Whither the West? International Law in Europe and the United States

 Whither the West?International Law in Europe and the United States

Chiara Giorgetti, University of Richmond 
Guglielmo Verdirame, King's College London 

On a variety of international legal matters, relations between the US and European countries are evolving and even diverging. In an ever-changing world, understanding the reasons for this increasing dichotomy is fundamental and has a profound impact on our understanding of world dynamics and globalization and, ultimately, on our awareness of where the West is going. This interdisciplinary volume proposes new frameworks to understand the differences in approach to international law in the US and Europe. To explain the theoretical and historical underpinnings of the diverging views, the expert essays present new research and develop innovative conclusions. They assess and explore issues such as the idea of sovereignty, constitutional law, the use of force, treaty law and international adjudication. Leading authorities in different disciplines including law and political science, the contributors engage in a new dialogue and develop a new discourse on inter-Atlantic views.

Introduction: W[h]ither the west? The divided west and the shifting grounds of international law; Part I. The Idea of International Law in the Divided West: 1. International lawyers and legal forms transatlantic denials; 2. Are we (Americans) all international legal realists now?; 3. Are liberal internationalists still liberal?; 4. The new, new sovereigntism or how the European union became disenchanted with international law and defiantly protective of its domestic legal order; Part II. Specific Areas in International Law: Whither the West?: 5. Authority and dialogue state and official immunity in domestic and international courts; 6. Treaty conditions and constitutions walls, windows, or doors; 7. International courts and tribunals in the USA and in Europe the increasingly divided west; 8. Unravelling a paradox of shared responsibility the disconnection between substantive and adjudicate law; 9. Divergent views on the content and relevance of the jus ad Bellum in Europe and the United States? The case of the US-Led military coalition against ‘Islamic state'.

Freedom of Expression - The Revolutionary Roots of American and French Legal Thought

 

Freedom of Expression 

The Revolutionary Roots of American and French Legal  Thought 

Ioanna Tourkochoriti 

National University of Ireland, Galway 

Two legal systems founded from similar Enlightenment philosophical and political values use state coercion differently to regulate a core liberty: the freedom of expression. This comparative study of France and the United States proposes a novel theory of how the limits of freedom of expression are informed by different revolutionary experiences and constitutional and political arrangements. Ioanna Tourkochoriti argues that the different ways freedom of expression is balanced against other values in France and the United States can be understood in reference to the role of the government and the understanding of republicanism and liberty. This understanding affects how jurists define the content and the limits of a liberty and strike a balance between liberties in conflict. Exploring both the legal traditions of the two countries, this study sheds new light on the broader historical, social and philosophical contexts in which jurists operate. 

1. Introduction: speech, privacy and dignity in France and the United States; 2. Antiquity, modernity, and historical imaginaries on the role of the government; 3. The underlying ex ante understanding of liberty; 4. The moralizing rational republic versus the state arbitrator of the free play of interests; 5. Foundation of the rights of man on the rights of the citizen versus foundation of the rights of the citizen on the rights of man; 6. Conclusion.

Rediscovery and Revival in Islamic Environmental Law Back to the Future of Nature's Trust

Rediscovery and Revival in Islamic Environmental Law 

Back to the Future of Nature's Trust 

Samira Idllalène 

Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh 

The common ground between religions could be fruitfully promoted in order to call for an effective protection of the climate system. Positioned at a junction of different worlds, this book is a multidisciplinary work on Islamic law, common law and environmental law. Looking at the past, present and future, the author suggests a paradigm shift starting from the common ground in order to propose a better future for environmental law in Muslim countries. As the first book to compare Shari‘a and common law in field of environmental protection, it suggests a new path in comparative environmental law by recognizing the contributions of both history and spirituality. 

1. Introductory Context and Issues; 2. What Is ‘Islamic Environmental Law'?; 3. The Dormancy of Islamic Environmental Law; 4. The Fruitful Comparison with the Common Law; 5. Potential for Growth of Islamic Environmental Law; Conclusion

Juries, Lay Judges, and Mixed Courts A Global Perspective,

Juries, Lay Judges, and Mixed Courts A Global Perspective

  Edited by Sanja Kutnjak Ivković, Michigan State University

  Shari Seidman Diamond, The American Bar Foundation, Illinois 

  Valerie P. Hans Cornell University, New York,

and 

Nancy S. Marder, Chicago-Kent College of Law 

Although most countries around the world use professional judges, they also rely on lay citizens, untrained in the law, to decide criminal cases. The participation of lay citizens helps to incorporate community perspectives into legal outcomes and to provide greater legitimacy for the legal system and its verdicts. This book offers a comprehensive and comparative picture of how nations use lay people in legal decision-making. It provides a much-needed, in-depth analysis of the different approaches to citizen participation and considers why some countries’ use of lay participation is long-standing whereas other countries alter or abandon their efforts. This book examines the many ways in which countries around the world embrace, reject, or reform the way in which they use ordinary citizens in legal decisionmaking.

1. Introduction; Part I. Advancements in Lay Participation: 2. The Rise of the Jury in Argentina: Evolution in Real Time; 3. Twelve Years of Mixed Tribunals in Argentina; 4. Lay Participation in the Criminal Trial in Japan: A Decade of Activity and its Sociopolitical Consequences; 5. The Korean Jury System: The First Decade; 6. The Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Spanish Jury; Part II. Enduring Systems of Lay Participation: 7. “… And My Right”: The Magistrates' Courts in England and Wales; 8.“In the Name of the People”: Lay Assessors in Germany; 9 The Jury in Canada: Testing the Comprehensibility of Styles of Jury Instructions and the Effectiveness of Aids; Part III. Challenges to Lay Participation in Law: 10. Dismissing the Jury: Mixed Courts and Lay Participation in Norway; 11. Trials by Peers: The Ebb and Flow of the Criminal Jury in France and Belgium; 12. The Russian Jury Trial: An Ongoing Legal and Political Experiment; 13. Trial by Jury in Georgia: A Catalyst for Evolving Independent Courts; Part IV. Global Perspectives on Lay Participation: 14. What Hollywood, USA, Teaches the World (Incorrectly and Correctly) about Juries; 15. The Case for a Hybrid Jury in Europe; 16. A Worldwide Perspective on Lay Participation