Anne-Marie Mooney Cotter - Culture Clash: An International Legal Perspective on Ethnic Discrimination

An International Legal Perspective on Ethnic Discrimination

ANNE-MARIE MOONEY COTTER
The Social Security Disability Law Firm, USA

First published 2011 by Ashgate Publishing

Published 2016 by Routledge
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Copyright 2011 Anne-Marie Mooney Cotter

Anne-Marie Mooney Cotter has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Cotter, Anne-Marie Mooney.

Culture clash : an international legal perspective on ethnic discrimination.
1. Race discrimination Law and legislation English-speaking countries. 2. Race discrimination Law and legislation Cross-cultural studies.
I. Title
342.0873dc22

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cotter, Anne-Marie Mooney.

Culture clash : an international legal perspective on ethnic discrimination /by Anne-Marie Mooney Cotter.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9781409419365 (hardback : alk. paper)

1. Discrimination Law and legislation.
I. Title.
K3242.C678 2011
342.085dc22

2010034091

ISBN 9781409419365 (hbk)
ISBN 9781315575490 (ebk)

Dr. Anne-Marie Mooney Cotter, Esq. is a Montrealer, fluent in both English and French. She earned her Bachelors degree from McGill University at age 18, her Juris Doctor law degree from one of the leading civil rights institutions, Howard University School of Law, and her Doctorate degree (Ph.D.) from Concordia University, where she specialized in Political Economy International Law, particularly on the issue of equality. Her work experience has been extensive: Chief Advisor and later Administrative Law Judge appointed by the Prime Minister to the Veterans Review and Appeals Tribunal in Canada; Supervising Attorney and later Executive Director for the Legal Services Corporation in the United States; National Director for an environmental network in Canada; Faculty for Business Law at the Law School, Law Society of Ireland; Associate at the law firm of Blake Cassels and Graydon L.L.P. with a secondment as in-house counsel with Agrium Inc. in Canada; Attorney with the Disability Law Center of Alaska, and Solo Practitioner of the Social Security Disability Law Firm. She is also a gold medallist in figure skating. Dr. Cotter is the proud mother of Bill and Jill.

So we come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense weve come to our nations capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every [human] was to fall heir. This note was the promise that all would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness A check which has come back marked insufficient funds. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so weve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

In our universal quest for justice in general, and tolerance for ethnic differences in Culture Clash, we may learn from the immortal words of one of the greatest civil rights leaders and human rights activists Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This book, Culture Clash, focuses on the goal of ethnic equality, and the importance of the law and legislation to combat ethnic discrimination in these troubling times. The aim of this book is to better understand the issue of inequality and to improve the likelihood of achieving ethnic equality in the future and ending ethnic inequality. Culture Clash examines the primary role of legislation, which has an impact on the court process, as well as the primary role of the judicial system, which has an impact on the fight for ethnic tolerance. This is the eighth book in a series of books on discrimination law. Other titles in the series are Gender Injustice dealing with gender discrimination, Race Matters dealing with race discrimination, This Ability dealing with disability discrimination, Just A Number dealing with age discrimination, Heaven Forbid dealing with religious discrimination, Ask No Questions dealing with sexual orientation discrimination, and Pregnant Pause dealing with maternity discrimination. A similar approach and structure is used throughout the series to illustrate comparisons and contradictions in discrimination law.

Fundamental rights are rights which either are inherent in a person by natural law or are instituted in the citizen by the State. The ascending view of the natural law of divine origin over human law involves moral expectations in human beings through a social contract, which includes minimum moral rights of which one may not be deprived by government or society. The competing view is that courts operating under the Constitution can enforce only those guarantees which are expressed. Thus, legislation has an impact on the court system and on society as a whole. Internationally and nationally, attempts have been made to improve the situation of all ethnic groups and outlaw discrimination.

In looking at the relationship between ethnic inequality and the law, the book deals comprehensively with the issue of ethnic discrimination throughout its chapters by outlining important legislation in the area, with no particular position argued necessarily but with the intent to give the reader the knowledge to make up their own mind; also, for the most part, the countries examined were chosen because of their predominant common law background, because of their predominant use of the English language in legislation and case law, and because of their predominant role in the fight against discrimination: concludes this overview of ethnic inequality.

The globalization process and the various economic agreements have a direct impact on peoples lives as key players in the labor market today. This study seeks to comparatively analyze legislation impacting ethnic equality in various countries internationally. It also examines the two most important trade agreements of our day, namely the North American Free Trade Agreement and the European Union Treaty in a historical and compelling analysis of equality. Although an important trade agreement with implications for labor, the North American Free Trade Agreement has a different system from the European system in that it has no overseeing court with jurisdiction over the respective countries. Further, the provisions for non-discrimination in the labor process are contained in a separate document, the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation. On the other hand, the European Union Treaty takes a different approach, by directly providing for non-discrimination, as well as an overseeing court, that is, the European Court of Justice, and the treaty is made part of the domestic law of every Member State, weakening past discriminatory laws and judgments. Further, the European process actively implements ethnic equality by way of European Union legislation.