Freedom and Security in Constitutional Democracies: A Transatlantic Dialogue, Speeches by Dieter Feddersen, Jurgen Chr. Regge, Rudolf Mellinghoff, Janet Napolitano, Dr. Thomas De Maziere, and Andreas Vosskuhle


     Constitutional freedom and domestic security are fundamental requirements for a democratic state based on the rule of law. The conflicts between security and freedom are one of the key issues of constitutional law, dominate the political discussion of police action, and are the subject of important decisions taken by constitutional courts. New challenges, especially those related to international terrorism, have shown that Americans and Europeans have different views on questions like: how much power should governments have, and what needs to be done to protect civil rights?

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November 08, 2012

Women's Land and Property Rights in Kenya- Moving Forward into a New Era of Equality: A Human Rights Report and Proposed Legislation, Federation of Women Lawyers: Kenya (FIDA-Kenya)


     This human rights report and companion legislation was originally authored by Jennifer Smith, Cassandre Theano, Lauren Torbett, and Jennifer Toussaint, Spring 2008 student advocates with the International Women's Human Rights Clinic at Georgetown Law. It was supervised and edited by then, Attorney-Fellow Tzili Mor, under Clinic Director, Susan Deller Ross. The report was produced in conjunction with the Federation of Women Lawyers: Kenya (FIDA-Kenya).
     The lack of equal rights to own property has severe consequences for the women of Kenya, including increasing the risks of poverty, violence and homelessness. Kenyan women face significant obstacles to gaining and maintaining title to property as well as to enforcing their rights regarding property they own. This article summarizes current property law in Kenya, detailing de jure and de facto institutions that deny women equal rights. In so doing, they violate international human rights commitments Kenya has freely adopted. The article also proposes draft legislation, "The Land Equality Act, 2009″ which, if passed by the Kenyan Parliament, would make significant strides toward granting women equal rights to property under Kenyan law and would in no way violate the Constitution. Finally, such legislation would bring Kenya into compliance with its human rights obligations.

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November 08, 2012

Empowering Women With Rights to Inheritance – A Report on Amendments to the Law of Succession Act Necessary to Ensure Women's Human Rights: A Human Rights Report and Proposed Legislation, The International Women's Human Rights Clinic at Georgetown Law and FIDA-Kenya


     This human rights report and companion legislation was originally authored by Dorrella Gallaway, Dan Gatti, Jessica Hinkie, and Jennifer Schingle, Spring 2008 student advocates with the International Women's Human Rights Clinic at Georgetown Law. It was supervised and edited by Clinic Director, Professor Susan Deller Ross; Clinic alumna, Ginger T. Faulk, also edited the report, as did Dan Gatti. The report was produced in conjunction with the Federation of Women Lawyers: Kenya (FIDA-KENYA).
     FIDA requested the assistance of Georgetown students to investigate whether current Kenyan law on intestate succession effectively protects the equal rights of women and conforms to international law. After extensive background research on the law of intestacy in Kenya as well as the law of intestacy in several other legal systems and relevant international legal conventions, students from Georgetown traveled to Kenya between March 29 and April 8, 2008, to hear about the lives of some of the people who have been affected by the inheritance system in Kenya, as well as the people who administer the law and advocate for legal reforms in Kenya. More than 80 interviews in total were conducted by the Clinic and FIDA-Kenya, covering a wide range of the population of Kenya, including rural farmers, lawyers, non-governmental organizations [NGOs], judges, religious leaders, government officials, Parliamentarians, academics, ministers, and many others, both in the city of Nairobi and in the smaller towns of Meru and Nanyuki, Kenya.

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November 08, 2012

Women's Equal Property and Land Rights Hold Key to Reversing Toll of Property and HIV/AIDS in Swaziland: A Human Rights Report and Proposed Legislation, The International Women's Human Rights Clinic at Georgetown Law, The Women and Law In Southern Africa Research Trust (WLSA) and the Council of Swaziland Churches, the Department of Justice, Peace, and Reconciliation


     This human rights report was authored by Brook Kelly, Marika Maris, Nicolas Mitchell, and Karen Morao, Spring 2007 student advocates with the International Women's Human Rights Clinic at Georgetown Law. It was supervised by then, Attorney-Fellow, Tzili Mor, under Clinic Director, Susan Deller Ross. The report was produced in conjunction with two Swazi Non-Governmental Organizations: The Women and Law In Southern Africa Research Trust (WLSA), headed by Lomcebo Dlamini, with invaluable input and feedback from Patience Bennett, Lomcebo Dlamini, Sibongile Dlamini, Edward Mathabela, Sibonelo Mdluli, Bonginkhosi Sengway, and Jabu Tsabedze; and the Council of Swaziland Churches, the Department of Justice, Peace, and Reconciliation, headed by Lungile Magagula. Support for this clinic project was provided by DLA Piper, New Perimeter Fund. The clinic would also like to thank U.S. participating attorneys, Eliza Bechtold and Whitney Stevens (DLA Piper, New Perimeter), and Tamar Ezer (Open Society Institute, Public Health Program, Law and Health Initiative).

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November 08, 2012

The Promise of a New Constitution—Achieving Equal Inheritance Rights for Women in Swaziland: A Human Rights Report and Proposed Legislation, The International Women's Human Rights Clinic at Georgetown Law, The Women and Law In Southern Africa Research Trust (WLSA) and the Council of Swaziland Churches, the Department of Justice, Peace, and Reconciliation


     This human rights report was authored by Kristie Bluett, Allison Menkes, Carla Smith, and Andrea Vossler, Spring 2007 student advocates with the International Women's Human Rights Clinic at Georgetown Law. It was supervised by Clinic Director, Susan Deller Ross, with input by then Attorney-Fellow, Tzili Mor. The report was produced in conjunction with two Swazi Non-Governmental Organizations: The Women and Law In Southern Africa Research Trust (WLSA), headed by Lomcebo Dlamini, with invaluable input and feedback from Patience Bennett, Lomcebo Dlamini, Sibongile Dlamini, Edward Mathabela, Sibonelo Mdluli, Bonginkhosi Sengway, Jabu Tsabedze; and the Council of Swaziland Churches, the Department of Justice, Peace, and Reconciliation, headed by Lungile Magagula. Support for this clinic project was provided by DLA Piper, New Perimeter Fund. The clinic would also like to thank U.S. participating attorneys, Eliza Bechtold and Whitney Stevens (DLA Piper, New Perimeter); and Tamar Ezer (Open Society Institute, Public Health Program, Law and Health Initiative).

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November 08, 2012

Chile's Revamped Criminal Justice System, Katherine Kauffman


     While much has been written in Spanish, and to a certain extent in English, about the criminal procedure reforms sweeping Latin America, scant information is available in English that describes the novel process itself. This paper seeks to provide a general overview of one of the most successful such reforms in the region, the revamped system of criminal justice in Chile.

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November 08, 2012

Joint Venture Contracts (JVCs) among Current Negotiated Petroleum Contracts: A Literature Review of JVCs Development, Concept and Elements, Talal Al-Emadi


     A study of International Joint Venture Contracts (JVC) in the oil and gas industry. It reviews the development, concept and elements of a JVCs and examines its legal vehicles. The article establishes that the search for a single definition of a JVC is not important and shows that JVCs assume different legal forms or vehicles, e.g. partnership, limited partnership or limited liability company/corporation. The article also identifies the factors that influence parties when choosing the legal form that their joint venture contract will assume.

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November 08, 2012

The Treatment of Vertical and Conglomerate Mergers in the European Union – The European Commission's New Guidelines on the Assessment of Non-Horizontal Mergers, Alex Petrasincu


     While the U.S. antitrust authorities have not clarified their enforcement practice toward vertical and conglomerate mergers since the issuance of the Department of Justice's 1984 Merger Guidelines, the European Commission on November 28, 2007 published its long-awaited Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines. The Commission did not draw up Draft Guidelines until February 2007 even though it had announced its intention to compile such Guidelines shortly after its publication of the Horizontal Merger Guidelines in January 2004. These Draft Guidelines were then published on the Commission's homepage and interested parties were invited to provide comments on this draft. The Commission received thirty-two comments, a majority of which supported the new Guidelines and approved of the Draft Notice. The Final Guidelines published in November 2007 are mostly consistent with the Draft Notice – the European Commission only made minor changes to its draft.
     It took the European Commission almost four years to prepare its Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines. As such, one would expect the new Guidelines to carefully and exhaustively describe the Commission's analysis of vertical and conglomerate mergers—but this does not seem to be the case. This article describes the Commission's approach to non-horizontal mergers described in the Guidelines by comparing the new guidelines to the Commission's previous approach.

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November 08, 2012