Cornell Law School J.S.D./Doctoral Student Papers Copyright (c) 2013 Cornell Law Library All rights reserved. http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/dsp_papers Recent documents in Cornell Law School J.S.D./Doctoral Student Papers en-us Sun, 27 Jan 2013 14:47:02 PST 3600 Burger, Without Spies, Please: Notes from a Human Rights Researcher http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/dsp_papers/5 http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/dsp_papers/5 Fri, 29 Oct 2010 11:27:05 PDT Anna Valerie Dolidze Do We Need National Human Rights Institutions?: The Experience of Korea http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/dsp_papers/4 http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/dsp_papers/4 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 10:38:27 PDT Korea has experienced a drastic transformation in the "rule of law." During the colonization era, it was nearly impossible for Koreans to foster appropriate human rights. The Korean War further seriously damaged the human rights consciousness in Korea. Military governments ruled the country for 30 years, and it was not until the end of the 1980s that democracy returned. In 1998, Dae-Jung Kim who has been persecuted under the former military regime, was elected President and now exemplifies the progression of Korea "from a victim of human rights violations to a human rights leader." Following President Dae-Jung Kim's election promises addressing human rights, representatives of the numerous human rights NGOs gathered and established the National NGO Coalition for the Establishment of an Independent National Human Rights Commission (NHRCK). In 2001, the National Human Rights Commission was finally established under the mandate of the 2001 National Human Rights Commission Act. As an independent national institution with the sole purpose of promoting and protecting human rights, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea has made several remarkable achievements and contributions. This paper argues that just as the civil society movement in 1987 became the tipping point in the democratization process in Korea, the establishment of the NHRCK in 2001 was the tipping point for human rights. While there are still problems in the Commission, it has gradually changed the government's top-down approach toward human rights policy to a more horizontal and cooperative relationship. Overall, the Commission has become an active driver for the promotion and protection of human rights in Korea.

]]> Buhm-Suk Baek Lender Control Liability Functional Examination: The Firm and Heuristics http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/dsp_papers/2 http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/dsp_papers/2 Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:24:43 PDT Lender control is criticized due to problems arising out of conflict of interests among different priority claimholders. Recently, it has been defended as a way to make the reorganization process more efficient. This paper builds on previous research on the theory of the firm to show that lender control generates inefficiencies even in situations where there is only one layer of legal claimants. Specifically, the paper demonstrates that departing from the nexus of explicit contracts paradigm, used by both previous critics and supporters of lender control, allows to understand other sources of lender control inefficiencies based on its inability to incorporate full firm value into her decision making. The paper suggests that, in contrast to the dwarfed role courts give lender control liability, its proper function should be to reestablish efficient incentives for a controlling lender. Lastly, drawing from the behavioral law and economics literature, the paper shows that hindsight bias is not the only cognitive error distorting adjudications of lender control liability and due attention should be given to anchoring in damage assessments.

]]> Sergio A. Muro Corporations Myanmarese Refugees in Thailand: the Need for Effective Protection http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/dsp_papers/1 http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/dsp_papers/1 Tue, 05 Feb 2008 05:44:04 PST This paper deals with the Thai government's policy on refugees with a special focus on refugees from Myanmar. It is designed to give suggestions to international human rights NGOs working in the Thai-Myanmar border areas for the protection of the human rights of Myanmarese refugees. Most international human rights NGOs in this region are lobbying for the Thai government to ratify the Refugee Convention or at the very least, take active steps towards the protection of refugees under customary international law.

This paper is, however, concerned by these NGOs’ reliance on the ratification of the Convention as a solution to all the problems associated with refugee protection in the region. It is understandable that establishing a structured legal regime (positive law) is crucial. But, we are also in favor of the adoption of simultaneous measures, which, if successful, in the long-run will create an environment that is conducive to a law that is respected and effectively implemented. This paper concludes that irrespective of when the law on refugee protection is brought into force in Thailand, the recommended non-legal measures will go a long way in setting the stage for the law to be implemented efficiently at some point in the future.

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