Issues of Justice: An Introduction to Law

Gibney, Mark

Legal Theory & Systems

Pearson College Div

The central question taken up by this essay collection is the degree to which judges have―or have not―served as protectors of human rights. Although the judiciary is nominally a part of the governing structure, it is also nearly always the case that it stands apart from the political actors who make and carry out policy. Thus, Gibney and Frankowski contend, judges have not designed or carried out the myriad human rights violations that are so common in the world today.
The key question asked in this volume is to what extent have courts merely abided by egregious practices, or perhaps have even lent a cover of legitimation―or conversely, the degree to which courts have purposely attempted to bring about some change in stemming governmental abuses. No single volume could cover every country experiencing gross levels of human rights abuses. The effort here has been to provide a cross section of judicial systems throughout the world, and to focus on judicial systems that have become involved in addressing human rights issues.

Judicial Protection of Human Rights: Myth or Reality?

Frankowski, Stanislaw

Ethics & Professional Responsibility

Praeger

The immigration problem, which has been debated in the United States for over a century, is not likely to go away--least of all with the numbers of refugees and displaced and impoverished workers continuing to mount worldwide. The current bitterness and legislative stalemate over immigration policy are indications that new approaches to the issue need to be found. Removing himself from the specifics of the current congressional debate, Mark Gibney asks whether we are addressing the right questions and employing the correct criteria under our present admission practices. From a political-philosophical standpoint, the author looks at the fundamental social and moral questions that should be at the basis of any immigration policy: how do we distinguish between members and strangers, and do some strangers have more compelling claims than others for admission to this country?

Strangers or Friends: Principles for a New Alien Admission Policy (Contributions in Political Science)

Education & Teaching

Schools & Teaching

Immigration and refugee policies have traditionally been based on two assumptions: first, that national sovereignty implies absolute control of a country's borders and, second, that outsiders are to be admitted only when it serves the national interest. Moral or ethical concerns have not played a central role in policy formation anywhere in the world. This collection of essays challenges the traditional politically oriented position, analyzes the moral issues involved, and develops models for morally responsible immigration and refugee policies in a contemporary political setting. The editor's introduction reviews the history of U.S. immigration policy and provides a framework for considering immigration control issues. Written by leading authorities on immigration and refugee policy, this provocative volume offers an honest, sensitive exploration of some of the most difficult questions facing contemporary society. It will be of interest for studies in ethics, human rights, public policy, and political economy, as well as to general readers concerned with immigration and refugee issues.

Open Borders? Closed Societies?: The Ethical and Political Issues (Contributions in Political Science)

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

World Justice?: U.S. Courts And International Human Rights

Rules & Procedures

Routledge

The Politics of Human Rights: The Quest for Dignity

Human rights is an important issue in contemporary politics, and the last few decades have also seen a remarkable increase in research and teaching on the subject. This book introduces students to the study of human rights and aims to build on their interest while simultaneously offering an alternative vision of the subject. Many texts focus on the theoretical and legal issues surrounding human rights. This book adopts a substantially different approach which uses empirical data derived from research on human rights by political scientists to illustrate the occurrence of different types of human rights violations across the world. The authors devote attention to rights as well as to responsibilities, neither of which stops at one country's political borders. They also explore how to deal with repression and the aftermath of human rights violations, making students aware of the prospects for and realities of progress.

Carey, Sabine C.

Poe, Steven C.

Politics & Government

Cambridge University Press

Constitutional Law

Five Uneasy Pieces: American Ethics in a Globalized World

Americans pride themselves on being an ethical people. They go to church, quote the Bible, erect statues, and discuss morality with abandon. They also trust their government to do the right thing when it comes to delivering legal justice and conducting foreign policy. Trouble is, American foreign policy has yielded some pretty spectacular ethical lapses, and (as 9/11 starkly demonstrated) the world is beginning to notice. Here, Mark Gibney lays out some of the most egregious insults the U.S. has visited upon international law, economic justice, and human rights in recent times. He covers everything from multinational corporations, the first Persian Gulf war, and Guantanamo Bay to American refugee policy, foreign aid, and global environmental degradation. Through all these examples, he exposes the discrepancy between the guise of ethical policy motivation and the reality of situational international ethics--or worse. He shows us how we practice "easy ethics" in an uneasy world, and how it is beginning to catch up with us. Part I concludes with a gallop through the alphabet of countries where the U.S. has engaged in nefarious legal behavior and supported brutal dictatorships--everywhere from Argentina to Zaire. Part II offers a cautious "coda of hope" in exploring recent trends toward public political apology and forgiveness, new U.S. policies toward AIDS in Africa, and renewed civic commitment flowing out of the tragedy of 9/11. Only when the exercise of American ethics becomes as muscular as our use of military force will the United States become the ethical superpower it projects itself to be. And only then will the concert of nations join us in the harmonization of global governance.

Philosophy

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

This clear and compelling book challenges the reader to rethink the entire basis for human rights, providing a vastly different vision of a way forward out of our current quagmire. Mark Gibney persuasively advocates for a much broader reading of the law on state responsibility, arguing that current law misses most of the ways in which states fail to protect human rights. He also challenges the notion adopted by all states that human rights obligations extend no farther than their own territorial borders by critiquing cases from the U.S. Supreme Court, the International Court of Justice, and the European Court of Human Rights. Finally, the author takes up the issue of human rights enforcement. Under the current system, the state that carries out human rights violations is expected to enforce this law against itself! Decades of sweeping human rights violations have shown that this system of protection simply cannot work. Calling for other measures to provide victims the 'effective remedy' that international human rights law promises, Gibney sets forth a series of practical steps that would profoundly change the nature of human rights protection.

International Human Rights Law: Returning to Universal Principles (Latin American Silhouettes)

Foreign & International Law

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