International Law Commons^™

The Political Economy Of Foreign Sovereign Immunity, Maryam Jamshidi

UF Law Faculty Publications

The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”) prohibits civil litigation against foreign states, their agencies, and instrumentalities unless one of several enumerated exceptions to immunity applies. The most important of these exceptions is for the commercial activity of foreign sovereigns. While underappreciated, various capitalist interests have comported with and been furthered by the FSIA. Applying a political economy lens, this Article demonstrates how the statutory framework for private litigation against foreign sovereigns has aligned with interests and prerogatives associated with particular stages of capitalist development—as evidenced by the historical evolution of foreign sovereign immunity doctrine and the FSIA’s eventual passage; the …

Recognizing A Fundamental Right To A Clean Environment: Why The Juliana Court Got It Wrong And How To Address The Issue Moving Forward, Robert Kemper

FIU Law Review

As the existential threat of climate change becomes increasingly prevalent, U.S. plaintiffs, lawyers, and activists have begun seeking redress in federal courts arguing for recognition of a constitutional right to a clean environment. Recently, in Juliana v. United States, the Ninth Circuit explicitly recognized the grave threat of climate change for the health, well-being, and security of the American people and the nation as a whole. Additionally, the court found that the U.S. government has contributed to climate change through both inaction and policy decisions that promote the use of fossil fuels. The plaintiffs claimed that they had a constitutional …

Intellectual Property Investment Functions And The Legal Characteristics Of Privatization, P. Sean Morris

American University Business Law Review

This paper develops and presents the idea of intellectual property investment functions as part of a broader narrative on the privatization of international law. Using jurisprudence and private law arguments the paper charts how early investment treaties and ICSID cases interacts with intellectual property investments and then go on to show the rise of contemporary Free Trade Agreements provisions that upend the understanding of intellectual property as an investment function. The advocates of the investment principles clearly sees no objection on the application of customary international law to investment, and by extent, the investment function of intellectual property. It must …

How Hard Is Soft Eu Company Law?, Raluca Papadima

Scholarly Works

This article analyzes the soft law applicable to companies within the European Union (EU) in order to extract tendencies, including by comparing US and EU soft law instruments. It concludes that soft law is like wine: many enjoy it, and it gets better as it ages. Soft law is a very popular and successful girl nowadays, for legitimate reasons, but one that brings about a series of concerns as well. After an overview of the main soft law instruments related to corporate governance and financial markets, and their sources, this article extracts a number of trends.

Canada–Au Human Rights Engagements: A Twail Perspective, Sylvia Bawa, Obiora C. Okafor

Articles & Book Chapters

Despite the problematique of Global North/South relationships, human rights require transnational collaboration to successfully protect vulnerable people in the world. In particular, human rights engagements between Africa and the West are cemented in legacies of colonialism and mediated by development discourses that portray the continent as a paragon of poverty, corruption and backwardness. Within this context, we explore how an African Union (AU) human rights instrument could impact or transform Africa’s transnational human rights engagements. Specifically, we use Canada–Africa human rights engagements as a starting point and basis for analysing the nature, orientation and impacts of such engagements (especially over …

Difficult And Novel Issues Explored By The Students Who Represented The University Of Bucharest In The 2021-2022 Edition Of The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, Raluca Papadima

Other Publications

This article provides an overview of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in general and of the novel and difficult legal issues raised by the 2021-2022 moot problem. The procedural issue revolved around determining the law applicable to an arbitration agreement where, as it is generally the case, the parties did not specifically select it, and with the additional twist of the existence/validity of the entire contract (including the arbitration agreement) being challenged by one of the parties. The relevant considerations are addressed in an article titled "Midnight problems: finding the law applicable to the arbitration agreement", co-authored …

Law And Liberty On The Moon, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

As on Earth, so in outer space . .

Most of those participating in humankind’s venturing into outer space, in particular to the extent of establishing settlements there and thereby providing for a second home for humanity, would hope or even assume that humankind in so doing might be able to avoid the sometimes rather bloody developments that accompanied settlement in far-away territories on Earth. However, at least in the legal area, with a view to its role as providing not only justice and fairness but also predictability and foreseeability, logic dictates that terrestrial laws and experiences of these laws …

Playing The Game Of International Law, Uri Weiss, Joseph Agassi

Touro Law Review

In the realist game of international negotiations, each state attempts to promote their interest regardless of international law. Thus, it is negotiations in the shadow of the sword, i.e., a negotiation in which each side knows that if the parties will not achieve an agreement, the alternative may be a war, and thus the bargaining position of each party is a function of their capacities in a case of war. Negotiation in the shadow of international law is an alternative to it: in this alternative the parties negotiate according to their international legal rights. It reduces injustice and incentive to …

Volume 12 Masthead, Journal Of International & Comparative Law, Notre Dame Law School

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Covid-19 Vaccine: A Spotlight On Distribution Challenges, Erica Gray

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Introduction To The Symposium On Gregory Shaffer, "Governing The Interface Of U.S.-China Trade Relations", Harlan G. Cohen

Faculty Scholarship

What happens to international institutions when expectations about their function and purpose shift? Must such institutions give way as states reconsider the settlements on which those institutions are based, or can they adapt (or be adapted) to new geopolitical realities? Or to put it most bluntly, as the geopolitical balance of power shifts, must law give way to power? At a very deep level, these are the questions animating Gregory Shaffer's "Governing the Interface of U.S.-China Trade Relations," published in the American Journal ofInternationalfaw. 1 As the ballooning rivalry between the United States and China stretches and strains institutions like …

Never Again? The United Nations And Genocide: A Doomed Mission?, Maria Terrinoni

Capstone Showcase

Despite their commitment to international peace and security and to the concept of “never again,” the United Nations has failed to end the many genocides of the late 20th century. In this thesis, I use the genocides in Rwanda (1994) and in the Yugoslav Wars (1991-1999) as case studies to understand the UN’s response to genocide and to attempt to understand why the UN cannot effectively respond to and end genocide. I discover that issues such as the limitations of the Genocide Convention, the importance of state sovereignty, and overall institutional failures of the United Nation make any attempt to …

Pacific Salmon Law And The Environment: Treaties, Endangered Species, Dam Removal, Climate Change, And Beyond (Tables And Preface), Michael Blumm

Books & Contributions to Books

The law and policy of salmon protection and restoration are complex, and matters surrounding salmon implicate topics as varied as Indian treaty fishing rights, dam management and removal, international treaties, predator con­trol, and climate change. Pacific Salmon Law and the Environment chronicles the diverse issues concerning salmon allocation, management, and restoration in the 21st century, providing the historical understanding necessary for an accurate perspective of the present-day problems salmon face. The book is a must-read for ecologists, biologists, attorneys, educators, activists, students, and others concerned about the fate of salmon in the Pacific Northwest in the climate-challenged 21st century. More …

Equality Offshore, Martin W. Sybblis

Faculty Articles

Global governance architecture, crafted by wealthy nations, has perpetuated the subordination of developing jurisdictions. The Article offers a novel and surprising analysis of governance tools used by wealthy countries and inter-governmental organizations to constrain offshore financial centers (OFCs) by focusing on the tools’ disparate impacts on tax havens whose populations comprise predominantly Black and Brown people. With tax haven issues garnering increasing attention, this Article provides a pathbreaking conceptual framework for examining the international tax, crime, and business discourse on OFCs. It also illuminates how the actions of powerful international actors, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development …

Settling Claims For Reparations, Daniel Butt

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

The scale and character of past injustice can seem overwhelming. Grievous wrongdoing characterizes so much of human history, both within and between different political communities. This raises a familiar question of reparative justice: what is owed in the present as a result of the unjust actions of the past? This article asks what should be done in situations where contemporary debts stemming from past injustice are massive in scale, and seemingly call for nonideal resolution or settlement. Drawing on recent work by Sara Amighetti and Alasia Nuti on deliberative reparative processes, the article differentiates between two different approaches to settling …

Taxonomy And Restorative Justice: Can We Even See The Problem?, Dominique Day

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

Reparations And The International Law Origin Story, John Linarelli

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

Every 66 Hours. Dead Or Disappeared. A Colonial Gendered Lens On Genocide: Case Study On Canada's Genocide Against Indigenous Women, Girls, And 2slgbtqqia People, Megan Uren

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

Genocide is happening today, and it will be happening tomorrow. It is not yet time to tell volunteers to stop dredging the Red River for dead bodies of Indigenous women and girls nor time for red dresses to stop being hung on the Highway of Tears. There are dead bodies in the water. There are missing bodies who were taken along wooded highways...

This article evaluates the current rates of violence against Indigenous women in Canada within (1) the greater context of an ongoing colonial genocide against Indigenous peoples and (2) with a narrow-gendered lens on women. First, I will …

The Role Of Nuclear Forensics For Determining The Origin Of Nuclear Materials Out Of Regulatory Control And Nuclear Security, Lekhnath Ghimire, Edward Waller

International Journal of Nuclear Security

The international community recognizes the rise in theft and illicit trafficking of nuclear materials and radioactive sources—for malicious use and nuclear terrorism—as a serious threat. That is why a well-developed nuclear forensics capability is an integral part of a robust nuclear security program and a key element of nuclear security infrastructure. Both pre- and post-detonation nuclear forensics are vital for controlling theft and illicit trafficking of nuclear materials, as well as identifying and tracing their sources. Nuclear forensics analysis and interpretation processes for nuclear security is a systematic process that includes: (1) sample collection and categorization techniques and (2) detailed …

Riding The Wave: Fairness For Foreign Investors In India’S Impending Insolvency Tsunami, Nicole Mecca

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

Reminiscent of the warning signs of a tsunami, bankruptcy and insolvency courts across the globe have been eerily calm despite unprecedented conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The full extent of the pandemic’s effect, including a tidal wave of wide-spread corporate and financial sector harm and wide-spread economic distress, remains to be seen. Much like victims of natural disasters, unsuspecting and increasingly delayed courts will find themselves totally overwhelmed. The inconvenience felt by the courts is distinct, however, from potential harm to financial investors. Although investors could also be harmed by these judicial conditions, they knowingly assumed certain financial risk when …

Parents Versus Parens Patriae: The Troubling Legality Of Germany's Homeschool Ban And A Textual Basis For Its Removal, Luke Julian

Emory International Law Review

The Romeikes, a family from Germany, sought to educate their children in accordance with their religious values. The family observed that no local schools educated children in alignment with their values. In response, the family sought an exemption from Germany’s homeschooling ban. In a string of court cases, Germany refused to accommodate the family’s request, finding that the parents’ right to educate their children in alignment with their values was outweighed by the state’s obligation to educate. With no recourse left in Germany, the parents petitioned the European Court of Human Rights to recognize their right to homeschool according to …

Foreword, Margaret F. Sport

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tech Accountability In Face Of Genocide: Gambia V. Facebook, Laurie Kim

Emory International Law Review

The exigent nature of genocide, inherent costs of litigation that may impede ongoing investigations, and general reluctance of tech companies toward international data disclosure underscore the need for states and intergovernmental organizations to enforce more expedient discovery procedures for cases involving crimes against humanity. The discovery case between the Gambia and Facebook illustrates how the current legal framework regulating international data disclosures is ill-equipped to nimbly address the exigence of genocide in Myanmar.

Existing bilateral agreements and multilateral treaties overseeing international data disclosure should be amended to compel third-party internet service providers to disclose information in the extreme and exigent …

The New Slot Machine: An International Perspective On Why The United States Should Learn To Stop Loving The Loot Box, Ajay Harish

Emory International Law Review

Games of chance are woven into the fabric of human culture. Rapid shifts in technology have resulted in the creation of the loot box, a new video game monetization scheme formed from the dregs of slot machines and trading cards. While extremely lucrative, the existence of loot boxes allows game companies to expose children to wager-like behavior, potentially creating a new generation of problem gamblers. The United States is both financially and culturally tied to video games as an industry and has been slow in its regulation of loot boxes. Given the problematic nature of loot boxes, existing regulations in …

Bivens And Ward---Constitutional Remedies In The United States And Canada, Madeline Prince

Emory International Law Review

Despite the killing of an unarmed fifteen-year-old boy by a federal border patrol agent, the U.S. Supreme Court in Hernandez v. Mesa refused to allow a Bivens cause of action to proceed and left an egregious violation of constitutional rights unremedied. The U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings in Ziglar v. Abbasi and Hernandez v. Mesa further limited the Bivens cause of action in such a way that makes successfully suing federal officials for constitutional violations practically impossible. The Supreme Court frequently denies Bivens claims due to the purported availability of alternative remedies. However, the Court’s recent jurisprudence makes clear that these …

Natural Law And Universal Human Rights, David F. Forte

Emory International Law Review

Abdullahi An-Na‘im has set his life’s quest on attempting to find a way that Muslim society can be attuned to the moral commands of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a Western creation. At present, the Shari‘a and the Declaration are in obvious tension, if not conflict, in areas such as freedom of religion and the rights of women. An-Na‘im finds that the Shari‘a is a creation of man derived in history from an interpretation of Islamic sources. Muslims today can legitimately develop their own interpretation relying on the root sources of Islam, but only so long as those sources …

Muslim Modernism, Islamic Law, And The Universality Of Human Rights, Mohammad Fadel

Emory International Law Review

I first encountered Professor An-Na’im’s work quite serendipitously as a graduate student at the University of Chicago. At that time, I had not yet begun my legal studies and was early in my graduate student days at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. While browsing the stacks of the Regenstein Library, my eyes fell upon Professor An-Na’im’s book, Toward an Islamic Reformation. Although the book was not particularly relevant to my coursework at the time, its title intrigued me and I checked it out and read it quickly alongside my other assignments. At that time, I thought …

Autobiographical Reflections, Abdullahi An-Naim

Emory International Law Review

As a way of concluding this festschrift issue of the Emory International Law Review, I have been invited to contribute an autobiographical essay reflecting on my academic and professional career.

The Making Of A Muslim Democratic Party: Ennahda's Rebranding And An-Na'im's Secular State Framework, Erica Scott

Emory International Law Review

At its Tenth National Party Conference in 2016, Tunisia’s Ennahda Party announced that it would be formally rejecting the label “political Islam” and rebranding itself as a party of “Muslim democrats.” As part of this new identity, Ennahda decided to specialize exclusively in political affairs, officially separating religious activism from the party after decades of pursuing both politics and preaching. This announcement fueled speculation about Ennahda’s motivations, the decision’s practical implications, and its consequences for the relationship between religion and politics in Tunisia, which was only a few years into its democratic transition at the time.

One thinker whose work …

No-Fault Vaccine Injury Compensation Systems Adopted Pursuant To The Covid-19 Public Health Emergency Response, Sam Halabi, Katherine Ginsbach, Katie Gottschalk, John Monahan, Judith Murungi

Emory International Law Review

No-fault vaccine injury compensation systems have developed over the course of the twentieth century, mostly in the richest countries in the world. Acknowledging that severe reactions to vaccines are rare, but can result in serious and sometimes complex injury, these systems provide financial and social support for those suffering these rare side effects. During the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rapid development and deployment of vaccines using novel technologies, these systems have proliferated not only among wealthy countries, where in their modern form they originated and spread, but also low- and middle-income ones. Adopting varying approaches to funding, eligibility, administration, process, …