Law and Development
(Undergraduate: IPEC 4396-501)
UG Class # 87140
Murray J Leaf
UT Dallas, Fall 2019
Syllabus last updated 7 Aug 2019
Office: GR 3.128
Office Tel: 2732
Classroom: GR 3.606
email: mjleaf@utdallas.edu
Skype name: murray2508
Time: W 7-9:45
Office Hours: by appointment. I can also stay after class.
It is now widely recognized in professional development circles that development is not primarily an economic matter and cannot be brought about simply by economic policies and actions. It cannot be created simply by the transfer of funds (no one but economists ever believed this anyway.) Nor can it be created simply by introducing new technologies. It is primarily a matter of institution building, and this requires law. But law is a large and complex subject, so we have to ask what law, in what order, and by what means? These questions are the concern of this course.
In part responding to these same historical developments, it is also now well accepted that legal change must be "organic." It must grow out of and fit with local traditions, institutions, and problems. But it must also be integrated with the evolving international regime. This places increasing emphasis on human rights.
This course reviews the legal philosophy behind this concept of organic growth, the issues and organizations it involves, and the steps being taken to implement it at international and national levels.
Since the world situation is changing very rapidly, so can the readings. I also expect to adjust the topics to reflect the interests and backgrounds of those who register.
Course Format:
The course will be conducted seminar style. Each student will give presentations on the readings. The presentations should be professional analyses, in the sense that you should not just repeat what is there but analyze it as a factual argument and criticize it. Imagine that you are in a group of working professionals actually trying to solve a problem that the reading is relevant to. The point of view for criticism should first of all be whether it is (or seems to be) factually correct, and then whether it is liable to be beneficial. Why or why not?
Student learning outcomes.
In addition to the usual aims of all higher education, students should learn four main things:
1. To recognize the continuity between major issues in legal theory (legal philosophy) and social theory, including the difference between democratic and authoritarian legal theory.
2. To identify current issues in five key areas of law related to development: constitution-building, economics, transition from colonialism or authoritarianism to democracy, land reform, human rights, and environmental sustainability.
3. To identify the basic legal concepts of the civil and common law traditions worldwide.
4. To analyze an argument in the current literature on law in relation to development, say where it falls in the established traditions of legal philosophy/social theory, assess whether it is adding anything new or simply repeating old arguments in a new way, and show whether the argument is likely to be helpful in dealing with problems of development.
Grading.
Grading will depend on presentations in class (5%), a midterm (20%), a final (20%), and a substantial paper (55%). The paper should be at least 12 pages. More detail on writing the paper will be in a folder in Box.com. The midterm and final will be take-home. We will agree on the questions in class.
I will send you all links to the Box.com folder when we begin.
Recordings.
I will try to make recordings of each class, but attendance is crucial. A class is a community. When you miss a class, you are not only breaking the continuity for yourself. You are also disrupting it for others. Recordings will be in a folder in Box.com. I will send everyone a link once we start.
There are also recordings from previous times the course was offered. I will leave them up for reference until we come to that topic, then replace them.
Who should consider enrolling.
Upper-level undergraduate UTD students with majors in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences should be sufficiently well prepared to take this course. So should undergraduates with good backgrounds in history, particularly if it includes non-western cultures, and philosophy. To a some extent, differences in background are automatically adjusted to by the seminar format. Students do preparations by choosing topics from the syllabus.
Topics and Readings:
The listing below is not week by week but topic by topic; we will move at whatever pace we can without getting swamped by the material. We may not cover all the topics; and we might add topics in place of those listed. I will update the syllabus to reflect changes we agree on as we proceed.
Books to Buy
Required:
Morris, Clarence. The Great Legal Philosophers. Pittsburg: U of Pittsburg Press.
Recommended:
Lauren, Paul Gordon. 2003. The Evolution of International Human Rights. Philadelphia: U. of Pennsylvania Press. (This is a truly excellent treatment of the topic.)
Topics
1. Introduction.
To prepare for our first meeting, look over the websites in unit 5 below, and also the selections in Morris, The Great Legal Philosophers. We will discuss them and see if we can agree on a set of priorities for the semester, based on what you already know and what seems most interesting to the group.
Read: Carothers, Thomas. 1998. “The Rule of Law Revival.” JSTOR (13 p.)
2. Legal Philosophy
This unit will take three or four weeks, depending in part on class interest and the amount of difficulty you have with it. It is fundamental legal theory--the most important views of what law is and what law does. The readings are in C. Morris. The Great Legal Philosophers. The highest priority readings are the selections from Grotius, Montesquieu, Savigny, Ihering; Austin, Ehrlich, Cardozo, and Pound. But look at everything. If something else strikes you, we can add it.
Morris compresses the writing by cutting out what seems to be purely legal digressions, or unnecessary reflections. He does an excellent job of cutting to the main points. Sometimes, however, this makes the argument too condensed for readers who don't know the historical or philosophical background, or who have no experience with the sorts of things that can be examples. Dip into a few. If we need to use them, in most cases the original texts are now also available on the web.
Possible presentations:
Grotius--
Hobbes--
Montesquieu--
Rousseau--
Hume--
Kant--
Savigny--
Hegel--
von Ihering--
Holmes--
Ehrlich--
Cardozo--
Pound--
Dewey--
3. General Idea of Rule of Law
Good overview of what “rule of law’ involves: The Rule of Law Revival. Corruthers. JSTOR
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL UNIFICATION OF PRIVATE LAW. ABA. 1963. JSTOR
Corruption and Development: A Review of Issues Author(s): Pranab Bardhan. 2012. JSTOR
The Long War against Corruption Author(s): Heineman and Heimann. 2006 JSTOR
B. Black and A Tarassova. 2003. Institutional Reform in Transition: A Case Study of Russia. Supreme Court Economic Review. JSTOR.
Creating a Legal Framework for Economic Development. R. Posner 1998. JSTOR
Rule of Law and Lawyers in Latin America 2006 Pérez-Perdomo JSTOR
Struggling for the Rule of Law: The Pakistani Lawyers' Movement 2009 Daud Munir JSTOR
4. Establishing Sustainable Constitutions
The US readings for this topic were Cardozo, Dewey, and Pound, in the previous section. Other relevant readings are Montesquieu and Ehrlich
The constitution establishes the general system of government. Implicitly or explicitly, it also establishes the relationship between the government in a strict sense and the courts, and the government's role in law making and law-finding. This is crucial.
I assume you have read the US constitution, but in case you have not here is a good online text in a site with lots of background information: http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Preamble
Japan after WWII:
The Japanese Parliament’s account of the development of the present constitution of Japan: http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/
Now:
According to Justice Ginsberg and others, one of the best constitutions available to today is that of South Africa. Two relevant documents, in Box.com, are:
SA Freedom Charter.docx
The Constitution of South Africa (1996).pdf
Libya is a good example of a country struggling to end civil war and find constitution for the future. They have established a constitutional committee, but the fighting continues. Three documents in Box.com:
LibyaDraftingComm copy.pdf
LibyanInteremConstDraft.pdf
CONSIDERATIONS FOR A CONSTITUTION OF LIBYA MJL.docx
Al Jazeera article on Libyan constitutional committee.
UN:
UN article on creating democratic constitutions, in Box.com: UNArticleoonConstitutions.pdf
Also a template: TheConstitutionTemplate - nationsof1 - Template for The Constitution of a Nation of 1. The variables.html
For another contrast look at the Constitution of India. You won’t be able to read the whole thing or understand it. Nobody can. But get a sense of why. Look especially at the treatment of the powers of the President to invoke President’s Rule; Fundamental Rights in Part III, paying special attention to Article 31; the powers of the Parliament to amend the constitution; and the Ninth Schedule. http://lawmin.nic.in/coi.htm
USSR
For a constitution that did not establish democracy or rule of law, here is the 1939 constitution of the Soviet Union: http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/1936toc.html
USAID STRATEGY on Democracy and Human Rights. This is the USAID view; it is very different from the WB: USAID DRG_ final 6-24 3 (1).pdf. Box.com; should also be googleable.
5. Law and economic systems
Schmitthoff article: The Origin of the Joint-Stock Company Author(s): M. Schmitthoff Source: The University of Toronto Law Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1 (1939), pp. 74-96 Published by: University of Toronto Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/824598
Laski article in JSTOR http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.utdallas.edu/stable/pdfplus/1326990.pdf
The link to the McInerny article on the IDLO website: http://www.idlo.org/Publications/26.pdf
Letter from J. M. Keynes to Franklin Delano Roosevelt on economic policies of the New Deal, in Box.com. This is not really about constitutions but about economic regulation in a pluralistic democracy, which has had many important implications for governmental organizations.
6. Critiques of WB, neoliberalism:
World Bank, Governance Reforms and Democracy in Argentina. Tuozzo. 2004. JSTOR
Neoliberal Law: Unintended Consequences of Market-Friendly Law Reforms. Glinavos JSTOR
World Bank on Governance: A Critique. Guhan JSTOR
Democratizing the World Bank Author(s): Joseph E. Stiglitz and Kenta Tsuda
7. Transitions from Authoritarian to Pluralist Regimes
Joireman, Sandra. Inherited Legal Systems and Effective Rule of Law: Africa and the Colonial Legacy. In JSTOR.
Bohannan, Laura. 1952. A Genealogical Charter. Africa. JSTOR.
After the Big Bang? Obstacles to the Emergence of the Rule of Law in Post-Communist Societies. Hoff and Steiglitz JSTOR
Wikipedia article on the Economic History of the Russian Federation is good.
Can Indigenous Justice Survive? : Legal Pluralism and the Rule of Law. DAVID PIMENTEL JSTOR
Grant, E. 2006. Human Rights, Cultural Diversity, and Customary Law in South Africa . JSTOR.
8. Land Reform
Swinnen, J and Scott Rozelle. 2004. Success and Failure of Reform: Insights from the transition of Agriculture. Journal of Economic Literature. JSTOR.
Ruben, R. and Z Lerhman. 2005. Why Nicaraguan Peasants Stay in Agricultural Production Cooperatives. Revista Europea.... JSTOR.
Leaf, M. 1983 “The Green Revolution and Cultural Change in a Panjab Village, 1965 ‑ 1978.” Economic Development and Cultural Change. 31:2:227‑270. (This includes a discussion of the relation between land reform and technological change.) JSTOR
"Peasant Logic, Agrarian Policy, Land Mobility, and Land Markets in Mexico," by Roberto Diego Quintana, Luciano Concheiro Bórquez, and Ricardo Pérez Aviles. PDF but it cannot be copied or saved without a password. Recommended but not assigned.
This is a related but more recent article in JSTOR: Twenty-Seven: A Case Study in Ejido Privatization in Mexico Author(s): David Yetman and Alberto Búrquez. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3631677 .
Evaluating Mexican Land Reform Author(s): R. S. Weckstein.1970. JSTOR.
Other sources:
Radical views: http://www.progress.org/land/
Short ODI paper on land reform: http://www.odi.org.uk/NRP/nrp6.html
Council on Foreign Relations website on land reform:
http://www.cfr.org/publication/9475/land_reform_revisited.html
Manchester University Peasant transformation site (with a lot of information on Mexico):
http://les.man.ac.uk/multimedia/Default.htm
American website (Arizona law firm) on Mexican land law (looks good):
http://www.mexicolaw.com/LawInfo02.htm
FAO review of contemporary land reform measures.
(Wisconsin Land Tenure Center land reform in Mexico review: http://www.ies.wisc.edu/ltc/wp21.html ) This is “Peasant Logic, Agrarian Policy etc. listed above. It no longer can be found at this link, but you can get it by googling the entire entry. Unfortunately, however, I cannot find a way to save or copy it.
9. Human Rights and Access to Law for the Poor (and others)
Article on Human Rights for the Poor: And Justice for All: Enforcing Human Rights for the World's Poor. Haugen and Boutros. JSTOR
A major World Bank scandal revolves around the Narmada project, in northern India. This cost-benefit ratio was 1 to 1, and it displaced thousands of people. There are several good videos on YouTube.
Here is an Article on making one of the documentaries on it: Dam/Age. Aradhana Set. Icarus films. There is also a YouTube video of the same title. Arundhati Roy is a writer who has exposed the issues and argued against the dam. She was convicted of contempt of court by the Supreme Court of India. Here is a link to a you-tube video on her story. The word “adivasi” means people outside the caste system. Indigenous people who usually live in remote areas. They are also called “tribals.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlyZofTmUO4
DAM/AGE: A Film with Arundhati Roy
Here is a video indicated the situation of those displaced, and supposedly given land by the government: https://www.videovolunteers.org/displaced-tribals-from-sardar-sarovar-dam-get-land/
Article in The Hindu on the dam. This is a major Indian paper.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/17/stories/2006041715801500.htm
Another case study: Chentikheda, Madhya Pradesh, India
YouTube documentary on displacement of villages for building a dam in in Sherpur Dist, Madhya Pradesh, on the Kwari River. Kwari flows into the Chambal which flows into the Jamuna: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYY8VROan-w&feature=youtu.be
This is a summary of the project plan for the project the video is talking about, in Box.com: ChentiKhedaDamMP.pdf
Google Earth Coordinates for the project site: 25o 58' 3.5" N and 77o 17' 2.15" E At this point, there is a slight narrowing of the valley. The dam sounds like it will cross from hills to hills, so everyone in the valley will be displaced.
Website for International Network on Displacement and Resettlement that is concerned with this kind of problem: http://www.forcedmigration.org/organisations/international-network-on-displacement-and
And this is a report from a volunteer group concerned with the plight of people like the adivasis of the the Chentikheda region in general, also in Box.com and on the web: ChentiKedaetcReport.pdf
10. Enforcement in the international context.
The Charter of the UN. Chapter III defines the Organs, which include the Security Council. Chapter V describes the Security Council. Chapters VI and VII, dealing with disputes and breaches of peace, describe its powers.
http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/ Focus on why the Security Council is constructed as it is and has the powers it does.
International court of justice http://www.icj-cij.org/
Preparation: Milosovic in the Hague. Foreign Affairs. Gary Bass JSTOR
The Adverse Consequences of Economic Sanctions on the Enjoyment of Human Rights. This is a review of sanctions with three case studies by the Global Policy Forum.
GPF is an NGO recognized by the UN, both watchdog and supporter.
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/unreports/bossuyt.htm
Last day:
Example 1 South Africa: 1) Nelson Mandela International Day, July 18 For freedom, justice and democracy
2) US Dept. of State The end of Apartheid. 3) Cole and McMorran South Africa: United States Economic Sanctions and the Impact on Apartheid .
Example 2 Syria: 1) UN NEWS CENTRE: As US responds militarily to chemical attack, UN urges restraint to avoid escalation. 2) Russia blocks Security Council action on reported use of chemical weapons in Syriaís Khan Shaykhun
Reflections on the Sanctions Decade and Beyond. Margaret Doxey. International Journal. JSTOR
The Relative Universality of Human Rights. Jack Donnelly. Human Rights Quarterly. JSTOR
Other information of interest:
UN Security Council Resolutions on Iraq (archive of anti-sanctions group). http://www.casi.org.uk/info/scriraq.html
Chronology of sanctions on Libya:
http://www.iie.com/research/topics/sanctions/libya.cfm In class we assigned this to Steve, but he is overloaded and wants to do what he had been unable to present last week. Here is a link to his paper. Read it in advance so we can discuss it. Here is a link to the book at Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/y42fn9p
Interpol. This is the official website. The Wikipedia article on interpol is good.
OTHER POSSIBLE TOPICS:
WTO
WTO website: http://www.wto.org/
Public Citizen.org. Opposition to WTO (one of many)
http://www.citizen.org/trade/wto/
Another: http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Seattle.asp
US Government site on WTO
http://usinfo.state.gov/ei/economic_issues/WTO.html
U of Chicago Library site on WTO
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/wto.html
WTO & Human Rights: Examining Linkages and Suggesting Convergence. Zagel. IDLO paper in Box.com
.
Taxation (not covered)
This looks good: http://www.ids.ac.uk/project/international-centre-for-tax-and-development
Also this: http://faculty.law.wayne.edu/tad/index.html
Assistance to develop rule of law and human rights: (not covered)
USAID’s Democracy, Human Rights and Good Governance (DRG) strategy: http://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/democracy-human-rights-and-governance
—assess the program from the point of view of what we have considered in the course.
World Justice Project interactive page with results of their survey of rule of law by country: http://data.worldjusticeproject.org
Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal.
http://islandia.law.yale.edu/yhrdlj/
Other sources on the web:
American Society of International law, including online resource guide.
http://www.asil.org/resource/Home.htm
International Water Law Project
http://www.internationalwaterlaw.org./
World Bank Law Resource Center
Land related publications of WB at Law Resource Center:
Google the International Development Law Association. Look at the self-description and look at its training programs. The url is: http://www.idlo.int/ENGLISH/WHOWEARE/Pages/Home.aspx
Center for International Sustainable Development http://www.cisdl.org
Look at the research topics.
International Law Institute. http://www.ili.org/ Look at logo and the centers of expertise.
The United Nations and the development of international law (this site focuses on international civil and criminal law, but it has a pull down menu for other UN law websites). http://www.un.org/law/1990-1999/
In our library website, look at Westlaw. Use the search facility, and look for topics in international law and development law, such as human rights or war crimes. Note that it includes European law reviews.
U of Cal Berkeley Law School international law page. http://www.law.berkeley.edu/admissions/courses/international.html
Note the topics.
Google: International Institute of Humanitarian Law. Click on Protection of Human Beings…Read the Welcome Message.
Course & Instructor Policies
Since the exams will be take home, I cannot think of any possible reason to fail to hand them in on time.
There are no “extra credit” arrangements or make-ups.
No Field Trips
Standard UTD policies are procedures for all classes are on the U T Dallas
website at: http://coursebook.utdallas.edu/syllabus-policies/.
________________________________________________________________________
These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor.