International Law Commons^™

Show And Tell, Liam Mchugh-Russell

Dalhousie Law Journal

...to break the rules wisely, you have to know the rules well.

–Le Guin, Steering the Craft

I finished my doctorate in June of 2019. Most of my waking hours that late summer and early fall were spent writing and rewriting cover letters, teaching statements, and research agendas (and equity statements, long CVs, short CVs, etc.)—all the variegated materials demanded from applicants to tenure-track positions in North American law faculties. Writing those materials, and integrating the feedback on early drafts that I received from a host of generous peers and colleagues, became an accidental study in the principal subtext of …

Why The Multilateral Investment Court Is A Bad Idea For Africa, Akinwumi Ogunranti

Dalhousie Law Journal

The UNCITRAL Working Group III (WG III) is discussing procedural reforms in the investor state dispute settlement system (ISDS). The ISDS framework is criticized on various grounds, including arbitrator bias, lack of transparency, and inconsistent arbitral decisions. One of the recent reform proposals before the WG III is the possibility of a multilateral investment court (MIC). This proposal is championed by European Union states and supported by Canada. The proposal recommends replacing ISDS’ Ad hoc investment tribunals with an established and permanent court where states appoint judges. This paper examines the MIC reform option and argues that replacing the ISDS …

Humour, A Meditation, John Henry Schlegel

Dalhousie Law Journal

Back in 1987 when Critical Legal Studies was still “hot,” I was shopping a piece that was a long review essay on Laura Kalman’s history, Legal Realism at Yale. An acquaintance who was on that faculty invited me to present the piece—which I am still quite proud of—at the workshop he was running. Owen Fiss was the first person to ask a question. He wanted to know whether the piece was “serious” work or whether it was just an elaborate joke. Surprised and bewildered by the question, I answered, “Both.” In response he asserted that unless it were one or …

Russia And China’S Complicity In North Korea’S Human Rights Violations: Measures The U.S. Should Take To Intervene And Mitigate The Abuse, Cameron Kenyon

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

The complicity of Russia and China in North Korea’s (DPRK) human rights issues is incredibly concerning not only for the safety and well-being of North Korean citizens, but for world-wide security. Both China and Russia facilitate the DPRK human rights abuses by trading with North Korea irrespective of international sanctions, enabling human trafficking of North Koreans who have fled to China, and involuntarily repatriating refugees from the DPRK. Awareness of the DPRK human rights issues and Russia and China’s complicity, as well as active intervention, should be at the forefront of the U.S. human rights policy in order for the …

International Space Law In A New Space Age: What Laws Will Regulate Space Mining And Nasa’S Gateway Program?, Hannah Kirby

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

Since the late 1960s, international space law has promoted the peaceful use of outer space between countries. But international space law is insufficient to effectively govern novel outer space activities like space mining and NASA’s Gateway Program (a program between several countries to build an international space station that will orbit the moon and conduct missions to Mars). International space law is general, lacks enforceable repercussions, and leaves the door open for countries to create national laws which could result in the commercialization and destruction of celestial bodies like the Moon and Mars. This Comment explores the history of international …

Protection From Warlords & Celebrities: How Anti-Slapp Legislation Is Making International Headway To Protect Free Speech, Olivia Augustat

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) are increasingly being used by powerful individuals and entities to silence dissent and criticism, posing a significant threat to free speech globally. This misuse of legal systems undermines democratic principles by intimidating those who speak out on matters of public interest. My paper argues for the urgent need for effective Anti-SLAPP legislation, focusing on a comparative analysis of the U.S. and European Union (EU) approaches. While the U.S. has a fragmented but largely pro-defendant framework, the EU is moving toward an arguably vaguer but more unified, cross-border solution. This paper takes a unique approach …

Gender-Based Violence And The Yemen Civil War, Case Western Reserve University School Of Law

Yemen Accountability Project (YAP)

No abstract provided.

Due Process In Anti-Doping Proceedings Within The International Olympic Committee And Professional Tennis Associations, Katherine Jakeway

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

Today, professional athletes across the globe are subjected to rigorous drug testing in an attempt to eradicate the use of performance enhancing substances in sports. Many professional sports tours, including tennis, work closely with the International Olympic Committee and World Anti-Doping Agency to monitor and address doping violations. Although anti-doping rules are important to the safety of professional athletes, the current enforcement of anti-doping rules creates due process concerns for athletes that test positive for banned substances. This article specifically argues that the strict scrutiny sanction which bans athletes from professional play for even an unknowing or accidental doping violation …

Regulating Food Waste Management In Indonesia: Do We Need An Omnibus Law (Again)?, Ni Gusti Ayu Dyah Satyawati, I Nyoman Suyatna, Putu Gede Arya Sumerta Yasa, I Dewa Gede Palguna, Nadeeka Rajaratnam

Indonesia Law Review

Indonesia was regarded to be the world's second-largest food loss and waste-producing country. Food waste contributes the most significant amount in Indonesia compared to other types of waste. This paper aims to discuss three legal issues. First, it identifies, in descriptive-normative means, the legal framework regulating food waste, which is the intersection of two legal regimes: 'the food management' and 'the waste and environmental management”. Second, it presents a comparative study by exploring the more advanced food waste legal frameworks, which take examples from Europe. The third objective is to recommend legal, institutional, and policy steps to mainstream food waste …

What Is The Price Of Withdrawing From Investor-State Dispute Settlement Provisions In An Era Of Climate Conscious Policy? Comparing Latin America's Rejection Of Foreign Investor Control To The Fallout From The Energy Charter Treaty, Carrie Swiggum

Student Scholarship

This article examines Investor-State Dispute Settlements criticisms and intended benefits as it comes up in public law issues such as the Energy Charter Treaty. The treaty is the world’s largest multilateral treaty, with about 50 member countries, and the most litigated, with most cases decided by arbitration. There is criticism against an inability to modernize the treaty due to concerns regarding climate change as well as criticism against the investor-state dispute settlement system itself, because of arbitration’s secrecy and lack of public involvement. This article argues that countries should leave unilaterally as they have begun to do, avoiding the regulatory …

"We Did That": The United States' Role In Preventing The Chagos Archipelago From Exercising The Right To Self-Determination, Diane Orentlicher, Morton H. Halperin

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

When I agreed to participate in a workshop engaging with Philippe Sands’ extraordinary book, The Last Colony, I expected to focus on the dilemmas lawyers confront when considering how to frame the wrongs their clients endured with a view to advancing redress. Inevitably, the choices to be made elevate some dimensions of victims’ experiences while downplaying and potentially sidelining others, however important in their own right. But my plans changed when I reached page forty-one of The Last Colony.

Ukraine V. Russia: A Case For Change In International Enforcement, Katy Malloy

William & Mary Law Review

A scant few territorial violations have occurred in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and those that have occurred generally prompted quick and unequivocal condemnation, as well as efforts to return to the status quo. Notable violations—the Six-Days War, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the Falklands War, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, and Russia’s annexation of Crimea—have prompted a short menu of international responses. The Six-Days War and the invasion of Crimea both prompted years’ worth of political criticism for Israel and Russia, respectively, as both nations have held onto at least parts of the lands seized. The Falklands War prompted almost …

International Governance Of Ocean-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal: Recent Developments And Future Directions, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

With the impacts of climate change intensifying, and progress in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that cause it continuing to lag, the parties to the Paris Climate Agreement have emphasized the need to accelerate efforts to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, while simultaneously curbing emissions. As the parties have recognized, the ocean is already a major carbon sink, and could play an important role in future carbon dioxide removal (“CDR”) efforts. Scientists have proposed a variety of ocean-based CDR approaches, but most require further research to fully evaluate their efficacy, benefits, and risks. In-ocean testing of the approaches, and …

Aligning United States Law With International Norms Would Remove Major Barriers To Protection In Gender Claims, Karen B. Musalo Prof.

Faculty Scholarship

The protection of women and girls fleeing gender-based harms has been controversial in the United States (US), with advances followed by setbacks. The US interpretation of particular social group and its nexus analysis, both of which diverge from guidance by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is the most significant barrier to protection. It has become almost impossible for women and girls to rely upon the particular social group ground because of current requirements that social groups not only be defined by immutable or fundamental characteristics, but also be socially distinct and have particularity. Establishing nexus is also …

Defrosting Regulatory Chill, Guillermo J. Garcia Sanchez

Faculty Scholarship

In Homer’s Odyssey, King Odysseus asked his men to tie him to the mast of his ship with the hope that he would not jump into the sea after listening to the Sirens. The Odyssey’s hero made a pact to bind himself in the future. He knew that the temptation would be impossible to resist without restraints. Similarly, the creators and advocates of international investment agreements believe that providing rights to foreign investors through international treaties will chill State policies that would harm the interests of investors in the future. The “rope” to tie the State is the threat of …

Table Of Contents - Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review, Vol. 7, Iss. 2

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Figures Lurk On Madame Elysé’S Path? Reflections On Philippe Sands’ The Last Colony, Diane Marie Amann

Scholarly Works

One person’s life forms the core around which Philippe Sands’ The Last Colony explores the events leading up to the advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences of Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965. That person is Liseby Bertrand Elysé, who was born in 1953 in Chagos, then forcibly removed to Mauritius in 1973. Her efforts to return home eventually brought her to a 2018 hearing at The Hague, where she spoke to the International Court of Justice bench by means of a subtitled video. This essay, which appears in a symposium issue on Sands’ book, investigates the ethics, the effectiveness, …

Mitigating Ai’S Harmful Effects In Developing Economies Through Contracting, A.B. Steinberg

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

The global economic community must establish a new organization that helps to create contracting parameters to ensure that AI does not crash economies, namely those in the developing world that are most at risk.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will revolutionize the global economy. While many debate the ramifications for developed economies, such as the United States, these effects will likely be increased productivity and the loss of jobs across the workforce. This comment argues that these effects will be even more profound in developing nations due to both AI in their direct economies and the downstream effects of automation. The possible …

Raining Hellfire: An Analysis On The Use Of White Phosphorus And Its International Regulation, Shaun Quirk

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

Chemical weapons, biological weapons, nuclear weapons, and substance-infused munitions are not new in the art of war. In fact, accounts of toxins and venoms date back to ancient times when bows and arrows were cutting-edge technology. But the existing frameworks regulating these weapons require immediate and more exacting scrutiny. In late 2023, Hamas reignited a generations-old conflict with Israel through a surprise attack. Shortly thereafter, global headlines reported Israel was deploying white phosphorus—a highly volatile substance—into Gaza. The potential devastation of white phosphorus is shocking, yet the existing legal frameworks governing its use are both ambiguous and overly lenient. This …

U.S. International Adoption Subsidies: Shining Light On The Dark History Of The Baby "Black Market", Rachel Briner

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

While international adoption is a beautiful concept in theory, it often leads to dark consequences. From its inception, human trafficking has enabled international adoptions. While the United States alone cannot dismantle the entire baby “black market” and the likely black market for children’s organs intertwined with it, the U.S. can remove its large contribution. By limiting the federal adoption subsidy to only domestic adoptions, the United States can ensure it only aids systems within its control and address the needs of its own children without homes more effectively. Many other authors have also noted various human trafficking and potential organ …