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321. Commentary: Containing the Political Space: Party Closures and the Constitutional Court in Turkey

Author:
Yusuf Şevki Hakyemez
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
This article discusses the limits of the freedom of political parties in Turkey. The political party bans constitute one of the most important problems threatening the freedom of political parties in Turkey. The restrictions on the political parties come to the fore in two different forms: dissolution after the military coups and closure by means of legislation. In the current context of the case opened against the AK Party, it may be possible and advisable to apply an amendment, bringing Turkish jurisprudence in such matters in line with the standards of the European community. It is concluded that the Constitutional Court should interpret cases of the dissolution of political parties in the context of the principles of "secularism" and the "unitary state" in such a way as to take into account the requirements of the principle of "the rule of law" and to allow different political alignments to express themselves in a "human rights respecting" and "democratic" country.
Topic:
Democratization, Government, Human Rights, Politics, and Law
Political Geography:
Turkey

322. Law Markets: A model for Predicting Laws, Governments, and Institutions

Author:
Graham Lawlor
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
Law Markets is a positive economic model, which treats laws as tradable goods, citizens as consumers of laws, and governments as producers of laws. This model borrows heavily from the fields of Public Choice, which models political actors as economic agents, and from New Institutional Economics, which analyzes social contracts in the presence of transaction costs. The financial fields of Efficient Markets Theory and Behavioral Finance provide tools to measure transaction costs and empirical studies to demonstrate long-term trends.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Law

323. D3. U.S. Department of State, "Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism," Washington, DC, March 2008 (excerpts)

Publication Date:
06-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
In 2004, Pres. George W. Bush signed the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act into law, establishing the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism within the State Department and requiring the secy. of state to submit an occasional report to Congress on anti-Semitic activity around the world that covers events; the responses of the respective government, including measures taken to enforce laws that ensure freedom of religion for the Jewish people; efforts of each government to promote anti-bias education; and media that propagate, promote, or justify acts of racial hatred against Jewish people. The first Global Anti-Semitism Report was issued on 15 December 2004. The second report, excerpted below, was released on 14 March 2008 and is available in full at www.state.gov. For comparison, see Israeli Vice PM and FM Tzipi Livni's speech in Doc. C1, above.
Topic:
Law
Political Geography:
Washington

324. What Future for the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice? Recommendations on EU Migration and Borders Policies in a Globalising World

Author:
Didier Bigo, Sergio Carrera, and Elspeth Guild
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
The European Interest: Succeeding in the Age of Globalisation, COM(2007) 581 final, Brussels 3.10.2007, which states: “The EU is already working on many of the policy elements needed to equip it to take on the challenge of globalization with confidence…in the coming months, the Commission will be putting new ideas on the table to address these key challenges…Review of internal policies is already under way, aiming to reshape Europe to face gloablisation and give it the right platform to look beyond its borders.” Further the Communication identifies “Migration in a Globalized World” as one of the key political objectives and states: “In a Europe with no internal borders, the changing demands of an ageing society and a labour market in constant evolution have challenged established assumptions about immigration… a new global approach is needed so that migration strikes the right balance between the risk of labour market shortages, economic impacts, negative social consequences, integration policies and external policy objectives”. Information about the current financial Framework Programme on Solidarity and the Management of Migration Flows for the period 2007- 2013 and about the four Funds comprising it (European Refugee Fund, External Borders Fund, the European Return Fund and the European Integration Fund) can be found at See the original European Commission's proposal in the Communication on a framework programme on Solidarity and the Management of Migration Flows for the period.
Topic:
Human Rights, Migration, Immigration, and Law
Political Geography:
Europe and Brussels

325. Egypt: Evolution Theory

Author:
Khairi Abaza
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of International Security Affairs
Institution:
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Abstract:
Egyptian politics are in a state of stagnation. Despite numerous promises of reform in recent years, the government of president Hosni Mubarak has failed to embark upon a genuine opening of the political system, and hopes for reforms have faded.
Topic:
Government and Law
Political Geography:
Egypt

326. Al-Qaeda: Enduring Appeal

Author:
William Boykin
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of International Security Affairs
Institution:
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Abstract:
“I tell you to act upon the orders of Allah, be united against Bush and Blair, and defeat them through suicide attacks so that you may be successful before Allah.” That directive was issued by Osama Bin Laden in 2003, in the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. And it was remarkably successful. In droves, his followers began to attack U.S. and British forces, resulting in indiscriminate death and destruction throughout Iraq and, ultimately, in Afghanistan and other parts of the world.
Topic:
Law
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Iraq

327. The Rights of Irregular Migrants

Author:
Joseph H. Carens
Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
This article considers the question of what legal rights should be possessed by those who reside and work in a democratic state without the legal authorization of the state, given the background assumption that the state is morally entitled to exclude such migrants. I argue that irregular migrants are morally entitled to a wide range of legal rights, including basic human and civil rights, but also rights to wages, workplace protections, and even rights to public education for their children. In order for these rights to be realized in practice, I argue, states ought to create a firewall between those charged with protecting and enforcing these rights and those charged with enforcing immigration laws.
Topic:
Law

328. The Legal Reasoning of ICSID Tribunals – An Empirical Analysis

Author:
Ole Kristian Fauchald
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This empirical analysis of the use of interpretive arguments by ad hoc tribunals of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes covers almost 100 cases decided during the past 10 years. The cases are analysed with a view to determining which arguments the tribunals use and how the arguments are used in light of Articles 31 and 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The analysis provides a basis for addressing the extent to which ICSID tribunals contribute to creating a predictable legal framework in which the interests of investors, states, and third parties are taken properly into account; the extent to which ICSID tribunals contribute to a coherent development of international investment law; and whether ICSID tribunals contribute to a 'fragmentation' of international law. Despite ICSID tribunals being ad hoc tribunals that solve legal disputes on the basis of heterogeneous legal sources, the article indicates that there is a tendency among ICSID tribunals to contribute to a homogeneous development of the methodology of international law. Nevertheless, the article concludes that ICSID tribunals could do significantly more to align their approaches to interpretive arguments with those of other international tribunals.
Topic:
Development and Law
Political Geography:
Vienna

329. Terrorist Crimes and International Co-operation: Critical Remarks on the Definition and Inclusion of Terrorism in the Category of International Crimes

Author:
Marcello Di Filippo
Publication Date:
06-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Notwithstanding the emphasis placed on the need for concerted international action to confront the problem of terrorism, positive international law is far from treating the issue of defining the criminal notion of terrorism coherently; the discussion of such a notion is being made hostage [sic!] to the abuse of the term 'terrorism' in the course of the debate and to the confusion between an empirical description of a phenomenon and its treatment under criminal law. Proposing a core-definition approach, this article elaborates a notion based upon the basic rights of civilians and on the unacceptability of their violation by terrorist methods carried out by private organized groups. The definition proposed here, which does not recognize in the perpetrator's motivations any material relevance because of the overwhelming importance of the value infringed, is able to minimize the relevance of some abused arguments (such as state terrorism or the treatment of 'freedom fighters'), could quickly gain customary status and would prove useful in interpretation and in drafting exercises, both at international and national level. As for the inclusion of terrorism in the category of international crimes, it is submitted that two interpretive options are open: to consider the category of crimes against humanity as already able to embrace core terrorism; or to place the strong rationale underlying the stigmatization of terrorist crimes in the perspective of the gradual emerging of a discrete international crime of terrorism. National case law seems to point to the latter option, but the question does not appear settled: for this reason, the discussion regarding the prospect of an amendment to the ICC Statute expressly to include terrorist crimes continues to be of interest. An express inclusion could be useful to avoid doubts or discrepancies at national level and to solve some outstanding issues of the international community's criminal policy.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Terrorism, and Law

330. Access to Secret Police Files, Justice, and Vetting in East Germany since 1989

Author:
Gary Bruce
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
German Politics and Society
Institution:
German Politics and Society Journal
Abstract:
In order to situate the current debate on whether the Federal Commission for the Files of the State Security Service of the former German Democratic Republic (the Stasi Archive) should cease to be an autonomous institution in the larger context, this article traces the history of the Stasi Archive and of the Stasi Files Law since 1989. Key to understanding the Stasi Archive and access to its files is the 1989 revolution which saw demonstrators demand access to information gathered by the secret police. Although the research quasimonopoly that the Stasi Archive enjoys would be ended by integration into the federal archives, file access for Stasi victims—the raison d'être of the archive—would be jeopardized. Calls for the dismantling of the Stasi archive are, therefore, premature. Some criticism can be directed at the vetting and trial process in East Germany since 1989, but it is important to remember that the Stasi Archive acted only in a support capacity for those activities.
Topic:
Security, Communism, Corruption, and Law
Political Geography:
Germany