New Issue: Stanford Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Stanford Journal of International Law (Vol. 47, no. 2, Summer 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Thomas M. Antkowiak, An Emerging Mandate for International Courts: Victim-Centered Remedies and Restorative Justice
• Chenglin Liu, Is "USDA ORGANIC" a Seal of Deceit?: The Pitfalls of USDA Certified Organics Produced in the United States, China, and Beyond
• Michael A. Newton, Evolving Equality: The Development of the International Defense Bar

Petersen: Europäisierung der Diplomatie

Lars Ole Petersen has published Europäisierung der Diplomatie: Völker- und europarechtliche Rahmenbedingungen (Duncker & Humblot 2011). Here's the abstract:

Europa befindet sich angesichts des fortschreitenden Aufbaus des Europäischen Auswärtigen Dienstes in gespannter Erwartung. Der Ausbau der diplomatischen Fähigkeiten der Europäischen Union ist bereits heute spürbar. Mit einem starken Europäischen Auswärtigen Dienst wird die Union zunehmend als eigenständiger diplomatischer Akteur in Erscheinung treten.

Ob die Europäische Union die hierfür notwendigen völker- und primärrechtlichen Voraussetzungen erfüllt, blieb dagegen bislang unbeachtet. Lars Ole Petersen geht dieser Frage nach. Die Ergebnisse seiner Untersuchung zeigen, dass die Europäische Union bereits heute die völker- und europarechtlichen Voraussetzungen erfüllt, die ihr eine diplomatische Betätigung auf Augenhöhe mit den Staaten ermöglichen. Sie kann über das Völkergewohnheitsrecht eine nahezu objektive Völkerrechtssubjektivität für sich beanspruchen. Darüber hinaus genießen ihre Diplomaten über das Völkergewohnheitsrecht den vollwertigen Schutz der Wiener Diplomatenrechtskonvention. Die primärrechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen der Verträge legen zudem ein starkes Fundament für den weiteren Ausbau der diplomatischen Kapazitäten der Europäischen Union.

Aufgrund dieser Dynamik müssen die zeitgleichen, verstärkten Integrationsbemühungen zwischen den nationalen diplomatischen Diensten der Mitgliedstaaten kritisch betrachtet werden. Sie stoßen bereits zum heutigen Zeitpunkt an die Grenze der primärrechtlichen Zulässigkeit.

de Beco: Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms of the Council of Europe

Gauthier de Beco (Université catholique de Louvain - Centre for Philosophy of Law) has published Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms of the Council of Europe (Routledge 2011). Contents include:

• Gauthier de Beco, Introduction: The Role of European Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms
• Lauri Sivonen, The Commissioner for Human Rights
• Renate Kicker, The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (The CPT)
• Olivier De Schutter & Matthias Sant’Ana, The European Committee of Social Rights (The ECSR)
• Gauthier de Beco & Emma Lantschner, The Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (The ACFC)
• Lanna Yael Hollo, The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)
• Robert Dunbar, The Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (The CECL)
• Gauthier de Beco, Conclusion: A Comparative Analysis of European Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms

New Issue: Journal of Conflict & Security Law

The latest issue of the Journal of Conflict & Security Law (Vol. 16, no. 1, Spring 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Masahiko Asada, The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Universalization of the Additional Protocol
• Eki Yemisi Omorogbe, Can the African Union Deliver Peace and Security?
• Róisín Burke, Status of Forces Deployed on UN Peacekeeping Operations: Jurisdictional Immunity
• Théo Boutruche, Credible Fact-Finding and Allegations of International Humanitarian Law Violations: Challenges in Theory and Practice
• Constantin von der Groeben, The Conflict in Colombia and the Relationship between Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law in Practice: Analysis of the New Operational Law of the Colombian Armed Forces
• Matthew Saul, Local Ownership of Post-Conflict Reconstruction in International Law: The Initiation of International Involvement

Wayne State University Law School Program for International Legal Studies Speaker Series

Here's the schedule for the Wayne State University Law School Program for International Legal Studies Fall 2011 Speaker Series:

• September 22, 2011: Brad Roth (Wayne State Univ. - Law & Political Science) & Steven Ratner (Univ. of Michigan - Law), The General Assembly Resolution on Palestinian Statehood: What Does International Law Have to Say?
• October 12, 2011: Peter Spiro (Temple Univ. - Law), The Libya Intervention and Executive War Powers
• October 17, 2011: Henry Farrell (George Washington Univ.), The Consequences of the Eurozone Crisis
• November 2, 2011: Peter Rutledge (Univ. of Georgia - Law), Anti-Suit Injunctions Against Foreign Judgments

Nollkaemper & Jacobs: Shared Responsibility in International Law: A Concept Paper

Andre Nollkaemper (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law ) & Dov Jacobs (Univ. of Amsterdam - Amsterdam Center for International Law) have posted Shared Responsibility in International Law: A Concept Paper. Here's the abstract:

This paper explores the phenomenon of the sharing of international responsibilities among multiple actors who contribute to injury to third parties. It examines the manifestations of shared responsibility, identifies the normative questions that it raises, assesses its possible consequences for international law and legal doctrine and sets forth a conceptual framework that allows us to analyze questions of shared responsibility. By doing so, the paper lays out the foundations, scope and ambitions of the SHARES Project - a five-year research project funded by the European Research Council and carried out by a research group at the Amsterdam Center for International Law.

The paper more particularly explores the current framework of international state responsibility, how it can apply to situations of shared responsibility and what are its limits. It then suggests revisiting the foundations of international responsibility and proposes, in light of its public/private nature and objectives to move away from a unitary to differentiated regimes of international responsibility. It is within this new framework that some key normative questions, both substantial and procedural, that arise in situations of shared responsibility are discussed (joint and several liability, relationship between multiple wrongdoers, changes to the bilateral nature of international dispute settlement).

The paper concludes with a 'semantic toolbox' of shared responsibility, defining concepts such as 'shared accountability', 'shared attribution or 'shared liability' which will provide a useful point of reference for subsequent research on the topic.

Barnidge: A Qualified Defense of American Drone Attacks in Northwest Pakistan Under International Humanitarian Law

Robert P. Barnidge, Jr. (Univ. of Reading - Law) has posted A Qualified Defense of American Drone Attacks in Northwest Pakistan Under International Humanitarian Law (Boston University International Law Journal, forthcoming). Here’s the abstract:

This paper examines the lawfulness under international humanitarian law of one of the most important and controversial aspects of the Obama Administration‟s approach to fighting terrorism, the use of drone attacks in northwest Pakistan. It begins by exploring developments in drone technology and locates this discussion within the context of the American drone campaign in northwest Pakistan. Since arriving at the legal frame of reference for assessing each of these attacks under international humanitarian law requires determining whether an armed conflict paradigm applies and, if so, how the armed conflict at issue should be classified, this paper then turns to exploring these issues from the perspective of law. It then examines three persistent issues that have arisen in the context of the American drone campaign in northwest Pakistan: the question of collateral damage, with particular reference to the drone attack that killed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan leader Baitullah Mehsud in August 2009, the concern of the 2010 Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, Philip Alston, that “[i]t is not possible for the international community to verify the legality of a killing, to confirm the authenticity or otherwise of intelligence relied upon, or to ensure that unlawful targeted killings do not result in impunity,” and the legal implications of Central Intelligence Agency involvement in drone attacks. Ultimately, this paper concludes that American drone attacks in northwest Pakistan are not as such unlawful under international humanitarian law, though, like any method and means of warfare in the context of asymmetric warfare, they should be continuously and closely monitored according to the dictates of law and sensitivity to the facts on the ground.

New Issue: Archiv des Völkerrechts

The latest issue of Archiv des Völkerrechts (Vol. 49, no. 2, June 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Abhandlungen
• Robert Uerpmann-Wittzack, Das Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) als Prüfstein für die Demokratie in Europa
• Martin Schaub, Verantwortlichkeit von Unternehmen unter dem Alien Tort Statute: Eine Bestandsaufnahme nach Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co.
• Beitrage und Berichte
• Anja Kießling, Der Afrikanische Gerichtshof für die Rechte der Menschen und der Völker: Vom schwierigen Aufbau einer neuen Institution

New Issue: Mealey's International Arbitration Report

The latest issue of Mealey's International Arbitration Report (Vol. 26, no. 8, August 2011) is out.

Bellia & Clark: The Alien Tort Statute and the Law of Nations

Anthony J. Bellia Jr. (Univ. of Notre Dame - Law) & Bradford R. Clark (George Washington Univ. - Law) have published The Alien Tort Statute and the Law of Nations (Univ. of Chicago Law Review, Vol. 78, no. 2, Spring 2011). Here's the abstract:

Courts and scholars have struggled to identify the original meaning of the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). As enacted in 1789, the ATS provided “[t]hat the district courts . . . shall . . . have cognizance . . . of all causes where an alien sues for a tort only in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.” The statute was rarely invoked for almost two centuries. In the 1980s, lower federal courts began reading the statute expansively to allow foreign citizens to sue other foreign citizens for all violations of modern customary international law that occurred outside the United States. In 2004, the Supreme Court took a more restrictive approach. Seeking to implement the views of the First Congress, the Court determined that Congress wished to grant federal courts jurisdiction only over a narrow category of alien claims “corresponding to Blackstone’s three primary [criminal] offenses [against the law of nations]: violation of safe conducts, infringement of the rights of ambassadors, and piracy.” In this Article, we argue that neither the broader approach initially endorsed by lower federal courts nor the more restrictive approach subsequently adopted by the Supreme Court fully captures the original meaning and purpose of the ATS. In 1789, the United States was a weak nation seeking to avoid conflict with other nations. Every nation had a duty to redress certain violations of the law of nations committed by its citizens or subjects against other nations or their citizens—from the most serious offenses (such as those against ambassadors) to more commonplace offenses (such as violence against private foreign citizens). If a nation failed to redress such violations, then it became responsible and gave the other nation just cause for war. In the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, Congress could not rely upon states to redress injuries suffered by aliens (especially British subjects) at the hands of Americans. Accordingly, the First Congress enacted the ATS as one of several civil and criminal provisions designed to redress law of nations violations committed by United States citizens. The ATS authorized federal court jurisdiction over claims by foreign citizens against United States citizens for intentional torts to person or personal property. At the time, both the commission of—and the failure to redress—such “torts” violated “the law of nations.” The statute thus employed these terms to create a self-executing means for the United States to avoid military reprisals for the misconduct of its citizens. Neither the ATS nor Article III, however, authorized federal court jurisdiction over tort claims between aliens. Indeed, federal court adjudication of at least one subset of such claims—alien–alien claims for acts occurring in another nation’s territory—would have contradicted the statute’s purpose by putting the United States at risk of foreign conflict. Despite suggestions that the true import of the ATS may never be recovered, the original meaning of the statute appears relatively clear in historical context: the ATS limited federal court jurisdiction to suits by aliens against United States citizens but broadly encompassed any intentional tort to an alien’s person or personal property.

Benhabib: Is There a Human Right to Democracy? Beyond Interventionism and Indifference

Seyla Benhabib (Yale Univ. - Political Science) has posted Is There a Human Right to Democracy? Beyond Interventionism and Indifference. Here's the abstract:

There is wide-ranging disagreement in contemporary discourse about the justification as well as the content of human rights. On the one hand, the language of human rights has become the public vocabulary of a conflict-ridden world which is increasingly growing together. The spread of human rights, as well as their defense and institutionalization, are now seen as the uncontested language, though not the reality, of global politics. In this essay I wish to shift both the justification strategy and the derivation of the content of human rights away from minimalist concerns towards an understanding of human rights in terms of the “right to have rights” (Hannah Arendt). I will defend a discourse-theoretic justification strategy which seeks to synthesize the insights of discourse ethics with Hannah Arendt’s concept. I thereby hope to point the way toward a more robust defense of human rights within a global justice context. Whereas in Arendt’s work, “the right to have rights” is viewed principally as a political right and is narrowly defined as the “right to membership in a political community,” I will propose a non-state-centered conception of the “right to have rights,” understood as the claim of each human person to be recognized and to be protected as a legal personality by the world community.

Hathaway & Kapczynski: Going It Alone: The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement as a Sole Executive Agreement

Oona A. Hathaway (Yale Univ. - Law) & Amy Kapczynski (Univ. of California, Berkeley - Law) have posted an ASIL Insight on Going It Alone: The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement as a Sole Executive Agreement.

Stone Sweet: A Cosmopolitan Legal Order: Constitutional Pluralism and Rights Adjudication in Europe

Alec Stone Sweet (Yale Univ. - Law & Political Science) has posted A Cosmopolitan Legal Order: Constitutional Pluralism and Rights Adjudication in Europe. Here's the abstract:

The European Convention on Human Rights is rapidly evolving into a cosmopolitan legal order: a transnational legal system in which all public officials bear the obligation to fulfill the fundamental rights of every person within their jurisdiction. The emergence of the system depended on certain deep, structural transformations of law and politics in Europe, including the consolidation of a zone of peace and economic interdependence, of constitutional pluralism at the national level, and of rights cosmopolitanism at the transnational level. Framed by Kantian ideas, the paper develops a theoretical account of a cosmopolitan legal system, provides an overview of how the ECHR system operates, and establishes criteria for its normative assessment.

Merry: Measuring the World: Indicators, Human Rights, and Global Governance

Sally Engle Merry (New York Univ. - Anthropology) has published Measuring the World: Indicators, Human Rights, and Global Governance (Current Anthropology, Vol. 52, Supp. 3, April 2011). Here's the abstract:

Indicators are rapidly multiplying as tools for assessing and promoting a variety of social justice and reform strategies around the world. There are indicators of rule of law, indicators of violence against women, and indicators of economic development, among many others. Indicators are widely used at the national level and are increasingly important in global governance. There are increasing demands for “evidence-based” funding for nongovernmental organizations and for the results of civil society organizations to be quantifiable and measurable. The reliance on simplified numerical representations of complex phenomena began in strategies of national governance and economic analysis and has recently migrated to the regulation of nongovernmental organizations and human rights. The turn to indicators in the field of global governance introduces a new form of knowledge production with implications for relations of power between rich and poor nations and between governments and civil society. The deployment of statistical measures tends to replace political debate with technical expertise. The growing reliance on indicators provides an example of the dissemination of the corporate form of thinking and governance into broader social spheres.

Buyse & Hamilton: Transitional Jurisprudence and the ECHR: Justice, Politics and Rights

Antoine Buyse (Universiteit Utrecht - Netherlands Institute of Human Rights) & Michael Hamilton (Central European Univ. - Legal Studies) have published Transitional Jurisprudence and the ECHR: Justice, Politics and Rights (Cambridge Univ. Press 2011). Contents include:

• Michael Hamilton & Antoine Buyse, Introduction
• Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Transitional emergency jurisprudence: derogation and transition
• Kris Brown, Rights and victims, martyrs and memories: the European Court of Human Rights and political transition in Northern Ireland
• Christopher Lamont, The ECHR and transition: confronting the consequences of authoritarianism and conflict
• James Sweeney, Freedom of religion and democratic transition
• Antoine Buyse, The truth, the past and the present: Article 10 of the ECHR and situations of transition
• Michael Hamilton, Transition, political loyalties and the order of the state
• Anne Smith & Rory O'Connell, Transition, equality and non-discrimination
• Tom Allen & Benedict Douglas, Closing the door on restitution: the European Court of Human Rights
• Diego Rodriquez-Pinzon, The inter-American human rights system and transitional processes
• Gina Bekker, The 'transitional' jurisprudence of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
• Antoine Buyse & Michael Hamilton, Conclusions

New Issue: Ocean Development & International Law

The latest issue of Ocean Development & International Law (Vol. 42, no. 3, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Timo Koivurova, The Actions of the Arctic States Respecting the Continental Shelf: A Reflective Essay
• Suk Kyoon Kim, Maritime Security Initiatives in East Asia: Assessment and the Way Forward
• Nguyen Hong Thao & Ramses Amer, Coastal States in the South China Sea and Submissions on the Outer Limits of the Continental Shelf
• Ling Zhu & Sunil Kumar Agarwal, A Review of the Legal and Policy Framework for Vessel Source Pollution in Hong Kong

Richter: Collapsed States

Clemens Richter has published Collapsed States: Perspektiven nach dem Wegfall von Staatlichkeit Zugleich ein Beitrag zu den Grundlagen des Selbstbestimmungsrechts der Völker und zur Struktur des völkerrechtlichen Staatsbegriffs (Nomos 2011). Here's the abstract:

Das Versagen von Staatlichkeit ist ein brisantes Problem für die moderne Völkerrechtsordnung. Für Fälle dauerhaften Staatszerfalls (‚collapsed states‘) fehlt noch immer ein ausgearbeitetes rechtliches Instrumentarium. Der übliche Rückgriff auf eine Fiktion der Staatlichkeit versucht, ein Aliud zum Staat in eine vorgefertigte juristische Form zu zwingen. Dies wirft ungelöste Fragen zur internationalen Sicherheitspolitik, zum Selbstbestimmungsrecht, zur humanitären Intervention und zu den Voraussetzungen erfolgreichen Nation Buildings auf.

Der Autor versucht auf diese Probleme Antworten zu finden und den kollabierten „Staat“ auf eine neue dogmatische Grundlage zu stellen. Ausgehend vom Befund einer Lücke im Völkerrecht bestimmt er die empirischen und theoretischen Randbedingungen eines solchen Konzepts. Dazu untersucht er ausführlich die Grundlagen des völkerrechtlichen Staatsbegriffs, die Struktur des Selbstbestimmungsrechts der Völker sowie die politischen Interessen beteiligter Akteure. In einem zweiten Schritt skizziert er den Rechtsstatus solcher ‚collapsed states‘ als ‚non state entity‘ und gibt einen Ausblick auf mögliche Handlungs- und Konfliktlösungswege in den betroffenen Regionen.

Conference: Towards a New History of the League of Nations

Later this week, on August 25-26, the Graduate Institute of International Studies will host a conference on "Towards a New History of the League of Nations." The program is here. Here's the idea:

The past decade has seen a flowering of new work on the history of the League of Nations. A group of research scholars at universities across four continents will convene on August 25-26, 2011 for a conference dedicated to presenting and discussing the findings of those scholars who have been re-examining the League’s history through the use of its archives in Geneva. This conference is being hosted by the Graduate Institute of International & Development Studies in Geneva and is made possible by the generous support of the Fonds National Suisse, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Du Bois foundation.

The conference program features panels on the League and security; on the role of experts and the practices of internationalism; on competing visions of global order; on popular internationalism and mobilization; and on the role of the League in the shaping understandings and regimes about rights. There will be invited speakers for each of these sessions, but the conference organizers anticipate and welcome the participation by additional scholars around the world interested in the history of the League of Nations. Scholars interested in attending the conference are thus invited to “table” additional papers relevant to specific panels, and while those papers will not be formally presented, they will become part of the collective discussion.

The Conference Organizing Committee includes Davide Rodogno (GIIDS), Patricia Clavin (Oxford), Susan Pedersen (Columbia) and Corinne Pernet (St. Gallen). Questions about the conference, including requests to attend and to “table” papers, should be addressed in the first instance to Davide Rodogno, at davide.rodogno@graduateinstitute.ch

Call for Submissions: Trade, Law and Development

The journal Trade, Law and Development has issued a call for submissions for its upcoming special issue on "Dispute Settlement at the World Trade Organization." Here's the call:

Trade, Law and Development

Call for Submissions

Special Issue on Dispute Settlement at the World Trade Organization

Founded in 2009, the philosophy of Trade, Law and Development has been to generate and sustain a constructive and democratic debate on emergent issues in International Economic Law and to serve as a forum for the discussion and distribution of ideas. In keeping with these ideals, the Board of Editors is pleased to announce Dispute Settlement at the World Trade Organization as the theme for its next Special Issue (Vol. 4, No. 1).

Having evolved from the erstwhile dispute resolution system under the aegis of the GATT, the present Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM) has come to be recognized as a means of effective and efficient resolution of differences between trading members in the multi-billion dollar trading system. As a fundamental pillar of international trade, the WTO DSM has come under great scrutiny for its wide implications and ramifications on the world trading system, as well as its Member States. It has been both praised for its effectiveness in tackling disputes while also facing criticism for its shortcomings. In this context, many scholars and experts view the WTO DSM as an entity whose parameters could extend beyond those of trade disputes to other areas of international law.

Inspired by the pivotal position of the DSM in the world trading system, the Board of Editors thus invites original, unpublished submissions for the Special Issue on Dispute Settlement at the WTO for publication as a ‘Articles’, ‘Notes’, ‘Comments’ and/or ‘Book Reviews’. Submissions from students, which particularly espouse developing country perspectives in the realm of WTO Dispute Settlement are specifically encouraged.

Manuscripts may be submitted via email, ExpressO, or LexOpus. For further information, please visit the journal website.

In case of any further queries, please feel free to contact the editors at:

editors[at]tradelawdevelopment.com

Last Date for Submissions: 31st October, 2011

Sellars: Delegitimising Aggression: First Steps and False Starts after the First World War

Kirsten Sellars has posted Delegitimising Aggression: First Steps and False Starts after the First World War (Journal of International Criminal Justice, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The interwar years marked the movement in international law towards the prohibition of aggressive war. Yet a notable feature of the 1920s and 1930s, despite suggestions to the contrary at the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals, was the absence of legal milestones marking the advance towards the criminalisation of aggression. Lloyd George’s proposal to arraign the ex-Kaiser for starting the First World War came to nothing. Resolutions mentioning the ‘international crime’ of aggression, such as the draft Treaty for Mutual Assistance and the Geneva Protocol, were never ratified. And the Kellogg-Briand Pact, while renouncing war ‘as an instrument of national policy’, made no mention at all of aggression, much less individual responsibility for it. Not until the closing stages of the Second World War, with defeat of the Axis powers within sight, did politicians and jurists reconsider the problem of how to deal with enemy leaders, and contemplate the role that a charge of aggression might play in this process.

Call for Papers: International Law and the Periphery

The Law Department of the American University in Cairo and Sydney Law School have issued a call for papers for a conference on "International Law and the Periphery," to be held in Cairo, February 16-18, 2012. Here's the call:

One year on from the "Arab Spring", join us in Cairo to explore contemporary geographies of international law. You are invited to reflect anew upon the "cores" and "peripheries" of international legal knowledge and practice in the face of recent structural shifts. Where (if anywhere) are they located today? Does international law project a disciplinary periphery, or several? Who or what occupies international legal peripheries today and what does peripheral status imply? What may be at stake in the mapping of cores and peripheries? Are there cores in the peripheral and vice versa? To what extent, if at all, do core-periphery dynamics in international law channel development and reform? Long associated with dependency theory, world systems theory and geographical analyses of trade, core-periphery schematics have nonetheless informed international legal thought, argument and policy-making in a wide range of ways. This conference will enable scholars of law and related disciplines to revisit core-periphery dynamics in global governance, in both their symbolic and their material dimensions, and contribute to their re-imagining for the current age.

Co-hosted by the American University in Cairo Law Department and Sydney Law School at the University of Sydney, this conference will afford both established and emergent scholars working in or around the international legal field an invigorating opportunity to explore the foregoing theme.

Keynote addresses will be made by:

• Professor Arjun Appadurai, Goddard Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University (confirmed); and
• Professor David Kennedy, Director of the Institute for Global Law and Policy and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School (TBC).

Submissions of proposed conference presentations and/or panel proposals are warmly invited. Those wishing to present papers at the conference should submit abstracts in English of no more than 200 words, together with a brief statement outlining their institutional affiliation(s) (if any) and contact details, to peripheryconference@gmail.com by 30 September 2011. Those who would like to propose a panel (comprised of three speakers) should do so at the same time.

Limited ground transportation and all conference catering, materials and activities will be covered by the host organisations. In addition, a limited number of modest stipends may be available to conference speakers on the basis of financial need; please indicate at the time of submission if you would like to seek this assistance. Unfortunately, however, no funding is available to support conference participants’ travel to Cairo. Any questions may be directed to Fleur Johns or Thomas Skouteris at fleur.johns@sydney.edu.au and tskouteris@aucegypt.edu, respectively.

We look forward to seeing you in Cairo in February 2012.

Conference: Fall Meeting of the ABA Section of International Law

The 2011 Fall Meeting of the American Bar Association Section of International Law will take place October 11-15, in Dublin. The meeting's agenda is available here.

Dothan: Judicial Tactics in the European Court of Human Rights

Shai Dothan (Tel Aviv Univ. - Law) has posted Judicial Tactics in the European Court of Human Rights (Chicago Journal of International Law, Vol. 12, No. 1, p. 115, 2011). Here's the abstract:

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has been criticized for issuing harsher judgments against developing states than it does against the states of Western Europe. It has also been seen by some observers as issuing increasingly demanding judgments. This paper develops a theory of judicial decision-making that accounts for these trends. In order to obtain higher compliance rates with the judgments that promote its preferences, the ECHR seeks to increase its reputation. The court gains reputation every time a state complies with its judgments, and loses reputation every time a state fails to comply with its judgments. Not every act of compliance has the same effect on the reputation of the court, however. When the judgment is costlier, the court will gain more reputation in the case of compliance. In an effort to build its reputation, in some cases the court will issue the costliest judgment with which it expects the state to comply. Since the ECHR receives high compliance rates, its reputation increases, which leads it to issue costlier judgments. The court restrains itself when facing high-reputation states that can severely damage its reputation by noncompliance or criticism, so it demands more from low-reputation states.

Gathii: African Regional Trade Agreements as Legal Regimes

James Thuo Gathii (Albany Law School) has published African Regional Trade Agreements as Legal Regimes (Cambridge Univ. Press 2011). Here's the abstract:

African regional trade integration has grown exponentially in the last decade. This book is the first comprehensive analysis of the legal framework within which it is being pursued. It will fill a huge knowledge gap and serve as an invaluable teaching and research tool for policy makers in the public and private sectors, teachers, researchers and students of African trade and beyond. The author argues that African Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) are best understood as flexible legal regimes particularly given their commitment to variable geometry and multiple memberships. He analyzes the progress made toward trade liberalization in each region, how the RTAs are financed, their trade remedy and judicial regimes and how well they measure up to Article XXIV of GATT. The book also covers monetary unions as well as intra-African regional integration, and examines Free Trade Agreements with non-African regions including the Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union.

Lemke: Erfüllungsdefizite des Flaggenstaats

Myriam Lemke has published Erfüllungsdefizite des Flaggenstaats: Auf dem Weg zu einer neuen Erfüllungsstrategie der Internationalen Seeschifffahrtsorganisation (IMO) zum Schutz der Meeresumwelt? (Nomos 2011). Here's the abstract:

Das neue (noch) freiwillige Audit-System der Internationalen Seeschifffahrtsorganisation (IMO) soll neuer Stützpfeiler ihrer Erfüllungsstrategie im Kampf gegen die Meeresverschmutzung durch den Schiffsverkehr werden. Lag der bisherige Schwerpunkt internationaler Bemühungen auf der Hafenstaatkontrolle, geraten nun erneut die Flaggenstaaten in den Fokus. Ihnen bietet die Organisation ein externes Prüfverfahren an, das auf die Kraft des Diskurses und sachverständige Hilfe setzt. Hat der Kampf gegen Billigflaggen und Betreiber unternormiger Schiffe mit dem neuen Instrumentarium Aussicht auf Erfolg?

Die Verfasserin stellt diese Frage in den größeren Zusammenhang der neueren rechts- und politikwissenschaftlichen Forschung zu Erfüllungsstrategien in multilateralen Umweltschutzverträgen. Darauf aufbauend entwickelt sie ein Untersuchungsschema, das als „tool kit“ dienen kann, um umweltvölkerrechtliche Regime auf deren Erfüllungspotenzial hin zu untersuchen. Anhand dieses Schemas zeigt sie Erfolge und Schwächen des bestehenden Regimes zum Schutz der Meeresumwelt vor schiffsseitigen Verschmutzungen auf und bewertet Chancen und Risiken der neuen kooperativen Strategie.

Kerbrat: Forum Shopping et concurrence des procédures contentieuses internationales

Yann Kerbrat (Université Paul Cézanne (Aix-Marseille III) - Law) has published Forum Shopping et concurrence des procédures contentieuses internationales (Bruylant 2011). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

La juridictionnalisation du droit international et l'accroissement sensible du nombre des tribunaux internationaux au cours des quinze dernières années se sont accompagnés d'un essor préoccupant du forum shopping et, au-delà, d'une augmentation des phénomènes de concurrence de procédures contentieuses dans l'ordre juridique international. Le présent ouvrage est consacré à ces évolutions encore largement méconnues. Il étudie les problèmes qu'elles soulèvent et présente les méthodes qui ont été utilisées pour les résoudre dans les domaines où ils se sont posés : le contentieux des investissements, le droit de l'OMC, le contentieux international des droits de l'homme, le droit international pénal, le contentieux international de l'environnement ou le droit de l'Union européenne. Il montre que malgré leur nombre et leur diversité, les techniques conventionnelles existantes ont globalement un efficacité limitée. Il met en lumière l'importance du rôle du juge et de son pouvoir d'administration du procès dans la recherche d'une articulation harmonieuse des procédures internationales.

New Issue: International Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the International Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 15, no. 7, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Razeen Sappideen, Property rights, human rights, and the new international trade regime
• Michael Vicente Pérez, Human rights and the rightless: the case of Gaza refugees in Jordan
• Payel Rai Chowdhury, Judicial activism and human rights in India: a critical appraisal
• Jay Williams, The international campaign to prohibit child soldiers: a critical evaluation
• Vanmala Hiranandani, Privacy and security in the digital age: contemporary challenges and future directions
• Gauthier De Beco, Monitoring corruption from a human rights perspective
• Noam Schimmel, An invisible genocide: how the Western media failed to report the 1994 Rwandan genocide of the Tutsi and why
• Mohammed Abu-Nimer & Ayse Kadayifci, Human rights and building peace: the case of Pakistani madrasas
• Lieselotte Viaene, Dealing with the legacy of gross human rights violations in Guatemala: grasping the mismatch between macro level policies and micro level processes

New Issue: Revista de Derecho Económico Internacional

The latest issue of the Revista de Derecho Económico Internacional (Vol. 1, no. 2, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Artículos académicos
• José Luis Cárdenas Tomazic, El uso de la información no divulgada y el linkage en el TLC con EE.UU.: ¿A qué realmente se obligó el Estado de Chile y cómo ha cumplido?
• Luciane Klein Vieira, Las licencias obligatorias para las patentes de medicamentos: la experiencia brasileña
• Artículos profesionales
• Raymundo Valdés, El Mecanismo de Examen de las Políticas Comerciales y la vigilancia multilateral

Tesón: The Morality of Targeted Killing

Fernando R. Tesón (Florida State Univ. - Law) has posted The Morality of Targeted Killing (in Using Targeted Killing to Fight the War on Terror, Andrew Altman, Claire Finklestein, & Jens Ohlin eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

On May 2, 2011, a special unit of the U.S. Navy killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan. Many (this writer included) rejoiced at this development and felt that justice had been served. The deliberate killing of another human being is a deeply immoral act. Targeted killings are deliberate killings, so any discussion must start with a strong moral presumption against those acts. However, the prohibition has some exceptions: killing in war, self-defense, and law enforcement of various kinds. However, emotion is no substitute for dispassionate moral analysis. In this paper I examine the morality of targeted killings in general. I address the killing of Bin Laden, but my discussion goes beyond that: it probes the morality of all targeted killings by liberal governments. It applies to targeted killings by the United States as well as other liberal regimes, and it explores the justification of the practice in wartime and in peacetime. Given that the United States and Israel have announced that they will continue to kill named targets, and given that not all contemplated targets are as villainous or dangerous as Bin Laden, a moral evaluation of the practice is especially required.

New Issue: World Arbitration and Mediation Review

The latest issue of the World Arbitration and Mediation Review (Vol. 5, no. 1, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Manuel A. Abdala, Pablo D. López Zadicoff & Pablo T. Spiller, Invalid Round Trips in Setting Pre‐Judgment Interest in International Arbitration
• Angeline Welsh, The Law Applicable to the Award of Interest: A Roadmap Through the Maze
• Linda A. Ahee, Leonardo Giacchino & Richard E. Walck, Historical Analysis of ICSID Concluded Cases
• John Burritt McArthur, Growing Pains: Building American Arbitration’s Legitimacy Through Everyday Arbitral Decisions
• Efrén C. Olivares, Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in Mexico: An Update

Workshop: Lauterpacht and Beyond: Jewish/German Authorship and the History of International Law

On Monday, September 12, 2011, a Rechtskulturen workshop on "Lauterpacht and Beyond: Jewish/German Authorship and the History of International Law," will take place at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Faculty of Law. The program is here. Here's the idea:

The one-day conference will discuss the contribution of the German-Jewish legal tradition and its protagonists to the development of international law in the 20th century. Speakers and discussants will examine the life and work of eminent legal scholars, with a particular focus on the biography and scholarly work of Hersch Lauterpacht (1897-1960).

The workshop also marks the re-publication of an outstanding book – arguably the most important English-language book on international law in the 20th century: Hersch Lauterpacht’s "The Function of Law in the International Community," published in 1933 and now re-printed with a new introduction by Martti Koskenniemi. Conference participants will be invited to explore and discuss what this classic of international law (and legal thought in general) has to say to us today.

New Issue: Revista Española de Derecho Internacional

The latest issue of the Revista Española de Derecho Internacional (Vol. 62, no. 2, 2010) is out. Contents include:

• Estudios
• María Esther Barbé Izuel, Multilateralismo: adaptación a un mundo con potencias emergentes
• Cristina González Beilfuss, El traslado lícito de menores: las denominadas relocation disputes
• Adela Rey Aneiros, Hacia un nuevo marco jurídico internacional de la pesca en alta mar: la NAFO en esta encrucijada
• Paloma García Picazo, Perspectivas sobre el hecho religioso en el sistema mundial contemporáneo
• Notas
• Nerea Magallón Elósegui, La DGRN ante la jurisprudencia europea en materia de nombres y apellidos