This joint meeting will bring together distinguished international law scholars from the Egyptian Society of International Law, the American Society of International Law, and local and regional law faculties. In the spirit of outreach and institutionbuilding, the purpose of the joint meeting is to build a dialogue at the broadest level and also with respect to pressing current issues and controversies, probing the normative commitments and structural features of contemporary international law.
Our questions include: What methodologies and frameworks are most useful in analyzing contemporary international governance? How might our assessments vary as a result of social or geographical location? What emerging terrains are created by current international dispute settlement processes – criminal tribunals, commercial arbitration, multilateral trade panels, domestic causes of action seeking remedies for international legal harms? What patterns or contrasts, harmonizations or fragmentations, exist across tribunals and regimes?
Proceedings:
Following a Gala Dinner and Keynote Address on Sunday, June 20, four plenary sessions will each address a broad area within international law, and will ask the distinguished members of the two societies to present their views and perspectives. In each session there will be ample time for questions and discussion following the presentations, followed by a concluding session devoted to the presentation of synthesis of the proceedings and a discussion of possible future initiatives.
I. General International Law: What is the state of public international law in the 21st century? What role do international institutions play in shaping general international law? What primary or systemic challenges face international law? How can international law address contemporary problems of global justice?
II. International Law and Human Rights: How effective is the United Nations in promoting and enforcing human rights? What role do other treaty bodies – from the World Bank to the World Trade Organization to the International Labor Organization ‐ play in shaping human rights normatively and in practice? What is the status of human rights in national legal systems in the Middle East? What implications are posed by regional systems such as the Arab League and the African Court and African Commission?
III. International Criminal Law and Transitional Justice: What lessons might be learned for international criminal law from the experiences to date of regional tribunals such as those for the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone? Does the International Criminal Court face serious challenges to its legitimacy, and if so how might it increase its authoritativeness?
IV. International Economic Law: The expansion of agreements for international economic cooperation is a defining feature of the era. How should systems of economic dispute settlement be understood? For example, with respect to bilateral investment treaties, what jurisdictional norms are emerging for ICSID and counterpart tribunals? In the area of trade law, what is the relationship between the multilateral trade regime and regional trade arrangements, generally and in the region? What about “capacity‐building”
Schedule:
Sunday, June 20, 2010
2:00 Tour of Alexandria (Optional)
7:00 Reception & Formal Welcome
8:00 Gala Dinner & Keynote Address
Monday, June 21, 2010
9:00‐ 10:30 Plenary I: General International Law
10:45‐12:00 Plenary II: International Law and Human Rights
12:15‐1:45 Lunch
2:00‐3:30 Plenary III: International Criminal Law & Transitional Justice
3:45‐5:15 Plenary IV: International Economic Law
5:30‐6:30 Closing Remarks, Conclusions Presented, Future Initiatives
Please submit a proposal, no more than 250 words, by March 15, 2010, to: Chantal Thomas, Chair, ASIL Africa Interest Group, at ct343@cornell.edu.
Travel: Participants will receive a discounted rate for registration at the Four Seasons Alexandria.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Call for Papers: Are There Regional Approaches to International Law and Institutions?
Friday, February 19, 2010
Witschel et al.: New Chances and New Responsibilities in the Arctic Region
Georg Witschel, Ingo Winkelmann, Katrin Tiroch, & Rüdiger Wolfrum have published New Chances and New Responsibilities in the Arctic Region (Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag 2010). Here's the abstract:The Arctic in the 21st century is exposed to multiple challenges. Global warming will have far-reaching repercussions, and thus will open up new opportunities. The melting of the ice enables the exploitation of resources and the use of new shipping routes, which were not accessible up to now. However, these opportunities require new responsibilities, which have to be taken seriously. These developments in the Arctic partake an increasing position in the international environmental discussion. The present book contains a comprehensive analysis of the current problems with regard to the Arctic region. It highlights contributions and conclusions of the Conference on New Chances and New Responsibilities in the Arctic Region, held in Berlin from 11–13 March 2009 and organized by the German Federal Foreign Office in cooperation with the Foreign Ministries of Norway and Denmark. The conference addressed the challenges for environment, societies and research, new prospects for resource exploitation and maritime traffic, and emerging questions of an international governance frame work for the Arctic. The contributors are leading Arctic experts from the fields of politics, diplomacy, business, science and civil society.
New Issue: European Journal of International Relations
The latest issue of the European Journal of International Relations (Vol. 16, no. 1, March 2010) is out. Contents include:- Christian Grobe, The power of words: Argumentative persuasion in international negotiations
- Shiping Tang, Social evolution of international politics: From Mearsheimer to Jervis
- Jan Hancock, Woodrow Wilson revisited: Human rights discourse in the foreign policy of the George W. Bush Administration
- Thomas Bernauer & Patrick M. Kuhn, Is there an environmental version of the Kantian peace? Insights from water pollution in Europe
- Mark Muhannad Ayyash, Hamas and the Israeli state: A ‘violent dialogue’
- Arjun Chowdhury & Ronald R. Krebs, Talking about terror: Counterterrorist campaigns and the logic of representation
Quenivet & Shah-Davis: International Law and Armed Conflict: Challenges in the 21st Century
Noëlle Quenivet (Univ. of the West of England - Law) & Shilan Shah-Davis (Univ. of the West of England - Law) have published International Law and Armed Conflict: Challenges in the 21st Century (T.M.C. Asser Press 2010). Contents include:- Noëlle Quénivet & Shilan Shah-Davis, Confronting the challenges of international law and armed conflict in the 21st century
- Christopher P. M. Waters, Myths of 'lawfare' and 'legal encirclement'
- Melanie O'Brien, Issues of the Draft Convention on the Criminal Accountability of United Nations Officials and Experts on Mission
- Rafael A. Prieto Sanjuán, Internationalising the Colombian armed conflict through humanitarian law and transitional justice
- Tara Smith, Criminal accountability or civil liability: which approach most effectively redresses the negative environmental consequences of armed conflict?
- Bill Bowring, Commentary on: accountability
- Onita Das, The impact of armed conflict on sustainable development: a holistic approach
- Karen Hulme, A darker shade of green: is it time to ecocentrise the laws of war?
- Jan Wetzel, Targeted economic measures to curb armed conflict? The Kimberley Process on the trade in 'conflict diamonds'
- William Schabas, Commentary on: environmental and natural resources
- Olga Martin-Ortega, Business under fire: transnational corporations and human rights in conflict zones
- Pini Pavel Miretski, The influence of non-governmental actors on compliance with international law – compliance with UNSC decisions on Angola's conflict diamonds
- Dewi Williams, Private regulation of private military companies: a potentially private solution to a commercial problem?
- Ademola Abass, Commentary on: privatisation and armed conflict
- Cynthia Chamberlain, Children and the International Criminal Court
- Hilly Moodrick-Even Khen, Child terrorists: why and how should they be protected by international law?
- Williams Schabas, Commentary on: children and armed conflict
- Sascha-Dominik Bachmann, Today's quest for international criminal justice – a short overview of the present state of criminal prosecution of international crimes
- Bill Bowring, Commentary on: implementation of international humanitarian law
- Gerd Hankel, Commentary on: implementation of international humanitarian law
- Shane Darcy, Bridging the gaps in the laws of armed conflict? International criminal tribunals and the development of humanitarian law
- Konstantinos D. Magliveras, Devising new rules for regulating international terrorism warfare and engaging non-state actors in the negotiations
- Gerd Hankel, Commentary on: reforming the laws of war
- Yassin A. M'Boge, 'In the interest of peace and in the interest of justice': Security Council deferrals as a constructive tool for conflict resolution
- Madalena Pampalk, Procedural aspects of the relationship between the International Criminal Court and future truth commissions. Lessons learned from the cases of Sierra Leone and East Timor
- Matthew Saul, The impact of the legal right of self-determination on the law of occupation as a framework for post-conflict state reconstruction
- Ademola Abass, Commentary on: peace, security and justice
- Nigel White, Commentary on: peace, security and justice
- Noëlle Quénivet & Shilan Shah-Davis, Conclusion
New Issue: Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law
The latest issue of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law (Vol. 43, no. 1, January 2010) is out. Contents include:- Jonathan Todres, Taking Prevention Seriously: Developing a Comprehensive Response to Child Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation
- Kelly A. Gable, Cyber-Apocalypse Now: Securing the Internet Against Cyberterrorism and Using Universal Jurisdiction as a Deterrent
- Eric De Brabandere, The Responsibility for Post-Conflict Reforms: A Critical Assessment of Jus Post Bellum as a Legal Concept
New Issue: Ocean Development & International Law
The latest issue of Ocean Development & International Law (Vol. 41, no. 1, 2010) is out. Contents include:- Aldo Chircop, Julius Francis, Rudy Van Der Elst, Hermes Pacule, José Guerreiro, Catarina Grilo, & Gonçalo Carneiro, Governance of Marine Protected Areas in East Africa: A Comparative Study of Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania
- Lawrence Juda, The European Union and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive: Continuing the Development of European Ocean Use Management
- Inho Kim, Who Bears the Lion's Share of a Black Pie of Oil Pollution Costs?
- Clive R. Symmons & Michael W. Reed, Baseline Publicity and Charting Requirements: An Overlooked Issue in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
- Bjørn Kunoy, Disputed Areas and the 10-Year Time Frame: A Legal Lacuna?
Conference: Investment Treaty Law and Arbitration - Evolution and Revolution in Substance and Procedure
This major conference explores some of the more controversial issues in contemporary investment treaty law and practice, including emerging issues in the nature of investment treaties, evolving jurisprudential trends, and potential changes in direction for investment law and arbitration.
Workshops: Bradford, Hohmann
Jessie Hohmann (Lauterpacht Centre for International Law) will give a talk today at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law Friday Lunchtime Lecture Series on "Evaluating the Right to Housing."
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Janis: America and the Law of Nations 1776-1939
Mark Weston Janis (Univ. of Connecticut - Law) has published America and the Law of Nations 1776-1939 (Oxford Univ. Press 2010). Here's the abstract:America and the Law of Nations 1776-1939 is a unique exploration of the ways in which Americans have perceived, applied, advanced, and frustrated international law. It demonstrates the varieties and continuities of America's approaches to international law. The book begins with the important role the law of nations played for founders like Jefferson and Madison in framing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It then discusses the intellectual contributions to international law made by leaders in the New Republic -Kent and Wheaton- and the place of international law in the 19th century judgments of Marshall, Story, and Taney. The book goes on to examine the contributions of American utopians -Dodge, Worcester, Ladd, Burritt, and Carnegie- to the establishment of the League of Nations, the World Court, the International Law Association and the American Society of International Law. It finishes with an analysis of the wavering support to international law given by Woodrow Wilson and the emergence of a new American isolationism following the disappointment of World War I.
Moir: Reappraising the Resort to Force: International Law, Jus ad Bellum and the War on Terror
Lindsay Moir (Hull Univ. - Law) has published Reappraising the Resort to Force: International Law, Jus ad Bellum and the War on Terror (Hart Publishing 2010). Here's the abstract:A number of commentators assert that the military response to the terrorist atrocities of 11 September 2001 - encompassing attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq, and commonly referred to as the 'war on terror' - has significantly impacted upon the international law regulating resort to armed force by states (jus ad bellum), loosening the constraints on self-defence. Some even suggest that the very future of the United Nations, in particular the Security Council and its collective security system, is at risk - at least in its current form. This book does not address the question of the future of the United Nations, an issue probably best left to scholars of international relations. Instead, it seeks to place the 'war on terror' within the context of international law, assessing how, or whether, it can be accommodated within the existing legal framework limiting the use of force. Through an examination of the lawfulness (or otherwise) of both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, including the legal justifications advanced by those states involved and the reaction of the international community, and involving a detailed discussion of the most important developments (ie, the permissibility of self-defence against non-state, terrorist, actors and the 'Bush doctrine' of pre-emptive self-defence against terrorists as proclaimed in the 2002 US National Security Strategy) the book determines whether, and to what extent, the right to use force - or the acceptability of such military action - is currently undergoing a radical transformation. By assessing subsequent developments illustrating the impact that military action against Afghanistan and Iraq has had on the jus ad bellum, this book represents a distinctive and original contribution to the academic literature.
Symposium: International Law in a Time of Scarcity
On March 19, 2010, the Connecticut Journal of International Law will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a symposium on "International Law in a Time of Scarcity." Panels topics include: The Impact of Scarcity on the Development of International Law; and Scarcity and the Redistributive Possibilities of International Law. The program is here.
Mohamed: The ICC Appeals Chamber Decision on the Warrant of Arrest in Prosecutor v. Bashir
Buchanan: Human Rights, Legitimacy, and the Use of Force
Allen Buchanan (Duke Univ. - Philosophy) has published Human Rights, Legitimacy, and the Use of Force (Oxford Univ. Press 2010). Here's the abstract:The thirteen essays by Allen Buchanan collected here are arranged in such a way as to make evident their thematic interconnections: the important and hitherto unappreciated relationships among the nature and grounding of human rights, the legitimacy of international institutions, and the justification for using military force across borders. Each of these three topics has spawned a significant literature, but unfortunately has been treated in isolation. In this volume Buchanan makes the case for a holistic, systematic approach, and in so doing constitutes a major contribution at the intersection of International Political Philosophy and International Legal Theory.
A major theme of Buchanan's book is the need to combine the philosopher's normative analysis with the political scientist's focus on institutions. Instead of thinking first about norms and then about institutions, if at all, only as mechanisms for implementing norms, it is necessary to consider alternative "packages" consisting of norms and institutions. Whether a particular norm is acceptable can depend upon the institutional context in which it is supposed to be instantiated, and whether a particular institutional arrangement is acceptable can depend on whether it realizes norms of legitimacy or of justice, or at least has a tendency to foster the conditions under which such norms can be realized. In order to evaluate institutions it is necessary not only to consider how well they implement norms that are now considered valid but also their capacity for fostering the epistemic conditions under which norms can be contested, revised, and improved.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem International Law Forum
- March 2: Ruth Lapidoth (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem - Law), Yaffa Zilbershatz (Bar-Ilan Univ.), Moshe Hirsch (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem - Law), Shira Myer (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), & Shiri Krebs, Updates on Developments in International Law
- March 9: Armin von Bogdandy (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law), Moshe Hirsch (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem - Law), & Tomer Broude (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem - Law), Constitutionalism in International Law
- April 13: Different Speakers, Updates and Developments in International Law
- April 27: Tomer Broude (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem - Law), TBA
- May 2 (Part 1): Michael Stein (Harvard Univ. - Law) & Michael Waterstone (Loyola Law School), The UN disability Convention and its prospects for domestic implementation
- May 2 (Part 2): Anat Grady-Schwartz, Domestic Courts as International Actors: Mutual Empowerment with International Law
- May 31: Edith Brown Weiss (Georgetown Univ. - Law), The Evolution of International Environmental Law
- June 8: Ruti Teitel (New York Law School) & Robert Howse (New York Univ. - Law), Global Justice, Inequality and Human Security
- June 15: Galit Sarfaty (Univ. of Pennsylvania - Wharton School), Why Culture Matters in International Institutions: The Marginality of Human Rights at the World Bank
Workshops: Genasci, Thies
Anne Thies (Univ. of Reading - Law) will give a talk today at the Oxford Public International Law Discussion Group on "The Reception of International Law by the European Court of Justice."
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
SIEL/CUP Prize for an Essay in International Economic Law
2010 SIEL/CUP Prize for an Essay in International Economic Law
A prize has been established by the Society of International Economic Law and Cambridge University Press for the best essay submitted on any topic in any field of international economic law.
The competition is open to all current undergraduate and graduate students and those who have graduated no earlier than five years before the submission deadline. Members of the SIEL Executive Council may not submit entries. The essay may not have been previously published.
The prize consists of £200, as well as £300 of Cambridge University Press book vouchers and a three year subscription to the World Trade Review. The winning essay will be submitted to the World Trade Review for publication.
The deadline for submission is 30 September 2010
For terms and conditions please see www.sielnet.org/essayprize
Lavranos: National Courts, Domestic Democracy, and the Evolution of International Law: A Reply to Eyal Benvinisti and George Downs
This reply to Benvinisti/Downs' article argues that instead of thinking of a grand overarching theory on the interjudicial cooperation between international courts and domestic courts, it is more appropriate to develop a regime-based analytical framework. Only in this way, is it possible to take the specific characteristics and configurations into account.
Bodansky: The Copenhagen Conference - A Post-Mortem
This short piece analyzes the background and content of the Copenhagen Accord on climate change, which was agreed to last December by leaders of roughly 25 countries, including all of the world's major economies. Although the Copenhagen Accord is a political rather than a legal instrument and has been criticized by some as inadequate or worse, it represents a potentially significant breakthrough. On one side, developed countries agreed to put significant new funds on the table for climate change mitigation and adaptation, both for the short and medium terms, and committed to implement national economy-wide emissions targets for the post -2012 period, which will be internationally listed. On the other side, developing countries agreed for the first time to reflect their national mitigation actions in an international instrument and to subject their actions to some form of international review. The failure of the conference as a whole to adopt the Accord leaves its future uncertain. But if the participating states actually carry through on what they negotiated in Copenhagen, the "bottom up" architecture of the Accord could help encourage and reinforce national actions. In any event, as the most that world leaders could accept through direct negotiations under an intense international spotlight, the Copenhagen Accord may well represent the high-water mark of the climate change regime for some time to come.
New Issue: Arbitration International
The latest issue of Arbitration International (Vol. 26, no. 1, 2010) is out. Contents include:- Hege Elisabeth Kjos, Agora – Asymmetry and Equality of Arms
- Thomas W. Wälde, Procedural Challenges in Investment Arbitration under the Shadow of the Dual Role of the State—Asymmetries and Tribunals’ Duty to Ensure, Pro-actively, the Equality of Arms
- Abba Kolo, Witness Intimidation, Tampering and Other Related Abuses of Process in Investment Arbitration: Possible Remedies Available to the Arbitral Tribunal
- Derek Roebuck, ‘Something So Un-English’: Mediation and Arbitration in Hong Kong, 1841–1865
- Peter Morton, Can a World Exist Where Expedited Arbitration Becomes the Default Procedure?
- Emilia Onyema, Enforcement of Arbitral Awards in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Ned Beale, Lisa Bench Nieuwveld, & Matthijs Nieuwveld, Summary Arbitration Proceedings: A Comparison Between the English and Dutch Regimes
- Thomas W. Walsh, James H. Carter, Daniel Girsberger, Campbell McLachlan, & Joseph E. Neuhaus, Agora: Gary Born on International Commercial Arbitration
New Issue: Revista Electrónica de Estudios Internacionales
- Joana Abrisketa, La población internamente desplazada en Colombia: Claves para interpretar la regulación internacional
- Katia Fach Gomez, Construyendo un nuevo Derecho Internacional de las inversiones: Las propuestas del Instituto Internacional para el Desarrollo Sostenible
- Esther Gómez Campelo, Los perfiles de la competencia judicial internacional en la Ley 54/2007 de adopción internacional
- Felipe Gómez Isa, Transnational obligations in the field of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- Martha Lucía Olivar Jimenez, El Derecho del MERCOSUR y el Derecho Internacional - La lucha por independencia
- Francisco José Pascual Vives, El arbitraje de inversiones en los recientes APPRI españoles
- Angel Sánchez Legido, Entre la obsesión por la seguridad y la lucha contra la inmigración irregular: A propósito de la nueva Ley de asilo
New Issue: International Journal of Transitional Justice
The latest issue of the International Journal of Transitional Justice (Vol. 4, no. 1, March 2010) is out. Contents include:- Lieselotte Viaene, Life Is Priceless: Mayan Q’eqchi’ Voices on the Guatemalan National Reparations Program
- Aoife Duffy, A Truth Commission for Northern Ireland?
- Onur Bakiner, From Denial to Reluctant Dialogue: The Chilean Military's Confrontation with Human Rights (1990–2006)
- Cath Collins, Human Rights Trials in Chile during and after the ‘Pinochet Years’
- Lara J. Nettelfield, From the Battlefield to the Barracks: The ICTY and the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Jelke Boesten, Analyzing Rape Regimes at the Interface of War and Peace in Peru
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Bodansky: The Copenhagen Climate Change Accord
Call for Participation: The role of the Special Rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council in the development and promotion of international human rights
Call for expressions of interest in participation
"The role of the Special Rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council in the development and promotion of international human rights norms"
Research workshop, June 24 and 25, 2010
Centre for International Governance, University of Leeds, UK
The importance of the Special Rapporteur system appears evident, yet there is no consensus on good or best practice in the way that mandates should be carried out or the extent or limits of the responsibilities of governments to assist Special Rapporteurs. Moreover, there is limited systematic scholarly examination of the nature and impact of the role of the Special Rapporteur in international law. It is then timely to examine the role of the Special Rapporteurs in the development and promotion of international human rights norms. The research workshop brings together existing and previous Special Rapporteurs, civil society actors and academics working in this area to examine the role (or roles) of the Special Rapporteurs.
Key themes include the following:
- The Working Methods of a Special Rapporteur
- The Human Rights Council and the Special Rapporteurs
- The role of country mandate holders
- The role of Special Rapporteurs in developing international law
If you would like to participate please be in touch (there is limited capacity). There are also a limited number of places available for PhD students. In both cases, please contact Mr. Steven Wheatley (Director of the Centre for International Governance) for further details: s.m.wheatley@leeds.ac.uk.
Confirmed participants
Professor Vitit Muntharborn (Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok and Rapporteur for North Korea, formerly Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography)
Professor Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (Sao Paulo and Brown Universities, Commissioner and Rapporteur on Children, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, formerly Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the Situation of Human Rights in Burundi from 1995 to 1998 and on Myanmar from 2000 to 2008)
Professor Manfred Nowak (Director, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights, Vienna and Special Rapporteur on Torture)
Professor Surya Subedi (Leeds University and Special Rapporteur for Cambodia)
Professor Sir Nigel Rodley (Essex University, formerly Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment)
Professor Javaid Rehman (Brunel University)
Mr. Paul O'Connell (Leicester University)
Conference: 39th Annual Conference of the Indian Society of International Law
Conference: L'influence de la jurisprudence de la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme sur le droit pénal (international)
Si le droit international des droits de l’homme peut justifier l’organisation d’une répression internationale pour réagir à la violation massive de droits fondamentaux les plus indérogeables, il doit aussi impérativement la légitimer. Ce qui veut dire qu’un strict respect des droits de l’homme devrait s’imposer aux juridictions pénales internationales. Selon certains critiques, cependant, la justice pénale internationale se caractérise plutôt par un certain affaiblissement des garanties traditionnellement reconnues par les instruments de protection des droits de l’homme, à la fois dans le registre du droit matériel et dans celui du droit procédural. Ce colloque a pour objectif de discuter en profondeur des paradoxes et des tensions qui entourent le binôme « droits de l’homme-justice pénale internationale ».
Loughlin & Dobner: The Twilight of Constitutionalism?
Martin Loughlin (LSE - Law) & Petra Dobner (Univ. of Halle - Political Science) have published The Twilight of Constitutionalism? (Oxford Univ. Press 2010). Contents include:- Dieter Grimm, The Achievement of Constitutionalism and its Prospects in a Changed World
- Ulrich K. Preuss, Disconnecting Constitutions from Statehood: Is Global Constitutionalism a Viable Concept?
- Martin Loughlin, What is Constitutionalisation?
- Tanja A. Börzel, European Governance: Governing with or without the State?
- Fritz W. Scharpf, Legitimacy in the Multi-level European Polity
- Sonja Puntscher, Constitutionalism and Representation: European Parliamentarism in the Treaty of Lisbon
- Petra Dobner, More Law, Less Democracy? Democracy and Transnational Constitutionalism
- Marcus Llanque, On Constitutional Membership
- Hauke Brunkhorst, Constitutionalism and Democracy in the World Society
- Mattias Kumm, The Best of Times and the Worst of Times: Between Constitutional Triumphalism and Nostalgia
- Rainer Wahl, In Defence of 'Constitution'
- Nico Krisch, Global Administrative Law and the Constitutional Ambition
- Alexander Somek, Administration without Sovereignty
- Neil Walker, Beyond the Holistic Constitution?
- Riccardo Prandini, The Morphogenesis of Constitutionalism
- Gunther Teubner, Fragmented Foundations: Societal Constitutionalism beyond the Nation State
Workshops: Linton, Shany
Yuval Shany (Hebrew Univ. - Law) will give a talk today at the Temple University School of Law International Law Colloquium on "Assessing the Effectiveness of International Courts: Quantifying the Unquantifiable."
Monday, February 15, 2010
Fox-Decent & Criddle: The Fiduciary Constitution of Human Rights
The authors argue that human rights are best conceived as norms arising from a fiduciary relationship that exists between states (or state-like actors) and the citizens and noncitizens subject to their power. These norms draw on a Kantian conception of moral personhood, protecting agents from instrumentalization and domination. They do not, however, exist in the abstract as timeless natural rights. Instead, they are correlates of the state’s fiduciary duty to provide equal security under the rule of law, a duty that flows from the state’s institutional assumption of irresistible sovereign powers.
Bradford & Posner: Universal Exceptionalism in International Law
A trope of international law scholarship is that the United States is an “exceptionalist” nation, one that takes a distinctive (frequently hostile, unilateralist, or hypocritical) stance toward international law. However, all major powers are similarly “exceptionalist,” in the sense that they take distinctive approaches to international law that reflect their values and interests. We illustrate these arguments with discussions of China, the European Union, and the United States. Charges of international-law exceptionalism betray an undefended assumption that one particular view of international law (for scholars, usually the European view) is universally valid.
New Issue: American Review of International Arbitration
The latest issue of the American Review of International Arbitration (Vol. 19, nos. 3-4, 2008) is out. Contents include:- Loukas Mistelis & Crina Baltag, Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards and Settlement in International Arbitration: Corporate Attitudes and Practices
- Loukas Mistelis, The Settlement-Enforcement Dynamic in International Arbritration
- Stavros Brekoulakis, Enforcement of Arbitral Awards: Observations on the Effficiency on the Current System and the Gradual Development of Alternative Means on Enforcement
- Paul Friedland & Michael Ottolenghi, Comments on the 2008 Survey on International Arbitration: Corporate Attitudes and Practices on Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards
- Gerry Lagerberg, International Arbitration: Corporate Attitudes and Practices – The Business Rationale
- Albert Alvarez-Jiménez, New Approaches to the State of Necessity in Customary International Law: Insights from WTO Law and Foreign Investment Law
Conference: Les techniques interprétatives de la norme internationale
L’unité du droit international est souvent avancée comme une nécessité pour la cohérence du droit international envisagé comme système juridique.
Objet central de la réflexion opérée sur une éventuelle fragmentation du droit international, cette unité est souvent appréhendée à travers l’idée selon laquelle des normes différentes du droit international doivent être interprétées suivant des règles de conflits préétablies.
Cette idée, bien que concrète, ne couvre toutefois pas la portée entière de la problématique.
Les différents travaux de la CDI, comme les différents écrits académiques, se focalisent en effet dans la totalité des cas sur les conflits surgissant entre deux normes distinctes en apportant un éclairage sur les règles de conflit applicables.
La question prend une tournure différente lorsque le conflit ne découle pas d’une opposition découlant d’une interprétation différente d’une même norme, mais de la mise en oeuvre de techniques d’interprétation distinctes.
En ce sens, il n’est pas rare d’observer qu’une norme d’origine internationale fasse l’objet d’une interprétation différente, voire subjective, en fonction de l’interprète et du contexte matériel dans lequel il intervient. Cette problématique est connue. Elle prend toutefois une dimension assez vierge de réflexion, lorsqu’elle conduit à s’interroger non sur le résultat de l’interprétation et le conflit potentiel, mais sur la technique usitée aux fins d’interprétation.
Dès lors, une réflexion d’ensemble mérite d’être menée sur ces techniques d’interprétation de la norme internationale et de l’usage qui en est fait par les différentes juridictions qui sont amenées à les mettre en oeuvre.
New Volume: South African Yearbook of International Law
The latest volume of the South African Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 33, 2008) is out. Contents include:- Denise Prévost, Private sector food-safety standards and the SPS Agreement: Challenges and possibilities
- Anna Kirk, Corporations and human rights: Two key developments
- Lorenzo Cotula, International law and negotiating power in foreign investment projects: Comparing property rights protection under human rights and investment law in Africa
- Werner Scholtz, Different countries, one environment: A critical Southern discourse on the common but differentiated responsibilities principle
- JGS de Wet, Highlights from the Office of the Chief State Law Adviser (International Law)
- Gerrit Ferreira & Αnél Ferreira-Snyman, The constitutionalisation of public international law and the creation of an international rule of law: Taking stock
- Dire Tladi, South African lawyers, values and new vision of international law: The road to perdition is paved with the pursuit of laudable goals
- Michele Olivier & Furami Abioye, International environmental law: Assessing compliance and enforcement under South African and international law
- Μax du Plessis & Shannon Bosch, 'Casting Lead' and breaking rules: Some reflections on the legality of Israel's recent attacks on Gaza
Call for Papers: Pratiques comparées du droit international en France et en Allemagne
APPEL A CONTRIBUTIONS
Pratiques comparées du droit international
en France et en AllemagneDans le cadre des échanges biennaux entre la Société française pour le droit international et la Deutsche Gesellschaft für Völkerrecht, les Universités Paris 1 (Panthéon-Sorbonne) et Panthéon-Assas (Paris II) organisent des
Rencontres de jeunes chercheurs en droit international public
Ces rencontres, qui auront pour thème les Pratiques comparées du droit international en France et en Allemagne, se tiendront à Paris du 11 au 14 octobre 2010 ; elles se prolongeront, les 14 et 15 octobre 2010, à Paris, avec le Colloque biennal des deux sociétés auquel les jeunes chercheurs sont conviés à participer.
Le Colloque biennal portant sur les acteurs dans les deux pays, les rencontres de jeunes chercheurs seront consacrées, d’une part, à une étude des rapports entre les ordres juridiques nationaux, communautaire et international, d’autre part, à une étude de la pratique dans une sélection de branches du droit international.
Les rencontres de jeunes chercheurs visent à approfondir la connaissance des pratiques et traditions juridiques des deux Etats et à favoriser des échanges sur les méthodes d’analyse et les paradigmes privilégiés ou à privilégier.
Un appel à contributions est lancé à l’adresse des doctorants, docteurs, post-doctorants et jeunes maîtres de conférence inscrits dans des universités de France ou d’Allemagne ou éventuellement dans d’autres universités européennes s’ils peuvent justifier d’un thème de recherche en rapport avec ce sujet.
La date limite d’envoi des candidatures est fixée au 1er mars 2010.
En étroite collaboration avec une équipe de jeunes chercheurs des deux universités et avec Christian Tomuschat (Université Humboldt, Berlin), les responsables de cette manifestation, les professeurs Charles Leben et Joe Verhoeven pour l’Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II), Hervé Ascensio et Evelyne Lagrange pour l’Université Paris 1 (Panthéon-Sorbonne), proposent aux jeunes chercheurs de leur soumettre des propositions d’intervention sur les thématiques suivantes (les illustrations données sont purement indicatives) :
Les organisateurs examineront également d’éventuelles propositions d’intervention sur d’autres thématiques.
Les propositions d’intervention (quatre pages maximum, en français et allemand ou éventuellement en anglais et allemand ou français et anglais), accompagnées d’un C.V. en français ou en allemand, ou éventuellement en anglais, devront être adressées à
cerdin@univ-paris1.frLes propositions de communication peuvent porter sur la pratique de l’un des deux Etats ou développer une approche comparatiste franco-allemande.
Les organisateurs retiendront au maximum 14 candidats en veillant à l’équilibre des thématiques et des approches, comparées ou centrées sur la pratique française ou allemande. Seront valorisées l’originalité et/ou l’actualité de la recherche envisagée. Les candidats seront informés rapidement du résultat de la sélection.
Les rencontres prendront la forme d’ateliers ou de tables rondes au cours desquels les interventions seront présentées en français ou en allemand, exceptionnellement en anglais (durée : 20 mn). Elles feront ensuite l’objet de discussions entre les participants et avec les organisateurs ou des intervenants extérieurs. En l’absence de traduction simultanée, la compréhension du français et de l’allemand est requise. Il sera demandé à chaque participant d’adresser à l’avance aux organisateurs un plan de son intervention avec les mots et notions clés en français et/ou en allemand et une bibliographie sélective. Ces documents seront communiqués aux participants. L’anglais pourra être utilisé si nécessaire.
Les organisateurs favoriseront la publication des meilleures contributions dans des revues scientifiques.
Les frais de voyage et d’hébergement seront pris en charge ou remboursés par les Universités Paris 1 et Paris II.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Conference: Human Rights and the Environment
Howse & Teitel: Beyond Compliance: Rethinking Why International Law Really Matters
The conceptual, and more recently empirical, study of compliance has become a central preoccupation, and perhaps the fastest growing sub-field, in international legal scholarship. The authors seek to put in question this trend. They argue that looking at the aspirations of international law through the lens of rule-compliance leads to inadequate scrutiny and understanding of the diverse complex purposes and projects that multiple actors impose and transpose on international legality, and especially a tendency to oversimplify if not distort the relation of international law to politics. Citing a range of examples from different areas of international law-ranging widely from international trade and investment to international criminal and humanitarian law-the authors seek to show how the concept of compliance (especially viewed as rule-observance) is inadequate to understanding how international law has normative effects. A fundamental flaw of compliance studies is they abstract from the problem of interpretation: Interpretation is pervasively determinative of what happens to legal rules when they are out in the world yet “compliance” studies begin with the notion that there is a stable and agreed meaning to a rule, and we need merely observe whether it is obeyed.
