International Law Commons^™

Inching Towards Consensus: An Update On The Uncitral Transparency Negotiations, Lise Johnson

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

From October 1-5, 2012, a working group of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) met in Vienna to continue work on how to ensure transparency in treaty-based investor-state arbitration. It was the working group’s fifth week-long meeting on the topic, but will not be the last. Although some issues were settled, many very significant ones remain contentious, and will be picked up again by the working group when it meets in February 2013.

Bio-Cultural Knowledge And The Challenges Of Intellectual Property Rights Regimes For African Development, Ikechi Mgbeoji

Dalhousie Law Journal

African states have, since the colonial encounter, been part of the international regimes on intellectual property rights. Formal accession to various treaties and conventions on intellectual property rights instruments should not be mistaken for actual internalization of the policies, structures and norms required for reaping the promised benefits of participation in such regimes. There is ample evidence showing that most African states do not have the requisite structures for fruitful engagement with international intellectual property rights regimes. Until this anomaly is rectified, African states' engagement with international intellectual property regimes will remain structurally flawed and inimical to the human development …

Hugh Kindred And The Teaching Of International Law In Canada, Don Mcrae

Dalhousie Law Journal

The casebook, International Law, Chiefly as Interpreted and Applied in Canada under the general editorship of Hugh Kindred, which first appeared in 1987, was a milestone in the teaching of international law in Canada. It was an important teaching tool that made international law accessible to students. Seeing international law through the eyes of Canadian practice, Canadian materials and Canadian experience, the book was an introduction to the fundamentals of the field and to the developments and debates of contemporary international law Engaging on the editorial board Canadian academics from different law schools, Hugh Kindred has been able to provide …

Beyond The Core: Incorporating Transnational Crimes Into The Rome Statute, Regina Menachery Paulose

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The article argues that the International Criminal Court (ICC) should expand its jurisdiction to include transnational organized crime, such as drug trafficking, counterfeiting, and arms trade, to address the growing global threat posed by these crimes. While the Rome Statute currently excludes such crimes, the ICC’s role as a court of last resort and its independence make it an ideal institution to prosecute transnational organized crime, fostering international cooperation and enhancing deterrence. The article advocates for a unified definition of transnational organized crime and the inclusion of select crimes from the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (CATOC) and …

Home Games: Legal Issues Concerning The Displacement Of Property Owners At The Site Of Olympic Venues, Jessica Blumert

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The Olympics, as the world's largest mega event, often lead to human rights violations, particularly regarding the right to adequate housing, as host cities displace residents and businesses. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has the unique ability to address these issues by incorporating binding human rights protections into its contracts with host countries, yet it has failed to enforce such standards effectively. The article argues that the IOC should amend its Charter to include specific housing rights criteria, drawing on international law and precedents from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), to ensure compliance and protect vulnerable populations.

Foreign Direct Investment Catalysts In West Africa: Interactions With Local Content Laws And Industry-Community Agreements, Ibironke T. Odumosu-Ayanu

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Accountability And The Sri Lankan Civil War, Steven R. Ratner

Articles

Sri Lanka's civil war came to a bloody end in May 2009, with the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by Sri Lanka's armed forces on a small strip of land in the island's northeast. The conflict, the product of long-standing tensions between Sri Lanka's majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils over the latter's rights and place in society, had begun in the mid-1980s and ebbed and flowed for some twenty-five years, leading to seventy to eighty thousand deaths on both sides. Government repression of Tamil aspirations was matched with ruthless LTTE tactics, including suicide bombings of civilian …

October Roundtable: Un Secretary-General Report On “Responsibility To Protect: Timely And Decisive Response”, Introduction, Claudia Fuentes Julio

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Responsibility to Protect: Timely and Decisive Response” Ban Ki-moon, July 2012.

Responsibility To Regulate: How The ‘Responsibility To Protect’ Expands State Power, Philip Cunliffe

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Like most UN reports, particularly those concerned with the doctrine of the "responsibility to protect" (RtoP), the latest report of the UN Secretary-General is filled with plenty of pious guff mixed in with the platitudes that engulf UN diplomacy. But buried within the blathering are also some disturbing prescriptions for how the UN envisages rolling out RtoP around the world. I want to draw attention to three specific points in order to consider what these tell us about RtoP as a political model. First, I will look at the treatment of media and speech in the report; second, how the …

Introduction & Coda, Multi-Party Dispute Resolution, Democracy And Decision Making: Vol. Ii Of Complex Dispute Resolution, Carrie Menkel-Meadow

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Complex Dispute Resolution series collects essays on the development of foundational dispute resolution theory and practice and its application to increasingly more complex settings of conflicts in the world, including multi-party and multi-issue decision making, negotiations in political policy formation and governance, and international conflict resolution. Each volume contains an original introduction by the editor, which explores the key issues in the field. All three volumes feature essays which span an interdisciplinary range of fields, law, political science, game theory, decision science, economics, social and cognitive psychology, sociology and anthropology and consider issues in the uses of informal and …

Anonymous Withholding Agreements And The Future Of International Cooperation In Taxing Foreign Financial Accounts : Testimony Before The Finance Committee Of The German Bundestag, September 24, 2012 (Statement By Associate Professor Itai Grinberg, Geo. U. L. Center), Itai Grinberg

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Chairwoman Reinemund and members of the Finance Committee, this testimony will make three key points:

• Automatic information exchange is superior to anonymous withholding for the purpose of combating tax evasion involving the use of foreign financial accounts.

• German ratification of the Swiss-German anonymous tax withholding agreement would stifle the emergence of a multilateral automatic information exchange system. As a result, Germany would be less able to address its own concerns with tax evasion through foreign accounts over the medium term. By ratifying this agreement, Germany would also slow the development of a multilateral system that would allow many …

Slides: What Laundry Can Teach Us: Five Principles For New Business Models, Teju Ravilochan

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Teju Ravilochan, CEO, The Unreasonable Institute

17 slides

Slides: Envirofit: Making The World Fit For Humanity, Jessica Alderman

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Jessica Alderman, Director, ENVIROFIT

15 slides

Slides: Multi-Dimensional Energy Poverty Index (Mepi), Morgan Bazilian

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Dr. Morgan Bazilian, Deputy Director, Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

8 slides

Agenda: 2012 Energy Justice Conference And Technology Exposition, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center For Energy & Environmental Security, University Of Colorado Boulder. Colorado European Union Center Of Excellence, University Of Colorado Boulder. Presidents Leadership Institute

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Co-sponsored with the Colorado European Union Center of Excellence and the Presidents Leadership Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The ability to harness energy is fundamental to economic and social development. Worldwide, almost 3 billion people have little or no access to beneficial energy resources for cooking, heating, water sanitation, illumination, transportation, or basic mechanical needs. Energy poverty exacerbates ill health and economic hardship, and reduces educational opportunities, particularly for women and children. Specifically, access to efficient and affordable energy services is a prerequisite for achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) relating to poverty eradication.

In response, the UN …

Slides: Appropriate Sustainable Energy Technologies: A Light To The World, Lakshman D. Guruswamy, Jason B. Aamodt, Blake Feamster

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Jason Aamodt, Attorney; Adjunct Professor, University of Tulsa

15 slides

Slides: Meeting The Needs Of Women Through Clean Cooking Solutions, Corinne Hart

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Corinne Hart, Program Manager, Gender and Markets, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

20 slides

Slides: Draft Power In Developing Country Agriculture--South Asia, Arjun Makhijani

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Dr. Arjun Makhijani, President, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER)

13 slides

Slides: Sources Of Electrical Energy For Those Who Are Remote And Poor, Frank Barnes

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Dr. Frank Barnes, Distinguished Professor, Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, University of Colorado

24 slides

Slides: Impacts Of Energy Deficits In Cooking, Illumination, Water, Sanitation, And Motive Power, Paul S. Chinowsky

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Dr. Paul Chinowsky, Director, Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities; Professor, University of Colorado

25 slides

Slides: The Green Climate Fund: Challenges And Opportunities: Some Thoughts On How The Green Climate Fund Could Close The Energy Justice Gap, Martin Hiller

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Martin Hiller, Director‐General, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), Vienna, Austria

22 slides

Slides: Nokero: Power To The Powerless, Stephen Katsaros

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Stephen Katsaros, Inventor, Founder, and CEO, Nokero

13 slides

Slides: Session 3: Decision-Making And The Energy Poor, Andrew Yager

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Andrew Yager, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development

33 slides

Slides: Unido: Partner For Prosperity, Kandeh K. Yumkella

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, Chairman, UN Energy; Director General, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

16 slides

The International Review | 2012 Fall/Winter, Michael Rhee

The International Review Newsletter

Should nations regulate digital photo editing?

Protecting the privacy of biometric data: National and international efforts

How do nations and international law address bribery?

Reflections On Kony 2012, Rosa Brooks

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In spring 1997, few people outside Uganda had heard of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA arose in the late 1980s out of the ashes of Alice Lakwena’s Holy Spirit Movement, and over the next decade, LRA raids killed thousands of villagers in Northern Uganda. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, and an estimated 10,000 children were forcibly abducted by the LRA and brutally coerced into becoming killers, sex slaves or both. But in the spring of 1997, the LRA had yet to make CNN.

Stoney Road Out Of Eden: The Struggle To Recover Insurance For Armenian Genocide Deaths And Its Implications For The Future Of State Authority, Contract Rights, And Human Rights, Jeffrey W. Stempel, Sarig Armenian, David Mcclure

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Jurisdiction Over American Private Military Contractors: The Illusion Of A Loophole In The Law And The Reality Of No Oversight, Ryan Larose

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Satmed: Legal Aspects Of The Physical Layer Of Satellite Telemedicine, Stephen Rooke

Michigan Journal of International Law

In 2003, Paul Hunt, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights' Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, presented a report on the global availability of health care. Special Rapporteur Hunt argued that states are obligated to implement a right to health. Included in this right is the obligation "to ensure that no international agreement or policy adversely impacts upon the right to health, and that .. . international organizations take due account of the right to health, as well as the obligation of international assistance and cooperation, in all policy-making matters." One area Hunt left unexplored in his report was …

The Ngo-Isation Dilemma: International Cooperation, Grassroots Relations, And Government Action From An Accountability Perspective: A Case Study Of Colombian Migration Ngos And The National System Of Migration, Lina Buchely

Buffalo Public Interest Law Journal

This paper summarizes the results of a case study examining policy advocacy activities developed by the Fundaci6n Esperanza (Hope Foundation) and the Plataforma Social HERMES (HERMES Social Platform) in support of Colombian Draft Law 070 of 2009 (creation of a National System for Migration and other regulations). It maps the actors and interests involved in efforts taking place between February and May 2010 to promote public policy in the field. The conclusion drawn from this research is that there are at least three ways of highlighting the relationships between civil society actors, government servants, grassroots and international cooperation agencies in …