transnational law

Georgia Law Professor Thomas Kadri reflects on experience as a fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy

Thomas E. Kadri, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Georgia School of Law, recently spent several weeks as a fellow at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy. His experience abroad was made possible by a Sarah H. Moss Fellowship, which “provide[s] funds for travel and related expenses for tenure-track faculty of the University of Georgia (Athens) pursuing advanced scholarship, research, and study in institutions of higher learning abroad and in the United States.” Kadri also received financial support from the Dean Rusk International Law Center as a Rusk Scholar-in-Residence, which promotes international opportunities for Georgia Law faculty that advance the mission of the Center.

In his guest post below, Kadri reflects on his time abroad, which he calls “a tremendous professional and personal experience that enriched [his] scholarly research, broadened [his] comparative understanding of legal education and academic culture, and helped [him] build meaningful relationships with scholars from across Europe and beyond.”

Intellectual Engagement: Thinking Infrastructurally

One of the most formative aspects of my fellowship was my participation in a seminar series titled Thinking Infrastructurally, organized by Professor Thomas Streinz. This series, which brought together researchers working across disciplines, focused on how legal scholars might better engage with insights from infrastructure studies. The seminar explored fundamental conceptual questions—how infrastructures differ from platforms, systems, or networks; how infrastructures are regulated and how they might themselves serve as regulatory tools; and how legal scholars can incorporate infrastructural thinking into normative, doctrinal, and empirical work.

Each of the three sessions I attended provided new perspectives and provocations that will shape my future research. The first session emphasized methodology, asking how legal academics might attend to “relations, processes, and imaginations” across technical, organizational, and social dimensions. The second session turned to digital infrastructures, grappling with questions such as: What is gained by viewing platforms as infrastructures—or infrastructures as platforms? What kinds of regulatory possibilities emerge when code is conceptualized as an architectural or infrastructural force? These questions dovetail with my own interests in digital platforms and online speech governance. The final session featured doctoral students presenting posters based on their projects, offering a chance to reflect on visual, material, and speculative methods for representing infrastructures and their effects.

These sessions were intellectually generative and expanded my scholarly toolkit in unexpected ways. I have long studied the regulation of online platforms, but the seminar invited me to reframe these inquiries through an infrastructural lens. This framing has already begun to shape my current writing on the regulation of deepfakes and may form the basis of future scholarly collaborations.

Workshop Participation and Interdisciplinary Dialogue

In addition to the seminar series, I participated in a workshop titled Entangled Concerns, Uncertain Futures: Law and Politics in the Making of Infrastructures, which brought together scholars and artists to discuss the construction and contestation of infrastructures. This experience was inspiring for my own work on deepfake harms and regulatory responses, helping me situate these concerns within the broader question of how legal systems should respond to emerging technologies whose boundaries and risks are often unstable. The workshop featured excellent presentations, including a memorable artifact-based presentation by the Indonesian artist Elia Nurvista, whose piece Long Hanging Fruits: Myth and Matter on Palm Oil Complex invited participants to think materially and historically about infrastructures of extraction and trade.

These discussions reaffirmed the value of interdisciplinarity in legal scholarship and encouraged me to think more creatively about the empirical and theoretical frames I use in my own research. They also exposed me to new voices and methods, enhancing my appreciation of the ways law is entangled with political economy, cultural meaning, and technological development.

Contributing to the Scholarly Community: Mentorship and Outreach

While at the EUI, I was also pleased to contribute to the intellectual life of the doctoral program by organizing and hosting a workshop titled How to Publish in U.S. Law Reviews. This session was aimed at EUI’s graduate students and demystified the odd publication process that defines American legal scholarship. The workshop served not only as a chance to offer mentorship but also to reflect on the institutional and cultural differences between U.S. and European approaches to legal scholarship. It deepened my appreciation for the rich diversity of scholarly styles across jurisdictions and highlighted the structural barriers that non-U.S. scholars often face when trying to enter the American legal academy. I left the session with a renewed commitment to making space for more international voices in U.S. legal publications and a network of aspiring scholars whose work I hope to support going forward.

Advancing Research and Building Collaborations

The EUI fellowship provided the intellectual space and community support that allowed me to make significant progress on my writing. While in residence, I began working on a forthcoming article coauthored with University of Georgia School of Law Professor Sonja West titled Deepfake Torts: Emerging Tort Frameworks in U.S. Deepfake Regulation. The piece, which will appear later this year in the peer-reviewed Journal of Tort Law, explores how various tort doctrines are being adapted to address the novel harms posed by synthetic media. Although the article is grounded in U.S. law, many of the insights I developed during my time at EUI—particularly those drawn from discussions about infrastructure and transnational platform governance—shaped how I framed the legal challenges at stake.

I also held multiple one-on-one meetings with Professor Thomas Streinz, a fellow legal scholar based at EUI who shares my interest in platform regulation, data governance, and comparative digital policy. These conversations were productive and inspiring. In addition, I had the pleasure of meeting repeatedly with Adi Mansour, a Palestinian LL.M. student whose work on censorship and surveillance by state and corporate actors in Palestine and Israel offered sobering insights into how infrastructure—both digital and political—can become a tool of domination and control.

Broader Benefits and Institutional Impact

Beyond these specific accomplishments, the fellowship helped me develop a more global perspective on legal education, research, and academic culture. Engaging with European scholars—many of whom approach legal questions from sociolegal or historical perspectives less common in the United States—challenged some of my assumptions and introduced me to new bodies of literature. I gained a clearer sense of how European doctoral training operates, how interdisciplinary work is structured, and how faculty balance research with mentorship in different institutional settings. These insights will inform my own mentorship of students and contribute to ongoing conversations within my home institution about graduate training and international engagement.

The fellowship also strengthened institutional ties between my university and EUI. I encouraged several doctoral students to consider applying for visiting opportunities in the United States and hope to maintain long-term scholarly relationships with several of the colleagues I met. In this way, the benefits of the fellowship extend beyond my own development and offer pathways for future collaboration and exchange.

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For more information about the Rusk Scholar-in-Residence initiative, please email Sarah Quinn, Director, Dean Rusk International Law Center: squinn@uga.edu

Georgia Law Professor Christopher Bruner publishes chapter on corporate risk and sustainability

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Christopher Bruner published “Business Risk, Capital Markets, and Sustainable Companies” in The Prism of Sustainability: Multidisciplinary Profiles (Editoriale Scientifica, 2025). Edited by Alessio Bartolacelli, Associate Professor of Business Law at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, the volume brings together perspectives on sustainability from a variety of academic fields. 

Bruner’s chapter builds on ideas he presented in 2023 at a conference hosted by the University of Macerata in Italy.

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.

Georgia Law Professor Desirée LeClercq participates in UC Berkeley Law webinar on gender-based violence in the maritime industry

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Desirée LeClercq served as a panelist in the virtual discussion “Inequalities and Violence at Sea.” This panel, moderated by Furaha Joy Sekai Saungweme and Costanza Hermanin, was part of a webinar series hosted by the Gender Justice and Harassment Working Group of UC Berkeley Law’s Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law. The series was launched in recognition of the International Day for Women in Maritime, an annual observance on May 18 that highlights the contributions of women across the maritime industry.

LeClercq discussed her recent article, “Gender-Based Violence and Harassment at Sea”, which examines the Maritime Labour Convention (2006). She was joined by panelist Tim Springett, Policy Director of the United Kingdom Chamber of Shipping, as they explored the gendered dimensions of labor, safety, and inclusion in the maritime sector.

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. This semester, LeClercq is overseeing the International Law Colloquium, a for-credit course designed to introduce students to international economic law through engagement with scholars in the international legal field. 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 Diane Marie Amann presents “Child-Taking Justice and Forced Residential Schooling of Indigenous Americans” at American Society of International Law workshop

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Diane Marie Amann recently gave an online lecture entitled “Justice for Child-Taking and Other Crimes against and affecting Children” as part of “International Criminal Law, Conflict Resolution and Transitional Justice,” the week-long 24th Specialization Course in International Criminal Law for Young Penalists, held in Sicily, at the Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights, Italy.

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. Her Siracusa lecture drew upon her expertise on children, violence, conflict, and justice. Her most recent publication in this field is “Child-Taking,” 45 Michigan Journal of International Law 305 (2024); all her related publications are available here.

Georgia Law Professor Assaf Harpaz presents at the 2025 Law and Society Association Annual Meeting

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Assaf Harpaz  presented his paper, Artificial Intelligence and Taxpayer Entity, at the 2025 Law and Society Association Annual Meeting in May. This presentation was part of the Global Taxation and Policy panel. Harpaz also chaired the conference’s panel on Local Governments and Tax Benefits.

Below is an abstract of the paper:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the world and presents numerous challenges to legal and regulatory frameworks. The evolving, complex yet still ambiguous concept demands rethinking longstanding doctrines at risk of obsoleteness. These tensions are highlighted in federal income taxation, which generally compartmentalizes taxpayers into individuals and business entities. Technological developments such as generative AI upend these conceptions given their capacity to create value and operate autonomously, interacting with the economy in ways that combine human and non-human attributes.

Under current U.S. law, even the most advanced AI models are not directly subject to the income tax regime, as they are neither individuals nor separate business entities. AI is poised to dramatically reshape the tax base by altering both the sources of income (from humans to robots) and the type of income (from labor to capital) that is subject to tax.

This article examines the intersections and frictions between AI models and federal income tax policy. It focuses on questions of taxpayer entity and ownership that arise from the widespread use of AI. The article argues that the unique and non-binary characteristics of AI challenge the principles of personhood, income, and asset character, at the foundation of the income tax system. The extent of disruption will depend on the degree to which AI displaces human labor and achieves sentience.

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 Professor Diane Marie Amann publishes on woman acquitted at Nuremberg

“Inge Viermetz, Woman Acquitted at Nuremberg,” an essay by University of Georgia School of Law Professor Diane Marie Amann, has just been published at 19 FIU Law Review 487 (2025).

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.

Her article appears in a special issue commemorating a 2024 symposium, “Perspectives on the International Criminal Court and International Criminal Law and Procedure: A Symposium in Memory of Megan Fairlie,”  at Miami’s Florida International University College of Law. An international criminal law expert, Dr. Fairlie had taught there from 2007 – the same year she earned her Ph.D. in International Human Rights Law from the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland-Galway – until her death in December 2022.

Here’s the abstract for Professor Amann’s article:

“Conventional narratives tend to represent the post-World War II international criminal proceedings as a men’s project, thus obscuring the many women who participated, as lawyers, journalists, analysts, interpreters, witnesses, and defendants. Indeed, two women stood trial before Nuremberg Military Tribunals. This article examines the case of the only woman found not-guilty: Inge Viermetz, who had been an administrator at Lebensborn, the Nazi SS adoption and placement agency. The article outlines the prosecution’s child-taking case against Viermetz, as well as her successful gendered self-portrayal as a conventionally feminine caregiver. With references to Professor Megan A. Fairlie, at whose memorial symposium it was presented, the article concludes by considering contemporary implications of this acquittal at Nuremberg.”

Georgia Law Foreign and International Law Librarian Anne Burnett wins award

University of Georgia School of Law’s Foreign and International Law Librarian Anne Burnett received the 2025 Daniel L. Wade Outstanding Service Award from the American Association of Law Libraries Foreign, Comparative and International Law Special Interest Section. Established in 2006, the Award honors an FCIL-SIS (“the Section”) member who has made outstanding contributions to the Section in the areas of section activity and professional service.

Burnett has been the foreign and international law librarian at the University of Georgia School of Law Alexander Campbell King Law Library since 1996. Burnett serves as the primary provider of reference services for the international, foreign and comparative law collections and is a member of the library’s research team. Burnett also teaches courses in international legal research, advanced legal research and the LL.M. Legal System of the United States course.

Burnett’s previous law library experience includes the Legislative Reference Library in Austin, TX, and the Young Law Library at the University of Arkansas School of Law. Her other professional legal experience includes working as deputy legislative counsel at the Legislative Counsel Bureau for the Nevada Legislature in Carson City, NV. She also worked as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Deborah A. Agosti, Second Judicial District Court, State of Nevada. Burnett is a member of the state bars of California and Nevada. She is active in the American Association of Law Libraries, the International Federation of Library Associations and the American Society of International Law.

Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law publishes Issue 1 of 53rd Volume

The University of Georgia School of Law’s Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law (GJICL) is pleased to announce the publication of Issue 1 of its 53rd Volume. 

This issue features three Articles that engage with pressing global legal developments. These include:

Four student Notes were also published on a range of timely topics, including:

The GJICL is a preeminent forum for academic discussion on current international subjects. From its inception in 1970 as a student initiative supported by former U.S. Secretary of State and Georgia Law Professor Dean Rusk, GJICL features work by legal scholars and practitioners as well as student notes written by students on GJICL’s editorial board.

Georgia Law student Haichen Zhao (J.D. ’27) selected as 2025 ABILA Student Ambassador

University of Georgia School of Law student Haichen Zhao (J.D. ’27) was selected by the American Branch of the International Law Association (“ABILA”) to be a 2025 Student Ambassador. She is one of eight Ambassadors selected nationwide to assist with the work of the organization, especially in the preparation of the International Law Weekend 2025 conference.

In response to her selection as a Student Ambassador, Zhao reflected:

Being selected as a Student Ambassador for ABILA is a tremendous honor. With legal education spanning China and the United States, I am passionate about cross-cultural exchange and international collaboration in law. This role provides a unique opportunity to engage more deeply with the global legal community and support the work of ABILA. I look forward to contributing to the development of International Law Weekend, deepening my knowledge of international law, and helping other students discover the diverse academic and professional opportunities available in this field.

Zhao is the third Georgia Law student in the last three years to be selected as an ABILA Student Ambassador. In the past two years, Madison Graham (J.D. ’25) and Bohdan Krivuts (LL.M. 24, J.D. ’26) have served in this role.

Georgia Law Professor Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge presents keynote at annual AtlAS Lecture

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge presented “Perpetual Peace Reconsidered: Arbitration and International Law in the 21st Century” as the keynote speaker at the 10th Annual Atlanta International Arbitration Society Lecture earlier this month. In his lecture, Rutledge considered the use of arbitration and alternative dispute resolution to resolve cross-border conflicts in the 21st century.

Rutledge holds the Talmadge Chair of Law. From 2015 through 2024, he served as dean of the University of Georgia School of Law. He is the author of the book Arbitration and the Constitution and co-author with Gary Born of the book International Civil Litigation in United States Courts. His works have been published by the Yale University Press, the Oxford University Press and the Cambridge University Press, and his articles have appeared in a diverse array of journals such as The University of Chicago Law Review, the Vanderbilt Law Review and the Journal of International Arbitration. He also regularly advises parties on matters of international dispute resolution (litigation and arbitration).