I don’t do much writing about legal issues, I know. Winter term, when I am taking a class on Terrorism in The 21st Century (presumably focusing on the legalities), and spring term, when I am finally taking Constitutional Law, will probably give more opportunities. My subjects this term are of less general interest. Unless you want to hear me expound on how zoning codes as they now exist are eevvvilll….
But anyway, I just finished a doozy of a 14 page paper on this topic and I think it’s neat. It’s on “legal transplants.” Basically, a transplant is a legal concept or a law that one country writes, and other countries decide is a good idea so they copy it.
I wrote about this with regard to environmental law in Indonesia, a country with a very corrupt government and court system and an environmental mess. But their NGOs have the right to sue in court to enforce environmental laws, an idea that probably comes indirectly from the U.S. Clean Air Act. They also have a very crude form of a class action. And they’re now pushing for a version of the Freedom of Information Act. It’s a long, long ways from being effective, and it may never be. But it’s a start.
It’s stuff like this, more than flyovers or star studded tributes, that makes me feel patriotic.
Actually, you can make a living doing this sort of thing. I do, more or less.
Mind, there are a lot of pitfalls along the way. The more specific the law, the harder it is to cut-and-paste it.
Complex and (I think) fascinating topic.
Doug M.