Comparative and Foreign Law Commons^™

Dare You Sue The Tax Collector? An Empirical Study Of Administrative Lawsuits Against Tax Agencies In China, Ji Li

Washington International Law Journal

Though taxes are as certain as death, each year tens of thousands of people in the United States go to court to challenge their assessed tax liabilities, and many succeed. By contrast, very few Chinese taxpayers litigate against tax agencies, and most of those who sue eventually settle, despite low formal litigation costs. China’s nonlitigious culture does not fully explain the reluctance to sue, as courts in Taiwan adjudicate five times more lawsuits against tax agencies. Judicial bias favoring government officials, weak enforcement of judgments against the state, and agency retaliation help to explain the aversion to litigate disputes with …

Reproductive Justice Begins With Contraceptive Access In The Philippines, Elisabeth S. Smith

Washington International Law Journal

Restrictive Philippine laws and a lack of public funding have limited Filipinos’ access to modern contraception, resulting in high maternal mortality rates, high birth rates, unmet needs for family planning, and health disparities between the lowest-income and wealthier women. Following the 1991 decentralization reforms, Local Government Units plan, administer, and fund most Philippine health services. In the context of reproductive healthcare, decentralization has led to inequality, inadequate financing, successful opposition to contraception by the Catholic Church, and a lack of clear national standards. After a fourteen-year legislative struggle, on December 21, 2012, President Aquino signed “The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive …

Endangered Element Of Icsid Arbitral Practice: Investment Treaty Arbitration, Foreign Direct Investment, And The Promise Of Economic Development In Host States, Felix O. Okpe

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

The omission to define the term "investment" in the ICSID Convention is one of the most critical decisions that has led to inconsistent jurisprudence and the resulting debate regarding the propriety of the ICSID Convention and investment treaty arbitration. The legislative history and the circumstances leading to the birth of the ICSID Convention strongly suggest that its main objective is the protection and promotion of economic development in the host State. Most of the propositions aimed at giving a meaning to the term "investment" in ICSID arbitral practice have focused more on whether the scope of the meaning of "investment" …

Reap What You Sow: Soil Pollution Remediation Reform In China, Dustin D. Drenguis

Washington International Law Journal

As China undergoes the fastest economic development in the history of the world, so too has its environmental problems shattered all precedents. While China’s leaders recognize they must change course, environmental concerns have long taken a back seat to economic development. Soil pollution is destroying China’s environment, affecting public health, and reducing the country’s food supply. Soil pollution slows China’s economic development, preventing land development in urban centers. Soil pollution also threatens China’s social stability because it has inspired marginalized groups to organize in protest of environmental conditions. Environmental remediation, or the obligations of a facility or the government to …

Government Liability For Regulatory Failure In The Fukushima Disaster: A Common Law Comparison, Joel Rheuben

Washington International Law Journal

This article considers the Japanese government’s response to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power disaster, in assisting Tokyo Electric Power Company (“TEPCO”) with handling claims for compensation. It argues that in setting guidelines for claims, establishing a government alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) body to deal with disputes, and creating a convoluted funding structure that has led to the effective nationalization of TEPCO, the government has intervened significantly in what are essentially private disputes governed by the Nuclear Compensation Law. This is contrasted with the less interventionist response of the New South Wales government in Australia to mass tort claims for asbestos …

Pashtunistan's Future: The Global Executive Or A Regional Solution, Joshua A. Kurtzman

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This note explores the transnational security issues associated with the Pashtunistan region following the withdrawal of NATO from Afghanistan in 2014. More specifically, at a time when this region is at a religious, governance, and globalization crossroads, this note posits that only two alternatives exist for addressing the security situation in this region. First, a global executive, or executives, could use their power to exert transnational security pressure through drone strikes or other pseudo-military alternatives. A second alternative, and one which this note considers much more promising, is the development of a "NATO like" organization of Muslim nations to assist …

Hong Kong's Failure To Extradite Edward Snowden: More Than Just A Technical Defect, Mark D. Kielsgard, Ken Gee-Kin Ip

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

As the Edward Snowden case takes legs and exhibits all the earmarks of official misconduct and scandal, the U.S. government continues efforts aimed at extraditing this "whistleblower," characterizing him as a traitor and doing damage control in the NSA. Part of this strategy includes intimidating those sovereign states that refuse to coooperate in returning Snowden to face trial.Yet, the legal basis for these U.S. efforts is highly contentious. If Snowden had stayed in Hong Kong and fought extradition, in all likelihood he would have prevailed. Thus, the U.S. is left with not credible basis for complaint, and its retaliatory diplomatic …

The Penumbra Of The United States’
 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Brazil’S Clean Companies Act And 
Implications For The Pharmaceutical
 Industry, Beverley Earle, Anita Cava

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

Private Enforcement Of Trips By Applying The Eu Law Principles Of Direct Effect And State Liability, Saud Aldawsari

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

Transplanting And Customizing
 Legal Systems: Lessons From
 Namibian Legal History, Martin Cai Lockert

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

More Market-Oriented Than The United States And More Socialist Than China: A Comparative Public Property Story Of Singapore, Jianlin Chen, Jiongzhe Cui

Washington International Law Journal

Compared to the more illustrious conceptualization of private property, the conceptualization of public property remains at a surprisingly infantile stage. The very definition of public property is ambiguous. This article utilizes a comparative case study of traffic congestion policies in the United States, China, and Singapore to highlight the conceptual pitfalls posed by the current confusion on public property. This article proposes a refined public property framework that offers greater conceptual clarity on the real issues at stake. In particular, this article argues that “property” in public property should include regulatory permits while “public” in public property should not be …

Unraveling Icsid's Denunciation: Understanding The Interaction Between Articles 71 And 72 Of The Icsid Convention, J. Tejera

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Before any Contracting State denounced the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Convention (ICSID Convention),' very few academics and commentators bothered interpreting the meaning of its provisions dealing with potential denunciations or, more importantly, the effectiveness of withdrawing from the ICSID Convention.

Catalonia: The New European State?, Garcia Barcia

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

On September 11, 2012, a sea of Catalonians, 1.5 million according to the Urban Guard and 600,000 according to the Government Delegation, protested under the slogan: "Catalonia, new European State."'

A Comparative Analysis Of The Reformation Of American And Argentinian Media Laws And The Public Policies Behind Such Changes, M. Villaraos

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Ever since Janet Jackson experienced a wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl Halftime Show-exposing her breast for half a second to nearly one hundred and forty million viewers, seven million of which were children-the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) goal has been to prevent such moral disasters from reaching the eyes of the young American public.

Ayatollah Khomeini’S Political Theory And Public Interest, Mohsen Kadivar

Governance Programme Papers

This article analyses the evolution of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s political theory over four major periods – Qom, Najaf, Paris and Tehran – demonstrating how his thought shifted from a semi‑democratic constitutional vision to the doctrine of al‑wilayat al‑mutlaqah lil‑faqih (the absolute guardianship of the jurist). In the Qom period, Khomeini endorsed a constitutional government supervised by jurists, distancing himself from the notion of direct clerical rule. His Najaf period marked a decisive turn toward a theocratic model, asserting that jurists possessed authority equivalent to that of the Prophet and Shi’ite Imams in public affairs. During the Paris period, Khomeini emphasised …

Who Owns The Mirage? Comments On A Recent Chinese Securitization Case From A Comparative Perspective, Lingyun Gao

Global Business Law Review

With China's restrictions on directly granting loans to real estate companies and the restrictions on establishing cash trusts, the trust companies had been seeking alternatives to engage in real estate investment. They actually might help the real estate developers to establish a trust to securitize the real estate project they own; however, for the reasons analyzed below, most of them decided to get financing only through using the “proceeds accruing from” their real estate project. These trusts are given a fancy name “XXX资产收益财产权信托”, and literally translated as “Trusts on the Right to Proceeds to be Accrued from XXX Project Assets.” …

A National Mineral Policy As An International Investment Law Stratagem: The Case Of Tajikistan's Gold Reserves, Nadia B. Ahmad

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article proposes that a national mineral policy ("NMP") can be crafted to generate foreign direct investment ("FDI") and strengthen sustainable development goals. Less-developed countries ("LDCs") typically overlook or underestimate this federal policy imperative while seeking to harness mineral resources.' Creation of a NMP and complementary changes to federal mining investment laws can provide host countries increased opportunities as well as autonomy to profit from their own natural resources and, at the same time, investor nations can benefit from a NMP because of further mining prospects.

This Article goes on to discuss how the formulation and implementation of a NMP …

The International Sugar Trade And Sustainable Development: Curtailing The Sugar Rush, Nadia B. Ahmad

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article will briefly examine the history of the international sugar trade and discuss the current status of the sugar industry in world markets, specifically in Brazil, India, and the United States. The international sugar trade industry should consider instituting sustainable development practices not only for the public good, but also to enhance its bottom line. As "one of the most highly distorted agricultural commodity markets," the international sugar market is an ideal environment to implement sustainable development practices and begin change with respect to CSR through "guaranteed minimum payments to producers, production and marketing controls (quotas), state-regulated retail prices, …

Trafficking In Information: Evaluating The Efficacy Of The California Transparency In Supply Chains Act Of 2010, Alexandra Prokopets

UC Law SF International Law Review

The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 (CTSCA) took effect in January 2012. It was designed in an effort to eradicate forced labor and human trafficking in business supply chains, which the legislature recognized as violations of state, federal, and international law. The CTSCA does not forbid the sale of goods produced through trafficked labor. Instead, the CTSCA asks companies to disclose their labor practices to consumers in order to allow buyers to differentiate companies based on their efforts to supply products free from slavery and trafficking, which will in turn inform consumers' purchasing decisions and drive companies …

Insider Trading And Other Securities Frauds In The United States: Lessons For Chile, Dante Figueroa

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

This Article is a comparative analysis of insider trading law in the United States and Chile. The study summarily reviews the historical, political, and legal foundations of insider trading regulation in both jurisdictions, identifying areas of convergence, as well as areas in which the Chilean securities market could benefit vis- ` a-vis the more advanced experience of the considerably larger American securities market. The Article also highlights the axiological closeness between both jurisdictions concerning the protection of inside corporate information and the fiduciary role of those who intervene in securities markets in their various capacities (as investors, shareholders, corporate officers, …