International Law Commons^™

Private International Law As An Ethic Of Responsivity, Ralf Michaels

Faculty Scholarship

The world is a mess. Populism, xenophobia, and islamophobia; misogyny and racism; the closing of borders against the neediest—the existential crisis of modernity calls for a firm response from ethics. Why, instead of engaging with these problems through traditional ethics, worry about private international law, that most technical of technical fields of law? My claim in this chapter: not despite, because of its technical character. Private international law provides such an ethic, an ethic of responsivity. It provides us with a technique of ethics, a technique that helps us conceptualise and address some of the most pressing issues of our …

Theorizing The Judicialization Of International Relations, Karen J. Alter, Emilie M. Hafner-Burton, Laurence R. Helfer

Faculty Scholarship

This article introduces a Thematic Section and theorizes the multiple ways that judicializing international relations shifts power away from national executives and legislatures toward litigants, judges, arbitrators, and other nonstate decision-makers. We identify two preconditions for judicialization to occur—(1) delegation to an adjudicatory body charged with applying designated legal rules, and (2) legal rights-claiming by actors who bring—or threaten to bring—a complaint to one or more of these bodies. We classify the adjudicatory bodies that do and do not contribute to judicializing international relations, including but not limited to international courts. We then explain how rights-claiming initiates a process for …

The Ilo At 100: Institutional Innovation In An Era Of Populism, Laurence R. Helfer

Faculty Scholarship

The centenary of the International Labor Organization (ILO) provides an opportunity to take stock of the organization’s many achievements. But the centenary also calls for a clear-eyed assessment of the profound challenges that the ILO currently faces – including the growth of the informal and gig economies, digitization and automation, and rising material inequality – and the populist ferment that those trends have helped to engender. This essay, part of a forthcoming AJIL Unbound symposium on "The Transnational Futures of International Labor Law," sketches the ILO’s rich history of legal and policy innovation in response to changes in labor conditions …

Defending Refugees: A Case For Protective Procedural Safeguards In The Persecutor Bar Analysis, Charles Shane Ellison

Faculty Scholarship

For refugees and asylum seekers, application of the so-called persecutor bar is tantamount to a death sentence. However, the Board of Immigration Appeals -- without any real deliberation--has arrived at an interpretation of a generic-relief, burdenshifting regulation to allow for application of the persecutor bar based upon very little evidence. Even mere membership in a group with a poor human rights record has been held sufficient to switch the burden of proof and apply the bar. While the recent holding of Matter of Negusie, 27 I&N Dec. 347 (June 28, 2018) can be read and understood largely as a victory …

Trade And The Separation Of Powers, Timothy Meyer, Ganesh Sitaraman

Faculty Scholarship

There are two paradigms through which to view trade law and policy within the American constitutional system. One paradigm sees trade law and policy as quintessentially about domestic economic policy. Institutionally, under the domestic economics paradigm, trade law falls within the province of Congress, which has legion Article I powers over commercial matters. The second paradigm sees trade law as fundamentally about America’s relationship with foreign countries. Institutionally, under the foreign affairs paradigm, trade law is the province of the President, who speaks for the United States in foreign affairs. While both paradigms have operated throughout American history, the domestic …

Argh, No More Pirating America’S Booty: Improving Copyright Protections For American Creators In China, Johnathan Ling

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

The advent of the internet brought about revolutionary changes and challenges to the world. Internet piracy is one area which is presenting new challenges, particularly to copyright holders such as artists, filmmakers, and creators. China has been a hotbed of piracy and is home to the second highest number of file sharing infringers in the world. China has made strides to improve its copyright protection, such as implementing a copyright law in 1990, as well as joining the World Trade Organization and signing on to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, which specifies minimum levels of intellectual …

Investigating Potentially Unlawful Death Under International Law: The 2016 Minnesota Protocol, Christof Heyns, Stuart Casey-Maslen, Toby Fisher, Sarah Knuckey, Thomas Probert, Morris Tidball-Binz

The International Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Aligning Emerging Global Strategies To Combat Corporate Corruption: From A Two Thrust Approach To A Two Swords One Thrust Strategy Of Compliance, Prosecutorial Discretion, And Sovereign Investor, Larry Catá Backer

The International Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Time For The Creation Of A Standing U.N. Armed Peace Service And The Potential Employment Of Experienced U.S. Veterans As A Significant Component Of Such A Force, Ronald Sievert

The International Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Uniform Interpretation Of Cisg

The International Lawyer

This UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) has been U.S. law for a generation and requires that it be interpreted “to promote uniformity in its application”. This article argues that uniform interpretation is impractical because 1) it is written in six official languages which do not always mean the same thing; 2) with more than 90 countries’ courts and arbitrators applying CISG, each in its own language, some of which do not regularly print their opinions, it is difficult to access all opinions on a single point; 3) since Civil Law countries consider the writings …

The Status Of Unrecognized Quasi-States And Their Responsibilities Under The Montevideo Convention

The International Lawyer

We discuss how international law under the 1933 Montevideo Convention fails to account for Quasi-States and make recommendation of how this could be remedied.

C Is For Cookie: Is The Eu's New "Cookie Law" Good Enough To Protect My Data?

The International Lawyer

[...]data breaches have consistently increased in recent years, with almost 1,300 breaches in 2017 and over 600 as of July 24, 2018.11 This is obviously a problem that affects millions of people across the globe each year and is expected to continually increase as the global economy becomes ever more digital, forcing some to call for action. [...]the comment will speculate as to any potential legal developments as a result of the GDPR's implementation in the European Union and ways that it may evolve over time to affect not only the European Union but also other nations that do business …

Buried Treasure: Excavating Foreign Law From Civil Pleadings Filed In U.S. Federal Courts, Loren Turner

Articles

The Animal Science case is one of many cases in U.S. federal courts wherein parties rely in some measure on foreign law as part of a claim or defense. Yet, none of our legal research databases tracks and catalogs the foreign law and legal analysis filed in our courts. In fact, none of our legal research databases even provides an efficient way to find the foreign law and legal analysis filed in our courts. Despite the increasing frequency of cross-border litigation and the various types of cases that trigger a need to determine foreign law, access to foreign law as …

No Way, Usa!: The Lack Of A Repatriation Agreement With Cuba And Its Effects On U.S. Immigration Policies, Annasofia A. Roig

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The International Law Commission Between Codification, Progressive Development, Or A Search For A New Role, Pavel Šturma

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Population Law And Policy: From Control And Contraception To Equity And Equality, Victoria Mather

Faculty Articles

As a young professor at St. Mary's University School of Law in the 1980s, I had the opportunity to teach in our summer program in Innsbruck, Austria. At the time, faculty members were required to teach an international or comparative law course, and I developed a mini-course in population law and policy. Over the last thirty years, I have had the opportunity to rethink and redevelop the course and to teach it during fifteen summers in the beautiful Austrian Alps. Our summer program became known as the St. Mary's Institute on World Legal Problems, and my course developed into a …

Developing Countries And International Economic Law: The Case Of Burma, Vincent R. Johnson

Faculty Articles

Roughly a quarter of a century ago, developing countries, in large numbers, signed on to the 1994 revision of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade3 ("GKTT 1994") and to membership in its umbrella institution, the World Trade Organization ("WTO"). Notwithstanding their erstwhile reluctance to do business with and compete against developed countries that in many instances had been colonial oppressors, they took on substantial obligations under the WTO agreements. Developing countries did so, in part, because they feared being left behind economically in a world where free trade prospered.

From Skepticism To Reality-The Path To The Convention For The Enforcement Of Mediated Settlements, Deborah Masucci

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

The United States Delegation to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law's ("UNCITRAL") Working Group II submitted a proposal for the Convention for the Enforcement of Mediated Settlements ("Convention") in May 2014. The proposal was met with skepticism. Delegates questioned the necessity of a convention citing past discussions where similar proposals were tabled. Some commentators went so far as to call the proposal the "Mediators Full Employment Act." Despite the pushback, the Working Group II decided to proceed with discussions to determine what a convention would look like while gathering more information from business users about the need for …

International Advocate For Peace Award Acceptance Speech, James Paul Mccartney

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

On May 28, 2019, the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution presented the Nineteenth Annual International Advocate for Peace Award to Sir James Paul McCartney at Cardozo Law School's forty-first Commencement Ceremony. What follows is a transcription of the award ceremony, including Sir McCartney's acceptance speech.

The Singapore Convention And The Metamorphosis Of Contractual Litigation, Jean-Christophe Boulet

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

This article addresses the grounds provided for in Article 5 of the Singapore Convention for the refusal of enforcement of a settlement agreement or for the refusal of a settlement agreement as evidence that the dispute has been resolved. It is divided into three sections. The first section briefly places these grounds in the context of the Singapore Convention as a whole as well as the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. The second section is devoted to a more detailed examination of the various grounds listed in Article 5 of the Convention, …

Defense Perspectives On Fairness And Efficiency At The International Criminal Court, Jenia I. Turner

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Over the last several years, states parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have put increasing pressure on the court to become more efficient. Proceedings are seen as unduly slow, and judges have been urged to rein in the parties and expedite the process.

The emphasis on efficiency can advance important goals of the ICC. It can help ensure defendants’ right to a speedy trial, promote victims’ interests in closure, and allow the court to process more cases with limited resources. But as the experience of earlier international criminal tribunals shows, an unrelenting pursuit of efficiency could also interfere with …

It's Complicated: The Challenge Of Prosecuting Tncs For Criminal Activity Under International Law, Jena Martin

Faculty Articles

Like it or not, Transnational Corporations (TNCs) are taking an increasingly active role in larger societal issues and debates. Whether it's a social advocacy campaign that seeks to reduce violence and bullying, a decision by a pharmacy company to stop selling tobacco products, or a sportswear company's decisions to take a stand in solidarity with an advocate's resistance to police brutality, TNCs are becoming increasingly vocal regarding their role in larger societal issues.

But there is a darker side to the increased intermingling between corporations and the larger societal impact; namely the potential for a corporation to be involved, or …

Taking Greater Responsibility: Austria's Art Restitution Act And The Need For Further Reform, Victoria Bonadies

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

The International Law Commission And The Progressive Development And Codification Of Principles Of International Environmental Law, Nilüfer Oral

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Law As Strategy: Thinking Below The State In Afghanistan, Charles H. Norchi

Faculty Publications

U.S.engagement in Afghanistan is inevitable, but there will be choices about strategy. In 1952, the U.S.Naval War College convened a lecture series devoted to strategy. On March 20, the lecturer was Harold D.Lasswell, an architect of the New Haven School of Jurisprudence. Lasswell observed, “The aim of strategy is to maximize the realization of the goal values of the body politic.” This article proposes that law is among the available strategic instruments to advance goal values common to the United States, Afghanistan,and the world community.

Soft And Hard Strategies: The Role Of Business In The Crafting Of International Commercial Law, Susan Block-Lieb

Michigan Journal of International Law

What motivates the choice between hard and soft law in the drafting of international commercial law, and what role does business play in the preference between the two? Broad disagreement exists in international law (IL) commentary as to motivations for reliance on soft international law. Traditionally, this commentary cast a wide gaze across both international public and private law, but debate about the use of hard or soft law is sharpened by focusing exclusively on international commercial lawmaking. Traditionally, IL commentary considered only on states' interests in crafting international law and ignored business interests. But recent scholarship has begun to …

A Higher Authority: Canada’S Cannabis Legalization In The Context Of International Law, Antonia Eliason, Robert Howse

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part I of this Article provides an overview of some of the key terms and provisions of Canada’s Cannabis Act. Part II looks at the Cannabis Act in the context of the International Drug Conventions, examining how the various convention provisions might apply, looking first at the Single Convention and then at the 1988 Convention and how that convention fits with Canadian constitutional provisions. Part III focuses on the international human rights framework and how the Cannabis Act might be viewed as compatible with international human rights law even where incompatible with the International Drug Conventions. This Part also offers …

The Trump Administration And The International Criminal Court: A Misguided New Policy, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In a recent speech, National Security Advisor John Bolton delivered remarks on "Protecting American Constitutionalism and Sovereignty from International Threats." In his remarks, Bolton announced a new American policy vis-a-vis the International Criminal Court (ICC or Court). According to Bolton, the ICC "has been ineffective, unaccountable, and indeed, outright dangerous." While Bolton and others in the Trump Administration are at liberty to craft new policies, it is important that such policies be based on accurate facts and an accurate understanding of the law.

This Article highlights factual errors from Bolton's remarks and criticizes some of his arguments as misguided and …

Legitimacy In International Dispute Resolution In The Age Of Anti-Globalization, Nationalism, And Isolationism: How Geographical And Legal Cultural Diversity On The International Bench Can Promote Regional And International Cooperation, Alina Ng

Journal Articles

International law and dispute resolution mechanisms can do a lot to promote cooperation and build trust among nation-states by addressing and correcting implicit biases and cognitive errors that lead to global problems instead of believing that globalization and market forces are the primary contributors to these challenges. International legal systems can be the mechanism through which the international community creates conditions that facilitate international cooperation and collaboration. However, clear legal rules that set the framework for multinational and international cooperation may have to be introduced and implemented. While international courts and tribunals can promote multilateral and international cooperation by acknowledging …

International Law, Settlements And The Two-State Solution, James J. Friedberg

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.