Volume 37:3
Articles Tiyanjana Maluwa Oil Under Troubled Waters?: Some Legal Aspects of the Boundary Dispute Between Malawi and Tanzania Over Lake Malawi // pdf // repository Patrick J. Keenan The Problem of Purpose in International Criminal Law // pdf // repository Aravind Ganesh The European Union’s Human Rights Obligations Towards Distant Strangers // pdf // repository Note […]
Death Tourism: How to Regulate This Thriving Industry?
Jessica (Tae Yean) Kim Vol. 38 Associate Editor On June 17, 2016, the Senate of Canada passed Bill C-14, enacting a new federal law which legalized physician-assisted suicide (PSA) in Canada.[1] This new legislation makes Canada one of the few nations where doctors are lawfully permitted to help terminally ill people die.[2] An interesting aspect […]
Does the Dakota Access Pipeline Violate Treaty Law?
Lauren Kimmel Vol. 38 Associate Editor It’s hard to miss recent headlines about the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), which has stirred fresh controversy in a wide array of political, environmental and ethical circles. At the head of the opposition are a number of prominent Native American tribes in Iowa and the Dakotas – most notably, […]
What Lies Ahead: Global Financial Services in a Post-Brexit Market
Adam Church Vol. 38 Associate Editor As financial service firms consider what kind of future may lie ahead in a post-Brexit market, one word has taken on a prominent role in the ongoing discussion: passporting.[1] Under passporting, financial services firms authorized in one E.U. member state can offer cross-border services and open branches across other […]
Legal Incubation: Establishing the Rule of Law in Rebel-Held Syria
Nessma Bashi Vol. 38 Associate Editor As calls for democracy-building, freedom of expression, and the right to individual sovereignty were chanted by protesters throughout the Arab World in March of 2011, many Syrians were encouraged by the promise of popular power and headed to the streets to make their voices heard. What started as peaceful […]
Kenya to Close Dadaab Refugee Camp in Violation of International Law
Xun Yuan Vol. 38 Associate Editor In May 2016, the Kenyan government announced that it would start closing the world’s largest refugee camp – Dadaab camp. At the same time, the government determined, with the assistance of UNHCR, to speed up the expatriation process for Somali refugees who currently reside in the camp.[1]This puts Kenyan […]
Refugee Status as an Alternative for Stateless Adoptees
Sam Han Vol. 38 Associate Editor Under international law, “statelessness” is the status given to an individual without citizenship under the operation of any country’s laws.[1] In the United States, an estimated 35,000 intercountry adoptees currently do not possess U.S. citizenship,[2] and by definition, are considered stateless persons. By no fault of their own, many […]
We Must Do Better: The Migration Crisis and the Law of the Sea
Rachel Barr Vol. 38 Associate Editor On October 5, The New York Times published a heart-wrenching article entitled “Stepping Over the Dead on a Migrant Boat.”[1] The piece contained one photographer’s story and photos from his time spent on a recue boat in the Mediterranean. It told of the desperation and fear of the migrants, […]
JASTA: Impact on the Principle of Sovereign Immunity
Alejandra Salmeron Alfaro Vol. 38 Associate Editor The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (“JASTA”) was passed by the Senate in May and the House in September of this year.[1] President Obama vetoed the Act on September 23rd.[2] In historic fashion, five days later Congress overrode Obama’s veto for the first time in his eight […]
Addressing the Refugee Crisis: Will the “Fairness Mechanism” Make a Difference?
Rebecca Hughes Vol. 38 Associate Editor On May 4, 2016, the European Union (EU) announced a new plan to address the massive influx of migrants.[1] The plan, called the Common European Asylum System,[2] was proposed to address flaws in the Dublin Regulation, Europe’s current asylum mechanism,[3] and create a fairer, more efficient, and more sustainable […]
The Globalist Generation Gap: Changing Views of International Human Rights Law in the United States and United Kingdom
Ava Morgenstern Vol. 38 Associate Editor International human rights law is unfashionable this year. Right-of-center politicians in the United States and United Kingdom, exploiting fears of migration and terrorism, have attacked international institutions as out of touch with local populations. Entrepreneurs of populist nationalism frame elite globalist bureaucrats as detached from ordinary citizens. This rhetoric […]
State immunity, JASTA and its implications to the US
Albi Kocibelli Vol. 38 Associate Editor Sovereign immunity, while being forum dependent, has been recognized as an obligation under customary international law for long time.[1] The International Law Commission first took the task to identify and codify state practice on sovereign immunity in 1978.[2] After nearly three decades of work UN adopted the UN Convention […]
Russian Airstrikes in Syria: a Violation of International Law?
Seema Kassab Vol. 38 Associate Editor One of the gravest humanitarian catastrophes of the present day has been taking place in Syria over last five years. According to the UN, around 250,000 people have been killed, 13.5 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria, and more than 50% of Syria’s population is currently displaced.[1] Instability within […]
ICC Reluctance to Prosecute ISIS: Legitimate Jurisdictional Issue or a Lack of Institutional Backbone?
Jenny Elkin Vol. 38 Associate Editor The past few years have seen a dramatic rise of Islamic fundamentalism across the Middle East in the form of radical militant group ISIS. Responsible for targeted killings, rape, genocide, and destruction across huge swaths of land, ISIS fighters have steadily been establishing a dangerous stronghold in Iraq and […]
“Almost Like Ghosts”: Who is Responsible for Abandoned Refugees?
Salam Sheik-Khalil Vol. 38 Associate Editor On September 30, the Jordanian government finally agreed to a deal with the U.N. to resume humanitarian aid to 75,000 Syrians stranded on the Jordanian-Syrian border.[1] Living in a harsh desert no-man’s land known as “the berm,” some since July 2014, the Syrians had been refused entry to Jordan.[2] […]
Who Stands to Benefit from Strict Intercountry Adoption Policies?
Zoe Dixon Vol. 38 Associate Editor The age of globalization has allowed businesses to operate in the global economy at a level of interconnectedness not previously imaginable.[1] Increase in cross-border transactions brings continuous flows of capital, commodities, and technology to the furthest corners of the Earth.[2] It also brings ethical issues.[3] As the world’s economies […]
Technology Rising: Problems in Applying the International Laws of War to Cyber Attacks
Katie Cassidy-Ginsberg Vol. 38 Associate Editor As technology continues to become more sophisticated, the problems in the laws governing cyber attacks and cyber security correspondingly grow. In setting the law and policy governing cyber attacks, the problem has often been thought of as “fighting a cyber-war,”[1] in which such cyber attacks are analogized to war […]
The United Kingdom as an Independent Member of the World Trade Organization: A Strategic Forecast?
Jose-Ignacio Saldana Vol. 38 Associate Editor On the eve of the historic referendum held in the United Kingdom (UK) to decide whether to leave the European Union (EU), Roberto Azevêdo, current Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), discussed the implications that an exit from the EU could have on the UK’s status as a […]
From North Dakota to Geneva: The Legal Battle Behind the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s Protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline
Katrina Fetsch Vol. 38 Associate Editor In recent weeks, a normally peaceable state has found itself rife with conflict as protests erupted over the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in North Dakota. The opposition began with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, who opposed the pipeline on the grounds that its construction would result […]
UN Accountability and the Haitian Cholera Epidemic
Stephanie Zable Vol. 38 Associate Editor On October 17th, a hospital in Mirebalais, Haiti accepted a patient with cholera. By October 22nd cholera was well-established along the Haitian coast,[1] and a Haitian laboratory had confirmed Haiti’s first case of cholera in over a century.[2] In the six years since, the death toll of the Haitian […]