International Law at KU

International Law at KU News from the International and Comparative Law Program at the University of Kansas School of Law

Two major comparative law books emerge from KU Law Faculty

JULY 2011

Pioneering book aims to increase understanding of Islamic law

inside

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ice Distinguished Professor Raj Bhala has become the first

American legal scholar to publish a comprehensive book on Islamic law for English-speaking law schools and legal professionals.

“Understanding Islamic Law” covers the entire history and religion of Islam, synthesizing it with the development and practice of Islamic law. It explains the sources of Islamic law and its pertinent specialty fields: banking and finance, contracts, criminal law, family law, and property.

The 50-chapter, 1,500-page textbook in the LexisNexis Understanding Series also deals directly with controversial topics such as religious freedom, women’s rights, reproduction and terrorism – attempting to distinguish Islam’s true teachings from extremist views and practices. For example, on the topic of jihad, Bhala points out that extremists have distorted the term to Continued on page 17

Professor’s text surveys, compares trio of great legal traditions

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ohn Head’s most recent book, published in May 2011, carries the main title “Great Legal Traditions” and is designed for use both by graduate students in law, history, and culture and by legal practitioners seeking a general understanding of the differences between civil law, common law, and Chinese law.

The book, published by Carolina Academic Press, consists of seven chapters: one introductory chapter surveying the aims and techniques of a comparative study of law and then two chapters each (one historical, one operational) on each of the three legal traditions examined by the work.

“This book pulls together materials and text that I have been working on for a couple of decades,” said Head, the Robert W. Wagstaff Distinguished Professor of Law. “And it reflects what I have learned not only from my own research and experience but also from my Continued on page 17

Vol. 9, No. 1

Italian scholar on human rights Three more SJD degrees awarded CITA expands activities Int’l law moot court competitions Int’l Law Society year in review Alumni Notes from ICL grads Human Rights Symposium Tribal law conference Koreans attend summer institute Students, faculty study, teach abroad International news from faculty International law snapshots

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2 Italian scholar visits KU, discusses human rights protection in Europe

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rento University Professor Robert Toniatti visited KU Law in early October 2010, giving a faculty presentation, participating in a roundtable discussion of “Human Rights Protection in Europe” and meeting with several KU officials.

Toniatti, a faculty member and former dean of the faculty of law at Trento University in northern Italy, has lectured and written widely on comparative constitutional law, constitutional law in the European Union, rights of ethnic and linguistic minorities, powers of federal units and regions, and principles of sovereignty and supranationalism in a political and legal context.

As law dean at the University of Trento, Toniatti helped enhance the prestige of the university in international and comparative law and extend its influence and reach through a variety of exchange programs and initiatives, including a university-level exchange agreement between the University of Trento and the University of Kansas. He has been a visiting professor in Spain, Ireland and the United States and serves as a member of multiple professional journals.

Roberto Toniatti with Susan Gronbeck-Tedesco, associate vice provost for international programs at the University of Kansas.

ICL Curriculum spotlight KU offers special courses on international legal issues Climate Change and the Law

Jane Kloeckner, an adjunct professor who also serves as senior assistant regional counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Kansas City, presented a course in the spring 2011 term on legal aspects of climate change, from both an international and a domestic perspective. The course introduced students to (1) the science of climate change, (2) the international efforts to combat climate change – and, more recently, to adjust to the changes that will inevitably occur in coming years from the release of greenhouse gases – and (3) relevant U.S. legal responses to these and related issues.

International Law, Agricultural Development, and Environmental Protection

John Head led a concentrated course in February 2011 on a cluster of related issues lying at the intersection of three subjects. After presenting information

about pertinent rules and principles of international law, Head hosted two visiting experts (see KU CENTER, page 4) to provide in-depth analysis of agricultural development and environmental protection (with special emphasis on climate change) as these issues relate to the coordination of international efforts at food security and climate stabilization.

Chinese Law

Our newest arrival in the area of international and comparative law – professor Virginia Harper Ho – will offer a course devoted exclusively to Chinese law in the spring 2012 term.

The course will focus on China’s administrative and legal institutions and legal reform efforts since 1978, with some coverage of China’s traditional legal order and the historical influences on China’s legal institutions and attitudes toward law from the early 20th century to the present.

Overseas Visiting Scholars Program Green Hall has been the temporary home in recent months for scholars from several countries as part of the Overseas Visiting Scholars Program:

Dongmei “Vicky” Liu is a teacher of civil law at the Ningxia Judicial Police College in Yinchuan, China. Her research at KU has focused on American tort law, specifically the impact of liability insurance and the social security system.

Jehu Onyekwere Nnaji, of Nigeria, is a doctoral researcher in the Department of Comparative Law and Integration Processes at the Second University of Naples, Italy. His research at KU involves comparative constitutionalism and an analysis of federal and regional structures in the U.S.

Adea Pirdeni, of Albania, is an assistant professor in the department of public law at the University of Tirana.

She came to KU Law as a participant in the Junior Faculty Development Program sponsored by the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

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International Law at KU

KU Law’s most recent S.J.D. graduates are, from left, Huan Zhu,Yu-Hao Yeh and Ahmed Al Zaabi.

3 more SJD candidates earn KU degrees

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ust two years after the S.J.D. program’s full integration into the life of the law school, three more accomplished lawyers and scholars have completed their degree requirements and graduated from the program.

Dr. Ahmed Al Zaabi passed his dissertation defense “with distinction.”

The title of his dissertation is “WTO Treatment of Electronic Commerce, Developing Countries, and the United Arab Emirates.” Al Zaabi is a lecturer at the UAE University Faculty of Law. Starting in August, he will teach courses in International Trade Law and Commercial Law.

He also will play a leading role in building the school’s LL.M. in International Trade Law, the first such program in the Middle East. UAE University established the program in 2005-2007 with the assistance of KU Law and has

received approvals and funding from the Emirati government. With Al Zaabi in a leadership role at the UAE law faculty, the ties between that institution and KU Law will broaden and deepen.

In March, Dr. Yu-Hao Yeh successfully defended his dissertation, “The Effectiveness of Whistleblower Protection Under Sarbanes-Oxley Section 806 in Corporate Governance.” Immediately following the defense, Yeh returned to his home in Taiwan to interview for a teaching position.

Finally, in April, Dr. Huan Zhu successfully defended her dissertation, “A Comparative Study on Human Embryonic Stem Cell Patent Law in the United States, the European Patent Organization, and China.”

Zhu has moved to Washington, D.C., where she hopes to secure a research or teaching position exploring comparative and intellectual property law.

KU Law faculty involved in the supervision and examination of these candidates included Webb Hecker (Yeh committee chair), Andrew Torrance (Zhu committee chair), and Raj Bhala (Al Zaabi committee chair), as well as Elizabeth Leonard, John Head, Ellen Sward, Fred Lovitch, Elinor Schroeder and several outside examiners.

The S.J.D. program is designed for students interested in engaging in in-depth legal scholarship, particularly future academic leaders, government leaders and judges. Candidates must hold a basic law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) and an LL.M., possess a prestigious academic record and show promise for reaching the highest ranks of legal service in his or her home country. KU Law’s S.J.D. program boasts more than a dozen students from Saudi Arabia, China, Korea, Egypt, Turkey, Taiwan, the United States and elsewhere.

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International Law at KU

KU Center for International Trade and Agriculture expands activities

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he Law School’s Center for International Trade and Agriculture – created just last year – continues to broaden its programs.

CITA Visiting Scholars

In February, KU Law hosted two distinguished CITA Visiting Scholars, who gave multiple presentations to students, faculty and other interested participants.

The 2011 visitors were Warren Evans, head of the environment department at the World Bank, and Wes Jackson, founder and director of The Land Institute in Salina.

Both men have deep personal roots in agricultural issues and rural life, and both are internationally known for their contributions – different but complementary – to the future of agriculture at the global level. Jackson and Evans served as guest lecturers in a special topics course described below, and Jackson also presented a keynote lecture to an audience of about 65 people from the university and the community at large.

CITA Special Topics Course

A new short course — International Law, Agricultural Development, and Environmental Protection — was presented in February under the auspices of the center and in conjunction with the CITA Visiting Scholars. John Head presented a series of introductory lectures to students and other interested participants on subjects relating to international trade and finance, international development institutions, agricultural law, the “Green Revolution,” and various aspects of environmental law relating to agriculture and natural resources, including the effects of climate change on agricultural production.

Head’s lectures served as the centerpiece of a special topics course with an enrollment of 17 students. The class sessions were open to the public because of their sponsorship by the center. The CITA Visiting Scholars, Evans and Jackson, built on the themes of Head’s introductory lectures with PowerPoint presentations and extensive question-and-answer sessions.

From left, John Head, Robert W. Wagstaff Distinguished Professor of Law at KU;Wes Jackson, founder and director of The Land Institute in Salina; and Warren Evans, head of the environment department at the World Bank.

The center brings together scholars, practitioners, policymakers and students around the study and practice of international trade and agriculture.

CITA Working Papers

In the latter part of 2010, CITA launched its Working Papers Series, and already four such papers have been published on the CITA page of the KU Law website: www.law.ku.edu/centers/cita. The four papers posted so far are: CITA Working Paper No. 4 - 2011 Title: “Egyptian Foreign Trade and Agriculture Policies: Challenges and Glimpses of Hope” Author: Heba Hazzaa

CITA Working Paper No. 3 - 2011 Title: “Syria, Agriculture, and the World: A Country Study on the Role of International Trade and the Agriculture Sector in the Syrian Arab Republic” Author: Jomana Jihad Qaddour CITA Working Paper No. 2 - 2011 Title: “A Contemporary Account of International Trade and Agriculture in Nepal: Effects and Prospects” Author: Surendra Bhandari CITA Working Paper No. 1 - 2010 Title: “International Legal Regimes to Balance the Protection of Prairies and Grasslands with their Agricultural Use: Part One - Grasslands at Risk” Author: John W. Head

CITA Background

The Center for International Trade and Agriculture officially launched in April 2010 with a scholarly roundtable titled “Kansas and World Agriculture: Current Crises and Future Opportunities.”

Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran, a 1982 graduate of the law school, was instrumental (while still serving in the U.S. House of Representatives) in securing $100,000 of

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International Law at KU

KU Jessup Team members (from left) Sarah McIntosh, Hannah Sandal, Samantha Clark, Ellen O’Leary, Mike Kelly, and faculty adviser John Head.

KU students earn honors at international law moot court

Then-U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., delivers the keynote address at the Center for International Trade and Agriculture’s inaugural roundtable.

federal money to fund the center for the first four years.

The center brings together scholars, practitioners, policymakers and students around the study and practice of international trade and agriculture. To accomplish that mission, the center: n sponsors interdisciplinary conferences addressing issues of current importance to legal practitioners, scholars and policymakers in international trade and agriculture, with special emphasis on matters of importance to the state of Kansas. n hosts visiting scholars, practitioners or policymakers to interact with students, faculty and alumni through guest lectures and mini-courses. n educates and trains law students through relevant course work and summer placements to engage in legal practice, prepare for work in law reform, or engage in agribusiness and international trade in areas related to trade and agriculture.

CITA is led by KU law faculty members Raj Bhala, Rice Distinguished Professor, and John Head, the Robert W. Wagstaff Distinguished Professor of Law. The center is relatively unique in the academic world in that it focuses neither exclusively on international trade nor on agriculture, but rather emphasizes the intellectually fascinating and practically relevant synthesis between the two fields. Thus, within the purview of the center are topics such as farm subsidies, food security, genetic modification, market access, and sanitary and phytosanitary standards.

Law students representing the University of Kansas School of Law in the Jessup International Law Moot Court competition brought back honors from the regional rounds held in February in Denver.

The KU team – Samantha Clark, Mike Kelly, Sarah McIntosh, Ellen O’Leary and Hannah Sandal – submitted briefs in January for both sides in a case involving two states arguing over human rights, self-defense, self-determination and other international legal issues. They competed with over 20 other teams and more than 90 oral advocates.

Despite the stiff competition, the KU team won an award for its briefs, as well as high marks from the judges.

International environmental law moot court team goes to Denver

Buller

Jekic

The University of Kansas School of Law sent a two-person team – Daniel Buller and Milos Jekic – to Denver in late January 2011 for a regional round of the 15th annual International Environmental Law Moot Court Competition.

Buller and Jekic represented KU well in arguing before the “International Court of Justice” both sides of a dispute between two federal states involving oil pollution in the marine environment.

Specifically, the problem involved a huge (hypothetical) oil leak in a major gulf and the follow-up use of chemical dispersant.

KU Law has participated in the program, sponsored by the Stetson University College of Law, for about 10 years.

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International Law at KU

Back row: John Head, faculty co-adviser; Elizabeth Landau, communications director, 2010-11; Kellie Mitchell, alumni coordinator, 2010-11; Margot Pickering, vice president, 2010-11; Lani Leighton, president, 2010-11; and Sarah Briley, treasurer, 2010-11. Front row: Clark Quigley, communications director, 2011-12; Emily Disney, alumni coordinator, 2011-12; Alessandra McCoy, vice president, 2011-12;Teresa Val, president, 2011-12; and Demetrius Tam, treasurer, 2011-12. Not pictured: Raj Bhala, faculty co-adviser.

KU International Law Society chapter enjoys another active year The Dwight D. Eisenhower International Law Society had another year of highprofile activities and successes.

picnic area, and enjoyed good food, great weather and introductions of various faculty members and administrators who give ILS guidance and encouragement through the year. The ILS officers, who organized the event, were introduced as well.

Wine Tasting Fundraiser

This “centerpiece” function for ILS offers a double opportunity in the spring term each year: (1) to enjoy a gracious and dressy evening testing wines in a beautiful setting (the Lawrence Arts Center); and (2) to raise funds for an international-related charitable purpose.

This year’s event, held on Feb. 24, lived up to expectations in both respects.

The event raised roughly $900, for contribution to OptimusYouth, a charity co-founded by KU Law 3L and ILS Member Sean Foley.

ILS Officers

The 2011-2012 ILS officers assumed their responsibilities in April, following in the footsteps of an exceptionally active set of 2010-2011 officers. Both sets of officers are pictured above.

The new ILS president is Teresa Val.

Career Opportunities Noon Forum

Pub Games Triathlon

The principal fundraiser for ILS operational purposes is this fall-term party/competition/social event. Held on Oct. 7, 2010, the Pub Games featured 200 students competing in a bracketstyle tournament of darts, shuffleboard and billiards. Winning teams received gift cards generously donated by local businesses.

2010 Kick-Off Picnic

Every year the ILS helps greet firstyear students – and welcome back returning students – at the beginning of the fall term. More than 60 people attended the 2010 Kick-Off Picnic, held as usual at the Clinton Lake Overlook

ILS hosted three career opportunities sessions during the 2010-11 academic year, with speakers from the law faculty, Kansas City law firms and the KU Law Office of Career Services. Students in attendance, especially first-year law students, received information and advice on career planning and “firstlaw-job” strategies in order to reflect and expand upon their interest in international law.

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International Law at KU

9/11 Noon Forum

As in past years, the ILS sponsored a noon session to mark the anniversary of the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Speakers at the 9/11 Forum included KU Law professors David Gottlieb and Raj Bhala, professor Tanya Golash-Boza of KU’s American studies and sociology departments, and human rights expert Sara Lechtenberg Kasten, L’96. The event ended with a period for questions and discussions.

Other Speakers and Activities

Throughout the year, the ILS invited several guest speakers to present on various international and legal issues.

The speakers and topics included: “Comparative Criminal Procedure,” Feridun Yenisey, professor of law, Bahcesehir University, Istanbul; “Foreign Capital Markets,” Holly Nielson, L”82, counsel, Baring Vostok Capital Partners; “European Union Law,” Adea Pirdeni, fellow, Junior Faculty Development Program; and “U.S. Court of International Trade,” Judge Judith M. Barzilay.

The ILS also hosted a fundraiser for disaster relief in Japan. Members sold soda with all proceeds benefiting the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund for Japan. The effort raised $425 in a week.

Finally, the ILS co-hosted a roundtable discussion in early October relating to “Human Rights Protection in Europe.” Participating as panelists in the discussion were KU Law professors David Gottlieb, Rick Levy and John Head, along with a visiting professor, Roberto Toniatti of Trento University in Italy, and Mariya Omelicheva, assistant professor of political science at KU.

KU Law students enjoy the ILS Kick-Off Picnic in August 2010. Above, from left, Margot Pickering, then-vice president of ILS; Lani Leighton, then-president of ILS; and Jessica Lewicki.

Left: Lewicki, right, and Kellie Mitchell, then-alumni coordinator of ILS.

Alumni Notes

News from KU Law graduates with ties to the International and Comparative Law Program Marcela Blanco, who earned her J.D.

in 2009 through KU Law’s Two-Year J.D. Program for Foreign-Trained Lawyers, has taken a position with the law firm of Diaz, Reus & Targ LLP. Blanco works in the firm’s Bogota, Colombia, office, assisting clients in corporate matters, particularly corporate governance and the formation of corporate entities, along with international contract matters, international litigation and arbitration.

Before coming to KU, Blanco worked for six years as in-house attorney at Bayer S.A. Colombia and also served as a partner for one year at B&C Attorneys.

Blanco is pictured here at the Panama Canal.

Daniel Runge, J.D.’09, worked in

Salina, Kan., as an assistant county attorney for a year after graduating from KU Law. Based on his experiences with

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International Law at KU

Alumni Notes

News from KU Law graduates with ties to the International and Comparative Law Program international law coursework at KU, family background and a desire to specialize, Runge chose to pursue a Masters of Law (LL.M.) in International Law. After acceptance into a number of programs, he enrolled at the University of San Diego School of Law.

The degree program at San Diego requires the completion of 24 credit hours and may be finished in one to four years at full- or part-time pace. The program requires two foundational courses, Public International Law and International Business Transactions. Runge received credit for the Public International Law requirement based on his completion of professor John Head’s course while at KU. Runge’s chosen elective courses include International Human Rights, International Trade and Investment, EU Commercial Law, NAFTA, EU Law, International Civil Litigation, International Arbitration and Business Transactions in the People’s Republic of China.

Beyond these electives, San Diego offers a wide range of international law courses in comparative law, trade, business and public law. Runge will complete the degree requirements in August 2011 and hopes to work in Washington D.C., ideally in the field of international trade, or in the Netherlands, as he is in the process of obtaining dual U.S.-Dutch nationality.

James Smith,

J.D.’02, built on his KU Law degree – including especially his interest in international law – by pursuing an LL.M. degree at the University of Denver College of Law. He writes: “There are two immediate controversies underway right now involving climate change in environmental and natural resources law. One is the threat-

Tristan Tafolla

ened listing of the polar bear under the ESA [Endangered Species Act] with climate change listed as a contributory cause, thereby implying authority to order corrective action. (The ESA is particularly threatening to industry in that it is a harsh environmental mechanism that disallows any economic or political factors to offset protection of a listed species.) Another is the construction of a westward transportation route to a port on the Columbia River for Wyoming’s vast coal fields with an eye on export to China. The question is: Does the mandatory environmental assessment need to consider climate change consequences that would emanate not from the U.S. directly in the transportation of this coal but rather from the burning of it in China itself?”

Smith has gained first-hand experience in the transborder character of many environmental protection issues.

He explains: “So far, I’ve been able to meet via skype with DU graduate attorneys working on mining law in Argentina, ... attend a luncheon seminar with an expert of EU environmental policy, ... have a Colorado Supreme Court justice lecture for a day on water allocation

practices in the Americas with a focus on Anasazi and Incan systems, and attend a lecture by a Russian law professor on Russian environmental law.”

Tristan Tafolla searched intently for a job that would allow him to use his background in international legal studies that he built up at KU Law, and he received offers of admission to two LL.M. programs in national security law, an internship offer at the Pentagon (in the Office of Military Commissions), and an offer of employment at the U.S. Department of State. In April 2011, he began his work at the State Department, with responsibilities ranging from conducting criminal investigations on passport and visa fraud and international acts of terrorism on U.S. property abroad to coordinating with foreign law enforcement bodies when posted overseas. His title of special agent in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security will put him in direct contact with such issues as extradition status of fugitives with foreign governments and trafficking, narcotics and terrorism issues.

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International Law at KU

With regards from Istanbul In addition to the four alumni noted on pages 7-8, we also claim as an “alumna” Gulsen Gedik, who came to Green Hall

for a year as an Overseas Visiting Scholar. She sent this photo and letter regarding her activities since leaving KU:

(March hool for a year sc law as ns Ka rsity of “Taxation of I visited the Unive t my thesis on ou ab ed ch ar se re ted to ), and I to Istanbul, I star ed rn 2008-March 2009 tu re I r te tax Corporations.” Af . I lecture there on ain ag Controlled Foreign w La of lty ish in a University Facu hich I plan to fin w , ee gr work at Marmar de D. h.

P clude: inue work on my time in Kansas in y m e law and also cont nc si n te rit articles I have w December 2011. The ” titution, ns Co ry ra po em cess to Cont “ Planning Tax Liability in Pro • ). ld 142 (June 2009 .

28 Tax Wor Ankara 1015 (2009) “ Tax Power in USA Law, 2 edicine • in Tax Law in M es ns pe x E t en pm Develo “ Roche & • Research and h Law in World, ” Latest News About Healt 9 (2009).

Company, lishing, pp 335-36 ub P ity rs ive Un

ying to Marmara urt Decision: Appl

“ Analysis of Constitution Co Doesn’t İnterrupt t en m • ss se As ax Committee for T lty of Assessment ” 16 Marmara University Facu , ns tio Limita to Statute of r 2010). iew 317 (Decembe ev R culty of w La , w La ”

mara University Fa ar M , on si va E Tax “ • The Crime of iew.

Law, Law Rev hool at the KU law sc em st sy law x ta e out the Turkish in July 2010, at th ity rs Also, I lectured ab ive Un ir eh es program at Bahc Istanbul summer fessor Mazza. invitation of Pro again! to KU law school e m co ill w I , ity rtun At the first oppo Istanbul.

Best regards from Gulsen Gedik w ity, Faculty of La Marmara Univers sistant ment, Teaching As Tax Law Depart

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International Law at KU

4th annual symposium explores broad spectrum of human rights issues

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he International Law Society took a lead role in organizing the 4th annual Human Rights Symposium on Feb. 10, 2011. Co-sponsors were KU’s Center for Global and International Studies, KU Law’s Islamic Law Students Association and KU Law’s Public Interest Law Society. The topics and speakers included the following:

n “Whether the Death Penalty under Sharia is Inconsistent

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n

n

n

n

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or Compliant with Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” Jasmine J. Abou-Kassem, associate, Polsinelli Shugart.

“Human Rights Issues in our Current Immigration Morass,” immigration activist Angela Ferguson, L’86.

“Progress in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of the United Republic of Tanzania,” Garth Myers, KU associate professor of geography.

“Just Save One: How Individuals from All Walks of Life Can Make an Impact on Human Rights at Home and Around the World,” NBC reporter Elizabeth Alex.

“The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act: Barring Discrimination in Employment and Benefits Based on Genetic Information,” Jospeh Mastrosimone, director, Kansas Human Rights Commission.

“Understanding Islamic Law: Women’s Rights and Freedom of Religion,” Raj Bhala, Rice Distinguished Professor at KU Law. “What’s Happening in Sudan: Human Rights Abuses from Sudan’s Civil War through the January 2011

Joseph Mastrosimone, director of the Kansas Human Rights Commission and adjunct professor at KU Law, discusses the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act during the Human Rights Symposium.

Referendum Vote,” Barbara Youree, author of “Courageous Journey.” n “The Flotilla from a Journalistic Perspective and

Covering the Middle East and Al Jazeera’s Brand of

News Coverage,” Jamal Elshayyal, Al Jazeera reporter

and flotilla survivor.

First KU Law doctoral graduate takes faculty appointment in Japan An accomplished lawyer and scholar from Nepal who in 2010 became the first candidate to complete the Doctor of Juridical Science program at the University of Kansas School of Law is now passing along his expertise to law students in Japan.

Surendra Bhandari, who successfully defended his doctoral thesis in 2010 and was awarded his SJD degree in the spring of that year, now teaches as an associate professor at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan.

His academic appointment is in the College of International Relations, and he will be teaching Introduction to Law (Legal Theory), International Law,

and Global Legal Studies, focusing on international economic organizations, including the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF. RitsumeiBhandari kan University recently launched a global studies program, and Bhandari is one of seven professors hired to teach in the program.

His SJD thesis at KU identified theoretical and practical consequences associated with the method of making rules in the World Trade Organization.

Other overseas visitors Yansong Li, an associate dean at the Harbin Institute of Technology in China, along with his wife Haifeng Zhao, paid a visit to Green Hall in the fall of 2010 to discuss matters of legal education. They were hosted by John Head, pictured with them above.

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International Law at KU

Tribal Law conference offers broad look at American Indian law

n “Strengthening Indian People

and Nations through Healing to Wellness Courts,” Carrie Garrow (St. Regis Mohawk), Syracuse University College of Law.

n “Property Rights, the U.N.

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Development of International Human Rights Law,” Robert Coulter (Citizen Potawatomi), Indian Law Resource Center.

KU University Relations

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ribal environmental sovereignty, the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, tribal implications for federal securities law and social justice issues were among the topics discussed at the 15th annual Tribal Law and Government Conference at the University of Kansas School of Law.

Federal Indian law scholars and practitioners from universities, organizations and tribes across the nation made presentations at the April 21 event at the Burge Union.

“This year’s conference featured a diversity of topics — from criminal law and procedure to environmental activism to securities law — and emphasized the broad range of practice areas encountered by lawyers representing tribal governments,” said Stacy Leeds, then-interim associate dean for academic affairs, professor of law and director of the Tribal Law and Government Center.

The conference featured the following slate of presentations:

Clockwise from top left: Antoinette Houle, Bureau of Indian Affairs; Gavin Clarkson, University of Houston Law Center; Vivien Olsen, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation; and Ron Graham, BIA. n “Global Warming and its Impact

on Tribal Wildlife Management in the 21st Century,” Colette Routel, William Mitchell College of Law.

n “Illiquid Indians: Discrimination

against Tribal Governments in Federal Securities Law,” Gavin Clarkson (Choctaw), University of Houston Law Center.

n “The TLOA of 2011: A Critique

of the Right to Counsel and Impacts on Access to Justice,” Barbara Creel (Pueblo of Jemez), University of New Mexico School of Law.

The afternoon workshop featured a comprehensive look at the American Indian Probate Reform Act and its implications.

Speakers included Richard Reeh, an administrative law judge with the U.S. Department of Interior, as well as Antoinette Houle and Ron Graham of the Bureau of Indian Affairs — Horton Agency; Miranda Carmona of Goodell, Stratton, Edmonds & Palmer; and Vivien Olsen of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

The conference was sponsored by the KU School of Law, its Tribal Law and Government Center, the National American Indian Court Judges Association and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

Learn more about us KU Law has a rich and exciting International and Comparative Law Program, complete with course offerings, activities, student opportunities and more.

Find out more about the program at www.law.ku.edu/academics/icl This issue of International Law at KU was compiled by John Head, Mindie Paget, and Michele Rutledge, with contributions from students. Paget designed the newsletter.

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International Law at KU

Inaugural Kansas Summer Law Institute hosts ten law students from Korea

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en law students from the Pusan National University School of Law visited the University of Kansas School of Law for just over a week in late June and early July to participate in the newly established Kansas Summer Law Institute.

For several years, KU Law has had a strong cooperative relationship with PNU, which is located in Korea’s secondlargest city. Designed in its inaugural year as a course of study exclusively for PNU law students, the Kansas Summer Law Institute featured condensed examinations of Islamic law, American constitutional law, and international economic law and institutions.

In addition to their studies in these subjects, the Korean students also gained insights into U.S. law and culture by several means, including a half-day intensive introduction to the processes and offices of state government, hosted by the office of Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who happens to be a participant in KU’s Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) Program. While the students were in Topeka, the state capital, they also had an impromptu meeting with Gov. Sam Brownback, a 1984 graduate of KU Law.

The Korean students interacted closely with KU Law students on an informal basis, to learn from their perspective about American legal education and legal culture.

Leading the Korean students in their visit to Kansas were professor Taewoo Sohn, who has served in various administrative capacities at the PNU School of Law and who visited KU Law for most of 2007 under the auspices of our Overseas Visiting Scholar Program.

Assisting professor Sohn was Changwoo Baek, a 2000 LL.M. graduate of PNU. A highlight of the program was a visit from professor Daeseob Kang, dean of the PNU School of Law.

The main KU participants in the Kansas Summer Law Institute were Dean Stephen Mazza and professors Raj Bhala, John Head and Rick Levy.

The PNU School of Law is ranked No. 2 in Korea, second only to Seoul National University. PNU was selected by

“It is a great honor for us that Pusan National University brings its top students here for intensive summer study.”

- Raj Bhala, Rice Distinguished Professor

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International Law at KU

the government, through a competitive process among universities, to sponsor a law school offering an American-style J.D. program. PNU has looked to KU Law for guidance through the process of converting from its old LL.M. program.

“It is a great honor for us that Pusan National University brings its top students here for intensive summer study,” said Bhala, Rice Distinguished Professor. “KU Law continues to be highly regarded overseas, including in major countries like Korea. We are pleased to have such a fine relationship with such a superb Korean law school.”

Students head to Istanbul, other study abroad destinations

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everal law students from KU and other U.S. law schools will spend most of July studying law in KU’s summer study abroad programs in Turkey and and England.

Eleven KU Law students will join eight students from other law schools in the Istanbul program. In cooperation with the University of Bahcesehir, the program will offer courses in Principles of Counter-Terrorism, International and Comparative Copyright and Introduction to the Common Law Trust. Learning will extend outside the classroom doors with excursions to Izmir, Ephesus and Troy.

KU Law faculty members Elizabeth Cateforis and Suzanne Valdez are teaching at the Cambridge Pre-Law Institute July 10-Aug. 5 in Cambridge, England. The program for pre-law students focuses on the culture, history and politics of the English and American legal systems, supplemented with special lectures and site visits.

In addition to these KU-sponsored opportunities, several KU Law students are taking advantage of study abroad programs offered by other U.S. law schools. Their summer destinations include Cambridge; Florence, Italy; Galway, Ireland; Hong Kong; Paris; and South Africa.

KU Law co-sponsors its study abroad program in Istanbul with the South Texas College of Law and William Mitchell College of Law, in cooperation with the University of Bahcesehir.

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Faculty iNTERNATIONAL nEWS Raj Bhala, in addition to completing his new book on Islamic law, featured earlier in this newsletter, continued an active scholarly and teaching agenda. In recent months he has given numerous presentations, including: n “Building Human Capital and Developing Legal Talent,” 9th annual Arab Thought Foundation Conference, followed by dinner at the Grand Serai (Prime Minister’s Palace) with the Prime Minister of Lebanon and other invited dignitaries, Beirut, Lebanon, December 2010. n “Sub-Continental Lawyers, AngloMuhammadan Law, and International Trade Law,” annual conference of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Law and South Asia Group, San Francisco, January 2011. n “Understanding Islamic Law, Women’s Rights, and Religious Freedom,” International Law Students Human Rights Symposium, University of Kansas School of Law, February 2011. n “Islamic Law (Sharī’a): Comparisons, Contrasts, and Transplants,” joint speaker series on transplanting law, sponsored by California Western School of Law, University of California-San Diego Institute for International, Comparative, and Area Studies, and International Law Association, at California Western, San Diego, Calif., March 2011. n “Theory and Practice of Islamic Banking Law and Finance,” KU International Programs seminar for faculty on “Islam in a Global World,” March 2011. n “Seven Points About the Arab Revolutions of 2011,” panel discussion on “Revolutions in the Middle East” sponsored by the KU Center for Global and International Studies and Kansas African Studies Center, March 2011. n “A Brief Overview of Islamic Law,” Axis Insurance, Kansas City, Mo., April 2011.

Bhala also delivered a special lecture at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth to special operations forces commanders and senior

Rice Distinguished Professor Raj Bhala, center, presents on a panel at the 9th annual Arab Thought Foundation Conference in December in Beirut.

intelligence officers titled, “Islamic Law (Shari’a): Origins, Sunni-Shi’ite Split, Jihad, and Terrorism.”

As a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Bhala participated in a national conference call on “Islam and Democracy in the Middle East,” hosted

by Reza Aslan (author of “No God but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam”); and a national teleconference on the Middle East with Lisa Anderson, president, American University of Cairo.

As a member of the LexisNexis Board, Bhala participated in a board meeting covering key law school publishing topics at the AALS Conference.

He also gave a television interview on the revolution in Egypt and uprisings across the Arab world, featured on KSNT Channel 27 NBC News, Topeka.

Bhala presented two lectures reflecting his selection as a distinguished lecturer for two events at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law on April 11 in Dallas: n “Understanding Islamic Law, Women’s Apparel, and Religious Freedom,” SMU Annual Distinguished Lecture in Islamic Law, in honor of the late Professor Dr. M.I.M. Aboul-Enein (SMU SJD’67). n “Has the Doha Round Failed as an Instrument of Counter-Terrorism?,” SMU Annual Distinguished Lecture in

International Law, in honor of the late Sir Joseph Gold (former general counsel of the International Monetary Fund, SMU LL.D.’86).

In June, Bhala and co-author professor Jamie Cooper of Califoria Western School of Law wrote an editorial on the Doha Round of world trade negotiations, “A World Trade Round Gone Bad,” published June 3 in the San Diego Union Tribune.

Mike Davis visited the Mississippi College of Law foreign summer program in Berlin June 13-16 as the official site visitor of the American Bar Association. His report will be used by the Accreditation Committee to determine whether the program will receive initial ABA approval.

Chris Drahozal was part of a panel discussion on the future of international arbitration at the 50th anniversary conference of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration on May 20 in Geneva. He also delivered “Why Arbitrate? Substantive Versus Procedural Theories of Private Judging,” the Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Distinguished

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Lecture in Business Law, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, February 2011.

Together with his co-reporters, he presented Preliminary Draft No. 2 of the Restatement (Third) of the U.S. Law of International Commercial Arbitration at Pepperdine University School of Law, Malibu, Calif., January 2011.

Also in conjunction with the coreporters, Drahozal did a presentation on the draft Restatement at a “Roundtable on the U.S. Arbitration Restatement” in Paris, November 2010.

David Gottlieb

participated in the International Law Society’s 9/11 Forum on Sept. 11 and spoke as part of a roundtable on “Protection of Fundamental Rights in Europe” on Oct. 5 at the KU School of Law. He was a guest lecturer on social justice at Plymouth Congregational Church on Sept. 25 in Lawrence.

John Head published a book, “Great Legal Traditions” (Carolina Academic Press) that reflects several years of studying and teaching in the area of comparative law (see Professor’s text, page 1).

In addition: n Head presented his inaugural lecture for the Robert W. Wagstaff Distinguished Professorship, “Civilization and Law: A Dark Optimism Based on the Precedent of Unprecedented Crises,” on Nov. 11. His remarks surveyed 20th-century developments that give cause both for deep concern about the fragility of civilization and some guarded optimism for the future. Head’s lecture will be published in the Kansas Law Review. n He also did a presentation on “International Financial Institutions at

the Crossroads” at a luncheon for Self Graduate Fellows, a group of about 25 KU graduate students being funded through the Self Foundation. n Head published an article, “International Legal Regimes to Balance the Protection of Prairies and Grasslands with their Agricultural Use: Part One – Grasslands at Risk,” as part of the newly launched Center for International Trade and Agriculture Working Papers Series.

Head was nominated by the local chapter of Phi Beta Delta, an international honorary society, for the Phi Beta Delta Faculty Award for Outstanding Contributions to International Education. He also completed four other articles or book chapters awaiting publication: n “Foreign Influence and Constitutionalism in the PRC: A Western Perspective on Change and Uncertainty in Contemporary Chinese Legal Culture” and “The Rule of Law in China: Fundamental Uncertainties about ‘Decoding’ a Fundamental Concept,” to appear in “Regional Self-Government, Cultural Identity and Multinational Integration: Comparative Experiences for Tibet” (Roberto Toniatti and Jens Woelk, eds). n “Trade Finance,” to appear in the Encyclopedia of Financial Globalization (Doug Arner, ed.). n “Legal Counsel, Legal Analysis, and Legal Limits: The Role of Law and Lawyers in the Asian Development Bank,” to appear in “The Role of Legal Counsel in International Economic Law” (Asif Qureshi, ed.).

Virginia Harper Ho is the newest faculty arrival devoting a substantial amount of her time to international and comparative law issues, with a special concentration on Chinese law. In addition to publishing articles on corporate law, Harper Ho has been awarded $1,600 in research and travel grants from the Center for East Asian Studies; an $800 grant from the International Travel Fund, Center for Research Inc.; and an $850 grant from the Office of International Programs fund for “Internationalizing the Curriculum” to

conduct research this summer in China on state facilitation of corporate social responsibility and its effect on corporate compliance and risk management and to further develop her course on Chinese law, to be offered in the spring 2012 term. The grants were also awarded to enable her to present her work in progress, “Corporate Social Responsibility as Collaborative Governance? The PRC Approach in Comparative Perspective,” at Fudan University in June 2011.

Harper Ho’s article, “From Contracts to Compliance? An Early Look at Implementation Under China’s New Labor Legislation,” which was first published in 2009 in volume 23 of the Columbia Journal of Asian Law, has been reprinted in a volume edited by Perry Keller titled “Obligations and Property Rights in China,” forthcoming September 2011 from Ashgate.

Harper Ho also published a review of Ronald Brown’s book “Understanding Labor & Employment Law in China” in the November 2010 issue of the Journal of Asian Studies. She has also given the following presentations in recent months: n “U.S. Financial Reform & Corporate Governance: A Case Study of Intersecting Regulatory Roles,” Sun Yat Sen (Zhongshan) University, School of Law, Guangzhou, China, June 8, 2011. n “Corporate Social Responsibility as Collaborative Governance?

The PRC Approach in Comparative Perspective” Chinese University of Hong Kong, University Services Center, Hong Kong, June 3, 2011; Sun Yat Sen (Zhongshan) University, School of Government, Guangzhou, China, June 8, 2011; and Fudan University, School of International Relations and Public Affairs, June 17, 2011. n “The Role of Governments in Corporate Social Responsibility: What’s Law Got to Do with It?” Sun Yat Sen (Zhongshan) University, School of Government, Guangzhou, China, June 7, 2011; and Zhejiang University Guanghua School of Law, Hangzhou, China, June 20, 2011. n “The Debate over Judicial Independence in the United States: Judicial Appointment, Tenure, and Compensation,” Zhejiang University Guanghua School of Law, Hangzhou, China, June 23, 2011.

16 Stacy Leeds continued her work in various aspects of KU’s highly acclaimed Tribal Law & Government Program. Before departing in early July to become dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law, Leeds was busy in various other international-related activities: n She published “A Tribal Court Domestic Violence Case: The Story of an Unknown Victim, an Unreported Decision, and an All Too Common Injustice” in “Women and the Law Stories” (Foundation Press, Schneider & Wildman eds. 2011). n She made a presentation on “From the Classroom to the Courts: The Battlegrounds of Affirmative Action, Sex Discrimination, and Title IX,” as part of the conference “Women in Higher Education: Power, Progress and the Promise of Equality,” sponsored by the University of Minnesota School of Law, in October 2010. n She also presented observations on “The Tribal Consideration on the Implementation of the Law and Order Act of 2010,” with Professor Aliza Organick, to the 41st Annual American Indian Court Judges Association, Green Bay, Wis., in October 2010 (remotely via video link). n She spoke on “Professional Responsibility in Indian Country” at the 7th Annual American Indian Symposium, hosted by American Indian Council, Kansas City, November 2010. n She gave a talk titled “Past, Present and Future: Innovations in Tribal Property Law” at the 25th Annual Coming Together of the Peoples Conference, at University of Wisconsin School of Law, March 2011.

Leeds was the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lecturer (keynote speaker) for the 10th annual Women and the Law Conference on Feb. 18 at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego. The conference theme was “Gender Justice and Indian Sovereignty: Native American Women and the Law.” Stephen Mazza served as director for the 2010 KU Law summer study abroad program in Istanbul, where he also co-taught a course on International Tax

International Law at KU

Torrance, second from right, above, participates with his students in a snorkling expedition to an offshore coral reef in the Virgin Islands. Below: Torrance and his students assist with a bat survey.

Law with Gulsen Gedik, a Marmara University faculty member and a former Visiting Scholar at KU Law. In his capacity as associate dean for academic affairs – and now as dean of the law school – Mazza helped supervise the organization of many other aspects of the International and Comparative Law Program, including the CITA Visiting Scholars program, the Human Rights Symposium and other events. Mazza also published “Measuring Rates of Return on Lobbying Expenditures: An Empirical Case Study of Tax Breaks for Multinational Corporations,” in 25 Journal of Law and Politics 401 (2010), co-authored with Raquel Alexander and Susan Scholz, KU School of Business.

Lou Mulligan published an essay from his article ”Did the Madisonian Compromise Survive Detention at Guantanamo?” on the NYU Legal Workshop website.

John Peck continued his work in international and comparative water law. He participated in the 2011 National Environment, Energy and Resources Law Summit on “Water and the Law: Allocation, Trade, Use and Protection,” co-sponsored by the Canadian and

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International Law at KU

American bar associations April 6-9 in Banff, Alberta, Canada. His topic was “The Evolving Nature of Water Rights as Property Rights in the United States” in a session on “The Ownership and Allocation of Water.”

Andrew Torrance again taught his Biodiversity Law course in the Virgin Islands. This was the fifth year the course has been available to KU Law students, who study the islands’ problems with invasive species, coral reef degredation, overfishing, endangered species and more.

Torrance also made the following presentations: n “Property Rules, Liability Rules, Patents, and Innovation: One Experimental View of the Cathedral,” Canadian Law and Economics Association Annual Conference, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, September 2010. n “Synthetic Biology: Regulation as Food, Drug, Cosmetic or Device,” PhytoMetaSyn and Synthetic Biology GE3LS Workshop, University of Calgary Faculty of Law, Banff, Alberta, Canada, March 2011.

Torrance also helped organize the inaugural Patent Conference at KU Law in April. A critical mass of the world’s foremost patent scholars, including Torrance, presented their latest research at the conference, which is a cooperative effort between KU Law, the Chicago-Kent College of Law, University of San Diego School of Law and Boston College Law School. Future gatherings will rotate among the four schools, returning to KU in 2015.

Pioneering book aims to increase understanding of Islamic law Continued from page 1

justify terrorism.

“These distortions get introduced, typically by men, over the ages, and they tend to come up in three areas: women and women’s rights, religious freedom and the law of war,” Bhala said. “To differentiate inauthentic from authentic, you go back to the four foundations of the faith, which are the Quran, the Sunnah (the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad), the consensus of scholars, and analogical reasoning.”

Based on nearly three years of research and 10 years of teaching, the manuscript has been used to train not only law students and legal professionals, but also senior American government and military officials at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. Yet the book is also accessible to a lay audience, presuming no prior knowledge of Islam or Islamic law, nor any understanding of Arabic.

Bhala has been teaching Islamic law at KU since he arrived in the fall of 2003.

Professor Steve McAllister, then dean of the law school, encouraged Bhala to expand what had been just a section on Islamic law in his comparative law class at George Washington University into an entire course on the subject at KU.

“There are 1.3 billion Muslims in the world. Our KU law students – whether they’re doing banking law or family law locally, or trade and investment deals in big cities in the U.S. or abroad – are absolutely going to encounter Muslims and Islamic law,” Bhala said. “The hope is that the book prepares KU law students to practice law in the world that exists now and the world that is to come. Islam is a big part of that world.”

Demand for a book like “Understanding Islamic Law” throughout the English-speaking world is large and growing. The subject is taught at about half of the roughly 200 law schools in the U.S. accredited by the American Bar Association and many foreign law schools.

Bhala traveled the globe while conducting research for the book, visiting countries such as Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, India, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, France and the Philippines.

KU law students from Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Kansas also contributed to the book as Bhala’s research assistants.

Raised in London by an Indian father and a Canadian mother, Bhala approached the book from an ecumenical point of view. His parents exposed him to Hinduism, Sikhism and Presbyterianism, and he converted to Catholicism in 2001. His wife, Kara Tan Bhala, a lecturer in the KU School of Business, grew up in the Muslim country of Malaysia as a Buddhist, making her a religious minority, and attended Catholic school. They have traveled to nearly 50 countries, many of them predominantly Muslim.

Bhala hopes the book will help increase understanding of this great religious and legal tradition.

“I don’t want to see my daughter grow up in a world where every time she goes to the mall she has to go through security because of the risk of terrorism,” Bhala said. “I just thought that a book that teaches about this tradition and isolates inauthentic teachings and shows that they’re extreme – they’re not really in Islam – might help build understanding.”

Professor’s text surveys, compares trio of great legal traditions Continued from page 1

colleagues here at KU and elsewhere – particularly Wally Johnson, a long-time KU professor of Chinese who died a couple of years ago, and KU Law professor emeritus Francis Heller.”

Rice Distinguished Professor Raj Bhala sees the completion of Head’s book, released in the same week as his own book on Islamic law, as representative of the strength of the International and Comparative Law Program that KU offers.

“John and I constitute a unique duo among American law schools,” Bhala said. “Both of us have published leading texts in each of two related but separate fields – international business law and comparative law – and we both have extensive practical experience in international finance and overseas work. To top it off, we are both Marshall Scholars, and we see that part of our academic training as setting the stage for the careers we have pursued.”

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International Law at KU

SN A PSHOTS Two-Year J.D. graduate Deland Ji, of China, celebrates with her family after the KU Law Hooding Ceremony in May 2011. Below left: Incoming students in the S.J.D. (Doctor of Juridical Science) and Two-Year J.D. Program for Foreign-Trained Lawyers gather for an orientation session in August 2010.

Dean Stephen Mazza strolls through the Ortakoy District near the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul in July 2010, when he taught and served as director of KU Law’s study abroad program in Turkey.