ch 2 international business law and its environment

Primary source of international law

1 international treaties and conventions 2 international custom-general practices and accepted laws 3. general principles of law recognized by civilized nations

The UN conventions against corruption

165 contracting parties including u.s calls for: 1. criminalize the offering or given of a bribe or undue advantage to a public official including a foreign official to influence his or her official act to obtain business 2. criminalize money laundry 3. improve enforcement by changing national bank secrecy laws so that the illicit proceeds of crimes can be tracked, identified, and seized 4. establish corporate criminal liability for legal entitites

jurisdiction of ICJ

Covers legal disputes between Member States concerning international law, and providing advisory opinions to the Org of the UN and Specialized Agencies

Lesson of Ventress v. Japan Airlines

Decision: judgement reversed for plaintiffs. Although the FCN-friendship, commerce, and navigation treaty. Self executing in U.S. gives preference to hiring Japanese citizens as executives, professional staff and technical experts 'OF THEIR CHOICE' it does not give them blanket immunity from state and federal employment laws.

sharia

Islamic law; a combination of the Quran and the sunna

Adam Smith

Scottish economist who wrote the Wealth of Nations a precursor to modern Capitalism. and " theory of moral sentiments" implies strong institutions and regulations. concerned with the fact that large multi nationals are as much political actors as thy are economic actors. There are more limits to globalization general rule of morality are socially embedded.

civil law

_____ judges do not render opinions that make new law in the form of binding precedent

common law

____are more skilled in using case precedent to develop legal arguments for their clients

customary international law

a body of commonly accepted rules of conduct, or international norms, that have arisen out of consistent and long-standing practice, and that nations have followed out of a sense of binding obligation

Hugo Groitus

a diplomat and lawyer for the Dutch East India Company Wrote law of war and peace brought together various schools of though on the nature of law and international obligations contrary to his day of thinking, believed that laws arose by common agreement, by consensus and by accepted practice of nations

restatement(second) of the conflict of laws

addresses different types of actions including actions for breach of contract for tort

protective jurisdiction

allows jurisdiction over non citizens for acts committed abroad on the basis of a country need to protect its national security, vital economic interests, and gov functions

protocol

an agreement that modifies or adds to a treaty or convention, or that deals with matters less significant than treaties

Vienna conventoins

became effective in 1980 with half of the countries of the world codified many of the customary rules covers issues as when treaties enter into force, how they are interpreted or amended and the rights and duties of contracting parties u.s did not ratify by courts still apply its provisions as customary law

Lesson in Paquette Habana case

customary international law: an ancient usage among civilized nations states coast fishing vessels are exempt from captures as prize of war

lex mercatoria or law merchant

customs became known as ___ were enforced by merchants themselves pg 88

David Ricardo

developed the classical theory of comparative advantage in 1817 to explain why countries engage in international trade even when one country's workers are more efficient at producing every single good than workers in other countries.

civil law

includes most of eastern and Western Europe most common meaning: laws affecting private rights and remedies, such a contract law, family, inheritance or tort law derived from ancient roman law

congressional executive agreements

international agreements between the president, representing the u.s and foreign country, negotiated and concluded by the president and voted into law by a simple majority vote of both the senate and house of rep

abrogation

is an act of national legislature that renders a treaty null and void in that nation

self-executing treaty (direct effect in Europe)

is one that automatically creates rights that are enforceable in the courts of the country, without any further legislative action. Treaty is immediately binding on courts, gov, and individuals e.g montreal convention for the unification of certain rules for airlines and airline passengers for personal injuries for damage to baggage or cargo on international flights

Sosa v. Alvarez case

judgement reversed for Sosa the agent. Alvarez's arrest did not violate any norm of customary international law that would permit an action for damages under ATS "principally ancient to whole states or nations and not individuals seeking relief in court"

treaty

legally binding agreement between two or more nations that is recognized and given effect under international law

convention

legally binding multilateral treaty on matters of common concern. usually negotiated on a regional or global basis and open to adoption by many nations

Source of international law

most frequently cited authority: STATUTE OF INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE - judicial arm of United Nations Sets primary and secondary sources of international law

signatories

nations that express their willingness to join a treaty

non-self-executing treaty

one without direct effect, requires some additional legislative act before it becomes enforceable in national courts

most important principles of treaty law

pacta sunt servanda. "pact must be respected" must be performed by good faith

Universal Jurisdiction

permits any country to prosecute perpetrators of the most heinous and universally condemned crimes regardless of where the crimes occurred or the nationality of the perpetrators or victims

Two Broad classifications of international law

public and private

Two Brough classifications of international law

public and private

guiding principles for business on human rights

published by UN office of high commissioner for human rights not legally binding doc, but reflects the thinking about human rights and business Article 23

Secondary sources

records that explain or interpret primary sources e.g restatement of foreign relations law published by American law institute is considered a secondary source of customary law UN General Assembly also a non binding secondary source

Private International law

refer to rules that govern individuals, corporations, and private parties in their cost border or international activities, and procedural rules for how courts resolve private international disputes. e.g. family law, international adoptions wills and decedent's estates, business transactions

Territoriality

refers to a nations jurisdiction over all persons, places, property within the territory

Conflict of law rules:

refers to the rules by which courts determine which jurisdiction's laws apply to a case and how to reconcile differences between laws.

New York convention

requires that an arbitral award made in one country be honored and enforced by the courts of another country where both countries are parties to the convention

case law

researching ___ is far more difficult in common law

Public International Law

rules that apply to the conduct of nations in their relationship with each other and individuals as citizens or residents. rules governing intergovernmental organizations such as United Nations or the international Court of Justice ICJ e.g. rules over territory/boundary disputes, diplomacy or war, determining nationality. how to treat foreigners

ratification

the formal agreement of a signatory nation to be bound by treaty

Extraterritoriality

the principle that a nation can project its laws-its jurisdiction- beyond its territorial borders jurisdiction is based on 5 principles: territoriality, nationality, protective principle, passive personality and universality

contracting parties

those countries that have been ratified

bilateral treaty or Multilateral treat

treaty between 2 or treaty between 3 or more countrires respectively

nationality

under the principle of ____ jurisdiction, individuals and corporate citizens owe duties to comply with the laws of their countries of nationality no matter where they are in the world

common law

where reasoned decisions of judges become the law of the case a legal precendee that binds judges in deciding similar cases in the future. this is expressed in the common law doctrine of state decisis