Saturday, May 3, 2014

Pellet: Le droit international entre souveraineté et communauté

Alain Pellet (Université de Paris Ouest - Nanterre La Défense - Law) has published Le droit international entre souveraineté et communauté (Pedone 2014). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Bien qu’Alain Pellet se défende d’être un « faiseur de systèmes », ses articles, écrits au fil du temps, parfois au gré de la plume, et enrichis par sa pratique considérable du droit international, n’en révèlent pas moins des positions doctrinales assurées, dont le fil d’Ariane est constitué par la tension permanente entre « souveraineté » et « communauté », qui imprègne le droit international contemporain.

La communauté se révèle dans l’ouverture de l’ordre international à des sujets autres que les États – aux organisations internationales, toujours plus nombreuses, bien sûr, mais aussi aux personnes privées ; dans un processus de formation des règles de droit international débarrassé du dogme de l’exclusivisme de la volonté étatique ; dans la centralisation du recours à la force dans le cadre défini par la Charte des Nations Unies et sous l’égide du Conseil de sécurité ; dans l’objectivation de la responsabilité internationale et l’affermissement de la notion de jus cogens.

La « souveraineté » reste cependant un concept à la fois nécessaire et structurant : l’État est toujours le sujet central de l’ordre international ; la source conventionnelle n’a pas été délogée par les autres formes de law-making ; les organes des Nations Unies ne sont ni législateurs universels, ni gardiens de la licéité internationale ; l’objectivation de la responsabilité n’a pas entraîné la disparition de la « justice privée » que sont les contre-mesures ; le concept de crime international, consacré par les Articles de la CDI sur la responsabilité internationale de l’État au prix d’un euphémisme, doit encore prouver son potentiel. Et les ordres juridiques se définissent toujours par rapport à l’État : nationaux, international, ou a-nationaux.

Tel est le tableau du droit international contemporain qu’Alain Pellet dépeint : une approche à la fois lucide et pédagogique, une synthèse des grands défis auxquels le droit international de ce temps est confronté, ancrée dans le présent, mais tournée vers l’avenir, car elle ne néglige ni les promesses d’évolution que portent les concepts communautaires, ni les contraintes systémiques avec lesquelles celles-ci doivent composer. Si la doctrine d’Alain Pellet, empreinte d’empirisme mais discrètement imprégnée des valeurs sur lesquelles il n’accepte pas de transiger, doit porter un nom, peut-être peut-on oser l’« objectivisme pragmatique » ?

Friday, May 2, 2014

New Issue: Human Rights & International Legal Discourse

The latest issue of Human Rights & International Legal Discourse (Vol. 8, no. 1, 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • M. Wewerinke, The Role of the UN Human Rights Council in Addressing Climate Change
  • D. Cubie, Promoting Dignity for All: Human Rights Approaches in the Post-2015 Climate Change, Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development Frameworks
  • D. Conway, Collectively Cooking One Broth: Seeking Greater Integration between the Climate Change and Human Rights Regimes on REDD+
  • E. V. Koppe, Climate Change and Human Security during Armed Conflict
  • Y. Nahlawi, Self-Determination and the Right to Revolution: Syria

New Volume: The Global Community: Yearbook of International Law and Jurisprudence

The latest volume of The Global Community: Yearbook of International Law and Jurisprudence (Vol. 2013) is out. Contents include:
  • In Focus – Global Policies and Law
    • Robin Mansell, Global Media and Communication Policy: Turbulence and Reform
    • Francesco Seatzu, PRIME Finance Arbitration-A Role Model for the Settlement of International Financial Disputes?
  • Articles
    • Michael Bohlander, Blood Music on Darwin's Radio-Musings on Social Network Data Transparency, Cyborg Technology, Science Fiction and the Future Perception of Human Rights,
    • Frank J. Garcia, Of Cosmopolis and Community: Globalization and Global Justice
  • Notes and Comments
    • Elisa Baroncini, The "Dolphin-Safe" Labelling Scheme under Consideration in the WTO Dispute Settlement System: The Appellate Body Report in the Case US - Tuna II (Mexico)
    • Steven W. Becker, The "Presumption of Impartiality" and other Errors in the International Criminal Court's Plenary Decision Concerning Judicial Disqualification of the President of the Court in The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo
    • Peter H. Sand, The Chagos Archipelago Cases: Nature Conservation Between Human Rights and Power Politics
  • Forum - Jurisprudential Cross-Fertilization: An Annual Overview
    • Module-HUMAN RIGHTS LAW-The Relationship Between Courts of Human Rights and Their Relationship with the ICJ or Another International Court or Arbitral Tribunal
    • Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade, COMMENT AND ANALYSIS, Contemporary International Tribunals: Their Continuing Jurisprudential Cross-Fertilization, in Their Common Mission of Imparting Justice
    • Module-ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL LAW-The Relationship Between International Judicial Bodies in Economic Matters and Their Relationship with the ICJ or Another International Court or Arbitral Tribunal
    • Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann, COMMENT AND ANALYSIS, Competing "Principles of Justice" in Multilevel Commercial, Trade and Investment Adjudication: Need for More "Judicial Dialogues" and Legal "Cross-Fertilization"
    • Brett Williams, Sophie Crowe, Odette Murray & Weihuan Zhou, Some Selected Aspects of the Relationship Between World Trade Organization Law and General Public International Law
    • Module-DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL LAW-National Court Decisions on Matters of International Law and Their Relationship with Decisions of the ICJ or Another International Court or Arbitral Tribunal
    • Oreste Pollicino, COMMENT AND ANALYSIS, Internet Law: The European and Constitutional Implications of the Google v. Vividown Saga

New Issue: World Trade Review

The latest issue of the World Trade Review (Vol. 13, no. 2, April 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Tenth report of the American Law Institute project on World Trade Organization Case Law covering 2012
    • Chad P. Bown & Petros C. Mavroidis, Introduction
    • Jeffrey L. Dunoff & Michael O. Moore, Footloose and duty-free? Reflections on European Union – Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Footwear from China
    • Chad P. Bown & Mark Wu, Safeguards and the perils of preferential trade agreements: Dominican Republic–Safeguard Measures
    • Thomas J. Prusa & Edwin Vermulst, China – Countervailing and Anti-dumping Duties on Grain Oriented Flat-rolled Electrical Steel from the United States: exporting US AD/CVD methodologies through WTO dispute settlement?
    • Dukgeun Ahn & Patrick Messerlin, United States – Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Shrimp and Diamond Sawblades from China: never ending zeroing in the WTO?
    • Damien Neven & Alan Sykes, United States – Measures Affecting Trade in Large Civil Aircraft (Second Complaint): some comments
    • Petros C. Mavroidis & Kamal Saggi, What is not so Cool about US–COOL Regulations? A critical analysis of the Appellate Body's ruling on US–COOL
    • Meredith A. Crowley & Robert Howse, Tuna–Dolphin II: a legal and economic analysis of the Appellate Body Report
    • Tomer Broude & Philip I. Levy, Do you mind if I don't smoke? Products, purpose and indeterminacy in US – Measures Affecting the Production and Sale of Clove Cigarettes
    • Marco Bronckers & Keith E. Maskus, China–Raw Materials: a controversial step towards evenhanded exploitation of natural resources
    • Bernard Hoekman & Niall Meagher, China – Electronic Payment Services: discrimination, economic development and the GATS

New Volume: Anuario Hispano-Luso-Americano de Derecho Internacional

The latest volume of the Anuario Hispano-Luso-Americano de Derecho Internacional (Vol. 21, 2013) is out. Contents include:
  • Ponencias del XXVII Congreso
    • El desarrollo del Derecho de desastres: el presente es de lucha Roberto P. Aponte Toro
    • El sistema interamericano y la defensa de la democracia Jean Michel Arrighi
    • Sociedad de la información y mercado global: retos para el Derecho internacional privado Pedro Alberto de Miguel Asensio
    • La corresponsabilidad económica de los Estados ribereños en la conservación de los cursos de agua internacionales Gustavo Orellana
  • Comunicaciones y artículos
    • Antonio Augusto Cançado Trindade, El difícil camino del acceso de la persona humana a la justicia en el contencioso interestatal ante la Corte Internacional de Justicia
    • Javier Chinchón Alvarez, El Comité contra la Desaparición Forzada: primeros pasos, retos y solución
    • Clara Isabel Cordero Alvarez, Eficacia de las decisiones judiciales extranjeras y daños punitivos
    • Miguel Angel Espeche Gil, Ejercicio efectivo de la democracia representativa en el sistema interamericano
    • María del Luján Flores & Carlos Sapriza, Un modelo matemático del Tribunal Europeo de Protección de los Derechos Humanos a partir de una análisis jurídico empírico
    • Marta Iglesias Berlanga, El transporte marítimo internacional. Una perspectiva económica, medioambiental y jurídica
    • Hugo Llanos Mansilla, El caso del río Silala o Siloli. Diferendo chileno-boliviano
    • Carmen Otero García-Castrillón, El Derecho internacional privado de la Unión Europea en la determinación de la responsabilidad civil por daños al medio ambiente
    • Leonel Pereznieto Castro, La revolución del Derecho internacional privado en el mundo de hoy
    • Graciela R. Salas, La defensa de la democracia, el sistema interamericano y MERCOSUR
    • José Antonio Tomás Ortiz de la Torre, Retrospectiva y modernidad del Derecho internacional privado boliviano: del siglo XIX al proyecto de ley de 2009
    • Amalia Uriondo de Martinoli, Difamación a través de Internet. Vacío legal argentino
    • Juan Carlos E. Vargas A. & Eduardo Rodríguez-Weil, La inmunidad de jurisdicción y ejecución de las organizaciones internacionales: un tema antiguo con relevancia actual

New Volume: Anuario Colombiano de Derecho Internacional

The latest volume of the Anuario Colombiano de Derecho Internacional (Vol. 7, 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Sebastián Machado Ramírez, Límites a la exoneración de responsabilidad en el derecho internacional: la selección y priorización de casos en la jurisdicción nacional
  • Jimena Murillo Chávarro, The Right to Water in the Case-Law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
  • Luz Ángela Patiño Palacios, Fundamentos y práctica internacional del derecho a la consulta previa, libre e informada a pueblos indígenas
  • Manuel F. Quinche & Rocío Peña, La dimensión normativa de la justicia transicional, el sistema interamericano y la negociación con los grupos armados en Colombia
  • Gabriela García Batista Lima, Les diverses formes pour la compensation dans la protection juridique de l’environnement: un défi pour l’épistémologie juridique

Thursday, May 1, 2014

New Issue: Manchester Journal of International Economic Law

The latest issue of the Manchester Journal of International Economic Law (Vol. 11, no. 1, 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Raj Bhala, Trans-Pacific Partnership or Trampling Poor Partners? A Tentative Critical Review
  • Mohammed El Said, The Accession of Arab Countries to the TRIPS Agreement: The Past, the Present and the Future
  • Abdulmalik M. Altamimi, Can the WTO Rules Be Efficiently Breached for Welfarist Objectives?
  • Jeneba H. Barrie, Certify the Safety, Humanitarian & Environmental Needs in Natural Resources Exploration and Extractions: A Myanmar & Sierra Leone Case Study
  • Jennifer Whitman, Fighting the Natural Resource Curse in sub-Saharan Africa with Supply-Side Anti-Bribery Laws: The Role of China

Trapp: Can Non-State Actors Mount an Armed Attack?

Kimberley Natasha Trapp (Univ. College London - Law) has posted Can Non-State Actors Mount an Armed Attack? (in Oxford Handbook on the Use of Force, M. Weller ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
Article 2(4) of the United Nations (Charter prohibits the use of force between States, but that prohibition does not “impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations”. In its Charter incarnation, the prohibition of the use of force is situated in a strictly inter-State context, and does not speak to the phenomenon of uses of force by Non-State Actors (‘NSAs’). The question examined in this Chapter is whether the exception to that prohibition – the right to use force in self-defence – is nevertheless responsive to the war-making capacity of NSAs or whether it is limited to a snapshot of the right as it may have been conceptualised in the immediate aftermath of a global conflict between States. Otherwise put, is the definition of ‘armed attack’ in Article 51 of the UN Charter (and related customary international law) conditioned on the attacker being a State?

Job Opening: American Society of International Law (Executive Director)

The American Society of International Law has announced a search for its next Executive Director. Here's the announcement:

The American Society of International Law (“ASIL” or “the Society”) seeks an accomplished leader with vision, proficiency in international law, and proven management abilities to serve as its next Executive Director, starting in the second half of 2014.

The Society, a not-for-profit, membership organization, was founded in 1906 by Secretary of State Elihu Root. The objective of the Society is "to foster the study of international law and to promote the establishment and maintenance of international relations on the basis of law and justice." True to Root's vision, ASIL is the premier learned society in the United States devoted to advancing the study and use of international law, and a key forum for international lawyers worldwide. Its approximately 4000 members, 40 percent of whom reside in 100 countries other than the United States, include lawyers, professors, jurists, students, and officials of governments, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations.

The Society's primary activities include convening an Annual Meeting that attracts more than 1300 participants; organizing and sponsoring other meetings, conferences and symposia; publishing the world renowned American Journal of International Law and International Legal Materials; serving as the umbrella for 33 ASIL member interest groups; maintaining an extensive website containing international law resources that attracts almost a half million visits per year; and creating other educational and information resources, including career development resources and opportunities for the next generation of international lawyers. To promote broader awareness and understanding of the field and to inform contemporary international legal policy-making, the Society taps the expertise of its members to pursue significant research, policy discussion, and outreach initiatives with the U.S. Congress, the judiciary, the diplomatic community, international organizations, the media, and the general public.

The Society has entered its second century at an exciting and challenging time. International law is frequently in the headlines and a force in civil society. The creation, interpretation, and enforcement of international law are increasingly important, and the complex connection of that law to national law is robustly studied and debated. In the years to come, the Society is well-positioned to advance its core mission, and, as such, the role of Executive Director will continue to be a critical one.

The Executive Director works closely with an active Executive Council and President (the latter is elected every two years). The successful candidate for the Executive Director post will be proficient in international law, and demonstrate strong administrative ability and experience, effective fundraising capacity, and an ability to relate to and represent the diverse and multinational membership of academics, private practitioners, jurists, government officials, and students in their various endeavors relating to all facets of international law. In addition to coordinating with Society leaders, the Executive Director manages an annual budget in excess of $3 million; supervises a staff of 17 (14 of whom are full-time employees) in planning and executing day-to-day operations; facilitates the dissemination of scholarly and informational output in print, electronic, and conference settings; raises funds for the Society by seeking grants and other contributions from foundations, corporations, law firms, individuals, and other sources; implements outreach programs to a variety of external constituencies including the U.S. Congress, the judiciary, the media, law-making bodies, think tanks, international organizations, academia and others; and administers programs outside as well as within the United States.

The Executive Council appoints the Executive Director to an initial term of three years, with the possibility of reappointment to a second term of up to five years, and a competitive reappointment to a final term up to a combined 12-year term limit prescribed by the Society’s governing documents. The position is full-time and requires residence in the Washington, D.C. area and authorization to work in the United States. Compensation will be competitive for organizations of this type and comparable to management-level public sector positions, with the specific salary to be commensurate with the candidate’s experience, plus benefits. The Society is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of any classification protected by U.S. law.

Applications should include a resume and a succinct letter detailing interest in the position, relevant experience, current salary, and availability to start. Candidates should be prepared to articulate a vision of what they would seek to accomplish as Executive Director of the Society and how they would propose to achieve their goals. Please send applications to the following email address: EDSearch@asil.org, Attention: Lucinda A. Low, Chair of the ASIL Executive Director Search Committee. Review of applications will begin in May and continue in June. To receive appropriate consideration, applications should be received by June 15, 2014. All applications will be acknowledged, but only finalists will be contacted further. The identity of applicants will be held on a strictly confidential basis. No phone calls please.

Krisch: Pouvoir Constituant and Pouvoir Irritant in the Postnational Order

Nico Krisch (Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals) has posted Pouvoir Constituant and Pouvoir Irritant in the Postnational Order. Here's the abstract:
Constituent power is a key concept of the modern constitutional tradition, yet it encounters serious difficulties when transposed into today’s globalized world. Its radical promise sits uneasily with a social and political context that seems out of reach and impossible to ‘constitute’. Yet the idea of constituent power continues to animate people in their efforts to reclaim agency and self-government in a landscape shaped largely by others. This paper traces key challenges to the continuing force of constituent power, both in the domestic and the global contexts, and it offers an account in which constituent power in the postnational order survives only in part, as a mere irritant of existing institutional structures. This reduced role points to the limitations of a ‘global constitutionalism’ which is typically confined to providing liberal checks while marginalizing strong aspirations of self-government.

Kammerhofer: Die Reine Rechtslehre und die Allgemeinen Rechtsprinzipien des Völkerrechts

Jörg Kammerhofer (Univ. of Freiburg - Law) has posted Die Reine Rechtslehre und die Allgemeinen Rechtsprinzipien des Völkerrechts (The Pure Theory and the General Principles of International Law) (in Hans Kelsen: Die Aktualität eines großen Rechtswissenschaftlers und Soziologen des 20. Jahrhunderts, Clemens Jabloner, Thomas Olechowski, & Klaus Zeleny eds., 2014). Here's the abstract:

In diesem kurzen Aufsatz wird der Kelsensche Beitrag zum Völkerrecht weniger aus einer Deutung seiner völkerrechtlichen Schriften, sondern vielmehr aus seinem rechtstheoretischen Zugang, der Reinen Rechtslehre, erklärt. Am Beispiel der allgemeinen Rechtsprinzipien des Völkerrechts (Art 38 Abs 1 lit c IGH Statut) wird gezeigt, daß man mit Hilfe der Reinen Rechtslehre die herrschende Völkerrechtslehre auf eine neue Basis stellen kann. Die hL sieht Prinzipien als nicht durch Willensakte erzeugt an, was aus ihrer Perspektive bedeutet, daß der Positivismus – die Reine Rechtslehre eingeschlossen – diese nicht hinreichend erklären könne und als theoretischer Deutungsschema versagt habe. Bei genauerer Prüfung freilich wird klar, daß diese Natur der Prinzipien nur ein völkerrechtsdogmatisches Argument, nicht Ausdruck des positiven Rechts ist. Die Reine Rechtslehre hilft uns, die möglichen Funktionen der allgemeinen Rechtsprinzipien im Völkerrecht erheblich klarer zu sehen.

This short paper deals with on one of the least 'positivist' sources of international law: the 'general principles of law recognized by civilized nations' (Article 38(1)(c) ICJ Statute), as seen from the vantage-point of Hans Kelsen's Pure Theory of Law. General Principles of Law are commonly seen as a challenge for positivist approaches, because they – so the argument goes – do not require state will for their creation. The paper argues that the Pure Theory can explain general principles, but perhaps not in the sense that orthodox international legal doctrine imagines.

Note: Downloadable document is in German.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Peters: Jenseits der Menschenrechte

Anne Peters (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) has published Jenseits der Menschenrechte: Die Rechtsstellung des Individuums im Völkerrecht (Mohr Siebeck 2014). Here's the abstract:

Völkerrechtliche Normen sprechen Menschen zunehmend direkt an. Die Vervielfachung und Ausdifferenzierung völkerrechtsunmittelbarer materieller Rechte und Pflichten des Menschen sowie ihrer prozeduralen Durchsetzungsmöglichkeiten haben nicht nur eine quantitative, sondern auch eine qualitative Bedeutung. Grundthese des Buches ist, dass ein Paradigmenwechsel stattgefunden hat, der den Menschen zum primären Völkerrechtssubjekt macht.

Diese These wird vor dem Hintergrund der Ideengeschichte und Dogmatik der Völkerrechtspersönlichkeit des Menschen entfaltet. Vor allem wird sie aus der Praxis in zahlreichen Teilrechtsgebieten, angefangen vom Recht der internationalen Verantwortung über das Recht des bewaffneten Konflikts, das Recht der Katastrophenhilfe, das internationale Strafrecht, das internationale Umweltrecht, das Konsularrecht und das Recht des diplomatischen Schutzes, das internationale Arbeitsrecht, das Flüchtlingsrecht bis hin zum internationalen Investitionsschutzrecht abgeleitet.

Rechtsgrundlage der Völkerrechtspersönlichkeit (Völkerrechtssubjektivität) des Menschen ist Völkergewohnheitsrecht; seine Völkerrechtsfähigkeit ist ausserdem ein allgemeiner Rechtsgrundsatz und bildet einen Aspekt des Menschenrechts auf Rechtsfähigkeit. Die Herausbildung einfacher Rechte und Pflichten des Individuums (im Gegensatz zu den Menschenrechten) intensiviert die bisher schwach ausgeprägte Normenhierarchie im Völkerrecht. Der neue Völkerrechtsstatus des Menschen wird mit dem Begriff des subjektiven internationalen Rechts auf den Punkt gebracht.

Koutrakos & Skordas: The Law and Practice of Piracy at Sea

Panos Koutrakos (City Univ. London - Law) & Achilles Skordas (Univ. of Bristol - Law) have published The Law and Practice of Piracy at Sea (Hart Publishing 2014). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This collection of essays provides a comprehensive assessment of the legal and policy approaches to maritime counter-piracy adopted by the EU and other international actors over the last few years. As the financial cost of Somali piracy for the maritime industry and the world economy as a whole was estimated to have reached $18 billion by 2010, the phenomenon of piracy at sea has steadily grown in significance and has recently attracted the attention of international policy makers. Moreover, piracy is intrinsically linked to state failure and other pathologies bred by it, such as organised crime and terrorism.

This book adopts a holistic approach to the topic, examining approaches to piracy as these emerge in different geographical areas, as well as tackling the central issues which counter-piracy raises in terms of the most topical aspects of international law (international humanitarian law and armed conflict, piracy and terrorism, use of force). It also focuses on the approach of the EU, placing counter-piracy in its broader legal context. Providing a detailed doctrinal exploration of the issues which counter-piracy raises, it emphasises and draws upon the insights of the practice of counter-piracy by bringing together academic lawyers and the legal advisers of the main actors in the area (EU, US, NATO, UK).

The book raises fundamental questions about the law and practice of international law: are the rules of the international law of the sea on piracy still relevant? To what extent has the shared interest of international actors in tackling piracy given rise to common practices? Do the interactions among the actors examined in the book suggest fragmentation or unity of the international legal order? Is it premature to view these interactions as signalling the gradual emergence of global law in the area? This common analytical frame of reference is underlined by the concluding part, which draws these threads together.

AJIL Unbound Agora: The End of Treaties?

This week AJIL Unbound will hold an online agora on "The End of Treaties?" The first posts - by Timothy Meyer (Univ. of Georgia - Law) and Joel P. Trachtman (Tufts Univ. - Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy) - are now up. Here's the idea:
This week, AJIL Unbound launches an exploration into The End of Treaties? Our intention is to explore a variety of issues related to the possible decline in formal treaties as a mechanism of cooperation in international law. Are treaties in decline as a form of international cooperation? Possible evidence for such a decline includes the rise of soft law commitments, intergovernmental networks, hybrid governance arrangements, and other less formal cooperation schemes, as well as unilateral denunciations of some treaties (such as BITs and the ICSID Convention) and threats of withdrawals from others (African nations and the ICC, for example). In addition, major multilateral negotiations in the trade and environmental protection regimes are stalled, and the leading UN entity in charge of the progressive development and codification of international law, the International Law Commission, is now generating draft articles or studies in lieu of draft conventions. There is also a domestic challenge to treaty power in the United States, embodied in Bond v. U.S., and the continuing unwillingness of the Senate to give advice and consent to what are widely viewed as noncontroversial treaties. Are treaties really in decline? If so what are the implications for international cooperation and international law? What is the role of global power shifts in explaining decline? Is there regional and national variation in propensity to adopt treaties? Are there any signs of 'the return of the treaty'?

Wagner: WTO Law and the Right to Regulate: China – Rare Earths

Markus Wagner (Univ. of Miami - Law) has posted an ASIL Insight on WTO Law and the Right to Regulate: China – Rare Earths.

New Issue: Journal of World Investment & Trade

The latest issue of the Journal of World Investment & Trade (Vol. 15, nos. 1-2, 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Mona Pinchis, The Ancestry of ‘Equitable Treatment’ in Trade
  • Tillmann Rudolf Braun, Globalization-Driven Innovation: The Investor as a Partial Subject in Public International Law
  • Patrick Dumberry, The Prohibition against Arbitrary Conduct and the Fair and Equitable Treatment Standard under NAFTA Article 1105
  • Leon E. Trakman, Investor-State Arbitration: Evaluating Australia’s Evolving Position
  • T Ahmed M. Almutawa & A.F.M. Maniruzzaman, The UAE’s Pilgrimage to International Arbitration Stardom
  • Avidan Kent & Vyoma Jha, Keeping Up with the Changing Climate: The WTO’s Evolutive Approach in Response to the Trade and Climate Conundrum
  • Andreas Kulick, Electrabel S.A. v. The Republic of Hungary
  • Tai-Heng Cheng & Robert Trisotto, Testing Urbaser’s Approach to the Availability of Local Remedies: Urbaser S.A. and Consorcio de Aguas Bilbao Bizkaia Ur Partzuergoa v. Argentine Republic
  • Eric De Brabandere, Teinver S.A., Transportes de Cercanías S.A. and Autobuses Urbanos del Sur S.A. v. The Argentine Republic
  • Andrew Mitchell, James Munro & Devon Whittle, Vannessa Ventures Ltd v. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
  • Sadie Blanchard, Ambiente Ufficio S.p.A. and Others v. Argentine Republic
  • S.I. Strong, Anti-Arbitration Injunctions in Cases Involving Investor-State Arbitration: British Caribbean Bank Ltd. v. The Government of Belize

deGuzman: Proportionate Sentencing at the International Criminal Court

Margaret M. deGuzman (Temple Univ. - Law) has posted Proportionate Sentencing at the International Criminal Court (in The Law and Practice of the International Criminal Court, Carsten Stahn ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
This book chapter proposes a theory of proportionate sentencing for the International Criminal Court (ICC). It argues that the ICC should reject the focus on retribution advocated in much of the scholarship on international sentencing. Instead, the judges should craft an approach to proportionality that aims to promote the ICC’s core mission of preventing crimes. Preventive proportionality at the ICC should primarily focus on ensuring appropriate norm expression and secondarily on other aspects of prevention such as deterrence, incapacitation, and restorative justice. The judges should apply the principle of parsimony to identify the least severe punishment they believe will contribute to the prevention of future international crimes. The concept of retribution should function at most as a limiting principle, ensuring that judges inflict no more punishment than they believe an offender deserves.

Amann: The Post-Postcolonial Woman or Child

Diane Marie Amann (Univ. of Georgia - Law) has posted The Post-Postcolonial Woman or Child (American University International Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
This essay is based on remarks given as Distinguished Discussant for the 16th annual Grotius Lecture at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law/Biennial Conference of the International Law Association. The essay examines the international law status of women, on the one hand, and children, on the other, through the contemporary lens of the post-postcolonial world and the historical lens of Hugo Grotius and the colonialist era. In so doing, the essay responds to the principal Grotius Lecture, "Women and Children: The Cutting Edge of International Law," which was delivered by Radhika Coomarswamy, NYU Global Professor of Law and former Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General on Children & Armed Conflict and U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Schwöbel: The Market and Marketing Culture of International Criminal Law

Christine E.J. Schwöbel (Univ. of Liverpool - Law) has posted The Market and Marketing Culture of International Criminal Law (in Critical Approaches to International Criminal Law, C. Schwöbel ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
In this chapter, I argue that international criminal law (ICL) is a field committed to growth (its market culture) and branding (its marketing culture) - both central paradigms of neoliberalism. First, drawing on the work of David Harvey, parallels are examined between the means and methods of capital growth and of ICL. I then examine the way in which ICL has placed undue emphasis on image at the expense of substance. This part of the chapter is particularly influenced by Naomi Klein's book on branding titled 'No Logo'. I conclude that ICL's commitment to neoliberalism is strengthening big power-players while claiming to fight them. The very group in whose interest the fight is supposedly being fought (victims of international crime) is seemingly losing out.

Lee & Cho: Double Remedies in Double Courts

Thomas H. Lee (Fordham Univ. - Law) & Sungjoon Cho (Chicago Kent College of Law) have posted Double Remedies in Double Courts (European Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
This Article uses an ongoing trade controversy litigated in U.S. courts and the World Trade Organization dispute resolution system as a vehicle for exploring different models to deal with parallel adjudications in different legal systems between the same or related parties on the same issue. In lieu of more traditional models of subordination or first-to-decide sequencing, the Article proposes an engagement model as a solution to the double courts, single issue problem.

New Issue: ICSID Review: Foreign Investment Law Journal

The latest issue of the ICSID Review: Foreign Investment Law Journal (Vol. 29, no. 2, Spring 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Deutsche Institution Für Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit E.V. (Dis) 2nd Karl-Heinz Böckstiegel Lecture 13 September 2013
    • Albert Jan van den Berg, Should the Setting Aside of the Arbitral Award be Abolished?
  • Case Comments
    • Tai-Heng Cheng & Robert Trisotto, Urbaser SA and others v Argentine Republic and Teinver SA and others v Argentine Republic: A Workaround to the Most-Favoured-Nation Clause Dispute
    • Karel Daele, Saint Gobain v Venezuela and Blue Bank v Venezuela: The Standard for Disqualifying Arbitrators Finally Settled and Lowered
    • Alexandre Genest, Mobil Investments v Canada: A Blow to Policy Space and Predictability for Measures Subject to Reservations
    • Arno E. Gildemeister, Burlington Resources, Inc v Republic of Ecuador: How Much is Too Much: When is Taxation Tantamount to Expropriation?
    • Christoph Schreuer, Víctor Pey Casado and President Allende Foundation v Republic of Chile: Barely an Annulment
  • Articles
    • Carolyn B. Lamm, Brody K. Greenwald, & Kristen M. Young, From World Duty Free to Metal-Tech: A Review of International Investment Treaty Arbitration Cases Involving Allegations of Corruption
    • Brandt J C Pasco, United States National Security Reviews of Foreign Direct Investment:: From Classified Programmes to Critical Infrastructure, This is What the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States Cares About
    • Joost Pauwelyn, At the Edge of Chaos?: Foreign Investment Law as a Complex Adaptive System, How It Emerged and How It Can Be Reformed
    • Prabhash Ranjan, India and Bilateral Investment Treaties—A Changing Landscape
    • Tania Voon, Andrew Mitchell, & James Munro, Parting Ways: The Impact of Mutual Termination of Investment Treaties on Investor Rights
  • Notes
    • Heather L. Bray, ICSID and the Right to Water: An Ingredient in the Stone Soup: 2013 ICSID Review Student Writing Competition
    • Francisco-Xavier Paredes, La conformité de l’investissement au droit national, condition de sa protection internationale: Concours de rédaction de l’ICSID Review 2013
    • Joe Tirado, Matthew Page, & Daniel Meagher, Corruption Investigations by Governmental Authorities and Investment Arbitration: An Uneasy Relationship

New Issue: Journal of International Criminal Justice

The latest issue of the Journal of International Criminal Justice (Vol. 12, no. 2, May 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Articles
    • Paul Eden, The Role of the Rome Statute in the Criminalization of Apartheid
    • Manuel Galvis Martínez, Forfeiture of Assets at the International Criminal Court: The Short Arm of International Criminal Justice
  • Symposium: Individual Liability for Macrocriminality
    • Kai Ambos, A Workshop, a Symposium and the Katanga Trial Judgment of 7 March 2014
    • Stefan Harrendorf, How Can Criminology Contribute to an Explanation of International Crimes?
    • Thomas Weigend, Problems of Attribution in International Criminal Law: A German Perspective
    • Robert Cryer, Imputation and Complicity in Common Law States: A (Partial) View from England and Wales
    • Uwe Murmann, Problems of Causation with Regard to (Potential) Actions of Multiple Protagonists
    • Hans Vest, Problems of Participation — Unitarian, Differentiated Approach, or Something Else?
    • Carl-Friedrich Stuckenberg, Problems of ‘Subjective Imputation’ in Domestic and International Criminal Law
    • Jens David Ohlin, Searching for the Hinterman: In Praise of Subjective Theories of Imputation
  • Cases before International Courts and Tribunals
    • Antonio Coco & Tom Gal, Losing Direction: The ICTY Appeals Chamber’s Controversial Approach to Aiding and Abetting in Perišić

Lectures: The Present and Future of Jus Cogens

On May 29-31, 2014, the Dipartimento di Scienze Giuridiche at the Facoltà di Giurisprudenza of the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza" will hold the inaugural Gaetano Morelli Lectures. The topic is "The Present and Future of Jus Cogens." The program is here.

Johns: The Turn to Data Analytics and International Law

Fleur Johns (Univ. of New South Wales - Law) has posted an ESIL Reflection on The Turn to Data Analytics and International Law.

Monday, April 28, 2014

Jain: The 21st Century Atlantis: The International Law of Statehood and Climate Change-Induced Loss of Territory

Abhimanyu George Jain (High Court of Delhi; Georgetown Univ. - Law) has posted The 21st Century Atlantis: The International Law of Statehood and Climate Change-Induced Loss of Territory (Stanford Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
International law demands territory as a precondition for statehood. If the Maldives loses its territory as a result of climate change, will it cease to be a state? In light of the negligible contribution of Maldives and similar states to climate change, if they were to lose their statehood and international legal personality on account of climate change, serious questions would arise as to the legitimacy and efficacy of international law. But these states will not lose their statehood, for three reasons. First, in light of the diminishing utility of territory for states, at least for the continuation of established states, territory need not be a necessary requirement. Second, international law is silent as to the extinction of statehood upon physical disappearance of statehood, and equity demands that statehood be preserved in this situation. Third, the political realities of recognition will operate to ensure continuing statehood. But this continuing statehood begs the question of how these states will exist without territory. There are two options: acquisition of new territory or de-territorialised existence. Both are possible but present significant practical hurdles. In the short term, the de jure statehood of these states will be protected, but in the longer term, it is likely that they will cease to exist as states de facto.

ASIL: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting

The Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law (2013) is now in print. The table of contents is here.

Call for Papers: 2014 ASIL Research Forum

The American Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its 2014 Research Forum, to be held November 6-8, in Chicago. Here's the call:

The American Society of International Law calls for submissions of scholarly paper proposals for the ASIL Research Forum to be held during the Society's Midyear Meeting in Chicago November 6-8, 2014.

The Research Forum, a Society initiative introduced in 2011, aims to provide a setting for the presentation and focused discussion of works-in-progress. All ASIL members are invited to attend the Forum, whether presenting a paper or not.

Papers can be on any topic related to international and transnational law and should be unpublished (for purposes of the call, publication to an electronic database such as SSRN is not considered publication). Interdisciplinary projects, empirical studies, and jointly authored papers are welcome.

Proposals should be submitted online by June 8, 2014. Interested paper-givers should submit an abstract (no more than 1000 words in length) summarizing the scholarly paper to be presented at the Forum.

Review of the abstracts will be blind. Notifications of acceptance will go out in mid-July.

Papers will be assembled into panels. The organizers welcome volunteers to serve as discussants who will comment on the papers. Please e-mail submissions@asil.org if you are interested in serving as a discussant. All authors of accepted papers will be required to submit a draft paper four weeks before the Research Forum. Drafts will be posted on a web page accessible exclusively to Forum participants.

Karen Alter, Northwestern University

Katerina Linos, ASIL Academic Partner University of California - Berkeley School of Law

2014 Research Forum Co-Chairs

New Volume: Czech Yearbook of Public & Private International Law

The latest volume of the Czech Yearbook of Public & Private International Law (Vol. 4, 2013) is out. Contents include:
  • Studies in International Law and Organizations
    • Čestmír Čepelka, The ILC Articles on State Responsibility: A Reflection Years Later
    • Max Hilaire, The Attitude of the United States Toward International Law
    • Jan Ondřej, Sovereignty and Ownership in Relation to Outer Space and Activities of Private Persons
    • Jakub Handrlica, The Protocol of 1997 to Amend the Vienna Convention on Nuclear Liability and the European Union
    • Michaela Rišová, Addressing the Relationship between State Immunity and Jus Cogens
  • International Law and European Law
    • Emil Ruffer, When the Suit doesn't Suit Them: Jurisdictional Immunities of States in the context of EU Law
    • David Petrlík, Mutual Respect and Residual Tensions between the Systems of Protection of Fundamental Rights in Europe
  • Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law
    • Harald Christian Scheu, The Burden of Proof in European Anti-Discrimination Law
    • Ludovica Poli, Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis under the European Court of Human Rights' Review: An Opening toward a Wider Acceptance of the Technique in Europe?
    • Alla Tymofeyeva, Some Guarantees Regarding Criminal Proceedings Applicable to Non-Governmental Organizations: Protocol No.7 to the European Convention on Human Rights
  • International Criminal Law
    • Pavel Caban, Universal Jurisdiction under Customary International Law, International Conventions and Criminal Law of the Czech Republic: Comments
    • Petra Baumruk, Universal Jurisdiction: a Tool against Impunity
    • Agata Foksa, The Issue of Reparations Before the International Criminal Court: Case Study Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo
  • Views on Investment and Trade Law
    • Bregt Natens & Jan Wouters, The State of Play and Future of Services Negotiations in the WTO
    • Annelies Vrbova, Markéta Nováková, & Martin Bulánek, The Czech Republic in the WCIT-12
    • Vojtěch Trapl, Thinking Big - Bifurcation of Arbitration Proceedings - to Bifurcate or not to Bifurcate

New Issue: Archiv des Völkerrechts

The latest issue of Archiv des Völkerrechts (Vol. 51, no. 4, December 2013) is out. Contents include:
  • Abhandlungen
    • Jerzy Kranz, Gibt es ein Demokratiedefizit in der Europäischen Union?
    • Dieter Dörr & Juliane Stephan, Die völkerrechtliche Einordnung der Nichtanerkennung der autorisierten Zahlungsmitteleigenschaft ausländischer Münzen
  • Beitrag
    • Andreas Kulick, Zwischen Dogmatik und Rechtspolitik – Die Interpretationsentscheidung des Internationalen Gerichtshofs im Fall Temple of Preah Vihear
    • Claudia Hofmann, Internationale Arbeitsorganisation, quo vadis? Einige Gedanken zur Debatte um das Streikrecht und das Mandat des Sachverständigenausschusses

New Volume: Slovak Yearbook of International Law

The latest volume of the Slovak Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 3, 2010-2011) is out. Contents include:
  • Richard Bednárik & Kristína Šimuláková, IAEA and its response to Fukushima disaster
  • Michal Davala, Should the “margin of appreciation” be abandoned without delay?
  • Peter Dudič, What are the implications in international law of Turkey’s damming of international rivers?
  • Peter Klanduch, International criminal tribunals and the development of the law of genocide
  • Michaela Mackuliaková, International Obligations in the European Asylum System in the context of the M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece Case Law
  • Josef Mrázek, Armed Conflicts and Self-Defence in International Law
  • Jan Ondřej, Mixed Instruments in International Disarmament and Humanitarian Law
  • Denisa Šrameková, Russia and the WTO
  • Veronika Trstenská, Åland Islands and their status in the European Union
  • Jozef Valuch, View on International Legal Personality with respect to the Position of an Individual in Contemporary International Law
  • Viera Strážnická, Human dignity in the European legal space
  • Kristína Potomová, Succession of states in international law
  • Matúš Huťka, Universal jurisdiction in the Slovak legal order
  • Tomáš Buchta, Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union as an instrument and manifestation of closer intergovernmental cooperation between the EU Member States
  • Igor Barna, Genuine link principle in granting diplomatic protection
  • Daniel Arbet, Analysis of the International Court of Justice advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory

Sunday, April 27, 2014

New Issue: International & Comparative Law Quarterly

The latest issue of the International & Comparative Law Quarterly (Vol. 63, no. 2, April 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Articles
    • Mary Crock, Shadow Plays, Shifting Sands and International Refugee Law: Convergences in the Asia-Pacific
    • Anca D. Chiriţă, A Legal-Historical Review of the EU Competition Rules
    • John Tobin, To Prohibit or Permit: What Is the (Human) Rights Response to the Practice of International Commercial Surrogacy?
    • Alison Slade, Good Faith and the TRIPS Agreement: Putting Flesh on the Bones of the TRIPS ‘Objectives’
    • Anashri Pillay, Revisiting the Indian Experience of Economic and Social Rights Adjudication: The Need for a Principled Approach to Judicial Activism and Restraint
    • Ming Du, China's State Capitalism and World Trade Law
    • Jan Kleinheisterkamp, Financial Responsibility in European International Investment Policy
  • Shorter Articles and Notes
    • Ben Juratowitch, Fora Non Conveniens for Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Against States
    • Antoine Buyse, Dangerous Expressions: The ECHR, Violence and Free Speech