Horchani: CIRDI, 45 ans après: Bilan d'un système

Ferhat Horchani has published CIRDI, 45 ans après: Bilan d'un système (Pedone 2011). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Créé le 18 mars 1965 par la Convention de Washington, le Centre international de règlement des différends relatifs aux investissements entre Etats et ressortissants d’autres Etats (CIRDI) a fêté ses 45 ans le 18 mars 2010.

Depuis sa création, l’évolution du CIRDI a connu plusieurs séquences : la première est caractérisée par un sous- fonctionnement en raison de la faiblesse du nombre de litiges qui lui étaient soumis. La deuxième a connu un sur-fonctionnement voire une surchauffe par l’explosion des litiges d’investissement et les possibilités offertes par l’insertion d’une clause CIRDI dans les accords d’investissement ou de libre échange, conclus entre les Etats. Sur le plan substantiel la « jurisprudence » du CIRDI n’a pas connu la cohérence souhaitée. Plusieurs observateurs y déplorent un véritable désordre jurisprudentiel.

L’ambition de ce colloque qui réunit quelques uns des meilleurs spécialistes de la matière, est de tenter ce bilan et de voir si le CIRDI a été capable de bien gérer la multiplication exponentielle des litiges dans une perspective de bonne gouvernance et d’une gestion efficace des litiges en matière d’investissements privés étrangers.

New Issue: Arbitration International

The latest issue of Arbitration International (Vol. 27, no. 2, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Fali Nariman, Ten Steps to Salvage Arbitration in India: The First LCIA-India Arbitration Lecture
• Yulia Andreeva, Interpreting Consent to Arbitration as a Unilateral Act of State: A Case Against Conventions
• Michele Potestà, The Interpretation of Consent to ICSID Arbitration Contained in Domestic Investment Laws
• Guido Carducci, Arbitration, Anti-suit Injunctions and Lis Pendens under the European Jurisdiction Regulation and the New York Convention — Notes on West Tankers, the Revision of the Regulation and Perhaps of the Convention
• Lucy Greenwood, A Window of Opportunity? Building a Short Period of Time into Arbitral Rules in Order for Parties to Explore Settlement
• Michael Kotrly & Edgar Sexton, Looking Out and Looking In: Reconciling Domestic and Internationalist Considerations in the Enforcement and Review of Arbitration Awards in Canada
• Christopher Koch, The Limits of Arbitrators’ Powers to Adjudicate Fees and Expenses — Commentary on the Swiss Supreme Court Decision 136 III 597 of 10 November 2010
• Joshua Fellenbaum, GEA v. Ukraine and the Battle of Treaty Interpretation Principles Over the Salini Test

Call for Papers: UNCTAD’s Principles on Responsible Sovereign Borrowing and Lending

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid have issued a call for papers for a conference on "UNCTAD’s Principles on Responsible Sovereign Borrowing and Lending." The call can be found here. Here's the idea:

The causes and widespread negative effects of the global financial and economic crisis prompted UNCTAD to launch an initiative in 2009 to promote responsible sovereign lending and borrowing practices. The purpose of UNCTAD's initiative is to provide a forum for debate on responsible practices and to develop a set of commonly accepted principles and practices relating to sovereign financing.

An expert group was established to contribute to the process of drafting these Principles. The group is composed of world renowned legal and economic experts, private investors and NGOs. Senior representatives from the IMF, the World Bank and Paris Club participate as observers of this group. After several formal meetings and exchanges of ideas a draft of the Principles emerged. This document is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish here.

As this draft is intended to be a point of departure for international discourse and will be subject to further discussions with governments, UNCTAD and the UAM (through its schools of Law and Economics, with the support of the project DER2009-11436 on ‘global legal goods’) will organize a conference to discuss in depth the foundations, implications and perspectives of these Principles and the problems they are designed to address.

Since sovereign lending and borrowing require an interdisciplinary and pluralist approach, the conference will encourage discussion among scholars and experts from different disciplines and backgrounds, focusing on economic, financial, institutional and legal issues. The UNCTAD’s initiative being novel in several ways, original and innovative research is especially encouraged.

The conference will take place in the campus of the UAM in 2 March 2012. The preliminary program will be available online as soon as the first selection of papers has been processed. Papers selected will be published in a collective book, one edition in English and another one in Spanish.

New Issue: Mealey's International Arbitration Report

The latest issue of Mealey's International Arbitration Report (Vol. 26, no. 6, June 2011) is out.

Brown: Research Handbook on International Criminal Law

Bartram S. Brown (Chicago–Kent College of Law) has published Research Handbook on International Criminal Law (Edward Elgar Publishing 2011). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This carefully regarded and well-structured handbook covers the broad range of norms, practices, policies, processes and institutional mechanisms of international criminal law, exploring how they operate and continue to develop in a variety of contexts. Leading scholars in the field and experienced practitioners have brought together their expertise and perspectives in a clear and concise fashion to create an authoritative resource, which will be useful and accessible even to those without legal training.

SFDI: L'eau en droit International

The Société française pour le droit international has published L'eau en droit International: Colloque d'Orléans de la Société française pour le droit international (Pedone 2011). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Le Centre de recherche juridique Pothier (CRJ) a accueilli le colloque annuel de la Société française pour le droit international du 3 au 5 juin 2010 sur un thème novateur : L’eau en droit international.

Ott: Enforced Disappearance in International Law

Lisa Ott (UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) has published Enforced Disappearance in International Law (Intersentia 2011). Here's the abstract:

This book explores the international legal framework governing the crime and human rights violation of enforced disappearance. It includes a thorough analysis and comparison of the existing international human rights case law and an assessment of the rules of international humanitarian law and international criminal law applicable to enforced disappearance.

The study includes a meticulous review, comparison and analysis of the case law of the international criminal tribunals, the Human Rights Committee, the Inter-American and European Courts of Human Rights and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights. It contains a comparison of the jurisprudence on cases of enforced disappearance with regard to the different aspects of the right to liberty and security, the right to life, the prohibition of torture, the right to be recognized as a person before the law, the right to the truth and the right to privacy and family life. In addition, it reviews the rules that apply to enforced disappearance under international humanitarian law and determines the principles applicable for individual responsibility for the crime of enforced disappearance under international criminal law.

On the basis of this analysis, the author interprets, evaluates and embeds the provisions of the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance in the international legal framework. The book provides a useful tool for the interpretation of the International Convention, identifies the gaps and inconsistencies contained in the text of the Convention and suggests possible solutions. In addition, it explores how the entering into force of the International Convention may affect the case law of the existing international judicial bodies. This comprehensive and multidisciplinary description of the current international legal framework and its influence on the International Convention is likely to become a standard work as it closes a gap in existing legal literature.

New Volumes: Recueil des Cours

Volumes 338 and 343 of the Recueil des Cours, Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law are out. Contents include:

• Volume 338
• D. Thürer, International Humanitarian Law: Theory, Practice, Context
• Volume 343
• A. Abou-el-Wafa, Les différends internationaux concernant les frontières terrestres dans la jurisprudence de la Cour internationale de Justice

Steinberg: Assessing the Legacy of the ICTY

Richard H. Steinberg (Univ. of California, Los Angeles - Law) has published Assessing the Legacy of the ICTY (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2011). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This collection of essays assesses the legacy established by the most important international criminal tribunal since the Nuremberg and Tokyo war crimes trials, and considers what might be done to enhance or modify the legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), including improvement of the capacity of state courts in the region to prosecute violations of humanitarian law by using the Tribunal’s documents, evidence, law, and practice.

Hofmann & Tams: International Investment Law and General International Law: From Clinical Isolation to Systemic Integration?

Rainer Hofmann (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main - Law) & Christian J. Tams (Univ. of Glasgow - Law) have published International Investment Law and General International Law: From Clinical Isolation to Systemic Integration? (Nomos 2011). Here's the abstract:

International Investment Law (IIL) is a highly specialized discipline, but does not exist in a legal vacuum. It is created, applied and interpreted in a context of general, legal concepts, including the law of treaties, State responsibility, diplomatic protection and State immunity. The contributions to this volume assess the interrelation between IIL and these areas of general international law. They provide evidence of IIL ‘opting out’ of the general framework, but also of integration and cross-fertilisation. Taken together, they illustrate the varied interactions between general international law and one of its most dynamic sub-areas.

Kamto: La charte africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples et le protocole y relatif portant création de la cour africaine des droits de l’homme

Maurice Kamto (l’Université de Yaoundé - Law) has published La charte africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples et le protocole y relatif portant création de la cour africaine des droits de l’homme: Commentaire article par article (Bruylant 2011). Here's the abstract:

La Charte africaine des droits de l’homme et des Peuples adoptée le 27 juin 1981 à Naïrobi par la Conférence des Chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement de l’OUA, et entrée en vigueur le 21 octobre 1986, marque un tournant intellectuel dans la promotion et la protection des droits de l’homme. Par son originalité, qui se traduit notamment par son enracinement dans la culture africaine, elle constitue une contribution remarquable à l’arsenal juridique international en la matière. En s’ouvrant aux influences de ses devancières que sont la Convention européenne et la Convention américaine des droits de l’homme, elle reconnaît l’existence d’un socle commun des droits de l’homme tenant à l’universalité de l’espèce humaine.

L’avènement de la Charte a ouvert la voie à l’essor normatif et institutionnel dans ce domaine en Afrique : le continent s’est doté en 1997 d’une Cour africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples (qui deviendra peut être une composante de la Cour africaine de justice et des droits de l’homme créée en 2008) dont la jurisprudence viendra certainement enrichir et conforter la production de la Commission africaine des droits de l’homme. Le protocole relatif aux droits de la femme en Afrique dit « Protocole de Maputo » adopté le 28 mars 2003 complète utilement la Charte sur les aspects dont il traite et confirme l’ouverture de l’Afrique à des champs nouveaux des droits de l’homme déjà perceptibles à travers l’adoption en 1990 de la Charte africaine des droits et du bien-être de l’enfant et la multiplication des gages de l’attachement aux droits de l’homme.

Le présent ouvrage est une oeuvre collective qui présente un commentaire exhaustif de tous les articles de la Charte et du Protocole y relatif créant la Cour africaine des droits de l’homme et des Peuples. Les analyses des dispositions de ces instruments juridiques sont enrichies de la jurisprudence de la Commission africaine, mais aussi de celle de la Cour européenne et de la Cour inter-américaine des droits de l’homme, des institutions onusiennes de contrôle ainsi que des nombreuses publications scientifiques dans ce domaine. Il s’agit d’un travail d’ensemble, complet et approfondi, le premier du genre en Afrique, qui offre aussi bien aux universitaires qu’aux praticiens, un outil remarquable pour comprendre la dynamique des droits de l’homme et des Peuples en Afrique.

Zeh: Das Übergangsrecht: Zur Rechtsetzungstätigkeit von Übergangsverwaltungen am Beispiel von UNMIK im Kosovo und dem OHR in Bosnien-Herzegowina

Juli Zeh has published Das Übergangsrecht: Zur Rechtsetzungstätigkeit von Übergangsverwaltungen am Beispiel von UNMIK im Kosovo und dem OHR in Bosnien-Herzegowina (Nomos 2011). Here's the abstract:

Die internationale Gemeinschaft involviert sich zunehmend in die Demokratisierung von Krisenstaaten wie z.B. Bosnien, Kosovo, Afghanistan oder Irak. Dabei werden die Rechtsordnungen der betroffenen Länder zu weiten Teilen revidiert. Internationale Behörden setzen sich an die Stelle von nationalem Gesetzgeber und Regierung und verwalten das Land mithilfe von Dekreten.

Aus rechtlicher Sicht wurde dieses Engagement bislang kaum untersucht. Dabei sind die aufgeworfenen Fragen von erheblicher praktischer Relevanz und politischer Brisanz: Welcher Rechtscharakter kommt den Dekreten einer internationalen Übergangsverwaltung zu? Ist es möglich, dieses Übergangsrecht gerichtlich überprüfen zu lassen? Welchen Rechtsschutz können Bürger eines betroffenen Gebiets gegen die Gesetze der internationalen Verwaltung erlangen?

Peacekeeping und nation building sind die wichtigsten Strategien zur Beilegung von Kriegen und Bürgerkriegen im 21. Jahrhundert. Juli Zeh unterzieht diese Strategien einer kritischen Untersuchung aus juristischer Perspektive und leistet damit Grundlagenarbeit zum rechtlichen Umgang mit einem hochpolitischen Phänomen.

Couzigou: L'évolution du statut international de l'Allemagne depuis 1945

Irène Couzigou (Univ. of Aberdeen - Law) has published L'évolution du statut international de l'Allemagne depuis 1945 (Bruylant 2011). Here's the abstract:

L'étude de l'évolution du statut international de l'Allemagne depuis 1945 apporte un éclairage particulier à la condition de l'État dans le droit international contemporain. Elle révèle la souplesse de l'institution étatique en démontrant que l'État allemand n'a jamais cessé d'exister. L'ouvrage aborde d'abord la question de la continuité de l'Allemagne occupée. L'État allemand ne disparaît pas du fait de la capitulation sans condition de l'armée allemande ou par debellatio. L'Etat allemand survit également aux mutations de son territoire et de sa population ainsi qu'à l'absence de gouvernement effectif allemand. L'occupation sui generis de l'Allemagne par les États-Unis, l'U.R.S.S., le Royaume-Uni et la France fait l'objet d'une analyse très fouillée. L'échec de l'occupation quadripartite aboutit à l'institution sur le territoire de l'Allemagne de la République fédérale d'Allemagne et de la République démocratique allemande. L'auteur retrace le processus d'autonomisation croissante des deux Républiques allemandes. Il étudie aussi le statut de Berlin et sa position par rapport à la R.F.A. et à la R.D.A.. L'ouvrage analyse ensuite les relations entretenues entre la R.F.A., la R.D.A. et l'Etat allemand. La R.F.A. défendit successivement deux théories de l'identité à l'Etat allemand, tandis que la R.D.A. adopta rapidement la thèse de l'extinction de l'Etat allemand. En épilogue, le déroulement de la réunification de l'Allemagne est analysé. L'effondrement du bloc communiste permet à la nation allemande d'exercer son droit à la réunification. Les pouvoirs d'occupation sont abrogés. La R.F.A., agrandie des territoires de l'ex-R.D.A. et de Berlin, constitue désormais un Etat souverain, reconnu comme étant le continuateur de l'Etat allemand.

New Issue: Journal of International Peacekeeping

The latest issue of the Journal of International Peacekeeping (Vol. 15, nos. 3-4, September 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Russell Buchan, Henry Jones, & Nigel D. White, The Externalization of Peacekeeping: Policy, Responsibility, and Accountability
• D.C.F. Daniel & Tromila Wheat, Transregional Military Dimensions of Civilian Protection: A Two-Part Problem with a Two-Part Solution
• Benjamin de Carvalho & Jon Harald Sande Lie, Chronicle of a Frustration Foretold? The Implementation of a Broad Protection Agenda in the United Nations
• Janine Natalya Clark, UN Peacekeeping in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Reflections on MONUSCO and Its Contradictory Mandate
• Alexandru Balas, It Takes Two (or More) to Keep the Peace: Multiple Simultaneous Peace Operations
• Daniel H. Levine, Peacekeeper Impartiality: Standards, Processes, and Operations

Kröll et al.: The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: Article by Article Commentary

Stefan Kröll (Bucerius Law School), Loukas A Mistelis (Queen Mary Univ. of London- Law), & Maria del Pilar Perales Viscacillas (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid - Law) have published The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: Article by Article Commentary (C.H. Beck, Hart Publishing, Nomos 2011). Here's the abstract:

Thirty years after the approval on the 19th April 1980, the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, the CISG, has become the law of international sales. In the meantime 76 states have ratified the CISG which make up for more than two thirds of the global trade. Despite CISG's practical importance and its global reach the commentary literature on the CISG in English, the language of international trade, is rather limited. This book is intended to fill this gap and to supplement the few existing commentaries by a truly international work which takes into account the various legal settings in which the CISG is applied. The Commentary is designed as a German type of commentary which provides an authoritative "Article-by-Article" comment to the CISG. Its structure strictly follows the structure of the provisions of the Convention. Specific topics, e.g. E-Commerce and the CISG, comparative contract texts such as Unidroit Principles of International Commercial Contracts, European Principles of Contract Law and Draft Common Frame of Reference, are dealt with in the context of the comments of the pertinent articles. The Incoterms are also dealt with in detail.

New Issue: Review of International Organizations

The latest issue of the Review of International Organizations (Vol. 6, no. 2, July 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Johannes Urpelainen, Early birds: Special interests and the strategic logic of international cooperation
• Songying Fang & Erica Owen, International institutions and credible commitment of non-democracies
• Madeleine O. Hosli, Rebecca Moody, Bryan O’Donovan, Serguei Kaniovski & Anna C. H. Little, Squaring the circle? Collective and distributive effects of United Nations Security Council reform
• Glen Biglaiser & Karl DeRouen, How soon is now? The effects of the IMF on economic reforms in Latin America

New Issue: Journal of Conflict Resolution

The latest issue of the Journal of Conflict Resolution (Vol. 55, no. 3, June 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Thad Dunning, Fighting and Voting: Violent Conflict and Electoral Politics
• Fabiana Machado, Carlos Scartascini, & Mariano Tommasi, Political Institutions and Street Protests in Latin America
• Mario Chacón, James A. Robinson, & Ragnar Torvik, When is Democracy an Equilibrium? Theory and Evidence from Colombia’s La Violencia
• Laia Balcells, Continuation of Politics by Two Means: Direct and Indirect Violence in Civil War
• Abbey Steele, Electing Displacement: Political Cleansing in Apartadó, Colombia
• Michael McBride, Gary Milante, & Stergios Skaperdas, Peace and War With Endogenous State Capacity
• Dawn Brancati & Jack L. Snyder, Rushing to the Polls: The Causes of Premature Postconflict Elections

New Issue: European Journal of International Relations

The latest issue of the European Journal of International Relations (Vol. 17, no. 2, June 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Jesse Dillon Savage, The stability and breakdown of empire: European informal empire in China, the Ottoman Empire and Egypt
• Roland Dannreuther, Understanding the Middle East Peace Process: A historical institutionalist approach
• Patricia T. Young & Jack S. Levy, Domestic politics and the escalation of commercial rivalr: Explaining the War of Jenkins’ Ear, 1739–48
• Luke Glanville, The antecedents of ‘sovereignty as responsibility’
• Adam R.C. Humphreys, The heuristic application of explanatory theories in International Relations
• Lucian M. Ashworth, Realism and the spirit of 1919: Halford Mackinder, geopolitics and the reality of the League of Nations
• Charles T. Call, Beyond the ‘failed state’: Toward conceptual alternatives
• Charlotte Epstein, Who speaks? Discourse, the subject and the study of identity in international politics
• Hayward R. Alker, The powers and pathologies of networks: Insights from the political cybernetics of Karl W. Deutsch and Norbert Wiener

New Issue: Asian Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Asian Journal of International Law (Vol. 1, no. 2, July 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Invited Articles
• Michael Wood, What Is Public International Law? The Need for Clarity about Sources
• Christian Tomuschat, Asia and International Law—Common Ground and Regional Diversity
• Articles
• Junwu Pan, Chinese Philosophy and International Law
• Symposium: Sovereign Wealth Funds
• Andrew Rozanov, Definitional Challenges of Dealing with Sovereign Wealth Funds
• M. Sornarajah, Sovereign Wealth Funds and the Existing Structure of the Regulation of Investments
• Anna Gelpern, Sovereignty, Accountability, and the Wealth Fund Governance Conundrum
• Gordon L. Clark & Eric R.W. Knight, Temptation and the Virtues of Long-Term Commitment: The Governance of Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment
• Maurizia De Bellis, Global Standards for Sovereign Wealth Funds: The Quest for Transparency
• Donghyun Park & Gemma Esther Estrada, Developing Asia's Sovereign Wealth Funds: The Santiago Principles and the Case for Self Regulation
• Hong Li, Depoliticization and Regulation of Sovereign Wealth Funds: A Chinese Perspective

New Issue: European Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the European Journal of International Law (Vol. 22, no. 2, May 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Editorial
• JHHW, Editorial: 60 Years since the First European Community – Reflections on Political Messianism
• Symposium: Are Sovereigns Entitled to the Benefit to the International Rule of Law?
• Nehal Bhuta, Are Sovereigns Entitled to the Benefit of the International Rule of Law? An Introduction
• Jeremy Waldron, Are Sovereigns Entitled to the Benefit of the International Rule of Law?
• Alexander Somek, A Bureaucratic Turn?
• Thomas Poole, Sovereign Indignities: International Law as Public Law
• David Dyzenhaus, Positivism and the Pesky Sovereign
• Samantha Besson, Sovereignty, International Law and Democracy
• Jeremy Waldron, Response: The Perils of Exaggeration
• The European Tradition in International Law: Rene-Jean Dupuy
• Pierre-Marie Dupuy, A Transatlantic Friendship: René-Jean Dupuy and Wolfgang Friedmann
• Alix Toublanc, René-Jean Dupuy and the Tragic City. The Surveyor, the Captain and the Poet
• Evelyne Lagrange, The Thoughts of René-Jean Dupuy: Methodology or Poetry of International Law?
• Julien Cantegreil, The Audacity of the Texaco/Calasiatic Award: René-Jean Dupuy and the Internationalization of Foreign Investment Law
• Article
• Steven R. Ratner, Law Promotion Beyond Law Talk: The Red Cross, Persuasion, and the Laws of War
• Roaming Charges: Berlin
• EJIL: Debate!
• Susan Marks, What has Become of the Emerging Right to Democratic Governance?
• Steven Wheatley, A Democratic Rule of International Law
• Jean d’Aspremont, The Rise and Fall of Democracy Governance in International Law: A Reply to Susan Marks
• Review Essay
• Michael Waibel, Demystifying the Art of Interpretation

New Issue: Review of International Organizations

The latest issue of the Review of International Organizations (Vol. 6, no. 1, March 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Jennifer L. Tobin & Susan Rose-Ackerman, When BITs have some bite: The political-economic environment for bilateral investment treaties
• Varun Gauri, The cost of complying with human rights treaties: The convention on the rights of the child and basic immunization
• Tana Johnson, Guilt by association: The link between states’ influence and the legitimacy of intergovernmental organizations
• Ghislain Dutheil de la Rochère, Jean-Michel Josselin & Yvon Rocaboy, The role of aggregation technologies in the provision of supranational public goods: A reconsideration of NATO’s strategies

Koskenniemi: The Politics of International Law

Martti Koskenniemi (Univ. of Helsinki - Law) has published The Politics of International Law (Hart Publishing 2011). Here's the abstract:

Today international law is everywhere. Wars are fought and opposed in its name. It is invoked to claim rights and to challenge them, to indict or support political leaders, to distribute resources and to expand or limit the powers of domestic and international institutions. International law is part of the way political (and economic) power is used, critiqued, and sometimes limited. Despite its claim for neutrality and impartiality, it is implicit in what is just, as well as what is unjust in the world. To understand its operation requires shedding its ideological spell and examining it with a cold eye. Who are its winners, and who are its losers? How - if at all - can it be used to make a better or a less unjust world?

In this collection of essays Professor Martti Koskenniemi, a well-known practitioner and a leading theorist and historian of international law, examines the recent debates on humanitarian intervention, collective security, protection of human rights and the 'fight against impunity' and reflects on the use of the professional techniques of international law to intervene politically. The essays both illustrate and expand his influential theory of the role of international law in international politics. The book is prefaced with an introduction by Professor Emmanuelle Jouannet (Sorbonne Law School), which locates the texts in the overall thought and work of Martti Koskenniemi.

New Issue: Chinese Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Chinese Journal of International Law (Vol. 10, no. 2, June 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Agora: Ten Years of China's Participation in the WTO
• Sienho Yee, Foreword and Invitation
• Xiaohui Wu, No Longer Outside, Not Yet Equal: Rethinking China's Membership in the World Trade Organization
• Julia Ya Qin, Pushing the Limits of Global Governance: Trading Rights, Censorship and WTO Jurisprudence—A Commentary on the China–Publications Case
• Peter Hilpold, WTO Law and Human Rights: Bringing Together Two Autopoietic Orders
• Comments, Essays and Notes
• Tafsir Malick Ndiaye, Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing: Responses in General and in West Africa
• Developments and History
• Rein Müllerson, The Kyrgyz Tragedy: Particular and General
• Practice and Documents
• Zhu Lijiang, Chinese Practice in Public International Law: 2010

Heller: The Nuremberg Military Tribunals and the Origins of International Criminal Law

Kevin Jon Heller (Univ. of Melbourne - Law) has published The Nuremberg Military Tribunals and the Origins of International Criminal Law (Oxford Univ. Press 2011). Here's the abstract:

This book provides the first comprehensive legal analysis of the twelve war crimes trials held in the American zone of occupation between 1946 and 1949, collectively known as the Nuremberg Military Tribunals (NMTs). The judgments the NMTs produced have played a critical role in the development of international criminal law, particularly in terms of how courts currently understand war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. The trials are also of tremendous historical importance, because they provide a far more comprehensive picture of Nazi atrocities than their more famous predecessor, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (IMT). The IMT focused exclusively on the 'major war criminals'-the Goerings, the Hesses, the Speers. The NMTs, by contrast, prosecuted doctors, lawyers, judges, industrialists, bankers-the private citizens and lower-level functionaries whose willingness to take part in the destruction of millions of innocents manifested what Hannah Arendt famously called 'the banality of evil'.

The book is divided into five sections. The first section traces the evolution of the twelve NMT trials. The second section discusses the law, procedure, and rules of evidence applied by the tribunals, with a focus on the important differences between Law No. 10 and the Nuremberg Charter. The third section, the heart of the book, provides a systematic analysis of the tribunals' jurisprudence. It covers Law No. 10's core crimes-crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity-as well as the crimes of conspiracy and membership in a criminal organization. The fourth section then examines the modes of participation and defenses that the tribunals recognized. The final section deals with sentencing, the aftermath of the trials, and their historical legacy.

Jain: The Control Theory of Perpetration in International Criminal Law

Neha Jain (Georgetown Univ. - Law) has posted The Control Theory of Perpetration in International Criminal Law (Chicago Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

International criminal law lacks a coherent theory of perpetration for international crimes. Courts and commentators oscillate between the doctrines of Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE) on the one hand and co-perpetration and indirect perpetration on the other, as modes of responsibility. While JCE, which has close analogues in common law modes of responsibility, has been subjected to rigorous scrutiny, co-perpetration and indirect perpetration, which are based on established modes of responsibility in German criminal law and doctrine, have proved more elusive. In this Article, I lay the foundations for an informed discussion on theories of responsibility in international criminal law by familiarizing the audience of international and comparative criminal lawyers with doctrines of perpetration in German criminal law and their adoption by international criminal tribunals. I also take the first steps in this debate by analyzing and ultimately rejecting recent criticisms that have been leveled against the adoption of co-perpetration and indirect perpetration at the international level. While I remain committed to the view that an uncritical and wholesale transfer of these domestic modes of responsibility to the international courts would be deeply problematic, I highlight their importance to the project of building conceptually sound and practically useful doctrines of responsibility for international crimes.

New Issue: International Theory

The latest issue of International Theory (Vol. 3, no. 2, July 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Benno Gerhard Teschke, Fatal attraction: a critique of Carl Schmitt's international political and legal theory
• Thomas Chadefaux, Bargaining over power: when do shifts in power lead to war?
• Harry Gould, Categorical obligation in international law
• William Phelan, Open international markets without exclusion: encompassing domestic political institutions, international organization, and self-contained regimes
• Symposium on Legitimacy and Legality in International Law: An Interactional Account by Jutta Brunnée and Stephen J. Toope
• Jutta Brunnée and Stephen J. Toope, Interactional international law: an introduction
• Martti Koskenniemi, The mystery of legal obligation
• Jeffrey L. Dunoff, What is the purpose of international law?
• Christian Reus-Smit, Obligation through practice
• Jutta Brunnée and Stephen J. Toope, History, mystery, and mastery