International Law Commons^™

The Injustice Of 1.5°C–2°C: The Need For A Scientifically Based Standard Of Fundamental Rights Protection In Constitutional Climate Change Cases, Andrea K. Rodgers, Lauren E. Sancken, Jennifer Marlow

Articles

In 2015, signatories to the Paris Agreement agreed to the goal of keeping global temperature rise this century to well below 2°C above preindustrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C. Although the adoption of the Paris Agreement was in many ways a political triumph, seven years later many climate advocates are presenting the Paris target to judicial bodies as the de facto legal standard for fundamental rights protection in climate change cases. Yet, the history leading up to the signatories’ ultimate adoption of the Paris Agreement target suggests that the target is …

Role Of Courts In Ensuring Water Justice In India: Brasilia Declaration On Water Justice And Beyond, Gayathri D. Naik

Articles

Water being a scarce resource, questions of its allocation and distribution, coupled with concerns of its depletion have troubled policy makers, legislators, and judges alike. While, over the years there has been significant development on the discussion surrounding the rights-duty paradigm of water resources, by establishing the obligation of states, discussion surrounding a certain value-based approach to guide the minds of important stakeholders in creating and enforcing policy has gained far less traction comparatively. It is in this context that this paper explores an alternative justice-based approach to water, drawing from the works of Amartya Sen on capabilities and more …

Human Rights Due Diligence, Joanna Kulesza

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Due diligence is a well-recognized, deliberately flexible standard in international law. It has been introduced to complement the system of state responsibility and the international liability framework of commitments. The latter has provided more detail to the understanding of due diligence. Together, these two systems allow for a comprehensive reading and implementation of due diligence in international law.

Two international legal regimes dictate due diligence requirements: the law on international liability and that of the law of state responsibility. These two regimes have been the focus of the United Nations' (UN) International Law Commission (ILC) since 1947, resulting in two …

Justice For Venezuela: The Human Rights Violations That Are Isolating An Entire Country, Andrea Matos

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

"Authoritarian International Law" In Action? Tribal Politics In The Human Rights Council, Yu-Jie Chen

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The international human rights regime, a product of post- war liberalism, is increasingly falling under the shadow of authoritarian countries that try to influence the regime in favor of their illiberal agendas. This Article uses the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) as a prism to examine the changing dynamics among leading authoritarian and democratic actors as they contend to shape global human rights norms and institutions. This Article argues that China, the most resourceful authoritarian party-state, is engaging in what can be understood as tribal international politics, forming coalitions with authoritarian governments and developing countries that have different state …

Environmental Protection And Human Rights In The Pandemic, Maria Antonia Tigre, Sarah C. Slinger, James R. May

Scholarly Works

The Covid-19 outbreak in 2020 took the world by surprise. The virus spread quickly around the globe and death tolls were constantly on the rise at early stages of the pandemic. Although vaccine rollouts have helped halt the number of deaths, inequality in accessing vaccines and effective treatments is still a major issue. From the onset, Covid-19 negatively impacted global well-being and myriad human rights. The present report examines how environmental protection and related human rights have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on link between environmental and human health, this report focuses on ecological human rights. The report …

National Security Policymaking In The Shadow Of International Law, Laura T. Dickinson

Utah Law Review

Scholars have long debated whether and how international law impacts governmental behavior, even in the absence of coercive sanction. But this literature does not sufficiently address the possible impact of international law in the area of national security policymaking. Yet, policies that the executive branch purports to adopt as a wholly discretionary matter may still be heavily influenced by international legal norms, regardless of whether or not those norms are formally recognized as legally binding. And those policies can be surprisingly resilient, even in subsequent administrations. Moreover, because they are only seen as discretionary policies, they may be more easily …

Addressing Correlations Between Gender-Based Violence And Climate Change: An Expanded Role For International Climate Change Law And Education For Sustainable Development, Achinthi C. Vithanage

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

2021 Spring - Clihhr Newsletter, Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr)

CLIHHR Newsletters

This Spring 2021 issue of the CLIHHR Newsletter highlights major institutional milestones and advocacy efforts during a period of global and political transition. It features Professor Richard H. Weisberg’s transition to emeritus status, successful litigation challenging sanctions against the International Criminal Court, student fellowship and clinic project achievements, virtual alumni engagement, and public programming on sanctions, religious freedom, mass incarceration, and farmers’ rights. The newsletter reflects CLIHHR’s continued commitment to human rights education, international justice, and accountability in a remote learning environment.

Strategic Litigation And The Evolution Of Regional Human Rights Norms: Cases From Germany And The Netherlands, Cole Kovarik

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This study seeks to fill gaps in our understanding of how private actors participate in international human rights politics by examining civil society involvement in European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) cases against long-standing democracies. Descriptive analysis of an exhaustive data set of instances of civil society organization (CSO) participation in ECtHR cases against Germany and The Netherlands is complemented by a comparative case study analysis of networks of organizations that mobilized around German and Dutch cases concerning Articles 8 (right to privacy) and 10 (freedom of expression). The data suggest that civil society organizations not only appear before the …

Foreign Cyber Interference In Elections, Michael N. Schmitt

International Law Studies

In the 2020 U.S. elections, Russia authorized and conducted influence operations designed to support former President Trump, although it did not attempt to alter any technical aspect of the voting process. Russia was not alone. Iran mounted a multi-pronged covert influence campaign intended to undercut Trump’s reelection prospects, while other foreign actors–like Lebanese Hizballah, Cuba, and Venezuela–also tried to influence the election. Interestingly, China did not conduct operations designed to alter the outcome, although it did consider doing so. The phenomenon of election meddling, however, extends well beyond the United States to such countries as Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, …

Transparency Of Land-Based Investments: Cameroon Country Snapshot, Sam Szoke-Burke, Samuel Nguiffo, Stella Tchoukep

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Despite a recent transparency law and participation in transparency initiatives, Cameroon’s investment environment remains plagued by poor transparency.

In a new report focusing on agribusiness projects in Cameroon, CCSI and the Centre pour l’Environnement et le Développement (CED) find that:

• Communities continue to be excluded from decision-making around investments.
• The government pursues a top-down approach to concession allocation and remains reluctant to recognize all legitimate tenure rights.
• The government faces threats to its legitimacy as the grievances of citizens and investors alike lead to the barring of roads by communities and investor withdrawals.

CCSI and CED therefore call for:

• A …

War Crimes, Inc.: The Ats Case Against The U.S. Weapons Industry For Aiding And Abetting Atrocities In Yemen, Elizabeth Beavers

Florida Journal of International Law

The U.S. weapons industry provides much of the weaponry necessary to facilitate mass indiscriminate bombings by a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, many of which amount to war crimes. The stories referenced in this note represent just a few of the lives harmed in the course of the Yemen civil war. Yet despite consistent public reporting detailing the damage, and calls from the international community to halt sales, the flow of weapons from the United States remains seemingly endless yet accountability is in short supply. The Alien Tort Statute (ATS) provides an avenue for Yemeni survivors to seek redress in U.S. …

The Status Of International Treaty In The United Arab Emirates Constitution, Wael Allam

UAEU Law Journal

Like other countries, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) needs to enter into treaties to regulate its relations with States and the international community. Indeed, the UAE is a party to several international treaties in several areas; including labor, human rights, aviation, international humanitarian law, judicial cooperation, the fight against organized crime and human trafficking, etc. In light of the existence of these numerous international treaties concerning the UAE, the question arises about the status of international treaty in the United Arab Emirates; i.e., what is the binding force of the International Treaty in relation to other legal rules? What is …

Gender-Blind: International Human Rights On Abortion Through Irish Eyes, Christine A. Ryan

Duke Law SJD Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Rule Of Law And Human Rights: Strengthening Democratic Institutions, Claudia Martin, Diego Rodriguez-Pinzon

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Selected Issues Related To The Interaction Of International Human Rights Conventions With A Proposed Treaty On Pandemics, Diego Rodríguez-Pinzón

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Tortured Woman: Defying The Gendered Conventions Of The Convention Against Torture, Linda Kelly

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Trapped At Sea: As Seafarers' Rights Erode During Covid-19 Pandemic, Arbitration Mechanism May Offer A Path For Redress, Shannon Quinn

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Reckoning: Dialogue About Racism, Antiracists, And Business & Human Rights, Erika George, Jena Martin, Tara Van Ho

Faculty Articles

Video of George Floyd's death sparked global demonstrations and prompted individuals, communities and institutions to grapple with their own roles in embedding and perpetuating racist structures. The raison d'tre of Business and Human Rights (BHR) is to tackle structural corporate impediments to the universal realization of human rights. Yet, racism, one of the most obvious of such barriers, has been a blind spot for BHR. While the field has contended with gender inequality, there have only been tokenistic nods to intersectional harms caused by business activities. The failure to address racism seriously undermines both the promise of BHR generally and …

Defining The Relationships: "Cause, Contribute, And Directly Linked To" In The Un Guiding Principles On Business And Human Rights, Tara Van Ho

Faculty Articles

According to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, businesses owe remediation when they "cause" or "contribute to" a human rights impact, but not when they are only "directly linked to" it. These terms determine when a victim is entitled to seek remediation from a business, but they have largely been ignored in existing scholarship. This article investigates the meaning of "cause, contribute, and directly linked to", revealing confusion and uncertainty before proposing a new system, built on existing authoritative guidance, for interpreting the terms and determining when businesses owe remediation for their human rights impacts.

Repeating History: Russia Inflicting Crimes Against Humanity Upon The Crimean Tartars, Katerina Dee

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Closing International Law's Innocence Gap, Brandon L. Garrett, Laurence R. Helfer, Jayne C. Huckerby

Faculty Scholarship

Over the last decade, a growing number of countries have adopted new laws and other mechanisms to address a gap in national criminal legal systems: the absence of meaningful procedures to raise post-conviction claims of factual innocence. These legal and policy reforms have responded to a global surge of exonerations facilitated by the growth of national innocence organizations that increasingly collaborate across borders. It is striking that these developments have occurred with little direct help from international law. Although many treaties recognize extensive fair trial and appeal rights, no international human rights instrument—in its text, existing interpretation, or implementation—explicitly and …

Promoting Gender Equity And Foreign Policy Goals Through Ratifying The Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women, Raj Telwala

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

Human Rights Reporting As Human Rights Governance, Margaret E. Mcguiness

Faculty Publications

Contrary to the view that the rejection of human rights treaty membership has left the United States outside the formal international human rights system, the United States has played a key role in international human rights governance through congressionally mandated human rights monitoring and reporting. Since the mid-1970s, congressional oversight of human rights diplomacy, which requires reporting on global human rights practices, has integrated international human rights law and norms into the execution of U.S. foreign policy. While the congressional human rights mandates have drifted from their original purpose to condition allocation of foreign aid, they have effectively embedded international …

Rule Of Law And Human Rights: Strengthening Democratic Institutions Academy On Human Rights And Humanitarian Law Articles On Rule Of Law And Human Rights: Strengthening Democratic Institutions: Introduction, Claudia Martin, Diego Rodriguez-Pinzon

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

We are delighted to present this year's publication of the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, which includes two of the best essays in English and in Spanish recognized in the 2020 Human Rights Essay Award competition. It is satisfying to think that this competition allowed a number of participants an opportunity to expound their thoughts on so many important topics and on so many areas of the world. We hope these participants are able to use their articles as mechanisms for change.

Human Rights Realism, Natalie R. Davidson

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In the aftermath of gross human rights abuses, when, if at all, should we forego legal accountability? Human rights scholars debated this question in the 1980s and 1990s, in what was referred to as the "peace versus justice" debate. The "justice" side won the day among human rights advocates, among whom the dominant position is that legal accountability is a necessary response to atrocity and cannot be limited by political considerations (a position this Article terms "human rights absolutism'). However, this question has resurfaced in the twenty-first century, in intense debates with interlocutors outside the field of human rights. Faced …

Pornography-Based Sex Trafficking: A Palermo Protocol Fit For The Internet Age, Hope Watson

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The United Nations Palermo Protocol provides an international framework for regulating human trafficking with aims of increasing perpetrator prosecution and victim rehabilitation. Signatory nations implement this resolution through domestic legislation. Discrepancies across these statutes result in dangerous jurisdictional gaps and chaotically varied law enforcement approaches. Though legal scholarship rarely addresses the topic, pornography-based sex trafficking provides a clear example of this trend. The unique digital features of the internet compound these challenges. This Note seeks to close procedural gaps and alleviate policing frustrations through a proprietary examination of the Protocol’s “exploitation” definition and suggests an amendment to the Protocol that …

International Law As Behavior: An Agenda, Harlan G. Cohen, Timothy Meyer

Scholarly Works

Over the past few decades, scholars in a variety of fields – economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and international relations, among others – have made enormous strides studying the behavioral roots of international law by exploring individual motivations, describing organizational cultures, and mapping communities of practice. Taken together, the work of these scholars presents a complex, nuanced understanding of how international law works. However, these projects are rarely considered together: often separated by academic enclosures and focused on different subfields within international law, communication among scholars using different methodologies is restricted. The goal of this book is to break down some …

Seismic Shifts: The Covid-19 Pandemic's Gendered Fault Lines And Implications For International Law, Shruti Rana

Faculty Publications

As we look towards the pandemic's end, this article examines the pandemic's impacts on the international legal order through a gendered lens. It argues that in the short-term, the pandemic reinforces public-private divides in international law, reinvigorating previous debates over the state's power in social relations-its role in protecting people from, as opposed to perpetrating, harm. It argues that in the long-term, these developments threaten to unravel the most recent gains in international law and global governance that have operated to support and expand the recognition of human rights to marginalised groups. Left unaddressed, this unraveling will further entrench such …