Saturday, August 29, 2009

New Issue: Revue de droit international de sciences diplomatiques et politiques

The latest issue of the Revue de droit international, de sciences diplomatiques et politiques (Vol. 86, no. 3, 2008) is out. Contents include:
  • Irène Couzigou, Le droit à la réunification des Nations des Etats divisés: les enseignements de la réunification de l'Allemagne
  • Cristiano d'Orsi, Asylum and Voluntary Repatriation applied to the Sub-Saharan African Legal Context: Are they two Viable Solutions for Refugees?
  • Mamoud Zani, Réflexion sur le Conseil des droits de l'homme des Nations Unies

Friday, August 28, 2009

Sand: African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Force: What Next for Diego Garcia?

Peter H. Sand (Univ of Munich - Law) has posted an ASIL Insight on African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Force: What Next for Diego Garcia?.

Wouters, Drieskens, & Biscop: Belgium in the UN Security Council

Jan Wouters (Leuven Univ. - Law), Edith Drieskens (Clingendael’s Diplomatic Studies Programme), & Sven Biscop (Egmont – The Royal Institute for International Relations) have published Belgium in the UN Security Council: Reflections on the 2007-2008 Membership (Intersentia 2009). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

In 2007 and 2008, Belgium was once again a privileged observer of the international community’s approach to peace and security, serving as non-permanent member at the UN Security Council. Participating in this ‘global core cabinet’ for the fifth time, it would build upon its historical expertise, especially in relation to Central Africa. Yet its role would not be limited to the region of the Great Lakes only: the government aimed to contribute in a substantial way to all major issues, ‘from North Korea to Haiti’, taking the role of ‘bridge builder’. Now that the Belgian delegation has exchanged its blue front row seats for regular red ones again, it seems a good time to look back and forward, assessing its recent performance and putting it into perspective.

This volume contains a variety of essays in light of Belgium’s 2007-2008 membership of the UN Security Council, covering issues that were high on the international agenda in addition to more horizontal ones. Contributions from policy officials and academics give a comprehensive overview of these two years and provide an insight into the limits and opportunities of a smaller EU Member State in global politics.

New Issue: Revue de Droit International et de Droit Comparé

The latest issue of the Revue de Droit International et de Droit Comparé (Vol. 86, no. 1, 2009) is out. Contents include:
  • A.S.Adjita, Groupes de sociétés et procédures collectives en droit uniforme OHADA (à la lumière du droit français)
  • R. Njeufack Temgwa, Étude de la notion de collaboration dans les procédures en droit de la concurrence: une lecture du droit africain (CEMAC et UEMOA) sous le prisme du droit européen
  • T.Ondo, Le contrôle de constitutionnalité des lois constitutionnelles en Afrique noire francophone
  • F. Raach, La compétence des juridictions internes dans la répression des violations graves du droit international humanitaire: la mise en œuvre de l'article 11 bis du règlement de procédure et de preuve du T.P.I.R.

New Issue: Revue belge de droit international

The latest issue of the Revue belge de droit international (Vol. 40, no. 2, 2007) is out. Contents include:
  • Gérard Cahin, Le droit international et la question de la « fragmentation » des Etats
  • V. Koutroulis, Mythes et réalités de l'application du droit international humanitaire aux occupations dites « transformatives »
  • Gauthier De Beco, Le protocole facultatif à la convention contre la torture et autres peines ou traitements cruels, inhumains ou dégradants du 18 décembre 2002: l'instauration de mécanismes de visites des lieux de détention au niveau national et international
  • L. Chan-Tung, Les exceptions préliminaires devant la CIJ: les clairs-obscurs d'une théorie?
  • A. Vasseur, L'influence des traditions juridiques nationales sur la motivation des décisions de la Cour internationale de justice
  • M.H. Ramazani Ghava-Mabadi, L'ouverture modeste des instances juridictionnelles et quasi- juridictionnelles internationales au profit des O.N.G.
  • Jan Wouters & Maarten Vidal, Towards a rebirth of Benelux

New Volume: Ocean Yearbook

The latest volume of the Ocean Yearbook (Vol. 23) is out.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

BIICL: Greenwood to Deliver F.A. Mann Lecture

On November 4th, Judge Christopher Greenwood of the International Court of Justice will deliver the 33rd Annual F.A. Mann Lecture. His subject will be "The Unity and Diversity of International Law."

Messineo: The Abu Omar Case in Italy

Francesco Messineo (Univ. of Cambridge - Law) has posted The Abu Omar Case in Italy: ‘Extraordinary Renditions’ and State Obligations to Criminalize and Prosecute Torture Under the UN Torture Convention (Journal of International Criminal Justice, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
This article deals with state obligations under the UN Torture Convention, specifically the criminal prosecution of individuals for torture and complicity in torture incidental to ‘extraordinary renditions’, by focusing on Italy's obligations arising from the abduction of Mr Abu Omar. After addressing what ‘extraordinary renditions’ are and the wider context in which they occurred, the article considers the obligation to criminalize complicity in torture and its implementation in Italy. It then analyzes the ongoing Italian criminal proceedings concerning the abduction of Mr Abu Omar and concludes that they are not an adequate implementation of Italy’s obligation to prosecute complicity in torture under the Convention for a variety of reasons. In particular, it addresses the issue of ‘state secrecy’ which emerged during the proceedings and was decided upon by the Constitutional Court, and argues that it cannot be used to avoid international obligations under the Convention.

White: Democracy Goes to War

Nigel D. White (Univ. of Sheffield - Law) has published Democracy Goes to War: British Military Deployments under International Law (Oxford Univ. Press 2009). Here's the abstract:

With the end of the Second World War a new world order arose based on the prohibition of military force in international relations, and yet since 1945 British troops have been regularly deployed around the globe: most notably to Korea, Suez, Cyprus, and the Falklands during the Cold War; and Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq since the fall of the Berlin Wall. British forces have been involved in many different capacities: as military observers, peacekeepers, peace-enforcers, state-builders and war-fighters. The decisions to deploy forces are political ones made within several constitutional frameworks, national, regional and international. After considering the various legal and institutional regimes, this book examines the decision to deploy troops from the perspective of international law.

In its military interventions Britain has consistently tried to utilize international law to justify its actions, though often it argues against orthodox interpretation of the laws. In gauging whether its actions are in breach of international law we can again make judgments at different levels using various forms of accountability - from judicial fora (for example the International Court of Justice in The Hague or the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg), to political ones (the UN General Assembly in New York or the House of Commons in Westminster). While this book examines international and regional mechanisms, tumultuous debates on the Suez crisis, Afghanistan, Iraq and others in the House of Commons and its Committees are highlighted to show how international law impacts upon domestic politics. In considering whether democratic accountability is effective in upholding the principles of international law, this book throws new light on an old democracy, and thereby makes a contribution to the current reform proposals that are aimed at improving democratic decision-making.

Ortino: The GATT and its Challenges at 60

Federico Ortino (King's College London - Law) has posted The GATT and its Challenges at 60. Here's the abstract:

The importance of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), concluded in Geneva on 30 October 1947, applied on a provisional basis from January 1948 until December 1994 and reincarnated since the establishment of the WTO in 1995 in the GATT 1994, cannot be overstated. As it functioned as the major international ‘agreement’ and ‘institution’ at the heart of the multilateral trading system, the GATT accomplished much of its original mandate: the substantial reduction of tariffs and other barriers to trade and the elimination of discriminatory treatment in international commerce.

Scholars have described the GATT 1994 as an ‘incomplete contract’ for at least three sets of reasons. First, the GATT 1994 directly binds only certain trade policies, leaving WTO Members significant discretion over domestic regulatory and fiscal policies with a potentially high trade impact. Second, the GATT 1994 employs vaguely worded provisions, leaving the determination of the actual meaning of the agreement subject to adjudication or to further treaty negotiations. Third, the GATT 1994 includes more or less explicitly an ambitious built-in agenda with regard to the liberalisation of Members’ trade policies, conditioning the success of this agenda to Members’ ability to reach a consensus in future negotiating rounds. In this sense, the GATT 1994 is no different from most other international treaties, which suffer from similar ‘birth defects’.

The present Chapter addresses a few selected key issues stemming out of the ‘incomplete’ character of the GATT 1994, and which remain controversial. The Chapter is structured in three parts, along the lines of Mavroidis’ subdivision of GATT 1994 disciplines: (i) disciplines on ‘trade instruments’ (measures affecting importation or exportation), (ii) disciplines on ‘domestic instruments’ (measures affecting production or consumption) and (iii) disciplines on ‘state contingencies’ (specific emergencies dealing, for example, with balance of payments, currency exchange and dumping). The Chapter advances that while the GATT has, so far, accomplished a lot in terms of establishing the key principles and approaches to the regulation of trade in goods, it has still further challenges to meet in its not-too-distant future.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

New Issue: European Constitutional Law Review

The latest issue of the European Constitutional Law Review (Vol. 5, no. 2, June 2009) contains a number of articles that are of interest to international law scholars. They include:
  • Samantha Besson, European Legal Pluralism after Kadi
  • Bruno de Witte, International Law as a Tool for the European Union
  • Erika de Wet, The Role of European Courts in the Development of a Hierarchy of Norms within International Law: Evidence of Constitutionalisation?
  • Thomas Cottier, International Trade Law: the Impact of Justiciability and Separations of Powers in EC Law

New Issue: Mealey's International Arbitration Report

The latest issue of Mealey's International Arbitration Report (Vol. 24, no. 8, August 2009) is out.

Busch, Reinhardt, & Shaffer: Does Legal Capacity Matter? A Survey of WTO Members

Marc L. Busch (Georgetown Univ. - Walsh School of Foreign Service), Eric Reinhardt (Emory Univ. - Political Science) & Gregory Shaffer (Univ. of Minnesota - Law) have posted Does Legal Capacity Matter? A Survey of WTO Members. Here's the abstract:
Previous studies of WTO dispute settlement have sought to evaluate whether a Member’s legal capacity influences its odds of bringing litigation before the multilateral trade regime. Because direct measures of legal capacity are elusive, these studies have had to use indirect proxies, such as per capita income or number of delegates in Geneva. Yet, the reliability of these measures is questionable. To gauge legal capacity more directly, we surveyed all WTO Members, posing questions concerning their professional staff; bureaucratic organization at home; bureaucratic organization in Geneva; experience handling general WTO matters; and involvement in WTO litigation. Using responses from this survey, we constructed an index of Members’ WTO legal capacity that speaks more fully to the challenges of dispute settlement than do commonly used proxies, none of which are strongly correlated with our measure. We supplemented this survey with over three dozen semi-structured interviews with Members’ representatives in Geneva, the results of which bear out the importance of properly measuring legal capacity.

Lauterpacht Centre Friday Lunchtime Lecture Series for Michaelmas Term 2009

Here's the schedule for the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law's Michaelmas Term 2009 Friday Lunchtime Lectures:

  • October 9, 2009 - Douglas Guilfoyle (Univ. College London - Law), Piracy off Somalia - from Military Solutions to Law Enforcement Cooperation
  • October 16, 2009 - Zachary Douglas (Univ. of Cambridge - Law), Stating the Law of Investment Arbitration: A Quixotic Enterprise?
  • October 23, 2009 - Sarah Joseph (Monash Univ. - Castan Centre for Human Rights Law), Jurisdiction and Responsibility under International Human Rights Law
  • October 30, 2009 - Ilias Bantekas (Brunel Univ. - Centre for International and Public Law), Intergovernmental Trusts in International Law
  • November 6, 2009 - Rolf Einar Fife (Legal Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway), Reviewing the Statute of the International Criminal Court: Prospects for the Review Conference
  • November 13, 2009 - Yves Daudet (Secretary-General, Hague Academy of International Law), The Special Tribunal for Lebanon
  • November 20, 2009 - Ben Saul (Univ. of Sydney - Sydney Centre for International and Global Law), Is there now a Public International Law of Terrorism?
  • November 27, 2009 - Surya Subedi (UN HRC Special Rapporteur on Cambodia; Univ. of Leeds - Law), The UN Human Rights Mandate in Cambodia: The Challenges of a Country in Transition
  • December 4, 2009 - Arnulf Becker Lorca (King's College, London - Law), "Peripheral" International Lawyers, 1900-1950: Alvarez and Others

ASIL Reports on International Organizations

The American Society of International Law's International Organizations Interest Group has issued its latest Reports on International Organizations. Current reports highlight legal developments in the African Union (AU); Mercado Común del Sur/Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR); North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO); The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF); The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC); International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); The Secretariat of the Basel Convention; and The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Schill: The Multilaterization of International Investment Law

Stephan W. Schill (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) has published The Multilaterization of International Investment Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2009). Here's the abstract:
Attempts at developing a theory of international investment law are complicated by the fact that this field of international law is based on numerous, largely bilateral treaties and is implemented by arbitral panels established on a case-by-case basis. This suggests a fragmented and chaotic state of the law, with different levels of protection depending on the sources and targets of foreign investment flows. This book, however, forwards the thesis that international investment law develops, despite its bilateral form, into a multilateral system of law that backs up the functioning of a global market economy based on converging principles of investment protection. In discussing the function of most-favored-nation clauses, the possibilities of treaty-shopping and the impact of investor-State arbitration with its intensive reliance on precedent and other genuinely multilateral approaches to treaty interpretation, it offers a conceptual framework for understanding the nature and functioning of international investment law as a genuinely multilateral system.

Delmas & Young: Governance for the Environment

Magali A. Delmas (Univ. of California, Los Angeles - Anderson School of Management) & Oran R. Young (Univ. of California, Santa Barbara - Bren School of Environmental Science & Management) have published Governance for the Environment: New Perspectives (Cambridge Univ. Press 2009). Contents include:
  • Magali A. Delmas & Oran R. Young, Introduction: new perspectives on governance for sustainable development
  • Oran R. Young, Governance for sustainable development in a world of rising interdependencies
  • Thomas P. Lyon, Environmental governance: an economic perspective
  • Maria Carmen Lemos & Arun Agrawal, Environmental governance and political science
  • Andrew King & Michael W. Toffel, Self-regulatory institutions for solving environmental problems: perspectives and contributions from the management literature
  • Virginia Haufler, Transnational actors and global environmental governance
  • Madhu Khanna & Keith Brouhle, The effectiveness of voluntary environmental initiatives
  • Graeme Auld, Cristina Balboa, Steven Bernstein, & Benjamin Cashore, The emergence of non-state market-driven (NSMD) global environmental governance: a cross-sectoral assessment
  • Magali A. Delmas, Research opportunities in the area of governance for sustainable development

Sloane: More than What Courts Do: Jurisprudence, Decision, and Dignity - In Brief Encounters and Global Affairs

Robert D. Sloane (Boston Univ. - Law) has posted More than What Courts Do: Jurisprudence, Decision, and Dignity - In Brief Encounters and Global Affairs (Yale Journal of International Law, Vol. 34, no. 2, p. 517, 2009). Here's the abstract:
This brief essay is the edited transcript of the author’s opening remarks for a panel on jurisprudence in international law at the conference entitled Realistic Idealism in International Law, held at Yale Law School on April 24, 2009, in honor of W. Michael Reisman. It canvasses some of the animating factors and features of the New Haven School of jurisprudence with which Reisman is identified, and it seeks to explain and clarify some of his signature contributions to the School’s methodology.

New Issue: Indian Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Indian Journal of International Law (Vol. 48, no. 3, July-September 2008) is out. Contents include:
  • K.I. Vibhute, The Struggle for Upholding Human Dignity of Victims of Enforced Disappearance: Some Reflections on the Normative and Institutional Framework
  • R. Bhanu Krishna Kiran, Liability for the Damage Resulting from the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea
  • T.R. Subramanya, The Application of International Law in Municipal Systems: An Assessment of the Impact of Universal Declaration of Human Rights on National and International Courts
  • M.K. Sanu, Draft National Biotechnology Regulatory Bill (India), 2008 – A Forgettable Effort

New Volume: Hague Yearbook of International Law

The latest volume of the Hague Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 21, 2008) is out. Contents include:
  • Wilhelmina Thomassen, Everyone has the Right to a Fair Trial
  • Johan G. Lammers, Equity in International Environmental Law and the Special Position of Developing Countries
  • Maria Pihou, An Argument in Favour of a More Normative Distinction between Principals and Accomplices in International Criminal Law
  • Raymond Goy, La restitution des objets culturels deplacés en relation avec la Seconde guerre mondiale à l'UNESCO
  • Gerard H.W.M. Limburg, Joint Commissions under Regional Boundary Waters Treaties between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Neighbouring Countries. A brief survey
  • Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Dynamic (Evolutive) Interpretation of Treaties, Part I

Monday, August 24, 2009

New Issue: Human Rights Law Review

The latest issue of the Human Rights Law Review (Vol. 9, no. 3, 2009) is out. Contents include:
  • Eva Brems, Human Rights: Minimum and Maximum Perspectives
  • John Tobin, The International Obligation to Abolish Traditional Practices Harmful to Children's Health: What Does It Mean and Require of States?
  • Wojciech Sadurski, Partnering with Strasbourg: Constitutionalisation of the European Court of Human Rights, the Accession of Central and East European States to the Council of Europe, and the Idea of Pilot Judgments

New Volume: German Yearbook of International Law

The latest volume of the German Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 51, 2008) is out. Contents include:
  • Pieter Jan Kuijper, Superpower Frustrated? The Costs of Non-Lisbon in EU External Affairs
  • Focus Section: Poverty as a Challenge to International Law: The Millennium Development Goals and the Guise of Humanitarianism
    • Margot E. Salomon, Poverty, Privilege and International Law: The Millennium Development Goals and the Guise of Humanitarianism
    • Christine Kaufmann & Minna Grosz, Poverty, Hunger and International Trade: What's Law Got to Do with It? Current Mechanisms and the Doha Development Agenda
    • Daniel Bradlow, Developing Countries Debt Crises, International Financial Institutions, and International Law: Some Preliminary Thoughts
    • Edith Brown Weiss & Tanya Karina Lat, Engaging the World's Poor People in Sustainable Development
    • Vincent Chetail, Paradigm and Paradox of the Migration-Development Nexus: The New Border for North-South Dialogue
    • Karin Arts, The European Community's Contribution to the Fight Against Poverty in Developing Countries: Normative and Real?
    • Malcolm Langford, Poverty in Developed States: International Human Rights Law and the Right to a Remedy
  • Robin Geiß, The Protection of Journalists in Armed Conflicts
  • Sabine von Schorlemer, Compliance with the UNESCO World Heritage Convention: Reflections on the Elbe Valley and the Dresden Waldschlösschen Bridge
  • Christian J. Tams & Andreas Zimmermann, "[T]he Federation Shall Accede to Agreements Providing for General, Comprehensive and Compulsory International Arbitration". The German Optional Clause Declaration of 1 May 2008
  • Alexander Proelß, Marine Genetic Resources under UNCLOS and the CBD
  • Hiroshi Taki, Opinio Juris and the Formation of Customary International Law: A Theoretical Analysis
  • Yoshifumi Tanaka, Rethinking Lex Ferenda in International Adjudication

Hamburg Lectures on Maritime Affairs 2009

The Hamburg Lectures on Maritime Affairs, sponsored by the International Max Planck Research School for Maritime Affairs and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), address "current developments in the maritime field." Here's the schedule for the 2009 lectures this fall:

September 4, 2009 - David Attard (Univ. of Malta), “New Approaches to Maritime Jurisdiction: The Mediterranean Experience”

September 8, 2009 - Francesco Munari (Univ. of Genoa), “Competition in Liner Shipping”

September 18, 2009 - “Advisory proceedings before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea” - Roundtable Discussion with Judge Jose Luis Jesus (President, ITLOS); Judge T. M. Ndiaye (ITLOS); Judge Judge Z. Gao (ITLOS); Judge J. L. Kateka (ITLOS); Judge S. Yanai (ITLOS); and Doris König (Bucerius Law School/IMPRS)

September 28, 2009 - Lars Gorton (Univ. of Lund/Copenhagen Business School), “Regional Harmonisation of Maritime Law in Scandinavia”

October 5, 2009 - “The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the Prompt Release of Vessels and Crew” - Roundtable Discussion with Judge Jose Luis Jesus (President, ITLOS); Judge J. Akl (ITLOS); Judge D. Nelson (ITLOS); Judge V. Golitsyn (ITLOS); Philippe Gautier (Registrar, ITLOS); and Lance Fleischer (LKF Conseil)

October 21, 2009 - Charles Debattista (Univ. of Southampton), “The Rotterdam Rules and their Impact on Sellers, Buyers and Banks”

Conference: Law of the Sea in Dialogue

The Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law will host a conference on "Law of the Sea in Dialogue - On the Occasion of Professor Rüdiger Wolfrum’s 68th Birthday," December 4-5, 2009. The provisional program is here.

Call for Submissions: Journal of International Law and International Relations

The Journal of International Law and International Relations, a peer-reviewed journal at the University of Toronto, has issued a call for papers for its forthcoming issue. Here's the call:

The Journal of International Law and International Relations (JILIR) invites submissions from scholars of both International Law and International Relations for its Fall 2009 issue. The JILIR is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal that seeks to develop interdisciplinary discourse at the nexus of two dynamic and relevant disciplines.

The JILIR recently celebrated its fifth anniversary with an issue guest-edited by Antje Wiener, and with a thematic issue focused on secession. The Journal is now returning to its general mandate, and is welcoming submissions on the wide variety of topics located in the intellectual space jointly occupied by International Law and International Relations.

A joint venture of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and the Munk Centre for International Studies, the Journal’s advisory board is comprised of scholars from both International Law and International Relations, including Kenneth Abbott, Jose Alvarez, Upendra Baxi, Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Jutta Brunnée, Michael Byers, Martha Finnemore, Robert Keohane, Benedict Kingsbury, Karen Knop, Martti Koskenniemi, Stephen Krasner, Friedrich Kratochwil, Oona Hathaway, Réné Provost, Philippe Sands, Shirley Scott, Gerry Simpson, Janice Gross Stein, Stephen Toope, and Rob Walker.

Please send submissions via e-mail to submissions@jilir.org as attachments in Microsoft Word or Rich Text format. Please include the author’s full contact information (name, institutional affiliation, mailing address, telephone number(s), and e-mail address) in the body of the e-mail.

The deadline for submissions is September 21, 2009.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Call for Submissions: National Law School of India Review

The National Law School of India Review, a peer-reviewed journal, has issued a call for submissions for its forthcoming volume. Here's the call:

The National Law School of India Review (NLSIR) is the flagship journal of one of India's premier law institutions, the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. The NLSIR is a peer-reviewed journal, and is published twice a year. The latest issue - Volume 21(1) - included contributions from Justice S.B. Sinha, Judge, Supreme Court of India; Prof. Hans Koechler, Professor of Philosophy and International Observer at the Lockerbie trials; Mr. Arvind Datar, Senior Counsel; Mr. Geoffrey Loomer, Said Business School, Oxford and others. Details are available at http://www.nlsir.in/. Volume 21(2) - a symposium issue focusing on arbitration - is scheduled for publication in the coming month.

The NLSIR is now accepting submissions for Volume 22(1). The issue will be published in early 2010. Submissions may be made as Long Articles, Essays or Comments; on any legal topic of interest to an international readership. Submissions may be made to mail.nlsir@gmail.com and queries regarding submission or subscription information may be made at the same email address.