The UCLA Journal of International Law & Foreign Affairs is pleased to present Volume Twenty-Five, Issue Two. The pieces contained in this issue provide insight into a range of timely issues. The result is a unique and novel contribution to the international, foreign, and comparative law literature. Available in print or online at HeinOnline, eScholarship, Westlaw, or LexisNexis.
Historicizing Anthropomorphic Rationalizations as System Justification Practices in International Law: A Critical Account of Vitoria’s Jus Gentium Kumi Naidoo, by Oliver Mawuse Barker-Vormawor. 25 UCLA J. Int’l L. & Foreign Aff. 1.
Oliver Mawuse Barker-Vormawor provides a historical account of how international law scholarship came to rely upon the presumption that States are rational actors by examining the legacy of early theorist Francisco de Vitoria. He reasons that Vitoria’s reliance on reason was central to his account of jus gentium and that this reliance has led to system justification practices. He proposes that the designation of human attributes to State actors has contributed to a disconnect between the scholarship and reality of international law and governance
Hacked and Leaked: Legal Issues Arising from the Use of Unlawfully Obtained Digital Evidence in International Criminal Cases, by Lindsay Freeman 25 UCLA J. Int’l L. & Foreign Aff. 45.
Lindsay Freeman considers the challenges to admitting information that has become publicly available as a result of hacking or leaking into evidence in international criminal cases. For instance, she examines the leaked Iraq and Afghan war logs, National Security Agency files, and the Panama Papers. She analyzes the relevant rules of evidence of the International Criminal Court and examines applicable evidentiary challenges and precedent. She highlights the tension between admitting such evidence in order to prosecute disclosed international crimes while not rewarding the unlawful means of acquisition.
From USHKPA to HKHRDA and HKAA: The Turnings of U.S.-China Policy and the End of Hong Kong’s Full Autonomy, by Mao-wei Lo and Chien-Huei Wu. 25 UCLA J. Int’l L. & Foreign Aff. 93.
Mao-wei Lo and Chien-Huei Wu examine the decline of Hong Kong’s autonomy and the evolution of the United States’ policy toward Hong Kong—from the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 to the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 and the Hong Kong Autonomy Act of 2020. They argue that U.S. sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials and the revocation of preferential treatment are legal in the context of public international law and international trade law. They also explore whether Hong Kong risks losing its special customs territory status and thus its membership in the World Trade Organization.
Expanding the Gender of Genocidal Sexual Violence: Towards the Inclusion of Men, Transgender Women, and People outside the Binary, by David Eichert. 25 UCLA J. Int’l L. & Foreign Aff. 157.
David Eichert’s Comment argues that international law on genocidal sexual violence should include men, transgender women, and intersex/nonbinary/third-gender individuals. He discusses how international lawyers and academics have concentrated on cisgender women and provides examples of how violence against individuals of all genders can and should qualify as genocide under the Genocide Convention. He advocates that international courts should move toward a more expansive view of gender when investigating genocidal forms of sexual violence.
Available in print or online at HeinOnline, eScholarship, Westlaw, or LexisNexis.
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