International Law Commons^™

The "Define And Punish" Clause And The Limit Of Universal Jurisdiction, Eugene Kontorovich

Faculty Working Papers

This Article examines whether the "Define and Punish" clause of the Constitution empowers Congress to criminalize foreign conduct unconnected to the United States. Answering this question requires exploring the Constitution's "Piracies and Felonies" provision. While it is hard to believe this can still be said of any constitutional provision, no previous work has examined the scope of the "Piracies and Felonies" powers. Yet the importance of this inquiry is more than academic. Despite its obscurity, the Piracies and Felonies power is the purported Art. I basis for a statute currently in force, which represents Congress's most aggressive use of universal …

Valuing Foreign Lives And Civilizations In Cost-Benefit Analysis: The Case Of The United States And Climate Change Policy, David A. Dana

Faculty Working Papers

This Article explores the case for including losses of foreign (non-U.S.) lives and settlements in the estimated cost to the United States of unmitigated climate change in the future. The inclusion of losses of such foreign lives and settlements in cost benefit analysis (CBA) could have large implications not only for U.S. climate change policy but also for policies adopted by other nations and the practice of CBA generally. One difficult problem is how to assess U.S. residents' willingness to pay to prevent the losses of foreign lives and settlements. This Article discusses internet-based surveys that are a first step …

Book Review: Henry J. Richardson Iii, The Origins Of African-American Interests In International Law, D. A. Jeremy Telman

Law Faculty Publications

This short review evaluates Professor Richardson's book both as a contribution to the history of the Atlantic slave trade and as contribution to critical race theory.

Professor Richardson has read innumerable historical monographs, works of legal and sociological theory, international law and critical race theory. Armed with this store of knowledge, he is able to recount a detailed narrative of African-American claims to, interests in and appeals to international law over approximately two centuries spanning, with occasional peeks both forward and backward in time, from the landing of the first African slaves at Jamestown in 1619 to the 1815 Treaty …

Medellin And Originalism, D. A. Jeremy Telman

Law Faculty Publications

In Medellin v. Texas, the Supreme Court permitted Texas to proceed with the execution of a Mexican national who, in violation of the United States’ obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, had not been given timely notice of his rights of consular notification and consultation. It did so despite its finding that the United States had an obligation under treaty law to comply with an order of the International Court of Justice that Medellin’s case be granted review and reconsideration. The international obligation, the Court found, was not domestically enforceable because the treaties at issue were not self-executing. …

The Future Relationship Between A New Adminstration And The International Court Of Justice, Thomas M. Franck

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

If the democrats recapture the White House and win half a dozen more seats in the Senate, it will be time to rethink and redevelop the U.S. relationship with international law.

Current And Future Issues In International Space Law, Professor Henry Hertzfeld

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Space law is a relatively new area of law and is based mainly on a set of United Nations (U.N.) Treaties negotiated during the 1960s and 1970s.

Transparency And Public Participation In Investor-State Arbitration, Daniel Barstow Magraw, Niranjali Manel Amerasinghe

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

The roles of transparency and public participation have become important issues in investor-state arbitrations.

The European Magnet And The U.S. Centrifuge: Ten Selected Private International Law Developments Of 2008, Ronald A. Brand

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

This article began as a short presentation for the 2008 International Law Weekend in New York City.

The U.S. Approach To Regionalism: Recent Past And Future, C. O'Neal Taylor

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

The "new regionalism"' of the last decade shows a turn away from regional groupings (such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 2 the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) 3 and Free Trade of the Americas (FTAA) 4 ) towards the negotiation and implementation of more bilateral arrangements.

The U.N. Human Rights Council: What Would Eleanor Roosevelt Say?, John Carey

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

The prominent role played by Mrs. Roosevelt in the creation of the United Nations' (U.N.) human rights apparatus is described by William vanden Heuvel in the Fall issue of The InterDependent (Vol. 6 No. 3).' After quoting Henry Kissinger as styling her "one of the great human beings of our time," vanden Heuvel calls her "tough and resolute" as well as "fearless in speaking truth to power."

Historical American Erspectives On International Law, Harlan Grant Cohen

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

The topic of this year's International Law Weekend, "The United States and International Law: Legal Traditions and Future Possibilities," cries out for additional historical perspective.

The U.N. Human Rights Council: Is Its Mandate Well-Designed?, Patrick J. Flood

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

This essay is about the design of the mandate of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which was hammered out after a year of negotiations within the General Assembly and then another year within the newly-created Council itself

The Trade In Antiquities: Heritage For Sale?, Lucille A. Roussin

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

It was an automobile accident on Italy's Autostrada del Sole-the highway of the Sun-that led to the largest restitution, ever, of stolen antiquities from United States museums to the Republic of Italy.

National Security Courts: Star Chamber Or Specialized Justice?, Mark R. Shulman

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

In October 2008, the author moderated a panel discussion addressing the utility of establishing a new national security court system for administering the detention and trial of terrorist suspects.

National Security And The U.N. Convention On The Law Of The Sea: U.S. Coast Guard Perspectives, Dr. John T. Oliver

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

The world's oceans cover over seventy percent of the globe and contain ninety-seven percent of the world's water.

Accountability In Bretton Woods, Karen Hudes, Sabine Schlemmer-Schulte

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Under the Marshall Plan after World War H, the United States gave $13 billion to rebuild western Europe. But some historians argue that the United States' most important legacy was its role in establishing the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), named the Bretton Woods institutions, after the site of the conference in 1944 in New Hampshire.

"Legal Jihad": How Islamist Lawfare Tactics Are Targeting Free Speech, Brooke Goldstein, Aaron Eitan Meyer

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Lawfare is usually defined as the use of the law as a weapon of war' or the pursuit of strategic aims through aggressive legal maneuvers.

Remarks Regarding The Iraqi High Tribunal's "Anfal" Trial: Speech Delivered At International Law Weekend, Jennifer Trahan

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

My remarks today will focus on the second trial of the Iraqi High Tribunal (the IHT or Tribunal), the so-called "Anfal" trial.

Comments On The Reforms To The Mexican Energy Laws Of 2008, Antonio Riva Palacio Lavin

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

A strong discussion has taken place in Mexico since the beginning of this millennium concerning the legal reform of the energy sector, particularly the Mexican government's oil company, Petr6leos Mexicanos (Pemex).

A Summary Of Legal System Amalgamation: An Introduction To Judge Patrick L. Robinson's Observations On The Hybrid Nature Of The Rules Of Procedure And Evidence Of The International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia, Jane E. Cross

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

On 14 February 2009, His Excellency Judge Patrick L. Robinson of Jamaica, President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), spoke at the Nova Southeastern University (NSU) Shepard Broad Law Center, for Black History Month.

The United States And International Criminal Tribunals: An Historical Analysis, Harry M. Rhea

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

The relationship between the United States and international criminal tribunals has lasted for almost 100 years at least.

Universal Jurisdiction And The Case Of Belgium: A Critucal Assessment, Roozbeh (Rudy) B. Baker

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Praised in some quarters as a useful tool for bringing criminal perpetrators to justice, criticized by others as a threat to state sovereignty, universal jurisdiction has certainly emerged as a heated topic within international criminal law.

The International Criminal Court: Former President George W. Bush And World Opinion, Donald D.A Schaefer

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

The International Criminal Court (Court or ICC) came into force on July 1, 2002.1

China's Labor Law Evolution: Towards A New Frontier, Monique Garcia

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

The People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) is moving towards becoming the biggest economy in the world.

Current United States Credit Default Swap Regulatory Initiatives: A New World Standard Or Just A Ploy?, Nathaniel G. Dutt

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

In recent years, the global financial market has seen an abundant increase in the use of credit derivatives; more specifically, the use of credit default swaps (CDSs).

The Peace Palace The Hague, The Netherlands, The Republic Of Alicanto, The Commonwealth Of Ravisia

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Pursuant to the Joint Notification and Compromis concluded on 30 September 2008, including the Corrections and Clarifications agreed to therein, at Chicago, Illinois, United States of America between the Republic of Alicanto and the Commonwealth of Ravisia (collectively "the Parties"), and in accordance with Article 40(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, the Parties hereby submit to this Court its dispute concerning Operation Provide Shelter and the differences arising between Alicanto and Ravisia

The Peace Palace The Hague, The Netherlands, The Republic Of Alicanto, The Commonwealth Of Ravisia

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

The Commonwealth of Ravisia and the Republic of Alicanto have agreed to submit this dispute to the International Court of Justice pursuant to article 40(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice ('Statute') and in accordance with the Compromis notified to the Court on 15 September 2006. Pursuant to article 36(1) of the Statute, the Court has jurisdiction to decide all matters referred to it for decision.

Core Rules Of International Environmental Law, Andrea Laura Mackielo

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

International environmental law has been marked by two contradictory trends.

International Law, Human Rights And The Transformative Occupation Of Iraq, Peter G. Danchin

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter examines the project of transformative occupation undertaken by the United States and its allies following the invasion of Iraq in 2003. More specifically, it considers the Iraqi occupation in light of two competing sensibilities in international legal argument. On one view, which I term “legal formalism”, the purpose of international law is eclectic, intersubjective and value-pluralist: to create the conditions for peaceful coexistence between different political orders and ways of life. This view is commonly associated with the liberalism of the United Nations Charter which posits both the subject of international law and its liberty in formal terms …

Whose Public? Which Law? Mapping The Internal/External Distinction In International Law, Peter G. Danchin

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter challenges and problematizes the convergence thesis between sovereignty and human rights which is argued to rest on only a partial understanding of the liberal tradition in international law, a position commonly referred to as “liberal anti-pluralism.” While relying on a contingent and thus contestable conception of individual autonomy, liberal anti-pluralist accounts do not in fact seek to challenge the rationale for public law or public reason itself. To the contrary, such accounts advance a vision of “universal” or “global” social order governed by a “neutral” public law which limits the freedom of its subjects pursuant to the single …