International Law Commons^™

The United States’ Position On The Extraterritorial Application Of Human Rights Obligations: Now Is The Time For Change, Beth Van Schaack

International Law Studies

This article contends that in the upcoming Human Rights Committee proceedings, the U.S. should abandon the categorical argument that its human rights obligations do not apply extraterritorially in favor of a more nuanced approach that reflects the majority position reached by the range of human rights treaty bodies and courts as well as the legal framework applicable to our coalition partners and other allies. The U.S. failure to acknowledge limited, well-established, and principled exceptions to a strictly territorial application of its human rights obligations ultimately undermines the legitimacy of other, more efficacious, arguments at its disposal—such as its position on …

The Democratic Life Of The Union: Toward Equal Voting Participation For Europeans With Disabilities, János Fiala-Butora, Michael Ashley Stein, Janet E. Lord

Faculty Publications

This Article puts forward preliminary legal scholarship on equal political participation by persons with disabilities and what international human rights law requires for its attainment. The goal is to provoke an informed dialogue on the neglected but fundamental human right to enfranchisement by persons with disabilities while also acknowledging that a complete and just resolution requires further information and reflection.

The Article argues that the fundamental right to vote cannot be curtailed on the basis of an alleged lack of capacity. Disenfranchisement based on individual assessment unjustly excludes a certain number of voting-capable individuals. Since all those affected are persons …

Using International Law In Somalia’S Post- Conflict Reconstruction, Chiara Giorgetti

Law Faculty Publications

For the first time since 1991, Somalia has an internationally- recognized government. Established in August 2012, the Somali Federal Government (SFG) has been officially recognized by many nations and international organizations. The process of bringing Somalia fully back into the international community, however, remains long and complex. This Article argues that, in order to be successful, Somalia’s reconstruction must include a robust international law component. By mandating frameworks for action and establishing best practices, international law should guide and strengthen reconstruction efforts.

"Where Has Their Innocence Gone?" Addressing Child Sex Tourism, Cheryl Page

Journal Publications

If someone thinks that slavery is a thing of the past, they are simply unaware of what is going on around them. It is amazingly easy to “buy” a child. Given the incredible advances in technology and the pervasiveness of the Internet, one could obtain practically any product with a simple click of a mouse. While these technological advances have made life easier in many respects, it has also made it easier for sex predators to have access to buy and sell children. These children are exploited sexually just as easily as ordering a pizza. Children around the world are …

Restoration Of Historical Memory And Dignity For Victims Of The Armenian Genocide: A Human Rights Law Approach To Effective Reparations, Richard Wilson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This article argues that United Nations human rights principles and new developments in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights suggest a route to provide effective reparation through restoration of historical memory and dignity for victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Diplomacy And Its Others: The Case Of Comfort Women, Monica E. Eppinger, Karen Knop, Annelise Riles

All Faculty Scholarship

The “Comfort Women incident,” now at least several decades old, troubles the familiar view of law as a funnel for politics. Viewed as a funnel, the wide range of legal, political, cultural, and diplomatic efforts to seek or resist redress for the system of sexual slavery institutionalized by the Japanese military during the Second World War would be assessed as ultimately pushing in the same direction: toward vindicating human rights. We see in the Comfort Women incident a far more chaotic interaction of law and politics. As critical legal feminist, we are concerned with finding a truthful and ethical way …

Implementing Human Rights In Closed Environments Through The United Nations Convention Against Torture, Claudio Grossman

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Closed environments pose a major challenge to the full and effective implementation of human rights norms and conventions. However, many conventions contain mechanisms that can be used to further advance implementation of human rights in those closed environments. The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention) has several mechanisms in place that play an important role in enforcing and implementing human rights obligations. Along with the creation of a supervisory organ, the Committee against Torture (the Committee), the Convention provides a framework for: State Party reporting and concluding observations (COBs) under …

The Most Important Cases Of The Inter-American Commission On Human Rights, Richard Wilson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR), together with its companion body, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), are autonomous organs of the Organization of American States (OAS). The IACHR promotes and protects human rights in the Western Hemisphere. Created by the OAS in 1959, the Commission has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Together with the Court, established in 1979 in San Jose, Costa Rica, the Commission has emerged as a model of international human rights and humanitarian law, as well as of individual rights.Since its inception, the Commission has made extraordinary progress. Through its 55-year history, it has …

Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law, July 2014, Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson

Articles

United States Negotiates Prisoner Exchange to Secure Release of U.S. Soldier Held in Afghanistan • United States Refuses to Grant Visa to Iranian UN Envoy • Multilateral Naval Code of Conduct Aims to Prevent Unintended Conflict in Contested Areas of East and South China Seas • Senate Approves Treaties to Regulate Fishing • United States Indicts Chinese Military Officials for Economic Espionage • U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Terminate Long-Running Efforts to Force Argentina to Pay Defaulted Sovereign Debt • United States Condemns Uganda’s Antigay Law as Violating Human Rights • President Barack Obama Certifies That U.S. Peacekeepers in Mali …

Keeping The Cyber Peace: International Legal Aspects Of Cyber Activities In Peace Operations, Jann K. Kleffner, Heather A. Harrison Dinniss

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Inter-Country Adoption And The Special Rights Fallacy, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Extraterritorial Application Of The Human Rights To Life And Personal Liberty, Including Habeas Corpus, During Situations Of Armed Conflict, Robert K. Goldman

Contributions to Books

Chapter 6 of Research Handbook on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, the US, with the assistance of its coalition partners – all parties to various human rights instruments – initiated the so-called ‘war on terror’ by invading Afghanistan, where their armed forces killed or captured hundreds of ‘terrorist suspects’. Some of those detained were taken to the US military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, while others have languished in US custody in Afghanistan. These actions raise the question whether a State is bound by its human rights …

Regulating The Corporate Tap: Applying Global Administrative Law Principles To Achieve The Human Right To Water, Kristin L. Retherford

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

How Customary Is Customary International Law?, Emily Kadens, Ernest A. Young

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Owning Justice And Reckoning With Its Complexity, Diane Orentlicher

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

A series of developments, both doctrinal and political, seem to signify a retreat from earlier innovations in the law and practice of international justice. On closer examination, however, recent developments in international justice cannot be reduced to a single trend line. Even as various actors and processes continue to work out the ground rules for exercising jurisdiction in respect of human rights violations that international law condemns as criminal, and as international and national courts work through the inherently challenging project of redressing mass atrocities, states have increasingly internalized, owned and acted on the principle that they should ensure accountability …

Pornography And The Connection To Commerical Sexual Exploitation, Cheryl Page

Journal Publications

Human Trafficking is a violation against humanity and a contradiction to the notion that all people are born free and have rights that are equal. 1 This global crime is a part of practically every country in the world. No nation is immune from its reaches. Every year thousands of women, men and children fall prey to human commercial exploitation and are trapped in a criminal enterprise that profits in the billions. Human trafficking is defined as, “recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of …

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 …

United States V. Alvarez-Machain: Kidnapping In The "War On Drugs" - A Matter Of Executive Discretion Or Lawlessness?, Michael G. Mckinnon

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

An End To The Violence: Justifying Gender As A "Particular Social Group", Suzanne Sidun

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of A New International System Of Justice In The United Nations: The First Sessions Of The United Nations Appeals Tribunal, Tamara A. Shockley

San Diego International Law Journal

In this overview of the new U.N. administration of justice system, a review has been undertaken of the evolution of the process from the former internal justice system to the development of the new administration of justice system. The Appeals Tribunal had a partially blank slate upon which to begin a new jurisprudence in international administrative law. In the first two sessions, the Appeals Tribunal decided upon a wide range of issues ranging from receivability, case management, disciplinary measures and pension cases. As the U.N. attempts to reform and streamline its bureaucratic structure for the 21st century, the judicial tribunals …

"El Agua No Se Vende: Water Is Not For Sale!" The Latin American Water Tribunal As A Model For Advancing Access To Water, Mikita A. Weaver

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

At the international level, water is now understood to be a basic human right. However, conflict continues to intensify surrounding indigenous people's access to water as the resource becomes scarcer. In particular, this paper will examine the struggle of indigenous people in Latin America and the creation of the Latin American Water Tribunal (LAWT) as a solution. Section II will describe the LAWT, including the formation of the tribunal, case selection, and the structure of the public hearing. Section III will discuss both how the LAWT overcomes problems with the current legal system and the success of the tribunal as …

Proportionality In Counterinsurgency: A Relational Theory, Evan J. Criddle

Faculty Publications

At a time when the United States has undertaken high-stakes counterinsurgency campaigns in at least three countries (Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan) while offering support to insurgents in a fourth (Libya), it is striking that the international legal standards governing the use of force in counterinsurgency remain unsettled and deeply controversial. Some authorities have endorsed norms from international humanitarian law as lex specialis, while others have emphasized international human rights as minimum standards of care for counterinsurgency operations. This Article addresses the growing friction between international human rights and humanitarian law in counterinsurgency by developing a relational theory of the use …

Apportioning Responsibility Among Joint Tortfeasors For International Law Violations, Roger P. Alford

Pepperdine Law Review

With the new wave of claims against corporations for human rights violations – particularly in the context of aiding and abetting government abuse – there are unusually difficult problems of joint tortfeasor liability. In many circumstances, one tortfeasor – the corporation – is a deep-pocketed defendant, easily subject to suit, but only marginally involved in the unlawful conduct. Another tortfeasor – the sovereign – is a central player in the unlawful conduct, but, with limited exceptions, is immune from suit under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. A third tortfeasor – the low-level security personnel – accused of actually committing the …

Disposable Workers: Applying A Human Rights Framework To Analyze Duties Owed To Seriously Injured Or Ill Migrants, Lori A. Nessel

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The practice of medical repatriation, or the extrajudicial deportation of seriously ill immigrants directly by hospitals, was largely unknown and under-theorized until recently. In the past few years, a number of scholars have focused on the legal and ethical issues raised by this practice. However, medical repatriation has most often been analyzed in isolation as an example of an anomalous unlawful or unethical action undertaken by hospitals, rather than as a predictable, if horrifying, extension of a legal regime that treats migrant labor as disposable. In contrast, this Article contextualizes the private deportation of migrant workers by hospitals within broader …

Human Rights And The Elusive Universal Subject: Immigration Detention Under International Human Rights And Eu Law, Cathryn Costello

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The right to liberty is ubiquitous in human rights instruments, in essence protecting all individuals from arbitrary arrest and detention. Yet, in practice, immigration detention is increasingly routine, even automatic, across Europe. Asylum seekers in particular have been targeted for detention. While international human rights law limits detention, its protections against immigration detention are weaker than in other contexts, as the state's immigration control prerogatives are given sway. In spite of the overlapping authority of international and regional human rights bodies, the caselaw in this field is diverse. Focusing on the U.N. Human Rights Committee, the European Court of Human …

"The End Of The Beginning?": A Comprehensive Look At The U.N.'S Business And Human Rights Agenda From A Bystander Perspective, Jena Martin Amerson

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

With the endorsement of the Guiding Principles regarding the issue of business and human rights, an important chapter has come to a close. Beginning with the then U.N. Secretary-General’s “global compact” speech in 1999, the international legal framework for business and human rights has undergone tremendous change and progress. Yet, for all these developments, there has been no exhaustive examination in the legal academy of all of these events; certainly there is no one piece that discusses or analyzes all the major instruments that have been proposed and endorsed by the U.N. on the subject of business and its relationship …

How The Internet Is Used To Facilitate The Trafficking Of Humans As Sex Slaves, Cheryl Page

Journal Publications

Human trafficking is, sadly, a part of the fabric of the 21st century global community, but it has different goals than those of sex trafficking. One expert defines human trafficking as “‘an opportunistic response’ to the tension between the economic necessity to migrate . . . and the politically motivated restrictions on migration”. To give an idea of how widespread sex trafficking is, understand that it is now more profitable for criminals to sell women for sex than it is to sell drugs. Drugs are disposable and finite. Women can be resold over and over and over again. These “commodities” …

Jailing The Johns: The Issue Of Demand In Sex Trafficking, Cheryl Page

Journal Publications

Slavery is an institution that many people believe no longer exists. Slavery has not ended and there are millions of innocent victims caught in this system. This is not the slavery that was fought over in the U.S. Civil War. This form of slavery is not very different from colonial slavery-innocent people caught and trapped in this web of sex for service. Today, this form of slavery is better known as human trafficking. This is a brutal, heinous, and damaging situation that many women and children find themselves in as unwilling participants.' Most victims have little to no hope of …

Communications Disruption And Censorship Under International Law: History Lessons, Jonathon Penney

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

With Internet censorship on the rise around the world, a variety of tools have proliferated to assist Internet users to circumvent such censorship. However, there are few studies examining the implications of censorship circumvention under international law, and its related politics. This paper aims to help fill some of that void, with an examination of case studies wherein global communications technologies have been disrupted or censored — telegram cable cutting and censorship, high frequency radio jamming, and direct broadcast satellite blocking — and how the world community responded to that disruption or censorship through international law and law making. In …

Partisan Conflicts Over Presidential Authority, Jide Nzelibe

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.