JournalTOCs

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs
Number of Followers: 4

This is an Open Access Journal

Open Access journal
ISSN (Print) 2168-7951
Published by Penn State University Press

[35 journals]

Ethnic Inferencing: The Unanswered Question of S and Marper v. United
Kingdom
- Authors: Jamie Jones
  PubDate: Thu, 03 Sep 2020 13:03:29 PDT
From Isolation to Independence: A Comparison Study of Juvenile Solitary
Confinement Practices in the United States and Germany
- Authors: Claire Banks
  Abstract: The “tough on crime” mentality originating in the 1980’s resulted in a crackdown of juvenile offenders for categorically non-dangerous crimes, leaving many to fend for themselves in high security prisons. An even more harrowing reality, tens of thousands of juvenile offenders in those state and federal prisons today are placed in solitary confinement for week or months on end. Extensive research indicates that solitary confinement has devastating effects on human development, mental soundness, and emotional coping – effects that, unsurprisingly, are much more devastating for juveniles than adults – signaling a desperate need for change. Looking to Germany as a model for improvement, this comment provides a comparison study of juvenile solitary confinement practices in the United States and Germany. First, my research provides an in-depth history of the origin and development of solitary confinement in the United States and Germany. Next, this comment analyzes the current status of juvenile solitary confinement legislation in the United States and Germany, highlighting important legislative efforts. Third, and most importantly, this comment provides an unapologetic account of the disturbing effects of solitary confinement on juveniles. In conclusion, this comment provides recommendations for the future and a call to action for legislative efforts to set up and protect our most vulnerable population
  PubDate: Thu, 03 Sep 2020 13:03:26 PDT
Is this Belt One Size Fits All' China's Belt and Road Initiative
- Authors: John C. Byrnes
  Abstract: Widely considered one of the largest and most ambitious infrastructure projects in human history, China’s Belt and Road Initiative [BRI] has made major headway since its inception in 2013. Although the BRI is formally adopted under the Chinese Communist Party Constitution as an initiative to secure “shared growth through discussion and collaboration,” the BRI is much more than these words convey. This Comment briefly introduces an overview of the BRI, including its components and early research on its effects on participating countries and regions. The Comment then conducts an in-depth analysis of four countries who have participated in the BRI with varying degrees of success. Next, the Comment discusses various international concerns surrounding the BRI, including possible debt diplomacy and military motivations. Finally, the Comment concludes that although the BRI should be applauded for its bold aspirations and developments, it should also be closely monitored by the international community to mitigate any deleterious effects incurred by BRI participants.
  PubDate: Thu, 03 Sep 2020 13:03:23 PDT
The Role of International Human Rights Law in the Adjudication of
Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in Africa
- Authors: John Mukum Mbaku
  Abstract: Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, there has been significant progress in the recognition and protection of human rights around the world. The international community has, since 1948, adopted several treaties, which impose obligations on States Parties to make certain that the human and fundamental rights of their citizens are recognized and fully protected. Although human rights are considered the domain of international law, international legal scholars have argued that national governments—that is, the governments of States Parties—must function as the mechanisms for enforcing international human rights law. However, in order for national governments to enforce international human rights law, each country that ratifies an international human rights treaty must incorporate the treaty into its national constitution and hence, create rights that are justiciable in domestic courts. Thus, an African country can, through its constitution, cast away any doubts regarding whether international law, including customary international law, is law within its jurisdiction. This article notes that in African countries whose constitutions do not expressly define a law of reception for international law, it is still possible for domestic courts to employ international law and comparative case law in the interpretation and adjudication of cases involving human rights. After examining cases from several African countries to determine the extent to which domestic courts have utilized international law and comparative law sources in their decisions generally and interpretation of national constitutions in particular, the article then examines two cases from the Constitutional Court of South Africa involving socio-economic rights. It is determined that, even where African States have not yet domesticated international human rights instruments and created rights that are justiciable in domestic courts, progressive judiciaries can still enhance the recognition and protection of human rights by using international law as an interpretive tool in their legal adjudications. Nevertheless, the ultimate goal must remain the domestication of international human rights instruments to create rights that are justiciable in domestic courts.
  PubDate: Thu, 03 Sep 2020 12:54:00 PDT
Hassle-Free Travel: Myrie v. Barbados and Freedom of Movement in CARICOM
- Authors: Jane E. Cross
  PubDate: Thu, 03 Sep 2020 12:53:57 PDT
A Tale of Two Cities: Lhasa and Hong Kong in the Shadow of Mao
- Authors: Steven D. Mewha
  PubDate: Thu, 03 Sep 2020 12:53:53 PDT
The Rise of American Conservatism in Israel
- Authors: Rafi Reznik
  Abstract: The American fascination with the link between interpretive methodology and political ideology rarely reaches beyond its borders. This Article offers a comparative case study, which converses with the American example—Israel. A twofold argument is offered to facilitate this conversation. First, the Article identifies a shift in the ideological climate of the Supreme Court of Israel, manifested in the rise of a new interpretive method. For the first time, the interpretive theory prevailing in Israel, Purposive Interpretation, faces a viable competitor. The Article unpacks the challenges posed by the new theory, termed Purposive Originalism, in methodology as well as underlying understanding of democratic principles. While Purposive Interpretation is conceptually and historically tied to American liberal theories, Purposive Originalism deeply resonates American conservatism, espousing variations on its three basic tenets: originalism, bright-line rules, and deference. Second, the Article contends that this development should be understood as part of a broader ideological reorientation of the political right-wing in Israel, toward American conservatism. Increasingly drawing on the philosophies and strategies of its American counterpart, the Israeli Right has adopted the compound of social traditionalism, neo-liberal economic policy, and hawkish national security stance, as well as discontent with the administrative state, synthesized under the headline of conservatism. An interpretive methodology that strives for the same values enshrined in this political project fulfills a vital role in its success. Such a convergence of judicial and political reinterpretations of conservatism marks an Israeli recreation of the dynamics that emerged in the U.S. in the 1980s, with an all-encompassing conservative backlash
  PubDate: Thu, 03 Sep 2020 12:53:49 PDT
Foreword
- PubDate: Thu, 03 Sep 2020 12:53:45 PDT
JLIA Editorial Board & Staff
- PubDate: Thu, 03 Sep 2020 12:53:33 PDT
Life in a Sharing Economy: What AirBNB, Turo, and Other
Accommodation-Sharing Services Mean for Cities
- Authors: Zoe McKenzie
  PubDate: Mon, 18 May 2020 15:13:49 PDT
Sharing the Burden of Citizenship: It's Time for America's
Daughters to Register for the Draft
- Authors: Kylie Hanlon
  PubDate: Mon, 18 May 2020 15:13:45 PDT
Going Postal: President Trump and the United States' Tumultuous
Current Relationship with the Universal Postal Union, and Its Effect on
the International Shipment of Opioids
- Authors: Logan Nagle
  PubDate: Mon, 18 May 2020 15:13:41 PDT
Chinese Receptions of Carl Schmitt Since 1929
- Authors: Ryan Martinez Mitchell
  PubDate: Mon, 18 May 2020 15:13:37 PDT
Territorial Status Triggering a Functional Approach to Statehood
- Authors: William Thomas Worster
  PubDate: Mon, 18 May 2020 15:13:33 PDT
China's Approach on Data Privacy Law: A Third Way Between the U.S.
and the E.U.'
- Authors: Emmanuel Pernot-Leplay
  PubDate: Mon, 18 May 2020 15:13:30 PDT
The Price of Prosecution: The Reality for Syrian Transitional Justice
- Authors: Faten Ghosn et al.
  PubDate: Mon, 18 May 2020 15:13:27 PDT
Foreword
- PubDate: Mon, 18 May 2020 15:13:23 PDT