New Issue: International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law

The latest issue of the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law (Vol. 26, no. 4, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Robin Churchill, Dispute Settlement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: Survey for 2010
• Duncan French, From the Depths: Rich Pickings of Principles of Sustainable Development and General International Law on the Ocean Floor—the Seabed Disputes Chamber's 2011 Advisory Opinion
• Tony George Puthucherril, Operationalising Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Adapting to Sea Level Rise through Coastal Law: Where Does India Stand?
• Henrik Ringbom, Global Problem—Regional Solution? International Law Reflections on an EU CO2 Emissions Trading Scheme for Ships
• J. Rodney Allen, The United States' Application of Precaution in Managing Living Marine Resources
• Irini Papanicolopulu, Mauritius/United Kingdom
• Carmino Massarella, UN Security Council

New Issue: Nordic Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Nordic Journal of International Law (Vol. 80, no. 4, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Ole W. Pedersen, The Janus-Head of Human Rights and Climate Change: Adaptation and Mitigation
• Ólafur Ísberg Hannesson, The Status of Non-Implemented EEA Law in Iceland: Lessons from the Judicial Reactions of the Supreme Court to International Law
• Yoshifumi Tanaka, Reflections on Arctic Maritime Delimitations: A Comparative Analysis between the Case Law and State Practice
• M. Monirul Azam, Climate Change Resilience and Technology Transfer: The Role of Intellectual Property
• Skúli Magnússon, Judicial Homogeneity in the European Economic Area and the Authority of the EFTA Court. Some Remarks on an Article by Halvard Haukeland Fredriksen

New Issue: Fordham International Law Journal

The latest issue of the Fordham International Law Journal (Vol. 34, no. 6, June 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Rahim Moloo & Alex Khachaturian, The Compliance with the Law Requirement in International Investment Law

Spijkers: The United Nations, the Evolution of Global Values and International Law

Otto Spijkers has published The United Nations, the Evolution of Global Values and International Law (Intersentia 2011). Here's the abstract:

In this book, Otto Spijkers describes how moral values have determined the founding of the United Nations Organization in 1945 and the evolution of its purposes, principles and policies since then. A detailed examination of the proceedings of the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco demonstrates that the drafting of the United Nations Charter was significantly influenced by global moral values, i.e. globally shared beliefs distinguishing right from wrong, good from bad, and the current from a preferable state-of-the-world. A common desire to eradicate war, poverty, inhuman treatment, and to halt the exploitation of peoples, has led to an affirmation of the values of peace and security, social progress and development, human dignity and the self-determination of all peoples. All these values ended up in the UN Charter. The book further analyzes how the United Nations, and especially its General Assembly, has continued to influence the maturing of global morality through contributions to the values-debate, and to the translation of these values into the language of international law, including the law on the use of force, sustainable development, human rights and the right to self-determination.

Mansour: La mise en œuvre des arrêts et sentences des juridictions internationales

Affef Ben Mansour has published La mise en œuvre des arrêts et sentences des juridictions internationales (Larcier 2011). Here's the abstract:

Lorsqu’un arrêt ou une sentence internationale est rendu, la partie qui a eu gain de cause contre un État peut se trouver face à trois situations : un État qui refuse de se conformer à la décision du juge ou de l’arbitre ; un État qui met de la mauvaise volonté à le faire ; et, enfin, dans le meilleur des cas et le plus souvent, un État qui prend ou essaie de prendre toutes les mesures nécessaires pour respecter la décision rendue à son encontre.

Si les deux premières hypothèses ont été largement examinées par la doctrine, à la recherche des moyens dont dispose la partie au différend ayant au gain de cause devant le juge ou l’arbitre, pour amener ou forcer l’autre État partie à exécuter la décision rendue, la dernière hypothèse restait jusque-là peu ou complètement inexplorée.

L’objet de cette recherche s’inscrit ainsi dans une optique de complémentarité par rapport à celles déjà menées sur l’exécution des arrêts des juridictions internationales, et ceci, en prenant comme angle d’analyse l’État débiteur de l’obligation de mettre en œuvre la décision du juge ou de l’arbitre : quels sont les principes juridiques qui encadrent la phase post-jugement ? Quels moyens sont mis en œuvre par les États à l’échelle internationale ou interne pour se conformer à une décision de justice internationale ?

Nakagawa: International Harmonization of Economic Regulation

Junji Nakagawa (Univ. of Tokyo - Institute of Social Science) has published International Harmonization of Economic Regulation (Oxford Univ. Press 2011). Here's the abstract:

With the advancing globalization of the world economy, domestic economic regulations are becoming more and more subject to efforts at international harmonization. This book presents an analysis of this worldwide phenomenon from both a legal and a politico-economic perspective by focusing on (1) the backgrounds and objectives of international harmonization, (2) the negotiating processes involved, and (3) the impact of harmonization on domestic laws and their administration. International harmonization is discussed in a wide range of cases including trade-related regulations, technical standards and food safety standards, intellectual property rights, labour standards, competition law and policy, financial regulations, and regulations concerning transnational economic crime. Drawing on a wide range of materials and applying a unified analytical framework based on theoretical as well as practical observations, the book surveys this much debated topic in a comprehensive and accessible way. It thus contributes to a better understanding of both the chances and the challenges of globalization and global governance today.

Distefano & Mavroidis: Systemic Interpretation in International and WTO Law: The Glue of the International Legal Order

Giovanni Distefano (Univ. of Neuchatel - Law) & Petros C. Mavroidis (Columbia Univ. - Law) have posted Systemic Interpretation in International and WTO Law: The Glue of the International Legal Order (in Pour un Droit Equitable, Engage et Chalereux, Melanges en L'Honneur de Pierre Wessner, O. Guillod & Ch. Müller eds., 2011). Here's the abstract:

The authors endeavour to emphasis the paramount role of systemic interpretation, provided for and codified in Article 31 (3) c) of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, in the light of both general international and WTO Law. This short essay ultimately leads to the confirmation that this hermeneutics method accrues by all means to the cementation of the international legal order. Note: Downloadable document is in French.

Milanovic et al.: What the Kosovo Advisory Opinion Means for the Rest of the World

Marko Milanovic (Univ. of Nottingham - Law), Ralph Wilde (Univ. College London - Law), Anne Peters (Univ. of Basel - Law), & Qerim Qerimi (Prishtina and Harvard) have posted What the Kosovo Advisory Opinion Means for the Rest of the World (ASIL Proceedings, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

A panel debate at the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law discussed the implications of the ICJ's Kosovo advisory opinion. The panel was chaired by Ralph Wilde (UCL), and included Anne Peters (Basel), Qerim Qerimi (Prishtina and Harvard), and Marko Milanovic (Nottingham). The panelists considered issues such as the Court's jurisdiction, the framing of the question posed to the Court, implications on the litigation strategy of the parties, as well as broader matters such as statehood and self-determination. These are the uncorrected proofs of the discussion as it will appear in ASIL Proceedings, which include the remarks of all of the named contributors.

New Issue: Revue de Droit International et de Droit Comparé

The latest issue of the Revue de Droit International et de Droit Comparé (Vol. 88, no. 3, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• R. Boukhari, La filiation en droit international privé tunisien
• Irénée-Gildas Mazi, Quelques observations sur la définition des déclarations interprétatives et leurs liens avec les Conventions de Vienne sur le droit des traités
• Eva Fischer-Achoura, Une contribution à l'utilisation harmonieuse des instruments internationaux relatifs aux confits de lois: la comparaison de mécanismes peu ou pas déterminés par les textes en droit international privé français et allemand

Strong: What Constitutes an 'Agreement in Writing' in International Commercial Arbitration?

S.I. Strong (Univ. of Missouri - Law) has posted What Constitutes an 'Agreement in Writing' in International Commercial Arbitration? Conflicts between the New York Convention and the Federal Arbitration Act (Stanford Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This Article investigates whether and to what extent a party must produce an “agreement in writing” when seeking to enforce an international arbitration agreement or award in a U.S. federal court. This issue has recently given rise to both a circuit split and a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court, and involves matters of formal validity as well as federal subject matter jurisdiction. The problem arises out of subtle differences in the way an “agreement in writing” is defined in the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and the 1958 United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention).

This is not just a U.S. problem, however. Questions relating to form requirements under the New York Convention have also been much discussed at the international level, with UNCITRAL recently issuing a formal recommendation on how to deal with the problem.

This Article describes the scope of the current problems associated with form requirements, including how inconsistencies in domestic practice affect international commercial arbitration and global trade. After discussing the difficulties in both the U.S. and the international sphere, the Article makes a number of suggestions for legislative and judicial reform. This is the first article to discuss the circuit split and associated issues in the context of the FAA and to take a serious comparative look at the implementation of the UNCITRAL recommendation at the international level.

Call for Papers: 5th ESIL Biennial Conference

The European Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its 5th Biennial Conference, to be held in Valencia, September 13-15, 2012. The conference theme is "Regionalism and International Law." Here's the call:

CALL FOR PAPERS

5TH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF THE EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
VALENCIA, 13 - 15 SEPTEMBER 2012

Regionalism and International Law

The 5th Biennial Conference of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) will take place in Valencia, Spain, organised in association with the University of Valencia and the Centro de Estudios de Derecho y Relaciones Internacionales (CEDRI). The overarching theme of the conference is "Regionalism and International Law".

The programme consists of two plenary sessions, eight fora and eight agorae. Speakers have been invited for the plenary sessions and the fora, and agora speakers will be selected on the basis of abstracts submitted in response to this call for papers.

A preliminary programme of the conference can be found at www.uv.es/esil2012, that will be launched in November.

The purpose of the agorae is to share cutting-edge research in specific areas of international law, to stimulate debate, and to foster contacts among participants. Papers may focus on any aspect of the branch of international law being discussed in an agora, as long as there is a connection with the conference theme and the agora description. At the time of presentation, papers should be unpublished, in an advanced stage of completion, and ready to be included in the conference proceedings. The general conference theme and the themes of the eight agorae are described below.

The working languages of the conference are English and French. Since no translation will be provided, participants should have passive understanding of both languages and active understanding of at least one of them.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Agora speakers will be selected on the basis of abstracts submitted in response to this call for papers.

Senior and junior scholars (PhD students included) are invited to participate in the agorae. Selection criteria are: scientific quality and originality of the work, links to the conference and agora themes, and geographical representation of the speakers. Only one abstract per author will be considered.

Abstracts must be submitted online by filling out the appropriate form, available at www.uv.es/esil2012 from 10 November 2011 onwards. Abstracts must not exceed 500 words, in English or French. In addition, the following information must be provided on the form:

• The name of the agora for which the abstract is submitted;
• The context in which the research is being conducted (e.g. forthcoming book, thesis, article);
• The author’s name and institutional affiliation;
• The author’s cv, including a list of relevant publications;
• The author’s contact details, including email address and phone number;
• The proposed language to be used (French or English);
• Whether the author’s participation is conditional upon receipt of a bursary, and if so, a letter of request and, for PhD students, a letter of recommendation from their supervisor.

TIMELINE

• Publication of the Call for Papers is 19 October 2011
• Submissions of abstracts will begin on 10 November 2011
• The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 20 January 2012
• Successful applicants will be informed by 23 March 2012
• The deadline for the submission of the papers of accepted abstracts is 1 August 2012
• The conference begins on Thursday 13 September 2012 at 12.30 and ends on Saturday 15 September 2012 at 18.30 pm
• The deadline for the submission of the final paper, to be included in the conference proceedings, is 5 October 2012

FINANCES

Agora speakers will be exempted from the conference fee, provided they are ESIL members. The organisation does not cover expenses for travelling and accommodation.

A limited number of bursaries will be available to cover agora speakers’ accommodation costs and to make a contribution towards their travelling expenses. Priority will be given to graduate students of European universities who are unable to obtain support by other means and to scholars from other universities for whom financial support is a sine qua non for participation. A special bursary programme in Valencia will be open to applicants from universities around the Mediterranean basin thanks to the Casa Mediterráneo.

CONFERENCE THEME

Regionalism and International Law

For better or for worse, Europe has historically been the centre of the world from the modern era onwards, creating different peripheries that were required to adopt European faiths, social organisation and legal systems. The influence of Europe in the other continents is an historical fact that deserves to be revisited from a legal point of view. So too, ‘feedback’ from the other regions about Europe and its approach to international law, if there is any, needs to be examined. Spain —again, for better or for worse— has had an influence on these regional perspectives. This is one of the reasons why regionalism was chosen as the theme of the Biennial Conference in Valencia. Another reason is that regionalism, from a legal perspective, revisits one of the leitmotifs of ESIL, i.e. the unity and fragmentation of current international law. We have already discussed this from a specialisation perspective, from a purely theoretical perspective and from a judicial perspective. A regional perspective will now be added to ESIL’s research acquis.

AGORA THEMES

The themes selected for the agorae in 2012 are:

1) International Law Making

The concept of ‘region’ may suggest different, if not contrasting, points of view in relation to international law in general or more particularly to some specific areas of its rules. Indeed, today we find regional challenges to some rules that are vested with ‘sacred cogent quality’. Could this go against the unity of international law? Some other rules are simply regional or specific. How do they impact on a universal legal order? Is there a regional jus cogens? How might regional international courts and tribunals impact on the unity of international law?

2) The internal dimension of self-determination

This agora will provide an opportunity to discuss legal issues regarding the relation between self-determination and democracy, and between self-determination and human rights. We will also focus on the legal questions arising from revolutionary processes in certain Arab countries and how international rules on the succession of states in respect of treaties can be applied. Legal questions in relation to non-international armed conflicts and the application of the "Responsibility to Protect" doctrine will also be addressed. Last but not least, this agora will allow room for discussion on the role of international law in domestic constituent processes.

3) Frozen regions: the Arctic and the Antarctica in the new Millennium

In recent years, globalisation has increasingly affected polar regions, once considered remote and isolated areas of the globe. With the Arctic and the Antarctic becoming more exposed to the activities of global industrial players and transnational commercial interests, several complex issue-areas for international law regulation have arisen. The most acute issues include: bioprospecting of genetic resources in the Arctic and the Antarctic; illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; increased possibility of maritime navigation in polar waters, especially in the Arctic, drawing attention to issues ranging from the safety of navigation to the introduction of alien, potentially invasive, species by vectors such as ballast water and ship fouling; the status and prospects for seabed mineral resources in the Arctic and the Antarctic; the regulation of increased human activities, such as tourism in polar regions.

4) Development and international economic law

Development has been a major concern of international economic law ever since the 1949 Havana Charter and the 1974 New International Economic Order. Currently, this issue is the focus of the WTO Doha Round – the "Development" Round – and plays a role in the areas of sustainable development and investment law. But what does development mean today? And how might international economic law promote it? These questions are particularly pertinent when taking a regional view: do the answers look different when we focus on Asia or Africa? If so, what are the implications for global and regional governance?

5) "Lost in Translation": Migration, Culture, and Religion

Migration, Culture and Religion represent transnational engagements by individuals which have led the notion of "nation" to be divorced from the concept of "state". Whereas the nation state is thus confronted with ideas of cosmopolitanism and transnationalism, there are tendencies towards renationalization, for example in the context of migration, which is seen as a last stronghold of state sovereignty. How has international law reacted to this paradigm shift and to these expressions of a post-Westphalian notion of state? Which concepts are employed by international law to protect the individual in its transnational engagements? Dual citizenship, responsibility to protect, liberalizing the cross-border movement of persons are examples in case for migration, multiculturalism, pluralism and diversity used in the cultural and religious context. Moreover, existing sources of international law have scarcely addressed these issues, with the exception of some multilateral and bilateral treaties in the realm of migration and culture. Are theories of fragmentation and coherence sufficient to address the transnational movements which individuals generate when crossing borders of nation states and engaging in different cultural and religious practices? Is there a cosmopolitan shared value in migration, culture or religion which could materialize in emerging principles of international law and policy? The agora will address the tension between protection and liberalization which underlies these three emerging bodies of international law. It will furthermore query to what extent migration, culture and religion are emerging and distinct areas of international law and what tools, principles and theories international law has at its disposal to translate potential fragmentations into a coherent plurality of an international legal order.

6) Global environment and regional responsibilities

This agora will address some crucial questions that link the global environment with different rights, duties and responsibilities in diverse regions. For example,

- the identification and preservation of biodiversity in areas within a State’s jurisdiction and in areas beyond national jurisdiction such as the high seas, particularly through marine protected areas; and the situations in lesser developed countries;

- the sustainable development of fisheries;

- rises in sea level and what States are doing to cooperate with developing nations to solve that problem;

- threats to the marine environment posed by bunker fuel or hazardous cargo from shipwrecks;

- the development of green energy technologies such as wind, solar, and wave technologies, and what States are doing to assist lesser developed nations in developing and using these technologies;

- what are nations doing to develop eco-cultural tourism in their own regions and in lesser developed nations?; or

- what are States in different regions doing to prevent pollution from natural hazards that are expected to increase in frequency as a result of climate change?

7) Regional traditions and universal judicial institutions

This agora will explore the theme of regionalism and international law in the context of courts and tribunals. Among the issues that may be explored are: the relationship between and respective roles of regional and international courts; the function of regional representation on the bench of international courts and tribunals, and the operationalization of regional representation requirements; the relevance of regional approaches to international law for international courts, for example in the fields of trade and human rights; the expanding jurisdiction of regional tribunals and implications for the unity or disunity of international law; the role of regional courts in interpreting and applying international law; or the proper role of regional courts in reviewing regional implementation of international obligations, such as those arising under Security Council resolutions.

8) Failed states, international administrations, occupation and neo-protectorates

This agora will consider some of the pressing and controversial questions that contemporary international law has to face with regard to diverse phenomena such as collapsed States, international administrations, occupations and neo-protectorates — legal characterisations variably used to describe and conceptualise states of suspended or heavily conditioned sovereignty in today’s international relations. Papers are invited on all relevant legal questions involving the above phenomena. Ideally, they should address issues such as: the international legal norms protecting state sovereignty and their interplay with the increasing demands for international security and for human rights protection in situations of ‘default’ of governmental authorities; the forms and instruments of multilateral interventions, including through the UN and through regional actors; the possible (and desirable?) legal interactions between ius ad bellum and ius in bello in contemporary occupations; the similarities and differences with legal concepts and institutions developed in the context of pre-1945 international law.

***

APPEL À CONTRIBUTIONS

5EME CONFERENCE BIENNALE DE LA SOCIETE EUROPEENNE DE DROIT INTERNATIONAL
VALENCE, 13 - 15 SEPTEMBRE 2012

Régionalisme et Droit international

La cinquième Conférence biennale de la Société européenne de droit international (SEDI) aura lieu à Valence, en Espagne, en association avec l’Université de Valence et le Centro de Estudios de Derecho y Relaciones Internacionales (CEDRI). « Régionalisme et Droit international » est le thème général retenu pour cette manifestation.

Le programme sera structuré autour de deux sessions plénières, huit fora et huit agoræ. Les intervenants pour les sessions plénières et les fora seront invités ; les intervenants pour les agoræ seront sélectionnés sur la base du présent appel à contributions.

Le programme provisoire est disponible à l’adresse suivante : www.uv.es/esil2012, que sera accessible pendant le mois de novembre.

L’objectif des agoræ est de partager les fruits de recherches pointues dans des domaines spécifiques du droit international afin de stimuler le débat et d’encourager les contacts entre les participants. Les articles présentés dans ce cadre peuvent se concentrer sur tout aspect d’un domaine particulier du droit international, pour autant qu’il soit lié au thème général de la conférence et en phase avec le descriptif de l’agora concernée. Au moment de leur présentation, les articles ne doivent pas avoir déjà été publiés. Ils doivent néanmoins être suffisamment aboutis pour pouvoir être repris dans les actes de la conférence. Le thème principal de la conférence et les thèmes des agoræ sont décrits ci-dessous.

Les langues de travail de la conférence seront le français et l’anglais. Aucune traduction n’étant fournie, les participants doivent avoir une bonne maîtrise d’une de ces deux langues et une connaissance au moins passive de l’autre.

PROCEDURE DE SOUMISSION

La sélection des participants aux agoræ est réalisée sur la base des propositions soumises en réponse à cet appel à contributions.

Aussi bien les jeunes spécialistes (y compris les doctorants) que ceux qui sont plus avancés dans leur parcours académique sont invités à participer aux agoræ. Les critères qui seront utilisés pour la sélection sont : la qualité scientifique et l’originalité du travail et la pertinence par rapport aux thèmes de la conférence et de l’agora. Il sera aussi tenu compte de l’origine géographique des intervenants. Les candidats ne peuvent soumettre qu’une seule proposition.

Les propositions, qui n’excèderont pas 500 mots, doivent être soumises en français ou en anglais en utilisant un formulaire spécifique disponible sur le site internet de la Conférence www.uv.es/esil2012, depuis le 10 Novembre 2011. En outre, le formulaire contiendra les informations suivantes :

• L’intitulé précis de l’agora à laquelle l’auteur entend participer ;
• Le contexte dans lequel la recherche est menée (par exemple un livre à paraître, une thèse, un article) ;
• Le nom complet de l’auteur et son affiliation institutionnelle ;
• Le CV de l’auteur reprenant une liste de publications pertinentes ;
• Les coordonnées de l’auteur, y compris son adresse e-mail et son numéro de téléphone ;
• La langue de présentation (anglais ou français) ;
• Il devra également être précisé si la participation de l’auteur requiert l’octroi d’une bourse. Dans pareil cas, une lettre de demande de soutien ou, pour les doctorants, une lettre de recommandation du directeur de thèse, doit être jointe au dossier.

CALENDRIER

• La publication de l’appel est le 19 octobre 2011 ;
• La soumission des propositions commencera le 10 novembre 2011 ;
• La date limite pour la soumission des propositions est le 20 janvier 2012 ;


• Les candidats retenus seront informés au plus tard le 23 mars 2012 ;
• La date limite pour la soumission des textes qui feront l’objet d’une présentation est le 1er août 2012 ;
• La conférence débutera le jeudi 13 septembre 2012 à 12h30 et s’achèvera le samedi 15 septembre 2012 à 18h30 ;
• La date limite pour la soumission de l’article définitif à inclure dans les actes de la conférence est le 5 octobre 2012.

FINANCEMENT

Tous les intervenants sélectionnés pour participer aux agoræ bénéficieront d’une inscription gratuite à la conférence à condition d’être membre de la SEDI. Les frais de transport et d’hébergement resteront à la charge des participants.

Des bourses, en nombre limité, seront offertes pour couvrir les frais d’hébergement et contribuer aux frais de transport. Priorité sera donnée aux étudiants post-gradués d’universités européennes qui ne peuvent obtenir aucune aide de leur institution ou d’autres organismes de financement, ainsi qu’aux autres participants pour lesquels l’octroi d’une aide financière est une condition de leur participation. Un programme spécial de bourses est prévu pour les étudiants de la Méditerranée grâce au soutien de la Casa Mediterráneo.

THÈME DE LA CONFÉRENCE : Régionalisme et droit international

Pour le meilleur et pour le pire, l'Europe a historiquement été le centre du monde à partir de l’Ère Moderne, en créant différentes périphéries qui ont dû adopter la foi, l'organisation sociale et les systèmes juridiques européens. L'influence de l'Europe sur les autres continents est un fait historique qui mérite d'être revisitéd'un point de vue juridique. Il faut également évaluer les réactions, pour ainsi dire, desautres régions envers l'Europe et leurs approches du droit international, le cas échéant. L’Espagne —et à nouveau pour le meilleur et pour le pire— a eu une influence sur ce point de vue régional. C'est une des raisons du choix du sujet pour la Conférence générale à Valence. Une autre raison est que le régionalisme, d'un point de vue juridique, a sa propre résonnance dans l'un des leitmotivs de la SEDI, à savoir l'unité et la fragmentation du droit international. Nous avons déjà discuté de ce sujet dans une perspective de spécialisation, à partir d'un point de vue purement théorique ou d'un point de vue judiciaire opérationnel. La perspective régionale viendra donc s’ajouter à l’acquis de recherche de la SEDI.

THÈMES DES AGORÆ

Les thèmes pour les agoræ pour 2012 sont les suivants :

1) Le processus de formation du droit international ("International Law Making")

Le concept de « région » peut suggérer différentes choses à propos du droit international général ou de certains de ses domaines spécialisés. On trouve en effet à l’heure actuelle certains défis régionaux aux règles qui, en Europe, ont été adornées d’une normativité renforcée, d’une « sacralisation juridique » non partagée en dehors de l’Europe. Cette attitude peut-elle mettre en danger l’unité du droit international ? D’autres règles sont simplement régionales ou spéciales. Quel impact ont-elles sur l’ordre juridique universel ? Existe-t-il un jus cogens régional ? Dans l’application de ce corpus normatif régional, les tribunaux régionaux travaillent-ils à l’unité du droit international ou à sa fragmentation ?

2) Dimension interne de l’auto-détermination

Dans cette Agora, nous aurons l’occasion de débattre, entre-autres, de questions relatives aux relations entre autodétermination et démocratie ou entre autodétermination et droits de l'homme; des questions juridiquessoulevées par les processus révolutionnaires récents dans certains pays arabes et le régime de succession des Etats aux traités; des questions posées par les conflits armés internes et la "responsabilité de protéger"; ou des questions relatives aux processus constituants initiés suite aux révolutions arabes.

3) Régions polaires : l’Arctique et l’Antarctique dans le nouveau millénaire

Ces dernières années, la mondialisation a de plus en plus affecté les régions polaires, autrefois considérées comme des zones éloignées et isolées du globe. L’Arctique et l'Antarctique étant de plus en plus exposés aux activités d'acteurs industriels mondiaux et aux intérêts commerciaux transnationaux, des défis complexes et variés pour la réglementation du droit international se sont manifestés. Parmi les plus aigus on trouve par exemple: la bioprospection des ressources génétiques dans l'Arctique et l'Antarctique; la pêche illicite, non déclarée et non réglementée (pêche INN); la possibilité accrue de la navigation maritime dans les eaux polaires, en particulier dans l'Arctique, soulevant des questions allant de la sécurité de la navigation à l'introduction d'espèces étrangères potentiellement envahissantes par des vecteurs tels que les eaux de ballast et les salissures des navires; l'état et les perspectives d’exploitation des ressources minérales des fonds marins dans l'Arctique et l'Antarctique; ou la régulation d’activités humaines telles que le tourisme dans les régions polaires.

4) Développement et droit international économique

Le développement a été une préoccupation majeure du droit international économique depuis la Charte de la Havane de 1949 et le "Nouvel Ordre Economique International" déclaré en 1974. La question est actuellement au centre du Cycle de Doha de l'OMC (le ‘cycle du développement’) et joue un rôle croissant dans les domaines du développement durable et du droit des investissements. Mais que signifie le ‘développement’ aujourd'hui? Et comment le droit international économique peut-il en faire la promotion? Ces questions sont particulièrement pertinentes du point de vue régional: les réponses ne sont-elles pas différentes lorsque nous nous concentrons sur l'Asie ou sur l'Afrique? Dans l’affirmative, quelles sont les implications pour la gouvernance mondiale et régionale?

5) "Lost in Translation": Migrations et diversité culturelle et religieuse

Migration, culture et religion représentent des engagements transnationaux d’individus qui ont conduit au divorce des notions de «nation» et d’«État». Tandis que l'État-nation est confronté aux idées de cosmopolitisme et de transnationalisme, on observe des tendances à la ‘renationalisation’, par exemple dans le contexte des migrations, considéré comme l’un des derniers bastions de la souveraineté étatique. Comment le droit international a-t-il réagi à ce changement de paradigme et à ces expressions d'une notion post-westphalienne de l'Etat ? Quels concepts sont employés par le droit international pour protéger l'individu dans ses engagements transnationaux? La double nationalité, la responsabilité de protéger ou la libéralisation des mouvements transfrontaliers sont des exemples de cas pour les migrations, le multiculturalisme, le pluralisme et la diversité qui sont utilisés dans le contexte culturel et religieux. Par ailleurs, les sources existantes du droit international n'ont guère abordé ces questions, à l'exception de certains traités multilatéraux et bilatéraux dans le domaine de la migration et de la culture. Les théories de la fragmentation et de la cohérence sont-elles suffisantes pour répondre aux « moments transnationaux » que génèrent les individus lorsqu’ils franchissent les frontières des Etats nations pour s'engager dans différentes cultures ou religions ? Y a t-il une valeur partagée dans la migration cosmopolite, la culture ou la religion qui pourrait se concrétiser dans les principes émergents du droit international? Cette Agora examinera la tension entre protection et libéralisation qui sous-tend ces domaines émergents du droit international. Elle se demandera par ailleurs si la migration, la culture et la religion sont des éléments distincts du droit international et, le cas échéant, si le droit international dispose des outils, des principes et des théories nécessaires pour traduire cette potentielle fragmentation en une pluralité cohérente de l’ordre juridique international.

6) Environnement global et responsabilités régionales

Cette Agora tentera de répondre à certaines questions cruciales qui se posent à propos de la relation entre l'environnement global et les droits, devoirs et responsabilités des diverses régions. Par exemple :

- celles qui ont trait à l’identification et à la préservation de la biodiversité dans les zones relevant de la compétence des Etats et dans les zones situées en dehors des juridictions nationales, telles que la haute mer et la Zone, notamment par la création d’aires marines protégées, en discutant également de la situation des pays moins développés;

- les questions relatives au développement durable des pêcheries ;

- la question de l’élévation du niveau de la mer et les mesures prises par les Etats pour coopérer avec les pays en voie de développement ;

- les menaces à l'environnement marin posées par le transport de matières dangereuses;

- le développement des technologies énergétiques « vertes » comme l'éolien, le solaire ou les technologies d'onde et ce que les États font pour aider les pays moins développés dans le développement et l'utilisation de ces technologies;

- ce qu’ont fait les États pour développer l'éco-tourisme culturel dans les différentes régions du monde et, en particulier, dans les pays moins développés; ou

- ce que font les Etats dans différentes régions pour prévenir la pollution due aux catastrophes naturelles, dont la fréquence devrait augmenter en en raison des changements climatiques?

7) Traditions régionales et institutions judiciaires universelles

Cette Agora analysera le thème du régionalisme et du droit international dans le contexte des cours et des tribunaux. Parmi les problématiques, seront abordées: la relation entre les cours régionales et internationales et leurs rôles respectifs; la représentation géographique chez les juges internationaux, et l’opérationnalisation des conditions de représentation géographique; la pertinence des approches régionales du droit international pour les cours internationales, par exemple dans les domaines du commerce et des droits de l’homme; l’accroissement des compétences des tribunaux régionaux et ses implications pour l’unité ou la fragmentation du droit international; le rôle des cours régionales dans l’interprétation et l’application du droit international; ou le rôle des cours régionales dans la mise en oeuvre d’obligations internationales, telles que celles résultant des résolutions du Conseil de sécurité.

8) États défaillants, administration internationale de territoires, occupation et néo-protectorat

Cette Agora examinera certaines questions pressantes et très controversées auxquelles le droit international contemporain est confronté tels que le phénomène des Etats « défaillants », les administrations internationales, les occupations et les néo-protectorats, qualifications juridiques variablement utilisées pour décrire et conceptualiser des états de suspension ou de conditionnement de la souveraineté dans les relations internationales d'aujourd'hui. Entre autres, devraient être abordées des questions telles que: les normes juridiques internationales protégeant la souveraineté des Etats et leur interaction avec la demande croissante de sécurité internationale et de protection des droits de l’ homme dans des situations de «défaillance» des autorités gouvernementales ; les formes et les instruments d'interventions multilatérales, y compris à travers l'ONU et des acteurs régionaux ; les interactions juridiques entre le jus ad bellum et le jus in bello; ou les similitudes et les différences avec les concepts et les institutions juridiques développés avant 1945.

Symposium: Legal Positivism in International Legal Theory: Hart’s Legacy

On November 11, 2011, the International Legal Theory Interest Group of the American Society of International Law will host a symposium on "Legal Positivism in International Legal Theory: Hart’s Legacy." Here's the idea:

2011, the 50th anniversary of the publication of HLA Hart’s classic work, The Concept of Law, is an auspicious year for the ASIL International Legal Theory Interest Group to dedicate its annual symposium to Hart. Join us for a day of discussion of Hart, legal positivism, and international law.

Contrasting Hart’s influence on legal philosophy generally, his account of international law did not strike the same spark in international legal theory. Some account for this in the marginal status Hart gave international law. Exploring Hart’s claims will allow a reexamining of longstanding questions about international law. With the proliferation of international institutions, international law has changed much in the 50 years since The Concept of Law was published. In 1961, Hart offered powerful rebuttals to skepticisms, still voiced today, about international law. Reevaluating and perhaps rehabilitating Hart in light of contemporary circumstances may help us to understand the authority international law.

Confirmed panelists include John Mikhail (Georgetown), Liam Murphy (NYU), Dan Priel (Osgoode Hall), Timothy Meyer (U. Ga.), and Michael Helfand (Pepperdine).

Call for Papers: ANZSIL International Economic Law Interest Group Research Symposium

The Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law's International Economic Law Interest Group and the Sydney Centre for International Law have issued a call for papers for a research symposium on March 2, 2012. Here's the call:

Call for Papers

Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law

International Economic Law Interest Group with the Sydney Centre for International Law at the University of Sydney Faculty of Law

One day Research Symposium

Friday 2 March 2012

Venue: University of Sydney School of Law, Sydney, Australia

Research symposium: goal and content

This symposium will entail presentation of current scholarship and research in international economic law, hosted by the International Economic Law Interest Group of the Australia and New Zealand Society of International Law.

The goal of this symposium is to promote and facilitate discussion of works in progress relating to international economic law. There is no specific theme. Paper proposals may address or be related to any international economic law topic. Interdisciplinary work is encouraged but not required. The call for papers is open to both new and established academics, as well as junior and senior practitioners in the field. We will aim to accommodate on the programme:

• At least one presentation on recent judicial decisions (eg. WTO cases or investment arbitral awards).
• At least one presentation relating to teaching in the field of international economic law.
• At least one presentation by a current PhD student.
• At least one presentation by a non‐lawyer (eg. economist or political scientist).

Paper submission, selection and publication

Paper proposals and all other program‐related correspondence must be submitted electronically by 14 November 2011 to law.scil@sydney.edu.au . Proposals should include an email with the author’s name and full contact information, and a Word attachment with an anonymous abstract (i.e. not bearing the author’s name) of no more than 350 words.

The organizing committee will review and select the proposals for inclusion in the symposium on a blind basis.

Decisions regarding inclusion in the conference programme will be sent by 30 November 2011. Paper contributors will be expected to provide full paper drafts by 10 February 2012. Papers should not be longer than 12,000 words (excluding footnotes) and should be work that has not yet been published or committed for publication.

The submitted paper drafts will be posted online as working papers prior to the conference to facilitate discussion at the symposium.

Practical details

The symposium will take place at the Law School of the University of Sydney on Friday 2 March 2012. It will start no earlier than 8.30am and finish no later than 5.30pm.

Each session will have an appointed discussant and the symposium format will allow sufficient time for constructive discussion and debate of the papers, which will be made available in advance.

The registration fee for speakers will not be more than:

Speakers (Excluding Full‐time Students): $110 for ANZSIL Members and $160 Non‐ANZSIL Members

Speakers (Full Time Students): $77 for ANZSIL Members and $110 for Non‐ANZSIL Members

The organizers will provide contact information for a range of hotel accommodation but each speaker will be responsible for arranging and paying for their own accommodation as well as any travel expenses.

Oxford Public International Law Discussion Group - Michaelmas Term 2011

Here's the schedule for the Oxford Public International Law Discussion Group for Michaelmas Term 2011:

• October 13, 2011: Christine Chinkin (London School of Economics - Law), "A Mechanism for UN Accountability for Violations of Human Rights: The Kosovo Human Rights Advisory Panel"
• October 20, 2011: Ralph Wilde (Univ. College London - Law), "The Al-Skeini Decision of the European Court of Human Rights - A Landmark on the Extraterritorial Application of Human Rights Law?"
• October 27, 2011: Gleider Hernandez (Univ. of Durham - Law), "A Reluctant Guardian? The International Court of Justice and the Concept of 'International Community'"
• November 3, 2011: Guy Goodwin-Gill (Univ. of Oxford - Law), "Palestine, Statehood and the Challenges of Representation"
• November 10, 2011: Anthony Cullen (Univ. of Leeds - Law), "Military Necessity and International Humanitarian Law"
• November 17, 2011: Bill Bowring (Birkbeck, Univ. of London - Law), "A Political Theory of International Law and Human Rights"
• November 24, 2011: Frank Berman (Univ. of Oxford - Law), "Interpretation of Treaties"
• December 1, 2011: Piet Eeckhout (King’s College London – Law), "The Autonomy of EU Law and International Human Rights Law"

Goodman & Jinks: Social Mechanisms to Promote International Human Rights: Complementary or Contradictory?

Ryan Goodman (New York Univ. - Law ) & Derek Jinks (Univ. of Texas - Law) have posted Social Mechanisms to Promote International Human Rights: Complementary or Contradictory? (in From Commitment to Compliance: The Persistent Power of Human Rights, Thomas Risse, Stephen C. Ropp, & Kathryn Sikkink eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The study of the international human rights regime has increasingly emphasized how this regime matters rather than if it matters. An especially productive turn focuses on the importance of multiple forms of influence on state behavior. The Power of Human Rights provided a foundation for such studies by bringing attention to the significance of different logics of interaction at different points in the socialization process of states (Risse, Ropp, & Sikkink 1999). That leading work and allied scholarship rely on motivations of human behavior such as shame, social status, and material reward. At a general level, such methodological commitments are widely shared in international relations scholarship.

One important, but correctable, weakness of this approach is the way in which it conceptualizes (or fails to conceptualize) the relationship between the various mechanisms of social influence. According to leading studies, international human rights norms, through various agents and in various ways, often mobilize each mode of influence. An assumption is that these mechanisms are broadly, if not completely, complementary. This assumption of complementarity, we argue, is empirically suspect; and it inhibits refinement of the model along several axes.

The next phase of research on human rights should include two related ambitions. First, it should systematically account for potential negative interactions between mechanisms of influence. Second, it should specifically consider how regime design might accentuate or mitigate such interactions. Are social mechanisms complementary or contradictory? In what ways are they compatible or incompatible? And what difference do these considerations make for modeling the influence of global norms? We provide some initial answers to these questions. We first identify and discuss various interaction effects between social mechanisms – emphasizing several crowding-out and crowding-in effects. We then identify and discuss various sequencing effects. Finally, we offer some reflections on whether and how these developments in the behavioral sciences ought to influence the modeling of human rights change.

Keitner: Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum: Another Round in the Fight Over Corporate Liability Under the Alien Tort Statute

Chimène I. Keitner (Univ. of California - Hastings College of the Law) has posted an ASIL Insight on Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum: Another Round in the Fight Over Corporate Liability Under the Alien Tort Statute.

LSE's IHL Dialogue Series

Here's the schedule for the London School of Economics's IHL Dialogue Series on "Current Problems in the Law of Armed Conflict" for Michaelmas Term 2011:

• October 18, 2011: Bruce Broomhall (Univ. of Quebec at Montreal) and Balakrishnan Rajagopal (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), "Resource Wars: Law, Land and Conflict"
• November 2, 2011: Predrag Dojcinovic (ICTY) and Robert Heinsch (Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies), "Media and LOAC in International Criminal Tribunals"

Bradley: Treaty Signature

Curtis A. Bradley (Duke Univ. - Law) has posted Treaty Signature (in The Oxford Guide to Treaties, Duncan Hollis ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Under international law, in order for a State to become a party to a treaty, it must express its consent to be bound by the treaty. Such consent can be expressed in a variety of ways, including through signature of the treaty by a proper representative of the State. Under modern treaty practice, however, States often express their consent to be bound by a separate act of ratification that is carried out after signature. When a treaty is subject to discretionary ratification after signature, the signature is referred to as a 'simple signature,' whereas a signature that indicates consent to be bound is referred to as a 'definitive signature'. Part I of the chapter considers why States often prefer simple signature subject to ratification in lieu of other methods of joining a treaty. Part II discusses the international legal consequences of a simple signature. Part III reviews the process by which a State can terminate its signatory obligations. The chapter concludes with a brief consideration of the strategic issues raised by the ability of States to decide not to ratify a treaty after signature.

Duvec-Paoli: La Convention des Nations Unies sur le Droit de la Mer

Leslie-Anne Duvic-Paoli has published La Convention des Nations Unies sur le Droit de la Mer : Instrument de régulation des relations internationales par le droit (L'Harmattan 2011). Here's the abstract:

La Convention des Nations Unies sur le droit de la mer, considérée comme une "Constitution des océans", encadre la quasi-totalité des activités maritimes. Cet ouvrage dresse un bilan de sa mise en oeuvre et analyse l'ordre juridico-politique qu'elle a créé. Il démontre que la gouvernance globale n'a pu se réaliser sans une institutionnalisation des affaires maritimes qui mène à une fragmentation. L'enchevêtrement des normes est tel qu'à terme il pourrait fragiliser les dispositions de la Convention.

Macleod: Les défis de la sécurité internationale à l'aube d'un monde pluripolaire

Alex Macleod has published Les défis de la sécurité internationale à l'aube d'un monde pluripolaire (Bruylant 2011). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Au lendemain de la chute du mur de Berlin en 1989, les commentateurs politiques n’hésitèrent pas à annoncer la fin de la bipolarité entre les deux superpuissances, les États-Unis et l’URSS, qui avait déterminé le fonctionnement du système international pendant plus de quarante ans. Nous entrions dès lors dans une nouvelle ère, celle de l’unipolarité américaine, où il ne resterait plus qu’une seule superpuissance.

L’attentat du 11 septembre 2001, les guerres en Irak et en Afghanistan, la montée de la puissance chinoise, l’affirmation grandissante de la puissance indienne et brésilienne, pour ne nommer que ces événements-là, ont ébranlé ces certitudes, et, laissaient entrevoir le déclin de l’hégémonie américaine. Sommes-nous donc en train de assister à la transformation du système international vers une forme de multipolarité, où plusieurs centres ou pôles de puissance se font concurrence et forment sinon un équilibre des puissances au moins un contrepoids à ce que l’on appelait autrefois l’hyperpuissance américaine ? C’est à cette question que s’adressent les auteurs de cet ouvrage, universitaires français et canadiens, réunis en colloque par l’Association France-Canada des études stratégiques, en explorant l’évolution du système vers ce qu’ils appellent un monde pluripolaire, dont les contours sont encore à définir, et les défis que cette situation présente pour la sécurité internationale.

Dans un premier temps, ils examinent la signification de ces changements sur le plan théorique. Ensuite, ils analysent leurs conséquences pour la sécurité des États dans plusieurs régions du monde. Enfin, dans la dernière partie du livre, ils étudient comment ce système international en devenir affecte la sécurité internationale au-delà des États, nous rappelant ainsi l’importance de plus en plus affirmée du transnational et du supranational, qui constitue un des traits fondamentaux du nouveau système.

Trésoret: Seepiraterie

Michael Trésoret has published Seepiraterie: Völkerrechtliche, europarechtliche und verfassungsrechtliche Rahmenbedingungen der Auslandsentsendung deutscher Streitkräfte zur Bekämpfung der Seeräuberei (Nomos 2011). Here's the abstract:

Im Rahmen der Vereinten Nationen und der Nato beteiligt sich die Bundeswehr auch an Militäraktionen gegen Seepiraterie. Der Autor beschäftigt sich umfassend mit den rechtlichen Grundlagen.

Conference: Protection of the Environment in Armed Conflict: Testing the Adequacy of International Law

On November 7, 2011, T.M.C. Asser Instituut will host a conference on "Protection of the Environment in Armed Conflict: Testing the Adequacy of International Law." The preliminary program is here. Here's the idea:

The protection of the environment during armed conflict has long been neglected and is still underdeveloped. Armed conflict may have severe consequences for the natural environment, with the potential to leave it degraded or even destroyed. Military necessity and the achievement of military goals are generally seen as trumping the need to protect the environment. Most conflicts today are non-international in character, civil wars rather than conflicts between two or more States. According to the United Nations Environmental Programme, 40% of all these intrastate conflicts since 1960 have a link to natural resources and these conflicts are twice as likely to relapse into conflict within five years. The damage to the environment caused during these conflicts is not only of itself deplorable, but may increase the vulnerability of affected populations as well, lead to displacement or increasing numbers of refugees fleeing to other countries.

In the light of this background, the conference intends to examine the extent to which the environment could be protected during armed conflict today by analysing the existing legal framework of international humanitarian and international environmental law. Beyond these two disciplines, the conference aims to reach out to experts in other related disciplines, such as political science and environmental studies, and within the legal discipline, besides international humanitarian law and international environmental law, human rights and refugee law, given that aspects of both sets of legal rules become increasingly influential on the protection afforded to the environment to the armed conflict, but also seeing that the destruction of the environment in these situations bears increasing risks and results in greater difficulties for the protection of refugees, internally displaced persons and the wider population in general.

The conference will:

• assess the impact that modern warfare (weapons as well as strategies) has on the environment;
• critically examine the existing regime for the protection of the environment under international humanitarian law with a view to establishing whether these protections are adequate or are in need of review or supplementation in the form of a dedicated protocol or independent covenant;
• examine whether other related legal disciplines such as human rights, refugee or environmental law bear the possibility of contributing to the improvement of existing law and
• develop and improve an understanding of the role of international organizations and civil society in addressing environmental consequences of war.

De Feyter et al.: The Local Relevance of Human Rights

Koen De Feyter (Universiteit Antwerpen), Stephan Parmentier (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), Christiane Timmerman (Universiteit Antwerpen), & George Ulrich (Riga Graduate School of Law) have published The Local Relevance of Human Rights (Cambridge Univ. Press 2011). Contents include:

• Koen De Feyter & Stephan Parmentier, Introduction: reconsidering human rights from below
• Koen De Feyter, Sites of rights resistance
• Felipe Gómez Isa, Freedom from want revisited from a local perspective: evolution and challenges ahead
• Antonio Papisca, Relevance of human rights in the 'glocal' space of politics: how to enlarge democratic practice beyond state boundaries and build up a peaceful world order?
• Gaby Oré Aguilar, The local relevance of human rights: a methodological approach
• Michelle Farrell, Ensuring compliance with decisions by international and regional human rights bodies: the case of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture
• Alicia Ely Yamin & J. Jaime Miranda, Building rights-based health movements: lessons from the Peruvian experience
• Julie Cavanaugh-Bill, Defining human rights when economic interests are high: the case of the Western Shoshone
• José Aylwin, Struggling to localise human rights: the experience of indigenous peoples in Chile
• Rhuks Temitope Ako, Enforcing environmental rights under Nigeria's 1999 constitution: the localisation of human rights in the Niger Delta region
• María del Mar Bermúdez, Manuel Calzada Plá & Lydia Vicente Márquez, Conflict resolution through cultural rights and cultural wrongs: the Kosovo example
• George Ulrich, Epilogue: widening the perspective on the local relevance of human rights

Gervais: Golan v. Holder: A Look at the Constraints Imposed by the Berne Convention

Daniel J. Gervais (Vanderbilt Univ. - Law) has posted Golan v. Holder: A Look at the Constraints Imposed by the Berne Convention (Vanderbilt Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

One of the central issues in the Golan v. Holder litigation is the extent to which the United States had flexibility to tailor the protection of existing works that had fallen in the public domain when it joined the Berne Convention. This Essay argues that the Berne Convention obligates the United States as a Berne Union member to provide some degree of protection, but otherwise leaves wide latitude to set the conditions under which works in the public domain receive retroactive copyright protection. The Convention itself does not mandate that any particular level of protection be granted to such works because, as both the negotiating history and secondary literature show, the drafters of the Convention acknowledged that member states would face implementing constraints in their countries. Whether or not the United States recognized this flexibility when it joined the Convention, it is clear that Congress can grant a limited form of retroactive protection to works in the public domain in order to meet its international obligations and simultaneously protect the constitutional rights of third parties.

New Issue: World Trade Review

The latest issue of the World Trade Review (Vol. 10, no. 4, October 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Hilmar Rommetvedt, The institutionalization of a parliamentary dimension of an intergovernmental organization: the WTO
• Marcel Hanegraaff, Jan Beyers & Caelesta Braun, Open the door to more of the same? The development of interest group representation at the WTO
• Jong Bum Kim, WTO legality of discriminatory liberalization of internal regulations: role of RTA national treatment
• Christine Kaufmann & Rolf H. Weber, Carbon-related border tax adjustment: mitigating climate change or restricting international trade?
• Anirudh Shingal, Services procurement under the WTO's Agreement on Government Procurement: whither market access?
• Patrick Messerlin & Erik van der Marel, Polly wants a Doha deal: what does the trade community think

Call for Papers: Protecting Human Rights: Duties and Responsibilities of States and Non-State Actors

The Steering Committee of the American Political Science Association (APSA) Human Rights Section, the Council of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) Human Rights Research Committee, and the Executive Council of the International Studies Association (ISA) Human Rights Section have issued a call for papers for a conference on "Protecting Human Rights: Duties and Responsibilities of States and Non-State Actors," to take place at the University of Glasgow on June 18-19, 2012. Here's the call:

The Steering Committee of the American Political Science Association (APSA) Human Rights Section, the Council of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) Human Rights Research Committee, and the Executive Council of the International Studies Association (ISA) Human Rights Section announce their second joint international conference on the theme “Protecting Human Rights: Duties and Responsibilities of States and Non-State Actors” to take place on 18-19 June 2012 at the University of Glasgow, hosted by the Glasgow Human Rights Network. This conference is timed to coincide with the joint International Studies Association-British International Studies Association conference to be held immediately after in Edinburgh (20-22 June).

The 2005 World Summit recognized the responsibility to protect. While this may have, in sense, been a normative revolution, in another sense it was just one more in a long list of human rights responsibilities states have taken on over the last 65 years as the modern human rights regime has developed. Less attention has been focused on the growing number of responsibilities accruing to non-state actors. Further, while the discussion regarding responsibility to protect, to a large extent, has focused on military intervention, other responsibilities related to post-conflict situations, in particular, have been identified – such as those related to transitional justice and other post-conflict processes. Yet, all of these international declarations and norm-making activities raise as many questions as they answer about the willingness of relevant actors to live up to their responsibilities, as well as potential conflicts between responsibilities. This conference will examine the wide range of human rights duties and responsibilities accruing to state and non-state actors. It will be significantly multidisciplinary in character, being open to legal, philosophical, political, sociological and other perspectives.

The conference will examine the following questions and topics, among others:

• What is the nature of human rights responsibilities?
• Have these responsibilities translated into appropriate action?
• How do we define such appropriate action, and who holds these responsibilities?
• How does the international community address conflicting responsibilities?
• What types of human rights responsibilities do non-state actors have?
• What is the relationship between rights, duties and responsibilities?
• Dealing with past wrongs and failed responsibilities

The conference format will be a mixture of small panels (no more than 3 papers) with plenary keynote sessions. We hope that small panels will facilitate discussion and interchange among the participants, and the overall conference format will contribute to an intimate and relaxed two days. Confirmed keynote speakers to date include:

• Edward Luck, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Responsibility to Protect
• David Mepham, UK Director, Human Rights Watch Alan Miller, Chair, Scottish Human Rights Commission
• Henry Shue, Professor of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford

Deadline for submission of papers: 1 November. Notification of acceptance will be sent by e-mail by 1 December.

Paper submission details can be found on the ISA website - please note you will need to create a MyISA account if you do not already have one. Paper proposals must relate to the theme of the conference in some manner to be considered.

For questions about paper submissions and other aspects of the program please contact the Program Chair, Clair Apodaca, at HR@isanet.org. For all other queries related to the conference, please contact the Conference Chair, Kurt Mills, at ResponsibilityConference@glasgow.ac.uk

Bismuth: La coopération internationale des autorités de régulation du secteur financier et le droit international public

Régis Bismuth (l’Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense) has published La coopération internationale des autorités de régulation du secteur financier et le droit international public (Bruylant 2011). Here's the abstract:

La coopération internationale des autorités de régulation du secteur financier s’est développée en réponse à une internationalisation croissante et insuffisamment encadrée des activités financières. Dans la mesure où elle se réalise en dehors des canaux diplomatiques traditionnels, ce processus semble s’accomplir en marge du droit international et a ainsi peu retenu l’attention des internationalistes publicistes. Son étude approfondie que propose cet ouvrage atteste cependant de la pertinence de cette perspective. Sous un angle institutionnel, la coopération des autorités de régulation constitue en effet un authentique phénomène interétatique. L’activité de ces autorités se rattache à l’action souveraine de leur État d’origine et les accords conclus entre elles constituent potentiellement des traités en droit international. Elles ont aussi établi des instances originales au sein desquelles elles coopèrent de façon permanente, comme le Comité de Bâle sur le Contrôle Bancaire (C.B.C.B.), l’Organisation Internationale des Commission de Valeurs (O.I.C.V.) et l’Association Internationale des Contrôleurs d’Assurance (A.I.C.A.), qui ont un fonctionnement et un régime juridique similaires à ceux des organisations internationales classiques. La coopération des autorités de régulation au sein de ces institutions d’un nouveau type comprend également un volet normatif qui se manifeste par une action normalisatrice spontanée. Elle aboutit à l’adoption de règles communes – les standards financiers internationaux – ayant vocation à être transposées dans les droits internes. Alors qu’ils ne constituent pas à l’origine des règles de droit international, un processus multidimensionnel de juridisation de ces standards s’est enclenché, à l’insu même de leurs auteurs, et témoigne du développement de nouvelles formes de normativité à l’échelle internationale. En filigrane, cet ouvrage démontre que cette coopération s’avère aussi féconde en problèmes juridiques inédits résultant de l’impact, au niveau international, d’une séparation des pouvoirs mal maîtrisée dans les ordres juridiques nationaux par le développement d’autorités de régulation indépendantes.

Geiss & Petrig: Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea

Robin Geiss (Univ. of Potsdam - Law) & Anna Petrig (Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law) have published Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea: The Legal Framework for Counter-Piracy Operations in Somalia and the Gulf of Aden (Oxford Univ. Press 2011). Here's the abstract:

Since 2008 increasing pirate activities in Somalia, the Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Ocean have once again drawn the international community's attention to piracy and armed robbery at sea. States are resolved to repress these impediments to the free flow of trade and navigation. To this end a number of multinational counter-piracy missions have been deployed to the region.

This book describes the enforcement powers that States may rely upon in their quest to repress piracy in the larger Gulf of Aden region. The piracy rules of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the legal safeguards applicable to maritime interception operations are scrutinized before the analysis turns to the criminal prosecution of pirates and armed robbers at sea. The discussion includes so-called shiprider agreements, the transfers of alleged offenders to regional states, the jurisdictional bases for prosecuting pirates, and the feasibility of an international(ized) venue for their trial. In addressing a range of relevant issues, this book presents a detailed and comprehensive up-to-date analysis of the legal issues pertaining to the repression of piracy and armed robbery at sea and assesses whether the currently existing legal regime is still adequate to effectively counter piracy in the 21st century.

New Issue: Revue trimestrielle des droits de l'homme

The latest issue of the Revue trimestrielle des droits de l'homme (No. 88, October 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Dean Spielmann, La reconnaissance et l’exécution des décisions judiciaires étrangères et les exigences de la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme : Un essai de synthèse
• Jean-Michel Belorgey, La Charte sociale du Conseil de l’Europe et son organe de régulation (1961-2011), le Comité européen des droits sociaux : esquisse d’un bilan
• Frédéric Vanneste, Droit international général et droit international des droits de l’homme : l’apport de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme
• Rodolphe Mésa, Les mesures de sûreté post sententiam privatives et restrictives de liberté dans le droit de la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme
• Bénédicte Lavaud-Legendre, La force normative des textes internationaux consacrés à la protection des victimes de la traite des êtres humains
• Jean-Christophe Lapouble, La localisation des sportifs : une atteinte excessive à la vie privée, ou quand Big Brother s’invite chez les sportifs
• Céline Lageot, La protection des sources des journalistes : Etude de droit comparé franco-britannique inspirée de l’affaire Le Monde c. Eric Woerth
• Elisabeth Lambert-Abdelgawad, L’exécution des arrêts de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme (2010)
• Michel Puéchavy, La difficile conciliation de l’oralité des débats avec le respect du principe du contradictoire (obs/s. Cour eur. dr. h., Labbé c. France, 12 octobre 2010)
• Amandine Philippart de Foy, La provocation policière devant la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme (obs/s. Cour eur. dr. h., Bannikova c. Russie, 4 novembre 2010)
• Jean-Pierre Marguénaud, Le nom du couple binational devant la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme (obs/s. Cour eur. dr. h., Losonci Rose et Rose c. Suisse, 9 novembre 2010)
• Aurélien Antoine, Quand Naomi Campbell fait la une… du droit de la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme (obs/s. Cour eur. dr. h., MGN Limited c. Royaume-Uni, 18 janvier 2011)
• Cédric Raux, La politique d’asile de l’union européenne dans le viseur de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme (obs/s. Cour eur. dr. h., M.S.S. c. Belgique et Grèce, 21 janvier 2011)

Bellal: Immunités et violations graves des droits humains

Annyssa Bellal (L’Académie de droit international humanitaire et de droits humains) has published Immunités et violations graves des droits humains : Vers une évolution structurelle de l’ordre juridique international? (Bruylant 2011). Here's the abstract:

Il existe en droit international, comme dans beaucoup de systèmes juridiques nationaux, une règle empêchant les tribunaux d’exercer leur compétence à l’égard de certaines personnes ou entités. Dans l’ordre juridique international, la règle de l’immunité de juridiction des États et de ses organes est justifiée de diverses manières, notamment pour garantir le principe de la souveraineté des États ou pour permettre aux plus hauts dirigeants d’exercer leurs fonctions. Mais lorsqu’elle se mesure à des cas de violations graves des droits humains, le maintien de l’immunité de juridiction est fortement contesté, non seulement par les victimes, mais aussi plus généralement par des juges et une partie de la doctrine. L’impossibilité dans ces circonstances d’obtenir le jugement du comportement d’un État étranger devant les cours nationales est en effet souvent perçue comme un déni de justice au sens propre du terme favorisant l’impunité des violations les plus graves du droit international. Or la protection de certaines valeurs considérées comme fondamentales, tout comme l’affirmation du pouvoir de réclamer sont au coeur de la philosophie des droits humains. En cela, le développement du droit international des droits humains vient jouer le rôle de levier contestataire du bien-fondé des normes relatives aux immunités de juridiction. Le présent ouvrage vise à examiner ces différentes questions. Il aborde en profondeur le droit des immunités des États et de ses organes, ainsi que la jurisprudence des tribunaux confrontés à la problématique des violations graves des droits humains. En filigrane, il cherche également à démontrer l’influence des droits humains sur l’évolution du droit international aboutissant à la valorisation des droits individuels sur celle, plus classique, des stricts intérêts de l’État.

New Issue: Michigan Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Michigan Journal of International Law (Vol. 32, no. 4, Summer 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Patricia L. Judd, Toward a TRIPS Truce
• Peter G. Danchin, Islam in the Secular Nomos of the European Court of Human Rights
• John Quigley, Palestine is a State: A Horse with Black and White Stripes is a Zebra