Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal

Abstract: This paper extends the empirical analysis of the determinants of judicial behavior by considering the Taiwanese case. Taiwan is a particularly interesting case because the establishment and development of constitutional review corresponds to...

Abstract: This article takes as its starting point the recent spate of unrest in rural China over government takings of rural, agricultural land. Though the popular and scholarly press has paid a great deal of attention to this issue, few analyses have...

Abstract: The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 ("EPBCA" or "the Act") is the Australian government's keystone piece of environmental legislation. The EPBCA provides a legal framework to protect and manage nationally and internationally...

Abstract: After voluntarily entering into a political union with the United States, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ("CNMI") administered its own immigration system and allowed thousands of guest workers to enter and remain indefinitely....

Abstract: Transformation of land rights from colonial to post-colonial systems in many developing countries was primarily undertaken by two different models: firstly, it was entirely governed by private law to allow voluntary transformation, and secondly,...

Abstract: The Right of Publicity is both a cultural based property and a corresponding right that protects the entertainment industry in the worldwide market. Discussion of the Right of Publicity, as a preliminary matter, must separate the policy-based...

Translator's note: The following is a translation of the Nagoya High Court's decision in Mori v. Japan,1 a case challenging the constitutionality of Japan's deployment of its Self-Defense Forces ("SDF") to the Middle East in connection with the United...

Abstract: Major urban redevelopment projects are currently on-going to beautify the urban landscape in Seoul, which is the most densely populated metropolitan area of South Korea. In this process, massive acquisition of homes has taken place, displacing...

Abstract: Problems with sub-prime loans roiled financial markets worldwide in 2007 and brought renewed attention to predatory lending practices by loan brokers in the United States. Questionable lending practices, however, plague consumer financial markets...

Faye Y. Park[dagger]Abstract. As South Koreans divorce closer to the retirement age, the issue of whether retirement allowance should be divided upon divorce has become more prevalent. The applicable law in the division of the retirement allowance in...

Abstract: Human embryonic stem cells have the potential to treat many physical and neurological disorders due to their unique ability to transform into any type of human cell. The process of deriving stem cells from human embryos, however, raises important...

Abstract: Facing a global physician shortage and high international emigration rates, developing countries are increasingly looking to mid-level health care providers to provide critical primary health care services. Mid-level providers have more training...

Abstract: Throughout the world, the dominant suffrage model has been voting rights based on citizenship. However, the trend of globalization, the increase of crossborder migration, and the advent of supranational institutions such as the European Union...

Abstract: Under China's company law regime, the power to represent the company resides not in the board of directors but in an individual person called a legal representative (fading daibiaoren) who is a senior officer of the company. The mechanism of...

Abstract: Australia has identified carbon capture and geo-sequestration ("CCS") as a partial solution to the problem of global warming. CCS involves capturing carbon dioxide from large point-source emitters, such as power plants, and injecting it deep...

Abstract: In 2007, Australia passed the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act ("NT Emergency Response Act"), ostensibly reacting to a recent report detailing exceedingly high levels of sexual abuse of Aboriginal children. This Comment argues...

Abstract. Both the South Korean and Thai governments encouraged consumer credit card usage to boost consumer spending and reinvigorate the national economy following the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Today, almost a decade following the crisis, the...

Abstract. Geographical indications identify the place of origin of a good and signify a distinctive quality, reputation, or other characteristic of the good that is essentially attributable to that geographic source. Besides serving as source-identifiers...

Abstract. A storm is brewing 100 kilometers above the Pacific Rim. The early 21st century finds the People's Republic of China in the throes of astronomical economic growth, national development, and military expansion. The United States, meanwhile,...

Abstract: Despite its increasing as a development tool microfinance still faces significant barriers in reaching the poorest of the poor. Microfinance programs often respond well to short-term needs but are not designed to handle the long-term struggles...

Abstract: In the aftermath of legal reforms designed to secure land tenure for farmers, women in rural China lost rights to land at marriage, divorce, and widowhood. Despite a central legal framework that facially protects women's property interests,...

Abstract. For more than a decade, Korean society has taken various legal steps to rectify past wrongs perpetrated by the old authoritarian-military regime. In 1995, the "Special Act Concerning the May 18 Democratization Movement" was passed in the National...

Translator's note: The Bortz case links a series of truly comparative moments. In the first, the unsuspecting foreigner crosses into another culture's blind spot, and emerges a very different person. Ana Bortz was shopping for a necklace in a Japanese...

Abstract: The majority of people in the developed world have the luxury of never having to address food shortages and malnutrition. In developing countries, however, ensuring food security presents greater challenges. Agricultural biotechnology has the...

Abstract: Chinese workers are taking advantage of the dispute resolution tools that legal reform has provided in the past decade, including mediation, arbitration, and litigation. Despite a history of resolving disputes through informal mediation, more...

Abstract: The issue of whether or not no-fault liability under the Consumer Protection Law ("CPL") applies in medical malpractice disputes has been a contentious battle in Taiwan. In Bo-Li Li v. Mackay Memorial Hospital, the Taipei District Court interpreted...

Abstract: Ever since China instituted its "open-door policy" (gai ge kai fang) in 1978, the historically autarkic and largely mysterious country has morphed through external interactions with foreign countries and corporations into a hotbed for foreign...

Abstract: In the spring of 2006, the Korea Fair Trade Commission ("KFTC") imposed a fine of approximately thirty-one million dollars and a cease-and-desist order against Microsoft Corporation ("Microsoft") for bundling its Windows Media Service ("WMS"),...

Abstract: For the past two decades, human rights groups, medical organizations, and the international media have excoriated China for procuring transplant organs from executed prisoners. This practice was first authorized under China's 1984 "Temporary...

Abstract: Prostitution has been rampant in South Korea, exposing tens of thousands of women to abuse and violence. Beginning in 2000, however, women's rights organizations spearheaded a legal reform campaign to change the nation's prostitution policy....

Abstract: In June 2006, Japan changed its approach to employment discrimination by amending the Equal Employment Opportunity Law ("EEOL"). The change was prompted by increased gender discrimination litigation, domestic economic pressures relating to...

Abstract: This article briefly analyzes the new Company Law and its effects on doing business in China. After a brief history of the previous version of the law, this article examines the many changes to management and articles of association, capital...

I. TRANSLATOR'S NOTEOn October 20, 2003, Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Ltd., Co. ("Baidu"), a Nasdaq-listed company known as the "Google of China,"1 filed a suit against its competitor Beijing 3721 Technology Ltd. Co. ("3721")2 in Beijing...

Abstract: Maritime terrorism on the Pacific Ocean is a growing threat. Terrorists can take advantage of widening gaps in the world's maritime security regime. The current incarnation of the legal framework surrounding the nonflag-state right of visit...

Abstract: Increasing numbers of Thai workers are coming to the United States using "H-2A" temporary agricultural worker visas. Compared with their Latin American counterparts, Thai H-2A workers are more vulnerable to poor working conditions and other...

Abstract: While enjoying the tremendous economic benefit brought by the Internet to the nation, China has been attempting to update its intellectual property law to address online copyright infringement issues. The current legal framework, which premises...

Abstract: In July 1997, the British colony of Hong Kong was returned to the People's Republic of China ("PRC"). It became a Special Administrative Region ("SAR") of the PRC in accordance with the concept of "one country, two systems" embodied by the...

Abstract: As developing countries embrace market economies, a primary source of investment is in the form of foreign direct investment through action by Multinational Enterprises ("Multinationals") inside a country's borders. Activity by a Multinational...

Abstract: Water is widely recognized as an essential element to sustain life, yet attaining universal access to clean drinking water remains a perplexing issue throughout the lesser-developed world. In 1997, with backing from private investment and the...

Abstract: Globalization has led to the propagation of traditional cultural expressions of indigenous peoples outside their communities. Consequently, the question of how these expressions should be protected has acquired heightened significance. Commentators...

Abstract: French constitutional practices suggest that cohabitation between the president and the prime minister, where the latter is the leader of the opposition majority in parliament, creates a workable governmental relationship. Taiwan's constitutional...

Abstract: In the summer of 2005, the Chinese state-owned oil company CNOOC, Ltd. ("CNOOC") attempted to purchase American-owned Unocal Corporation on very favorable terms. There was a serious problem with the merger, however-the U.S. Congress was not...

Abstract: In May of 2005, the China International Economic Trade Arbitration Commission ("CIETAC") was updated with new rules designed to bring it into conformity with international arbitration standards. The rules were the most recent efforts by the...

Abstract: Global concern persists about the use of genetically modified crops ("GM crops"). This concern originates from the divergent perspectives of nations with a stake in either the production or consumption of GM crops. Proponents of GM crops in...

Abstract: Massive peaceful demonstrations ended the authoritarian regime of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines twenty years ago. The "people power" uprising was called a democratic revolution and inspired hopes that it would lead to the consolidation...

Translated by Eugene Kim[double dagger]I. INTRODUCTIONOn September 15, 2004, the South Korean press gave extensive news coverage to a series of private individual "Question & Answer" session meetings which the Capital Group Companies Fund ("Capital...

Abstract: In recent years, the United States has drastically increased the number of disorders screened through its newborn screening programs. This increase is made possible by the adoption of new a technology, the tandem mass spectrometer ("MS/MS"),...

Abstract: South Korea's World Trade Organization membership requires the "Land of the Morning Calm" to liberalize its legal market. South Korea submitted its proposal for liberalization in the spring of 2003 and planned to begin opening its legal market...

Abstract: The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission ("ATSIC") opened its doors in 1990 with the main objectives of advising the Australian Commonwealth Government ("Government") on Indigenous policy and providing services for Indigenous communities...

Abstract: Recent changes in Japan's civil society together with the current political and economic environment have created the first opportunity to develop a viable nonprofit sector that represents citizen interests and allows for public participation...