International Humanitarian Law Commons^™

A Haven For Traffickers: How The United States Provides A Legal Safe Haven For Businesses That Rely On Forced Labor In The International Supply Chain, Ramona Lampley

Pepperdine Law Review

Congress enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (“TVPRA” or “Act”) in 2000, which, through its amendments, gives victims of human trafficking, including forced labor or slave labor, a private right of action against those who knowingly benefit from the abusive labor practices perpetrated on them. Even though slave labor, particularly child labor, is a perceived evil in the foreign supply chains of many domestic companies, courts appear uncomfortable with the some of the civil liability provisions of the TVPRA. This Article examines recent cases brought under the TVPRA, and how, in some cases, courts have eviscerated the private right of …

Refugee Health In Philadelphia, Marc Altshuler, Md

Academic Commons Workshops and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Law Versus Justice In International Atrocity Prosecutions, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

Attribution of individual criminal responsibility in the context of extraordinary international crimes that, pace Hannah Arendt (1963), explode the limits of law and bust the global trust, indeed, remains fraught and taut. Hence, attention to legally cognizable linkages between the free will of the accused person and the connived malignant context matters greatly. These linkages adopt various monikers, including nexus and modes of liability. Insofar as international criminal trials self-identify as imposing international criminal law—as opposed to show trials that heave theatrics upon a stage—some respect toward due process is required in order to maintain credibility. While international criminal law …

Corporate Governance & International Law, Kishanthi Parella

Scholarly Articles

Stakeholder activism by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), consumers, employees, and others can incentivize corporate managers to comply with international law on climate change, armed conflict, human rights, and access to medicine, among other issues. As such, stakeholder enforcement of international law has two distinct audiences: the corporation that is persuaded to change and fellow stakeholders who are persuaded to act. But familiar difficulties with collective action impede the success of stakeholder enforcement of international law. These challenges can compromise the ability of shareholders to monitor corporations; these same problems similarly jeopardize the ability of stakeholders to monitor corporate compliance with international …

Smouldering Semantics, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

Law privileges remedies such as incarceration and, in the case of the ICJ, satisfaction, restitution, and compensation. Diverse remedies, like divestment and shareholder activism, remain marginal. It is indeed refreshing to me that the protests roiling university campuses do not call for criminal prosecution, or ICJ denunciation, but rather for divestment and thereby open a conversation about wider causal elements. Law also privileges a reductionism--there is one blameworthy entity at fault, namely, the defendant, the respondent, or the accused. Such a parsimonious approach obscures the broader forces that conspire to seed the loneliness and abandonment that, to me, is a …

Colonial Genocide In Intercultural And Interdisciplinary Perspective / Génocide Colonial Dans Une Perspective Interculturelle Et Interdisciplinaire, John Doyle-Raso, Christophe Davis, Veronica Lockyer, Didar Shwan

Reports

Scholars from diverse cultural and disciplinary backgrounds have made recent contributions to debates about colonial genocide, conceptualizing this issue in widely divergent ways. Yet, most research syntheses regarding colonial genocide are over a decade old and therefore exclude influential research such as prominent government reports. This synthesis focuses on two themes: forms of genocide, and accountability mechanisms. Adopting a transnational approach, it incorporates three case studies – Canada, Namibia, and Rwanda – each differing in terms of its temporal relationships with colonial governments, forms of genocide, and accountability mechanisms.

This project compares debates about multiple forms of genocide in the …

Key Developments At The World Bank Inspection Panel (2013-2024), Dilek Barlas

Perspectives

Through the lens of important cases, this essay reflects on major developments that occurred at the Panel during the tenure of the author as the Executive Secretary of the World Bank Inspection Panel and shows how the Panel has evolved to improve accessibility, has influenced overall development policies, and has become a catalyst for institutional change. The essay observes that the Panel’s success has largely been due to its structural and operational independence, reporting as it does directly to the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors. However, there are challenges facing the Panel on certain issues, including most importantly its independence, …

Ending 30 Years Of Imf Exceptionalism: A Call For An Accountability Mechanism At The International Monetary Fund, Luiz Vieria

Perspectives

This year marks the 30^th anniversary of the World Bank’s Inspection Panel (WBIP or Panel), created as the result of grass-roots and international pressure on the Bank to address the well-documented negative impacts on marginalised communities of the Bank-financed Narmada dam and similar projects.

The establishment of the world’s first independent accountability mechanism (IAM) at the World Bank led to the creation of similar mechanisms at nearly all international financial institutions (IFIs), with the IMF an important exception. The establishment of the WBIP and other IAMs was a step-change in accountability, as previously IFIs were only accountable to shareholders …

Achieving Effective Procurement During A Global Crisis: A Study Of The Uncitral Model Law On Public Procurement And The Wto Agreement On Government Procurement, Dmitri Goubarkov

American University International Law Review

The global nature of the COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges for public procurement systems around the world. Governments everywhere faced an immense pressure to facilitate the rapid procurement of supplies and services needed to support overburdened health and social care systems. Speed and flexibility were needed to address the shortages of protective personal equipment, distribution of ventilators, and increased demand for medications, all of which required governments to forego traditional public procurement methods. Governments had to balance the underlying principles of their procurement systems—namely, competition, integrity, and transparency—against urgency, and do so in a way that does not erode public …

A Dam Over Troubled Waters? The Obligation To Negotiate In Good Faith In Annex "C" Of The Treaty Of Itaipu, Rene Figueredo Corrales

American University International Law Review

The year 2023 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty of Itaipú (“the Treaty”). According to paragraph VI of the Treaty, its provisions are to be reviewed after fifty years have elapsed from the date the Treaty entered into force. In October 2021, João Francisco Ferreira, the former Brazilian representative of the Itaipú binational entity, stated in a press conference what seemed to be a new interpretation of the review provision contained in Annex “C” of the Treaty of Itaipú. He noted that there is no obligation to negotiate Annex “C” if an agreement is …

Navigating The Battlefield Of Hunger During Armed Conflicts: Obligations, Obstacles And Solutions, Ying Chen, Tarisa Yasin

American University International Law Review

Despite sufficient global food supplies, food insecurity remains a persistent problem in many countries. In recent years, conflict has emerged as one of the key drivers of acute food insecurity, affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The situation has worsened since 2022, as the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war are felt worldwide. This Article investigates food security challenges arising from armed conflicts and proposes potential solutions to tackle these challenges. It first examines the right to food as enshrined in both international and national laws. These legal frameworks set out the rules that govern the responsibilities of States and …

Measuring The Unmeasurable: Foreign Aid And The Rule Of Law, Natallia Karkanitsa

American University International Law Review

This article provides an analysis of the international indexes and rankings that assess and compare the rule of law globally. It first starts with a discussion on the necessity of the international measurements of the rule of law in context of the foreign aid allocation to developing countries. Then, this article defines the rule of law and explains its relationship with governance and human rights. This article further reviews three rule of law indexes from the World Bank, the World Justice Project, and Bertelsmann Stiftung and Sustainable Development Solutions Network, using the position of Belarus in these measurements as a …

El Repudio Y La Aversión A Lo Étnico, Confrontando A La Discriminación Racial En México, Roxana Rosas Fregosa

American University International Law Review

This article examines the concepts of ethnicity (ethnic), racism and the legal principle of equality and non-discrimination with a focus on the historical, social, political and legal factors that are linked to contempt and aversion to ethnicity.

La Relación Entre La Discriminación Racial Y Los Derechos Humanos En El Sistema Interamericano De Derechos Humanos: Estándares Establecidos Vinculados Al Principio De Igualdad Y No Discriminación, Dewi Zamora Mendoza

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Are The Mdbs Accountable? Reflecting On The Independent Accountability Mechanisms Of The Multilateral Development Banks, Susan Park

Perspectives

The International Accountability Mechanisms of the Multilateral Development Banks provide important insights into how to hold intergovernmental organizations to account for their environmental and social impacts. This perspective identifies how the IAMs hold the Banks to account according to the six standard questions of accountability: who is accountable, to whom, for what are they accountable, and what are the standards, processes, and sanctions employed to demonstrate that the MDBs are accountable. This highlights what the IAMs can and cannot hold the MDBs to account for, and how this might shape further international grievance mechanisms for people seeking to defend their …

Henderson And The Objective Observer Standard: The Future Of Race-Conscious Standards Post-Students For Fair Admissions, Gabriela Dionisio

Seattle University Law Review

On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Students for Fair Admissions v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, which struck down race-conscious admissions policies. Within just a year after its ruling, Students for Fair Admissions has already had a sweeping impact, reaching beyond higher education. Although the Supreme Court did not indicate whether Students for Fair Admissions applies to sectors beyond higher education, law firms, and other employers have already modified their diversity policies and initiatives, erasing race and company diversity considerations. Given those dramatic changes, there is growing fear that Students for Fair Admissions …

Same Crime, Different Time: Sentencing Disparities In The Deep South & A Path Forward Under The Fourteenth Amendment, Hailey M. Donovan

Seattle University Law Review

The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. The American obsession with crime and punishment can be tracked over the last half-century, as the nation’s incarceration rate has risen astronomically. Since 1970, the number of incarcerated people in the United States has increased more than sevenfold to over 2.3 million, outpacing both crime and population growth considerably. While the rise itself is undoubtedly bleak, a more troubling truth lies just below the surface. Not all states contribute equally to American mass incarceration. Rather, states have vastly different incarceration rates. Unlike at the federal level, …

Where Custom Dictates: A Comparison Of The Integration Of Customary Law In Nigeria And South Africa As Applicable To Custody And Family Law Dispute, Madelyn Cameron

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Non-State Actors For Profit: Revisiting Transnational Corporations' Personhood And Responsibility Under International Law, Katayoon Beshkardana, Faraz Shahlaei

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The growing impact of Transnational Corporations (TCs) on international trade, investment, and human rights raises the question of international corporate responsibility. For international responsibility, TCs must be recognized as subjects of international law with legal personality. Apart from states as the primary subjects of international law, such status has been granted to inter-governmental organizations (IGOs). The factors that contributed to the IGOs’ recognition as international law subjects seem to be present for TCs today. While the International Court of Justice granted such legal status to IGOs, for TCs, the best path to recognition would be to establish a global authority …

Destruction And Discrimination: How France Violated The Fundamental Rights Of Irregular Migrant Children In Mayotte, Molly E. Smith

American University International Law Review

Articles 2 and 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) guarantee freedom from status-based discrimination in any state action involving children and require states to properly consider children’s best interests. Despite France’s position as a UNCRC state party, its government denied access to housing and conducted improper detention and expulsion procedures based on the irregular migratory status of children in its small overseas department of Mayotte. This Comment argues that France therefore violated international human rights law under UNCRC Articles 2 and 3. Furthermore, this Comment recommends three possible action steps, particularly that France …