International Law Commons^™

Crossing A Rubycon? The International Legal Framework For Isos—Before And After Privatization, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

The present chapter analyzes the activities of international satellite organizations (ISOs), former ISOs, and private satellite operators from the perspective of the four principal international space law treaties, consisting of the Outer Space Treaty, the Rescue and Return Agreement, the Liability Convention, and the Registration Convention. In addition, it considers a United Nations Resolution dealing specifically with Direct Broadcasting by Satellite, as it is one of the major categories of activities that international satellite organizations such as INTELSAT and EUTELSAT have traditionally undertaken, as well as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which oversees the international regime developed to deal with …

Persuasion Treaties, Melissa (M.J.) Durkee

Scholarship@WashULaw

All treaties formalize promises made by national parties. Yet there is a fundamental difference between two kinds of treaty promise. This difference divides all treaties into two categories: treaties that govern the behavior of state parties and their agents fall in one category; treaties in the second category—those I call “persuasion” treaties—commit state parties to changing the behavior of non-state actors as well. The difference is important because the compliance problems for the two sets of treaties sharply diverge. Persuasion treaties merit our systematic attention because they are both theoretically and practically significant. In areas such as international environmental affairs, …

Foreign And International Legal Research, Maureen Moran

Law Faculty Publications

As you have been learning, the American legal system is only one of hundreds in the world. Each of those legal systems has its own rules, sources, and authorities. But these systems do not exist in a vacuum. What rules govern when two or more States or entities interact? What are the enforcement mechanisms? The study of these questions comprises the fields of foreign law and international law. The purpose of this chapter is not to give you a comprehensive review of all the resources available for researching this vast field of law. Rather, the goal is to give you …

Searching For Internet Freedom In China: A Case Study On Google's China Experience, Jyh-An Lee, Ching-Yi Liu, Weiping Li

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Pricing Compliance: When Formal Remedies Displace Reputational Sanctions, Rachel Brewster

Faculty Scholarship

The conventional wisdom in international law is that dispute resolution institutions sharpen the reputational costs to states. This article challenges this understanding by examining how the inclusion of dispute resolution tribunals and remedy regimes can alter reputational analysis by shifting the audience¹s understanding of how mandatory a treaty's substantive obligations are. Drawing on the distinction between prices and sanctions, this article contests the assumption that the introduction of a remedy regime in international agreements will regularly increase compliance with the treaty¹s substantive terms. Instead, some remedy regimes may 'price' deviations from the treaty¹s terms and thereby facilitate breaches of the …

China At The Tipping Point? The Tum Against Legal Reform, Carl F. Minzner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Persuasion Treaties, Melissa J. Durkee

Scholarly Works

All treaties formalize promises made by national parties. Yet there is a fundamental difference between two kinds of treaty promise. This difference divides all treaties along a fault line: Treaties that govern the behavior of state parties and their agents fall on one side. Treaties in the second category — those I call “persuasion” treaties — commit state parties to changing the behavior of non-state actors as well. The difference is important because the compliance problems for the two sets of treaties sharply diverge. Persuasion treaties merit our systematic attention because they are both theoretically and practically significant. In areas …

A Janus Look At International Criminal Justice, Diane Marie Amann

Scholarly Works

Invoking the name of Janus, the Roman god who looked simultaneously at the past and the future, this article examines international criminal justice at a watershed moment, when a number of 20-year-old ad hoc tribunals were winding down even as the International Criminal Court was entering its teen years. First explored are challenges posed by politics – that is, the need to secure cooperation from states and from the U.N. Security Council – and economics – that is, the need to work within budgetary constraints. The article then surveys significant developments in each of a half-dozen international criminal courts and …

International Law In A Time Of Scarcity: An Introduction, Harlan G. Cohen

Scholarly Works

Does international law have the resources to manage, if not solve, this complex global problem of scarcity? Different areas of international law governed by different regimes have their own ways of conceptualizing and managing scarcity. International human rights law may frame the problem as one of individual economic and social rights or as one of the right of indigenous groups. For the most part though, these models from different areas of international law operate in isolation from one another, following their own internal logics.

The problem of scarcity has started to get the attention of international law scholars and experts, …

Protecting Rights And Building Capacities: Challenges To Global Mental Health Policy In Light Of The Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Sheila Wildeman

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The World Health Organization (WHO) has in the last decade identified mental health as a priority for global health promotion and international development, to be targeted through promulgation of evidence-based medical practices, health systems reform, and respect for human rights. Yet these overlapping strategies are marked by tensions as the historical primacy of expert-led initiatives is increasingly subject to challenge by new social movements — in particular, disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs). These tensions come into focus upon situating the WHO’s contributions to the analysis of global mental health in light of the negotiation and early stages of implementation of the …

Children And The First Verdict Of The International Criminal Court, Diane Marie Amann

Scholarly Works

Child soldiers were a central concern in the first decade of the International Criminal Court; indeed, the court’s first trial, Prosecutor v. Lubanga, dealt exclusively with the war crimes of conscripting, enlisting, and using child soldiers. This article compares the attention that the court has paid to children – an attention that serves the express terms of the ICC Statute – with the relative inattention in post-World War II international instruments such as the statutes of the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals. The article then analyzes the Lubanga conviction, sentence, and reparations rulings. It recommends that the ICC focus attention on …

Corporate Law Tools And The Guiding Principles For Business And Human Rights, Sara Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This paper, written in 2012, provides a summary of the corporate law tools project undertaken as part of the mandate of Professor John Ruggie as Special Representative for Business and Human Rights. The author was one of the co-convenors of a multi-stakeholder consultation on corporate law tools held in 2009 and designed to inform the Ruggie mandate. This paper provides her assessment of the scope and limitations of this project, the extent to which it may have informed aspects of the 2011 UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and an agenda for future research.

Corporate Law Tools And The Guiding Principles For Business And Human Rights, Sara L. Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This paper, written in 2012, provides a summary of the corporate law tools project undertaken as part of the mandate of Professor John Ruggie as Special Representative for Business and Human Rights. The author was one of the co-convenors of a multi-stakeholder consultation on corporate law tools held in 2009 and designed to inform the Ruggie mandate. This paper provides her assessment of the scope and limitations of this project, the extent to which it may have informed aspects of the 2011 UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and an agenda for future research.

The Secret "Kill List" And The President, Kenneth Anderson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Maritime Piracy: A Sustainable Global Solution, Paul Williams, Lowry Pressly

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Maritime piracy is a complex transnational security concern characterized by emerging international finance operations and organization, an oversupply of labor, and a low cost of market entry. This article provides a realistic picture of the driving forces behind maritime piracy in areas such as Southeast Asia, the Gulf of Aden, and the Gulf of Guinea. By examining some of the assumptions and proposed solutions in counter-piracy literature and policy, this article exposes some piracy illusions and proposes a sustainable, global response that addresses the persistent threat of modern maritime piracy. Today's manifold piracy challenges call for a multifaceted approach. Accordingly, …

International Law Weekend, American Branch Of The International Law Association Perspectives On Crimes Of Sexual Violence In International Law, Susana Sacouto

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

In Defense Of Scholars' Briefs: A Response To Richard Fallon, Amanda Frost

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

In a thoughtful and provocative essay, Richard Fallon criticizes law professors for lightly signing onto 'scholars’ briefs,' that is, amicus briefs filed on behalf of a group of law professors claiming expertise in the subject area. Fallon argues that law professors are constrained by the moral and ethical obligations of their profession from joining scholars’ briefs without first satisfying standards similar to those governing the production of scholarship, and thus he believes that law professors should abstain from adding their names to such briefs more often than they do now.

This response begins by describing the benefits of scholars’ briefs …

The Geography Of The Battlefield: A Framework For Detention And Targeting Outside The 'Hot' Conflict Zone, Jennifer Daskal

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The U.S. conflict with al Qaeda raises a number of complicated and contested questions regarding the geographic scope of the battlefield and the related limits on the state’s authority to use lethal force and to detain without charge. To date, the legal and policy discussions on this issue have resulted in a heated and intractable debate. On the one hand, the United States and its supporters argue that the conflict — and broad detention and targeting authorities — extend to wherever the alleged enemy is found, subject to a series of malleable policy constraints. On the other hand, European allies, …

Perspectives On Crimes Of Sexual Violence In International Law, Susana Sacouto

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

INTRODUCTION: Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) during conflict and periods of repression has been a problem in every region of the globe.' Historically, these crimes were rarely prosecuted, particularly when government leaders were responsible for tolerating, encouraging, or orchestrating these crimes. However, the last two decades have seen an incredible transformation in the treatment of SGBV under international law. Great strides have been made in the investigation and prosecution of sexual and gender-based crimes, particular by the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and the Special Court for Sierra Leone This essay examines the way …

Remarks By Diane Orentilcher, Diane Orentlicher

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Twenty years into the contemporary era of international criminal tribunals, a large measure of consensus has developed (at least among states that fund tribunals) has developed around the notion that these courts should dispense justice only in respect of the most serious international crimes. This view is reflected in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose preamble affirms "that the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished" and whose admissibility provisions direct the Court to dismiss a case on the ground that it "is not of sufficient gravity …

A Framework For Assessing Global Economic Governance, Daniel D. Bradlow

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Increased globalization over the last twenty years has made effective global economic governance more important than ever. This period has witnessed the rise of a number of new international governance actors, such as the Group of Twenty and the Financial Stability Board. This Article proposes a five-part test to evaluate how the existing global governance actors serve the interests of all stakeholders in the global economy. The test is based on four fundamental indicators of good global governance. The Article uses the five-part test to evaluate the G20’s performance at the G20 Summit at Los Cabos, Mexico. Finally, this Article …

Pharaohs, Nubians, And Antiquities: International Law Suggests It's Time For A Change In Egypt, Angi Porter

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Part I of this Comment describes the history and structure of Egypt's antiquities laws. It also describes Egypt's relevant international obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In Part II, this Comment argues that the current state of Egypt's antiquities system is inconsistent with its international obligations. Part II considers whether Egypt's exclusion of the Nubians stems from Egyptological superiority narratives and analyzes which narratives Egypt could adopt without violating international law. Finally, Part …

The Role Of Foreign Authorities In U.S. Asylum Adjudication, Fatma E. Marouf

Faculty Scholarship

U.S. asylum law is based on a domestic statute that incorporates an international treaty, the U.N. Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. While Supreme Court cases indicate that the rules of treaty interpretation apply to an incorporative statute, courts analyzing the statutory asylum pro- visions fail to give weight to the interpretations of our sister signatories, which is one of the distinctive and uncontroversial principles of treaty interpretation. This Article highlights this significant omission and urges courts to examine the interpretations of other States Parties to the Protocol in asylum cases. Using as an example the current debate over …

The Politics Of International Investment Arbitrators, Catherine A. Rogers

Faculty Scholarship

Arbitrators are the lightning rod for investment arbitration’s most contentious political debates. Investment arbitration was originally conceived as a means to depoliticize international investment law. The regime was designed to extricate investment disputes from national courts and gunboat diplomacy, entrusting them instead to a neutral law-bound process. According to its critics, however, investment arbitration is neither a neutral, nor a legitimate law-bound process. They lay most of the blame with international arbitrators. Critics contend that, instead of law and appropriate policy considerations, investment arbitrators’ decisions are often the product of extra-legal factors — from their own ideology, to the nature …

Lessons For International Law From The Arab Spring, Rosa Brooks

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Not all that begins in hope ends in happiness. In Egypt, the exuberance of Tahrir Square has given way to frustration over the resilience of the security state; in Libya, the anti-Qaddafi movement has fractured along tribal and factional lines; in Syria, as of this writing, calls for reform continue to be met with gunfire from government forces. Throughout the Middle East—from Egypt, Libya and Syria to Yemen, Tunisia, Bahrain and elsewhere—the heady excitement of 2010 has given way to a more sober awareness that enduring political change may take years, if not generations. The Arab Spring brought both progress …

Overview And Operation Of U.S. Financial Sanctions, Including The Example Of Iran, Barry E. Carter, Ryan Farha

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Financial sanctions are increasingly being used in the mix of international economic sanctions being employed by the United Nations, regional entities, and individual countries, including the United States. These financial sanctions have become more focused and effective as the tools and techniques have improved significantly for tracing and identifying the financial transactions of terrorists, weapons proliferators, human rights violators, drug cartels, and others. These sanctions can not only freeze financial assets and prohibit or limit financial transactions, but they also impede trade by making it difficult to pay for the export or import of goods and services.

In spite of …

Book Review Of The Impossible State By Wael Hallaq, Lama Abu-Odeh

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In his book The Impossible State, Wael Hallaq argues that the modern state is a bad fit for Muslims. This is so because the paradigm of “Islamic Governance”, developed through centuries of Islamic rule, and the modern state of the West are incompatibles if not altogether contradictory. The modern state, a European invention and an expression of the unique unfolding of Europe’s history, being premised on the deep penetration by the nation state of its population, a separation of powers between the executive, legislative and the judiciary that is always faltering, a separation between …

Hybrid Tribunals Are The Most Effective Structure For Adjudicating International Crimes Occurring Within A Domestic State, Caitlin E. Carroll

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Brosius, 1 Killing Outside The Law: The Case Of Israel’S Policy Of Assassinating Iranian Nuclear Scientists, Robert Brosius

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Does Humanity Law Require (Or Imply) A Progressive Theory Of History? (And Other Questions For Martti Koskenniemi), Robert Howse, Ruti Teitel

Articles & Chapters

In a number of essays over the last decade or so, Martti Koskenniemi has analyzed post-cold war developments in international law, especially the human rights revolution or the emergence of "humanity law" (Teitel, Humanity’s Law). In these works, Koskenniemi asserts a close, if not essential, connection between optimistic or progressive theories of history and liberal, cosmopolitan, post- or anti-statist approaches to international law. We challenge Koskenniemi’s arguments that humanity law is associated with a dogmatically progressive theory of history, that it is oriented toward a world government, that it relies on a version of historical determinism, that it posits a …