Seminar: The Universal Periodic Review Process and the Treaty Bodies: Constructive Cooperation or Deepening Divisions?

On November 25, 2011, the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights will host a seminar on "The Universal Periodic Review Process and the Treaty Bodies: Constructive Cooperation or Deepening Divisions?" The final program is not yet available. Here's the idea:

The Universal Periodic Review Process and the Treaty Bodies:

Constructive Cooperation or Deepening Divisions?

Date: November 25, 2011

Location: Stay Okay, Maasboulevard 101, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Sponsors: Universiteitsfonds Limburg / SWOL - Maastricht Centre for Human Rights - Faculty of Law, Maastricht University

The Maastricht Centre for Human Rights is organizing a seminar which will take place on November 25, 2011 in Maastricht. Human rights practitioners, scholars and students are all welcome to participate in this one-day seminar concerning human rights monitoring in the Universal Periodic Review and by Treaty Bodies.

The United Nations human rights system has undergone substantial changes in the past six years. With the emergence of the UN Human Rights Council and the implementation of the Universal Periodic Review process, new intergovernmental initiatives and a peer-based supervisory mechanism have been introduced into the UN human rights system. Until the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council and the creation of the Universal Periodic Review mechanism (UPR), monitoring within the UN human rights system consisted primarily of monitoring by Treaty Bodies on the basis of periodic state reports. The first four-year cycle of the UPR will be concluded at the end of 2011. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has also announced a process to reform the Treaty Bodies. Therefore this is a good moment to assess the experiences and results of the UPR’s first cycle and the proposed reforms to the Treaty bodies.

This seminar seeks to assess the contributions of the UPR in relation to the monitoring of state human rights obligations by Treaty Bodies. In addition, this seminar aims to evaluate the contribution of the UPR in the broader context of the functioning of international peer-based supervisory mechanisms, including the OECD, IMF, Council of Europe, ILO, EU, WTO and the African Peer Review mechanism. Experiences within the other international peer review mechanisms, in place at the international level for decades, could be instructive in an analysis of the UPR process and in proposing ways to strengthen or improve its interaction and collaboration with the Treaty Bodies.

Confirmed speakers and participants:

Michael O’ Flaherty, Professor of Applied Human Rights and Co-Director of the Human Rights Law Centre, University of Nottingham, and member of the UN Human Rights Committee.

Cees Flinterman, Honorary Professor of Human Rights at Maastricht University and the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), and member of the UN Human Rights Committee.

Andrew Clapham, Professor of Public International Law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies.

Marianne Lilliebjerg, Interim Programme Director International Advocacy, Amnesty International.

Thomas Conzelmann, Associate Professor for International Relations and EU External Relations at Maastricht University.

John Morijn, Senior legal adviser, Department of Constitutional Affairs and Legislation at the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, and Assistant Professor of human rights law at Groningen University

The final program and registration information for this seminar will be available on the website of the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights.

Programa "García Pelayo" Seminario de investigadores

Here's the schedule for the García Pelayo seminars that will take place at the Centro de Estudios Politicos y Constitucionales in Madrid from September 2011 through January 2012:

• September 13, 2011: Robert Schütze (Durham Univ.), Executive federalism in the EU
• September 20, 2011: Anastassia V. Obydenkova (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Rethinking the Nature and Impact of External Factors on Democratization
• September 27, 2011: Luis I. Gordillo (Universidad de Deusto), Las relaciones entre ordenamientos de naturaleza constitucional
• October 4, 2011: Francisco Hereros, tba
• October 18, 2011: Nikolaos Lavranos (Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs), Member States' BITs Lost in Transition?
• October 25, 2011: Hector Cebolla (Universidad de La Sorbona), tba
• November15, 2011: Josep Mª Castellà Andreu (Universitat de Barcelona), Estado autonómico y democracia. Los derechos de participación en los Estatutos de autonomía
• November 22, 2011: Sergi Pardos-Prado, Beyond Radical Right. On Where and Why Immigration Structures Electoral Competition
• November 29, 2011: Aida Torres Pérez (Universitat Pompeu Fabra de Barcelona), Judicial dialogue on fundamental rights in the EU
• December 13, 2011: Ana Ruiz Legazpi (Universidad de Valladolid), Los límites constitucionales a la expulsión de extranjeros: el caso de los menores
• December 20, 2011: Nacho Lago, tba
• January 10, 2012: Filippo Fontanelli (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa), Santi Romano and L’ordinamento giuridico: The Relevance of a Forgotten Masterpiece for Contemporary International, Transnational and Global Legal Relations
• January 17, 2012: Roberto Castaldi, (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa; Centre for Studies on Federalism, Turin), Towards a federal democracy in Europe?
• January 24, 2012: Maria Caterina La Barbera (CEPC), Spanish Citizenship
• January 31, 2012: Luis de la Calle, The Logic of Concession-Making: An Empirical Analysis of Political Decentralization in Western Europe

Vabulas: What is a Seat on the ECOSOC NGO Committee Worth? Exploring the State Motivations and Benefits of Granting UN Access to NGOs

Felicity Anne Vabulas (Univ. of Chicago) has posted What is a Seat on the ECOSOC NGO Committee Worth? Exploring the State Motivations and Benefits of Granting UN Access to NGOs. Here's the abstract:

The hallways of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) are no longer just occupied by state delegations, but instead, a majority of IGOs in existence today grant access or participatory rights to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) too. Many NGOs can therefore attend IGO conferences, participate in day-to-day IGO working groups, implement the projects sponsored by IGOs, push items onto the agendas of IGO meetings, and provide background research for contentious topics. Existing explanations privilege the idea that NGOs help IGOs accommodate a growing democratic deficit or the legitimacy of the IGO, ignoring states as the central actors in international politics. But why would states want to bring NGOs into the already complex coordination problems that exist within IGOs? I argue that states primarily employ NGOs to help monitor and enforce their own positions in international politics. This chapter looks specifically at one IGO - the UN ECOSOC - to test this theory. I analyze the rotating 19 member ECOSOC NGO committee which helps to eliminate some of the predominant research challenges in IGO-NGO research. I show that (1) when a state is represented in the ECOSOC NGO committee, they are more likely to grant access to NGOs whose preferences align with the state’s and (2) the more pro-US the ECOSOC NGO committee, the more likely it is that pro-US NGOs are granted access. These relationships emphasize that state-level motivations and benefits are at the heart of explaining IGO-NGO access.

Mélanges en l’honneur de / Essays in Honour of Christos L. Rozakis

La Convention européenne des droits de l’homme, un instrument vivant / The European Convention on Human Rights, a living instrument : Mélanges en l’honneur de / Essays in Honour of Christos L. Rozakis (Bruylant 2011), edited by Dean Spielmann (Judge, European Court of Human Rights), Marialena Tsirli (European Court of Human Rights), & Panayotis Voyatzis (European Court of Human Rights), is accepting subscriptions through October 10 (those interested should contact the publisher). The volume is scheduled for publication in November. Contents include:

• Dean Spielmann, Marialena Tsirli & Panayotis Voyatzis, Préface. Hommage au juge Christos L. Rozakis
• Jean-Paul Costa, Allocution pour le départ du juge Christos L. Rozakis
• Nicos C. Alivizatos, In Search of Legitimacy. A Retrospection of the Constitutional History of the Greek Monarchy
• Ireneu Cabral Barreto, Un bref regard sur le passé et un espoir pour l’avenir, La Commission, l’ancienne Cour et la nouvelle Cour
• Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade, The Expansion of the Material Content of Jus Cogens: The Contribution of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
• Olga Chernishova & Nina Vajić, The Court’s evolving response to the States’ failure to cooperate
• Vassilis Chirdaris, The limits of interpretation of the Strasbourg Court and the principle of non-regression
• Jean-Paul Costa & Michael O’Boyle, The European Court of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law
• P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, Vers la reconnaissance d’un droit d’accès aux informations détenues par les autorités
• Haritini Dipla, The contribution of the European Court of Human Rights to the absolute ban of torture. The practice of diplomatic assurances
• Nikos Frangakis, A State’s exceptional economic measures under the European Convention on Human Rights – The Case of the “Greek Memorandum”
• Erik Fribergh, The future of the Court after Interlaken
• Khanlar Hajiyev, The evolution of positive obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights – by the European Court of Human Rights
• Sverre Erik Jebens, Illegally obtained evidence in criminal cases. An Analysis on the Basis of Three Grand Chamber Judgments
• Danutė Jočienė, Administrative justice in Lithuania: some aspects from the perspectives of the European Convention on Human Rights
• Lucy Kiousopoulou, La dimension écologique de la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme et les limites du contrôle juridictionnel
• Anatoli Kovler, Le message des Grecs (aux sources anthropologiques de la Convention européenne)
• Yannis Ktistakis, The protection of forum internum under article 9 of the ECHR
• George Letsas, Judge Rozakis’s Separate Opinions and the Strasbourg Dilemma
• Petros Liacouras, Protecting Minority Members in Greece: The View from Strasbourg
• Loukis Loucaides, A judge with a progressive mind
• Giorgio Malinverni, La compétence de la Cour pour surveiller l’exécution de ses propres arrêts
• Virginia Mantouvalou, Work and the European Convention on Human Rights: A dynamic Relationship in Need of Justification
• Paul Martens, Mémoires d’un juge ad hoc
• Egbert Myjer, One Salduz a Year is enough. 20 Associative Thoughts on Judge Rozakis, Judicial Activism and the Salduz Judgment
• George Nicolaou, The Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on Special Advocates
• Petros J. Pararas, La réticence européenne au regard des discriminations positives
• Dragoljub Popović, The Role of Precedent in the Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights
• Guido Raimondi, Union européenne et Convention européenne des droits de l’homme après Lisbonne
• Emmanuel Roucounas, Dissenting Opinions in the European Court of Human Rights
• Linos-Alexander Sicilianos, The Individual as a Catalyst for Change in International Law: Interactions between General International Law and Human Rights
• Vassilios Skouris, First thoughts on the forthcoming accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights
• Dean Spielmann & Leto Cariolou, The Right to Protection of Reputation under the European Convention on Human Rights
• Elisabeth Steiner, Some reflections on the process which led to the preparation of the European Convention on Human Rights
• Christian Tomuschat, Reparation Orders by International Human Rights Bodies – Financial Compensation or Restitutio in Integrum?
• Stavros Tsakyrakis, Is there a General Right of Non-Disclosure?
• Marialena Tsirli, Terre, Air, Mer : jusqu’où s’étend la juridiction des Etats dans le système de la Convention ? Quelques réflexions sur la compétence territoriale de la Cour
• Françoise Tulkens & Sébastien Van Drooghenbroeck, De l’ancienne Commission à la nouvelle Cour. Une continuité assurée, un héritage bienvenu
• Panayotis Voyatzis, Les effets des arrêts de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme dans le temps juridique. Les cas du revirement de jurisprudence et de la violation potentielle
• Ineta Ziemele, Other rules of international law and the European Court of Human Rights: a question of a simple collateral benefit?

Alter: International Enforcement Courts

Karen J. Alter (Northwestern Univ. - Political Science) has posted International Enforcement Courts. Here's the abstract:

International enforcement courts are explicitly empowered to rule on state compliance with international law. Part I identifies the universe of permanent international courts (ICs) with delegated enforcement roles and it explains why states are increasingly consenting to robust compulsory international judicial review of state compliance. Part II focuses on enforcement courts as they influence state behavior and international politics. Examining four detailed case studies, I explain the mobilization and influence of ICs over time. The cases are intentionally diverse, including WTO review of the United States Foreign Sales Corporation policy, a challenge to a Peruvian decree designed to circumvent Andean prohibitions against second use patents, the ECOWAS court’s finding that Niger failed to protect a former slave, and the indictment and subsequent arrest the President of Liberia for war crimes committed in a neighboring state. I argue that across courts, cases and subject matter, ICs influence political outcomes by providing sources of leverage that domestic and international interlocutors use to tip the political balance in favor of those actors who prefer law compliance, for whatever reason. Overall, the book will have approximately eighteen cases, showing a variety of ways that ICs tip the political balance in international and domestic politics.

New Issue: Journal of World Intellectual Property

The latest issue of the Journal of World Intellectual Property (Vol. 14, no. 5, September 2011) is out. Contents include:

• May T. Yeung & William A. Kerr, Are Geographical Indications a Wise Strategy for Developing Country Farmers? Greenfields, Clawbacks and Monopoly Rents
• Rashid Nikzad, Survival Analysis of Patents in Canada
• Morten W. Tvedt & Ole K. Fauchald, Implementing the Nagoya Protocol on ABS: A Hypothetical Case Study on Enforcing Benefit Sharing in Norway

Job Opening: Duke University School of Law and Kenan Institute for Ethics

Duke University’s School of Law and Kenan Institute for Ethics have initiated a search for a joint faculty hire (clinical professor or professor of the practice, open with regard to tenure status and rank) in the field of international human rights law, policy, and institutions. Here's the announcement:

Search for joint faculty hire in international human rights law and institutions

Duke University’s Law School and Kenan Institute for Ethics (KIE) seek to jointly appoint a clinical professor or professor of the practice (open with regard to tenure status and rank) in the field of international human rights law, policy, and institutions beginning in the Fall 2012. The position advances the University’s increasing global presence and emphasis on interdisciplinary scholarship. The person appointed to the position will be expected to engage in teaching, research, and outreach relating to international human rights law, ethics, and policy.

The appointment offers a unique opportunity to develop curricular offerings in law, policy and ethics, and to contribute to interdisciplinary scholarship in the context of a university that has deep faculty, student and institutional engagement in human rights and international law. The precise contours of the position, including resources and institutional support, will be tailored to the strengths and interests of the successful applicant. In addition to a strong record of, or demonstrated potential for, clinical teaching, scholarship, and practical engagement in international human rights law and policy, the ideal candidate will have experience developing effective programs that leverage existing resources and integrate trans-university programs.

Teaching obligations will include developing and supervising international experiential education opportunities for Duke Law students and teaching in KIE’s Ethics Certificate and Program on Civic and Global Ethics. The position may also involve developing curricular offerings that blend professional students and undergraduates in vertically integrated teams. The courses offered may include an international human rights clinic, one or more carefully structured externship courses, as well as one or more doctrinal courses that could either be integrated with the clinic and externship courses or be independent of them. It is expected that the faculty member will be responsible for teaching in both the Law and KIE programs and that the courses will, to the greatest extent possible, be open to students in both units of the university.

Research and outreach activities will operate at the intersection of legal scholarship and liberal arts education and may include scholarship that captures pedagogy relating to practice. We seek a faculty member who will critically examine topics such as expansive and limited conceptions of rights and who will engage proponents and critics of competing governance regimes. Research outputs may include some or all of the following: books, articles, policy papers and reports, institutional consultations, conferences, and training for government officials, NGOs, and scholars.

Duke University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Persons of color and women are encouraged to apply.

* * * * * * *

Send a cover letter describing your interest in the position as well as an up-to-date curriculum vitae to:

Professor Laurence R. Helfer

Chair, Lateral Appointments Committee

Duke University School of Law

Box 90360

Science Drive & Towerview Rd.

Durham, NC 27707

U.S.A.

Applicants are encouraged to submit their materials via email to Erin Daniel at daniel@law.duke.edu.

All applications must be received no later than midnight on Monday October 31, 2011.

New Issue: Global Policy

The latest issue of Global Policy (Vol. 2, Supp. no. 1, September 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: Global Energy Governance
• Ann Florini & Navroz K. Dubash, Introduction to the Special Issue: Governing Energy in a Fragmented World
• Navroz K. Dubash & Ann Florini, Mapping Global Energy Governance
• Thijs Van de Graaf and Kirsten Westphal, The G8 and G20 as Global Steering Committees for Energy: Opportunities and Constraints
• Andreas Goldthau & Jan Martin Witte, Assessing OPEC’s Performance in Global Energy
• Ann Florini, The International Energy Agency in Global Energy Governance
• Bo Kong, Governing China’s Energy in the Context of Global Governance
• Navroz K. Dubash, From Norm Taker to Norm Maker? Indian Energy Governance in Global Context
• Antonio G.M. La Viña, Joanne C. Dulce & Naderev Saño, National and Global Energy Governance: Issues, Linkages and Challenges in the Philippines
• Peter Newell, The Governance of Energy Finance: The Public, the Private and the Hybrid
• Arunabha Ghosh, Seeking Coherence in Complexity? The Governance of Energy by Trade and Investment Institutions
• Smita Nakhooda, Asia, the Multilateral Development Banks and Energy Governance
• Christopher Wright, Export Credit Agencies and Global Energy: Promoting National Exports in a Changing World
• Ann Florini & Saleena Saleem, Information Disclosure in Global Energy Governance

New Issue: Columbia Journal of Transnational Law

The latest issue of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law (Vol. 49, no. 3, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Beth Van Schaack, Negotiating at the Interface of Power and Law: The Crime of Aggression
• Cinnamon P. Carlarne, Arctic Dreams and Geoengineering Wishes: The Collateral Damage of Climate Change
• Barnali Choudhury, Exception Provisions as a Gateway to Incorporating Human Rights Issues into International Investment Agreements

Conference: International Law Weekend - Midwest

Later this week, on September 9, the American Branch of the International Law Association will hold its 2011 International Law Weekend - Midwest at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. The theme is "International Law in Crisis." The program is here.

Harvard International Law Workshop for Fall 2011

Here's the schedule for Harvard Law School's International Law Workshop for Fall 2011:

• September 21, 2011: Christof Heyns (Univ. of Pretoria - Law), Minimum Standards for Regional Human Rights Systems"
• September 30, 2011: Beth Stephens (Rutgers Univ., Camden - Law), The Modern Common Law of Foreign Official Immunity
• October 5, 2011: Samuel Moyn (Columbia Univ. - History), From Anti-war Politics to Anti-torture Politics
• October 12, 2011: Martha Minow (Harvard Univ. - Law), tba
• October 19, 2011: Marty Flaherty (Fordham Univ. - Law), Restoring Separation of Powers, and Individual Rights, in Foreign Relations
• October 26, 2011: Hurst Hannum (Tufts Univ. - Fletcher School), Back to the Future: New Strategies for Human Rights Protection
• November 2, 2011: Anthea Roberts (London School of Economics - Law), Choice of Analogies: Rethinking the Nature of the Investment Treaty System
• November 11, 2011: David Luban (Georgetown Univ. - Law), tba
• November 16, 2011: Katerina Linos (Univ. of California, Berkeley - Law), Legislative Borrowing
• November 30, 2011: Naz Modirzadeh (Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research), Folk UHL: 9/11 Lawyering and the Transformation of LOAC to Human Rights and Human Rights to War Governance

New Issue: Journal of African and International Law

The latest issue of the Journal of African and International Law (Vol. 4, no. 2, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Radwa S. Elsaman & Ahmed A. Alshorbagy,Doing Business in Egypt After the January Revolution: Capital Market and Investment Laws
• Amos O. Enabulele, Prohibition of the Use of Force, the Rising Activities of Militias and the Dilemma of the ICJ: Are Articles 2(4) and 51 of the United Nations Charter in Need of Reconsideration?
• Gbadebo A. Olagunju, Piracy Jure Gentium: Re-Surgence of the Old Problem as a New Challenge in International Maritime Law
• Patrick C.R. Terry, International Law Strikes Back or Suez 1956 - A Forerunner of the Iraq Fiasco in 2003
• Edson P. Rwechungura, Financial Markets Regulation and Protection of the Economy in Africa: the Case of Tanzania
• Michael Kabai, Rights and Duties of the Republic of South Africa under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in Relation to Its Continental Shelf
• Chacha Bhoke, The Right to Bail For Individuals Charged With International Crimes before the International Criminal Court and Tribunals

New Issue: African Journal of International and Comparative Law

The latest issue of the African Journal of International and Comparative Law (Vol. 19, no. 2, September 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Claus Kreß & Leonie von Holtzendorff, Le compromis de Kampala sur le crime d'aggression
• Simon M. Weldehaimanot, Arresting Al-Bashir: The African Union's Opposition and the Legalities
• Christa Roodt, Conflicts of Procedure between Courts and Arbitral Tribunals with Particular Reference to the Right of Access to Court
• Gillian Moon, Double Agents, Discrimination, Duress and Doha: A Review of Trade and Human Rights since the China – Publications and Audiovisuals Decision
• Olubayo Oluduro, Customary Arbitration in Nigeria: Development and Prospects
• Frederick Cowell, The Impact of the ECOWAS Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy

Call for Papers: Eighth International Conference of the Indian Society of International Law

The Indian Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its Eighth International Conference, to be held in New Delhi on February 23-25, 2012. The theme is "Emerging Concerns in Public International Law." Here's the call:

The objective of the Conference is to highlight and discuss the emerging legal concerns in public international law and put on record the Indian scholars' thinking/views on it. In recent years, some core principles and norms of public international law have been challenged and attempts have been made to reformulate norms and institutions to perpetuate hegemonies and other attendant evils associated therewith. The Eighth International Conference plans to reinvigorate themes that have generated lively discourses among policy and opinion makers and academicians such as (I) Intervention and International Law, (II) ICC and the Crime of Aggression, (III) Prohibition on Torture and Enforced Disappearance, and (IV) Nagoya Protocol and ABS of Genetic Resources.

Recent Book Reviews at Global Law Books

Global Law Books has recently posted the following book reviews:

• Lauterpacht, Elihu, "The Life of Hersch Lauterpacht" - Reviewer: Paz, Reut
• Van Damme, Isabelle, "Treaty Interpretation by the WTO Appellate Body" Linderfalk, Ulf, "On the Interpretation of Treaties: The Modern International Law As Expressed in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties " Kolb, Robert, "Interprétation et création du droit international. Esquisse d'une herméneutique juridique moderne pour le droit international public" Romani, Carlos Fernández de Casadevante, "Sovereignty and Interpretation of International Norms" - Reviewer: Waibel, Michael
• Yannaca-Small, Katia, "Arbitration Under International Investment Agreements: A Guide to the Key Issues" Vandevelde, Kenneth J., "Bilateral Investment Treaties. History, Policy, and Interpretation " Salacuse, Jeswald W., "The Law of Investment Treaties" Schreuer, Christoph, Malintoppi, Loretta, Reinisch, August and Sinclair, Anthomy (eds.), "The ICSID Convention. A Commentary" Perkams, Markus, "Internationale Investitionsschutzabkommen im Spannungsfeld zwischen effektivem Investitionsschutz und staatlichem Gemeinwohl" Robert-Cuendet, Sabrina, "Droits de l'investisseur étranger et protection de l'environnement. Contribution à l'analyse de l'expropriation indirecte" Voss, Jan Ole, "The Impact of Investment Treaties on Contracts between Host States and Foreign Investors" Waibel, Michael; Kaushal, Asha; Chung, Kyo-Hwa Liz and Balchin, Claire (eds.), "The Backlash against Investment Arbitration. Perceptions and Reality." Sasson, Monique, "Substantive Law in Investment Treaty Arbitration. The Unsettled Relationship between International Law and Municipal Law" - Reviewer: Schill, Stephan
• Chowdhury, Azizur Rahman and Bhuiyan, Md. Jahid Hossain (eds.), "An Introduction to International Human Rights Law" - Reviewer: Chowdhury, Tareq M R
• Leben, Charles, "The Advancement of International Law" - Reviewer: Staden, Andreas von
• Schill, Stephan, "The Multilateralization of International Investment Law" - Reviewer: Ripinsky, Sergey

Symposium: Perspectives on Genocide: The Adolf Eichmann Trail - Looking Back 50 Years Later

On September 16, 2011, Loyola Law School Los Angeles will host a symposium on "Perspectives on Genocide: The Adolf Eichmann Trial - Looking Back 50 Years Later." The program is here.

Klabbers & Wallendahl: Research Handbook on the Law of International Organizations

Jan Klabbers (Univ. of Helsinki - Law) & Åsa Wallendahl (Univ. of Helsinki) have published Research Handbook on the Law of International Organizations (Edward Elgar Publishing 2011). Contents include:

• Jan Klabbers, Contending Approaches to International Organizations: Between Functionalism and Constitutionalism
• Tarcisio Gazzini, Personality of International Organizations
• Viljam Engström, Reasoning on Powers of Organizations
• Konstantinos D. Magliveras, Membership in International Organizations
• Thordis Ingadóttir, Financing International Institutions
• August Reinisch, Privileges and Immunities
• Inger Österdahl, International Organiazations – Institutions and Organs
• Jan Wouters & Philip De Man, International Organizations as Law-makers
• Nigel D. White, Decision-making
• Kirsten Schmalenbach, Dispute Settlement
• Catherine Brölmann, International Organizations and Treaties: Contractual Freedom and Institutional Constraint
• Niels M. Blokker, Preparing Articles on Responsibility of International Organizations: Does the International Law Commission Take International Organizations Seriously? A Mid-term Review
• Ramses A. Wessel, Dissolution and Succession: The Transmigration of the Soul of International Organizations
• Enzo Cannizzaro & Paolo Palchetti, Ultra Vires Acts of International Organizations
• Jarna Petman, Deformalization of International Organizations Law
• Geir Ulfstein, Reflections on Institutional Design – Especially Treaty Bodies
• Joxerramon Bengoetxea, The EU as (More Than) an International Organization
• Sabine von Schorlemer, The United Nations

Provost & Akhavan: Confronting Genocide

René Provost (McGill Univ. - Law) & Payam Akhavan (McGill Univ. - Law) have published Confronting Genocide (Springer 2011). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

“Never again” stands as one the central pledges of the international community following the end of the Second World War, upon full realization of the massive scale of the Nazi extermination programme. Genocide stands as an intolerable assault on a sense of common humanity embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other fundamental international instruments, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the United Nations Charter. And yet, since the Second World War, the international community has proven incapable of effectively preventing the occurrence of more genocides in places like Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sudan. Is genocide actually preventable, or is “ever again” a more accurate catchphrase to capture the reality of this phenomenon? The essays in this volume explore the complex nature of genocide and the relative promise of various avenues identified by the international community to attempt to put a definitive end to its occurrence. Essays focus on a conceptualization of genocide as a social and political phenomenon, on the identification of key actors (Governments, international institutions, the media, civil society, individuals), and on an exploration of the relative promise of different means to prevent genocide (criminal accountability, civil disobedience, shaming, intervention).

New Issue: Revue trimestrielle des droits de l'homme

The latest issue of the Revue trimestrielle des droits de l'homme (No. 87, July 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Antoine Garapon, Les limites à l’interprétation évolutive de la Convention européenne
• Rusen Ergec, Fiscalité et droit de propriété sous l’angle de la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme
• Michel Levinet, La conciliation du droit à l’instruction de l’enfant et de l'obligation de respecter les convictions religieuses des parents à la lumière de la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme
• Azzouz Kerdoun, La place des droits économiques, sociaux et culturels dans le droit international des droits de l'homme
• Jérôme de Hemptinne, Réflexion sur l’évolution des rôles normatif et judiciaire du juge pénal international

New Issue: Die Friedens-Warte

The latest issue of Die Friedens-Warte (2011, nos. 3-4) is out. The theme is "10 Jahre Krieg gegen den Terror." Contents include:

• Patrick Rosenow, United we fight? Terrorismusbekämpfung im Rahmen der Vereinten Nationen seit dem 11. September 2001
• Mathias Bug, Sebastian Enskat, Susanne Fischer, Philipp Klüfers, Jasmin Röllgen, & Katrin Wagner, Strategien gegen die Unsicherheit. Europäische Sicherheitsmaßnahmen nach 9/11
• Noam Lubell, Nur Schall und Rauch? Die Kategorisierung von Personen im Recht des bewaffneten Konflikts
• Christian Schaller, Operation Enduring Freedom und das Recht auf Selbstverteidigung gegen Terroristen
• Aidan Hehir, Zum vermeintlichen Zusammenhang zwischen gescheiterten Staaten und globalem Terrorismus
• Daniela Schiek & Carsten G. Ullrich, „Generation 9/11“? Zur Frage der gesellschaftlichen Verarbeitung der Terroranschläge in Deutschland

Burgorgue-Larsen & Ubeda de Torres: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Case Law and Commentary

Laurence Burgorgue-Larsen (Université de Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne - Law) & Amaya Ubeda de Torres (Université de Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne - Law) have published The Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Case Law and Commentary (Oxford Univ. Press 2011). Here's the abstract:

This work offers the first systematic analysis of the case law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to be published in the English language. The book provides a comprehensive collation and commentary on the jurisprudence of the Court, situating it in the broader context of international human rights law, drawing comparisons in particular with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. It features coverage of both procedural and substantive human rights law.

Qureshi: Trade Remedies: A Development Perspective

Asif Qureshi (Univ. of Manchester - Law) has published Trade Remedies: A Development Perspective (Routledge 2011). Here's the abstract:

Under the framework of the WTO Member States are allowed to respond to three types of imports which harm or have the potential of harming a domestic industry. The imports in question are those which either involve a State subsidy, for example an export subsidy from the State where the goods are being exported from; or where goods are being imported at a price that is less than the price they are being sold at in the exporting State (practice known as dumping); or where there is a sudden surge of imports which injure the domestic industry. With respect to each of these different types of imports under the WTO a Member is entitled to avail itself of certain trade remedies namely the imposition countervailing measures with respect to subsidised goods; anti-dumping measures with respect to dumped goods; and safeguard measures with respect to the situation where there is a sudden upsurge of imports.

The apparatus and framework within which trade remedies in the WTO can be imposed by a Member are highly technical, and trade remedies historically are rooted in developed States in particular the United States and Europe. However, many developing countries have now introduced legislation enabling them to use trade remedies, and have acted under the legislation. Trade remedies are of particular significance to developing economies both in terms of their need to respond to flows of imports as well as recipients of such responses. Indeed, such is the perceived importance of trade remedies in relation to developing countries that the Doha Round of trade negotiations have stalled as a consequence of disagreement between developed and developing countries over the particular design of the Special Safeguard Mechanism in the agricultural sector. This book approaches the issues relating to trade remedies from a developing country perspective. Drawing on the practice of a number of developing and developed countries the book explores how developing countries relate to trade remedies both as users of trade remedies as well being on the receiving end of such responses to their exports. The book clarifies what the issues, problems and perspectives are, or ought to be, relating to trade remedies in terms of advancing development and the spectrum of developing countries.

Schwebel: Justice in International Law: Further Selected Writings

Stephen M. Schwebel (formerly, Judge, International Court of Justice) has published Justice in International Law: Further Selected Writings (Cambridge Univ. Press 2011). Here's the abstract:

Since 1947, Stephen M. Schwebel has written some 200 articles and book reviews on topics of international law, international arbitration and international relations. This volume brings together thirty-two of the legal articles and commentaries written since the first volume of his essays was published in 1994. The essays analyze contentious issues of international arbitration and international law such as the place of preparatory work in interpreting treaties, the role of a judge of the nationality of a party to a case sitting in judgment in the International Court of Justice, and the meaning of the term 'investment' in ICSID jurisprudence. Together with his unofficial writings, his judicial opinions are catalogued in the list of publications with which this volume concludes.

Aust: Complicity and the Law of State Responsibility

Helmut Philipp Aust (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Law) has published Complicity and the Law of State Responsibility (Cambridge Univ. Press 2011). Here's the abstract:

This systematic analysis of State complicity in international law focuses on the rules of State responsibility. Combining a theoretical perspective on complicity based on the concept of the international rule of law with a thorough analysis of international practice, Helmut Philipp Aust establishes what forms of support for wrongful conduct entail responsibility of complicit States and sheds light on the consequences of complicity in terms of reparation and implementation. Furthermore, he highlights how international law provides for varying degrees of responsibility in cases of complicity, depending on whether peremptory norms have been violated or special subject areas such as the law of collective security are involved. The book shows that the concept of State complicity is firmly grounded in international law, and that the international rule of law may serve as a conceptual paradigm for today's international legal order.

Conference: Human Rights: Old Dichotomies Revisited

Sydney Law School will host a conference on "Human Rights: Old Dichotomies Revisited," November 25-26, 2011. The program is here. Here's the idea:

The purpose of this conference will be to reflect upon the traditional, ‘classical’ dilemmas and taxonomies in the philosophy of human rights, in the light of recent developments in theories of rights and in the international law of human rights. We all have been taught, and have taught, a number of traditional dichotomies that have been entrenched in theories of human rights for a number of decades: moral versus legal, positive versus negative, first-generation versus second- (and third- ) generation; vertical (against the state) versus horizontal (against other citizens); universal versus relative (or particular); judicially-enforced versus legislatively-protected, etc. Have these dichotomies retained their validity and only the circumstances of their practical applications been altered or have they outgrown their validity altogether?

There have been important developments in the philosophy of human rights and in the international law of human rights, both of which may shed a new light on the dilemmas encapsulated by these (and other) dichotomies. As a starting point, we – the planners and organisers of this conference – believe that both disciplines have a lot to learn from each other: that the scholarship of international law should keep track of the recent philosophising on human rights and that theorists of human rights should take on board the developments in international legal instruments, in the practices of human rights and development-related international institutions and in the debates of the international human-rights community. In short, philosophies of human rights (which are usually advanced by scholars of jurisprudence) and international-law scholarship must interact with each other. This is the fundamental premise behind the conference.

The conference will, therefore, bring together the leading international and Australian scholars in jurisprudence and in international human-rights law who will be asked to reflect upon the relevance (or otherwise) of the traditional ‘dichotomies’ at the end of the first decade of the 21st Century. Each of the main themes will, ideally, be elucidated from a philosophical, political, legal and practical point of view. We will structure the conference in the following way: there will be seven main sessions, each of which will be inaugurated by a major paper, presented either from a philosophical or from an international-law perspective, with the invited commentators representing both of these disciplines

Lauterpacht Centre Friday Lunchtime Lecture Series for Michaelmas Term 2011

Here's the schedule for the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law's Michaelmas Term 2011 Friday Lunchtime Lectures:

• October 7, 2011: Christopher Greenwood (Judge, International Court of Justice), Challenges of International Litigation
• October 14, 2011: Ralph Wilde (Univ. College London), The Al-Skeini Case in the ECHR : A Landmark?
• October 21, 2011: Surya P. Subedi (Univ. of Leeds - Law; UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia), Reassessing and Redefining the Principle of Economic Sovereignty of States
• October 28, 2011: James Summers (Univ. of Lancaster - Law), tba
• November 4, 2011: André Nollkaemper (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law), Dual Attribution: Liability of the Netherlands for the Removal of Individuals from the Compound of Dutchbat
• November 11, 2011: Laurence Boisson de Chazournes (Univ. of Geneva - Law), International Organizations and Sanction and Accountability Mechanisms: Trends and Prospects
• November 14, 2011: Fred H. Cate (Indiana Univ. - Law), Snyder Lecture: The Growing Importance (and Irrelevance) of International Data Protection Law?
• November 18, 2011: Catherine Redgewell (Univ. College London), tba
• November 25, 2011: Michael Carrel (ICRC/BRC CIHL Update Project; Lauterpacht Centre), The Customary International Humanitarian Law Project: Working to Protect the Victims of Armed Conflict
• December 2, 2011: International Law: The Year in Review (Panel Discussion)

Conference: International Law Weekend 2011

The American Branch of the International Law Association and the International Law Students Association will host International Law Weekend 2011, October 20-22, 2011, in New York City. The conference theme is "International Law and National Politics." The schedule of events is available here.