Böckstiegel, et al.: Arbitration in Germany

Karl-Heinz Böckstiegel, Stefan Kröll, & Patricia Nacimiento have published Arbitration in Germany: The Model Law in Practice (Kluwer Law International 2007). Here's the abstract:

In a country with a broad international reach, the German business community has always been - and remains - among the primary users of arbitration. Thus, when in 1998 Germany adopted with only slight modifications the UNCITRAL Model Law on Commercial Arbitration for both its international and domestic law, the stage was set for what promised to be a great proving ground for the Model Law, as Germany’s courts would have to consider many diverse and complex issues arising under the new law - decisions that would benefit courts and practitioners everywhere. Now, this hugely valuable publication provides the first full, detailed commentary in English on the German arbitration law, as well as on the rules of the German Institution of Arbitration (DIS). Thirty-eight leading German lawyers and scholars deal comprehensively with the particular ways in which German law handles all arbitration matters.

New Issue: Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht

The latest issue of the Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (Vol. 67, no. 3, 2007) is out. Contents include:

• Vorlesungsreihe: Zur Zukunft der Völkerrechtswissenschaft in Deutschland
• Eyal Benvenisti, The Future of International Law Scholarship in Germany: The Tension Between Interpretation and Change
• Stefan Kadelbach, Völkerrecht als Verfassungsordnung? Zur Völkerrechtswissenschaft in Deutschland
• Helen Keller, Die Zukunft der Völkerrechtswissenschaft in Deutschland Marauhn: Plädoyer für eine grundlagenorientierte und zugleich anwendungsbezogene Völkerrechtswissenschaft
• Georg Nolte, Zur Zukunft der Völkerrechtswissenschaft in Deutschland
• Stefan Oeter, Zur Zukunft der Völkerrechtswissenschaft in Deutschland
• Andreas Paulus, Zur Zukunft der Völkerrechtswissenschaft in Deutschland: Zwischen Konstitutionalisierung und Fragmentierung des Völkerrechts
• Anne Peters, Die Zukunft der Völkerrechtswissenschaft: Wider den epistemischen Nationalismus
• Erika de Wet, Zur Zukunft der Völkerrechtswissenschaft in Deutschland
• Andreas Zimmermann, Zur Zukunft der Völkerrechtswissenschaft in Deutschland
• Bericht einer Studiengruppe zur Anerkennung der Gerichtsbarkeit des IGH gemäß Art. 36 Abs. 2 IGH-Statut
• Alec Walen & Ingo Venzke, Unconstitutional Detention of Nonresident Aliens: Revisiting the Supreme Court’s Treatment of the Law of War in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
• Ellen Eichberg, Das Vermächtnis einer Prinzessin gibt der amerikanischen Affirmative Action-Rechtsprechung ein neues Gesicht - Entscheidung des 9. U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vom 5. Dezember 2006
• Omar Ould Dedde Ould Hamady, L’évolution des institutions politiques mauritaniennes: Bilan et perspectives au lendemain de la réforme constitutionnelle du 25 juin 2006
• Osman Sacarcelik, Die Verfassung der Republik Usbekistan – Geschichtlicher Hintergrund, Grundrechte und Staatsorganisation

Bodansky & Diringer: Advancing the International Effort Against Climate Change

Daniel Bodansky (Univ. of Georgia - Law) & Elliot Diringer (Pew Center on Global Climate Change) have posted Advancing the International Effort Against Climate Change: Towards an Integrated Multi-Track Framework (Pew Center on Global Climate Change Report). Here's the abstract:

The paper proposes an "integrated multi-track framework approach" to the post-2012 climate change negotiations initiated in Bali, which seeks to introduce "bottom-up" flexibility while retaining the cohesion and reciprocity of "top-down" commitments. Under a multi-track approach, all major economies would enter into commitments aimed at reducing or moderating their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but the type of commitment would vary. For example, some countries might have binding economy-wide emission targets, as under Kyoto, while others would commit to implement national policies such as efficiency standards, renewable energy targets, or measures to reduce deforestation. Some, in addition, could participate in sectoral agreements on targets, standards, or other measures addressing emissions from particular sectors. The paper elaborates the rationale for an integrated multi-track approach; draws lessons from other multilateral regimes, and identifies key issues in designing a multi-track climate framework. It assesses three models: an "individualized commitments" approach, which affords countries the greatest flexibility; a "parallel agreements" approach, which provides more structure and integration; and an "integrated commitments" approach, in which countries agree to negotiate within given tracks towards a comprehensive package agreement. The paper concludes that of the three, the "integrated commitments" model is the one most likely to produce a collective level of effort sufficient to meeting the challenge of climate change.

Cross: Arbitration as a Means of Resolving Sovereign Debt Disputes

Karen Halverson Cross (John Marshall Law School in Chicago) has posted Arbitration as a Means of Resolving Sovereign Debt Disputes (American Review of International Arbitration, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

In September 2006, a group of Italian holders of Argentine defaulted debt submitted a request for arbitration to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), claiming that Argentina's actions in connection with debt issued by it and held by the Italian claimants breached Argentina's obligations under a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) between Argentina and Italy. Although arbitration of sovereign debt disputes is not unprecedented, it is unusual. Contracts with sovereign debtors typically provide, not for arbitration of disputes, but rather submission to the jurisdiction of courts of the creditors' choosing.

This article considers several questions. The narrow question, which is implicated by the Italian bondholders' claim, is whether ICSID has jurisdiction to resolve a dispute brought by holders of defaulted sovereign debt pursuant to a BIT. The more general question, however, is why the Italian bondholders are attempting to invoke arbitration rather than litigating the dispute in New York court. This article suggests that in the sovereign debt context, arbitration is potentially a more attractive dispute resolution mechanism than litigation. The persistent absence of arbitration clauses from sovereign debt contracts may be attributable to the lock-in effects of standardized contract terms, and not to the relative merits of arbitration versus litigation.

Rogers: The Ethics of International Arbitrators

Catherine A. Rogers (Bocconi Univ. - Institute of Comparative Law & Louisiana State Univ. - Law) has posted The Ethics of International Arbitrators (in Leading Arbitrators' Guide to International Arbitration, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Historically, arbitrator conduct was guided exclusively by arbitrators' internal ethos and informal social controls. Today, instead of being reserved to personal reflection, arbitrator ethics have become an important topic of public debate, and various trends have led to a proliferation of specialized codes of ethics, rules intended to guide and govern arbitrators' conduct and national court cases evaluating their conduct. In light of these developments, international arbitrators and parties must be aware of how arbitrator ethics affect arbitral proceedings and, consequently, their rights and obligations in those proceedings. This Chapter is part of a forthcoming book, Leading Arbitrators' Guide to International Arbitration (Juris Publishing 2008). It provides an overview of the essential considerations for arbitrators and parties. It begins by providing an overview of the sources that define the obligations of arbitrators, and then outlines and discusses the various obligations, beginning with the most critical obligation of impartiality.

Ramji-Nogales: A Global Approach to Secret Evidence: How Human Rights Law Can Reform Our Immigration System

Jaya Ramji-Nogales (Temple Univ. - Law) has posted A Global Approach to Secret Evidence: How Human Rights Law Can Reform Our Immigration System (Columbia Human Rights Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This article addresses two of the most pressing issues facing our society today - rights violations in anti-terrorism efforts and dysfunction in the immigration system - through a case study of the use of secret evidence in immigration proceedings. Cataloguing the government's repeated presentation of unreliable and inaccurate information in support of its efforts to deport suspected terrorists, the paper outlines the individual, societal, and global harms resulting from this misuse of secret evidence. It then discusses relevant human rights law, which offers a particularly appropriate mechanism to address these harms through its careful balancing of national security interests and due process rights. The article advocates the use of human rights law as a guidebook and a yardstick to reform the administrative immigration process through statutory interpretation, regulation drafting, and institutional culture creation.

Cert. Petition Filed: Apartheid Litigation

The defendants in the apartheid Alien Tort Statute litigation filed a petition for a writ of certiorari today. At issue is an October Second Circuit decision (Khulumani v. Barclay National Bank Ltd.) that reinstated a class action lawsuit (really a combination of lawsuits) seeking to hold the defendants (U.S. and foreign corporations) liable for hundreds of billions of dollars in damages for allegedly aiding and abetting the South African apartheid regime in violation of international law. The petition is captioned American Isuzu Motors Inc. v. Ntsebeza; a docket number has yet to be assigned. For further background, see SCOTUSblog here and here and Opinio Juris here and here.

The questions presented by the petition are:

1. Whether, in light of the opposition to this litigation expressed by the Executive Branch, by South Africa, and by other nations - because plaintiffs’ suits effectively seek to overturn South Africa’s post-apartheid policy of reconciliation as well as the policies of the United States and other nations - the cases should be dismissed on grounds of case-specific deference to the political branches, political question, or international comity.

2. Whether a private defendant may be sued under the ATS for aiding and abetting a violation of international law by a foreign government in its own territory.

3. Whether a private defendant may be held directly liable under the ATS for violating international law standards codified in a ratified treaty that Congress expressly provided does not create enforceable rights.

Noriega Extradition: Habeas Petition Dismissed

For the third time in the past four and a half months, a district court judge has dismissed a habeas petition filed by former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in an attempt to block his extradition to France. Noriega's first two petitions, which were unorthodoxly filed as part of his prior criminal case, invoked the Third Geneva Convention. Judge William Hoeveler of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida dismissed those petitions for lack of jurisdiction, ruling in the alternative that the Convention's obligations were fulfilled by the United States. (Judge Hoeveler's orders dismissing the petitions are here and here.) Yesterday's action by Judge Paul C. Huck of the Southern District of Florida is the most important from a procedural standpoint, as the judge refused, on the merits, to disturb the certification of extraditability issued by Magistrate Judge William C. Turnoff on August 28, 2007. Ruling from the bench following oral argument, Judge Huck agreed with Judge Hoeveler's conclusions, including that the United States's obligations under the Third Geneva Convention have been satisfied through assurances by France that it would treat Noriega in accordance with the Convention's rules. (A written opinion has yet to be issued.) Noriega will, no doubt, appeal Judge Huck's decision to the Eleventh Circuit, which already has on its docket Noriega's appeal of one of Judge Hoeveler's decisions dismissing one of the earlier habeas petitions. If and when Noriega's appeals are exhausted, the Secretary of State will decide whether Noriega should, in fact, be extradited.

New Issue: International Organization

The latest issue of International Organization (Vol. 62, no. 1, Winter 2008) is out. Contents include:

• Pepper D. Culpepper, The Politics of Common Knowledge: Ideas and Institutional Change in Wage Bargaining
• Jessica L. Weeks, Autocratic Audience Costs: Regime Type and Signaling Resolve
• James Raymond Vreeland, Political Institutions and Human Rights: Why Dictatorships Enter into the United Nations Convention Against Torture
• Abraham L. Newman, Building Transnational Civil Liberties: Transgovernmental Entrepreneurs and the European Data Privacy Directive
• Jonathan B. Slapin, Bargaining Power at Europe's Intergovernmental Conferences: Testing Institutional and Intergovernmental Theories
• Benjamin O. Fordham, Economic Interests and Public Support for American Global Activism

Phillips: Going to the Next Level: The Political-Economy of Bilateralism - A Case Study of the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement

Jeffrey P.T. Phillips (Univ. of British Columbia) has posted Going to the Next Level: The Political-Economy of Bilateralism - A Case Study of the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement. Here's the abstract:

Given the proliferation and intensification of regional trade agreements (RTAs) and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) in the global economy, it is worthwhile to examine some of the key approaches for understanding why states cooperate through trade agreements. Evidence suggests that traditional economic explanations based primarily on welfare gains hold little in the way of explanatory power, especially for understanding larger country involvement in trade agreements with smaller countries. One theory suggests that side-payments to the larger country help explain why larger countries may be involved in such arrangements. Building upon political-economic explanations for economic strategies, this paper presents a three-level model that emphasizes the importance of interests and conditions at the multilateral and regional levels for influencing bilateral initiatives. Through an analysis of the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement, this paper highlights the interconnected nature of state interests at multiple levels, as well as some of the shortcomings of purely economic explanations for understanding why states enter trade agreements.

New Issue: International Arbitration Law Review

The latest issue of the International Arbitration Law Review (Vol. 10, no. 6, December 2007) is out. Contents include:

• Matthieu de Boisseson, New tensions between arbitrators and parties in the conduct of the arbitral procedure
• Joel Greer, Arbitrator remuneration in Japan: too low for its own good?
• S.R. Luttrell, Lex arbitri Indonesia: the law, practice and place of commercial arbitration in Indonesia today
• Derek Auchie, The liberal interpretation of defective arbitration clauses in international commercial contracts: a sensible approach?

New Issue: Arbitration: The International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management

The latest issue of Arbitration: The International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management (Vol. 73, no. 4, November 2007) is out. Contents include:

• Peter Gillies & Andrew Dahdal, Waiver of a right to arbitrate by resort to litigation, in the context of international commercial arbitration
• Mitchell Lathrop, Court-ordered interim measures in aid of enforceability of pending international arbitration
• Paul Bennett Marrow, Policing contracts for unconscionability: guidelines for international arbitrators subject to the scrutiny of US courts
• Suhrith Parthasarathy & A.K. Visalakshi, Stretching the limits of statutory interpretation: the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996
• Sir Gavin Lightman, Mediation: an approximation to Justice
• Sir Anthony Colman, Mediation and ADR: a judicial perspective
• Dame Elizabeth Gloster, Attempts to thwart the arbitration process: current examples of how the court makes parties stick to their agreement to arbitrate

Monti, et al.: Baudenbacher Festschrift

Mario Monti (Bocconi University, Milan), Prinz Nikolaus von und zu Liechtenstein, Bo Vesterdorf (formerly, President, European Court of First Instance), Jay Westbrook (Univ. of Texas, Austin - Law), & Luzius Wildhaber (formerly, President, European Court of Human Rights) have published Economic Law and Justice in Times of Globalisation / Wirtschaftsrecht und Justiz in Zeiten der Globalisierung: Festschrift for Carl Baudenbacher (Nomos 2007). Contents include:

• Ulf Bernitz, The Application of EEA Law in Sweden
• Davíd Thór Björgvinsson, Application of Article 34 of the ESA/Court Agreement by the Icelandic Courts
• Marco Bronckers, The Relationship of the EC Courts with other International Tribunals: Non-committal, Respectful or Submissive?
• Dirk Buschle, The Free Movement of Capital in the E.E.A.: a Lehrstück in Homogenity
• Thomas Cottier, The Judge in International Economic Relations
• Luc Frieden, Une justice pénale européenne qui accompagne la globalisation
• Samuel Issacharoff, A Cosmopolitan Judge for a Cosmopolitan Era: an Essay in Honor of Carl Baudenbacher
• Christian Kohler, Dialog der Gerichte im europäischen Justizraum: zur Rolle des EuGH bei der Auslegung des neuen Übereinkommens von Lugano
• Philippe Léger, L'expertise judiciaire dans le contentieux communautaire
• Sanford Levinson, The Importance of the Comparative Moment in Constitutional Design: an Essay for Carl Baudenbacher
• Migual Poiares Maduro, Legal Travels and the Risk of Legal Jet-lag: the Judicial and Constitutional Challenges of Legal Globalisation
• Basil Markesinis, Political Thought in Legal Judgments
• Paolo Mengozzi, The European Union Balance of Powers and the Case Law related to EC External Relations
• Thorgier Örlygsson, Iceland and the EFTA Court: twelve Years of Experience
• Eleanor Sharpston, An Impressive Level of Scrutiny: Appearing before the EFTA Court in two Early Cases
• Luzius Wildhaber, The Protection of Legitimate Expectations in European Human Rights Law
• Walter Barfuß, Globalisierung und National Champions: ein Problem der Zusammenschlusskontrolle
• George A. Bermann, The Emergence of Transatlantic Regulation
• Ulf Böge, Baustellen im nationalen und europäischen Wettbewerbsbereich
• Joachim Bornkamm, Die Freistellung vom Kartellverbot nach dem Systemwechsel: Beurteilungs- und Gestaltungssopielräume im System der Legalausnahme
• Jacques H.J. Bourgeois, Ne bis in idem and Enforcement of EEA Competition Rules
• Eleanor M. Fox, Antitrust in Times of Globalization
• Peter Freeman, Market Investigations in the United Kingdom: the Story so Far
• Jochen Glöckner, Sprach- und Rechtsräume im Markenrecht
• Petter Hans Graver, The Harmonisation of National Administrative Law
• Barry E. Hawk, Conduct Element in Abuse of Dominant Position
• Günter Hirsch, Voraussetzungen und Kriterien einer Kontrolle von Energiepreis am Maßstab der "Billigkeit"
• Peter Jann, Nationale Steuern und das EG-Beihilfenverbot: ein Überblick
• Clifford A. Jones, Private Antitrust in the Global Market: an Essay on "Swimming without Getting wet"
• Pieter Kalbfleisch, The Assessment of Interests in Competition Law: a Balancing Act
• Mark A. Lemley, Divided Infringement Claims
• Philip Lowe, Competition Policy as an Instrument of Global Governance
• Frank Montag, Die Anwendung des Zusammenschlussbegriffes der FKVO bei mehreren miteinander verknüpften Transaktionen
• Mario Monti, Competition Policy and International Integration
• Sven Norberg, Making a Virtue of Necessity and at the Same Time Strenghtening European Competition Law Enforcement: how the White Paper on the Modernisation Reform came about
• Pierre Pescatore, Variations sur la jurisprudence "Cassis de Dijon", ou La solidarité entre l'orde public national et l'ordre public communautaire
• Jacqueline Riffault-Silk, Régulations, réparation, harmonisation: un triple défi pour le juge national en droit de la concurrence
• Allan Rosas, Judicial Protection in EU State Aid Law
• Helmuth Schröter, Zur Einschränkung des wettbewerbsrechtlichen Unternehmensbegriffs: Rückblick und Ausblick
• Vasilios Skouris, The Recovery of Unlawful State Aid from Successor Companies: Reflections on the Recent Case Law of the European Court of Justice
• Stefán Már Stefánsson, Legitimate Expectations in EC/EEA Law
• Walter A. Stoffel & Thomas Nydegger, Banken, Korporatismus und Wettbewerbsrecht in der Schweiz
• Antonio Tizzano, La notion de "pouvoir adjudicateur" dans la jurisprudence communautaire en matière de marchés publics
• Bo Vesterdorf, The EC Competition Law Policy on Fines: Main Issues and Ways ahead
• Roland von Büren, Vom schweizerischen zum europäischen Binnenmarkt
• Herbert Batliner & Johannes Gasser, Sind Schiedsklauseln zulasten Dritter gemäss Art. 6 EMRK zulässig?: ein juristischer Ausblick von Liechtenstein nach Europa
• Henrik Bull, Recognition of Foreign Bankruptcies: Swiss Law as an Example to the World?
• Peter Nobel, Globalisierung des Gesellschaftsrechts
• Othmar Strasser, Strafrechtliche Verantwortung des Unternehmensjuristen einer Schweizer Bank
• Jay Lawrence Westbrook, National Regulation of Multinational Default
• Hans Brunhart, Wegweiser, Wegbereiter, Wegbegleiter: zur Bedeutung Carl Baudenbachers für den Beitritt Liechtensteins zum EWR-Vertrag
• Erhard Busek, Heimat und Globalisierung: das Ende des Nationalstaates?
• Hans Fischler, Die Globalisierung gestalten
• Otmar Hasler, Vertiefung der Europäischen Integration und EU-Osterweiterung: Chancen und Gefahren für die regionale Wirtschaft
• Ernst Mohr, Europa in der Symbolgesellschaft: ein Scherenschnitt zur Bedeutung von Kultur und geistigem Eigentum
• Heinrich Neisser, Die Europäische Verfassungsdiskussion im Lichte der Herausforderung der Globalisierung
• Nikolaus von und zu Liechtenstein, Liechtensteins Weg in Europa
• Rainer J. Schweizer, Wissenschaft und Demokratie: globale Forschung und nationale Verantwortung
• Saschia Spoun, Ein Studium fürs Leben: Reflexion und Zukunft der Bologna-Reform deutscher Hochschulen: eine Alternative
• Christa Tobler, Going Global in Sex Equality Law: the Case of Gender Representation Rules for Company Boards

New Issue: International Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the International Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 12, no. 1, 2008) is out. Contents include:

• Eric Neumayer, Death Penalty Abolition and the Ratification of the Second Optional Protocol
• Neve Gordon, Human Rights, Social Space and Power: Why do some NGOs Exert More Influence than Others?
• Ulf Johansson Dahre, The Politics of Human Rights: Indigenous Peoples and the Conflict on Collective Human Rights
• Sonja Grover, 'Child Soldiers' as 'Non-Combatants': The Inapplicability of the Refugee Convention Exclusion Clause
• Bernadette Mcsherry & Susan Kneebone, Trafficking in Women and Forced Migration: Moving Victims Across the Border of Crime into the Domain of Human Rights
• Ngozi F. Stewart, International Protection of Human Rights: The United Nations System
• Jakob Cornides, Human Rights Pitted Against Man

Racine & Siiriainen: Droit du commerce international

Jean-Baptiste Racine (l'Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis) & Fabrice Siiriainen (l'Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis) have published Droit du commerce international (Dalloz 2007). Here's the abstract:

Le droit du commerce international est devenu une discipline mise au coeur du processus de mondialisation de l'économie. Elle est donc en pleine expansion. Ce n'est pas seulement une branche du droit international privé. Le droit du commerce international présente une autonomie certaine par son esprit, ses méthodes et son objet. Les sources de ce droit sont particulières dans la mesure où il fait la part belle aux usages du commerce international plus généralement désignés sous l'appellation de lex mercatoria. Les acteurs du commerce international sont variés : il s'agit bien entendu des sociétés mais aussi des Etats. Le particularisme du droit du commerce international se situe aussi au stade des opérations du commerce international : la vente, le transport, la distribution, etc. obéissent à des règles particulières le plus souvent des règles matérielles, de source internationale. Enfin, l'importance et l'originalité du commerce international se manifestent dans le recours à l'arbitrage. En tant que justice privée, l'arbitrage est aujourd'hui devenu le mode de résolution de droit commun des litiges du commerce international.