Rape in War [the paper]

By Julia Steciuk
Julia Steciuk prepared this paper for the International Law of War and Crime Seminar, summer 2012, in conjunction with the associated presentation which was previously published on ILS.
As noted then, Julia Steciuk, a second year student at Albany Law School, studied English as an undergraduate at Siena College. During her first year at Albany Law, Julia became Co-Director of Albany Law’s Animal Pro Bono Project, as well as President of the school’s Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter. Julia is a Research Assistant for Professor Vincent M. Bonventre, as well as an Associate Editor for the Center for Judicial Process. She spent her summer interning with the Albany County District Attorney’s Office.

Where there is war there is rape. Throughout history, rape has been used as a tool for a variety of purposes during war. However, it was not until after World War II that rape within the context of war gained the attention of the international legal community and when developments began to be made towards improving the abilities of prosecutors to charge and try rape offenders in the context of war.

Part I of this paper discusses the prosecution of rape in war within the context of the Nuremburg and Tokyo Trials. Part II examines developments in international law towards an increased recognition for victims of rape during such national trials. Parts III and IV discuss how these improvements have been implemented during the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the Tribunal for Rwanda, while also examining drawbacks that occurred for the prosecution of rape. Part V discusses further developments and limitations in prosecution of rape in war and Part VI concludes this work.
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To read the paper, open HERE.

Rape in War [presentation]

By Julia Steciuk
Julia Steciuk, a second year student at Albany Law School, studied English as an undergraduate at Siena College. During her first year at Albany Law, Julia became Co-Director of Albany Law’s Animal Pro Bono Project, as well as President of the school’s Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter. Julia is a Research Assistant for Professor Vincent M. Bonventre, as well as an Associate Editor for the Center for Judicial Process. She spent her summer interning with the Albany County District Attorney’s Office.
She prepared this presentation for the International Law of War and Crime Seminar, summer 2012. (Her associated paper is forthcoming on ILS.)

(click to enlarge on all slides)

 

 

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For the entire presentation, open HERE.
(It is then best to download the presentation and view it from there.)

Import Sanctions in Reaction to Currency Manipulation

Are They Necessary and Legal to Cure Resulting Trade Imbalances

By Scott Smith
Scott Smith is an advocate for free market economics, both nationally and globally. He studied Economics at Hillsdale College, and studying the legal framework that inspires economic growth was a passion of his while studying at Albany Law from where he graduated in the Spring of 2012. In his graduating year, Scott received the barrister award for trial and appellate advocacy.

China’s trade policy is hurting the United States and the world. Trading with China costs the U.S. three times more than the benefit, including 2.8 million American jobs.

China’s devalued currency serves to protect its domestic production, while simultaneously granting an unfair advantage to its exported goods in the global marketplace. Other Asiatic countries as well as Brazil, Russia and India have implemented similar currency policies to be competitive with Chinese exports. As a result, significant trade imbalances have fueled a global financial bubble. The international financial organizations, namely the WTO and IMF, which regulate unfair and damaging trade practices, have so far proven ineffective to cure the problem.

China’s actions have effectively created a global anti-stimulus. The anti-stimulus has come in the form of a liquidity gap. China’s currency policy injures the major global economy because the prominent countries are caught in a liquidity gap—they are depressed but unable to generate recovery because the relevant interest rates are already at zero. This liquidity gap has especially affected the Federal Reserve and policy makers as they scramble to boost the economy and cure the U.S. unemployment problem.

The U.S. government has taken a domestic multilateral approach to aiding U.S. economic recovery, including action by the Federal Reserve and proposed legislation known as the American Jobs Act. Among other things, proposed legislation H.R. 2378 would allow a tariff to be placed on imported goods from countries with an undervalued, manipulated currency.*
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* Citations to references in this introduction are available in the paper.
To read the entire paper, open HERE.

U.N. Recognition of Palestinian Statehood and Children

The Potential Impact on Their Welfare

By Nadia I. Arginteanu
Nadia Arginteanu, a third year student at Albany Law School, is Editor-in-Chief of the Albany Law Journal of Science & Technology. She is a graduate of Bard College where she majored in political science. She will graduate from Albany Law School in May 2013 with a concentration in International Law.
This paper was prepared for Professor Harrington's course, International Child Rights, Spring 2012.
  
Undoubtedly, one of the most difficult issues that the international community has had to deal with is the question of Palestine. The Arab-Israel conflict over Palestine is nearly intractable and has been a major point of debate and contention for decades.

The military and political conflict that has taken hold of the region has caused a great deal of suffering for the children living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (“OPT”) comprised of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Children in these regions are not only hurt by the violence of warfare, but due to the political turmoil of the region are often denied the fundamental rights that the international community has recognized all children should be afforded, such as education and healthcare.

Though the political status of Palestine has been at a standstill for many years, recently, steps have been made by the current political leadership of Palestine, the Palestinian Authority, to change Palestine’s status both in the United Nations and in the international community as a whole. For example, in October 2011 the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (“UNESCO”) recognized Palestine as a full member state. Recognition of Palestine by UNESCO was controversial, but not as controversial as the recent bid on September 23, 2011 by the Palestinian Authority to gain full membership in the United Nations during the 2011 session of the United Nations General Assembly.

This paper will argue that if the United Nations were to recognize Palestinian statehood and admit it as a full member state, or at the very least elevate Palestine to the status of a non-member state observer, either of these changes would have a positive impact on the lives of Palestinian children. Changing the political status of Palestine would change the status of Palestinian children, affording these children increased rights and protections under international law.*
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* Citations to references in this introduction are available in the paper.
To read the entire paper, open HERE.