International Law Commons^™

The Nonjusticiability Of Palestine: Human Rights Litigation And The (Mis)Application Of The Political Question Doctrine, Gwynne Skinner

UC Law SF International Law Review

The Political Question Doctrine is a problematic and an often misused doctrine that prevents courts from fulfilling their Article III responsibilities. Nowhere is this misuse more prevalent than in human rights cases involving Palestine, and in particular, human rights cases alleging misconduct by the Israeli government or officials. This Article discusses in detail courts' decisions regarding the Political Question Doctrine raised in human rights litigation, and analyzes courts' decisions in such cases involving Palestine. It notes the stark difference in both outcome and analysis regarding cases against the PLO, Arab Bank, or others acting in Palestinian interests - all of …

Should We Adopt A Specific Regulation To Protect People That Are Displaced By Hydroelectric Projects?: Reflections Based On Brazilian Law And The "Belo Monte" Case, Bibiana Graeff

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Value Divergence In Global Intellectual Property Law, J. Janewa Oseitutu

Faculty Publications

It is a challenge for the United States to adequately protect the interests of its intellectual property industries, especially when U.S. interests are not in line with the social, cultural, and economic goals of other nations. Yet, as a major exporter of intellectual property protected goods, the U.S. has an interest in negotiating effective international intellectual property agreements that are perceived to be legitimate by the state signatories and their constituents. Focusing on value divergence, this article contributes to the growing body of literature on developing a robust but flexible global intellectual property system, arguing that the trade-based approach to …

Africa And The International Criminal Court: Collision Course Or Cooperation?, Charles Chernor Jalloh

Faculty Publications

The relationship between Africa and the International Criminal Court (ICC) was cordial for many years. However, since the decisions of the United Nations Security Council to invoke its special powers to impose the Court on Sudan and Libya, African States acting through their regional body - the African Union - have adopted numerous resolutions claiming that the ICC maybe impeding, rather than assisting, their efforts to restore peace in several ongoing conflicts and transitional situations on the continent. In this invited lecture, given as the first RJR Distinguished Visiting Professor Lecture at North Carolina Central University School of Law in …

Sharia Law, Islamophobia And The U.S. Constitution: New Tectonic Plates Of The Culture Wars, Saeed A. Khan

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Reviewing José E. Alvarez, The Public International Law Regime Governing International Investment, Susan D. Franck

Scholarly Articles

None available.

Kenya Vs. The Icc Prosecutor, Charles Chernor Jalloh

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Some Critical Thinking About A Human Rght To Water, Doug Donoho

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Last year student members of the Inter-American Center for Human Rights organized a symposium focused on the incipient "international right to water."

Recent Developments In International Criminal Law: 2011-2012, Valerie Oosterveld

Law Publications

No abstract provided.

The Opaque Future Of Tax Information Sharing Between The United States And China: An Analysis Of Bank Secrecy Laws And The Likelihood Of Entrance Into A Tax Information Exchange Agreement, Emily Wang

UC Law SF International Law Review

Offshore tax evasion and barriers to tax information exchange between countries have been an increasing problem for tax authorities around the globe. Since the launch of the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) in 2002 by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United States and China have signed TIEAs with various other countries, but not with each other. This Note examines the possibility of China and the U.S. entering into a TIEA for the purpose of a better tax information exchange between the two countries.

This Note first explains the nature of offshore accounts tax evasion and the …

Development Of An On-Line Distance Learning Certification Program For International Commercial Law And Contract Drafting, Vikki Rogers

Cornerstone 3 Reports : Interdisciplinary Informatics

No abstract provided.

Applying The Doctrine Of Superior Responsibility To Corporate Officers: A Theory Of Individual Liability For International Human Rights Violations, Brian Seth Parker

UC Law SF International Law Review

With the Supreme Court set to hear Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petrol. Co., a principal means of seeking redress for corporate complicity in egregious international law violations under the Alien Tort Statute hangs in the balance. This Article examines the doctrine of superior responsibility, otherwise known as command responsibility, as a functional theory of liability in filling some of the gaps potentially left by Kiobel or by adding another arrow to the quiver if the Supreme Court refuses to grant corporations immunity. The doctrine of superior responsibility imposes liability on superiors when they knew or should have known about their …

Introduction To "Litigating Palestine: Can Courts Secure Palestinian Rights?", George Bisharat

UC Law SF International Law Review

This brief introduction outlines the premises of a conference entitled "Litigating Palestine: Can Courts Secure Palestinian Rights?" where two articles from this issue of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review were first presented. The conference premises were: first, that Palestinians have human, civil, and collective national rights; second, that Israel has a lengthy and well-documented record of violating Palestinian rights; and third, that it is an empirical fact that a number of efforts have been launched to protect Palestinian rights in a number of court systems throughout the world. This being the case, it seems appropriate to evaluate these …

Transforming Accountability: A Proposal For Reconsidering How Human Rights Obligations Are Applied To Private Military Security Firms, Lauren Groth

UC Law SF International Law Review

This Article argues that there is an [a]ccountability gap within the legal frameworks that apply to private military security contractors (PMSCs) that has led to widespread impunity and human rights violations. Recent legal efforts to address the problem have been unsuccessful because they fail to consider and reflect the larger transformations taking place in international relations. This failure is, in essence, the [A]ccountability gap: international law no longer accurately reflects the nature of the realities it is meant to regulate, allowing those organizations which now hold power in global politics, yet are unrecognized by international law, to escape accountability. Thus, …

Face-Veil Bans And Anti-Mask Laws: State Interests And The Right To Cover The Face, Evan Darwin Winet

UC Law SF International Law Review

In the past decade, numerous nations have responded to the perceived threat of the Islamic face-veil (niqab) by taking steps to implement laws restricting the right to cover the face in public. France and Belgium have passed general bans. Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and several states of Australia have introduced similar measures. Syria, Egypt and Sweden have all passed laws banning face-veils in public schools. Many other nations and more local governments have considered anti-veil legislation or upheld the denial of basic services to citizens who cover their faces.

This Note begins with a historical approach to the practice …

International Surrogacy Contract Regulation: National Governments' And International Bodies' Misguided Quests To Prevent Exploitation, Emily Stehr

UC Law SF International Law Review

Over the past decade, a growing number pf American and European women have begun to travel to other countries, often developing countries, in search of surrogates. The surrogates are usually "gestational surrogates," meaning that the children to whom they give birth are conceived via in vitro fertilization. The children are thus genetically related to the commissioning parents, or to the commissioning men and third-party women who provide eggs, but not to the surrogate birth mothers. Uncertainty about the legality of such surrogacy contracts in the United States, and outright bans on the contracts in some European countries, fuel the "reproductive …

International Law And Limitations On The Exercise Of Extraterritorial Jurisdiction In U.S. Domestic Law, Dan E. Stigall

UC Law SF International Law Review

With the rise of transnational crime, domestic courts are increasingly called upon to make decisions, within the context of a national court and domestic legal system, which implicate international issues and the interests of other sovereign states. This Article explores the role of international law in U.S. law in the context of an area of law which marks the intersection between domestic law and international affairs: the exercise of extraterritorial jurisdiction. The analysis demonstrates the continued force of international law in the body of U.S. domestic law which governs this realm and highlights both the advantages and dangers attendant to …

Law Of The Sea And Lng: Cross-Border Law And Politics Over Head Harbor Passage, The, James Kraska

Canada-United States Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Public-Private Partnerships For Promotion Of Cross-Border Trade And Transportation, David Lick, Roger E. Hamlin

Canada-United States Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Penalty Clauses And The Cisg, Jack Graves

Scholarly Works

Commercial agreements often provide for “fixed sums” payable upon a specified breach. Such agreements are generally enforced in civil law jurisdictions. In contrast, the common law distinguishes between “liquidated damages” and “penalty” clauses, enforcing the former, while invalidating the latter as a penalty. The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) does not directly address the payment of “fixed sums” as damages, and the validity of “penalty” clauses has, traditionally, been relegated to otherwise applicable domestic national law under CISG Article 4. This traditional orthodoxy has recently been challenged—suggesting that the fate of a penalty clause …