International Law Prof Blog

German Bundestag Approves Same-Sex Marriage

Joining other countries that have recognized a need to protect the legal rights of same-sex couples, and understanding that this requires full marriage equality for same-sex couples, the German Bundestag voted today to approve marriage for same-sex couples.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her conservative party had blocked votes on the same-sex marriage legislation. To the surprise of many, she eased her opposition and allowed a free vote to deputies in her party. Although many reports stated that she had dropped her opposition to same-sex marriage, Merkel herself voted against the legislation, which passed by a vote of 393 to 226 with 4 abstentions and 7 members absent.

Click here to read more about the Bundestag vote.

Some conservative German lawmakers appeared to threaten a constitutional challenge to the legislation, but the Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (the Basic Law for the German Federal Republic, the German Constitution) says in Article 6(1) only that "Marriage and the family are under the special protection of the state." [In German: "Ehe und Familie stehen unter dem besonderen Schutze der staatlichen Ordnung."]. Article 6(1) does not further define "marriage" (or "family") and thus would not support any constitutional challenge to the legislation.

The legislation now goes to the Bundesrat for its formal approval, which is expected. The bill then goes to the German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, for his signature. Germany will become the 23rd country to allow same-sex marriage (unless Malta gets there first).

Rex Wockner keeps the best up-to-date list of where same-sex marriage is legal. Click here to have a look.

Hat tip to rw. 

(mew)

Related articles

Germany's Angela Merkel is softening her previous opposition toward same-sex marriage

German gay marriage vote given green light by Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel has dropped her opposition to same-sex marriage

Call for Presenters for the AALS Section on North American Cooperation at the 2018 AALS Annual Meeting in San Diego

The Association of American Law Schools Section on North American Cooperation has announced a call for presenters from which two or more additional presenters will be selected for the section’s program during the AALS 2018 Annual Meeting in San Diego. The session topic is: “What Would a New NAFTA Look Like?” The program will be held on the last day of the AALS Conference, Saturday, January 6, 2018, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. The session will be co-sponsored by the AALS Section on Graduate Programs for Non-U.S. Lawyers and the AALS Section on International Legal Exchange.

Through various statements, the United States has indicated that it would seek to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. This roundtable will discuss questions relating to a new NAFTA, if one is negotiated, including: whether it should be expanded to include other countries (such as Chile and Peru); whether negotiators should create provisions to summarily dismiss frivolous suits (such as challenge to new regulations that corporations complain will diminish their profits); and whether a new agreement should have even stronger enforcement mechanisms for environmental and worker protection.

The panel moderators will be Section Chair Gerardo Puertas (Facultad Libre de Derecho de Monterrey, Mexico) and Section Chair-Elect Professor Lisa Black (California Western School of Law).

To submit your name as a possible presenter, please submit your name and a brief description of what you would like to contribute to the discussion. Please send an email to Professor Mark E. Wojcik at mwojcik@jmls.edu. The due date for submission is Tuesday, September 12, 2017. Members of the Section’s Executive Committee will review the proposals and select presenters. Final decisions will be made by September 20, 2017.

Like others on the panel, presenters will be responsible for paying the AALS registration fee as well as their own hotel and travel expenses.

If you have any questions about the call for presenters, please contact Professor Lisa Black at California Western School of Law or Professor Mark E. Wojcik at The John Marshall Law School-Chicago, mwojcik@jmls.edu or (312) 987-2391.

American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

One year ago, the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) adopted the "American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples." Click here for an "Insight" about that Declaration from the American Society of International Law. It was authored by Stefania Errico, an Honorary Research Fellow at the Coventry University Centre for Agroecology, Water, and Resilience (United Kingdom).

Here's an excerpt:

Comprised of forty-one articles divided into six thematic sections, the American Declaration [on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples] recognizes a wide-ranging series of individual and collective rights deemed “indispensable for [indigenous peoples’] existence, well-being and integral development as peoples." According to Article XLI, these rights constitute the minimum standards for the survival, dignity, and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. In keeping with the approach commonly followed in the other instruments concerning indigenous peoples, the Declaration does not provide any definition of the term “indigenous peoples.” Rather, it relies on the criterion of self-identification according to the “practices and institutions of each indigenous people” in order to define its scope of application.

Self-Determination, Autonomy, and Participation

In its Preamble, the [American] Declaration reproduces some paragraphs of [the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)] and recalls the historic injustices suffered by indigenous peoples, the urgent need to respect and promote their inherent rights, and the importance of eliminating all forms of discrimination against them. Strikingly, however, it does not acknowledge indigenous peoples as peoples “equal to all other peoples,” as UNDRIP had done, making explicit the link between indigenous groups as peoples and the right to self-determination. By doing that, UNDRIP acknowledges that indigenous peoples, like other peoples, have a full right to exercise self-determination, including in its external dimension, should the conditions be met.

A similar statement is not found in the American Declaration, which merely states that indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination, borrowing language from common Article 1 of the UN Covenants on Human Rights and Article 3 of UNDRIP, and lays down that in exercising this right, indigenous peoples have the right to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal and local affairs, reproducing Article 4 of UNDRIP. This right is understood as a right to internal self-determination, in accordance also with the limits formulated in Article IV to safeguard “the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and independent States.”

(mew)

Call for Presenters for the AALS Section on International Legal Exchange Program at the 2018 AALS Annual Meeting in San Diego

The AALS Section on International Legal Exchange is pleased to announce a call for presenters from which one or two additional presenters will be selected for the section’s program during the AALS 2018 Annual Meeting in San Diego. The session topic is: “A Global Guide to International Legal Exchange: Practical Secrets of Success and What to Do When Things Go Horribly Wrong.” The program will be held on the first day of the AALS Conference, Wednesday, January 3, 2018, from 1:30 to 3:15 p.m. The session is co-sponsored by the AALS Section on North American Cooperation.

This program will review recent changes to the ABA standards that make it easier to send U.S. law students on overseas programs sponsored by their own schools. That presentation will be made by William E. Adams, Jr. (Deputy Managing Director, ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar). That introduction will be followed by a survey of successful international exchange programs, including an objective assessment of the value these exchanges should have for law students. We will also review the responsibility of schools to look after non-U.S. law students and exchange ideas on how to prevent and respond to problems that might arise in international exchange programs.

The panel co-moderators will be Professors George Edwards (Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law) and Gabrielle Goodwin (Indiana University Maurer School of Law). Confirmed speakers also include Charlotte Ku (Texas A&M University School of Law), Sue Liemer (Elon University School of Law), and Mark E. Wojcik (The John Marshall Law School-Chicago).

To submit your name as a possible presenter, please submit your name and a brief description of what you would like to contribute to the discussion. Please send an email to Professor Mark E. Wojcik at mwojcik@jmls.edu. The due date for submission is Tuesday, September 12, 2017. Members of the Section’s Executive Committee will review the proposals and select presenters. Final decisions will be made by September 20, 2017.

Like others on the panel, presenters will be responsible for paying the AALS registration fee as well as their own hotel and travel expenses.

If you have any questions about the call for presenters, please contact Professor Mark E. Wojcik at The John Marshall Law School-Chicago, mwojcik@jmls.edu.

(mew)

Save the Dates: ABA Section of International Law Conference in Seoul, South Korea

October 17-20, 2018

American Bar Association Section of International Law Conference, Seoul, South Korea

Theme:  Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property

(mew)

American Society of International Law Seeks Academic Partners

The American Society of International Law offers individual memberships, of course, but for several years now it has also offered law schools and other institutions the option of becoming an ASIL Academic Partner. Benefits of being an academic partnership include a 50% discount on individual ASIL memberships for students and faculty members, advertising and promotional benefits, complimentary career development services for your students, and access to a variety of ASIL-sponsored publications and events throughout the year.

Get more information by visiting www.asil.org/academicpartner

Hat tip to Tania F. Cohen, ​Partnerships Coordinator at the American Society of International Law.

(mew)

China Criticizes 14 Universities for Supposed Weakness in Ideology

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (“CCDI”) of the People’s Republic of China is the highest internal-control institution of the Communist Party of China (CPC). It enforces internal rules and regulations and combats corruption in the Communist Party. Because most Chinese government officials are also Communist Party members, the CCDI is effectively the top anti-corruption body in China. The CCDI was established in 1978.

Although it usually focuses on anti-corruption, the CCDI has recently accused 14 of China’s top-ranked universities of having weak ideological and political commitments, according to a report in the Financial Times. The universities were instructed to “take responsibility” for their ideological and political shortcomings. See Emily Feng, Political Control: Beijing Probes Universities that Fail to Toe Communist Line, Financial Times, June 20, 2017, at 2.

The 14 Chinese universities targeted include ones that have academic programs and research partnerships with prominent educational institutions in the West. Id. The Chinese universities include Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Wuhan University (which has a joint venture agreement with Duke University).

The Financial Times notes that the CCDI’s ideological report continues a trend that started in 2012, to tighten political control over all aspects of civil society including education. Emily Feng, Political Control: Beijing Probes Universities that Fail to Toe Communist Line, Financial Times, June 20, 2017, at 2. The report now comes in advance of the 19th Chinese Communist Party Congress scheduled for this Fall. Id. The CCDI had sent its inspectors to 29 universities in China earlier this year to find “political bias” and to uphold the Communist Party’s leadership. Id. 

(mew)

The “Global Citizenship Law” Program at the European University Institute in Florence and the WZB Berlin has a PhD Vacancy

The “Global Citizenship Law” Project, co-hosted by the WZB Berlin Social Science Center and the European University Institute, is seeking to appoint a Research Fellow (Ph.D. Candidate) in the field of “International Law and Governance of Citizenship.”

The application deadline is July 31, 2017. Details about the Ph.D. vacancy are available here.  Details about the project are available here

Hat tip to Professor Liav Orgad, Director of Global Citizenship Governance, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute and Head of the Project Group on International Citizenship Law, Migration, Integration, Transnationalization Research Unit, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.

(mew)

Early Bird Registration Now Open for the ABA Section of International Law Fall Meeting in Miami

The American Bar Association Section of International Law will hold its 2017 Fall Conference in Miami from October 24-27, 2017. Early-Bird Registration is now open (until September 8, 2017) and the preliminary brochure is available HERE.

(mew)

International Human Rights Litigation: A Guide for Judges.

The U.S. Federal Judicial Center recently published a free, online guide called International Human Rights Litigation: A Guide for Judges. This Guide was written to assist federal judges in resolving federal cases involving international human rights claims, and it provides a comprehensive analysis of substantive and procedural issues involved in such cases.  The Guide includes a detailed analysis  on the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA), and other federal statutes that we know and love.  It also includes a model scheduling order for human rights cases, case summaries, tables, and research references (current as of December 31, 2016).

The Guide was drafted to be neutral as between human rights plaintiffs and defendants, and thus should provide useful information for all. Because it was commissioned by a federal government agency (the Federal Judicial Center) for the benefit of federal judges, lawyers, and agencies, the Guide has been placed in the public domain and is available as a free resource.  And we like that. Readers can freely distribute, print, and otherwise use and transmit the Guide in its present form, provided that no changes are made to the manuscript itself.  You can find and download the Guide by searching on the FJC website or nu this link to the author’s SSRN site (Abstract ID # 2978170).

• Recommended citation: David Nersessian, International Human Rights Litigation: A Guide for Judges 1-178 (Federal Judicial Center 2016).

Congratulations to the Federal Judicial Center and to Dr. David L. Nersessian, an Assistant Professor  at Babson College in Massachusetts.

(mew)

 

 

World Refugee Day

June 20 is World Refugee Day. According to the United Nations, 20 people are forced to leave their homes to escape war, persecution or terrorism every minute of the day.  In light of the unprecedented refugee crisis this year, the United Nations has launched a campaign, Stand with Refugees, to encourage action to improve the lives of refugees. What will you do today?

(cgb)

ASIL Midwest Call for Submissions

ASIL-Midwest, an interest group of the American Society of International Law (ASIL), is co-sponsoring its fourth scholarly works-in-progress conference at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in Cleveland, Ohio on September 15-16, 2017. The goal is to create a friendly, open conversation about works in progress and to foster a Midwestern United States international law community. To that end, the workshop will include both full drafts and early works in progress.

Those interested in presenting at the conference should send a 500-word abstract to ASIL-Midwest Co-Chair Cindy Buys, Southern Illinois University School of Law by Friday, July 28, 2017. Please also include a sentence about the stage the paper is expected to be in by September (e.g., reasonably complete draft, early work in progress, etc.). Papers may address any International Law topics, and this Call for Submissions is open to everyone in the international legal community.  Preference will be given to ASIL members who are also members of the ASIL-Midwest Interest Group.  Paper presenters will be asked to circulate their drafts (or a summary of the project if it's early stage) to workshop attendees no later than September 1, 2017.  

Those interested in serving as a commentator for a paper should also send an email to the Co-Chair Cindy Buys by July 28.  Commentators will be asked to prepare five to eight minutes of comments on one or more of the papers. Those interested in presenting are also encouraged to comment on the other papers and should indicate whether they are willing to serve as commentators as well.

ASIL members and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law faculty, staff, and students may attend for free. Participants who are not ASIL members or Cleveland-Marshall College of Law affiliates will be required to pay a $50 registration fee (includes workshop and some meals) for the conference. Some meals will be provided, but participants are responsible for their own travel and hotel expenses. More details regarding transportation, hotels and other logistics will be provided shortly.

For any questions about papers and presentations, please contact ASIL-Midwest Interest Group Co-Chairs, Cindy Buys or Neha Jain, University of Minnesota Law School.  For questions about conference logistics, contact immediate past-Chair, Milena Sterio, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

(cgb)

RIP Robert Brodegaard

We have learned that international dispute resolution attorney Robert F. Brodegaard has died. Robert was a great advocate of promoting international dispute resolution and he organized wonderful CLE programs on the subject. He was a a partner at Robert F. Brodegaard and Associates. In his law practice, he focused on international dispute resolution and U.S. commercial litigation arising under a wide variety of domestic and foreign laws in a diverse set of industries. Over a career that lasted 42 years, he represented foreign and domestic corporations, governments, and governmental agencies in litigation, mediation, and arbitration of international commercial, investment, and intellectual property disputes, as well as representing foreign and domestic parties in connection with enforcing foreign judgments and arbitral awards. He appeared in state and federal courts around the nation. His complex commercial litigation and trial practice ranged from litigating and acting as trial counsel in cases brought under the securities, RlCO, and antitrust laws to professional malpractice, lender liability, and fraudulent conveyance claims.

Robert (Bob) was well known to many lawyers around the world because of his practice and his leadership in the American Bar Association Section of International Law. He was also active in the Association of the Bar of the City of New York; the ABA Sections on: Litigation and Antitrust Law, the Inter-American Bar Associations; the American Society of International Law; and the Union International des Avocats. He had a fantastic sense of humor and was well loved. He will be deeply missed by family, friends, and lawyers around the world.

A celebration of his life will be held on Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at the Unitarian Church of All Souls located at 1157 Lexington Avenue, in New York City.  A memorial service will begin at 6:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the ASPCA in Bob Brodegaard's name via their website //www.aspca.org/donate (honor donations).

Mark E. Wojcik

Save the Dates! Upcoming ABA International Conferences

The American Bar Association Section of International Law, with more than 20,000 members around the world, has some of the most interesting and productive conferences you'll find. Here's a list of upcoming events. Visit the ABA Section of International Law website for more information on any particular conference or forum.

Oct 20-22, 2017:	Pre-Fall Conference Module (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
Oct 24-28, 2017:	Section of International Law Fall Conference (Miami, Florida)
Jan 31-Feb 6, 2018:	ABA/Section Midyear Meeting (Vancouver, Canada)
April 17-21, 2018:	Section of International Law Annual Conference (New York City)
June 10-12, 2018:	Europe Forum (Copenhagen, Denmark)

(mew)

U.S. Announces its Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord

U.S. President Donald Trump announced yesterday that the United States would withdraw from participation in the Paris climate accord.

The Accord de Paris is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Representatives from 195 countries negotiated the agreement at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, adopting the Paris Accord by consensus on 12 December 2015.  As of June 2017, 148 UNFCCC members have ratified the agreement. Under the Paris Accord, each country determines its own contribution to mitigate global warming. There is no enforcement mechanism (other than public opinion) to force a country to set a specific target by a specific dated. 

In announcing that the United States would withdraw from the Paris agreement, Donald Trump said that the United States would seek to reopen negotiations, something immediately oppotsed by countries such as France, Germany, and Italy.

Three U.S. states have joined the United States Climate Alliance in response to the U.S. announcement, and another seven states are said to be in talks to join the group.

(mew)

Deadline Extended to Submit Proposals for the WTO Public Forum

The World Trade Organization has extended the deadline for submitting proposals for the 2017 Public Forum. Tne new deadline is June 18, 2017.  This year’s Public Forum – entitled “Trade: Behind the Headlines” — will be held on 26-28 September, are invited to complete an application form. Click here for more information.

(mew0

Authorized statement of the governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, on the Withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement

(June 1, 2017- San Juan) “Climate change is a real problem and it requires all of us to leave a sustainable planet to the next generation. Our administration is committed to protecting the environment. As a Governor who is also a scientist, I oppose the United States withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. Our administration is committed to protecting our environment, and we recognize that even small changes can have big, lasting effects on our planet. Puerto Rico, an Island that 3.4 million American Citizens call home, would suffer greatly from the devastating effects of rising sea levels. But we all stand to lose if we don't take meaningful action right now. We call upon all local governments across the nation to continue to pass rules and regulations that protect our climate. As most of the world move forwards, our nation cannot sit idle and lag behind.”