The “Right” Right To Environmental Protection: What We Can Discern From The American And Indian Constitutional Experience,
2017
Brooklyn Law School
The “Right” Right To Environmental Protection: What We Can Discern From The American And Indian Constitutional Experience, Deepa Badrinarayana
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
Should there be a constitutional right to environmental protection? Arguments for and against are aplenty, but there is no consensus on this issue. Drawing on the experience within the U.S. and Indian Constitutions, this article posits that the right to environmental protection has normative and practical significance, because a constitutional right attaches to an individual and, hence, can protect an individual from environmental harms, whereas environmental laws, that focus primarily on reducing adverse environmental impact on a general population, may not. It further argues that, to be effective, three constitutionally-embedded rights that are central to preserving the right to environmental …
Safeguarding The Future Of Bangladeshi Children: The Need For A Comprehensive National Educational System,
2017
Brooklyn Law School
Safeguarding The Future Of Bangladeshi Children: The Need For A Comprehensive National Educational System, Samantha A. Barach
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)—the human rights treaty ratified by the most States Parties—is binding international law which enumerates the rights guaranteed to all children worldwide. Despite the widespread ratification of the CRC, many countries lack the proper legislation and agencies to ensure that these rights are afforded to all children. One such country is Bangladesh. A relatively new country, Bangladesh gained its independence in 1971 and was one of the first twenty countries to ratify the CRC. Notwithstanding this eagerness to promote children’s rights, Bangladeshi children suffer from a high level of abuse …
Slipping Through The Cracks: How Digital Music Streaming Cuts Corners On Artists’ Royalty Revenues Globally,
2017
Brooklyn Law School
Slipping Through The Cracks: How Digital Music Streaming Cuts Corners On Artists’ Royalty Revenues Globally, Frances Lewis
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
At a time when the digital distribution of music is dominating the music industry, there are more music consumers than ever. This makes it vitally important for performing artists to receive the credit they are due. An inherent problem in music’s digital distribution market is that music streaming companies often fail to acquire proper licenses to expand their music libraries faster than their competitors. Performing artists who may not have the same income stream as their A-list counterparts often cannot bear the cost of litigation to pursue uncredited royalties. The U.S. class action model provides performing artists with a legal …
The Scrivener’S Secrets Seen Through The Spyglass: Gchq And The International Right To Journalistic Expression,
2017
Brooklyn Law School
The Scrivener’S Secrets Seen Through The Spyglass: Gchq And The International Right To Journalistic Expression, Matthew B. Hurowitz
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
As part of the U.K.’s electronic surveillance program, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), started in 1909 to combat German Spies, now collects metadata from both foreigners and its own citizens. Through the express statutory authority of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act of 2000 (RIPA), and a loophole in section 94 of the Telecommunications Act of 1984, the GCHQ collects metadata, which is all of the information that is extrinsic to the actual contents of a communication. The GCHQ can request an authorization from a public authority—a member of its own staff—to collect traffic data, service use information, or subscriber …
Sovereign Debt Restructuring And English Governing Law,
2017
Brooklyn Law School
Sovereign Debt Restructuring And English Governing Law, Steven L. Schwarcz
Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law
The problem of sovereign indebtedness is becoming a worldwide crisis because nations, unlike individuals and corporations, lack access to bankruptcy laws to restructure unsustainable debt. Decades of international efforts to solve this problem through contracting and attempted treaty-making have failed to provide an adequate debt-restructuring framework. A significant amount of outstanding sovereign debt is governed, however, by English law. This Article argues that the U.K. Parliament has the extraordinary power to help solve the problem of unsustainable country debt by changing English law to facilitate fair and consensual debt restructuring. This Article also proposes modifications to English law that Parliament …
What About Small Businesses? The Gdpr And Its Consequences For Small U.S.-Based Companies,
2017
Brooklyn Law School
What About Small Businesses? The Gdpr And Its Consequences For Small U.S.-Based Companies, Craig Mcallister
Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law
Fast-approaching changes to European data privacy law will have consequences around the globe. Historically, despite having dramatically different approaches to data privacy and data protection, the European Union and the United States developed a framework to ensure that the highspeed freeway that is transatlantic data transfer moved uninterrupted. That framework was overturned in the wake of revelations regarding U.S. surveillance practices, and amidst skepticism that the United States did not adequately protect personal data. Further, the European Union enacted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a sweeping overhaul of the legal data protection landscape that will take effect in May …
Towards A Jurisprudence Of Public Law Bankruptcy Judging,
2017
Brooklyn Law School
Towards A Jurisprudence Of Public Law Bankruptcy Judging, Edward J. Janger
Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law
In this essay Professor Janger considers the role of bankruptcy judges in Chapter 9 cases in light of the scholarly literature on public law judging. He explores the extent to which bankruptcy judges engaged in the fiscal restructuring of a municipality use tools, and face constraints, similar to those utilized by federal district court judges in structural reform cases, where constitutional norms are at issue.
Canadian Federalism In Design And Practice: The Mechanics Of A Permanently Provisional Constitution,
2017
University at Buffalo School of Law
Canadian Federalism In Design And Practice: The Mechanics Of A Permanently Provisional Constitution, James A. Gardner
Journal Articles
This paper examines the interaction between constitutional design and practice through a case study of Canadian federalism. Focusing on the federal architecture of the Canadian Constitution, the paper examines how subnational units in Canada actually compete with the central government, emphasizing the concrete strategies and tactics they most commonly employ to get their way in confrontations with central authority. The evidence affirms that constitutional design and structure make an important difference in the tactics and tools available to subnational units in a federal system, but that design is not fully constraining: there is considerable evidence of extraconstitutional innovation and improvisation …
How Does The Law Put A Historical Analogy To Work?: Defining The Imposition Of "A Condition Analogous To That Of A Slave" In Modern Brazil,
2017
University of Michigan Law School
How Does The Law Put A Historical Analogy To Work?: Defining The Imposition Of "A Condition Analogous To That Of A Slave" In Modern Brazil, Rebecca J. Scott, Leonardo Augusto De Andrade Barbosa, Carlos Henrique Borlido Haddad
Articles
Over the last decades, the Brazilian state has engaged in concerted legal efforts to identify and prosecute cases of what officials refer to as “slave labor” (trabalho escravo). At a conceptual level, the campaign has paired the constitutional protection of human dignity and the “social value of labor” with an expansive interpretation of the offense described in Article 149 of the Criminal Code as “the reduction of a person to a condition analogous to that of a slave.” At the operational level, mobile teams of inspectors and prosecutors have intervened in thousands of work sites, and labor prosecutors …
East Asian Court Reform On Trial: Introduction To The Symposium,
2017
University of Washington School of Law
East Asian Court Reform On Trial: Introduction To The Symposium, Setsuo Miyazawa
Washington International Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Court Reform With Chinese Characteristics,
2017
University of Washington School of Law
Court Reform With Chinese Characteristics, Margaret Y.K. Woo
Washington International Law Journal
In Court Reform on Trial: Why Simple Solutions Fail, Malcolm Feeley identified a number of obstacles that undermine reforms of the United States court system. Feeley’s proposed solution was to adopt a problem-oriented “rights strategy”—letting the courts themselves solve their problems through litigation. This is because litigation is a forum in which courts are well placed to identify specific problems and devise pragmatic solutions. This Article takes a look at this proposition in the context of court reforms in China and concludes that courts (and law) are also a reflection of national goals and identity. Any reforms to a …
Victim Participation In Japan,
2017
University of Washington School of Law
Victim Participation In Japan, Erik Herber
Washington International Law Journal
In 2008, a victim participation system was introduced in Japan, which enabled crime victims to participate in criminal proceedings. One of the goals of the system was to correct the wrong done to victims due to their lack of previous involvement, thus giving crime victims what they “naturally desire.” Employing Malcolm Feeley’s analytical framework to make sense of planned legal change, this Article shows that the new system emerged against the background of a combination of international trends: victim activism and public perceptions of crime getting out of hand. It finds that for reasons that are not well understood, only …
Assessing The Direct And Indirect Impact Of Citizen Participation In Serious Criminal Trials In Japan,
2017
University of Washington School of Law
Assessing The Direct And Indirect Impact Of Citizen Participation In Serious Criminal Trials In Japan, Matthew J. Wilson
Washington International Law Journal
In Japan, the idea of citizen involvement in the judicial process has gained greater acceptance over the past decade. On May 21, 2009, Japan implemented its saiban’in seido or “lay judge system” as part of monumental legal reforms designed to encourage civic engagement, enhance transparency, and provide greater access to the justice system. About eight years before this historic day, a special governmental committee known as the Justice System Reform Council (“JSRC”) set forth wide-sweeping recommendations for revamping Japan’s judicial system. The underlying goals targeted three pillars of fundamental reform, namely: (i) a justice system that is “easier to use, …
East Asian Court Reform On Trial: Comments On The Contributions,
2017
University of Washington School of Law
East Asian Court Reform On Trial: Comments On The Contributions, Malcolm M. Feeley
Washington International Law Journal
I am honored to have my book, Court Reform on Trial: Why Simple Solutions Fail, serve as the organizing framework for this symposium. The enterprise has proven valuable as it provided a reason to assemble a set of articles that focus on important changes in Asian courts in recent decades. Further, it appears that the reforms in three of the countries are loosely related to each other. While Japan had a head start on judicial reforms, both Korea and Taiwan embarked on the same path as soon as they had shed authoritarian rule. China has pursued a more ambitious …
Advance Toward "People's Court" In South Korea,
2017
University of Washington School of Law
Advance Toward "People's Court" In South Korea, Yong Chul Park
Washington International Law Journal
Since 2008, criminal jury trials have been implemented in South Korea with the Citizen Participation in Criminal Trials Act. Under the Act, defendants have the option to choose a jury trial over a bench trial, although jury verdicts, as well as sentencing opinions rendered by a jury, are not binding on the court pursuant to Article 46(2) of the Act. While Korea’s adoption of a criminal jury trial was an ambitious move toward judicial reform, it has faced serious obstacles and has had limited influence over the Korean judicial system. In this Article, I use the five stages of planned …
Introduction Of Videotaping Of Interrogations And The Lessons Of The Imaichi Case: A Case Of Conventional Criminal Justice Policy-Making In Japan,
2017
University of Washington School of Law
Introduction Of Videotaping Of Interrogations And The Lessons Of The Imaichi Case: A Case Of Conventional Criminal Justice Policy-Making In Japan, Setsuo Miyazawa, Mari Hirayama
Washington International Law Journal
Malcolm M. Feeley examined cases of criminal justice reform in the United States, where reforms can be conceived and initiated in a very open structure, but implementation of the introduced reforms can be handed over to highly fragmented implementers. The story of mandatory videotaping of interrogations and accompanying changes in Japan demonstrates the reform process at the other end of the scale, where the members of the criminal justice establishment can exert a strong influence even at the conception and initiation stages, and have even stronger control at the implementation and routinization stages. We believe that Feeley’s theoretical framework can …
Criminal Court Reform In Taiwan: A Case Of Fragmented Reform In A Not-Fragmented Court System,
2017
University of Washington School of Law
Criminal Court Reform In Taiwan: A Case Of Fragmented Reform In A Not-Fragmented Court System, Kai-Ping Su
Washington International Law Journal
This Article examines the character of Taiwan’s criminal court system and proposed court reforms. Taiwan’s criminal court is a not-fragmented system, distinct from the fragmented American criminal court. In fact, with hierarchical control in prosecutorial rulings and central administration of judicial decision-making, Taiwan’s criminal court system can be deemed a relatively centralized and bureaucratic organization. Given this context, when Taiwan’s criminal justice system disappoints the people, judges take the blame for the failures of the system. To resolve the serious problem of public distrust in judges and the court system, Taiwan’s government and the judicial authority make “responding to expectations …
The Supreme People's Court's Annual Report On Intellectual Property Cases (2016) (China),
2017
University of Washington School of Law
The Supreme People's Court's Annual Report On Intellectual Property Cases (2016) (China), Tianyi (Tammy) Wu, Xiaoyang Wang
Washington International Law Journal
The Supreme People’s Court of China began publishing its Annual Report on Intellectual Property Cases in 2008. The Annual Report summarizes intellectual property cases, such as patent, trademark, copyright, trade secrets, and unfair competition cases. This 2016 Annual Report examines 27 cases and includes general guidelines for legal application. It reflects the Supreme People’s Court’s thoughts and approaches for ruling on new, difficult, and complex IP and competition cases.
Diversification Of The Japanese Judiciary,
2017
University of Washington School of Law
Diversification Of The Japanese Judiciary, Daniel H. Foote
Washington International Law Journal
Japan has a career judiciary. The Courts Act of 1947 provides that judges may be appointed from among prosecutors, attorneys, and law professors. In practice, however, the vast majority of judges come from a fourth category, “assistant judges,” who are appointed directly upon completion of the legal training program and typically serve through retirement. This continues a career tradition that dates back to the late nineteenth century. For nearly that long, the Japanese bar has been advocating that the career system should be abolished and that a substantial portion of the judiciary, if not all judges, should be drawn from …
Informal Constitutional Change,
2017
Trinity College Dublin
Informal Constitutional Change, Oran Doyle
Buffalo Law Review
In response to Richard Albert’s Quasi-Constitutional Amendments, 65 BUFF. L. REV. 739 (2017).
