International and Area Studies Commons^™

Fall Roundtable: Africa And Human Rights, Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Kenya’s Somali Contradiction” Ben Rawlence. Project Syndicate. September 30, 2013.

Autochthonous Constitutional Design In Post-Colonial Singapore: Intimations Of Confucianism And The Leviathan In Entrenching Dominant Government, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Does Singapore's approach to institutional design vis-avis political representation prioritize strong and effective government, or is the goal one that is geared towards a representative government as a means of enhancing political governance? his paper examines the series of amendments to Singapore's Constitution and related legislation, between 1984 and 1990, and in 2010, which relate to political representation in Singapore's electoral system and unicameral legislature. At one level, the changes are part of the endeavor to retain Parliament's standing as the focal point of Singapore's Westminstermodeled system of government. The constitutional changes reflect the political elites' abiding belief that institutional …

From Pokhara To Kandahar: The Two Hundred Year Journey Of The Force That Made Nepal Famous, Elijah Wohl

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Gurkhas are renown throughout the world for their fighting skills, their bravery, and their loyalty to the British Crown. Much has been written on their distinguished history, but traditional literature on the Gurkhas leaves several questions unanswered. How did the Gurkhas come to be as a fighting force for the British Empire when the British never occupied Nepal? How have they survived the independence of India and the subsequent dismantling of the British Empire? And what will the future of the Gurkhas be? Will they continue their two centuries of service to the British Crown? Or will they become …

Where No Man Has Gone Before: A Critical Roadmap For The Use Of Drones In Targeted Killing, Valerie Heinmets

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the ongoing War on Terror, the Obama Administration has relied heavily on a new form of military technology: the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, more popularly known as the drone. While the program has remained largely a covert operation, gradually more information about its effects, especially concerning civilian casualties, has begun to come to light. As a result of allegations over their allegedly indiscriminate use in Yemen and Pakistan, countries the U.S. is not at war with, a few questions arise. When do drones stop becoming a military precision tool for taking out Al-Qaeda senior command and move into a field …

The Singapore Personal Data Protection Act And An Assessment Of Future Trends In Data Privacy, Warren B. Chik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In the first part of this paper, I will present and explain the Singapore Personal Data Protection Act (“PDPA”) in the context of legislative developments in the Asian region and against the well-established international baseline privacy standards. In the course of the above evaluation, reference will be made to the national laws and policy on data privacy prior to the enactment of the PDPA as well as current social and market practices in relation to personal data. In the second part of this paper, I will decipher and assess the future trends in data privacy reform and the future development …

Which Road To The Past? - Some Reflections On Legal History, Andrew B.L. Phang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

It is not customary to commence a keynote address with caveats and disclaimers. However, this is the rare occasion when such qualifications are necessary because—if I may be permitted a crude pun—of the lack of qualifications of the speaker himself. This is not false modesty. It is very real. I know that I have often been referred to in the Singapore context as a legal historian.

Gauging The Gender Divide In The Middle East’S Educational System: Causes, Concerns, And The Impetus For Change, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Discovering The Right To Criminal Disclosure: Lessons From Civil Procedure, Denise Huiwen Wong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68, 1985 Rev Ed) and subsequent case law developments have created a patchwork of rules governing the disclosure obligations of parties in criminal cases. This article argues that parties have thereby been endowed with a right that is exercisable in the courts to access the material to which the law says they are entitled. However, there are currently no proper procedural mechanisms in place for parties to make interlocutory applications to obtain such material. This article examines the competing values and ideals of a criminal discovery regime, and suggests that concepts such …

The Right To Appeal Against A Decision Made On An Interlocutory Application: The Immediate Aftermath Of The 2010 Amendments, Eunice Chua, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

One of the main reasons for amending the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Cap 322, 2007 Rev Ed) in 2010 was to introduce a calibrated approach towards interlocutory appeals to the Court of Appeal. The amended s 34 and the newly introduced Fourth and Fifth Scheds were interpreted for the first time in two recent Court of Appeal decisions, providing much needed guidance on the general approach towards statutory interpretation, as well as specific direction in terms of interpreting the term “order” in para (i) of the Fourth Sched and para (e) of the Fifth Sched, and the term “interlocutory …

The Future Of The Similar Fact Rule In An Indian Evidence Act Jurisdiction: Singapore, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In yet another attempt to bridge the gap between the rules of an antiquated statute and the modern realities of practice, Singapore’s Evidence Act was amended in 2012. Certain relevancy provisions were amended to allow greater admissibility of evidence. While new provisions were introduced to act as a check against abuse, oddly some similar fact provisions were left intact. This paper explains why the 2012 amendments have rendered the future of these enactments very uncertain. This paper also suggests a number of tentative recommendations as regards future legislative change or judicial interpretation. To the extent that Singapore’s Evidence Act was …

Asean's Liberalization Of Legal Services: The Singapore Case, Pasha Li-Tian Hsieh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article examines the liberalization of legal services in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN”) within the framework of the ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN’s free trade agreements. Although trade in legal services is important to ASEAN’s goal as a “single market and production base,” the article challenges the weaknesses of ASEAN’s legal services liberalization. It then explores Singapore’s experiment on the regulations of foreign law firms and foreign lawyers, which have become substantially liberalized in the past decade. The article argues that while Singapore may serve as a positive example, ASEAN countries should be cautious of the gap …

Contractual Interpretation In Indian Evidence Act Jurisdictions: Compatibility With Modern Contextual Approach, Yihan Goh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper examines the approaches towards contractual interpretation taken by Commonwealth jurisdictions governed by the Indian Evidence Act. While some of these jurisdictions import the modern contextual approach into their domestic approaches, it will be argued that it is largely compatible with the Indian Evidence Act. In particular, it will be shown that a limited adoption of the modern contextual approach is permissible, namely one involving the limited admissibility of extrinsic evidence to interpret contracts, subject to the requirement of ambiguity. An integrated approach may represent the best way of following the modern contextual approach, while remaining faithful to the …

Go Beyond ‘Nudges’ In Tackling Discrimination, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In this commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law and NMP Eugene Tan shared his thoughts on the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF), which was describe by Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin as a “nudge” to employers to give Singaporean professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) – who constitute about a third of the workforce – a “fair chance” at job and development opportunities.

The Use Of Experts In Legal Proceedings In Singapore Involving Intellectual Property Rights, David Llewelyn

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In intellectual property (IP) cases decided in recent years in Singapore, the use of expert evidence is commonplace. Weaknesses in that expert evidence are commonplace too; sometimes the weaknesses are such that the evidence should be excluded, on other occasions they render the evidence of little value. However, in all cases the reliance on expert evidence will have increased the cost of the litigation for both sides (and rarely does the costs award make that increase good for the successful party). Aside from the more general policy concerns regarding expert evidence, this is an important reason why the courts must …

Patterns Of Anti-Muslim Violence In Burma: A Call For Accountability And Prevention, Andrea Gittleman, Marissa Brodney, Holly G. Atkinson

Publications and Research

In this report, the authors documents how persecution of and violence against the Rohingya in Burma has spread to other Muslim communities throughout the country. Physicians for Human Rights conducted eight separate investigations in Burma and the surrounding region between 2004 and 2013. PHR’s most recent field research in early 2013 indicates a need for renewed attention to violence against minorities and impunity for such crimes. The findings presented in this report are based on investigations conducted in Burma over two separate visits for a combined 21-day period between March and May 2013.

Hougang By-Election Case: What Court Decision On By-Election Reveals, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Singapore Court of Appeal’s judgment in Vellama d/o Marie Muthu v Attorney-General [2013] SGCA 39 – popularly known as the Hougang by-election case – shows that the Court sees its role as policing the margins rather than involving itself in the heart of politics. The Court held that the Government was incorrect in asserting the Constitution confers on it the discretion not to hold a by-election at all after a parliamentary seat falls vacant. The judgment came as a surprise to those used to a judicial stance fairly deferential towards the Government, but on balance the Court did accord …

Moulding The Nascent Corporate Social Responsibility Agenda In Singapore: Of Pragmatism, Soft Regulation, And The Economic Imperative, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper seeks to examine the putative growth of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Singapore. A key impetus for the nascent CSR movement in twenty-first century Singapore is the economic imperative. As a trade-dependent industrializing economy, the economic development drive coupled with the need for international expansion has made it necessary for Singapore businesses to be cognizant of the growing CSR movement in the western, industrialized world. The government supports the CSR endeavour with an instrumental bent, where CSR ideas and concepts are adapted, incorporated, and promoted in various sectors of the economy. This paper assesses the state’s active encouragement …

Following English Footsteps? An Empirical Study Of Singapore's Reported Insurance Judgments And Disputes Between 1965 And 2012, Christopher C. H. Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article presents an empirical study of the development of Singapore’s insurance contract law in relation to English law. The gene of Singapore’s insurance law is very English. The empirical data show a lack of momentum in driving insurance law forward by case law. This may justify further legislative reform to address not only the known doctrinal issues inherited from English law but also the specific problems facing consumer insurance. Singapore’s competitiveness in the global insurance market will be an instrumental factor to determine how far Singapore continues to follow English law in the future.

Kekuatan Politik Media Sosial: Uji Kasus Pada Revolusi Mesir 2011, Mansur Juned, Musa Maliki, M Asrudin

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

This article examines that internet social media have influenced the Egypt Revolution from the authoritarian government to the democratic transition. There are two theories: Cyber-Optimist that argues internet social media is significant in changing a rezim and Cyber-Realist that believes internet is a status quo regime's arsenal in controlling their citizen. Based on cyber-optimist argument, this article believes that internet social media is not supporting the authoritarian government of Husni Mubarak in Egypt, but as the citizen's arsenal to change the authoritarian government of Husni Mubarak.

Massacre In Central Burma: Muslim Students Terrorized And Killed In Meiktila, Richard Sollom, Holly G. Atkinson

Publications and Research

This report details the results of a Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) investigation into the March 20 and 21, 2013, attacks on Muslim students, teachers, and residents in the Mingalar Zayyone quarter of Meiktila, a small town in central Burma.

A two-person team, the authors of the report, from PHR conducted 33 interviews about the attacks, which resulted in the deaths of at least 20 children and four teachers. The report details the attacks by the Buddhist mobs, provides evidence that local police officers were complicit in the crimes, and lists policy recommendations for the Burmese government and the international …

Mining, Uranium, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides an overview of uranium mining's role and influence in the American West with comparative information on uranium mining in foreign countries.

War And Insurgency In The Western Sahara, Geoffrey Jensen

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

Home to the largest functional military barrier in the world, the Western Sahara has a long history of colonial conquest and resistance, guerrilla warfare and counterinsurgency, and evolving strategic thought. This monograph explores the past, present, and future of the region, including its relationship to developments in Morocco, Algeria, and elsewhere in North Africa.

At a crucial crossroads between Africa and Europe, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and the "Arab World" and the West, Morocco has long had a special place in U.S. diplomacy and strategic planning. Since September 11, 2001, Morocco's importance to the United States has only increased, …

Let Us Not Centralise Town Council Services, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

With the Government accepting the findings and recommendations of the Ministry of National Development (MND) Town Council Review Report, the focus has now shifted to a “strategic and comprehensive review of town councils (TCs)”. SMU Assistant Professor of Law Eugene Tan was of the opinion that such a move is timely and needed. He said that Singapore should not revert to the pre-1989 situation in which the management and maintenance of public housing estates was HDB’s sole responsibility. Apart from commenting on suggestions raised in the reviews, he also added what he thought should be included in this comprehensive review …

Disadvantages To Turkey’S Eu Accession: Turkish Perspective, Madison Campbell, Elisa Demartino

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

Future Stability In The European Union: Realism, Constructivism, And Institutionalism, Maya Swisa

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

An Ever Closer Union: The European Security And Defense Policy And The Development Of Hard Power Capabilities In The European Union, Daniel Stepanicich

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

The Kosovo War: Nato’S Opportunity, Sead Osmani

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

Jlia 2:1

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

There is an ever widening gap between conflict resolution policy makers and scholars—a tragedy given practitioners’ dire need for new ideas to help resolve deadly conflicts and the growing knowledge researchers have to share. Research tends to swing like a pendulum between analytic and rigorous methods and accessible and relevant approaches. We reject this tradeoff. We believe that research can be simultaneously rigorous and relevant, and analytic and accessible. Given the devastating loss of life associated with armed conflict, the need for translating research results into policy prescriptions is especially strong in peacemaking. The goal of this issue of the …

Las Abuelas E La Memoria, Doris Cristobal

Archives of an Activist: Celebrating the Donations of Rita Arditti to UMass Boston

Viví en Buenos Aires Argentina durante cuatro años y en mi estadía en ese país aprendí mucho acerca de los efectos que les había dejado la Dictadura militar de 1976. Conocí a hijos, familiares, madres y abuelas de los desaparecidos y de su trabajo importante luchando por la vigencia de los derechos humanos en la Argentina. Aprendí también, que existen fuertes lazos de solidaridad entre el pueblo argentino y los pueblos de Latinoamérica; por ejemplo que el pueblo argentino es muy agradecido con mi país porque durante la dictadura muchos exiliados encontraron protección del gobierno peruano, y que en la …

“The Living Are Getting Rarer”: The Causes And Consequences Of The International Trade In White Rhinoceros Horns Under The Convention On International Trade In Endangered Species, Alisha Falberg

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

In 2012, more than 400 South African white rhinoceros were poached and killed for their horns. The horns, used in ancient Asian medicines, are falsely believed to cure diseases. They are currently worth thousands of dollars on the black market because the white rhinoceros is an endangered species and the trade in its horns is strictly regulated under the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).The two countries at the center of this crisis are South Africa, where the majority of the world’s white rhinoceros live and are being poached, and Vietnam, …