International Law Commons^™

Space Warfare: Do We Need Additional Treaties?, Col. Stuart A. Pettis (Ret.)

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

With the growth in counter-space weapons and military services dedicated to space, should International Humanitarian Law be expanded to address a “war in space?” This Paper will examine what a conflict in space would look like and existing laws that govern military activities in space. Ultimately, this paper will argue that International Humanitarian Law is already flexible enough to address this new venue for conflict. (Abstract from author.)

2024 Klatsky Endowed Lecture In Human Rights, Andrew Cayley

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Sacrifice Zone: Conciliating Racial Discrimination In Louisiana's "Cancer Alley" Under The International Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Racial Discrimination, Ellen Buerk

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

In June 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) abandoned its civil rights investigation into racially discriminatory practices by Louisiana state agencies in Cancer Alley. It did so after issuing initial findings which indicated those agencies had operated in a racially discriminatory manner, subjecting predominately Black communities to adverse health outcomes resulting from air pollution. This action is one in a long line of violations by the United States of its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) in Cancer Alley. In light of U.S. inaction in Cancer Alley, other parties to ICERD …

A Taking Or Public Interest Intent: Launching A Universal Standard For Indirect Expropriation, Naomi Matthusen

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

Outstanding note of the year 2025

In 2023, the Russian government announced drastic measures to take control over the management of specific foreign investments located in Russia in response to sanctions imposed on Russian assets abroad. These measures affected nearly onefourth of the largest 200 companies in the world. Expropriation clauses in bilateral investment treaties between nations exist to prevent the usurpation of foreign investments by host state governments, yet the standards for what constitutes indirect expropriation remain unclear and unpredictable and fail to adequately balance government and investor interests. This Note proposes and rationalizes a new definition for indirect …

The Geneva Conventions At 75: Need For Innovation (Keynote Address), John Bellinger

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

New Treaty Law On Autonomous Weapons? An Opportunity To Reframe The Discourse, Laurie R. Blank

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

Calls for a new treaty for autonomous weapons—or for any other new technology—stem from a concern at the most basic level: the concern that LOAC’s existing treaties are not sufficient to fulfill their core purposes of protecting civilians and other vulnerable persons and regulating the conduct of hostilities. Could treaties drafted in 1949—when air power was new and space a distant dream, when the first operational computer ran its first program and navigation relied on the compass and sextant—be sufficient for the complexities and challenges of the electromagnetic spectrum, artificial intelligence, quantum mechanics, machine learning, cyber, anti-satellite weapons, and other …

Autonomous Weapons Systems And Proportionality: The Need For Regulation, Craig Martin

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

This Article examines the question of whether International Humanitarian Law (IHL) requires modification to effectively govern autonomous weapons systems (AWS). Given that the imminent development and deployment is unlikely to be prohibited, and that AWS may not comply with IHL in certain circumstances, the question of why and how IHL needs to be adjusted is important, and not sufficiently studied. The analysis focuses on the principle of proportionality—a principle whose implementation demands complex, contextual, and sophisticated judgment—as a means of exploring and illustrating the issue. The Article explains why the operationalization of the principle of proportionality would present challenges for …

Does The Dual-Use Of Space Objects Necessitate A New Geneva Convention?, Svenja Berrang, Ll.M.

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

With “the first commercial space war” in Ukraine, the widespread and ever-increasing practice of using commercial space systems and services for military activities came to the public eye. States increasingly rely on and integrate commercial space activities1 into military activities to enhance their military capabilities and to strengthen deterrence. But by incorporating commercial actors into their military activities, States may incidentally make civil actors become military targets during an international armed conflict. Eventually, this may endanger commercial employees when those employees take direct part in hostilities and ultimately lose their protection as non-targeted civilians.

This Article examines the increased reliance …

Uncovering Spain's Lost Victims: Can The Continuing Crimes Doctrine Expand The Jurisdiction Of The International Criminal Court?, Kaitlyn Booher

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

Throughout Spain’s transition years (1975-1985), the country has maintained an “agreement to forget” and consequently failed to prosecute any perpetrators of crimes during the Franco dictatorship. This Note examines Franco-era forced disappearances in Spain and argues that the ICC has ratione temporis jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute perpetrators under the application of the continuing crimes doctrine, which is consistent with the principle of nullum crimen sine lege. (Abstract from author.)

The Inevitability Of Adaptability – Comparative Contributions To Understanding Originalism, Anna Conley

Emory International Law Review

What can comparative law teach us about originalism as a constitutional interpretation method? After synthesizing existing comparative analyses, this article seeks to redefine comparative law’s role in understanding originalism. When defining originalism strictly to require adherence to fixed original meaning, originalism is not used by courts anywhere in the world. Instead, courts use history purposively to understand the intent behind constitutional text as one of many methods of interpretation. Comparative works suggest historical constitutional interpretation has a complex relationship with rights, politics and culture.

Comparative law can provide not only descriptive understandings of originalism but also interrogate its mandate that …

A Vicious Cycle: An Intersectional Analysis Of Black Women’S Legal And Socio-Economic Vulnerability In The Hiv/Aids Epidemic, Summer Bell

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Dedication And Acknowledgements, Staff And Editors Of Volume 39

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Contested Criminalization, Steven Arrigg Koh

Faculty Scholarship

How does the U.S. government decide to deploy criminal justice abroad? From the Syrian civil war to the Israel-Gaza conflict, Russia-Ukraine War, and U.S.-China relations, criminal law sits at the heart of contemporary U.S. foreign relations. And yet legal scholarship has never precisely explained how the U.S. government deploys or supports criminal prosecutions abroad, often defaulting to simplistic labels of the United States as exceptionalist, carceral, or isolationist. This Article rectifies this by introducing a theory of contested criminalization, piercing the veil of U.S. government decisionmaking in its use of criminal law in foreign policy. According to this process, …

International Economic Agreements As Impediments To Carbon Tax Climate Change Mitigation: Is The Un Framework Tax Convention The Way Forward?, Edwin Vanderbruggen

Indian Journal of International Economic Law

This article outlines some of the international legal impediments to domestic environmental tax policies in furtherance of climate change mitigation, i.e. certain WTO rules on trade in goods, fuel tax exemptions in aviation treaties, and tax stabilisation provisions that are protected under the umbrella clause of investment treaties. It argues that international action is the most effective and often the only option to address those legal obstacles. The emergence of the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (‘FTC’) is, in that regard, a timely development. Given the central institutional role UN-related bodies already have in climate change, sea …

Mapping Human Rights Obligations In Investment Treaty Arbitration: Decoupling By Tribunals, Animesh Das

Indian Journal of International Economic Law

The progressive approach of investment arbitration tribunals in some recent cases represents a gradual development in reconciling human rights law and international investment law. This position finds support in recent scholarly literature, through analyses of cases such as Urbaser, Bear Creek Mining and David Aven. What if the reality is otherwise? For decades, investment arbitral tribunals have maintained a grey area governing the relationship between human rights law and international investment law. The institutional caution has resulted in the decoupling of these two normative orders. Consequently, investment treaty arbitrations face a legitimacy deficit in their ability to uphold human rights …

The Urgency Of Artificial Intelligence Code Of Ethics, Tundjung Herning Sitabuana, Dixon Sanjaya, Ibra Fulenzi Amri, Nethan Nethan

Indonesia Law Review

The era of artificial intelligence has become a characteristic of industrial era 5.0 which has been used in various aspects. Potential economic value of AI has driven various forms of AI innovation development. Exploration of AI tends to override negative impacts of such developments. The emergence of ethical issues with presence of AI encourages the need for a law-based approach to establishing ethical standards to protect entire Indonesian nation. Therefore, this research was conducted to examine urgency for an AI code of ethics. This paper will normatively describe data qualitatively to answer urgency and development of AI code of ethics …

Delays In The International Seabed Authority Mining Code: Insight From Twail And Bbnj Frameworks, Ria Wierma Putri, Yuga Narazua Khanza, Orima Melati Davey, Febryani Sabatira

Indonesia Law Review

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) plays a crucial role in governing the vast expanses of the ocean floor that lie beyond national jurisdictions, referred to as "the Area" under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Although the ISA has established regulations for deep-sea exploration, it has encountered significant challenges in finalizing a comprehensive mining code for resource exploitation. This ongoing delay underscores the notion that legal development is often catalyzed by broader social changes. To comprehend the factors contributing to this delay, it is essential to consider the historical context of UNCLOS 1982, a framework …

Is An Autonomous Vehicle A Roller Coaster Or A Hollywood Film? Trust, Safety, And Industry Self-Regulation, Tracy Hresko Pearl

BYU Law Review

Regulation of autonomous vehicles continues to be a daunting task in the United States, and the federal government has not yet succeeded in creating a regulatory scheme that intelligently addresses the risks and benefits of these vehicles. There are multiple reasons for this regulatory lag. Autonomous vehicles are developing at such a rapid pace that lawmakers, who often struggle with technological literacy, struggle to keep up. Additionally, government agencies lack the level of expertise, experience, and data that the industry possesses.

Industry self-regulation offers a meaningful alternative for increasing the safety of autonomous vehicles and building consumer trust. The success …

Afghan Allies In Limbo: Discrimination In The U.S. Immigration Response, Lindsay M. Harris, Yalda Royan

San Diego Law Review

After the fall of Kabul in August 2021, the U.S. government airlifted an estimated 120,000 people to safety from Afghanistan. An airlift of this scale was unprecedented, but also woefully inadequate as a solution to the Afghan humanitarian crisis. This Article, a contribution to participatory law scholarship, is written by a U.S. law professor and immigration expert and an Afghan woman evacuated from Afghanistan in 2021 and analyzes the United States’s immigration response to the Afghan humanitarian crisis following the Taliban takeover. While the United States granted humanitarian parole for two years to approximately 76,000 individuals, permitting them to enter …

Fentanyl, Narco-Terrorism, And National Security Politics, J. Richard Broughton

San Diego Law Review

This Article examines the use of a counterterrorism model to attack the fentanyl crisis. Rather than advocate for or against such a model, this Article envisions what employing a counterterrorism model against international drug traffickers would look like. Noting the dimensions of national security politics that intersect with counter-fentanyl policy, this Article will evaluate three distinct counterterrorism approaches: (1) using criminal counterterrorism statutes in federal indictments and prosecutions; (2) designating drug trafficking organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs); and (3) authorizing the use of military force against Mexican cartels. While the current state of bellicose national security politics can inform …