Sitaraman: Counterinsurgency, the War on Terror, and the Laws of War

Ganesh Sitaraman (Harvard Univ. - Law) has posted Counterinsurgency, the War on Terror, and the Laws of War (Virginia Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, military strategists, historians, soldiers, and policymakers have made counterinsurgency's principles and paradoxes second nature, and they now expect that counterinsurgency operations will be the likely wars of the future. Yet despite counterinsurgency's ubiquity in military and policy circles, legal scholars have almost completely ignored it. This Article evaluates the laws of war in light of modern counterinsurgency strategy. It shows that the laws of war are premised on a kill-capture strategic foundation that does not apply in counterinsurgency, which follows a win-the-population strategy. The result is that the laws of war are disconnected from military realities in multiple areas - from the use of non-lethal weapons to occupation law. It also argues that the war on terror legal debate has been myopic and misplaced. The shift from a kill-capture to win-the-population strategy not only expands the set of topics legal scholars interested in contemporary conflict must address but also requires incorporating the strategic foundations of counterinsurgency when considering familiar topics in the war on terror legal debates.

Dunoff: Linking International Markets and Global Justice

Jeffrey L. Dunoff (Temple Univ. - Law) has posted Linking International Markets and Global Justice (Michigan Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

International controversy over the "Buy American" provisions of the stimulus bill highlight the myriad purposes government procurement serves and how WTO law can impact domestic procurement policy. While the stimulus bill sought to favor domestic interests, use of procurement policy to pursue objective in other states, such as worker rights or environmental protection, raises even more challenging legal and policy questions. This essay, which reviews Christopher McCrudden's Buying Social Justice: Equality, Government Procurement, and Legal Change, situates debates over government procurement within the context of broader debates over use of regulatory policy and market mechanisms to induce social changes in foreign countries.

Vogenauer & Kleinheisterkamp: Commentary on the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (2004)

Stefan Vogenauer (Univ. of Oxford - Law) & Jan Kleinheisterkamp (LSE - Law) have published Commentary on the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (2004) (Oxford Univ. Press 2009). Here's the abstract:

The Commentary on the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts is written by an international team of distinguished practitioners and academics. They offer an article by article commentary on the Principles to provide an accessible guide to the existing case law and legal literature, as well as a comparison with national and international legislation.

The UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts set forth rules of general contract law for the use by merchants and business people in cross border transactions. Since their first publication in 1994 the Principles have proved to be a serious alternative to national contract laws in international disputes decided by arbitral tribunals, such as those administered by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). At the same time, they have been accepted as a model for reforming the laws on international contracts by countries such as Russia, China, Estonia, and Lithuania.

This book provides commentary on the substantive rules on contracts with a comprehensive analysis of each provision. As a result, this book aims to increase understanding of the rules governing international commercial contracts and aid the practical application of the Principles.

Job Opening: Luxembourg (Professor)

The University of Luxembourg is seeking to hire a Professor in International Public Law. Here's the advertisement:

The University of Luxembourg has an opening in its Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance of the University of Luxembourg for 1 Professor in International public law (M/F)

Ref: F2-090008 (to be mentioned in all correspondence) Employee status, full time (40h/week)

The successful candidate will be expected to have extensive research and teaching experience in international economic law, law of international organizations or international litigation.

Mission: The responsibilities contain the education at the Bachelor, Master and doctorate levels, research and the management of research projects and the tutoring of students in the various levels.

Profile: A PhD in international public law. A significant record of publications in internationally recognised peer-reviewed journals. Knowledge in the field of international litigation (international courts, alternative dispute resolution, arbitration) of international economic law (law of international trade, regional economic integration, financial services) and / or law of international organizations would be an advantage. Experience in acquiring and/or participation in European research projects would be an asset, as well as interdisciplinary projects. Experience and aptitude for teaching and research at the highest level. The capability to work in a multilingual environment in which good knowledge of both French and English are essential and fluency in German is an additional advantage.

Applications (in French or English) will contain following documents: A copy of the diploma of doctorate; A detailed curriculum vitae with a list of publications of the candidate; A text of up to 6000 characters (3 pages) describing the scientific activities which the applicant wishes to carry out; A copy of the doctoral thesis; A copy of the three publications that the candidate considers as most representative of his or her research activity. A list of three references with their name, address and present position. Please indicate their relationship to you.

The University of Luxembourg offers competitive salaries. Information about the position can be obtained from Professor Jörg Gerkrath, e-mail: jorg.gerkrath@uni.lu or Professor André Prüm, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance, email: andre.prum@uni.lu .

All applications should be sent in printed form and electronic version before March 15th, 2009 to the following address:

Professeur André Prüm

Dean of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance

University of Luxembourg

162 A, avenue de la Faïencerie

L-1511 Luxembourg

E-mail: fdef-recrutement@uni.lu

All applications will be handled in strictest confidence. The University of Luxembourg is an equal opportunity employer.

Chirop, McDorman, & Rolston: The Future of Ocean Regime-Building

Aldo Chircop (Dalhousie Univ. - Law), Ted McDorman (Univ. of Victoria - Law), & Susan Rolston have published The Future of Ocean Regime-Building Essays in Tribute to Douglas M. Johnston (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2009). Contents include:

• Aldo Chircop, Ted L. McDorman, Susan J. Rolston & Christian L. Wiktor, Douglas Millar Johnston (1931–2006) Biographical Note
• Brian Flemming, Douglas M. Johnston: Postscript for a Polymath
• Edward L. Miles, Remembering Douglas Johnston as a Practicing Diplomat as well as a Scholar
• Aldo Chircop, Ted L. McDorman & Susan J. Rolston, Introduction: Setting the Stage
• Jutta Brunnée, Declaration and the Structure and Processes of International Environmental Law
• Meinhard Doelle, Integration among Global Environmental Regimes: Lessons Learned from Climate Change Mitigation
• John Gamble, Ryan Watson & Lauren Piera, Ocean Regimes as Reflected in 500 Years of Multilateral Treaty-Making
• Jay L. Batongbacal, The Law of the Sea, Marine Technology, and Global Social Justice
• Stuart Kaye, State Practice and Maritime Claims: Assessing the Normative Impact of the Law of the Sea Convention
• John Duff, Trends in Ocean Zoning – Layers of Confusion and Approaches to Clarity
• Jon M. Van Dyke, Transit Passage Through International Straits
• Robert Beckman, The Establishment of a Cooperative Mechanism for the Straits of Malacca and Singapore under Article 43 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
• Sam Bateman, The Compulsory Pilotage Regime in the Torres Strait – A “Melting Pot” of Operational, Legal, and Political Considerations
• Edgar Gold, Northern Sea Route Navigation: The Last Frontier?
• Hugh M. Kindred & Mary R. Brooks, Consequences of Securing Merchant Shipping for Contractual Relations in the Carriage of Seaborne Trade
• Moira L. McConnell, “Making Labour History” and the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006: Implications for International Law-Making (and Responses to the Dynamics of Globalization)
• Peter B. Payoyo, The Contribution of the 2006 ILO Maritime Labour Convention to Global Governance
• Gordon R. Munro, The Management of Internationally Shared Fish Stocks: A Law and Economics Approach
• Wendell Sanford, To Catch a Thief: Canadian Law and Practice in the Northwest Atlantic, 1992–1994
• William R. Edeson, Human Rights Aspects of Legislation in the Fisheries Sector
• Shelley Lexmond, Improving the Effectiveness of Environmental Regimes: “Consilience,” Science, and Common Sense
• David L. VanderZwaag & Anne Daniel, International Law and Ocean Dumping: Steering a Precautionary Course Aboard the 1996 London Protocol, but Still an Unfinished Voyage
• Zou Keyuan, Regulation of the Dumping of Wastes at Sea: The Chinese Practice
• Aldo Chircop, The Designation of Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas: A New Layer in the Regime for Marine Environmental Protection from International Shipping
• Alex G. Oude Elferink, Third States in Maritime Delimitation Cases: Too Big a Role, Too Small a Role, or Both?
• Clive Schofield and Ian Townsend-Gault, Brokering Cooperation Amidst Competing Maritime Claims: Preventative Diplomacy in the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea
• Mark J. Valencia, Regime-Building in East Asia: Recent Progress and Problems
• Ted L. McDorman, Notes on the Historic Waters Regime and the Bay of Fundy
• Carlyle L. Mitchell, The Legacy of the Dalhousie University Ocean Studies Programme (DOSP) in the Caribbean

Workshops: Saxon, Williams

Dan Saxon (International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia) will give a talk today at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law's Friday Lunchtime Lecture Series on "Competing Rights in International Criminal Tribunals."

Sarah J. Williams (British Institute for International and Comparative Law) will give a talk today at the University of Nottingham School of Law-International Law Association (British Branch) Regional Seminar Series on "Immunities Before the International and Internationalized Criminal Tribunals: Recent Developments."

Heyvaert: Hybrid Norms in International Law

Veerle Heyvaert (London School of Economics and Political Science - Law) has posted Hybrid Norms in International Law. Here's the abstract:

The paper analyses the emergence of legal provisions in international law that can neither be categorised as hard law or soft law, but contain elements of both. It identifies such provisions as 'hybrid norms.' The paper examines common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDRs) for financial and technical assistance under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, and argues that the implementation of State responsibilities for assistance through a heterarchical implementation network, involving the cooperation between State and transnational actors, hybridises the international legal framework. While hybridisation is a productive response to the challenge of regulating global risks, it also puts pressure on the adoption of enforcement mechanisms and problematises the communicative role of international law. The paper preliminarily maps out three responses to the challenges of hybridisation: a conservative response, a contractual one, and an administrative response.

Osiel: How Should the ICC Office of the Prosecutor Choose its Cases? The multiple meanings of Situational Gravity

Mark Osiel (T.M.C. Asser Institute) has posted How Should the ICC Office of the Prosecutor Choose its Cases? The multiple meanings of Situational Gravity. Here's the first paragraph:

The ICC has been tasked with prosecuting international crimes of supreme “gravity”. It remains unclear, however, just what this term should be understood to mean. Different understandings yield quite different priorities for investigation. Situations in four places have been found to be sufficiently grave: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Uganda, Darfur region of Sudan and Central African Republic. The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) has also begun preliminary investigations in Chad, Kenya, Afghanistan, Georgia, Colombia and, most recently, Gaza. How should the Court’s scarce resources be distributed among the wide array of crimes throughout the world that might legitimately become the focus of its scrutiny?

New Issue: Columbia Journal of Transnational Law

The latest issue of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law (Vol. 47, no. 1, 2008) is out. Contents include:

• Friedmann Award Addresses
• George A. Bermann, Introduction to Sandra Day O'Connor
• Sandra Day O'Connor, Balancing Security, Democracy, and Human Rights in an Age of Terrorism
• Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade, The Human Person and International Justice
• Richard N. Gardner, The Bretton Woods-GATT System After Sixty-Five Years: A Balance Sheet of Success and Failure
• Alec Stone Sweet & Jud Mathews, Proportionality Balancing and Global Constitutionalism

Warner: Protecting the Oceans Beyond National Jurisdiction

Robin Warner (Univ. of Wollongong - Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security) has published Protecting the Oceans Beyond National Jurisdiction: Strengthening the International Law Framework (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2009). Here's the abstract:

Knowledge of the marine environment beyond national jurisdiction and its unique biodiversity is still developing. Simultaneously, traditional uses of these areas including fishing and shipping, are intensifying and new uses are emerging such as bio-prospecting for marine genetic resources and climate change mitigation activities. This volume examines the threats to the marine environment beyond national jurisdiction from existing and emerging human uses and the adequacy of current international law provisions to protect this major part of the global environment. An analysis of key provisions in the 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea Convention and complementary principles of international environmental law reveals significant tensions between the concept of high seas freedoms and the international law obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment beyond national jurisdiction. The book compares the lack of comprehensive environmental regulation for marine resource exploitation and shipping activities beyond national jurisdiction with the best practice standards for environmental protection being developed by the International Seabed Authority for deep seabed mining exploration. Recent initiatives by the international community to study issues relating to conservation of high seas biodiversity are discussed and a range of soft and hard law options to strengthen the international law framework for protection of the marine environment beyond national jurisdiction are considered.

Guzman & Meyer: Explaining Soft Law

Andrew T. Guzman (Univ. of California, Berkeley - Law) & Timothy Meyer (Univ. of California, Berkeley - Law) have posted Explaining Soft Law. Here's the abstract:

Although the concept of soft law has existed for years, scholars have not reached consensus on why states use soft law or even whether "soft law" is a coherent analytic category. In part, this confusion reflects a deep diversity in both the types of international agreements and the strategic situations that produce them. In this paper, we advance four complementary explanations for why states use soft law that describe a much broader range state behavior than has been previously explained.

First, and least significantly, states may use soft law to solve straightforward coordination games in which the existence of a focal point is enough to generate compliance.

Second, under what we term the "loss avoidance" theory, moving from soft law to hard generates higher sanctions which both deter more violations and, because sanctions in the international system are negative sum, increase the net loss to the parties. States will choose soft law when the marginal costs in terms of the expected loss from violations exceed the marginal benefits in terms of deterred violations.

Third, under the "delegation theory," states choose soft law when they are uncertain about whether the rules they adopt today will be desirable tomorrow and when it is advantageous to allow a particular state or groups of states to adjust expectations in the event of changed circumstances. Moving from hard law to soft law makes it easier for such states to renounce existing rules or interpretations of rules and drive the evolution of soft law rules in a way that may be more efficient than formal renegotiation.

Fourth, we introduce the concept of international common law ("ICL"), which we define as a non-binding gloss that international institutions, such as international tribunals, put on binding legal rules. The theory of ICL is based on the observation that, except occasionally with respect to the facts and parties to the dispute before it, the decisions of international tribunals are non-binding interpretations of binding legal rules. States grant institutions the authority to make ICL as a way around the requirement that states must consent in order to be bound by legal rules. ICL affects all states subject to the underlying rule, regardless of whether they have consented to the creation of the ICL. As such, ICL provides cooperation-minded states with the opportunity to deepen cooperation in exchange for surrendering some measure of control over legal rules.

These four explanations of soft law, and in particular the theory of ICL, provide a firm justification for the coherence of soft law as an analytic category. They demonstrate that there are a range of non-binding international instruments from which legal consequences flow, just as in the domestic setting non-binding documents such as legislative committee reports often have legal consequences when, for example, used to interpret binding rules. Moreover, the theories offered in this paper explain the circumstances under which this quasi-legal characteristic of soft law will be attractive to states.

Workshops: von Bogdandy, Ziemele

Armin von Bogdandy (Director, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law & New York Univ. - Law) will give a talk today at the New York University School of Law Institute for International Law and Justice International Legal Theory Colloquium on "Developing the Publicness of Public International Law: Towards a Legal Framework for Global Governance Activities" (co-authored with Philipp Dann and Matthias Goldmann) and "The Exercise of International Public Authority through National Policy Assessment" (co-authored with Matthias Goldmann).

Ineta Ziemele (Judge, European Court of Human Rights) will give a talk today at the Oxford Public International Law Discussion Group on "International Law in the Case-Law of the European Court of Human Rights."

Call for Papers: Taking Stock of Transitional Justice

As I noted previously, Oxford Transitional Justice Research will host a conference, June 26-28, 2009, on "Taking Stock of Transitional Justice." There is also a call for papers. Here's the call:

Oxford Transitional Justice Research (OTJR) invites speaker submissions for the upcoming conference, “Taking Stock of Transitional Justice.” This conference, to be held at the University of Oxford, will critically engage with and challenge current academic thinking on and the practical implementation of transitional justice.

Country-specific plenary debates on key themes will complement a range of indepth, inter-disciplinary panel sessions. Combined, these discussions will explore some of the most contentious questions in the field of transitional justice, including: What has transitional justice achieved in practical terms? What are the theoretical and empirical assumptions underpinning transitional justice? How has the field evolved over time? Has transitional justice unjustifiably preferenced legal approaches? Should we understand justice during transition simply in terms of politics? What is the future of this field? The conference aims to question and re-orient the thinking around transitional justice, exploring its moral underpinnings, its universality and transferability, its objectives and implementation mechanisms.

Submissions are encouraged from academics, policy makers, and practitioners, and from individuals based in both the Global North and South, particularly from countries with experience of transition. The basis for accepting submissions will be evidence of critical thinking and new insights, and varied panels bringing together discipline areas and specialisations that rarely speak to each other.

Submissions are invited under the following five broad conference themes:

Means and Ends: Reconciliation, Truth and Justice

Sessions under this theme return to the principles underpinning transitional justice and critique its theoretical and conceptual basis. Areas for submission include normative principles of justice, reconciliation, forgiveness, memory, agency and power.

Criminal Justice

This theme interrogates the relationship between criminal and transitional justice. Assessing the development of international criminal justice from its domestic roots, the sessions critically engage with – among other themes – the use of prosecutorial discretion, the construction of a criminal case and the principle of complementarity. In raising questions about the links between national and international criminal processes, these sessions focus on the legitimacy of criminal processes during transition.

Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Transitional Justice

This theme explores the relationship between transitional justice and broader post-conflict reconstruction concerns. It focuses on bringing together areas that are rarely discussed together, including security, land reform, institutional reform and justice. Areas for submission include security sector reform, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR), and land redistribution.

Reparations

This theme explores reparations in theory and practice, raising questions about the nature of victimhood, the objectives of reparations, and the monitoring and evaluation of reparations policies. Areas of interest include ‘the victim’, victimhood, memorialisation, reconciliation and reparations in practice.

Local Justice

Sessions under this theme explore contemporary concerns with ‘local’ justice and justice ‘from below.’ This theme focuses on the key social objectives with which local justice has been connected, particularly restoration of fractured relationships and reconciliation, and the practical efficacy of local approaches in achieving the ends designated to them. Areas for submission include conceptualising ‘local’ transitional justice processes, the practical unfolding of such approaches in specific contexts, and the broader implications for transitional justice of these local processes.

Submissions should take the form of a 300-500 word abstract sent to: otjrconference2009@gmail.com and include author name, affiliation, contact details, and relevant broad conference theme(s).

OTJR encourages submissions from established and early-career researchers, practitioners and policy makers, who wish to critically engage with the core questions and concerns of the conference and its sub-themes.

Deadline for submissions: 28 April 2009

OTJR has very limited funding to support speaker participation in this conference – and any available funding will be used to facilitate the participation of speakers from the Global South. If you will require financial assistance, please specify this when submitting your abstract. All speakers are eligible for the reduced residential conference rate of £125 (from the normal rate of £225).

Oxford Transitional Justice Research is an inter-disciplinary network of University of Oxford staff and students working broadly on issues of “transition" in states recovering from mass conflict and/or repressive rule. OTJR is dedicated to producing high-quality scholarship that connects intimately to practical and policy questions in transitional justice, focusing on the following themes:

• Prosecutions
• Truth commissions
• Local and traditional practices
• Compensation and reparations
• Theoretical and philosophical debates in transitional justice
• Institutional reform
• Archives of tribunal and other transitional justice materials

For more information, see http://www.csls.ox.ac.uk/otjr.php

New Issue: Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Institutions

The latest issue of Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Institutions (Vol 15, no. 2, April-June 2009) is out. Contents include:

• Roger A. Coate, The John W. Holmes Lecture: Growing the "Third UN" for People-centered Development—The United Nations, Civil Society, and Beyond
• Global Insights
• Garrett Wallace Brown, Multisectoralism, Participation, and Stakeholder Effectiveness: Increasing the Role of Nonstate Actors in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria
• Jo Marie Griesgraber, Reforms for Major New Roles of the International Monetary Fund? The IMF Post-G-20 Summit
• Christian Thimann, Christian Just, & Raymond Ritter, Strengthening the Governance of the International Monetary Fund: How a Dual Board Structure Could Raise the Effectiveness and Legitimacy of a Key Global Institution
• Articles
• Andrew Baker, Deliberative Equality and the Transgovernmental Politics of the Global Financial Architecture
• Navroz K. Dubash, Global Norms Through Global Deliberation? Reflections ont he World Commission on Dams
• Andrew Harmer & Robert Frith, "Walking Together" Toward Independence? A Civil Society Perspective onthe United Nations' Administration of East Timor, 1999-2002
• Dries Lesage, Thijs Van de Graaf, & Kirsten Westphal, The G8's Role in Global Energy Governance Since the 2005 Gleneagles Summit
• Giovanni Mantilla, Emerging International Human Rights Norms for Transnational Corporations

Conference: The Future of PIL between National and International Law: Codifications and Caselaw

Swiss Institute of Comparative Law and Sellier European Law Publishers will sponsor a conference celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Yearbook of Private International Law, March 19, 2009. The theme is "The Future of PIL between National and International Law: Codifications and Caselaw." The program is here.

Hilpold: Die EU im GATT/WTO-System (Third Edition)

Peter Hilpold (Univ. of Innsbruck - Law) has published the third edition of his Die EU im GATT/WTO-System (Innsbruck Univ. Press / Schulthess / Nomos 2009). Here's the abstract:

Welches Verhältnis besteht zwischen der Europäischen Union und der Welthandelsorganisation WTO? Welche Rolle spielt der wirtschaftliche Regionalismus im WTO-System? Diese Fragen beantwortet das vorliegende Werk und analysiert zentrale Fragestellungen des EU-Außenwirtschaftsrechts. Die Außenwirtschaftskompetenzen sind zwischen Gemeinschaft und Mitgliedstaaten geteilt. Diese Tatsache wirft für die Gemeinschaft gerade bei der Wahrnehmung ihrer Rolle bei der WTO zahlreiche Probleme auf. Ausgehend von der Rechtslage nach dem Vertrag von Nizza, werden durchgehend die geplanten Neuerungen nach Maßgabe des Vertrages von Lissabon berücksichtigt. Auch die Frage, ob den WTO-Bestimmungen im Gemeinschaftsrecht unmittelbare Wirkung zuerkannt werden soll, wird umfassend behandelt.

Der Autor analysiert die gesamte einschlägige EuGH- und WTO-Rechtsprechung. Er widmet ein besonderes Augenmerk der Rechtsposition Einzelner, wobei auch die demokratiepolitischen Konsequenzen verschiedener außenwirtschaftsrechtlicher Regelungen aufgezeigt werden. Zentrale Aufmerksamkeit gilt dabei dem Transparenzprinzip.

Workshop: Lindsay

Rae Lindsay (Clifford Chance LLP) will give a talk today at the International Law Association (British Branch)-University College London Faculty of Laws International Law Seminar on "Economic Sanctions - Implications of Recent Human Rights Challenges."

UPDATE: This seminar has been cancelled.

Conference: Conflict in the Caucasus: Implications for International Legal Order

The University of Reading School of Law and the Centre for Transnational Law and Justice at the University of Windsor will sponsor a conference on "Conflict in the Caucasus: Implications for International Legal Order," April 15, 2009. It will take place at the University of Reading. Here's a description:

Leading academics, with expertise in diverse fields of International Law and International Relations, will present papers on issues arising from the recent Russia-Georgia dispute over South Ossetia. Topics include: the use of force, forced migration, human rights, self-determination and the role of international institutions and courts.

New Issue: Transnational Dispute Management Journal

The latest issue of the Transnational Dispute Management Journal (Vol. 6, no. 1, March 2009) is out. The table of contents is available here.

New Issue: Criminal Law Forum

The latest issue of Criminal Law Forum (Vol. 20, no. 1, March 2009) is out. Contents include:

• Joseph Rikhof, Fewer Places to Hide? The Impact of Domestic War Crimes Prosecutions on International Impunity
• Parinaz Kermani Mendez, The New Wave of Hybrid Tribunals: A Sophisticated Approach to Enforcing International Humanitanitarian Law or an Idealistic Solution with Empty Promises?
• Matthias J. Borgers, Regulating and Combating Underground Banking
• Don Stuart, A Case for a General Part: Lessons from Canada’s Experience with Stephen’s Code Since 1892 and Entrenched Charter Standards Since 1982
• Pamela R. Ferguson, Constructing a Criminal Code

New Issue: Australian Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the Australian Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 14, no. 1, 2008) is out. Contents include:

• Ann Nevile, Human rights, power and welfare conditionality
• Tom Calma, Indigenous health and human rights
• Sarah Maddison, Indigenous autonomy matters: what's wrong with the Australian government's 'intervention' in Aboriginal communities
• Andrew Byrnes, Andrea Durbach, & Catherine Renshaw, Joining the club: the Asia Pacific Forum of and National Human Rights Institutions, the Paris Principles, and the advancement of human rights protection in the region
• Ben Saul, The international protection of journalists in armed conflict and other violent situations
• Thomas Humphrey, Children, medical treatment and religion: defining the limits of parental responsibility
• Mia Dambach, Kariong Juvenile Correctional Centre: countless contraventions of international law
• Kathryn Haigh, Extending the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction to corporations: overcoming complementarity concerns

Kamminga & Scheinin: The Impact of Human Rights Law on General International Law

Menno T. Kamminga (Maastricht Univ. - Law) & Martin Scheinin (European Univ. Institute - Law) have published The Impact of Human Rights Law on General International Law (Oxford Univ. Press 2009). Here's the abstract:

Traditional international law aims to protect the values and interests of states.The rapidly increasing corpus of international human rights law (including international humanitarian law and international criminal law) increasingly challenges the basic tenets of general international law. In order to become accepted as the law of the world community, general international law needs to better reflect the values and interests of a wider range of actors, including the individual.

This volume provides the first comprehensive examination of the impact of international human rights law on general international law. It considers areas including the structure of international obligations, the formation of customary international law, treaty law, immunities, state responsibility and diplomatic protection. The authors trace the extent to which concepts emanating from international human rights law are being incorporated by the guardians of traditional international law: the International Court of Justice and the International Law Commission.

The book contains work carried out by the Committee on International Law and Practice of the International Law Association (ILA) over a period of four years, including the Committee's Final Report on the Impact of International Human Rights Law on General International Law and in-depth contributions by Committee members on key areas of international law.

Workshops: Goldsmith, Michel, Park

Jack Goldsmith (Harvard Univ. - Law) will give a talk today at the Temple University School of Law International Law Colloquium on "Law for States: International Law, Constitutional Law, Public Law."

Nicolas Michel (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies - Law; formerly, Legal Counsel, United Nations) will give a talk today at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies on "Droit et pouvoir dans la communauté internationale: les défis d'un conseiller juridique de l'ONU."

William (Rusty) Park (Boston Univ. - Law) will give a talk today at the Oxford Intellectual Property Invited Speaker Seminar on "International Arbitration and IP Claims."

Ottenberg: Der Schutz der Religionsfreiheit im internationalen Recht

Daniel Ottenberg has published Der Schutz der Religionsfreiheit im internationalen Recht (Nomos 2009). Here's the abstract:

Dieses Werk schließt eine Lücke im Bereich der Literatur zu den Menschenrechten. Mit über 200 eingearbeiteten Urteilen stellt es erstmals umfassend den Stand der Verwirklichung der Religionsfreiheit weltweit dar. Es ist hochaktuell, da in der heutigen Zeit ein Comeback der Religionen festzustellen ist und es bei der zunehmenden Pluralität – gerade der westlichen Gesellschaften – keine klaren Mehrheitsreligionen mehr gibt. Deshalb wird die Frage immer drängender, welche Leitlinien der Staat für ein Zusammenleben der Religionen vorgeben darf. Darauf gibt diese Arbeit Antworten. Zudem werden Gefahren und Trends im Bereich der Religionsfreiheit sowie dem Recht auf Bildung klar benannt. Auch die Schutzsysteme der UN sowie in Amerika und Afrika berücksichtigt der Autor. Dabei wird deutlich, dass die Religionsfreiheit als Prüfstein für den Schutz der Menschenrechte generell dienen kann.

Wills: Protecting Civilians: The Obligations of Peacekeepers

Siobhán Wills (University College Cork - Law) has published Protecting Civilians: The Obligations of Peacekeepers (Oxford Univ. Press 2009). Here's the abstract:

This book examines the obligations of troops to prevent serious abuses of human rights towards civilians under international humanitarian law and international human rights law. It analyses the duty to intervene to stop the commission of serious abuses of human rights by analysing the meaning and practical consequences for troops, in terms of civilian protection, of the Article 1 duty to respect and ensure respect for the Geneva Conventions; of the duty to secure human rights (found in most international human rights treaties); and of the duty to restore law and order in an occupation.

The book also analyzes the extent of troops' obligations to provide protection in light of various different operational and legal contexts in and discusses 'grey areas' and lacuna of coverage. A discussion of whether new approaches are needed, for example where operations are undertaken explicitly to protect people from serious violations of their human rights follows; and the book concludes by offering some guidelines for troops faced with such violations.

Nasu: International Law on Peacekeeping: A Study of Article 40 of the UN Charter

Hitoshi Nasu (Australian National Univ. - Law) has published International Law on Peacekeeping: A Study of Article 40 of the UN Charter (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2009). Here's the abstract:

It is generally considered that the UN Security Council has been galvanised since the end of the Cold War. However, the existence and development of armed conflicts remain the reality in the international scene. Is the upsurge in instances of invoking Chapter VII of the UN Charter truly a sign of the invigoration of the Security Council’s authority or mere evidence of its failure to prevent the aggravation of armed conflicts? To what extent is the Security Council authorised to exercise the peacekeeping power in order to take a more flexible approach to conflict management from an earlier stage of conflict? This book explores the potential of the UN peacekeeping power, placing Article 40 of the UN Charter at the centre of the legal regime governing peacekeeping measures. It traces the origins of peacekeeping measures primarily in the experience of the League of Nations and identifies Article 40 of the Charter as the primary legal basis for, and the legal restraints upon, the exercise of the peacekeeping power. It examines the regulatory framework within which the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, is authorised and may even be required to direct peacekeeping measures to prevent the aggravation of armed conflicts. It suggests that the legal accountability of the Security Council in directing peacekeeping measures will be enhanced by utilising procedural mechanisms for self-regulation.

New Issue: Chicago Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Chicago Journal of International Law (Vol. 9, no. 2, Winter 2009) is out. Contents include:

• Symposium: International Judges
• Erik Voeten, The Politics of International Judicial Appointments
• Suzannah Linton & Firew Kebede Tiba, The International Judge in an Age of Multiple International Courts and Tribunals
• Charles N. Brower & Stephan W. Schill, Is Arbitration a Threat or a Boon to the Legitimacy of International Investment Law?
• Tom Ginsburg, The Clash of Commitments at the International Criminal Court
• Andrew T. Guzman & Timothy L. Meyer, International Common Law: The Soft Law of International Tribunals
• Dinah Shelton, Form, Function, and the Powers of International Courts
• Michael P. Scharf & Patrick Dowd, No Way Out? The Question of Unilateral Withdrawals or Referrals to the ICC and Other Human Rights Courts
• Adeno Addis & Jonathan Remy Nash, Identitarian Anxieties and the Nature of Inter-Tribunal Deliberations

Dinstein: The International Law of Belligerent Occupation

Yoram Dinstein (Tel Aviv Univ. - Law) has published The International Law of Belligerent Occupation (Cambridge Univ. Press 2009). Here's the abstract:

The customary law of belligerent occupation goes back to the Hague and Geneva Conventions. Recent instances of such occupation include Iraq, the former Yugoslavia, the Congo and Eritrea. But the paradigmatic illustration is the Israeli occupation, lasting for over 40 years. There is now case law of the International Court of Justice and other judicial bodies, both international and domestic. There are Security Council resolutions and a vast literature. Still, numerous controversial points remain. How is belligerent occupation defined? How is it started and when is it terminated? What is the interaction with human rights law? Who is protected under belligerent occupation, and what is the scope of the protection? Conversely, what measures can an occupying power lawfully resort to when encountering forcible resistance from inhabitants of the occupied territory? This book examines the legislative, judicial and executive rights of the occupying power and its obligations to the civilian population.

Milanović: Territorial Application of the Genocide Convention and State Succession

Marko Milanović (Belgrade Centre for Human Rights) has posted Territorial Application of the Genocide Convention and State Succession (in The UN Genocide Convention: A Commentary, Paola Gaeta ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This chapter in the forthcoming Commentary on the 1948 Genocide Convention, published by Oxford University Press, deals with two important sets of questions. First, it discusses the territorial scope of application of the various obligations that states have assumed under the Convention, including the obligation not to commit genocide, the obligation to prevent genocide, and the obligation to punish its perpetrators. Second, it deals with issues of state succession, i.e. change or transfer of sovereignty over territory, as they relate to the Convention. These issues include succession to the Convention itself, as a distinct treaty action, and succession to the responsibility for any internationally wrongful act under the Convention committed by the predecessor state.