International Law Commons^™

New First Principles? Assessing The Internet's Challenges To Jurisdiction, Teresa Scassa, Robert J. Currie

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The globalized and decentralized Internet has become the new locus for a wide range of human activity, including commerce, crime, communications and cultural production. Activities which were once at the core of domestic jurisdiction have moved onto the Internet, and in doing so, have presented numerous challenges to the ability of states to exercise jurisdiction. In writing about these challenges, some scholars have characterized the Internet as a separate “space” and many refer to state jurisdiction over Internet activities as “extraterritorial.” This article examines these challenges in the context of the overall international law of jurisdiction, rather than focusing on …

The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 – Reflections On Challenges For Flag State Implementation, Moira Mcconnell

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This paper begins by providing a brief overview of the International Labour Organization’s Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), noting that this Convention, often called the “Seafarers’ bill of rights”, seeks to achieve both social and labour rights (“decent work”) for seafarers and fair competition (achieving a level-playing field) for shipowners. It has been described as the “fourth pillar” of the international maritime regulatory regime complementing the major International Maritime Organization conventions. The paper provides a brief update on international efforts to achieve the 30/33 formula needed to bring the Convention into force [at present, the tonnage element, 33% …

Internet Access Rights: A Brief History And Intellectual Origins, Jonathon Penney

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

If there is anything we have learned from recent protest movements around the world, and the heavy-handed government efforts to block, censor, suspend, and manipulate Internet connectivity, it is that access to the Internet, and its content, is anything but certain, especially when governments feel threatened. Despite these hard truths, the notion that people have a "right" to Internet access gained high-profile international recognition last year. In a report to the United Nations General Assembly in early 2011, Frank La Rue, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, held that Internet access should be recognized as a "human right". …

Canadian Mining Internationally And The Un Guiding Principles For Business And Human Rights, Sara Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Between 2005 and 2011, there was much debate within Canada and at the United Nations over what role home states should play in the regulation and adjudications of human rights harms associated with transnational corporate conduct. In Canada, this debate focused upon concerns associated with global mining, and led to a series of government, opposition and multi-stakeholder reports and proposals. These culminated in 2010 with the appointment of a Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor for the Extractive Sector and the defeat of Bill C-300, an act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries. Meanwhile, …

Transnational Business And Environmental Harm: A Twail Analysis Of Home State Obligations, Sara Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Transnational corporate conduct that negatively impacts the environmental human rights of local communities is widespread in the operations of extractive sector companies. Yet, under principles of international environmental law, home states of transnational mining companies are neither obligated nor arguably even permitted to regulate and adjudicate environmental problems in host states. Proposals put forward in developed country home states to address these problems are often met with the claim that such regulations would be an imperialistic violation of host state sovereignty, and would create a competitive disadvantage for home state companies. This article will examine this problem by drawing upon …

Conceptualizing The Home State Duty To Protect Human Rights, Sara L. Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The state duty to protect human rights from abuses by non-state actors including business is one of the three differentiated but complementary pillars that make up the UN Protect, Respect, Remedy Framework for Business and Human Rights. Yet the jurisdictional scope of the duty to protect is disputed. This chapter explores both the permissibility of home state regulation under jurisdictional principles of public international law and the existence of home state obligations to regulate and adjudicate transnational corporations to prevent and remedy human rights violations. Properly understood, the state duty to protect applies to all executive, legislative and judicial organs …

'Accountability' As 'Legitimacy': Global Governance, Global Civil Society And The United Nations, Kenneth Anderson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This essay is a contribution to a symposium on international NGO accountability. It distinguishes between "internal" accountability for NGOs (fiduciary standards, fiscal and internal governance controls, etc.) and "external" accountability (the legitimacy with which they act in the international world, and the legitimacy which they confer upon others, and why). The essay focuses upon the latter, external accountability, and argues that the transformation of international NGOs into "global civil society" signaled an ideological move with regards to legitimacy in the global community, one which asserted claims of "representativeness" and not merely interest or expertise. The essay criticizes this legitimacy move, …

Security Council Resolution 1973 On Libya: A Moment Of Legal & Moral Clarity, Paul Williams, Colleen Popken

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Earned Sovereignty: The Future Of Sovereignty-Based Conflict Resolution, Paul Williams

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Migratory Connectivity And The Conservation Of Migratory Animals, David Hunter

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Transparency And The Expansion Of The Wto Mandate, Padideh Ala'i

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Public Participation And The Private Sector: The Role Of Multilateral Development Banks In The Evolution Of International Legal Standards, Daniel D. Bradlow, Megan S. Chapman

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This paper systematically describes the public participation standards currently applied by multilateral development banks (MDBs) to the private sector and seeks to identify emerging trends and areas for further development or improvement. It begins by outlining the developing body of international law on public participation and its relationship to good development practice. Thereafter, the paper describes the two principle models for standards attached to MDB funding and assistance to the private sector: (1) the World Bank policies applicable to the public sector; and (2) the International Finance Corporation (IFC) standards that are applicable to the private sector and how these …

Amicus Curiae Brief On The Practice Of Cumulative Charging Before International Criminal Bodies Submitted To The Appeals Chamber Of The Special Tribunal For Lebanon Pursuant To Rule 131 Of The Rules Of Procedure And Evidence, Susana Sacouto

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

On 7 February 2011, President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), Antonio Cassese, issued a general invitation to, inter alia, nongovernmental organizations and academic institutions to submit briefs on specic issues related to the 15 preliminary questions addressed to the judges of the Appeals Chamber pursuant to Rule 68(G) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence (RPE). On 11 February 2011, the War Crimes Research Oce (WCRO) of the American University Washington College of Law submitted an amicus curiae brief under Rule 131 of the RPE addressing the specific question of whether cumulative charging is an accepted practice before …

William Howard Taft And The Taft Arbitration Treaties, John E. Noyes

Faculty Scholarship

Part I of this Essay explains Taft's interest in international law, placing it in historical context. Part II, outlines key features of the treaties and explores the debate over their ratification. Part III then reflects on the significance of the treaties.

Inter-American System, Claudia Martin

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

The False Promise Of Decentralization In Eu Cohesion Policy, Fernanda Nicola

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The European Union (EL is 'gomg local"by taking decentralization ofpower seriously in order to create greater effectiveness for European law and policy especially with respect to its economic development or cohesion policy strategies. In this vein, the Treaty of Lisbon has modified the subsidiarityprnciplen ow includig a "regionala nd local" dinension while offerng new legal and political safeguards to protect subnational actors from the reach of EU law However, in EU cohesion policy cities, regions, and Lander in the different Member States are 'lumped together' into a third-level Europe that does not differentiate among these subnational actors. In addition, despite …

The Curious Case Of Greening In Carbon Markets, William Boyd, James Salzman

Publications

Over the last several years, so-called carbon markets have emerged around the world to facilitate trading in greenhouse gas credits. This Article takes a close look at an unexpected and unprecedented development in some of these markets--premium "green" currencies have emerged and, in some cases, displaced standard compliance currencies. Past experiences with other environmental compliance markets, such as the sulfur dioxide and wetlands mitigation markets, suggest the exact opposite should be occurring. Indeed, buyers in such markets should only be interested in buying compliance, not in the underlying environmental integrity of the compliance unit. In some of the compliance carbon …

Water Law In The United States And Brazil--Climate Change & Two Approaches To Emerging Water Poverty, David N. Cassuto, Romulo S.R. Sampaio

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article examines two of the major water legal regimes in the Americas-that of Brazil and the United States. Both countries have extensive wet and dry regions and both hydro-regimes face a significant threat from global warming. Brazil, for instance, is home to between eight and fifteen percent of the world's fresh water, and its fast-growing economy and population present major challenges in management and allocation. The U.S. also faces major water allocation problems resulting from past settlement policies; unsustainable reclamation projects; and also fast-growing domestic, industrial and agricultural demand. In the United States, water has traditionally been perceived as …

Unsex Cedaw, Or What's Wrong With Women's Rights, Darren Rosenblum

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Part I discusses why CEDAW continues to be relevant as the primary source of international law on sex discrimination. Until the advent of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), CEDAW was the most widely-subscribed international treaty. Some of the draft language of CEDAW reflects the tension between category and identity and how "women" won the debate. Part II contrasts CEDAW with the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). It points to the identitarian focus of CEDAW as a core reason for its failures. Had CEDAW reflected a category focus, as CERD did, it would more …

Can Congress Make A President Step Up A War?, Charles Tiefer

All Faculty Scholarship

May Congress use its appropriation power to direct the President to step up a war? When Congress uses its spending power for intensifying a war-stepping it up, pressing it more aggressively-against the resistance of a "less hawkish" Commander in Chief, who wins?

This Article posits differences of view in the 2010s toward the Afghanistan war as a way to revisit, generally, the history of constitutional disputes over war-related appropriation riders. Describing the differences in very simplistic terms, a "hawkish" opposition in Congress may gain political strength at any time, such as in 2010 or 2014, not necessarily because of the …