New Issue: Human Rights Quarterly

The latest issue of the Human Rights Quarterly (Vol. 33, no. 4, November 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Claude E. Welch Jr. & Ashley F. Watkins, Extending Enforcement: The Coalition for the International Criminal Court
• Geoffrey W.G. Leane, Rights of Ethnic Minorities in Liberal Democracies: Has France Gone Too Far in Banning Muslim Women from Wearing the Burka?
• Ruth Rubio-Marín & Clara Sandoval, Engendering the Reparations Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: The Promise of the Cotton Field Judgment
• Lyle Scruggs, Shareen Hertel, Samuel J. Best & Christopher Jeffords, Information, Choice and Political Consumption: Human Rights in the Checkout Lane
• Tom Parker, Redressing the Balance: How Human Rights Defenders Can Use Victim Narratives to Confront the Violence of Armed Groups
• Ariadna Estévez, Human Rights in Contemporary Political Sociology: The Primacy of Social Subjects

New Issue: International Criminal Law Review

The latest issue of the International Criminal Law Review (Vol. 11, no. 5, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Nicholas Azadi Goodfellow, The Miscategorization of 'Forced Marriage' as a Crime against Humanity by the Special Court for Sierra Leone
• Krit Zeegers, Defence Counsel Immunity at the Ad Hoc Tribunals

New Issue: Journal of World Investment & Trade

The latest issue of the Journal of World Investment & Trade (Vol. 12, no. 6, December 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Locknie Hsu, International Investment Disputes: Ideological Fault Lines and an Evolving Zeitgeist
• Moshe Hirsch, Between Fair and Equitable Treatment and Stabilization Clause: Stable Legal Environment and Regulatory Change in International Investment Law
• Kevin P. Gallagher & Elen Shrestha, Investment Treaty Arbitration and Development: A Re-Appraisal
• Gilbert Gagné, The U.S. Policy on the Protection of Foreign Investment: From the NAFTA to the U.S.-Korea FTA
• Syed Tariq Anwar, Internationalization, Investment Opportunities, Expansion Strategies, and the Changing Telecom Industry in the MENA Region
• Ruwantissa Abeyratne, Investing in Mitigating the Effects of Aircraft Engine Emissions

Conference: The Global Legacy of the ICTY

On November 15-16, 2011, the Internatioanl Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia will convene a conference on "The Global Legacy of the ICTY." The program is here. Here's the idea:

The Conference aims to bring together leading academics, international judges and practitioners, state representatives, and members of civil society, to explore the impact of the Tribunal’s work on international humanitarian law and international criminal procedure, as well as the potential of its jurisprudence to shape the future of global justice and the advancement of human rights.

New Issue: Revue Hellénique de Droit International

The latest issue of the Revue Hellénique de Droit International (Vol. 64, no. 1, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Monika Pauknerová, Treatment of foreign law in a comparative perspective
• Spiros V. Bazinas, Uniform receivables financing law: key policy aspects of the United Nations Convention on the assignment of receivables in international trade
• Constantine D. Mortopoulos, Cave canes impugnates: a legal analysis on armed contractors, ‘peaceful mercenaries’, and the consequences on command responsibility
• Special File: Adoption law in the Balkans: International conference organized by the Institute for the State & the Law of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Sofia, 10 October 2010
• Ekrem Kurt, Adoption in the Turkish civil law
• Ines Medić Musa, International adoption in countries of South-eastern Europe: Croatia – national legislation, applicable law
• Flavius George Pancescu, L’adoption en Roumanie
• Antonia R. Papadelli - Adoption according to Greek law
• Zeynep Derya Tarman, Adoption under Turkish law
• Spyridon Vrellis, The ordre public clause in the Greek case law on adoption
• Mirko Živković & Sanja Marjanović, International adoption in Serbian law
• Questionnaire on the law of adoption (A.R. Papadelli & Z.D. Tarman)
• Georgios Panopoulos, Quels droits fondamentaux pour quel droit communautaire
• Eleni Zervogianni, On the recovery of non-pecuniary loss in Greece

New Issue: Criminal Law Forum

The latest issue of Criminal Law Forum (Vol. 22, no. 3, September 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Larissa van den Herik & Daniëlla Dam-De Jong, Revitalizing the Antique War Crime of Pillage: The Potential and Pitfalls of Using International Criminal Law to Address Illegal Resource Exploitation during Armed Conflict
• Marjolein Cupido, The Policy Underlying Crimes Against Humanity: Practical Reflections on a Theoretical Debate
• Sienna Merope, Recharacterizing the Lubanga Case: Regulation 55 and the Consequences for Gender Justice at the ICC
• Symposium: The STL Appeals Chamber Decision
• Joseph Powderly, Introductory observations on the STL appeals chamber decision: context and critical remarks
• Ben Saul, Amicus Curiae Brief on the Notion of Terrorist Acts Submitted to the Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pursuant to Rule 131 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence
• Kai Ambos, Amicus Curiae Brief Submitted to the Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on the Question of the Applicable Terrorism Offence with a Particular Focus on “Special” Special Intent and/or a Special Motive as Additional Subjective Requirements
• Susana Sácouto & Katherine Cleary, Amicus Curiae Brief on the Practice of Cumulative Charging Before International Criminal Bodies Submitted to the Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pursuant to Rule 131 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence

Perkams: Internationale Investitionsschutzabkommen im Spannungsfeld zwischen effektivem Investitionsschutz und staatlichem Gemeinwohl

Markus Perkams has published Internationale Investitionsschutzabkommen im Spannungsfeld zwischen effektivem Investitionsschutz und staatlichem Gemeinwohl: Eine rechtsvergleichende Untersuchung am Beispiel der Dichotomie von indirekten Enteignungen und nationalen Regulierungen in Investitionsschutzabkommen (Nomos 2011). Here's the abstract:

Gegenstand der Arbeit ist das Spannungsfeld zwischen Investitionsschutzabkommen und staatlichem Gemeinwohl. Die Thematik hat in den letzten 15 Jahren weltweit für erhitzte Diskussionen, teilweise gewalttätige Proteste und tiefgreifende Verunsicherungen gesorgt. Dass das Spannungsfeld trotz dieses vergleichsweise langen Zeitraums nichts an Brisanz verloren hat, zeigt das jüngst vom schwedischen Energiekonzern Vattenfall gegen die Bundesrepublik Deutschland angestrengte ICSID-Verfahren um das Kohlekraftwerk Moorburg bei Hamburg.

Das Werk untersucht das Spannungsfeld exemplarisch am Beispiel des Tatbestands der indirekten Enteignung und seiner Abgrenzung zu nicht-entschädigungspflichtigen Regulierungen. Zur Bestimmung des Tatbestands wird im Rahmen der Vertragsauslegung nach den Regeln der Wiener Vertragsrechtskonvention ein Rechtsvergleich zwischen dem US-amerikanischen, dem deutschen Recht und dem Recht der EU sowie den regionalen Menschenrechtskonventionen, insbesondere der EMRK, vorgenommen. Dieser Rechtsvergleich bildet die Grundlage für die Bestimmung allgemeiner Rechtsprinzipien (Art. 38 (c) StIGH), die dann ihrerseits bei der Auslegung der Enteignungstatbestände der Investitionsschutzabkommen angewandt werden können. Die damit vorgenommene Untersuchung des Spannungsfelds versteht sich als juristische Aufarbeitung der gegenwärtigen Rechtslage und leistet durch die Aufarbeitung der Rechtslage einen Beitrag zu einem besseren Verständnis des Rechtsgebiets, einer Verobjektivierung der Diskussion um seine Vor- und Nachteile und damit auch zu seiner zukünftigen Entwicklung.

Trachtman: Development Aspects of a Trans-Pacific Partnership

Joel P. Trachtman (Tufts Univ. - Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy) has posted Development Aspects of a Trans-Pacific Partnership. Here's the abstract:

Given the current state of multilateral trade negotiations, it appears that preferential trade agreements (PTAs) will serve as the main vehicle for increased liberalization in the short term. The question arises, whether the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) should and could include provisions for special treatment for developing countries, and what other aspects of the TPP have special effects on the growth of developing countries. An important range of issues relates to the preservation of policy space for developing countries to take measures to promote their development. PTAs do not normally have significant arrangements for so-called “special and differential treatment,” which at the WTO includes expanded market access for developing countries in developed country markets, and abstention by developed countries from demands for reciprocal market opening of developing countries. Since the TPP is hoped to have an expanding membership, and is heralded as a “21st Century” trade agreement, it is worthwhile to consider what types of special provisions would be appropriate to be included relating to developing countries.

Saul: Terrorism and International Criminal Law: Questions of (In)Coherence and (Il)Legitimacy

Ben Saul (Univ. of Sydney - Law) has posted Terrorism and International Criminal Law: Questions of (In)Coherence and (Il)Legitimacy (in International Criminal Justice: Legitimacy and Coherence, G. Boas, W. Schabas, & M. Scharf eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

A decade after 9/11, the international field of counter-terrorism is now thick with law. But that does not mean that the law is coherent or legitimate. The birth of new rules, institutions and processes can be anarchic. New norms overlay older, pre-existing legal forms and regimes, generating normative, procedural and institutional ambiguity, fragmentation and collision. In this context, this article first assesses the state of international anti-terrorism law in relation to three notions of coherence: its internal coherence as a discrete legal regime; its relational coherence in respect of other specialized legal regimes; and its consistency of application as a key characteristic of coherence. The law’s coherence may affect its legitimacy; but legitimacy is also affected by other factors. This article next considers two such factors: the determinacy of anti-terrorism law; and the legitimacy of the legal processes and institutions surrounding it. Global anti-terrorism law is an imperfect, chaotic work in progress. The processes and institutions for managing incoherence will gradually muddle through some of the problems of ambiguity, indeterminacy, conflict and fragmentation. Sometimes the dialogue will be constructive, and at other times it will be pistols at ten paces. Much work nonetheless needs to be done to adjust the superstructures which produce and circulate the law. The reform project is urgent not least because the law continues to subordinate liberty to state interests, without necessarily making the world safer.

Ronen: Silent Enim Leges Inter Arma – But Beware of Background Noises: Domestic Courts as Agents of Development of the Laws of Armed Conflict

Yael Ronen (Sha'arei Mishpat College) has posted Silent Enim Leges Inter Arma – But Beware of Background Noises: Domestic Courts as Agents of Development of the Laws of Armed Conflict. Here's the abstract:

Attempts to bring issues related to the laws of armed conflict before domestic courts encounter numerous procedural and substantive obstacles. As a result, there is almost no domestic jurisprudence dealing directly with the law on the conduct of hostilities as a matter of state responsibility. Domestic courts have nonetheless contributed to the development of this law through decisions concerning international criminal law and the law of occupation (and through it, international human rights law). Since each of these spheres of the laws of armed conflict is characterized by different fundamental principles, the limits of reliance on this jurisprudence in developing the law on the conduct of hostilities must be acknowledged, lest the latter be reshaped in a manner which is inconsistent with its basic tenets.

BIICL: Reservations to Treaties: the New 'Guide to Practice'

On November 15, 2011, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law will host an event on "Reservations to Treaties: the New 'Guide to Practice.'" Participants will include: Alain Pellet (Univ. of Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense), Shehzad Charania (Foreign and Commonwealth Office), and Matthew Craven (School of Oriental and African Studies, Univ. of London). Here's the idea:

Reservations to treaties is one of the most difficult and controversial areas of treaty law. It has great practical consequences, including for international human rights law. In August 2011, the UN International Law Commission (ILC) adopted a 'Guide to Practice' on the subject. The Guide to Practice is the outcome of some 15 years of effort. Its impact will depend upon its reception by States and others, but is likely to be considerable. This event will be an early opportunity to discuss the law of reservations and Guide to Practice with Professor Alain Pellet, the ILC's Special Rapporteur for the topic.

New Issue: Leiden Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Leiden Journal of International Law (Vol. 24, no. 4, December 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Symposium: The League of Nations and the Construction of the Periphery
• Fleur Johns, Thomas Skouteris & Wouter Werner, Introduction
• Usha Natarajan, Creating and Recreating Iraq: Legacies of the Mandate System in Contemporary Understandings of Third World Sovereignty
• Umot Özsu, Fabricating Fidelity: Nation-Building, International Law, and the Greek–Turkish Population Exchange
• Rose Parfitt, Empire des Nègres Blancs: The Hybridity of International Personality and the Abyssinia Crisis of 1935–36
• Michelle Burgis, Transforming (Private) Rights through (Public) International Law: Readings on a ‘Strange and Painful Odyssey’ in the PCIJ Mavrommatis Case
• Michael Fakhri, The 1937 International Sugar Agreement: Neo-Colonial Cuba and Economic Aspects of the League of Nations
• Hague International Tribunals: International Criminal Court and Tribunals
• Markus D. Dubber, Common Civility: The Culture of Alegality in International Criminal Law
• Gerhard Anders, Testifying about ‘Uncivilized Events’: Problematic Representations of Africa in the Trial against Charles Taylor
• Current Legal Developments
• Jean-Philippe Kot, Israeli Civilians versus Palestinian Combatants? Reading the Goldstone Report in Light of the Israeli Conception of the Principle of Distinction
• Daniele Amoroso, Moving towards Complicity as a Criterion of Attribution of Private Conducts: Imputation to States of Corporate Abuses in the US Case Law
• Christiane Ahlborn, The Normative Erosion of International Refugee Protection through UN Security Council Practice

Conference: 2011 ASIL Midyear Meeting and Research Forum (Reminder)

Today through Saturday, the American Society of International Law will hold its second annual Midyear Meeting and inaugural Research Forum at UCLA Law School. The program for the Midyear Meeting is here, and for the Research Forum here (scroll to the bottom) and here.

Sloan: The Militarisation of Peacekeeping in the Twenty-First Century

James Sloan (Univ. of Glasgow - Law) has published The Militarisation of Peacekeeping in the Twenty-First Century (Hart Publishing 2011). Here's the abstract:

Since the end of the last century, UN peacekeeping has undergone a fundamental and largely unexamined change. Peacekeeping operations, long expected to use force only in self-defence and to act impartially, are now increasingly relied upon by the Security Council as a means to maintain and restore security within a country. The operations are established under Chapter VII of the UN Charter and some are empowered to use 'all necessary measures', language traditionally reserved for enforcement operations.

Through a close examination of these twenty-first century peacekeeping operations - including operations in Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Haiti and the Darfur region of the Sudan - the book shows that they are, for the most part, fundamentally ill-suited to the enforcement-type tasks being asked of them. The operations, which are under-funded, under-equipped and whose troops are under-trained, frequently lurch from crisis to crisis. There is scant evidence, some 10 years on, that matters are likely to improve.

The book argues that bestowing enforcement-type functions on a peacekeeping operation is misconceived. Such operations are likely to be unsuccessful in their enforcement-type tasks, thereby causing serious damage to the excellent reputation of UN peacekeeping, and the UN more broadly. In addition, because such operations are more likely to be perceived as partial, their ability to carry out traditional (non-forceful) peacekeeping tasks may be impeded. Finally, the Security Council's practice of charging peacekeeping operations with enforcement functions lessens the pressure on the Council to work to establish genuine enforcement operations - ie, operations that are considerably better suited to restoring peace and security.

Murphy: The International Court of Justice

Sean D. Murphy (George Washington Univ. - Law) has posted The International Court of Justice (in The Rules, Practice, and Jurisprudence of International Courts and Tribunals, Chiara Giorgetti ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This essay on the International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) is the first chapter in a new book on international courts and tribunals. Important constraints on the ICJ’s jurisdiction preclude it from resolving most disputes between States, and, as was the case for the predecessor Permanent Court of International Justice, the ICJ is not at the apex of an appellate system of international or national courts. Nevertheless, as the judicial wing of the United Nations, the ICJ stands as the most authoritative court for the interpretation of general rules of international law, with its decisions regularly cited by other global, regional, and national courts. Further, despite its limited jurisdiction, the Court has addressed numerous important disputes among States and issued advisory opinions that have greatly shaped and influenced the development of international law across subject matter areas. In short, the Court is a highly respected and authoritative judicial tribunal, lying at the center of the global legal system, with an influence that extends well beyond the legal relations of the Parties that appear before it.

Hathaway & Shapiro: Outcasting: Enforcement in Domestic and International Law

Oona A. Hathaway (Yale Univ. - Law) & Scott J. Shapiro (Yale Univ. - Law) have posted Outcasting: Enforcement in Domestic and International Law (Yale Law Journal, Vol. 121, no. 2, p. 252, 2011). Here's the abstract:

This Article offers a new way to understand the enforcement of domestic and international law that we call “outcasting.” Unlike the distinctive method that modern states use to enforce their law, outcasting is nonviolent: it does not rely on bureaucratic organizations, such as police or militia, that employ physical force to maintain order. Instead, outcasting involves denying the disobedient the benefits of social cooperation and membership. Law enforcement through outcasting in domestic law can be found throughout history - from medieval Iceland and classic canon law to modern-day public law. And it is ubiquitous in modern international law, from the World Trade Organization to the Universal Postal Union to the Montreal Protocol. Across radically different subject areas, international legal institutions use others (usually states) to enforce their rules and typically deploy outcasting rather than physical force. Seeing outcasting as a form of law enforcement not only helps us recognize that the traditional critique of international law - that it is not enforced and is therefore both ineffective and not real law - is based on a limited and inaccurate understanding of law enforcement. It also allows us to understand more fully when and how international law matters.

Pradhan: Outside the United States, Extraordinary Rendition on Trial

Alka Pradhan (The Constitution Project) has posted an ASIL Insight on Outside the United States, Extraordinary Rendition on Trial.

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. 4, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Amissi M. Manirabona, L'affaire Trafigura: vers la répression de graves atteintes environnementales en tant que crimes contre l'humanité?
• Noémie Blaise, La responsabilité de protéger: les écueils d'une consécration juridique tant attendue
• A. Albarian, Le fidéisme contractuel

Law, Justice and Development Week 2011

Law, Justice and Development Week 2011 will take place November 14-17, 2011, in Washington, DC. Here's the idea:

Law, Justice and Development (LJD) Week 2011 will be a forum to explore how legal innovation and empowerment can contribute to development. For the first time, LJD Week will be a Bank Group event co-organized by the World Bank’s Legal Vice Presidency, IFC and MIGA Legal Departments, and ICSID. LJD Week 2011 intends to focus on three key issues: (a) Global issues, such as challenges relating to international financial regulation, the use of intellectual property rights in development settings, legal challenges/solutions in fragile and conflict states, public-private partnerships, stolen asset recovery, and others; (b) Regional challenges, which will include the role of law in supporting economic and social stability in the Middle East and North Africa region, and legal harmonization as a tool for regional integration; (c) Country cases, which will look at examples of how legal innovation and empowerment have contributed to a rise in global economic power (China), supported state-building (South Sudan), and helped manage emergencies and catastrophic risks (Haiti). LJD Week is scheduled for November 14 - 17, 2011, at World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C., and will include: a three-day International Forum on November 14 - 16 with an opening session, followed by parallel sessions and a plenary round table of General Counsel; and a training day on November 17. For more information please visit WWW.WORLDBANK.ORG/LJDWEEK2011 or email LJDevelopment@worldbank.org.

Conference: Why Still ICSID? Summary Procedures, Annulment Proceedings and the Future of ICSID Arbitration

Tomorrow, November 3, 2011, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law will host a conference on "Why Still ICSID? Summary Procedures, Annulment Proceedings and the Future of ICSID Arbitration." The program is here. Here's the idea:

The purpose of this conference is to assess the future role of ICSID in investment treaty dispute resolution. To this end, panels will consider (a) the developing use of summary procedures in investment treaty arbitration, (b) the ongoing development of ICSID's annulment jurisprudence and (c) ICSID's position in connection with developments in the European Union and bilateral and multilateral treaty practice (e.g. Australia's decision to not include investor-state dispute provisions in future trade agreements and South Africa's investment treaty review).

Triggs: WTO Disputes Settlement – An Evolving Jurisprudence

Gillian Triggs (Univ. of Sydney - Law) has posted WTO Disputes Settlement – An Evolving Jurisprudence (in International Commercial Law, Litigation and Arbitration, K.E. Lindgren & N. Perram eds., 2011). Here's the abstract:

An examination of some of the recent decisions of the panels and Appellate Body demonstrates the continuing evolution of WTO trade rules through traditional processes of treaty interpretation, reference to earlier jurisprudence and judicial reasoning. The quasi-judicial development of the law in these ways has facilitated finding that reflect contemporary concerns for the environment and human health, even for political concerns about public morals. The WTO trade rules can be flexible in the face of efforts to protect endangered species or to protect against the spread of disease. Recent disputes suggest that threats to orderly international trade do not lie in inflexible or out-dated rules, but rather in the failure by Members themselves to conduct proper risk assessments and by their imposition of measures that are little more than ill-disguised restrictions on international trade.

Kontorovich: Discretion, Delegation, and Defining in the Constitution's Law of Nations Clause

Eugene Kontorovich (Northwestern Univ. - Law) has posted Discretion, Delegation, and Defining in the Constitution's Law of Nations Clause (Northwestern University Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Never in the nation’s history has the scope and meaning of Congress’s power to “Define and Punish. . . Offenses Against the Law of Nations” mattered as much. The once obscure power has in recent years been exercised in broad and controversial ways, ranging from civil human rights litigation under the Alien Tort Statue (ATS) to military commissions trials in Guantanamo Bay. Yet it has not yet been recognized that these issues both involve the Offenses Clauses, and indeed raise common constitutional questions.First, can Congress only “Define” offenses that clearly already exist in international law, or does it have discretion to codify debatable, embryonic, or even nonexistent international law norms? Second, assuming Congress does have creative leeway under the Offenses Clause, what happens to this discretion when it delegates the power to a coordinate branch? Ironically, the Offenses Clause has cross-cutting political implications: a narrow understanding of the power limits the crimes that can be tried before military commissions, but also forecloses much human rights litigation under the ATS.

This Article shows that Offenses Clause only allows Congress to “Define” – to specify the elements and incidents of - offenses already created by customary international law. It does not allow Congress to create entirely new offenses independent of preexisting international law. At the same time, the Framers understood international law to be vague and intertwined with foreign policy considerations. Reasonable people can widely disagree about what international law is and requires. Thus courts reviewing congressional definitions should give them considerable deference. Moreover, whatever discretion Congress has in defining offenses disappears when it broadly delegates that power to another branch, as it has in the ATS. Thus courts can only recognizes causes of action under the ATS for the most well-established and clearly defined international crimes. The Supreme Court suggested a similar standard for ATS causes of action in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain. Appreciating the role of delegation in the ATS shows that the limits on offenses that can be litigated under the statute have a constitutional dimension.

The Article develops the original understanding of the Offenses Clause – particularly important given the lack of any judicial decisions on it in the nation’s first century. It draws on previously unexplored sources, such as early cases about the meaning of the “Define” power in the cognate context of “piracy and felonies;” legislation by early Congresses exercising - or refusing to exercise – the Offenses power – and discussions by Framers like Madison and others.

Giegerich & Proelß: Bewahrung des ökologischen Gleichgewichts durch Völker- und Europarecht

Thomas Giegerich (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel - Walther-Schücking-Institut für Internationales Recht) & Alexander Proelß (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel - Walther-Schücking-Institut für Internationales Recht) have published Bewahrung des ökologischen Gleichgewichts durch Völker- und Europarecht (Duncker & Humblot 2011). Contents include:

• A. Proelß, Einführung
• T. Marauhn, Menschenrecht auf eine gesunde Umwelt: Trugbild oder Wirklichkeit?
• G. Winter, Die institutionelle und instrumentelle Entstaatlichung im Klimaschutzregime: Gestalt, Problemlösungskapazität und Rechtsstaatlichkeit
• R. Dolzer & C. Kreuter-Kirchhof, Das Umweltvölkerrecht als Wegweiser neuer Entwicklungen des allgemeinen Völkerrechts?
• H. Horn & P. C. Mavroidis, Trade, Environmental Policies and the Role of Jurisdiction in the WTO
• P.-T. Stoll, Gerechte Nutzung genetischer Ressourcen zwischen Bewahrung der Artenvielfalt, Schutz indigenen Wissens und Wirtschaftsfreiheit
• A. Epiney, Abfalltourismus aus rechtlicher Sicht; ausgewählte europarechtliche Aspekte
• U. Beyerlin, Wege zur Verbesserung der Nord-Süd-Kooperation in globalen Umweltfragen
• K. Hakapää, Protection of the Marine Environment in the Light of New Uses and Old Dangers

Lectures (Audio/Video): Born, Schrijver, Witt

Here are links to the audio or video of some important lectures delivered this year:

• Gary Born's Keynote Address to the "Borders Skirmishes" symposium at University of Missouri's Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution: video
• Nico Schrijver's Sir Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lectures at the University of Cambridge on "The United Nations of the Future. The Role of International Law": audio
• John Witt's inaugural lecture as the Allen H. Duffy Class of 1960 Professor of Law at the Yale Law School on "Lincoln’s Code: The Puzzling History of the Laws of War": audio

Mahnad: Targeting Versus Deprivation of Liberty Under the International Law of Armed Conflict

Ramin Mahnad (International Committee of the Red Cross) has posted an ASIL Insight on Targeting Versus Deprivation of Liberty Under the International Law of Armed Conflict.

Dufour: Les OGM et l'OMC : Analyse des accords SPS, OTC et du GATT

Geneviève Dufour has published Les OGM et l'OMC : Analyse des accords SPS, OTC et du GATT (Bruylant 2011). Here's the abstract:

L’Organisation mondiale du commerce constitue le cadre de référence en matière de commerce international. Les États qui en sont membres ne doivent pas, dans l’élaboration de leur cadre normatif, entraver le commerce. Dans cette optique, il est normal que le droit de l’OMC ait pour effet de réduire la marge de manœuvre normative des États dans l’élaboration de leur législation. Le présent ouvrage vise à évaluer l’ampleur de cette dépossession normative. Le thème des OGM sert de cadre d’analyse concret, puisqu’il traduit bien les préoccupations reliées à cette dépossession lorsque les États désirent encadrer les risques sanitaires et environnementaux.

L’ouvrage se divise en trois parties. La partie préliminaire brosse un tableau des OGM, sous les angles scientifique, politique et juridique. Ensuite, la partie I est l’occasion d’analyser la problématique au regard des dispositions pertinentes de l’Accord sur l’application des mesures sanitaires et phytosanitaires, car il semble qu’une majorité de mesures relatives aux OGM tombe dans son champ d’application. Finalement, la partie II se concentre sur la question des mesures ne relevant pas du domaine sanitaire et phytosanitaire. Le GATT et l’Accord sur les obstacles techniques au commerce font l’objet d’une analyse détaillée.

C’est au terme d’une analyse globale du corpus juridique applicable qu’il devient possible d’évaluer réellement l’impact des règles de l’OMC sur le potentiel d’adopter des mesures encadrant le commerce international des OGM. C’est du moins au regard de cette analyse exhaustive qu’il devient possible d’identifier la meilleure manière pour les États d’élaborer des réglementations encadrant le commerce des OGM tout en minimisant les risques que celles-ci soient considérées contraires aux principes de l’OMC.

New Issue: Internationales Handelsrecht

The latest issue of Internationales Handelsrecht (2011, no. 5) is out. Contents include:

• Sven Schilf, Der Gerichtsstand des Erfüllungsortes im deutsch-schweizerischen Rechtsverkehr bei Geltung des UN-Kaufrechts als anwendbarem Recht – Rückschau auf de Bloos / Tessili

Simonen: The State versus the Individual: The Unresolved Dilemma of Humanitarian Intervention

Katariina Simonen (Ministry of Defence, Finland) has published The State versus the Individual: The Unresolved Dilemma of Humanitarian Intervention (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2011). Here's the abstract:

Whether States, coalitions of States or inter-governmental organizations can engage in humanitarian intervention lawfully without the UN Security Council´s authorization has been debated at length. Following NATO´s intervention in Kosovo in 1999, the international lawgiver had to act. The result was the concept of the responsibility to protect. But the fundamental question of the legality of humanitarian intervention remained. This book takes a new approach by combining legal theory and international law. Legal theory enables the concept of legal validity to be better understood and permits the question to be evaluated thoroughly in international law. The outcome is that the international lawgiver has to confront the hard problem whether or not there is enough interest for human rights protection.

Trachtman: Who Cares About International Human Rights? The Supply and Demand of International Human Rights Law

Joel P. Trachtman (Tufts Univ. - Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy) has posted Who Cares About International Human Rights? The Supply and Demand of International Human Rights Law. Here's the abstract:

Especially in circumstances of great asymmetry, international law can usefully be understood in terms of supply and demand, which highlights the costs and benefits to both the demanding state and the responding state. Human rights protection will often have this asymmetric character as between liberal democratic states and authoritarian states. It is not immediately obvious why liberal democratic states care about human rights in authoritarian states, but this article provides a taxonomy of bases for concern. It is also not immediately obvious why authoritarian states would enter into human rights treaties that constrain their actions. While they may have domestic reasons to use international law to “lock-in” certain behaviors, assuming that international law serves this purpose, or to signal to either external audiences or internal audiences what type they are, these types of reasons seem less plausible and general than a simpler exchange-based model under which other states provide some valuable consideration or refrain from taking harmful action in exchange for human rights protection. International law can serve as a tool for exchange of consideration—for reciprocal and linked exchange—that disrupts existing political equilibria, allowing a superior political outcome for each state under asymmetry. International law may also address the collective action problem that may arise among liberal democratic states as they determine how to share the costs of inducing authoritarian states to protect human rights.

Mitchell & Ayres: General and Security Exceptions Under the GATT and the GATS

Andrew D. Mitchell (Univ. of Melbourne - Law) & Glyn Ayres (Univ. of Melbourne - Law) have posted General and Security Exceptions Under the GATT and the GATS (in International Trade Law and WTO, Indira Carr, Jahid Bhuiyan & Shawkat Alam eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This chapter introduces the general and security exceptions in Articles XX and XXI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (‘GATT 1994’) and Articles XIV and XIV bis of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (‘GATS’). The general exceptions are key provisions of the GATT 1994 and the GATS, allowing Members to justify on a number of non-trade policy grounds measures that would otherwise be inconsistent with the WTO Agreement. These grounds include protecting the environment, public health and public morals, and preventing deceptive practices. The general exceptions provide a mechanism for balancing trade liberalisation (as a means to achieving objectives such as raising standards of living) with other important policy objectives that Members may choose to pursue. As such, they often feature prominently in disputes brought to the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’). The security exceptions serve a similar function, in that they ensure that the GATT 1994 and the GATS do not require Members to compromise their essential security interests. However, the security exceptions have featured much less prominently in WTO litigation; we therefore discuss them in less detail in this chapter.