Month: February 2025

Schulich School of Law professor Olabisi D. Akinkugbe presents working paper at Georgia Law’s International Law Colloquium

The University of Georgia School of Law’s spring 2025 International Law Colloquium welcomed Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University Professor Olabisi D. Akinkugbe, who presented his working paper, “Trade and Development in an Era of Geopolitics: A Third  World  View.” Tim Samples, Associate Professor of Legal Studies in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, served as Akinkugbe’s faculty discussant.

Akinkugbe is the Purdy Crawford Chair in Business Law and Associate Professor at the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University. His research covers several topics on issues in and at the intersection of public international law, international economic law, human rights, law and development, international courts, and regional economic integration in Africa. He explores these issues from the national, regional, and international contexts. Akinkugbe’s research draws on critical traditions such as Socio-legal approaches to law, Post-colonialism, and Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) among others.

Below is an abstract of the working paper Akinkugbe presented:

This chapter examines the relationship between trade and development. Centering the heterogeneity of developing states within the World Trade Organization (WTO), the chapter briefly analyses some of the trade law interests that are most important to these different types of developing countries. It then turns to the question: how has international trade law accommodated the needs of different types of developing countries through special and differential treatment? The Chapter contends that the structure of the rules of the global economic order and the WTO in relation to trade were developed and are being implemented in the shadow of a fiercely contested geopolitical and power struggle. Despite the flexibilities in the WTO, developing and small island developing states’ trade interests are significantly marginalized in their implementation. Given the rise of conflicts in geopolitics and trade interests within the power WTO Member States, the Chapter contends that without fundamentally centering and reimagining the inequities in our international trade regime, mere “window dressing” or adoption of new rules of trade would only further marginalize the trade interests of the developing countries and SIDS in a non-inclusive way.

This year, Professor Desirée LeClercq is overseeing the international law colloquium, which is designed to introduce students to features of international economic law through engagement with scholars in the international legal field. To view the full list of International Law Colloquium speakers, visit our website.

This program is made possible through the Kirbo Trust Endowed Faculty Enhancement Fund and the Talmadge Law Faculty Fund.

Georgia Law Professor Diane Marie Amann presents “Child-Taking Justice and Forced Residential Schooling of Indigenous Americans” at Washington University School of Law

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Diane Marie Amann recently spoke on “Child-Taking Justice and Forced Residential Schooling of Indigenous Americans” at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

Her presentation was part of a spring semester WashU Law International Law Colloquium organized by Professor MJ Durkee, who is the William Gardiner Hammond Professor of Law and Director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute. Durkee joined that faculty in 2023, after serving as an Allen Post Professor, Associate Dean for International Programs, and Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center here at Georgia Law.

The discussant for Amann’s paper was Lecturer Steve Alagna, who is an enrolled citizen of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, and whose WashU Law Appellate Clinic just filed an amicus brief in federal appellate litigation which seeks redress, under the United States’  Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, for survivors of Indigenous children who died and were buried at a former residential school site.

Amann is Regents’ Professor of International Law, Emily & Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law, and a Faculty Co-Director of our Dean Rusk International Law Center here at Georgia Law. The paper she presented at WashU builds upon research that she published as “Child-Taking,” 45 Michigan Journal of International Law 305 (2024).

Georgia Law Professor Assaf Harpaz presents at Columbia Law’s Davis Polk & Wardwell Tax Policy Colloquium

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Assaf Harpaz presented his draft paper “Global Tax Wars in the Digital Era” at Columbia Law School’s Davis Polk & Wardell Tax Policy Colloquium earlier this month.

Below is an abstract of the paper:

The digital economy fundamentally disrupts traditional international tax principles that rely on physical presence. When a business earns income abroad, the country of residence (where the taxpayer resides) and the country of source (where income is generated) both have legitimate, competing claims to tax that income. The international tax system favors residence-based taxation. The source country has the right to tax business profits only if the enterprise carries on a permanent establishment within its borders, which typically requires a physical presence. The permanent establishment standard becomes flawed in a digital economy where profit shifting practices are abundant and businesses no longer need a physical presence in the location of their online consumer markets.

An upcoming United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation recognizes these challenges and is overwhelmingly supported by Global South economies. However, the Global North has historically dominated the international tax regime through the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), informally known as the “World Tax Organization.” A UN framework convention creates potential conflict in international tax policymaking and would need to bridge the underlying North-South divide.

This article explores the “tax wars” surrounding the leadership for global tax governance, contrasting the taxing powers and interests of the OECD-led Global North with those of the UN-backed Global South. It argues for a shift toward source-based taxation by revisiting the permanent establishment standard. To achieve this, the article introduces a significant economic presence doctrine that would expand the permanent establishment criteria to include online businesses. This proposal addresses longstanding inequities and is increasingly warranted in a digital economy that does not depend on physical presence.

Harpaz joined the University of Georgia School of Law as an assistant professor in summer 2024 and teaches classes in federal income tax and business taxation. Harpaz’s scholarly focus lies in international taxation, with an emphasis on the intersection of taxation and digitalization. He explores the tax challenges of the digital economy and the ways to adapt 20th-century tax laws to modern business practices.

Georgia Law hosts third annual International Law Hackathon, led by Professor Jonathan Peters

The University of Georgia School of Law hosted its third annual International Law Hackathon, led by Jonathan Peters, a media law scholar and the head of UGA’s Department of Journalism in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Peters also holds a courtesy faculty appointment in the law school.

The International Law Hackathon is a one-credit course offered for J.D., LL.M, and graduate students participating in the Graduate Certificate in International Law. This year’s Hackathon focused on social media and the implications of privately governing speech in a globally networked society. Over the span of six weeks, students discussed content moderation and free speech principles, as well as the biggest content challenges that platforms are confronting, such as misinformation and disinformation, bullying and harassment, depictions of violence, and sexual exploitation and abuse.

The Hackathon concluded Saturday, February 15th with student presentations on the challenges posed by regulating speech on social media platforms. Then, working in groups, students proposed updates to General Comment No. 34 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) drafted by the United Nations Human Rights Committee. (General Comment No. 34 is an interpretive commentary on the ICCPR provision guaranteeing the freedoms of opinion and expression.) Each group delivered a presentation to a panel of judges outlining the proposed updates and how the changes would impact social media.

This year’s winning team included Zulma Perez (LL.M. ’25) and Brandtley Grace Vickery (J.D. ’25). Their proposal focused on how to reduce the presence of hate speech on YouTube.

The panel of judges included: John B. Meixner, Assistant Professor of Law; Clare R. Norins, Clinical Associate Professor & First Amendment Clinic Director; and Christina Lee, a Legal Fellow in the First Amendment Clinic.

Georgia Law hosts annual Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law conference, “Defending Democracy: A Comparative Perspective”

The annual conference of the University of Georgia School of Law’s Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, entitled “Defending Democracy: A Comparative Perspective,” took place last week.

As posted previously, this event brought together comparative law scholars from across the country to discuss a range of issues involving democracy, democratic backsliding, and comparative constitutional protections of democratic norms and institutions. Discussions included comparative lessons in “militant democracy,” the role of judges in defining or protecting democracy and democratic participation, democratic protections in the American constitutional system and how they differ from other nations, democracy and free speech, and lessons from recent elections around the world. University of Georgia School of Law Professor Lori A. Ringhand, J. Alton Hosch Professor of Law & Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor, worked with GJICL students to conceptualize the conference theme and panels.

The panels from the conference are outlined below:

Panel 1: Democracy and Institutional Legitimacy: Panelists included Richard Albert, Hines H. Baker and Thelma Kelley Baker Chair in Law, University of Texas at Austin School of Law; Zachary Elkins, Professor, University of Texas at Austin; and moderator Taher S. Benany, Associate Director, Dean Rusk International Law Center, University of Georgia School of Law

Panel 2: Democratic Governance and Constitutional Design: Panelists included David E. Landau, Mason Ladd Professor and Associate Dean for International Programs, Florida State University College of Law; David S. Law, E. James Kelly, Jr., Class of 1965 Research Professor of Law, University of Virginia; Miguel Schor, Class of 1977 Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Law, Drake University Law School; and moderator Joseph S. Miller, Ernest P. Rogers Chair of Intellectual Property and Unfair Competition Law, University of Georgia School of Law

Panel 3: Individual Rights and Democratic Participation: Panelists included Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, Professor of Law, Stetson Law; Eugene D. Mazo, Associate Professor of Law, Duquesne University; Atiba Ellis, Laura B. Chisholm Distinguished Research Scholar and Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve School of Law; and moderator Lori A. Ringhand, J. Alton Hosch Professor of Law & Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of Georgia School of Law

Georgia Law Dean Usha R. Rodrigues, University Professor & M.E. Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law, provided introductory remarks for the conference. Jasmine Furin, Editor in Chief, Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, gave a closing address. Professor Desirée LeClercq serves as the journal’s Faculty Adviser.

This event was cosponsored by the Dean Rusk International Law Center.

Georgia Law Professor Christopher Bruner presents at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany

University of Georgia School of Law professor Christopher M. Bruner delivered his presentation “A Political Economy of Corporate Sustainability Reform in the United States” at the Sustainability in Corporate Law Conference at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany.

Bruner is the Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law at the University of Georgia School of Law and serves as a faculty co-director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center. He holds a courtesy appointment at the UGA Terry College of Business. Bruner teaches a range of corporate and transactional subjects, and he has received the School of Law’s C. Ronald Ellington Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Georgetown Law professor Katrin Kuhlmann presents working paper at International Law Colloquium

The University of Georgia School of Law’s spring 2025 International Law Colloquium welcomed Professor Katrin Kuhlmann, who presented her working paper, “Micro International Law.” Greg Day, Associate Professor in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, served as Kuhlmann’s faculty discussant.

Kuhlmann is the Faculty Director and Co-founder of the Center on Inclusive Trade and Development at Georgetown Law. Her scholarly focus lies in international law, development, inclusive and sustainable international trade law, regional trade agreements, agricultural law and food security, comparative economic law, African trade and development law and corridors, and the interdisciplinary connections between law and development.

Below is an abstract of Kuhlmann’s working paper:

International law has long been viewed as the domain of countries and capitals, not fields or factories, but this overly top-down perspective misses a critical and under-studied part of the picture. Underneath the macro level of standardized legal norms, international law is much more nuanced, with multiple sites of influence, production, design, adoption, and decision-making that scholars have largely neglected but which need to be better understood. Models stemming from legal systems in less powerful states, smaller-scale stakeholder interests, and local solutions are often treated as one-off anecdotes or isolated case studies without broader implications.

Capturing these lessons, cataloging them, and building a methodology around them could be transformational at a time when international law needs a refresh to make it more responsive to a new set of global challenges ranging from inequality to food insecurity to climate change.

This paper presents a conceptual and methodological framework for “micro international law” as a sub-field of international law. Adding a micro dimension to international law would bring it in line with other disciplines that recognize the importance of studying smaller-scale, more granular interventions. It would also make a significant contribution to the international legal field by integrating theoretical and empirical approaches to focus on the impact innovations within domestic legal systems and the interests of individuals have on international law (and the impact of international law on these systems and stakeholders), ultimately providing a framework for designing international law differently to equitably address more specialized needs and positively impact the lives of those international law aims to serve and benefit.

This year, Professor Desirée LeClercq is overseeing the colloquium, which is designed to introduce students to features of international economic law through engagement with scholars in the international legal field. To view the full list of International Law Colloquium speakers, visit our website.

This program is made possible through the Kirbo Trust Endowed Faculty Enhancement Fund and the Talmadge Law Faculty Fund.

Georgia Law Professor Desirée LeClercq featured in ACF Report by Johns Hopkins University

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Desirée LeClercq contributed to the annual report published by Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for America, China, and the Future of Global Affairs (ACF) entitled “Getting China Right at Home.” LeClercq authored the article “A Pragmatic Approach to U.S.-China Labor Tensions,” which centers on the importance of the International Labor Organization in improving worker’s rights in China.

Below is an excerpt from the article:

“Tensions with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) concerning its treatment of workers have featured prominently in U.S. trade and diplomatic policies. The new administration must draw lessons from the failure of policies employed to date to entice the PRC to align its labor policies with international legal standards, not least because residual noncompliance in China has impacted domestic interests in the United States. Instead, the International Labor Organization (ILO), as a neutral intermediary, could better engender incremental changes in the treatment of workers.”

LeClercq joined the University of Georgia School of Law in 2024 as an assistant professor. She teaches International Trade and Workers Rights, International Labor Law, International Law and U.S. Labor Law. She also serves as a faculty co-director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center and as the faculty adviser for the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law.

Georgia Law professor Christopher Bruner presents working paper at International Law Colloquium

The University of Georgia School of Law’s spring 2025 International Law Colloquium welcomed Professor Christopher Bruner, who presented his working paper, “Sustainable Corporate Governance and Prospects for a US Value Chain Due Diligence Law.” Joshua Barkan, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Georgia, served as Bruner’s faculty discussant.

Bruner is the Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law at the University of Georgia School of Law and serves as a faculty co-director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center. Bruner’s scholarship centers around corporate law, corporate governance, comparative law and sustainability.

Below is an abstract of Bruner’s working paper:

Laws requiring multinational companies to undertake due diligence to detect, prevent, and mitigate human rights and environmental abuses in their value chains have proliferated across Europe, and the European Union has adopted a directive to harmonise such national laws. This chapter assesses the prospects for enactment of such a value chain due diligence law in the United States.

Although such laws are often conceptualised as an extension of corporate law, they can just as readily be conceptualised as an extension of trade law – and the latter approach offers real potential to sidestep anti-ESG and anti-sustainability sentiment among the US political right. Packaged as a trade initiative, the prospects for bipartisanship improve because the political left and right can each embrace the effort by reference to policy preferences resonating with their respective bases. To the progressive left, such laws raise labour and environmental standards globally, while to the conservative right, such laws protect domestic industry from unfair foreign competition.

The chapter first examines corporate politics in the United States, discussing how fundamental corporate governance debates revolve around thorny ideological issues that strongly polarise the political left and right, diminishing the prospects for a value chain due diligence law conceptualised as an extension of corporate law. It then examines trade politics in the United States, discussing how framing by reference to trade improves the prospects for a US value chain due diligence law by sidestepping such ideological issues and giving both the political left and right plausible ways to view such a law as a victory for their respective bases. The chapter concludes with discussion of trade-offs raised by these differing modes of legal strategy and institutionalisation, observing that the corporate law approach offers broader reach with weaker enforcement while the trade law approach offers narrower reach with stronger enforcement.

This year, Professor Desirée LeClercq is overseeing the colloquium, which is designed to introduce students to features of international economic law through engagement with scholars in the international legal field. To view the full list of International Law Colloquium speakers, visit our website.

This program is made possible through the Kirbo Trust Endowed Faculty Enhancement Fund and the Talmadge Law Faculty Fund.

Georgia Law’s Community HeLP Clinic wins asylum case for long-time client

The University of Georgia School of Law’s Community Health Law Partnership Clinic recently secured asylum for a long-time client.

Under the supervision of Director & Hosch Professor Jason A. Cade and Staff Attorney Kristen Shepherd, Elizabeth M. “Beth” Boland (J.D. ’26) and third-year student Lauren R. Harter (J.D. ’25) represented the client at her most recent hearing in Arlington, Virginia, marking the end of nine years of advocacy. Clinic Paralegal Sarah Ehlers served as interpreter.   

Other students who worked on the case, which included litigation before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, were Carolina Mares (J.D. ’25), Hope Skypek (J.D. ’24), Anna T. Ratterman (J.D. ’24), Ariane C. “Ari” Williams (J.D. ’22), Thomas A. Evans (J.D. ’22) and Frederick King (J.D. ’21).