Volume 25.1

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25.1
Theorizing Constitutional Change in East Asia
John Gillespie
Professor (research), Department of Business Law, Monash University.

How do constitutions change in response to social problems? This Article explores why constitutions in three East Asian countries, namely Japan, Indonesia, and China, changed rapidly during times of social crisis and then incrementally evolved during periods of stability. It looks for explanations in historical institutionalism, a novel theory developed to understand the factors that give rise to the creation, persistence, and change of political institutions, such as constitutions.

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25.1
The New Gender Perspective: The Dawn of Intersectional Autonomy in Women's Rights
Rosa Celorio
Burnett Family Associate Dean and Distinguished Professorial Lecturer for International and Comparative Law and Policy, George Washington University Law School. Former Senior Human Rights Attorney, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

I am grateful to Vitalina Buchatska, Elizabeth Fuller, and Laura Okeyo for their invaluable research support. My deep gratitude to the participants of the faculty workshop at George Washington University Law School. Special thanks to the wonderful editors of the Chicago Journal of International Law. The views expressed are solely those of the author.

International human rights jurisprudence has increasingly mandated state action which integrates a gender perspective, taking into consideration the discriminatory norms, harmful social practices, stereotypes, and violence that women have and still suffer. A range of supranational bodies have issued case decisions promoting the adoption of gender-sensitive legislation, policies, programs, and the establishment of administration of justice systems well-trained and equipped to address women’s rights violations. This article discusses how the conception of this gender perspective has evolved over time and is now centered on the pursuit of autonomy for women.

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25.1
Navigating State Interventions: The Pivotal Role of PTAs in Modern Trade Conflicts
Andrew Mitchell
Professor; Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of Law, Monash University; PhD (Cantab); LLM (Harv); Grad Dip Intl L, LLB (Hons), BCom (Hons) (Melb); Email: <andrew.mitchell@monash.edu>; orcid.org/0000-0001-8399-8563.

I want to thank Eduardo Díaz Gavito, Gary Horlick, Joseph Wira Koesnaidi, James Munro and Weihuan Zhou for helpful comments on an earlier draft. 

In international trade, State interventions often challenge the efficacy of traditional anti-dumping and countervailing measures under the World Trade Organization (WTO) framework. This article examines the limitations of the Anti-Dumping Agreement and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement) in addressing State interventions, such as export taxes, export bans on raw materials, and non-commercial activities by State-owned enterprises.

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25.1
Corporate Creditors Protection Rights Worldwide: Towards a Convergence of Strategies
Samuel Biresaw, Mia Rahim, and Michael Adams
LLB with Honors (Distn.), LLM in Business Law (Distn.), LLM in International Commercial and Business Law (UEA, UK), First-class Honors, PhD Candidate in Law (University of New England, School of Law); Associate Professor of Law (University of New England, School of Law); Professor of Law (University of New England, School of Law).

We want to thank the CJIL Editorial Team.

Companies rely on creditors for funding to operate, making it crucial to have legislative and procedural frameworks that protect the interests of these creditors. This article engages in a comparative analysis of corporate creditors’ protection rights on a global scale, emphasizing the Ethiopian case. The study contends that while countries may adopt distinct approaches to safeguard corporate creditors, and variations may exist in the strictness of rules across different strategies, nations have a universal commitment to implement strategies to ensure adequate protection for creditors’ interests.

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Comment
25.1
Kids, No Phones at the Dinner Table: Analyzing the People’s Republic of China’s Proposed “Minor Mode” Regulation and an International Right to the Internet
Tucker Craven
B.A. 2021, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; J.D. Candidate 2025, The University of Chicago Law School.

I would like to thank Professor Tom Ginsburg as well as the editorial board and staffers of The Chicago Journal of International Law for their contributions in shaping this piece.

In 2023, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) released a draft regulation restricting minors’ screen time and internet use, which imposes a significant burden not only on children, but also on technology and internet companies that wish to continue operating in the country. However, the PRC’s proposed minor mode regulation is neither an extreme departure from the types of restrictions neighboring countries in East Asia have imposed on children’s screen time and internet use, nor its own previous regulations in this area. As such, it is unlikely to have violated a norm of customary international law against restricting children’s internet use.

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25.1
Subsidiarity and the Best Interests of the Child
Lindsay Saligman
B.A. Columbia University, J.D. Candidate at the University of Chicago.

I would like to thank the board of CJIL and Professor Adam Chilton for their mentorship on this Comment. I am additionally grateful to my peers and Professors James Silk and Muna Ndulo for their feedback on this Comment as a part of the Salzburg Cutler Fellowship Program.

In the context of adoption, subsidiarity is the principle that children should remain with their birth families whenever possible, and whenever not possible, that in-country placements should take precedence over intercountry adoption. This Comment looks at the specific meaning of subsidiarity in the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. It highlights that the convention does not require intercountry adoption be a last resort, but rather that “due consideration” be given to placements “within the State of origin.” It reveals a broad trend of these countries implementing stricter and stricter conceptions of subsidiarity over time and concludes that presently all three countries go far beyond what the convention requires, potentially in ways that undermine the best interests of the child.

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Comment
25.1
Investor State Dispute Settlement and Net Zero Initiatives: Case Study of Germany’s Coal Exit Auctions
Raam Tambe
BA, Dartmouth College; JD/MBA Candidate, The University of Chicago Law School and The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

I would like to thank the editors of the Chicago Journal of International Law for their assistance with this comment.

This Comment provides a comprehensive legal analysis of the potential investor-state disputes arising from Germany’s groundbreaking Coal Exit Act, which utilizes reverse auctions to phase out coal-fired power plants. It investigates potential breaches of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), delves into Germany’s possible defenses to a prospective claim, and concludes by proposing a more efficient buyout transaction structure that leverages carbon markets to enable comparable emissions reductions at a lower marginal cost of abatement and reduce the state’s exposure to ISDS claims.

CJIL Online 3.2

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CJIL Online 3.2
The Cathedral of Looted Goods: Enforcing Cultural Property Repatriation with Calabresi and Melamed’s Entitlement Protection Rules
Jennifer Kuo

I am endlessly grateful for the staff of the Chicago Journal of International Law, my faculty advisor Professor Lee Fennell, and my family and friends for their continued support, assistance, and guidance throughout the process of writing this Comment.

Normatively, most nations agree that holding onto artifacts belonging to other peoples is both morally and legally unconscionable, but practically, there has been no enforcement scheme under international law for artifacts to finally return home. Calabresi and Melamed’s property, liability, and inalienability rules could be justified and applied to repatriation disputes through consideration of a mixture of economic efficiency, distributive, and justice motivations. Using this framework to create a model of variable protection of international law would create a comprehensive enforcement scheme that resolves the fundamental enforcement problem that international law faces in facilitating repatriation.