Pictured, from left to right: Fernando Guerrero, James Newsom, Tenille Brown, Matthew Curtis, Marianela Romero, Marcelo Garcia and Andrew Tuck (Not pictured: Juan Harrera, Melissa Elwyn).

For each of the past four years, the annual NACLE conference has served to showcase the research and writing skills of outstanding students from NACLE member schools. Each NACLE member school may select an outstanding student research paper written during the previous year, on any subject relating to comparative North American law, or NAFTA. The student whose paper is selected receives an expense-paid trip to the NACLE annual conference to present the paper to the professors and students in attendance, receiving comments and sparking lively debate. This year, there were nine outstanding NACLE student papers covering a wide range of subjects. The paper titles and their authors are listed below; with the author’s permission, most of these papers are available on the NACLE web site, but readers should be aware that the paper should not be cited, or reproduced, without the author’s permission.

Matthew Curtis - University of British Columbia
On the Trail to a New Approach in Resolving Cross-Border Pollution Disputes
Matthew Curtis kicked off Friday’s presentations, discussing legal issues surrounding Teck Cominco’s (a Canadian company) ongoing legal dispute with the EPA regarding the cross-border pollution of one of its smelting plants. Though a student at the U of British Columbia, Matthew traveled from East Asia to NACLE’s New York workshop, as he was finishing an internship in Singapore.

Juan Herrerra - Dalhousie
Mexico's Implementation of  the Biodiversity Convention in the GMO Era
Juan Harrera, a doctoral candidate at Dalhousie Law School, presented a paper on Mexico’s implantation of the United Nations biodiversity convention in the era of genetically modified food products. In addition to covering the international law of GMO products, Juan analyzed Mexico’s efforts to implement the convention’s requirements, despite the lack of resources devoted to such regulation. The subject is important in Mexico, which is known for the biodiversity of its territory.

Mariela Romero Aceves - CIDE
Juvenile Justice in Mexico and in the United States of America
A graduating law student from CIDE, Marianela conducted a comparative analysis of the systems of juvenile justice in Mexico and in the United States, viewing each system in the context of each country’s particular legal traditions.

Andrew Tuck - University of Arizona
International Commercial Arbitration in the Americas
Andrew Tuck, a third-year student at the University of Arizona, presented an insightful study of International commercial arbitration in the Americas, with an emphasis on the finality of arbitration awards.

James Newsom - ITESM
That’s My Water, Es Mi Agua
James Newsom is a U.S. – trained lawyer who is completing a Master of International Trade Law degree at Monterrey Tec. His paper concerned the water disputes between United States and Mexico, focusing on the 1944 Water Treaty between the two countries. His presentation showed how the treaty continues to generate conflict and uncertainty sixty years after the treaty was signed.

Fernando Guerrero and co-author Diego Cervantes- UP
Fernando is completing his undergraduate law degree at Universidad Panamericana. He analyzed the recent Law on Television adopted by the Mexican Congress, which assigned a disproportionate portion of the available broadcast band to two large Mexican corporations. Fernando discussed the anti-competitive effects of the legislation.

Tenille Brown - Ottawa
International law and Domestic Sovereignty
Tenille Brown is a doctoral candidate from Australia, who is pursuing her doctoral studies at the University of Ottawa. She presented her paper on the history of international law and the legal rights of indigenous peoples, incorporating a comparative look between the laws of the United States and Canada, with an emphasis on the need to recognize some right of self-determination for indigenous peoples.

Marcelo Garcia - McGill
Jurisdiction Issues in Cross-Border Internet Defamation
Marcelo Garcia, a Mexican citizen, presented a thought-provoking paper on current jurisdictional issues presented by internet defamation in the US and Canada, offering a new theory of foreseeability, crucial in the determination of liability in tort for defamation.

Melissa Elwyn - Fordham
DR-CAFTA: A Panacea For International Trade or a Big Debt Liability For Central America?
Melissa Elwyn’s paper on CAFTA-DR provides an analysis of the benefits and detriments of Central American countries’ entry into a free trade agreement with the United States. She was not able to present her paper due to her clerkship commitment, but her paper is available for review on the NACLE website.

The student presenters fielded questions about the research papers, and students and professors alike challenged students’ assertions, creating a lively intellectual atmosphere from which everyone benefited. Several of the papers are currently being considered for publication, and in the NACLE business meeting, there was discussion of the possibility of publishing future NACLE student papers in an annual symposium. In any case, the presentation of student papers sparks interest in hot topics of North American comparative law, and helped energize all the participants.