Law and Politics Commons^™

Early Prerogative And Administrative Power: A Response To Paul Craig, Philip A. Hamburger

Faculty Scholarship

What does English experience imply about American constitutional law? My book, Is Administrative Law Unlawful?, argues that federal administrative power generally is unconstitutional. In supporting this conclusion, the book observes that eighteenth-century Americans adopted their constitutions not only with their eyes on the future, but also looking over their shoulder at the past – especially the English past. This much should not be controversial. There remain, however, all sorts of questions about how to understand the English history and its relevance for early Americans.

In opposition to my claims about American law, Paul Craig lobs three critiques from across the …

Confounding Ockham's Razor: Minilateralism And International Economic Regulation, Eric C. Chaffee

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

In Minilateralism: How Trade Alliances, Soft Law, and Financial Engineering Are Redefining Economic Statecraft, Professor Chris Brummer embraces the complexity of the global economic system and its regulation by exploring the emerging role and dominance of varying strands of economic collaboration and regulation that he collectively refers to as “minilateralism.” In describing the turn toward minilateralism, Brummer notes a number of key features of this new minilateral system, including a shift away from global cooperation to strategic alliances composed of the smallest group necessary to achieve a particular goal, a turn from formal treaties to informal non-binding accords and other …

The Art Of Nailing Jell-O To The Wall: Reassessing The Political Power Of The Internet, Bryan Druzin, Jessica Li

Journal of Law and Policy

Political observers commonly argue that, given the unique characteristics of the Internet, democratization is an inevitability of its widespread use. The critical role that social media played in the wave of demonstrations, protests, and revolutions that swept across the Arab world in 2011 cemented this perception in the minds of many. Yet China defies this simplistic paradigm—China has been stunningly successful at constraining the political power of its Internet. We argue that the political importance of Internet technology has been overstated, particularly with respect to China. As support for this thesis, we cite recent political events in Hong Kong known …

The Role Of The State, Multinational Oil Companies, International Law & The International Community: Intersection Of Human Rights & Environmental Degradation Climate Change In The 21st Century Caused By Traditional Extractive Practices, The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous People And Universal Jurisdiction To Resolve The Accountability Issue, Marcela Cabrera Luna

Master's Theses

Local, national and international conventions that protect indigenous sovereignty and their territories, where many of the resources are extracted from by multinational corporations (MNCs) particularly oil, the number one commodity of the world and cause of climate change, continue to be jeopardized because of the lack of a clear international legal framework that can protect them and potentially hold multinationals accountable for their actions. These practices are causing not only environmental issues to the indigenous and surrounding communities, but climate change is in fact, the real human rights issue of the 21^st century and it affects everyone. By using …

Corporate Complicity In Human Rights Violations Under International Criminal Law, Danielle Olson

International Human Rights Law Journal

This paper examines the main legal elements of corporate criminal responsibility for involvement in serious human rights violations, focusing specifically on the mens rea, or mental element requirement of a crime. It analyzes in detail what it means for a business to be complicit, the degree of knowledge corporations and their officials must have to be implicated in accomplice liability, and a case study demonstrating the consequences of such liability on corporations.

The Chemical Weapons Convention: Hollow Idealism Or Capable Mechanism? The Syrian Intervention As A Test Case, David Martin

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Restoration Constitutionalism And Socialist Asia, Bui Ngoc Son

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

And Then There Were Two: Why Is The United States One Of Only Two Countries In The World That Has Not Ratified The Convention On The Rights Of The Child?, Mark Engman

International Human Rights Law Journal

Twenty-five years ago, the United Nations General Assembly (‘U.N. General Assembly’) unanimously adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereinafter the “CRC”), which became the most widely accepted human rights treaty in history. Today, every nation in the world is a party to the CRC – except for two: Somalia, and the United States. This article will analyze the politics behind America’s failure to ratify this treaty. That may seem a little out of place in a law journal, but in reality the United States’ (‘U.S.’) acceptance or rejection of international law is as much a matter of …

Principled Humanitarian Organizations And The Use Of Force: Is There Space To Speak Out?, Scott Paul, Elizabeth Holland

International Human Rights Law Journal

Humanitarian organizations are fundamentally concerned with addressing the suffering of civilians. The decision by an armed actor to resort to force can result in greater protection or greater harm, and has at least as significant an impact on civilian lives as any decision made during the conduct of hostilities. Yet, humanitarian organizations rarely publicly advocate for or against the use of force. This article explores the perceived and actual limitations that humanitarian principles place on the public advocacy of humanitarian organizations regarding the recourse to force. It begins with a discussion of the relevant legal framework and explication of the …

Transitional Justice In Sri Lanka: Rethinking Post-War Diaspora Advocacy For Accountability, Mytili Bala

International Human Rights Law Journal

Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam came to a bloody end in May 2009, amidst allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity on both sides. Since then, Tamils in the diaspora, long accused of funding the war, have become vocal proponents for war crimes accountability. Some might label certain forms of diaspora advocacy as “lawfare” or “long-distance nationalism.” However, these labels fail to account for the complex memories and identities that shape diaspora advocacy for accountability today. In order for Sri Lanka to move forward from decades of conflict, transitional justice mechanisms to …

No Child Is An Island: The Predicament Of Statelessness For Children In The Caribbean, Catherine A. Tobin

International Human Rights Law Journal

In a region characterized by human mobility, many children in the Caribbean are born in a different country than their parents. In fact, the Caribbean is considered one of the regions with the highest percentage of people migrating. This article will analyze the root causes of statelessness for children in the Caribbean, focusing primarily on the dangerous interplay between ineffective birth registration systems and lack of safeguards for children who would be otherwise stateless. The article will also address recent shifts in migration and nationality policies in countries such as The Bahamas and the Dominican Republic that have exacerbated existing …

Impact Of The “Nirbhaya” Rape Case: Isolated Phenomenon Or Social Change?, Tina P. Lapsia

Honors Scholar Theses

In December 2012, a twenty-three year old college student, who was given the pseudonym “Nirbhaya” (“fearless”), was fatally gang-raped on a private bus in Delhi, India, galvanizing the country to swiftly adopt new legislative measures and catapulting the issue of violence against women in India into the international spotlight. Although assault and rape cases have made India infamous for its high volume of crimes against women, the reaction to this particular incident was much different from before. This paper investigates whether the governmental and societal responses represent social change, as indicated by changing attitudes towards violence against women in India. …

Human Rights Violations At Guantánamo Bay: How The United States Has Avoided Enforcement Of International Norms, Samantha Pearlman

Seattle University Law Review

Guantánamo Bay has become a symbol of the United States’ approach to the War on Terror. The detention center is globally known for the human rights violations committed there; yet, the international community has failed to take actions to successfully close the facility through either the use of pressure on the U.S. government or by utilizing enforcement mechanisms against the United States as it would any other nation committing proportional human rights violations. The United States’ actions at Guantánamo Bay violate its obligations under the Third Geneva Convention, the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention Against …

Human Rights Practices In The Arab States: The Modern Impact Of Sharī’A Values, James Dudley

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Responsibility To Protect: Emerging Norm Or Failed Doctrine?, Camila Pupparo

Global Tides

This paper seeks to investigate the current shift from the non-intervention norm towards the “Responsibility to Protect,” commonly abbreviated as “RtoP,” which actually mandates intervention in cases of humanitarian intervention disasters. I will look at the May 2011 application of the R2P doctrine to the humanitarian crisis in Libya and assess whether it was a success or a failure. Many critics of the “Responsibility to Protect” norm consider it to be yet another imperial tool used by the West to pursue national interests, so this paper analyzes this argument in detail, referring to case study examples, particularly in the Middle …

The Discipline Of International Law In Republican China And Contemporary Taiwan, Pasha L. Hsieh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This Article examines the evolution of international law as a professional and intellectual discipline in the Republic of China (ROC), which has governed Mainland China (1912–1949) and post-1949 Taiwan. The ROC’s centennial development fundamentally shaped modern China’s course of foreign relations and postwar global governance. The Article argues that statism, pragmatism, and idealism define the major features of the ROC’s approach to international law. These characteristics transformed the law of nations into universally valid normative claims and prompted modern China’s intellectual focus on the civilized nation concept. First, the Article analyzes the professionalization of the discipline of international law. It …

Strategic Globalization: International Law As An Extension Of Domestic Political Conflict, Jide Nzelibe

Northwestern University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Rise Of The Security State, Wang Yuhua, Carl F. Minzner

Faculty Scholarship

Over the past two decades, the Chinese domestic security apparatus has expanded dramatically. “Stability maintenance” operations have become a priority for local Chinese authorities. We argue that the birth of these trends dates to the early 1990s, when central Party authorities adopted new governance models that differed dramatically from those that of the 1980s. They increased the bureaucratic rank of public security chiefs within the Party apparatus, expanded the reach of the Party political-legal apparatus into a broader range of governance issues, and altered cadre evaluation standards to increase the sensitivity of local authorities to social protest. We show that …

Unilateral Non-Colonial Secession And The Criteria For Statehood In International Law, Glen Anderson

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The following article examines the interactions between the right of peoples to unilateral non-colonial (“UNC”) secession and the criteria for statehood in international law. In this respect a three-point thesis is developed. First, it is argued that the law of self-determination has resulted in a less strict application of the criteria for statehood based on effectiveness, particularly the effective government criterion. This means that a state created by UNC secession pursuant to the law of self-determination will not have its statehood called into question if lacks an effective government. Second, it is argued that the declaratory approach to recognition is …

The Scottish Independence Referendum And The Principles Of Democratic Secession, Benjamin Levites

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

On September 18, 2014, Scottish voters decided whether to sever the 307 years of unity between Scotland and the United Kingdom in an independence referendum. While the voters ultimately rejected independence, the process by which the Scots accomplished this historic exercise will inform further democratic secession movements.

This Note examines the significant implications of Scotland’s independence referendum by assessing the history of independence referendums and the present scope of relevant international law. The formative history of the independence referendum and modern precedential examples established the requirements for democratic secession. In turn, the Scottish independence referendum, in the context of evolving …

Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite: The United Nations Declaration Of The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples Fails To Protect Hopi Katsinam From The Auction Block In France, Samantha K. Nikic

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) compels member states to take action in order to protect the rights of the world’s 370 million indigenous peoples, including the right to their cultural property. Notwithstanding the UNDRIP’s robust set of protections, its status as a nonbinding piece of international law remains its ultimate and most fatal flaw. France was an enthusiastic supporter of the UNDRIP at ratification, but has effectively abandoned their position. French auction houses and courts have allowed for sales of Native American sacred property to proceed despite the objections of the Hopi Tribe. In …

European Economic Community - The Use Of Article 173(2) Of The Eec Treaty To Contest Actions Of The European Parliament, Partie Ecologiste 'Les Verts' (The Greens) V. European Parliament, [1987] 2 Comm. Mkt. L.R. 343 (1986)., Scott N. Carlson

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Mexico's Legal Revolution: An Appraisal Of Its Recent Constitutional Changes, 1988-1995, Jorge A. Vargas

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

So Help Me God: A Comparative Study Of Religious Interest Group Litigation, Jayanth K. Krishnan, Kevin R. Den Dulk

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Human Rights Abuses In Yugoslavia: To Bring An End To Political Oppression, The International Community Should Assist In Establishing An Independent Kosovo, Ted Baggett

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Proposal To Implement Article 23 Of The Basic Law In Hong Kong: A Missed Opportunity For Reconciliation And Reunification Between China And Taiwan, C. George Kleeman Iv

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Rehabilitate Or Incarcerate? A Comparative Analysis Of The United States' Sentencing Laws On Low-Level Drug Offenders And Portugal's Decriminalization Of Low-Level Drug Offenses, Caroline E. Sapp

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

America's criminal justice system is in need of targeted reform. Throughout this country, too many Americans are trapped- and too many communities are weakened - by a vicious cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration. Too many people go to too many prisons for far too long - and for no truly good law enforcement reason. The U.S. prison population has grown at an astonishing rate over the last three decades - by almost 800 percent since 1980, despite the fact that America's overall population has increased by only about a third. As we speak, more than 219,000 federal inmates are …

Separation Of Powers Crisis: The Case Of Argentina, Manuel José J. García-Mansilla

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Challenges To The Territorial Integrity Of Guyana: A Legal Analysis, Thomas W. Donovan

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Democracy In Disguise: Assessing The Reforms To The Fundamental Rights Provisions In Guyana, Arif Bulkan

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.