NOTICE: SSRN's Law, Norms & Informal Orders abstracts

The latest SSRN Law, Norms & Informal Orders abstracts includes the following:

• Catherine Dauvergne and Jenni Millbank, 'Forced Marriage as a Harm in Domestic and International Law'

This article reports on our analysis of 120 refugee cases from Australia, Canada, and Britain where an actual or threatened forced marriage was part of the claim for protection. We found that forced marriage was rarely considered by refugee decision makers to be a harm in and of itself. This finding contributes to understanding how gender and sexuality are analysed within refugee law, because the harm of forced marriage is experienced differently by lesbians, gay men and heterosexual women. We contrast our findings in the refugee case law with domestic initiatives in Europe aimed at protecting nationals from forced marriages both within Europe and elsewhere. We pay particular attention to British initiatives because they are in many ways the most far-reaching and innovative, and thus the contrast with the response of British refugee law is all the more stark.  

• Darren Azman,'Don’t Tell Mom I Didn’t Pay My Taxes!: The Efficacy of State Shaming Campaigns on Taxpayer Compliance and Ideas for the Future' 

At least 25 states and regions across the country have engaged in some form of taxpayer shaming campaigns - the act of publicly shaming noncompliant taxpayers. Although these campaigns have, for the most part, proven successful, there is room for improvement. This Comment provides a brief overview of the state tax gap problem, first by defining the “tax gap,” and then looking at state-specific tax gap statistics. The Comment then unearths the taxpayer’s decision making process, introducing several factors that influence a taxpayer’s compliance decision. The concept of shaming campaigns is introduced, followed by the identification of the elements necessary for an effective shaming campaign and an examination of several state taxpayer shaming campaigns. The Comment concludes with recommendations for improving the efficacy of state shaming campaigns, primarily through the use of modern social media and inclusion of underreporters in state shaming campaigns.

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