<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal">+1  David and Phil</p>

<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>

<p class="MsoNormal">Since IRP is only meant to review if Board decisions are in
line and consistent with procedures and principles established, and as such
cannot challenge any Board decision, a Body that ensures that ICANN adheres to
international laws, and if its decisions are legitimate or not  and should be challenged should be (1) an
independent body, constituted by a process independent from ICANN and (2) and
have expertise in international law, and not just commercial arbitration</p>

<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>

<p class="MsoNormal">ICANN shouldn&#39;t be involved, or shouldn&#39;t have any influence
in IRP constitution or its working. We should have something like the
International Court of Justice or International Law Commission or something
that provides a bench which should be the appeals mechanism. There could often be other issues involved about possible non adherence to international laws, other than
matters of trade and commerce.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>

<p class="MsoNormal">Regards,</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">Rahul Sharma</p></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 16 March 2015 at 05:10, Phil Corwin <span dir="ltr">&lt;<a href="mailto:psc@vlaw-dc.com" target="_blank">psc@vlaw-dc.com</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">





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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:#1f497d">That’s exactly right, David, and what we just saw in the IRP brought by Booking.com over the finding that .Hotels and .Hoteis were in the same new gTLD contention
 set<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:#1f497d">The available accountability mechanisms were restricted to reviewing whether proper procedure had been observed, but could not reach the admittedly questionable
 merits of the original decision that found them confusingly similar at the gTLD level.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:#1f497d">So when should the merits of a Board decision be susceptible to modification or reversal, who has standing to bring such a challenge, and what should be the
 standard of review? Important questions, and not easy to answer.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:navy">Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:navy">Virtualaw LLC</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:navy">1155 F Street, NW</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:navy">Suite 1050</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:navy">Washington, DC 20004</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:navy">202-559-8597/Direct</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:navy">202-559-8750/Fax</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:navy">202-255-6172/cell</span></b><b><span style="color:navy"><u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:navy"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:navy">Twitter: @VlawDC</span></b><span style="color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:black"> <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:navy">&quot;Luck is the residue of design&quot; -- Branch Rickey</span></i></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<div>
<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #b5c4df 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> <a href="mailto:accountability-cross-community-bounces@icann.org" target="_blank">accountability-cross-community-bounces@icann.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:accountability-cross-community-bounces@icann.org" target="_blank">accountability-cross-community-bounces@icann.org</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>David Post<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, March 15, 2015 9:26 AM<span class=""><br>
<b>To:</b> Accountability Cross Community<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [CCWG-ACCT] Regarding ICANN&#39;s adherence to &quot;international law&quot;<u></u><u></u></span></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At 08:16 PM 3/14/2015, Bruce Tonkin wrote:<br>
<br>
<u></u><u></u></p><div><div class="h5">
<p class="MsoNormal">Under its Articles of Incorporation ICANN already operates â€œfor the benefit of the Internet community as a whole, carrying out its activities in conformity with relevant principles of international law and applicable international conventions
 and local law.”   See: <a href="https://www.icann.org/en/about/governance/articles" target="_blank">
https://www.icann.org/en/about/governance/articles</a><br>
<br>
The Independent Review Process allows parties to challenge Board decisions that are inconsistent with the Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws.<br>
<br>
[SNIP]<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
Just by way of clarification, while it&#39;s true that the IRP allows parties &quot;to challenge Board decisions that are inconsistent with the Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws,&quot; the IRP panel does not have the power to actually decide the question of whether or
 not a Board decision WAS inconsistent with the Articles or Bylaws.  See Bylaws, Art IV sec 3(4):<br>
<br>
&quot;The IRP Panel must apply a defined standard of review to the IRP request, focusing on:
<u></u><u></u></p>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">
<a name="14c1fd026a73d48c_IV-3.4a"></a>did the Board act without conflict of interest in taking its decision?;
<u></u><u></u></li><li class="MsoNormal">
<a name="14c1fd026a73d48c_IV-3.4b"></a>did the Board exercise due diligence and care in having a reasonable amount of facts in front of them?; and
<u></u><u></u></li><li class="MsoNormal">
<a name="14c1fd026a73d48c_IV-3.4c"></a>did the Board members exercise independent judgment in taking the decision, believed to be in the best interests of the company?&quot;
<u></u><u></u></li></ol>
</ol>
<p class="MsoNormal">That&#39;s a much narrower scope of inquiry than whether the Board acted outside the ByLaws, for example.<br>
<br>
David<br>
<br>
*******************************<br>
David G Post - Senior Fellow, Open Technology Institute/New America Foundation<br>
blog (Volokh Conspiracy) <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/david-post" target="_blank">
http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/david-post<br>
</a>book (Jefferson&#39;s Moose)  <a href="http://tinyurl.com/c327w2n%A0%A0%A0%A0%A0%A0" target="_blank">
http://tinyurl.com/c327w2n      </a><br>
music <a href="http://tinyurl.com/davidpostmusic" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/davidpostmusic</a> publications etc. 
<a>http://www.davidpost.com        </a><br>
******************************* <u></u><u></u></p>
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