Introduction:
The Learning Environment
*Safe
*Fun
*Exploration
*Curiousity
*Interaction
*I will tell jokes, to try to make you feel relaxed and happy.
*Work hard, play hard.
We’re here to learn
-to learn legal English, a specialized technical vocabulary.
-to learn law, a technical field.
*texting and i.m. is better than chatting, it is less disturbing to me and to the other students.
Course Objectives:
Legal Reasoning
-Analogy
-Deduction
-Abduction
-Conclusory reasoning
The Exam – Klausur – Case analysis
Introductions:
-Who has a weblog? (blog)
Teamwork?
Final exam or Final paper
Exam will have 1 essay 10 multiple choice. You can earn a passing grade with 10 correct essay answers and no essay, or a great essay and 0 correct multiple choice answers.
(number essay answers correct*10 + essay grade on scale of 1-100)/2 > 65% = pass.
Abbreviations:
HR = human rights
FP = foreign policy
PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is the unattributed use of others works. When you use texts of others, whether quoted or paraphrased, you Must indicate such with a footnote. The footnote shows you have done your research and are not copying others work wrongly. Footnoting is good! Copying texts is ok, but Only if you indicate it with a footnote. We are teaching you how to think; we are not teaching you what to think. We want you to learn to think for yourself, to think independently, to think creatively and critically. Yes, we expect and hope you will read and refer to other authors – explicitly! You Must say when you use any other author’s text. There’s nothing to hide. We understand how difficult it is to write in a foreign language. It’s ok to quote other’s texts, even extensively. But, such uses of others texts must be cited with a footnote. It’s only fair. When you use any other author’s writing without citing it with a footnote it is as if you were trying to present someone else’s original work as your own. It’s not fair to that author. It’s also not fair to your reader – your reader will want to know where you got your ideas from, which other authors you read – and are responding to.
FOOTNOTING
Philosophical Questions about Human Rights (Law)
Problematique:
Are Human Rights (HR) a “sword” or “shield” in Foregin Policy? (FP)
Relationship between national constitutional rights and international human rights
Define:
democracy
human rights
rule of law
economic productivity
How do these relate to each other? In law? In real life?
Law is a fiction, but it is a necessary and useful fiction.
Basic question:
What is the right?
Who has the right?
Against whom may they enforce the right?
Children’s Rights
Women’s Rights
Rights of Racial Minorities
Rights of Religious freedom
LGBT Rights
Right to Food
Right to Life
Right to Travel / Immigration
India – Capital punishment, right to food, GMO seeds, pesticides?
Trade/Business and human rights: sanctions? Does human rights observance give an advantage to business trade? Does HR implementation create a good business climate? Does HR observance result from a good business climate?
Refugees:
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/calais-migrant-claims-travel-uk-111742031.html#nlsALAz
German President Gauck on HR:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0hThZR5HR8
The German Presidency is a basically symbolic post, more or less like the UK Queen or Canada’s Governor General. The person holding that post is meant to symbolize German unity and good values.
German Foreign Office (=State Department) on human rights (in English):
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Aussenpolitik/Menschenrechte/Uebersicht_node.html
Germany’s Human Rights Commissioner Strasser on HR in English:
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/AAmt/Koordinatoren/MR-Koordinator/Uebersicht-MRBeauftragter_node.html
Business and Human Rights in Germany:
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Aussenpolitik/Aussenwirtschaft/Wirtschaft-und-Menschenrechte/Uebersicht_node.html
German Foreign Minister Steinmeier on human rights and business:
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Aussenpolitik/Aussenwirtschaft/Wirtschaft-und-Menschenrechte/Wirtschaft-und-Menschenrechte.html
Videos:
Institute for Cultural Diplomacy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkzI7CrrHfI
Germany and HR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee8YyHNHWOo
HR in Germany (lecture six parts) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDq7EAL_V-Y&list=PLSLiIwG5ylcU1HSfepjT6lfU9Mx2cVvOs
HR and U.S. foreign policy since 2000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee8YyHNHWOo
“A tale full of sound and fury, signifying – nothing”? Criticism of implementation of German human rights policy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-EN-8aNPf4
HR Watch
https://www.youtube.com/user/HumanRightsWatch
Holocaust:
In popular imagination the holocaust is monolithic and tragic: factories of death, kill ’em all. Reality is more complex than that.
http://prorev.com/wannsee.htm
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Himmler_on_the_execution_of_Jews
http://www.unhcr.org/40f2bb884.html
http://www.bamf.de/EN/Migration/AsylFluechtlinge/asylfluechtlinge-node.html
Judicial review
https://www.germanlawjournal.com/pdfs/Vol09No10/PDF_Vol_09_No_10_1267-1296_Articles_Oster.pdf
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xAqUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=wall+stasi+law&source=bl&ots=5GlnJCEeTa&sig=eyIpb0F0auyAJnxRY6MWEkRrO-U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CIcBEOgBMBFqFQoTCK_0kKnV88YCFSdK2wodsUkBOg#v=onepage&q=wall%20stasi%20law&f=false
Integration of new citizens
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/germany-strives-integrate-immigrants-new-policies
http://www.make-it-in-germany.com/en/for-qualified-professionals/living/integration-courses
Real world issues in human rights and current events. I will put the links to current events articles on this page.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/421517/saudi-arabia-iran-arms-race
http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/07/23/italy-ruling-faults-inaction-same-sex-couple-bill
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/migrant-teenager-found-dead-roof-eurotunnel-train-072556832.html#uHPTCyq
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/migrant-dies-attempt-enter-channel-tunnel-203435830.html#nDJttCn
Structuring Law Aristotle:
Man is a rational talking social animal, curious by nature.
State is a natural outgrowth of the family.
Man when good is the most perfect animal but when evil is the very worst animal.
State is organic.
Government by rational principle, not by a man “for a man rules in his own interest and thus becomes a tyrant”
The governed and the governors take turns governing and being governed (yes, he says that).
But: Natural slavery. Aristotle thought some people were slaves by nature, that they were unable to think for themselves and needed someone to watch over them. The slave and the free man are different to Aristotle in that the slave “can apprehend but cannot form ideas”. (Man kann Ideen dem Sklaven erklären, aber der Sklave kann Ideen selber nicht gestalten).
Legal Typology
Freedom from / Right to
Negative rights / affirmative rights
Procedural/Substantive
civil and political rights
economic, social, and cultural rights
HR and rule of law
vested right, executory right, claim
4 basic rights in EU – free movement of good, workers, capital, services.
Hobbes
Life without the state is poor nasty brutish and short
People consent to be governed by a strong man who will protect them from each other and other strong men.
State is an artificial person, a mechanism.
Rousseau
General will
Right to Rebel
Social contract
Man in the state of nature is good – but society and social life corrupt him
Locke
Social contract
Labor theory of value
Life, liberty and property.
Kant
Human Dignity (not in the U.S. constitution, central to the German Grundgesetz).
I have yet to see much or any social contract theory in German intellectuals. It doesn’t seem to figure in the thinking of Marx or Hegel.
Social contract did not really correspond to German conditions? It certainly corresponded to U.S. conditions. Adult colonists fled
EUROPEAN RELIGIOUS WARS
so they agreed to form corporate bodies – Massachussets Bay Company, Hudsons Bay Company — these were corporations, chartered to govern lands and make profits.
Like Magna Charta the U.S. Revolution was (partly) about taxes.
U.S. colonists thought they were fighting to have the same rights as people in England.
The U.S. was a new secular order
*Not a monarchy
*Not a religious state (theocracy)
-But a slave state
-Multiracial
*First instance of the idea that peace is built through economic interdependence.
-that idea later gets taken up in the European Union.
*Limited government
-of enumerated powers (named powers)
Preamble to the U.S. Constitution is not a source of binding law.
Preamble Does have interpretive value to determine other laws.
No provision for plebiscites in the U.S. federal constitution.
Constitutional Rights
Arose out of the idea of non-binding hortatotory programmatic goals – Anspornendes Recht
These became increasingly seen as binding law.
Constitutional Principles:
A federal government of enumerated limited powers.
A presumption that federal power does not exist.
Federal powers are in the field of international relations, interstate commerce, international commerce.
There are lots of parallels between German and U.S. constitutional law.
There are also important differences.
There are no social rights (Vornahmerechte) in the U.S. federal constitution.
The federal constitution only contains protections against state power (Abwehrrechte) NOT protection against private power. There is no Drittwirkung (third party effect) in the U.S. constitution.
There is no principle of the social welfare state (Sozialstaatsprinzip) or of “essential human dignity” (Menschenwürde) in the U.S. federal constitution.
U.S. Constitution is written in simple English and is intended to be understood by the ordinary person.
Bold are terms already in the legal language (stuff I did not make up)
Italic or plain text are my translations
Vocabulary: These two are inexact.
Objektives Recht – Objective law ; Executory rights
Subjektives Recht – Vested Rights; Rights in personam
These are exact.
Materielles Recht – Substantive Law – Substantives Recht
Verfahrensrecht – Procedural Law
Formelles Recht – Formal law; Procedural Law
Positive Law – Geltendes Recht; Positives Recht
These are exact but are also my own translations of German terms.
Abwehrrechte – Freedoms from State power
Vornahmerechte – Affirmative Claims to state resources
Mitwirkungsrechte – Rights of political participation
Teilhaberrechte – Participatory Rights
Judicial Review
The U.S. and French revolutions were revolutionary because they brought back Aristotle’s idea of government by consent instead of government by divine right of kings.
the story of the rise of fundamental rights is the recognition of fundamental rights politically and then the legal implementation (Umsetzung) of the politically recognized fundamental right.
Why was there a revolution? U.S. Declaration of independence
The declaration is not “binding” law in the sense that it creates no rights or duties
but IS persuasive in that it explains Why the U.S. government was formed; it can be used as an aid to interpret other laws.
“Soft law” is not directly binding but has persuasive value.
1) Taxation – the colonies were only indirectly represented in London.
a) Lots of colonists were tax evaders, pirates, privateers.
2) Land expansion in the West. The British wanted to get along better with the natives so restricted colonization of the west.
3) Violent suppression of riots
4) Slavery is tough. The Crown opposed slavery. The industrializing Northern also opposed slavery. The rural agrarian South supported slavery.
a) This would later result in the U.S. Civil War.
Interestingly religion was Not one of the causes of the revolution. The principle of religious tolerance existed de jure (By law) in some of the Colonies (Rhode Island is the famous example) and de facto (in practice) in others (New York). The British crown had catholic colonies – Quebec, Maryland.
One key idea of the U.S. revolution was the idea that if the constitution is law then the ordinary laws are subject to the constitution.
This view of the relationship between ordinary law and the constitution did not prevail in England. In England the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy prevailed.
This is the issue of the “direct effect” of public law on private persons
The public law may have no effect,
indirect persuasive effect
or direct binding effect
and that effect may be between
two governing bodies
the state and the private law person
two private law persons
THIS ISSUE OF WHEN AND WHETHER PUBLIC LAW HAS EFFECTS ON PRIVATE LAW RELATIONS IS STILL A VITAL CENTRAL CONCERN OF LAW.
It is an open issue! Controverted!
In Germany, e.g. there is now the AGG.
Laws have a legal presumption of being consistent with each other
(Vermutung der Vereinbarkeit der verschiedenen Gesetze)
So, when interpreting laws, courts will always interpret them so as to be not in conflict.
Furthermore whoever wishes to argue that a law is unconstitutional must prove their case: when in doubt, whoever has the burden of proof loses.
Sometimes laws conflict with each other and courts cannot avoid facing the fact that two different laws are in conflict.
How to resolve the conflicts?
There is a hierarchy. (Einstufung)
U.S. Federal Constitution
Ordinary federal law and International Law are next and are equally ranked.
International law may be
-customary international law is directly effective
-international treaty law only has direct effect if ratified
-some treaties codify customary law. Vienna Convention, Convention on Rights of Child, Law of the Sea Convention
Ordinary federal legislation
State Constitution
State Legislation
Customary Law
Case Law
Case law (Rechtsprechung; Richterrecht) is properly speaking customary law. It IS a source of law.
What is Not in this list?
Legal scholarship. It is NOT a source of law.
General principles of law (Allgemeine Rechtsgrundgsätze) – are also not a source of law!
*Caveat: General principles of law and legal scholarship ARE sources of international law. So they exceptionally occur in Anglo-American common law.
Customary Law = Actual pratice coupled with sense of binding obligation.
Direct effect is the idea that a law creates enforceable rights. The entire story of constitutionalization of law is the finding a) that a right exists b) that the right is held by a certain person c) that the person who holds the right can enforce it.
Not all rights are held by persons!
Not all right are enforceable!
There is an international law against kidnapping (=abduction; Entführung): no State may kidnap any person.
States do sometimes kidnap people! Eichmann, Argoud, various terrorists.
Guess what? The right not to be kidnapped is NOT held by an individual. It is held by their State. Your only remedy if you are Eichmann is to beg the German government or the Argentine government to save you.
Further, not all rights are enforceable! Some rights are
a) programmatic — they set out a goal for the government
b) hortatory (Anspornend) — they inspire, exhort.
Hortatory and programmatic laws may however have persuasive value for the interpretation of other laws.
The story of constitutionalization starts with:
1) The question whether national public law (the constitution) can apply to private persons (Vertical direct effect of national law)
-the U.S. said “yes”
-Britain said no.
2) Then the question whether the national public law (the constitution) can apply to the relations of private parties inter se (Horizontal direct effect)
-the U.S. said “no” (No third party effect).
-Germany said “yes”
(Bundesarbeitsgericht: Unmittelbare Drittwirkung der Grundrechte;
BVerfG Mittelbare Drittwirkung der Grundrechte)
3) The current question is whether and when international public law — treaties — can have direct or indirect effects into national law.
a) Ius cogens — clearly yes
b) Customary international law — Yes in the U.S. and Germany and probably France
c) International treaty — direct effect only if so intended and ratified. May have indirect effect depending on the national law.
Most human rights are enforced by states, so we have to understand a bit about the origin of the state to understand the rights which states recognize.
What is the origin of the State?
Organic/Historical Theory: ARISTOTLE
Family, Extended Family, Clan, Tribe, Polis, League of Polises
Seems historically tenable.
Per Aristotle:
-Man is a rational talking social animal, inherently curious
-Slavery is natural and good
-Happiness is the highest goal of life in political society. The object of the state is to attain the good life for all.
*”We do not allow a Man to rule but Rational Principle, for a Man decides in his Own interested — and thus becomes a Tyrant.”
–First idea of the rule of law State.
Contract Theory
-Requires capacity to contract
-How is will manifested?
-Why does contract bind succeeding generations?
-“State of Nature” (SON) never existed: Humans by nature are social and interdependent.
Hobbes SON – “poor, nasty, brutal and short”, a war of all against all, the law of the jungle, natural right to self defence
Citizens alienate right to self defence to a strong man. “a common power to keep them all in awe”.
Rousseau’s SON – primitive communism, instinctive, natural, comfortable, plentiful, no property. (influences Marx)
Locke’s SON – like the garden of eden, impoverished but peaceful.
Social Contract NOT historically tenable BUT corresponded fairly accurately to the U.S. colonial experience!
U.S. a “great experiment” “novus ordo saeclorum”.
*Multiracial (Natives, Europeans, Africans)
*Multinational (Britons, Germans, Dutch, Swedes, French)
*Several religions (various Protestant sects, Catholics, Jews, Natives)
*Secular State – because European religious wars caused European refugees to flee for their lives to the Americas.
*No Aristocracy – they thought about whether to have a king, (elected: for life tenure?) and decided not to.
*Limited Self Government – since the state is not a giant family it does not and cannot do everything
-Plenty of dictatorships still exist.
-Plenty of aristocratic states still exist.
*Freedom of Trade
All these things were revolutionary and led to the revolutions in France,(1789), Europe (1848), Russia (1917) and China (ca. 1920-1949).
Written Constitution, unlike Britain’s which was unwritten.
Thus: judicial review possible. This implies:
*Enforceable constitutional rights. Constitutional rights Not as political claims but as enforceable legal rights.
MODERNITY (NEUZEIT) IS THIS:
The replacement of war by politics, (negative sum)
the replacement of politics by law, (zero sum)
the replacement of legal conflict with economic trade. (positive sum)
Rise of Judicial Review (Revisionsverfahren): until the Bonn Republic Germany had no judicial review against the constitution because the constitution was a political document, addressed to state power, not to the people. It was the law of the organization of the state, not the law of fundamental rights.
Public law is compledx because people’s lives and liberty are at stake, not just their property. Public law is the law of “go to jail” “go to war” “pay that tax” and so on. Thus, it is hotly contested.
“Substance” versus “Procedure” (Materielles Recht oder Verfahrensrecht)
Public law is essentially more complex than private law.
It is.
The reason is because people’s lives and liberty are at stake, not just their property. Public law is the law of “go to jail” “go to war” “pay that tax” and so on. Thus, it is hotly contested.
“Substance” versus “Procedure” (Materielles Recht oder Verfahrensrecht)
This is why we tried to distinguish rights as:
1. LEGAL PRESUMPTIONS.
2. LEGAL HIERARCHY.
1) If it is possible to interpret federal or state legislation, the federal constitution, and internationally consistently then such an interpretation will apply.
It is only where there is an unavoidable conflicting interpretation where the court is compelled to choose that the hierarchy of law:
In principle the addressee of the federal constitution is the federation, not the states nor the people.
! !
! !
! !
U.S. Citizen German Citizen / National
Hortatory (Anspornsrechte)
License (Erlaubnis)
Executory (etwa wie eine Anwartschaft)
Vested (sicher begründete Rechte)
Fundamental freedoms from State action (Civil and Political Rights) (Abwehrrechte; Freiheitsrechte)
Positive claims to state resources (Economic and Social Rights)
Civil Rights (Bürgerrechte)
Rights in Personam
Rights in Rem (Sachenrechte)
STRUCTURE OF THE GLOBAL LEGAL SYSTEM
National Law — International Law
private law
——————————————–
public law
STRUCTURE OF THE U.S. FEDERAL SYSTEM
Executive — Legislative — Judicial
Federal
………………………………………..
State
Text (what does this term mean? what does this term Not mean?)
Grammar, Structure (Context)
Legislative History
Teleology (what would this lead to? where do we want to go)
THEORIES OF LAW
Conceptual jurisprudence (Begriffsjurisprudenz)
-deduction of legal will from the legal code
-rules
-conditionals “if … then”
Legal process interest balancing (Interessenjurisprudenz)
-standards, norms, policies
-interest balancing (Interessenabwägung)
*identify interested parties (plaintiff, defendant, state, stakeholders)
*identify competing interests
*evaluate interest, i.e. assign a “weight” ($) to the interest
*compare the competing interests
Creative Legal Arguments
*History
*Economics
*Legal Theory
*Comparative Law
Reductio argument: “Look what it would lead to” – counterfactual reasoning (“imagine”)
Law is split into four quadrants:
Public — Private
National
International
This is related to two questions:
1) Does the (public)(international) law apply domestically (Anwendbarkeit)
2) Can the (public) (international law) be enforced by private persons? (Unmittelbar) or instead only by States (Mittelbar).
Unmittelbare Anwendbarkeit in English is
Direct Effect.
This question is more often referred to in U.S. law as “the State Action doctrine” or “the color of law”.
The law of state organization is public law. Thus, in principle, it governs the relations of public law bodies.
To structure our own thinking — which makes our arguments more persuasive — we make the doctrinal (=Rechtsdogmatik) distinctions public/private national/international.
stare decisis – precedence rule (Präzedenzfall – Richterrecht): In common law judges “expound” the customary common law (custom = actual practice + belief the practice is legally obligated or permissible). Cases are analogized to each other (case A is like case B so the same rule 1 which governed case A should govern case B) or distinguished from each other (A is NOT like B for these reasons… and so rule 1 which applied in case A may not apply to case B.)
As well as teaching you law, I am trying to teach you how to think creatively about law: part of that is “counterfactual” reasoning. “What would it lead to”. “What if”.
Read everything you can, but especially read those things which you are curious about.
We can also consider hortatory rights (Anspornsrechte). The hortatory right is not binding. It is a desired social goal. But even though a hortatory right creates neither vested nor executory rights it may be used in the interpretation of other rights.
Why it matters: Some argue different branches of law have different rules of interpretation
If IHR is just customary law the rules are easy and known.
If IHR is not just customary or treaty law, i.e. if it is its own branch then maybe it has different rules of interpretation, e.g. analogies from national constutional law or transnational law (ECHR)
Customary international law has two elements: actual practice and the belief that such practice is legally binding. Hortatory rights may be evidence of the opinion that an actual practice is legally binding. Hortatory rights may also be used for the interpretation of other rights: the hortatory right may show us the purpose of the law; remember that when interpreting a statute (=Gesetz) we look first at
The literal text (Wortlaut des Gesetz).
then the context (Grammar and structure; flanking laws)
then the legislative history
then the goal of the law (teleology) (Sinn und Zweck des Gesetz).
Political claims in a democracy are enforced at the ballot box – by voting.
“Declaration” or “Resolution” means *non binding*. No one who wrote the French declaration of rights of man thought that they were creating legally ence of rights, and can be and are invoked as a guide to the extent of other positively enforceable legal rights.
U.S. Declaration of Independence only has one positive legal effect: the establishment of the United States’ claim international legal personality.
However, the Declaration of Independence is persuasive evidence of law; it tells us goals and purposes of the United States (“life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness”).
The U.S. Articles of Confederation created a confederation: confederations are not permanent. They can be an international legal person. Confederations are
the forerunner of international organizations. Int. Orgs did not exist under international law until 1919 at earliest but by 1945 were clearly a part of
international law. One may call the U.N. *either* a confederation (my view) *or* an international organization (the majority view).
Member States of a confederation may withdraw from the confederation. Confederation is not perpetual. In contrast, federation is perpetual and Member States may not withdraw from it.
From most controlling to least: this is how we structure conflicts between laws.
Federal Constitution is highest
Ordinary Legislation – International Law
–Customary International law=directly effective=unmittelbare Anwendbarkeit
–Treaty Law – Must be ratified. Not directly effective.
State Legislation: then state law.
Sources of National Law:
Legislation
Customary Law = Actual practice + Sense of legal obligation
Case law — case law is supposedly expressing customary law
International Law – What is it? Where is it in relation to national law? Some countries see it as separate, others as subordinate, others as superior to national law.
Treaties = Conventions (Abkommen, Verträge)
– not directly effective (Unmittelbare Anwendbarkeit)
Customary Law = Gewohnheitsrecht
– directly effective
Separation of Powers – Gewaltenteilung
*Executive
*Legislative
Corporations and Human Rights
How to Read a Balance Sheet (The Non-Boring Version)
Understanding Annual Reports
Common Valuation Ratios | P/E Ratio
Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Earnings Ratio | Investopedia
Price–earnings ratio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Debt-to-equity ratio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Return on capital employed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eric Engle, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Market-Based Remedies for International Human Rights Violations? 40 Willamette L. Rev. 103 (2004). Available at: {}shttp://amor.cms.hu-berlin.de/~engleeri40WillametteLRev103.htm
Cite as: Eric Allen Engle, What You Don't Know Can Hurt You: Human Rights, Shareholder Activism, and SEC Reporting Requirements 50 Syr. L.Rev. 63 (2006). Available at: http://amor.cms.hu-berlin.de/~engleeri <b>Citation:</b> Eric Allen Engle, What You Don't Know Can Hurt You: Human Rights, Shareholder Activism and SEC Reporting Requirements, 57 Syracuse L. Rev. 63 (2006). Available at: http://amor.cms.hu-berlin.de/~engleeri57SyracuseLRev63.htm
U.S. Corporate Liability for Torts of (Foreign) Subsidiaries by Eric Engle :: SSRN
Cite as: Eric Engle, Extraterritorial Corporate Criminal Liability: A Remedy for Human Rights Violations? 20 St. John's J. Legal Comment., 287 (2006). Available at: http://lexnet.co.cc/corporations/20StJohn'sJLegalComment287.htm
Eric Engle, I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends. Understanding the UK Anti-Bribery Statute, By Reference to the OECD Convention and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 44 Int'l Law. 1173 (2010). Available at: {}shttp://amor.cms.hu-berlin.de/~engleeri44Int'lLaw1173.htm
Green Taxation and the EU
Eric Allen Engle, Universal Human Rights: A Generational History, 12 Ann. Surv. Int'l & Comp. L. 219 (2006).
A Social-Market Economy for Rapid Sustainable Development by Eric Engle :: SSRN
Beating bribery: Small change | The Economist
WTO Proposes Slavery for Africa | The Yes Me
We will be covering a lot of material in this module and just about all of it is useful.
The “strategic” goal of the module is to understand how the rule of law can be generated through corporate activity. The “tactical” learning objectives are:
I.
How to read a company balance sheet.
Accounting methods (GAAP)
How to objectively value a company (ratio analysis)
II.
Understanding the legal structures of a business
-Capital structure (Debt, Equity)
-Governance Structures
–Boards of directors
–Shareholder’s meetings
III. Corporate Governance
A. Soft governance
1. Resolutions
2. “Soft Law”
3. Human rights
4. Corporate Compliance
B. Hard Governance
1. Tort law
2. Criminal law (economic crimes)
3. Taxation
https://www.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programs/en/
http://www.e-fellows.net/KARRIEREWISSEN/Job-Skills/Business-Englisch/Trainiere-dein-Hoerverstehen
http://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/News/news/Exposed-Illegal-Fishing-in-West-African-Seas/
NFORMATION
These videos are optional material you may find useful/fun.
HOW TO BRIEF CASES
Rememeber, in case briefing we are looking for the facts, the rule.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feucSsK_L50
This is good because he points out the link between briefing the case and the IRAC formula.
This is also about case briefing , it might be easier to follow since it is also in writing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH1XkaFD2C0&NR=1
I sent this IRAC link in the mail earlier, I think it’s good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6KOsHYiL3k&NR=1
This isn’t the IRAC link I sent earlier but is also good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtLV_0HRLB4
This one is good: NO CONCLUSORY REASONING show me the Reasons not just the Outcome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An-1xWBRLmM&NR=1
IRAC — I dont think this is good but you might disagree.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfcUay1xx2U&feature=related
this site^ has 2 others on irac http://www.youtube.com/user/JonesCollegeJAX
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvuiFoO3Ulc
Corporation – This one is definitely relevant for my corporation course.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY2EhEYbk1U&feature=related
Affidavit – YouTube – This one is generally relevant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT4DrWTYQD0&NR=1
Reading Cases Guide – YouTube — It’s ok, but only that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlvGCAkM3XQ&NR=1
Legal Writing Skills Module 3: WRITING AND REFERENCING – It’s ok, but only that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXHx5xcB6C4&NR=1
pols424: reading cases – It’s ok, but only that.
http://www.youtube.com/user/LawStudySystems#p/u
Consideration (Contracts) – Not relevant to either of my courses but really well done.
The world legal information institute http://www.worldlii.org/ has links to free online law from a variety of jurisdictions.
As of yet there is no E.U. or German L.I.I.
Legal Citation style: once you find the law you need to reference it for your reader. This link
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BwMRRQXBqVxjNWY1ZDk3YjUtOWE3MC00YzliLTg1NTAtODk5M2M0MzU4YTdm&hl=en_US
contains documents which indicate English, E.U., French, and German legal citation formats.
This link http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/ gives you the format for U.S. legal citation.
http://www.state.gov/vsfs/243849.htm
Journalists! Master Studiengang in Bonn (DW)
http://www.dw.de/dw-akademie/application/s-12278
Diplomats! Training for International Diplomats
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/AusbildungKarriere/InternationDiplAusbildung/Uebersicht_node.html
U.N. Internships:
http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/sds/internsh/
EU Internships:
http://ec.europa.eu/stages/index_en.htm
http://europa.eu/about-eu/working-eu-institutions/traineeships/index_en.htm
http://fra.europa.eu/en/about-fra/recruitment/internship
http://www.euintheus.org/what-you-can-do/work-with-us-internships/
European Court of Human Rights
http://www.coe.int/en/web/jobs/traineeships
Praktika beim Auswärtigen Amt
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/DE/AusbildungKarriere/AA-Taetigkeit/Praktika/Praktika_node.html
Bundestag (Federal Parliament)
http://www.bundestag.de/ppp
U.N. Internships:
http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/sds/internsh/
EU Internships:
http://ec.europa.eu/stages/index_en.htm
http://europa.eu/about-eu/working-eu-institutions/traineeships/index_en.htm
http://fra.europa.eu/en/about-fra/recruitment/internship
http://www.euintheus.org/what-you-can-do/work-with-us-internships/
Links to HR organizations
US Institutes of Peace: http://www.usip.org
State Department
http://exchanges.state.gov
Links to the legal materials you need to figure out human rights (laws, norms, rules, standards, goals)
Conceptual guide: ask yourselves what is the relationship, if any, between morality, law, and justice.
Try to figure out a structure of rules: a typology of rules.
What is the difference between law and politics? A legal right and a political right?
Magna Carta
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Edw1cc1929/25/9/contents
Declaration of Independence
http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1776-1785/the-final-text-of-the-declaration-of-independence-july-4-1776.php
U.S. Constitution
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution
Is the bill of rights binding law?
a) on the federal government?
b) on the states?
c) on private persons?
Declaration of rights of man:
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/rightsof.asp
Are declarations legally binding? Or do the merely set out goals – of law? Of politics?
The UN Right System
Understand that the UN system is meant to help the poorer countries reach the same standards of the richer ones and it is easier to see how it functions.
UDHR
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/unrights.asp
ICCPR
https://treaties.un.org/pages/viewdetails.aspx?chapter=4&src=treaty&mtdsg_no=iv-4&lang=en
ICESCR
http://www.un-documents.net/icescr.htm
CEDAW
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/
CERD
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CERD.aspx
Germany – Fundamental Law (=Constitution)
The German fundamental law was a provisional law (Provisorium) meant as a transition law to be replaced on reunification – but it was well thought out and was not replaced because it worked. Judicial review is now part of German law.
http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/
EU Law
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/collection/eu-law/treaties-force.html?locale=en
European Convention of Human Rights
http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/005.htmhttp://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/005.htm
Civil Rights Act of 1964
http://finduslaw.com/civil-rights-act-1964-cra-title-vii-equal-employment-opportunities-42-us-code-chapter-21
Equality Act
http://www.wired.com/2015/07/apple-equality-act/
Documents which are not laws, but which discuss laws.
http://www.constitution.org/jl/2ndtreat.htm http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/359
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1020464
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1424691
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2344333
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2319175
https://www.amnesty.org/en/who-we-are/
http://www.banktrack.org/
https://www.hrw.org/
http://www.osce.org/
http://www.dw.com/en/quadriga-refugees-welcome-in-germany-2015-07-30/e-18573092-9798