With Horatia Muir Watt (Sciences Po Law School)
BOOK SYNOPSIS
The book argues that we live in a world in which the victims of cross-border mass torts de facto lack a court to turn to in order to pursue legal action against multinational corporations responsible for disasters, atrocities, and other harms. And even though tort victims ultimately receive no redress, corporations must nonetheless spend large sums to defend against sprawling, parallel litigations. The only way to provide a fair, legitimate, and efficient process for both victims and corporations is to create an International Court of Civil Justice (ICCJ). The book presents both justice-based and economics-based arguments in favor of an ICCJ. Closely associated with the economic arguments is a broader explanation for why the proposal is not only timely but also, perhaps counterintuitively, politically viable. The book also provides a procedural and institutional design for such a court, addressing such issues as personal and subject-matter jurisdiction, remedies, appeal, preclusion, and judicial independence.
BIO
Professor Maya Steinitz teaches civil procedure, international arbitration, international business transactions, and corporations. Her research focuses on a wide range of topics including the intersection of civil litigation and corporate law, public and business international law, transnational dispute resolution, and the global legal profession. She has taught courses in comparative law, international law, and international dispute resolution at Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School, Tel Aviv University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Prior to joining academia she served as a litigator at Latham & Watkins, LLP and Flemming, Zulack & Williamson LLP and clerked for the Hon. Esther Hayut, currently the Chief Justice of the Israeli Supreme Court. Professor Steinitz remains active in international dispute resolution and regularly serves as an arbitrator, expert, and counsel in international and domestic arbitrations.
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