Spotlight on Sovereignty
Federalist Society's London Chapter Examines Judicial Activism in the EU
March 10, 2010
On March 8, the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy's London Lawyers Chapter sponsored a panel discussion on the threats to the sovereignty of European Union member countries posed by a European Court of Human Rights that is becoming more active in deciding controversial social issues not falling within the scope of the European Convention on Human Rights that is the subject of the Court's authority. As moderator of the panel discussion, Jim Kelly, Director of International Affairs for the Federalist Society, delivered the following remarks.
Inequality Among Equals in the UN Regular Budget
HUMAN RIGHTS, HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS
March 5, 2010
A large gap exists between the responsibilities of member-states and their duties towards the budgetary health of the UN.
European Court Rejects Poland’s Laws Protecting Traditional Marriage
March 3, 2010
In a stunning rejection of national sovereignty and the sanctity of traditional marriage, on March 2, 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ("ECHR") held that Polish authorities unlawfully discriminated against a man on the basis of his sexual orientation by denying him the right to succeed to the tenancy of his deceased partner's apartment. In doing so, the ECHR explained that the European Convention on Human Rights (the "Convention") "is a living instrument, to be interpreted in light of the present-day conditions." So much for the Article 18 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, which provides that: "Marriage being a union of a man and a woman, as well as the family, motherhood and parenthood shall be placed under the protection and care of the Republic of Poland." It appears that a group of ECHR judges sitting in Strasbourg, France is one threat against marriage that the drafters of the Polish Constitution never contemplated.
Council of Europe and EU Treaty Negotiations Must Respect Sovereignty
February 24, 2010
Without respect for subsidiarity, EU's accession to ECHR poses problems for national sovereignty.
World Economic Forum Promotes a Global Governance Agenda and Network
February 23, 2010
The WEF is in the process of transforming itself from an annual business forum into a year-round global governance think-tank and public policy organization.
SEC Uses Disclosure Requirements to Promote Climate Change Agenda
February 17, 2010
SEC's interpretive release providing guidance on climate change matters, if followed, would force U.S. public companies to play an expensive guessing game on the possible physical, legal, regulatory, and financial effects of climate change on their business operations.
UN Task Force Ignores Member States to Globally Govern Access to Medicines
ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, HUMAN RIGHTS
February 3, 2010
A UN Human Rights Council task force used a 2009 technical mission to the WHO to discuss how to implement a WHO global strategy on public health in a manner that promotes a human right to health that member states specifically deleted from the final text of the global strategy.
UN Interference in Domestic Affairs Evidences Need for Transparency
HUMAN RIGHTS, LAW & JUSTICE, SOCIETY & CULTURE
January 27, 2010
The most recent session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee) provides further evidence of the United Nations' willingness to advance an agenda of global governance through its involvement in governmental affairs and domestic policy, often with little or no transparency.
End of UN Internal Corruption Unit Shows Folly of Human Security Taxes
HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS, HUMAN RIGHTS
January 20, 2010
According to a recent Associated Press review, the United Nations has cut back sharply on investigations into corruption and fraud within its ranks, shelving cases involving the possible theft or misuse of millions of dollars. Unfortunately, at the same time, the UN, Japan, and the United States of America are promoting a broad "human security" agenda, which, if the World Health Organization adopts the global taxation proposals of one of its expert working groups, would result in billions of dollars flowing into the UN public health agency's coffers.
Babel Impulse Spurs WHO Global Health Equity Research Agenda
PROPERTY RIGHTS, ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH, SOCIETY & CULTURE
January 13, 2010
The beginning of the 21st century is being marked by global governance ambitions arising from the Babel Impulse-the inherent desire of an elite cadre of world leaders and bureaucrats to articulate and build a tower of secular ethical norms designed to relieve the world of wealth disparities and human suffering that they attribute to the refusal of developed nations and transnational businesses to share the knowledge and means to generate wealth. This modern-day Tower of Babel is being built by a matrix of human rights governance networks that generate research and soft law norms that, in theory, will settle to form the hard law foundation of perpetual peace and security.
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