Georgia Law hosts roundtable discussion for 2024 Mandela Fellows

This month, a group of participants from the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders visited the University of Georgia School of Law for a roundtable discussion as part of their 6-week program at the university. The Fellows met with Christine M. Scartz, Clinical Associate Professor & Jane W. Wilson Family Justice Clinic Director; Joan Prittie (J.D. ’93), Executive Director of Project Safe; and two LL.M. alumnae, including Lydia Lartey (LL.M., ’24), a Court Appointed Special Advocate and former Mandela Fellow.

The 10 Fellows in attendance have work experience in anti-human trafficking, advocacy for women and girls, human rights, and refugee and victim assistance, among other topics. A total of 10 countries were represented in this group: The Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Uganda, and the Ivory Coast.

Scartz, Prittie, and Lartey began the roundtable by discussing their respective backgrounds and work, and then answered the Fellows’ questions. This is the second year that the law school has hosted a group of Fellows.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the flagship program of the U.S. government’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. Since 2014, nearly 4,200 young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa have participated in the Fellowship. Mandela Washington Fellows, between the ages of 25 and 35, are accomplished innovators and leaders in their communities and countries. 

In 2019, UGA became a Fellowship Institute Partner and hosted its first cohort of Fellows on the UGA campus. The Mandela Washington Fellowship is delivered through a collaborative effort between the Office of Global Engagement, the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, and the African Studies Institute at Franklin College.

Georgia Law Professor Cade featured in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

University of Georgia School of Law Associate Dean & Hosch Professor Jason A. Cade was recently featured in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution regarding the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative. The article titled “For migrants in Georgia, fighting deportation will become harder. Here’s why.” was written by Lautaro Grinspan and published 6/26/24. 

As stated in the article:

“Detained immigrants in Georgia tend to be held in remote areas, cut off from society, making it really difficult for them to access representation or have contact with family. [The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative] was essentially the only resource that existed to help them, and they did excellent work,” said Jason Cade, a professor at the University of Georgia School of Law, in a statement.

Jason A. Cade is Associate Dean for Clinical Programs and Experiential Learning, J. Alton Hosch Professor of Law & Community Health Law Partnership Clinic Director. In addition to overseeing the law school’s 11 in-house clinics and 7 externship programs, Cade teaches immigration law courses and directs the school’s Community Health Law Partnership Clinic (Community HeLP), in which law students undertake an interdisciplinary approach to immigrants’ rights through individual client representation, litigation, and project-based advocacy before administrative agencies and federal courts.

Read the full article here. Additional information about the Community HeLP Clinic can be found here.

Georgia Law Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge elected to prestigious Council on Foreign Relations

University of Georgia School of Law Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge was recently elected to the Council on Foreign Relations. The council is an independent, nonpartisan organization and think tank that is composed of the most prominent foreign policy leaders, including top government officials, renowned scholars, business executives, acclaimed journalists, prominent lawyers and distinguished nonprofit professionals.

Founded in 1921, the CFR is dedicated to promoting a better understanding of the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries. To that end, it supports independent research and task forces, and convenes meetings at its headquarters in New York and Washington, D.C., as well as other locations throughout the country. It also publishes Foreign Affairs, one of the preeminent journals of international affairs and U.S. foreign policy.

Rutledge is the second faculty member from the law school to be elected to the Council on Foreign Relations in the last three years. Professor Diane Marie Amann, Regents’ Professor of International Law, Emily & Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law, Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center, was elected to the Council in 2021.

Georgia Law Professor Harpaz presents at UC Davis School of Law

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Assaf Harpaz recently presented his draft paper, “Global Tax Wars and the Shift to Cross-Border Taxation”, at the 2024 National Business Law Scholars Conference, held at the UC Davis School of Law. This is the fifteenth meeting of the NBLSC, an annual conference that draws legal scholars from across the United States and around the world.

Below is an abstract from the draft paper:

International taxation is at a crossroads. In a rapidly evolving digital economy, intergovernmental organizations are battling to shape the cross-border tax agenda. Global North economies have dominated this regime through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which has drawn backlash due to its undemocratic procedure and unfavorable outcomes for developing countries. Meanwhile, the United Nations has occupied a relatively peripheral role in global tax governance. Nonetheless, in 2023, developing countries overwhelmingly supported the establishment of a new Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation within the UN. The unprecedented initiative marks a novel challenge to the Global North’s hegemony in international tax policymaking.

This article conceptualizes the contemporary international tax discourse as “tax wars.” It contrasts the taxing powers and interests of the OECD-led Global North with those of the UN-backed Global South. The article argues for a shift towards source-based taxation, drawing on procedural and distributive justice principles. To do so, the article proposes expanding the permanent establishment standard in model treaty language, creating an opportunity for broader taxation of business profits in the source country. This transition will address longstanding disparities and is increasingly warranted in a digital economy that does not rely on physical presence.

Assaf Harpaz joined University of Georgia School of Law as an assistant professor in summer 2024 and will teach 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 Professor Bruner gives keynote address at Ghent University Law School in Belgium

Christopher M. Bruner, Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center, gave the keynote address for a symposium on “Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD), Sustainability, and Corporate Law” at Ghent University Law School in Belgium during May. Bruner’s keynote was titled “Developments and Debates on Corporate Sustainability in the US,” and the symposium was co-sponsored by the journal European Company Case Law (ECCL).

Georgia Law 3L Madison Graham selected as ABILA Ambassador

University of Georgia School of Law student, rising 3L Madison L. Graham, was selected by the American Branch of the International Law Association to be a 2024 student ambassador. She is one of five ambassadors selected nationwide to assist with the work of the organization, especially in the preparation of the International Law Weekend 2024 conference.

Graham states:

Groups like ABILA have been an integral part of my academic growth, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute as a student ambassador. I hope to use this position to meet other professionals across the field and give back in helping other students better understand the academic and professional opportunities available to them in studying international law

Graham is the second Georgia Law student in the last two years to be selected as an ABILA student ambassador. Last year, LL.M. student Bohdan Krivuts served in this role, detailed in a prior post (here).

Georgia Law Professor Diane Marie Amann quoted on proposed aggression tribunal in Portuguese paper

Professor Diane Marie Amann recently was featured in Expresso, a newspaper based in Lisbon, Portugal, regarding efforts to hold Russian officials accountable for the war in Ukraine.

The May 10 article entitled “Conselho da Europa quer julgar agressão russa num tribunal especial: é desta que Moscovo vai pagar a fatura da guerra?” – in English, “The Council of Europe Wants to Judge Russian Aggression in a Special Court: Is this How Moscow Will Pay the Bill for the War?” – was written by Mara Tribuna.

Reviewing various obstacles to these efforts, Tribuna quoted Amann as follows (in translation):

“One question, obviously, is whether this court will be able to arrest the accused leaders,” acknowledges Diane Marie Amann. Still, she points out, “this is a challenge in all criminal cases, and the magnitude of the challenge should not impede the effort to ensure justice.”

Recalling the March 17, 2023, arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova (about which Amann has written here), Tribuna wrote:

Although neither has been detained – which highlights the challenge that any legal system faces when trying to guarantee justice while the conflict is ongoing – the decision had effects, considers Amann. “It raised public awareness about the criminal allegations and encouraged states and civil society actors to call for the return of children.”

Amann is Regents’ Professor of International Law, Emily & Ernest Chair in International Law, and Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center here at the University of Georgia School of Law. She writes and teaches in areas including transnational and international criminal law, child and human rights, constitutional law, and global legal history.

Georgia Law 2L Aubrey “Ellie” Wilson-Wade attends ASIL Abroad meeting in Switzerland

University of Georgia School of Law student, rising 2L Aubrey “Ellie” Wilson-Wade, recently attended the American Society of International Law (ASIL)’s 2024 ASIL Abroad meeting on June 5-6 at the University of Geneva in Geneva, Switzerland. The two-day conference consisted of dual parallel tracks on Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law (Track 1) and International Dispute Resolution & International Economic Law (Track 2). Georges Abi-Saab (honorary professor at The Geneva Graduate Institute) delivered a keynote speech, with Laurence Boisson de Chazournes (University of Geneva) as discussant. Below, Wilson-Wade reflects on her experience as an attendee of the conference. Georgia Law is an academic partner of ASIL.

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to attend the 2024 ASIL Abroad Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. I was able to attend sessions in both track 1 and track 2, as I have an interest in both tracks’ topics. The most memorable sessions that I attended included “Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Rendered Against States” and “Compensation in International Law.” Additionally, I was able to see a mock arbitration related to growing tensions between investment treaties and environmental protection. These panels taught about investment and trade disputes in international law.

My favorite session was titled “Gender, Sexualized Violence, and Conflict: Incorporating the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda into Global Atrocity Prevention Efforts.” The panelists, including Priya Gopalan, Vanessa Murphy, and Dalila Seoane, were able to share their firsthand knowledge and experience working on issues related to gender-based violence.

Overall, the conference was a once-in-a-lifetime learning experience and every panel had an array of diverse perspectives and ideas. Not only was the substantive portion of the conference great, but I also met so many legal professionals and students during my time in Geneva. In just two days, I was able to connect with students attending law school throughout the United States, as well as from schools in England, Brazil, and Geneva. I was also able to network with legal professionals from all over the world.

As a first-year law student, it was a unique opportunity to learn about intricacies of international law outside of the typical classroom setting from professionals in the field. Additionally, it was a great way to make connections with international lawyers and law students. I would highly recommend any student who wishes to globalize their legal perspective and education to attend this conference.

Georgia Law Professor Bruner presents at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Christopher M. Bruner, Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center, presented his book, The Corporation as Technology: Re-Calibrating Corporate Governance for a Sustainable Future (Oxford University Press 2022) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in June.

Below is a description of the book:

Recent decades have witnessed environmental, social, and economic upheaval, with major corporations contributing to a host of interconnected crises. The Corporation as Technology examines the dynamics of the corporate form and corporate law that incentivize harmful excesses and presents an alternative vision to render corporate activities more sustainable.

The corporate form is commonly described as a set of fixed characteristics that strongly prioritize shareholders’ interests. This book subverts this widely held belief, suggesting that such rigid depictions reinforce harmful corporate pathologies, including excessive risk-taking and lack of regard for environmental and social impacts. Instead, corporations are presented as a dynamic legal technology that policymakers can re-calibrate over time in response to changing landscapes.

This book explores the theoretical and practical ramifications of this alternative vision, focusing on how the corporate form can help secure an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable future.

Center’s Visiting Researcher Mine Turhan reflects on her year at Georgia Law

The Dean Rusk International Law Center Visiting Researcher for 2023-2024, Mine Turhan, Assistant Professor of Administrative Law in the Faculty of Law at the Izmir University of Economics in Türkiye, recently concluded her research year at the University of Georgia School of Law under the supervision of  Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Law David E. Shipley. Below are some of Turhan’s reflections on her research findings regarding administrative procedure and procedural fairness at Georgia Law.

I was a visiting researcher at the University of Georgia School of Law and the Dean Rusk International Law Center for my post-doc research during 2023-2024 academic year.

My research was related to administrative procedure and procedural fairness. The concept of administrative procedure serves a dual purpose within a legal framework. Primarily, it defines and establishes the limits of the authority of administrative agencies by outlining the structured steps and processes they must follow. Simultaneously, administrative procedure prevents arbitrary actions of agencies by ensuring accurate decisions by the proper application of the law to the facts. This dual function promotes transparency, fairness, and accountability in the functions of administrative agencies.

My research focused on the right to be heard in administrative procedure, and administrative hearings during the process of individual measures which would adversely affect the person concerned. I looked specifically at American and European procedural rights in adjudicative proceedings, in particular the right to be heard before administrative agencies. I tried to answer how procedural rights were protected by different administrative procedures in the U.S. and European countries against arbitrary actions of administrative agencies. I also tried to understand the administrative hearing procedures and components of hearings in common law and civil law systems.

Administrative procedure acts have a significant role in protecting the procedural rights. Therefore, I focused on the administrative procedure acts of different countries to find an answer. The U.S. Administrative Procedure Act, dated 1946, was helpful for my research. I have analyzed the court precedents regarding the right to be heard and I also have observed administrative hearings in U.S. to better understand administrative hearing procedures in U.S.

Throughout my time at the Dean Rusk International Law Center, I have been impressed by the dedication of the faculty, scholars, and staff to fostering a dynamic learning environment. The guidance and mentorship I received from Professor David Shipley has been instrumental in shaping my research. His expertise and encouragement have inspired me to push the boundaries of my intellectual curiosity and pursue excellence in my studies. The resources available at the School of Law, including the extensive library collections and research databases, have greatly enriched my research endeavors.

As I reflect on my time at the Dean Rusk International Law Center, I am filled with appreciation for the enriching experiences and lasting connections forged during my research. The skills and insights gained through my research studies will undoubtedly serve me well in my future endeavors, both academically and professionally.

I extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone at the Dean Rusk International Law Center and the University of Georgia School of Law for their support and encouragement. I am proud to have been a part of such an vibrant academic community and look forward to carrying forward the relationships formed as I embark on the next chapter of my journey.