New Volume: Austrian Review of International and European Law

The latest volume of the Austrian Review of International and European Law (Vol. 12, 2007) is out. Contents include:

• Ilias Bantekas, The Permissibility of Defiance and Self-Defence Against Chapter VII Authorisations: When and Why
• Christopher Barbara, International Legal Personality: Panacea or Pandemonium? Theorizing About the Individual and the State in the Era of Globalization
• Julia Mair, Equal Treatment of Parties in the Nomination Process of Arbitrators in Multi-Party Arbitration and Consolidated Proceedings
• Christina Knahr, Indirect Expropriation in Recent Investment Arbitration
• Silvia Petkov, The State as a Criminal Again? The 2007 ICJ Judgment on the Application of the Genocide Convention Viewed From a Criminal Law Perspective

New Issue: Schweizerische Zeitschrift für internationales und europäisches Recht

The latest issue of the Schweizerische Zeitschrift für internationales und europäisches Recht (Vol. 20, no. 2, 2010) is out. Contents include:

• Aktuell
• Christine Kaddous, Stamm et Hauser, Grimme, Fokus Invest AG, Hengartner et Gasser ou la différence entre accords bilatéraux et marché intérieur
• Artikel
• Frédéric Berthoud, La libre prestation de services en application de la directive 2005/36/CE
• Thomas Burri & Benedikt Pirker, Stromschnellen im Freizügigkeitsfluss: Von der Bedeutung von Urteilen des Europäischen Gerichtshofes im Rahmen des Personenfreizügigkeitsabkommens

New Issue: Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht

The latest issue of the Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (Vol. 71, no. 1, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Abhandlungen
• Christina Binder: Auf dem Weg zum lateinamerikanischen Verfassungsgericht? - Die Rechtsprechung des Interamerikanischen Menschenrechtsgerichtshofs im Bereich der Amnestien
• Jan Wiegandt, Internationale Rechtsordnung oder Machtordnung? - Eine Anmerkung zum Verhältnis von Macht und Recht im Völkerrecht
• Katja Göcke, Inuit Self-Government in the Canadian North: The Next Step in the Nunavut Project
• Johannes Fuchs, Kooperative Erdgassicherheit – Energietransit im Völkerrecht unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Nabucco-Abkommens vom 13.7.2009
• Stellungnahmen und Berichte
• Gerhard Ullrich: Die Immunität internationaler Organisationen von der einzelstaatlichen Gerichtsbarkeit

New Issue: Archiv des Völkerrechts

The latest issue of Archiv des Völkerrechts (Vol. 49, no. 1, March 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Abhandlungen
• Marten Breuer, Die Völkerrechtspersönlichkeit Internationaler Organisationen
• Jochen von Bernstorff, Extraterritoriale menschenrechtliche Staatenpflichten und Corporate Social Responsibility
• Beiträge und Berichte
• Frithjof Ehm, Demokratie und die Anerkennung von Staaten und Regierungen

New Issue: International Community Law Review

The latest issue of the International Community Law Review (Vol. 13, nos. 1-2, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Where is the World Heading? Shaping a New International System
• Roman Kwiecień, Sir Hersch Lauterpacht's Idea of State Sovereignty - Is It Still Alive?
• Adam Łazowski, A Visionary Behind the Iron Curtain: Cezary Berezowski on European Integration
• Anna Wyrozumska, Count Rostworowski as an International Lawyer and Judge
• Eugeniusz Piontek, Professor Manfred Lachs: Wise Man of International Law
• Krzysztof Skubiszewski, Sir Hersch Lauterpacht and Poland's Judges at the International Court: Judge Bohdan Winiarski
• Joanna Gomula, The State as a Respondent in Central and Eastern European Investment Arbitrations
• Marcin Kałduński, The Element of Risk in International Investment Arbitration
• Aureliusz Wlaź, Preclusion of Wrongfulness of the Use of Force
• Roger O'Keefe, Legal Title versus Effectivités: Prescription and the Promise and Problems of Private Law Analogies

New Issue: Climate Law

The latest issue of Climate Law (Vol. 2, no. 1, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Peter Drahos, Bargaining Over the Climate: Lessons From Intellectual Property Negotiations
• Marjan Peeters, The EU ETS and the Role of the Courts: Emerging Contours in the Case of Arcelor
• Marijn Holwerda, Deploying Carbon Capture and Storage “Safely”: The Scope for Member States of the EU to Adopt More Stringent CO2 Stream-Purity Criteria Under EU Law
• Navraj Ghaleigh & David Rossati, The Spectre of Carbon Border-Adjustment Measures
• Elisa Morgera, Far Away, So Close: A Legal Analysis of the Increasing Interactions Between the Convention on Biological Diversity and Climate Change Law
• Elizabeth Cripps, Where We Are Now: Climate Ethics and Future Challenges

New Volume: Anuario Colombiano de Derecho Internacional

The latest volume of the Anuario Colombiano de Derecho Internacional (Vol. 3, 2010) is out. Contents include:

• Laura Victoria García Matamoro, Editorial
• André Lipp Pinto & Basto Lupi, Contra los métodos en el Derecho Internacional: una crítica a partir de su contribución para la realización de la función social de la dogmática jurídica
• Jirí Malenovský, Les opinions séparées et leurs répercussions sur l’indépendance du juge international
• Rafael Tamayo Franco, El desarrollo del Derecho Internacional a través de la función consultiva de la Corte Internacional de Justicia
• Javier J. Rúa-Jovet, Modern self-determination law and the fourth option: International and United States Law
• Ilias Bantekas, The communication by States of International Law to their direct stakeholders
• Natalia Rodríguez Uribe, Dispute resolution and “environmental” provisions in the WTO: promising developments for environmental matters

Kinsella: The Image before the Weapon: A Critical History of the Distinction between Combatant and Civilian

Helen M. Kinsella (Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison - Political Science) has published The Image before the Weapon: A Critical History of the Distinction between Combatant and Civilian (Cornell Univ. Press 2011). Here's the abstract:

Since at least the Middle Ages, the laws of war have distinguished between combatants and civilians under an injunction now formally known as the principle of distinction. The principle of distinction is invoked in contemporary conflicts as if there were an unmistakable and sure distinction to be made between combatant and civilian. As is so brutally evident in armed conflicts, it is precisely the distinction between civilian and combatant, upon which the protection of civilians is founded, cannot be taken as self-evident or stable. Helen M. Kinsella documents that the history of international humanitarian law itself admits the difficulty of such a distinction.

In The Image before the Weapon, Kinsella explores the evolution of the concept of the civilian and how it has been applied in warfare. A series of discourses—including gender, innocence, and civilization—have shaped the legal, military, and historical understandings of the civilian and she documents how these discourses converge at particular junctures to demarcate the difference between civilian and combatant. Engaging with works on the law of war from the earliest thinkers in the Western tradition, including St. Thomas Aquinas and Christine de Pisan, to contemporary figures such as James Turner Johnson and Michael Walzer, Kinsella identifies the foundational ambiguities and inconsistencies in the principle of distinction, as well as the significant role played by Christian concepts of mercy and charity. She then turns to the definition and treatment of civilians in specific armed conflicts: the American Civil War and the U.S.-Indian wars of the nineteenth century, and the civil wars of Guatemala and El Salvador in the 1980s. Finally, she analyzes the two modern treaties most influential for the principle of distinction: the 1949 IV Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Times of War and the 1977 Protocols Additional to the 1949 Conventions, which for the first time formally defined the civilian within international law. She shows how the experiences of the two world wars, but particularly World War II, and the Algerian war of independence affected these subsequent codifications of the laws of war.

As recognition grows that compliance with the principle of distinction to limit violence against civilians depends on a firmer grasp of its legal, political, and historical evolution, The Image before the Weapon is a timely intervention in debates about how best to protect civilian populations.

New Issue: American Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the American Journal of International Law (Vol. 105, no. 2, April 2011) is out. Contents include:

• John B. Bellinger III & Vijay M. Padmanabhan, Detention Operations in Contemporary Conflicts: Four Challenges for the Geneva Conventions and Other Existing Law
• Theresa Reinold, State Weakness, Irregular Warfare, and the Right to Self-Defense Post-9/11
• In Memoriam
• Lori Fisler Damrosch, Louis Henkin (1917–2010)

Young: Trading Fish, Saving Fish: The Interaction between Regimes in International Law

Margaret A. Young (Univ. of Melbourne - Law) has published Trading Fish, Saving Fish: The Interaction between Regimes in International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2011). Here's the abstract:

Numerous international legal regimes now seek to address the global depletion of fish stocks, and increasingly their activities overlap. The relevant laws were developed at different times by different groups of states. They are motivated by divergent economic approaches, influenced by disparate non-state actors, and implemented by separate institutions such as the World Trade Organisation and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. Margaret Young shows how these and other factors affect the interaction between regimes. Her empirical and doctrinal analysis moves beyond the discussion of conflicting norms that has dominated the fragmentation debate. Case-studies include the negotiation of new rules on fisheries subsidies, the restriction of trade in endangered marine species and the adjudication of fisheries import bans. She explores how regimes should interact, in fisheries governance and beyond, to offer insights into the practice and legitimacy of regime interaction in international law.

New Issue: International & Comparative Law Quarterly

The latest issue of the International & Comparative Law Quarterly (Vol. 60, no. 2, April 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Jan Paulsson, Arbitration in Three Dimensions
• Roman Petrov & Paul Kalinichenko, The Europeanization of Third Country Judiciaries Through the Application of The Euacquis: The Cases of Russia and Ukraine
• Chris Willett, The Functions of Transparency in Regulating Contract Terms: UK and Australian Approaches
• Andrew Serdy, Postmodern International Fisheries Law, Or We Are All Coastal States Now
• Scott P Sheeran, International Law, Peace Agreements and Self-Determination: The Case Of The Sudan
• Siobhán Mullally, Domestic Violence Asylum Claims and Recent Developments in International Human Rights Law: A Progress Narrative?
• Richard Garnett, National Court Intervention in Arbitration as an Investment Treaty Claim
• Lavanya Rajamani, The Cancun Climate Agreements: Reading the Text, Subtext and Tea Leaves

New Issue: Revue Québécoise de Droit International

The latest issue of the Revue Québécoise de Droit International (Vol. 22, no. 2, 2009) is out. Contents include:

• Paul von Mühlendahl, L'arrêt de la Cour internationale de justice dans l’affaire de la Délimitation maritime en mer Noire (Roumanie c. Ukraine) : l'aboutissement d’un processus vieux de quarante ans?
• Loïc Vatna, L'affaire des Usines de pâte à papier sur le fleuve Uruguay (Argentine c. Uruguay) : un nouveau différend environnemental devant la Cour internationale de justice
• Jean d'Aspremont, Émergence et déclin de la gouvernance démocratique en droit international
• Omorou Zackaria Touré, Les relations commerciales États-Unis / Afrique subsaharienne sous l'African Growth and Opportunity Act
• Sylvestre-José-Tidiane Manga, L'Organisation mondiale de l’environnement : comment renaître des cendres de la Conférence de Copenhague sur les changements climatiques de décembre 2009?

New Issue: Revue Hellénique de Droit International

The latest issue of the Revue Hellénique de Droit International (Vol. 63, no. 2, 2010) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Symeon C. Symeonides, American federalism and private international law
• Miklós Király, Book trade and the internal market
• Constantine Antonopoulos, The relationship between international humanitarian law and human rights
• Brusil Miranda Metou, Le préambule des actes constitutifs des organisations internationales
• Ioannis Stribis, Le champ opératoire des normes internationales : la médiation de la théorie
• Études
• Tarek Majzoub & Fabienne Quilleré-Majzoub, ‘Polar icebergs harvesting’: reflections on the rules go-verning future exploitation of freshwater locked up in Polar regions
• Ilia-Maria Siatitsa, The evolution of the monitoring mechanism of the Framework Convention for the protection of national minorities: cooperation of independent and political bodies in the interest of effectiveness
• Anthi Pelleni, Die neue Ärztliche Berufsordnung im griechischen Recht
• Kalliopi Chainoglou, Recent developments in the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities within the European framework: the European Community and the Council of Europe

Conference: BIICL Annual Conference 2011

The 2011 Annual Conference of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law will take place on June 10th. This year's theme is "Financial Regulation in a Global Market: Moving Beyond the State." The program is here.

Beaudouin: Uti possidetis et sécession

Anouche Beaudouin has published Uti possidetis et sécession (Dalloz 2011). Here's the abstract:

Si l'existence de l'État est un fair, ce fait doit être apprécié en lui-même et l'assise territoriale de l'État doit correspondre à son effectivité sans qu'il v ait lieu de s'attacher aux limites administratives pré-existantes dans l'État prédécesseur. C'est cette thèse qu'Anouche Beaudouin s'emploie à démontrer qu'elle n'a que l'apparence de la logique. Bien que le mot n'apparaisse pas dans l'intitulé de la thèse, c'est donc l'effectivité qui va se trouver au centre de la réflexion : que l'on y voie le reflet de la neutralité du droit international à l'égard de la sécession (l'existence de l'État est une question de pur fait) ou une norme "définitionnelle" (l'État ne peut exister que s'il répond effectivement à la définition qu'en donne le droit international), la question à laquelle l'auteure entend répondre appelle la même réponse : "la la référence aux entités administratives [de l'État prédécesseur, c'est-à-dire l'uti possidetis] est une manière d'apprécier l'étendue de l'effectivité", "une interprétation de l'effectivité à l'oeuvre lors des sécessions dans sa dimension spatiale."

Luban: Risk Taking and Force Protection

David J. Luban (Georgetown Univ. - Law) has posted Risk Taking and Force Protection (in Reading Walzer, Itzhak Benbaji & Naomi Sussman eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This paper addresses two questions about the morality of warfare: (1) how much risk must soldiers take to minimize unintended civilian casualties caused by their own actions (“collateral damage”), and (2) whether it is the same for the enemy's civilians as for one's own.

The questions take on special importance in warfare where one side is able to attack the other side from a safe distance, but at the cost of civilian lives, while safeguarding civilians may require soldiers to take precautions that expose them to greater risk. In a well-known article, Asa Kasher and Amos Yadlin argue that while soldiers must rank the protection of their own civilians above their own protection, they must rank their own protection above that of enemy civilians. Avishai Margalit and Michael Walzer responded that the only morally relevant distinction is between combatants and non-combatants, not the identity of the non-combatants. The present paper concludes that Margalit and Walzer are correct. Although soldiers may take extra risks on behalf of their own civilians, the minimally acceptable risk for enemy civilians is the same as the minimally acceptable risk for their own.

In response to the first question, the paper emphasizes two chief points. First is the equal worth of military and civilian lives, which implies a weak form of “risk egalitarianism”: even if morality often permits people to transfer risk from themselves to others, transferring large risks to others in order to spare oneself from smaller risks is morally wrong, because indirectly it treats oneself as more valuable than the other. Second, I explore the possibility that soldiers belong to a profession in which honor may require them to take risks for civilians. This is particularly true when the risks to civilians come from the soldiers’ own violence.

The second question is whether soldiers’ special obligation to protect their own people (not other people) creates a higher minimum standard of care for their own people (and not other people). I answer no, because the special obligation is to protect their people from enemy violence, while the dilemma is whether to protect civilians from the soldiers’ own violence. The responsibility to protect the innocent from violence of one’s own making is a universal, not a special, obligation. Thus, in both questions 1 and 2, the fact that soldiers themselves create the violence that endangers civilians plays a crucial role in the answers.

The concluding sections address two crucial loose ends. First is the question of whether soldiers might in fact be more valuable than civilians (including their own civilians) because they are not only human beings, but also “military assets.” The paper answers no, because this way of thinking involves illegitimate double counting of the soldier’s value, coupled with a refusal to double count the value of anyone else. Second is the related question of whether minimizing military casualties might turn out to be a military necessity because the civilian population is deeply casualty-averse, and the war effort requires their political support. Again the answer is no: otherwise, the less will to fight a country has, the less moral and legal obligation it has to fight well.

Waibel: Sovereign Defaults before International Courts and Tribunals

Michael Waibel (Univ. of Cambridge - Law) has published Sovereign Defaults before International Courts and Tribunals (Cambridge Univ. Press 2011). Here's the abstract:

International law on sovereign defaults is underdeveloped because States have largely refrained from adjudicating disputes arising out of public debt. The looming new wave of sovereign defaults is likely to shift dispute resolution away from national courts to international tribunals and transform the current regime for restructuring sovereign debt. Michael Waibel assesses how international tribunals balance creditor claims and sovereign capacity to pay across time. The history of adjudicating sovereign defaults internationally over the last 150 years offers a rich repository of experience for future cases: US state defaults, quasi-receiverships in the Dominican Republic and Ottoman Empire, the Venezuela Preferential Case, the Soviet repudiation in 1917, the League of Nations, the World War Foreign Debt Commission, Germany's 30-year restructuring after 1918 and ICSID arbitration on Argentina's default in 2001. The remarkable continuity in international practice and jurisprudence suggests avenues for building durable institutions capable of resolving future sovereign defaults.

Swart, Zahar, & Sluiter: The Legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Bert Swart (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law), Alexander Zahar (Macquarie Law School), & Göran Sluiter (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law) have published The Legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (Oxford Univ. Press 2011). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established in 1993 and is due to complete its trials by 2011. Easily the most credible and prodigious of the international tribunals established in this period, the ICTY is by far the most important source of case law on international criminal law. This is reflected in the citations it receives by other courts and by learned commentators. Long after its dissolution, the ICTY will most likely serve as an important frame of reference for the International Criminal Court and other courts dealing with international crimes, including national courts.

The publication of this book coincides with the year of cessation of trial activity at the ICTY. Its purpose is to mark this significant milestone in international law with a series of in-depth, critical reflections on the institution's legacy by eminent scholars and practitioners. In the course of seventeen chapters, the contributing authors analyse the main features of the ICTY's work in an unprecedented examination of the institution's legitimacy, core principles, methodologies, unstated assumptions, political circumstances, and impact-and indeed, its legacy.

Cryer et al.: Research Methodologies in EU and International Law

Robert Cryer (Univ. of Birmingham - Law), Tamara Hervey (Univ. of Sheffield - Law), & Bal Sokhi-Bulley (Queen's Univ. Belfast - Law) have published Research Methodologies in EU and International Law (Hart Publishing 2011). Here's the abstract:

Law research students often begin their PhDs without having an awareness of methodology, or the opportunity to think about the practice of research and its theoretical implications. Law Schools are, however, increasingly alive to the need to provide training in research methods to their students. They are also alive to the need to develop the research capacities of their early career scholars, not least for the Research Excellence Framework exercise. This book offers a structured approach to doing so, focusing on issues of methodology - ie, the theoretical elements of research - within the context of EU and international law.

The book can be used alone, or could form the basis of a seminar-based course, or a departmental, or even regional, discussion group. At the core of the book are the materials produced for a series of workshops, funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council's Collaborative Doctoral Training Fund, on Legal Research Methodologies in EU and international law. These materials consist of a document with readings on main and less mainstream methodological approaches (what we call modern and critical approaches, and the 'law and' approaches) to research in EU and international law, and a series of questions and exercises which encourage reflection on those readings, both in their own terms, and in terms of different research agendas. There are also supporting materials, giving guidance on practical matters, such as how to give a paper or be a discussant at an academic conference.

The basic aim of the book is to help scholars in EU and international law reflect on their research: where does it fit within the discipline, what kinds of research questions they think interesting, how do they pursue them, what theoretical perspective best supports their way of thinking their project, and so on. The book is aimed both at PhD students and early career scholars in EU and international law, and also at more established scholars who are interested in reflecting on the development of their discipline, as well as supervising research projects.

Chesterman: 'Leading from Behind': The Responsibility to Protect, the Obama Doctrine, and Humanitarian Intervention After Libya

Simon Chesterman (National Univ. of Singapore - Law; New York Univ. - Singapore Programme) has posted 'Leading from Behind': The Responsibility to Protect, the Obama Doctrine, and Humanitarian Intervention After Libya (Ethics & International Affairs, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Humanitarian intervention has always been more popular in theory than in practice. In the face of unspeakable acts, the desire to do something, anything, is understandable. States have tended to be reluctant to act on such desires, however, leading to the present situation in which there are scores of books and countless articles articulating the contours of a right - or even an obligation - of humanitarian intervention, while the number of cases that might be cited as models of what is being advocated can be counted on one hand.

So is Libya such a case? It depends on why one thinks that precedent is important. From an international legal perspective, debates have tended to focus on whether one or more states have the right to intervene in another for human protection purposes. From the standpoint of international relations and domestic politics, the question is whether states have the will to intervene. From a military angle, a key dilemma is whether states have the ability to intervene effectively. This essay considers these three issues in turn. The legal significance of Libya is minimal, though the response does show how the politics of humanitarian intervention has shifted to the point where it is harder to do nothing in the face of atrocities. At the same time, however, military action to the end of May 2011 suggested a continuing disjunction between ends and means.

Parlett: The Individual in the International Legal System

Kate Parlett (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, Paris) has published The Individual in the International Legal System: Continuity and Change in International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2011). Here's the abstract:

Kate Parlett's study of the individual in the international legal system examines the way in which individuals have come to have a certain status in international law, from the first treaties conferring rights and capacities on individuals through to the present day. The analysis cuts across fields including human rights law, international investment law, international claims processes, humanitarian law and international criminal law in order to draw conclusions about structural change in the international legal system. By engaging with much new literature on non-state actors in international law, she seeks to dispel myths about state-centrism and the direction in which the international legal system continues to evolve.

Ivkovich & Hagan: Reclaiming Justice: The International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and Local Courts

Sanja Kutnjak Ivkovich (Michigan State Univ. - Law) & John Hagan (Northwestern Univ. - Sociology and Law) have published Reclaiming Justice: The International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and Local Courts (Oxford Univ. Press 2011). Here's the abstract:

For the first time in legal history, an indictment was filed against an acting head of state, Slobodan Milosevic, for crimes that Milosevic allegedly committed while he was in office. Seeking to change the concept of ethnic cleansing from a rationalizing euphemism to an incriminating metaphor, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) set precedents and expanded the boundaries of international criminal and humanitarian law. In Reclaiming Justice, Sanja Kutnjak Ivkovich and John Hagan add to prior literature about the ICTY by providing a comprehensive view of how people from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, and Serbia view and evaluate the ICTY. Kutnjak Ivkovich and Hagan ask crucial questions about international justice in a systematic and comprehensive manner, looking into the ICTY's legality and judicial independence, as well as specific issues of substantive and procedural justice and collective and individual responsibility. Kutnjak Ivkovich and Hagan provide an in-depth analysis of perceptions about the ICTY, the subsequent work of its local courts, and decisions reached by the local courts. They also examine the relationship between the views of the ICTY and ethnicity, a particularly relevant notion because the war was fought largely along ethnic lines.

New Issue: Journal of World Trade

The latest issue of the Journal of World Trade (Vol. 45, no. 3, June 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Amedeo Arena, The GATS Notion of Public Services as an Instance of Intergovernmental Agnosticism: Comparative Insights from EU Supranational Dialectic
• Sherzod Shadikhodjaev, Checking RTA Compatibility with Global Trade Rules: WTO Litigation Practice and Implications from the Transparency Mechanism for RTAs
• Christopher Hovius & Jean-René Oettli, Measuring the Challenge: The Most Favoured Treatment Clause in the Economic Partnership Agreements between the European Community and African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries
• Stefano Inama, The Reform of the EC GSP Rules of Origin: Per aspera ad astra?
• Crina Viju & William A. Kerr, Protectionism and Global Recession: Has the Link Been Broken?
• Yong-Shik Lee, Reconciling RTAs with the WTO Multilateral Trading System: Case for a New Sunset Requirement on RTAs and Development Facilitation

Call for Applications: The Hague Academy's Seminar for Advanced Studies

The Hague Academy of International Law is now accepting applications for the eighth session of the Seminar for Advanced Studies, which is to take place January 15-21, 2012. This year's subject is "Responding to the Challenges of Natural and Industrial Catastrophes - New Directions for International Law." The program is available here. The closing date for applications is August 31, 2011. Here's the idea:

In view of recent experience, the law of catastrophes with transboundary consequences has gained increased prominence and may even constitute a distinct field of international law. In 1995, the Hague Academy of International Law sponsored pioneering research in the field when its Centre for Studies and Research focused on national and industrial catastrophes. The Hague Conference on Private International Law has conducted significant research in the field of civil liability for environmental damage and even considered preparing a Hague Convention on environmental damage.

Despite greater interest and scholarship on natural and industrial (man-made) catastrophes by international lawyers in the last twenty years, complex issues, both legal and practical, remain and arise in the aftermath of each new catastrophe. Their real-world significance for international law, on the one hand, relates as much to the heavy human and environmental toll resulting from recent catastrophes as to their transnational legal consequences. Recent transboundary catastrophes have confirmed this and brought some of those pressing practical issues regularly to the fore. These include earthquakes and tsunamis (Haiti, Peru, Japan), floods, major spills (Deep Water Horizon) and industrial releases (Bhopal, Chernobyl, Fukushima). Legally, on the other hand, some of the controversial issues raised by those disasters have received appropriate international recognition, including the extent of the duty to initiate preventive measures under the precautionary principle, the role of non-state actors and in particular individual or corporate liability in international law for damages. These and other issues have been addressed in the International Court of Justice's decisions and in the International Law Commission's work on the protection of persons in the event of disasters. Current practical and legal circumstances provide a timely opportunity therefore to convene a seminar that is directed at practitioners and during which those multi-layered and legal issues can be systematically addressed by experts.

The seminar seeks to provide participating practitioners with up-to-date and advanced knowledge of legal and practical mechanisms for protecting against the consequences of natural and industrial catastrophes. After an introduction to the main challenges currently faced by both public and private international lawyers in the area, the course will be divided into two sections that correspond to the two groups of international primary legal duties and their respective liability regimes. Experts will address in each session the complex cross-cutting issues pertaining to the subjects (often at once states, international organizations, individuals and corporations) and the associated primary and secondary duties (preventive, reactive and remedial). Those questions include, for example, the role of individuals as, alternatively or cumulatively, authors and victims of international law violations and their respective implications in liability regimes (e.g. attribution or invocation); the respective role of transnational corporations and of international organizations in that context; and the types of specific primary and secondary duties of prevention, reaction and compensation. The course will also emphasize the special principles, existing and evolving, that have developed in this field of international law. The last day of the course will be devoted to an exercise in real-time multilateral crisis management in the event of a hypothetical natural or industrial disaster and will be coached by senior legal counsels from multinational groups.

The seminar is directed chiefly at practitioners including government lawyers and policy makers, judges, counsel in private practice or corporate positions and international civil servants, working in the field of international law and who need an intensive training or a refresher course in the public and private international law aspects of natural and industrial catastrophes. In addition, participants will include those seeking more knowledge of the issues because of anticipated involvement or concern with the implications. The seminar adopts a practice-oriented approach and is based on the extensive experience of renowned practitioners and the expertise of leading international academics in the field. As the program indicates, seminar participants will also have an opportunity to meet with some widely respected international law judges who are based in The Hague. Finally, scheduling will allow ample time for informal exchanges among the participants and sharing of experiences and knowledge.

New Issue: American Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the American Journal of International Law (Vol. 105, no. 1, January 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Máximo Langer, The Diplomacy of Universal Jurisdiction: The Political Branches and the Transnational Prosecution of International Crimes
• Agora: The ICJ’s Kosovo Advisory Opinion
• Richard Falk, The Kosovo Advisory Opinion: Conflict Resolution and Precedent
• Dinah Shelton, Self-Determination in Regional Human Rights Law: From Kosovo to Cameroon
• Marko Divac Öberg, The Legal Effects of United Nations Resolutions in the Kosovo Advisory Opinion
• In Memoriam
• Stephen M. Schwebel, Shabtai Rosenne (1917–2010)

New Issue: Rivista di Diritto Internazionale

The latest issue of the Rivista di Diritto Internazionale (Vol. 93, no. 4, 2010) is out. Contents include:

• Articoli
• Carlo Focarelli, La Convenzione di New York sui diritti del fanciullo e il concetto di "best interests of the child"
• Antonello Tancredi, Il parere della Corte internazionale di giustizia sulla dichiarazione d'indipendenza del Kosovo
• Cristina Schepisi, Azione risarcitoria di classe e controversie transnazionali: competenza giurisdizionale e legge applicabile
• Note e Commenti
• Gherardo Pecchioni, Sull'aggressione da parte di uno Stato quale necessario presupposto del crimine di aggressione
• Claudia Nannini, La tutela internazionale dello svolgimento di attività di sussistenza
• Panorama
• Benedetto Conforti, La risoluzione 1244 del Consiglio di sicurezza e il parere della Corte internazionale di giustizia sul Kosovo
• Paolo Fois, Il parere della Corte internazionale di giustizia sull'indipendenza del Kosovo e il diritto internazionale "à la carte"
• Andrea Carcano, Sul rapporto fra diritto all' autodeterminazione dei popoli e secessione: in margine al parere della Corte internazionale di giustizia riguardante il Kosovo
• Luca Pantaleo, Sanzioni "mirate" dell'Unione Europea contro uno Stato terzo e tutela dei diritti fondamentali degli individui
• Simone Vezzani, Sul fondamento del diritto dell'individuo al risarcimento dei danni subiti in conseguenza della violazione degli obblighi posti dalla Convenzione europea
• Laura Salvadego, Controllo marittimo dell'immigrazione clandestina e giurisdizione penale del giudice italiano

New Issue: Revue Générale de Droit International Public

The latest issue of the Revue Générale de Droit International Public (Vol. 115, no. 1, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Sébastien Touze, La « quasi nationalité », réflexions générales sur une notion hybride
• Yann Kerbrat & Sandrine Maljean-Dubois, La Cour internationale de Justice face aux enjeux de protection de l'environnement: Réflexions critiques sur l'arrêt du 20 avril 2010, Usines de pâte à papier sur le fleuve Uruguay (Argentine c. Uruguay)
• Aymeric Potteau, Quelle adhésion de l'Union européenne à la CEDH pour quel niveau de protection des droits et de l'autonomie de l'ordre juridique de l'UE?
• Bruno Poulain & Mathieu Raux, Actualité du droit européen des investissements internationaux
• Albane Geslin & Dan O'Meara, Droit international et politique nationale à l'épreuve de la notion de « peuple(s) indigène(s) » en Afrique du Sud
• Loïc Simonet, Trois ans après la suspension du traité sur les forces conventionnelles en Europe par la Fédération de Russie : retour sur les fondements juridiques d'un acte controversé

New Issue: Revue belge de droit international

The latest issue of the Revue belge de droit international (Vol. 42, no. 2, 2009) is out. Contents include:

• Cédric Van Assche, Deux voeux formulés à l'adresse de la Cour Internationale de Justice. Commentaire de l'ordonnance du 28 mai 2009 dans l'affaire reletive à des questions concernant l'obligation de poursuivre ou d'estrader (Belgique c. Sénégal)
• François Dubuisson & Anne Lagerwall, Le confliten Géorgie de 2008 au regard du "jus contra bellum" et à la lumière du rapport de la mission d'enquête internationale de 2009
• F. Quilleré-Majzoub & Tarek Majzoub, Le cours d'eau international est-il une "ressource partagée"?
• Gaëlle Dusepulchre, La gouvernance adressée aux pays en développement: coquille vide ou concept opérationnel?. Proposition de clarification á la lumière des documents d'orientation stratégique de la Banque mondiale et de l'Union européenne applicables á l'aide extérieure
• Marie-Françoise Valette, L'organisation mondiale de la santé animale et la promotion de la sécurité sanitaire du commerce international: de la SDN à l'OMC
• Matthieu Fau-Nougaret, Approche critique du rôle des organisations internationales en matière électorale

New Issue: Journal du Droit International

The latest issue of the Journal du Droit International ("Clunet") (Vol. 138, no. 1, Janvier-Février-Mars 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Doctrine
• Mathias Forteau, L'ordre public « transnational » ou « réellement international ». L'ordre public international face à l'enchevêtrement croissant du droit international public
• Benjamin Remy, De la profusion à la confusion: réflexions sur la justification des clauses d'élection de for
• Eric Wyler, La CIJ lit-elle Shakespeare ? Retour sur l'interprétation de l'Avis consultatif du 8 juillet 1996 relatif à la menace et l'emploi de l'arme nucléaire

New Volume: Anuario Mexicano de Derecho Internacional

The latest volume of the Anuario Mexicano de Derecho Internacional (Vol. 11, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Pablo Arrocha, The Never-Ending Dilema: is the Unilateral use of Forcé by States Legal in the Context of Humanitarian Intervention?
• Rafael Prado, La ecologización de la Corte Internacional de Justicia
• Marisol Anglés, Fallo de la Corte Internacional de Justicia en materia ambiental, evidenciado en el asunto de plantas de celulosa sobre el río Uruguay
• Virginia Gallo Cobián, La responsabilidad de los Estados miembros de una organización internacional por el hecho ilícito de la misma
• José Ruiz Valerio, ¿Hacia un nuevo modelo de Estado de derecho? El Estado de derecho internacional en la visión de Luigi Ferrajoli
• Mónica de la Serna Galván, Interpretation of Article 39 of the UN Charter (Threat of the Peace) by the Security Council. Is the Security Council a Legislator for the Entire International Community?
• Nadja Kunadi, The Responsibility to Protect as a General Principle of International Law
• Loretta Ortiz Half, La denegación del derecho de acceso a la justicia a los migrantes irregulares en la Unión Europea
• Carmen Márquez Carrasco & Magdalena Martín Martínez, El principio de jurisdicción universal en el ordenamiento jurídico español: pasado, presente y futuro
• Daniel Delgado Ávila, El derecho fundamental al juez independiente en la jurisprudencia de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos
• Valerio de Oliveira Mazzuoli, The Inter-American Human Rights Protection System: Structure, Functioning and Effectiveness in Brazilian Law
• José Luiz Quadros de Magalhães & Carolina Dos Reis, A lógica de exclusão moderna no Pacto de Imigracão e Asilo da União Européia: nada de novo
• Nuria González Martín, Private International Law in Latin America: from Hard to Soft Law
• Fatma Raach, La compétence externe du Conseil de sécurité ou les forces nouvelles du droit international

Fellmeth: International Law and Foreign Laws in the U.S. State Legislatures

Aaron Fellmeth (Arizona State Univ. - Law) has posted an ASIL Insight on International Law and Foreign Laws in the U.S. State Legislatures.

Orakhelashvili: Collective Security

Alexander Orakhelashvili (Univ. of Birmingham - Law) has published Collective Security (Oxford Univ. Press 2011). Here's the abstract:

Over the past one hundred years, the conceptual and legal aspects of collective security have been the subject of much debate. Rapid developments within the United Nations, its precursor the League of Nations, and regional security institutions, as well as the interaction between them, mean this debate has not so far succeeded in capturing the essence and implications of collective security.

These developments in State and institutional practice strike at the heart of the entire system of collective security, which consists of universal, regional, and sub-regional levels, and indicate how the relationship between these various levels should be construed. Although the idea of collective security has raised high political expectations, it has always been based on legal instruments. Consequently, legal principles determine how far the delegated powers of collective security institutions extend and how the competencies of the United Nations relate to those of regional organisations.

This book demonstrates that this inter-level interaction could find its expression in cooperation as well as confrontation between various collective security institutions, and influence the scope of competence of relevant collective security organs. This process then reinforces the concept of the unity of the multi-faceted system of collective security within which no institution has the power to conclusively define or interpret its own competence or that of other institutions. The book's originality lies in its dynamic and decentralised approach that focuses on the interaction between the different levels of collective security and in its comprehensive coverage of all pertinent institutions, competences, and relevant practice.