Volume 8, Number 1 (January 1999)

ARTICLE

TOWARDS A MARKET ECONOMY:  SECURITY DEVICES IN CHINA, Guanghua Yu

TRANSLATIONS

COMMENTARY ON A VICTORY FOR "COMFORT WOMEN":  JAPAN'S JUDICIAL RECOGNITION OF MILITARY SEXUAL SLAVERY, Etsuro Totsuka  

 

THE "COMFORT WOMEN" CASE:  JUDGMENT OF APRIL 27, 1989, SHIMONOSEKI BRANCH, YAMAGUCHI PREFECTURAL COURT, JAPAN, Taihei Okada

 

COMMENTS

FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION SANCTIONS ON JAPANESE CARRIERS:  A CALL FOR FAIRER METHODS OF RESOLVING DISPUTES, Randy L. Baldemor

 

COMPARING APPLES TO ORANGES:  LESSONS FROM THE FAILURE OF U.S. APPLE EXPORTS TO JAPAN, Dustin R. Klinger

 

COMMUNITIES TAKE CONTROL OF CRIME:  INCORPORATING THE CONFERENCING MODEL INTO THE UNITED STATES JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM, Amanda Paye

 

THE POLITICS OF ADOPTIONS ACROSS BORDERS:  WHOSE INTERESTS ARE SERVED? (A LOOK AT THE EMERGING MARKET OF INFANTS FROM CHINA), Michelle Van Leeuwen

 

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE REFORM IN RUSSIA:  THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE 1996 RUSSIAN COMPANY LAW, Gregory Wolk

 

TOWARDS A MARKET ECONOMY: SECURITY DEVICES IN CHINA

  Guanghua Yu              

            Abstract:  From 1949 to 1978, China’s economy was centrally directed under a very rigid system of state planning.  Under the planning system, security devices were not widely used.  The government drew specific plans for enterprises and the Ministry of Finance used banks to allocate the funds to enterprises or projects.  The banks, however, did not have to screen projects and monitor the use of funds after disbursements.  They merely distributed the money to enterprises and collected the profits.  Recognizing the shortcomings of central planning based almost exclusively on public ownership over the means of production, China embarked on an economic reform program in 1978.  In 1993, China boldly declared that it would move towards a market oriented economy.  Security devices have played significant roles in China’s reform towards a market oriented economy.  Within a period of twenty years, China has developed a sophisticated understanding of the many security devices adopted in the West.  Secured transactions are now very popular.  The central focus of this article is to examine the various security devices under Chinese law and practice.  These security devices include the deposit, the lien, the dian, the mortgage, the pledge, and the guarantee.  The strengths and weaknesses of the legal provisions governing these security devices are also discussed.  As China does not fully guarantee the convertibility of its currency into foreign currencies, a separate discussion concerning the provision of security or guarantee to foreign entities is provided.

 

 

COMMENTARY ON A VICTORY FOR “COMFORT WOMEN”:  JAPAN’S JUDICIAL RECOGNITION OF MILITARY SEXUAL SLAVERY

Etsuro Totsuka

Abstract:  Despite international condemnation, Japan has done little to recognize its responsibility for forcing over 200,000 “Comfort Women” into sexual slavery for the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War.  However, in a landmark April 1998 decision, a Japanese court ordered Japan to compensate three Korean “Comfort Women.”  This was the first time that a Japanese court found in favor of foreign plaintiffs in a postwar compensation case.  The court held members of the Diet negligent under the State Tort Liability Act for failing to enact a compensation law for the “Comfort Women.”  Although the judgement will almost certainly be overturned, it should have widespread political impact.  The court’s extensive fact-finding regarding “Comfort Women” will be hard to challenge and should bolster the movement to have the Japanese Government compensate and restore dignity to the “Comfort Women” victims.

 

THE “COMFORT WOMEN” CASE:  JUDGMENT OF APRIL 27, 1998, SHIMONOSEKI BRANCH, YAMAGUCHI PREFECTURAL COURT, JAPAN

 Translated by Taihei Okada

         Abstract:  The Court found in favor of three Korean “Comfort Women” plaintiffs awarding monetary damages from the Defendant Japan for failure to pass legislation redressing the harm caused to the “Comfort Women.”

FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION SANCTIONS ON JAPANESE CARRIERS: A CALL FOR FAIRER METHODS OF RESOLVING DISPUTES

  Randy L. Baldemor

      Abstract:  On February 26, 1997, the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission imposed sanctions upon Japanese shipping carriers for allegedly restrictive port practices that existed in Japan.  The Federal Maritime Commission imposed the sanctions under Section 19 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920.  Section 19 gives the Federal Maritime Commission authority to make rules and regulations where conditions unfavorable to shipping in the foreign trade exist.  However, the Japanese government does not control the port practices in Japan.  The Japan Harbor Transportation Authority, a private conglomeration of labor unions, shippers, and other shipping entities in Japan, regulates port practices through collective-bargaining negotiations.  By using Section 19 authority to force a change in Japanese port practices, the U.S. Government unilaterally interfered in internal labor-management relations within a foreign country.  Such action is unfair, in light of the fact that such collective-bargaining agreements would be considered valid labor agreements in the United States.  In the future, the United States should pursue other alternatives, such as the World Trade Organization’s multilateral dispute resolution mechanism, to provide a fairer method of resolving such disputes.

 

COMPARING APPLES TO ORANGES: LESSONS FROM THE FAILURE OF U.S. APPLE EXPORTS TO JAPAN

Dustin R. Klinger

        Abstract: In 1994, the United States and Japan agreed to permit reciprocal fresh apple imports after decades of negotiations.   However, U.S. apple exports to Japan were a commercial failure.  Initial sales peaked in 1995, then quickly declined, and no U.S. apples have been shipped to Japan since 1997.  The United States blames unfair regulations for this failure.  This Comment reviews the history of the U.S.-Japan apple dispute, analyzes Japan’s apple import regulations, and concludes that those regulations aggravated, but did not cause the commercial failure of U.S. apple exports to Japan.  Instead, U.S. apple exports failed because of unexpected price competition from Japanese apples, insufficient marketing efforts, and consumer rejection of the only two varieties registered for export.  Unless these underlying problems are also addressed, efforts to reduce Japan’s regulatory restrictions on apples will not lead to successful exports.

 

COMMUNITIES TAKE CONTROL OF CRIME:  INCORPORATING THE CONFERENCING MODEL INTO THE UNITED STATES JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM

Amanda L. Paye

        Abstract:  Juvenile crime is one of the preeminent concerns of many Western societies today, yet the current retributive styles of justice that purport to “get tough” on youth crime have not been effective.  In defiance of the “get tough” rhetoric, and despite the lack of meaningful legislative recognition, communities are adjudicating juvenile cases through alternative programs based on the Restorative Justice theory.  Because of the promising effects of Restorative Justice on youth crime, New Zealand and Australia have taken the bold step of restructuring their juvenile justice systems via landmark legislation that incorporates an innovative “conferencing” model.  The model is a facilitated mediation in which offenders, victims, families, and community members participate in the resolution of the crime.  The United States should follow suit by adopting the elements of the New Zealand and Australian statutes to incorporate conferencing into its juvenile justice system.

 

 

THE POLITICS OF ADOPTIONS ACROSS BORDERS: WHOSE INTERESTS ARE SERVED?  (A Look at the Emerging Market of Infants from China) 

Michelle Van Leeuwen

        Abstract:  China is currently the leading source of babies for intercountry adoption in the United States.  This Comment explores the causes of this phenomenon, and the ability of the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption to serve the interests of both the abandoned and orphaned children, and the adoptive parents under these specific circumstances.

 

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE REFORM IN RUSSIA:  THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE 1996 RUSSIAN COMPANY LAW

Gregory Wolk

        Abstract:  During Post-Soviet privatization, widespread abuses of power in Russian corporations contributed to the economic malaise in that country.  These abuses are attributed to the domination of firms by senior management.  In January 1996, the Russian Company Law went into effect with very strong protections for minority shareholders as a means to curb these abuses.  This Comment analyzes the effectiveness of the Russian Company Law in this regard over the past three years.  It concludes that the law has been moderately successful given the extremely hostile conditions at the time of enactment, and thus, it is a model for other transitional economies in need of corporate governance reform.