European Law Commons^™

Pursuing A Universal Threshold For Regulating Incitement To Discrimination, Hostility Or Violence, Rebecca Meyer

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) recognizes that although the right to freedom of expression is essential, it is not absolute. The ICCPR prohibits speech that incites to discrimination, hostility, or violence. The provision prohibiting such speech is important to protect individuals and communities. Yet, not all countries are adequately enforcing its mandate. Such countries are letting inciting speech spread and, in some instances, violence has ensued. Conversely, some countries are taking enforcement too far, using the criminalization of inciting speech as a tool to silence political dissent. In light of the divergent interpretations—each problematic in its …

Armenia And Azerbaijan's Struggle With Occupation In Nagorno-Karabakh, Carolyn Morway

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The corrupt occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding areas has resulted in displaced civilians, chaotic military violence, poor judicial law-making, and hostile international relations. Analyzing the international law of occupation’s purposes and its humanitarian requirements illustrates that there is a need for change. Set against the backdrop of Nagorno-Karabakh’s precarious situation, the international community should take this opportunity to reformulate the international law of occupation with sovereignty and humanitarian principles guiding the change. The effort could prevent another such “frozen conflict.”

From Discretion To Law: Rights-Based Concerns And The Evolution Of International Sanctions, Christopher Roberts

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

This Article considers the manner in which rights-based concerns have increasingly impacted upon the nature of international sanctions regimes. First, this Article considers two better-known instances of this impact—the manner in which general sanctions became more targeted, and the manner in which due process concerns came to receive greater respect in the context of targeting decisions. Following these investigations, this Article turns to explore a third, under-recognized development—the gradual evolution of a sense that sanctions may be required in certain instances. It explores this development by highlighting the growing scope of understandings of responsibility within various bodies of public international …

The Balkan Loophole: China's Potential Circumvention Of Eu Protectionism, Dimitrije Canic

University of Miami Business Law Review

The global recession of 2008 appeared to end the honeymoon between globalization and the reduction of international trade barriers. This was especially visible in the European Union, which saw a surge of conservatism as European economies suffered. With the EU unable to assist its members, the countries turned to China for financial aid. In return, China saw this as its chance to enter the EU using the engine of its newly–formed superpower status–its economy. From loans and financial aid to foreign direct investments (FDI), China began to pour money into the EU market. The poorer EU members accepted this money …

Ten Years Of Economic Analyses For The European Marine Strategy Framework Directive: Overview Of Experiences And Lessons Learned, Rob Van Der Veeren, Ann Kathrin Buchs, Günter Hörmandinger, Soile Oinonen, Conceição Santos, Max Vretborn

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

The European Marine Strategy Framework Directive, which came into force in 2008, requires from Member States inter alia to perform various (types of) economic analyses. In order to help Member States to implement this directive, the European working group on Economic and Social Analysis was initiated in 2009. This working group has developed various guidance documents which have been very useful in helping each other to understand the Directive and its requirements, to develop one language, to understand the pros and cons of various approaches, and to share experiences. However, up until now, outside of this working group this information …

Defining 'Diversity' In Corporate Governance: A Global Survey, Askhaya Kamalnath

Journal of Legislation

This Article explores the connotation of the term “diversity” in the corporate governance sphere and the utility of such a connotation. To explore what the term has come to mean, this Article conducts a comparative analysis of how the term is used in the corporate governance context in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, India, and Malaysia. Based on this analysis, this Article argues that the push for “diversity” (in the way it has come to be understood) on company boards needs to be re-examined and recommends that the SEC needs to define the term in accordance with its policy goals.

Judicializing History: Mass Crimes Trials And The Historian As Expert Witness In West Germany, Cambodia, And Bangladesh, Rebecca Gidley, Mathew Turner

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Henry Rousso warned that the engagement of historians as expert witnesses in trials, particularly highly politicized proceedings of mass crimes, risks a judicialization of history. This article tests Rousso’s argument through analysis of three quite different case studies: the Frankfurt Auschwitz trial; the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia; and the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh. It argues that Rousso’s objections misrepresent the Frankfurt Auschwitz trial, while failing to account for the engagement of historical expertise in mass atrocity trials beyond Europe. Paradoxically, Rousso’s criticisms are less suited to the European context that represents his purview, and apply more …

Legislative Foundation Of The United States' New International Tax System, Joshua D. Harms

Seattle University Law Review

This Note begins with commentary on the United States’ former worldwide system of taxation. This system taxed multinational corporations’ offshore profits at the applicable domestic income tax rate less credits for taxes paid to foreign governments. This tax regime provided for the deferral of income tax due on the profits of multinational corporations’ overseas operations until the time of repatriation. This Note considers the issues inherent in this system and analyzes the repatriation tax holiday under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. This holiday has been unanimously criticized by both sides of the political aisle and led to large …

Voila! Taking The Judge Out Of Divorce, Margaret Ryznar, Angélique Devaux

Seattle University Law Review

This Article examines the possibility of non-judicial divorce in the United States based on the French model. Part I begins by examining the recognition of divorce by agreement of the parties in France. Part II analyzes the judicial role in American divorces, and whether it bars either domestic non-judicial divorce or recognition of foreign non-judicial divorce. Part III undertakes a comparative analysis, concluding that the United States may be amenable to non-judicial divorces that occur not only abroad but, eventually, within its own borders.

Assesing The Gig Economy In Comparative Perspective: How Platform Work Challenges The French And American Legal Orders, Jeremy Pilaar

Journal of Law and Policy

Both the gig economy’s critics and supporters tend to assume that it represents an assault on current employment structures. Comparative theory, however, emphasizes that legal regimes are durable in the face of new challenges. Fortunately, the gig economy’s prevalence throughout the world gives scholars the chance to evaluate this tension. This paper analyzes whether platform work undermines existing legal systems by testing two comparative theories in the United States and France. The first predicts that French law should mobilize against platform firms to protect producers’ livelihoods and that American law should embrace these services for lowering consumer prices. The second …

Introduction: Developing Strategies For Stability And A Sustainable Shared Development In Euro-Mediterranean Migrations, Emanuela C. Del Re

New England Journal of Public Policy

This special issue on migration offers a collection of contributions from prominent scholars, academics, and researchers from Europe, Africa, and the United States who provide a unique multilevel and prismatic analysis of this fundamental social phenomenon.

Strategies For Stability And Sustainability In Euro-Mediterranean Migrations, Emanuela C. Del Re

New England Journal of Public Policy

In this article, the author provides a wide and vivid picture of the several dimensions of migration flows in the current global scenario and, in particular, in the Mediterranean. She proposes new interpretations of this complex phenomenon, analyzing its multiple aspects and characteristics and the push factors and policies and responses of the countries of origin, transit, and destination. She suggests new approaches and strategies to deal with the issue of migration, urging the EU member states and EU institutions to develop management policies for stability and sustainability that are welcoming and that respect human rights.

Immigration As A Domestic Policy Issue: What Strategy To “Save” Europe?, Germano Dottori

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article analyzes the influence of political orientations in the development of migration policies in the European Union. It lists the forces shaping the political orientations regarding mass migration across Europe and shows how they combine and affect the policies being adopted. The article focuses on the economic and political positions underpinning progressive, liberal options for an open-door policy and the opposing views.

Response And Responsibilities Of The Republic Of Macedonia In The Migrant And Refugees Crises, Toni Mileski

New England Journal of Public Policy

The Republic of Macedonia has had a long history of dealing with migrants and refugees. Since the late nineteenth century, conflicts, including the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), the First and Second World Wars, the Greek civil war (1945–1949), the Kosovo conflict, and the 2001 internal security crisis, have caused successive waves of migration. More recently, armed conflict in the Middle East, especially in Syria, caused a migrant and refugee crisis that has deeply affected the country. This article analyses how the Republic of Macedonia has responded to this crisis. It examines the initial period of the crisis, the measures, activities, and …

European Immigration Controls Conforming To Human Rights Standards, Yannis Ktistakis

New England Journal of Public Policy

The European continent has for some years been facing increased pressure from migration. In 2010, Europe, in comparison with the other continents, was expected to host the largest number of migrants: 69.8 million migrants representing 32.6 percent of the total flow of migrants (213.9 million international migrants). This pressure has caused the two main European organizations, the Council of Europe and the European Union, to act decisively for the protection of migrants. Although the European legal order offers a high standard of human rights protection—having adopted, over the decades, the relevant instruments and developed effective mechanisms—the two European organizations have …

Syrian Refugees In Europe: Migration Dynamics And Political Challenges, Leila Hudson

New England Journal of Public Policy

After 2011 the Syrian conflict caused growing numbers of residents to flee to escape escalating regime brutality and deteriorating economic conditions. In addition to a population of up to eight million internally displaced residents, at least four million Syrians fled to neighboring Arab states and Turkey. Conditions in those countries ranged from desperate to uncomfortable, and between 2014 and 2016 up to a million refugees continued on to seek asylum in Europe. In addition to the trauma of displacement the refugees experienced, the migration left traces on the host and transit countries in the form of economic and infrastructural challenges, …

Managing Migration: The Balkans United Against Refugees, Hedvig Morvai, Dragan Djokovic

New England Journal of Public Policy

In 2015, alone, almost a million refugees sought to reach Northwestern Europe by traveling from Turkey, through Greece and Macedonia, and then across Serbia, Hungary, or Croatia, following what became known as the Balkan route. Despite the numerous problems associated with this route, it remained functional until March 8, 2016, when the EU member states reached a deal with Turkey that has put a stop to this particular migrants’ itinerary.

Like the member states of the European Union, the Balkan countries have been dealing with migration problems in an obsolete manner. Wars and their attendant difficulties in Serbia, Croatia, and …

North African Regular And Irregular Migration: The Case Of Libya, Mustafa O. Attir

New England Journal of Public Policy

Because of its geographical size and location, Libya has for centuries been a transit county for human movement across the region. Thus, its experience with immigrants has a long history. In the early 1970s, Libya became a destination for foreigners seeking jobs. Some entered the country legally, others illegally. All came to work, live, and send remittances back to their families. During the 1990s, when many migrants used Libya as a transit country for crossing the sea to Europe, the European Union started negotiating with the Libyan government to curb the flow of irregular migrants. In 2011, the country joined …

The Mediterranean Refugee Crisis: Heritage, Tourism, And Migration, Marxiano Melotti

New England Journal of Public Policy

The Mediterranean Sea has become a huge cemetery: many thousands of migrants have lost their lives trying to cross it in search of a better future. In 2015, more than a million migrants and refugees reached Europe through irregular means, but almost 4,000 went missing and probably drowned. In 2016, 364,000 arrived in Europe and more than 5,000 were lost en route. The arrivals in Italy by sea were 181,436 in 2016 and 119,369 in 2017. While UN organizations and EU governments seem unable or unwilling to face this epoch-making drama, the culture industry has begun to exploit it. Migrant …

Moving Beyond The Wto: A Proposal To Adjudicate Gmo Disputes In An International Environmental Court, Marguerite A. Hutchinson

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article begins with a brief summary of the scientific basis of creating GMOs and its historic precursors. The second section provides an overview of risks to humans and the environment. The third part of this Article analyzes the arguments put forward by both the United States and the E.U., which have defined the conflict between blocs of countries pushing GMOs abroad and those who persistently reject them. The fourth section evaluates the respective regulatory schemes imposed on GMOs by the United States and Europe, domestically and by international treaty. The success of these systems is evaluated in the fifth …