against civilians, whether perpetrated by governments or liberation movements, pose serious threats to world public order. Unwarranted, seemingly senseless bombings of public places, airplanes, or embassies cause needless loss of hundreds of lives and massive property damage. These activities threaten human rights and democratic values as much as government suppression of dissident views. Commentators have thus challenged international terrorist activities, whether perpetrated by individuals or by governments, as being beyond the scope of traditional human dissent or revolution in quest of liberty.

The desire to bring terrorists to justice, however, often conflicts with the desire …

Observations On The Independence And Impartiality Of The Members Of The International Court Of Justice, Edward Gordon

Connecticut Journal of International Law

In the course of withdrawing from proceedings instituted against it by Nicaragua before the International Court of Justice [ICJ], the United States government leveled sharply worded and uncompromising charges against the Court. It accused the Court of deliberately ignoring "irrefutable" evidence and law in deciding it had jurisdiction to try the case, and it came close to saying that the majority of the Court was so determined to find in Nicaragua's favor that no amount of evidence or pleading would dissuade them.

No more serious charges can be made about an adjudicative body than that its judgments are made in …

National Attitudes Towards International Human Rights Law In The United Kingdom, David Seymour

Connecticut Journal of International Law

In order to understand the British attitude' towards international organizations designed to protect human rights, one must understand the deeply rooted traditional British view of human rights themselves. One begins this examination of traditional legal philosophy with the influence of Jeremy Bentham in the eighteenth century. Bentham stated, "Look to the letter and you'll find nonsense; look beyond the letter and you'll find nothing. Natural rights is simple nonsense-nonsense upon stilts." A century later, Dicey, the great constitutional lawyer, stated in his seminal work on the study of the law of constitutions that most foreign constitution framers have begun with …

Arab Attitudes Toward International Human Rights Law, Istvan Pogany

Connecticut Journal of International Law

I have interpreted the theme of national attitudes towards international human rights law somewhat differently from the other panelists. The majority of the panelists have dealt with the municipal law of particular states and the way in which such municipal systems have taken account of international human rights law. Instead, I propose to discuss the attitude of the Arab states towards international measures for the protection and the promotion of human rights, with particular references to regional mechanisms.

The Inter-American Commission Of Human Rights, Christina M. Cerna

Connecticut Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

The European Commission Of Human Rights, Heribert I. Golsong

Connecticut Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Human Rights In The Americas: View From The Inter-American Court, Thomas Buergenthal

Connecticut Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

The State Monopoly Of Foreign Trade And The Family Of Socialist Legal Systems, W. E. Butler

Connecticut Journal of International Law

The "family of socialist legal systems" is an analytical classification widely used in international and comparative legal studies to characterize the core similarities and differences shared by the members of that family which distinguish them in aggregate from other families of legal systems. What those similarities and differences are, the respective weight that should be given to them, the aggregate required to place a legal system within one family rather than another, the impact of socio-economic, political, cultural, and legal change upon the core similarities and differences, the reasons for engaging in comparative legal analysis, and the interactions of extra-family …

Commentary: The European System, Rudolf Bernhardt

Connecticut Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Aerial Piracy And Terrorism: Unilateral And Multilateral Responses To Aircraft Hijacking, Paul Stephen Dempsey

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Terrorism has become the nightmare of the modern world. The means by which terrorism manifests itself are as brutal as they are imaginative. They include the highjacking of aircraft, with United States flag carriers as prime targets. They include the shooting of passengers at airports, in cities like Rome and Vienna, and the bombing of hotels and restaurants, in cities like Berlin and Paris.

Terrorism is the symptom of a disease. It is the disease of the militarily weak, the politically frustrated, and the religiously fanatic. The Palestinians, the Catholic Irish, the Basques, the Kurds, and a hundred other tribes …

The Use Of International Human Rights Law To Interpret Canada's Charter Of Rights And Freedoms, John Claydon

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Five years ago, Canada adopted a constitutional bill of rights [Charter],' which is similar in many respects to the American Bill of Rights, - the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights. Human rights treaties played an extremely important role in the "constitutional" history of the Charter. In fact, they directly inspired amendments to early drafts of the Charter. Also, during these first five years litigators have frequently invoked, and judges have applied, international human rights law as an aid to interpret the Charter.

the Charter. 6 …

Interregional Codes Of Conduct For Transnational Corporations, T. M. Ocran

Connecticut Journal of International Law

In recent years, the international community has become increasingly aware of the benefits and potential dangers presented by transnational corporations [TNCs]. This awareness and concern, among United Nations organizations in particular, prompted interested states to initiate concrete measures aimed at regulating the activities of transnational corporations. Thus, in 1974, the United Nations Economic and Social Council [ECOSOC] established a Commission on Transnational Corporations.' In 1976, the Commission appointed an Intergovernmental Working Group' to develop and draft a regulatory code of conduct for TNCs.

The comprehensive draft code is currently in its final stages. After review in the special session of …

Criminal And Administrative Sanctions Under United States Export Laws, Stephen P. Mcnamara

Connecticut Journal of International Law

The Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution' gives Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations. In its exercise of this power Congress has enacted many overlapping statutes regulating exports from the United States. Exporting is generally considered a privilege rather than a right, although there is a "strong presumption that citizens should be free to engage in international commerce except in instances where regulation is clearly needed to advance important public interests."' These public interests include the regulation of materials of war; the United States has long had a policy of controlling the export of arms, commodities …

Competing Equalities: Learning From Indian Compensatory Discrimination, Deborah A. Calloway

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Analyzing COMPETING EQUALITIES: LAW AND THE BACKWARD CLASSES IN INDIA. By Marc Galanter.** Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. 625 pp. $36.50.

The United States and India both are heterogeneous societies attempting to incorporate disadvantaged groups into the mainstream of the national economy. Although both countries have addressed the problem by prohibiting intentional discrimination against protected groups, each has taken a different approach toward encouraging integration. India grants preferential treatment to its underprivileged groups (compensatory discrimination). The United States instead prohibits employers from using employment criteria that arbitrarily bar qualified minorities from employment opportunities.

This article will briefly compare American …

Marc Galanter's "Competing Equalities": Two Perspectives -- Law, Society And Rights In India, Mark Weston Janis

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Reviewing COMPETING EQUALITIES: LAW AND THE BACKWARD CLASSES IN INDIA. By Marc Galanter.** Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. 625 pp. $36.50.

Some Observations On Representing Transnational Corporations In Africa, Laishley P. Wragg Jr., Kemal A. Sheikh

Connecticut Journal of International Law

Transnational corporations have been the object of increasing scrutiny and regulation by host governments in Africa South of Sahara.' Counsel to a transnational corporation operating there should anticipate problems posed by a myriad of currencies and exchange control regimes, by varying sources of law, and by constant government involvement in corporate affairs, including frequent government takeovers. In this commentary, we examine some of the important legal issues which face transnational corporations doing business in that region.

Nuclear Weapons And Self-Defence In International Law, Istvan Pogany

Connecticut Journal of International Law

The development of nuclear weapons has had a two-fold impact on the concept of self-defence as understood by international law. The unprecedented destructive power of such weapons has caused some lawyers to question whether states may lawfully use or deploy nuclear devices, even in self-defence.' In addition, the impossibility of adopting defensive measures after a strategic ballistic missile attack has been launched has prompted speculation as to whether preventive action is lawful. A number of scholars have concluded that anticipatory self-defence is essential so that a state confronted by an imminent nuclear attack may take steps immediately to ensure its …