Kroker: Zivilparteien in Völkerstrafverfahren

Patrick Kroker has published Zivilparteien in Völkerstrafverfahren: Eine Analyse der Opferbeteiligung an den Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (Duncker & Humblot 2012). Here's the abstract:

Die aktive Beteiligung von Opfern an Strafverfahren ist seit der Gründung des Internationalen Strafgerichtshofs ein fester Bestandteil des Völkerstrafprozesses. In der vorliegenden Arbeit untersucht der Autor eine für das Völkerstrafrecht neuartige Form der Opferbeteiligung, wie sie am Sondertribunal zur Untersuchung der Khmer Rouge-Verbrechen in Kambodscha praktiziert wird: An den Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) können die Verletzten den Status als »partie civile« erlangen. Dieser an die Nebenklage im französischen Recht angelehnte Status berechtigt zur Beteiligung an den Verfahren und zur Geltendmachung kollektiver und moralischer Reparationen.

Nach einer Einführung in den Hintergrund der Verfahren werden im ersten Teil die normativen Vorgaben für die Ausgestaltung der Opferbeteiligung, insbesondere die völkerrechtlich anerkannten Opfer- und Beschuldigtenrechte, herausgearbeitet. Es folgt eine Diskussion der Bedürfnisse von Verletzten massiver Gewalt. Im zweiten Teil wird der Zivilparteistatus im Lichte dieser Bedürfnisse analysiert und untersucht, ob er zu einer tatsächlichen Verbesserung der Stellung der Verletzten in Völkerstrafverfahren geführt hat. Neben dem Antragsverfahren, den einzelnen Verfahrensrechten und dem kollektiven Entschädigungsanspruch wird auch die praktische Durchführung der Opferbeteiligung in die Analyse einbezogen. Dabei werden Reformmöglichkeiten im Hinblick auf die Opferbeteiligung an den ECCC sowie an anderen Völkerstraftribunalen aufgezeigt.

Andresen, Boasson, & Hønneland: International Environmental Agreements: An Introduction

Steinar Andresen (Fridtjof Nansen Institute), Elin Boasson (Fridtjof Nansen Institute), & Geir Hønneland (Fridtjof Nansen Institute) have published International Environmental Agreements: An Introduction (Routledge 2012). Here's the abstract:

International environmental agreements provide a practical basis for countries to address environmental issues on a global scale. This book explores the workings and outcomes of these agreements, and analyses key questions of why some problems are dealt with successfully and others ignored.

By examining fundamental policies and issues in environmental protection this text gives an easily comprehensible introduction to international environmental agreements, and discusses problems in three areas: air, water and on land. It traces the history of agreements in broad thematic areas related to long-distance air pollution, ozone-depleting and greenhouse gases, ocean management, biological diversity, agricultural plant diversity and forest stewardship. Drawing on experts in their respective fields, this book provides an insightful evaluation of the successes and failures, and analysis of the reasons for this. Concluding with an insightful examination of research to show how performance of agreements can be improved in the future, this volume is a vital contribution to our understanding of the politics associated with establishing international environmental consensus.

Call for Submissions: Africa Nazarene University Law Journal

The Africa Nazarene University Law Journal has issued a call for submissions for its inaugural issue. Here's the call:

Call for Articles for the April 2013 Inaugural Issue

Africa Nazarene University Law Journal (ANULJ) focuses on various contemporary issues relating to comparative and international law. It is published under the auspices of the Africa Nazarene University Law School in Nairobi, Kenya. The Journal will be published twice in a year, in April and November.

The Journal calls for original unpublished articles for its inaugural issue to be published in April 2013 under the theme ‘application of international law in domestic legal systems’. Relevant topics that may be considered include:

- Contemporary case studies on approaches taken by various states in the application of international law in the domestic set-up;

- The place of international law in the hierarchy of norms within a state;

- Construction of international law in domestic courts;

- Whether international law is gaining primacy over municipal law in the current century, or there is a trend of states rejecting unrestricted supremacy of international law over national constitutional principles;

- What is the emerging jurisprudence with regard to theories that explain the application of international law in domestic courts, namely; monism, dualism and the theory of harmonization?

- The use of international law as an interpretative instrument in domestic human rights litigation;

- Book reviews (general);

- Case notes/reviews (general)

Further details on the call for articles are available here.

Workshop: Strategies for realising social economic rights in practice

On December 13, 2012, the Human Rights Centre in Practice and the Institute of Advanced Study at the University of Warwick will hold a workshop on "Strategies for realising social economic rights in practice: Multi-disciplinary experiences from early career researchers." I noted the call for papers here. The program is here.

Call for Submissions: Special Issue of the International Community Law Review

The International Community Law Review has issued a call for submissions for a special issue on the doctrinal restatement of international law by international tribunals. Here's the call:

The International Community Law Review addresses all aspects of international law and the international community. The Journal aims to explore the implications of various traditions of international law and how the international community uses and adapts international law to deal with new and emerging challenges. The Journal can be accessed here.

In 2013 the fourth issue of the International Community Law Review will be a Special Issue. This Special Issue will be edited by Professor Duncan French (University of Lincoln) and Dr. Russell Buchan (University of Sheffield). The focus of the Special Issue will be to assess to what extent recent case-law has seen a doctrinal restatement of international law by the International Court of Justice and other tribunals, with little regard to the complex and modern pressures upon States. Areas of the law that have seen restatement, if not retrenchment, include the use of force, State immunity and self-determination, as well as arguably a conservative view of the consensual jurisdiction of the Court. Equally, other commentators may wish to critique this understanding.

Authors wishing to contribute an article to the Special Issue should submit an abstract of no more than 400 words to Dr. Russell Buchan (r.j.buchan@sheffield.ac.uk) by 18 February 2013. Authors will be informed by 1 March 2013 as to whether their abstract has been accepted. Subsequently, contributors will be required to submit their articles (approximately 10, 000 words in length) to the editors no later than 1 July 2013.

New Issue: World Arbitration and Mediation Review

The latest issue of the World Arbitration and Mediation Review (Vol. 6, no. 1, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• James E. Castello, Generalizing about the Virtues of Specificity : the Surprising Evolution of the Longest Article in the UNCITRAL Model Law
• C. Mark Baker & Efrén C. Olivares, "Ad Hoc" International Arbitrations - the Way of the Future?
• Gerardo Lozano Alarcón, "Ex Aequo et Bono" Arbitration
• Aníbal Sabater, "Cultural Conflicts" in International Arbitration : Myths, Misunderstandings, and Lessons from Dealing with the Unusual
• David Morán Bovio, UNCITRAL on Insolvency Law : Third Act - First Scene

Call for Papers: International Graduate Legal Research Conference 2013

A call for papers has been issued for the seventh annual International Graduate Legal Research Conference, to be held at King’s College London, April 8-9, 2013. The closing date for receipt of abstracts is Monday, December 17, 2012. The call is here.

New Issue: Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights

The latest issue of the Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights (Vol. 30, no. 4, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Framing Multicultural Issues in Terms of Human Rights: Solution or Problem?
• W. Van Rossum, Introduction
• K. Alidadi & M.-C. Foblets, Framing multicultural Challenges in Freedom of Religion Terms
• M. Van Den Brink & J. Tigchelaar, Shaping Genitals, Shaping Perceptions
• R. Kool, Step Forward, or Forever Hold you Peace: Penalising Forced Marriages in the Netherlands
• T. Loenen, Framing Headscarves and Other Multi-cultural Issues as Religious, Cultural, Racial or Gendered: the Role of Human Rights Law

New Issue: Revue Québécoise de Droit International

The latest issue of the Revue Québécoise de Droit International (Vol. 24, no. 2, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Études
• Émilie Conway, Étiquetage obligatoire de l'origine des produits au bénéfice des consommateurs : portée et limites
• Émilie Fortin, Quatre détenus en RD Congo entendus à la CPI : saisine inédite établissant la primauté des droits de l'homme internationalement reconnus lors de l'application du Statut de Rome
• Estibaliz Jimenez, Madeline Lamboley & Marie-Marthe Cousineau, Le mariage forcé peut-il être une forme de traite en vertu du Protocole additionnel à la Convention des Nations Unies contre la criminalité transnationale organisée visant à prévenir, réprimer et punir la traite des personnes, en particulier des femmes et des enfants?
• Geneviève Lafond, Dignity at Work : Why is International Law Fit for the Job?
• Karl-Alexander Neumann & Landon Wade Magnusson, Pour une class-action européenne dans le droit de la concurrence
• Alain-Guy Tachou Sipowo, Chef d'État à Khartoum et criminel de guerre au Darfour. La responsabilité pénale du fait d'un intermédiaire en droit pénal international : le cas Hassan Omar Al Bashir devant la Cour pénale internationale
• Notes et commentaires
• Loïc Vatna, Regard prospectif sur la gouvernance internationale du développement durable

New Issue: Review of International Political Economy

The latest issue of the Review of International Political Economy (Vol. 19, no. 5, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Greg Anderson, Securitization and sovereignty in post-9/11 North America
• Laszlo Bruszt & Gerald A. McDermott, Integrating rule takers: Transnational integration regimes shaping institutional change in emerging market democracies
• Andrea Pechova, Legitimising discourses in the framework of European integration: The politics of Euro adoption in the Czech Republic and Slovakia
• Adam N. Stulberg, Strategic bargaining and pipeline politics: Confronting the credible commitment problem in Eurasian energy transit
• Michael M. Bechtel, Thomas Bernauer & Reto Meyer, The green side of protectionism: Environmental concerns and three facets of trade policy preferences
• Alexander Libman & Evgeny Vinokurov, Post-Soviet integration and the interaction of functional bureaucracies
• Amy A. Quark, Scientized politics and global governance in the cotton trade: Evaluating divergent theories of scientization
• Cornelia Woll, Open skies, closed markets: Future games in the negotiation of international air transport
• Matthew Louis Bishop, The political economy of small states: Enduring vulnerability?

New Issue: Journal of Conflict & Security Law

The latest issue of the Journal of Conflict & Security Law (Vol. 17, no. 3, Winter 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Pierre-Emmanuel Dupont, Countermeasures and Collective Security: The Case of the EU Sanctions Against Iran
• Craig Allan & Thérèse O’Donnell, A Call to Alms?: Natural Disasters, R2P, Duties of Cooperation and Uncharted Consequences
• Ray Murphy, Peacekeeping in Lebanon and Civilian Protection
• Michael Salter, Reinterpreting Competing Interpretations of the Scope and Potential of the Martens Clause
• Mike Madden, Of Wolves and Sheep: A Purposive Analysis of Perfidy Prohibitions in International Humanitarian Law
• Satvinder Singh Juss, Terrorism and the Exclusion of Refugee Status in the UK

Wolff: New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards - Commentary

Reinmar Wolff has published New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards - Commentary (Nomos 2013). Here's the abstract:

In a world of globalised trade and commerce, businesses are faced with judicial services of various legal traditions, some of questionable quality and neutrality. As a result, arbitration has become the dispute resolution mechanism of choice in cross-border commercial transactions. International arbitration not only paves the way for parties to avoid the imponderables of proceedings before foreign state courts. It also facilitates the transnational enforceability of awards which is far more effective than the enforceability of state court judgements. The major instrument is the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“New York Convention”) of 10 June 1958. In the meantime, the New York Convention has become one of the most successful conventions ever, ratified by 147 states, including all trading nations of importance. Having established uniform global standards for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitration agreements and arbitral awards, the New York Convention’s role in promoting international arbitration cannot be underestimated. For good reasons the New York Conventions is labelled the Magna Charta of international arbitration. The 16 articles of the Convention are dealt with article-by-article, with a clear structure which swiftly guides the reader to the issue that he or she is engaged with.

Grossman: The Normative Legitimacy of International Courts

Nienke Grossman (Univ. of Baltimore - Law) has posted The Normative Legitimacy of International Courts. Here's the abstract:

Traditional justifications for the authority of international courts are based on outmoded assumptions of the role and impact of international courts. State consent and procedural fairness to litigants are insufficient to ground the normative legitimacy of institutions which may adjudicate the international rights and duties of non-litigants, deeply affect the interests of non-litigating stakeholders and shape the law prospectively. These realities mandate a new approach to the normative legitimacy of international courts. This article presents three alternative or additional approaches for justifying the authority of international courts. First, legitimacy requires a re-imagining of procedural fairness to include those whose international rights and duties are being adjudicated by international courts. Further, democratic theory can help to justify the authority of international courts so long as stakeholders are given the opportunity to participate in the formulation of policies that affect them. Second, international courts must adhere to certain universal standards of justice. They cannot facilitate the violation of a set of core norms, including prohibitions against torture, slavery, racial discrimination and genocide, and still retain their legitimacy. Third, the extent to which an international court implements the objectives it was created for may also affect its legitimacy. The article’s objective is to spark discussion about the standards by which these increasingly important institutions should be judged.

New Issue: L'Observateur des Nations Unies

The latest issue of L'Observateur des Nations Unies (# 32, 2012-1) is out. Contents include:

• Dossier: Dix ans de fonctionnement de la Cour pénale internationale : Quel bilan ?
• Julie Ferrero & Thomas Margueritte, Éditorial
• Frédéric Mégret, Trois paradigmes de la justice pénale internationale
• Bruno Cathala, Les premiers mois de la Cour pénale internationale
• Olivia Swaak-Goldman & Antônia Pereira de Sousa, Paix et justice : le rôle de la Cour pénale internationale
• Silvana Arbia, La contribution du greffe à l’accomplissement des buts stratégiques de la Cour pénale internationale
• Paolina Massidda & Caroline Walter, L’expression des vues et préoccupations des victimes dans les procédures devant la Cour pénale internationale: un premier bilan, principaux enjeux et perspectives
• Cyril Laucci, Démystifier la participation des victimes devant la Cour pénale internationale
• Catherine Maia & Kadidiatou Hama, La Cour pénale internationale vue d’Afrique : organe juridictionnel ou organe politique ?
• Carole Valérie Nouazi Kemkeng, La Cour pénale internationale et la souveraineté des États : le bilan de dix ans de rapports dialectiques
• Rémy Prouvèze, Quelques réflexions a propos de la poursuite des chefs d’État devant la Cour pénale internationale, nouvel avatar d’une épine récurrente dans le pied de la justice internationale pénale
• Thomas Margueritte, La contumace: une solution juridique au défaut d'exécution des mandats d'arrêt délivrés par la Cour pénale internationale
• Julie Ferrero, L’article 21 (3) et l’interprétation du traité : quels droits de l’homme pour le statut de Rome ?
• Hélène Tigroudja, La CPI marque-t-elle la fin de l'histoire de la justice pénale internationale ?
• Points d'appui
• Sayeman Bula-Bula, La réforme du conseil de sécurité : une perspective africaine

Martin: Demokratisierung des Völkerrechts?

Zobl Martin has published Demokratisierung des Völkerrechts? Partizipationschancen des Individuums in internationalen Entscheidungsprozessen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung humanitärer Abrüstungsregime (Schulthess 2012). Here's the abstract:

Wie steht es um die Demokratisierung des Völkerrechts? Da im Zeichen von Global Governance Entscheidkompetenzen unaufhaltsam auf die internationale Ebene abwandern, stellt sich die Frage der Legitimation internationaler Rechtsakte mit zunehmender Vehemenz. Die vorliegende Studie geht zunächst dieser Problematik und ihren Ursachen auf den Grund. Alsdann diskutiert sie verschiedene Ansätze, welche die Partizipation und die Einbindung des Individuums in die internationale Entscheidfindung fördern können: Nicht nur die konventionellen Einflusskanäle über die Staatsorgane, sondern auch Beteiligungsformen in internationalen Regimen und Formen von Multilevel Governance bergen Demokratisierungspotenzial. Zur Veranschaulichung dienen aktuelle Entwicklungen des Völker- und Europarechts sowie spezifisch des humanitären Abrüstungsrechts.

Chhina: Standby Letters of Credit in International Trade

Ramandeep Chhina has published Standby Letters of Credit in International Trade (Wolters Kluwer 2012). Here's the abstract:

The question of what constitutes ‘fraud in the transaction’ with respect to international letters of credit varies considerably among jurisdictions. In proving allegations of fraud, it is crucial for the practitioner to know the relevant jurisdiction’s case law, especially if wider defences such as inducement, unconscionable conduct or bad faith must be invoked. In this book, the author argues that, whereas ‘fraud in the documents’ is generally sufficient in cases involving commercial letters of credit, standby letters of credit demand a wider fraud exception.

The central issue – how wide that fraud exception should be – is what this book explores in depth.This author compares and critically examines the application of the fraud exception in four major trade jurisdictions – the United States, England, Canada, and Australia. With an overall focus on how each jurisdiction’s fraud tests treat the autonomy of standby letters of credit, she builds her arguments on such relevant sources and concepts as the following: when it can be shown that the beneficiary has ‘no bona fide belief’ in the validity of its claim demand guarantees; international initiatives (ICC Rules and the UN Convention on Independent Guarantee and Standby Letters of Credit); the Sztejn Rule; parameters of the ‘fraud in the transaction’ defence ‘materiality’ standard; prerequisites for injunctive relief; arguing ‘fraud in the formation of the contract’; performance bond cases; applying the ‘breach of good faith’ defence; ‘negative stipulation’ in the underlying contract; and equitable versus statutory/broader notion of unconscionability.

The presentation includes detailed summaries and analyses of leading cases in all four jurisdictions.

New Issue: Mealey's International Arbitration Report

The latest issue of Mealey's International Arbitration Report (Vol. 27, no. 11, November 2012) is out.

Keitner: Adjudicating Acts of State

Chimène I. Keitner (Univ. of California - Hastings College of the Law) has posted Adjudicating Acts of State. Here's the abstract:

An apparent paradox lies at the heart of modern transnational human rights litigation. On the one hand, relevant actors in the international community have agreed that certain actions performed by individuals on behalf of states are so offensive to basic notions of human freedom and dignity that no state’s officials should be able to engage in them with impunity. On the other hand, the principles of sovereign equality and non-interference in the affairs of other states (absent U.N. Security Council authorization) continue to animate basic understandings of the structure of international society and the limits of international law.

One of the central puzzles for international law remains the problem of enforcement. Increasingly, where individual actors violate international legal norms, interested parties seek to use the judicial machinery of foreign states to impose legal consequences for such violations. I have referred to this phenomenon as “horizontal” enforcement because, legally speaking, states are situated on an equal or horizontal plane vis-à-vis each other. Some view horizontal enforcement as presumptively illegitimate, based on the idea that one sovereign cannot sit in judgment on the acts of another sovereign. Others maintain that recognition of the idea of “universal jurisdiction” to prescribe, adjudicate, and enforce prohibitions on certain types of specifically defined and universally condemned conduct (such as torture, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and piracy) necessarily entails an acceptance of horizontal enforcement by foreign states, in addition to “vertical” enforcement by international bodies. Courts and commentators continue to grapple with defining the circumstances under which horizontal enforcement may be warranted.

This contribution focuses on horizontal enforcement in the form of civil proceedings against current or, more often, former foreign officials. It focuses on the practice of the United States, although civil proceedings (and criminal proceedings joined by parties civiles) have also been brought against foreign officials in other countries. Part II sets forth the distinction between status-based (ratione personae) and conduct-based (ratione materiae) immunity for individual officials. Part III traces the late nineteenth-century origins of the act of state doctrine in U.S. courts to earlier, eighteenth-century understandings of conduct-based immunity. Although the act of state doctrine subsequently took on a different, narrower meaning in litigation involving foreign expropriations, Part IV concludes by suggesting that understanding the connection between early formulations of the act of state doctrine and claims to conduct-based immunity can help define the circumstances under which U.S. courts can and should impose legal consequences on foreign defendants for internationally unlawful conduct.

New Issue: International Legal Materials

The latest issue of International Legal Materials (Vol. 51, no. 3, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Hirsi Jamaa v. Italy (Eur. Ct. H.R.), with introductory note by Jan Arno Hessbruegge
• Al-Khawaja & Tahery v. United Kingdom (Eur. Ct. H.R.), with introductory note by Rebecca P. Barnes
• Republic of Argentina v. BG Group PLC (D.C. Cir.), with introductory note by Christopher M. Ryan & Jonathan L. Greenblatt
• Air Transp. Ass’n of Am. v. Sec’y of State for Energy & Climate Change (E.C.J.), with introductory note by Uwe M. Erling
• Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Ger. v. It.) (I.C.J.), with introductory note by Ben Love
• Admissions of Palestine to UNESCO and Related Documents, with introductory note by John Cerone

New Issue: International Review of the Red Cross

The latest issue of the International Review of the Red Cross (Vol. 94, no. 885, Spring 2012) is out. The theme is "Occupation." Contents include:

• Research Articles
• Interview with Raja Shehadeh - Palestinian lawyer and writer
• Debate
• Marten Zwanenburg, Michael Bothe & Marco Sassòli, Is the law of occupation applicable to the invasion phase?
• Articles
• Yutaka Arai-Takahashi, Preoccupied with occupation: critical examinations of the historical development of the law of occupation
• Rotem Giladi, A different sense of humanity: occupation in Francis Lieber's Code
• Annette Becker, The dilemmas of protecting civilians in occupied territory: the precursory example of World War I
• Tristan Ferraro, Determining the beginning and end of an occupation under international humanitarian law
• Vaios Koutroulis, The application of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in situation of prolonged occupation: only a matter of time?
• David Kretzmer, The law of belligerent occupation in the Supreme Court of Israel
• Gregory H. Fox, Transformative occupation and the unilateralist impulse
• Kenneth Watkin, Use of force during occupation: law enforcement and conduct of hostilities
• Noam Lubell, Human rights obligations in military occupation
• Comments and Opinions
• Matthew R. Hover, The occupation of Iraq: a military perspective on lessons learned

Schernbeck: Der Fair and Equitable Treatment Standard in internationalen Investitionsschutzabkommen

Andrea Schernbeck has published Der Fair and Equitable Treatment Standard in internationalen Investitionsschutzabkommen (Nomos 2013). Here's the abstract:

Der Fair and Equitable Treatment Standard (FETS) ist in nahezu allen modernen Investitionsschutzabkommen enthalten. Er ist der mit Abstand am häufigsten durch Investoren in Investor-Staat-Schiedsverfahren geltend gemachte Schutzstandard. Die FET-Klauseln sind jedoch so offen formuliert, dass sie keinen Rückschluss auf den normativen Inhalt zulassen. Dies hat in der Vergangenheit zu erheblicher Unsicherheit über Inhalt und Grenzen des FETS geführt.

Die Autorin untersucht und systematisiert umfassend den normativen Inhalt der FET-Bestimmungen. Sie analysiert die umfängliche Schiedsrechtsprechung und arbeitet die entscheidenden Kriterien heraus. Besonderes Augenmerk gilt der „protection of legitimate expectations“, dem praktisch wichtigsten Tatbestand, dessen Voraussetzungen und Grenzen sie intensiv behandelt.

New Volume: Annuaire français de droit international

The latest volume of the Annuaire français de droit international (Vol. 57, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Joe Verhoeven, Les préfaces du droit international . . . ou ce qui est dit « avant »
• G. Cottereau, Côte d’Ivoire : l’impossible alternance pacifique
• O. Corten, La complicité dans le droit de la responsabilité internationale : un concept inutile ?
• J.-F. Guilhaudis, Les traités de Lancaster House et la coopération franco-britannique en matière de défense et de sécurité
• A. Tardieu, Les conférences des États parties

Conference: 33rd Meeting of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationales Recht

The 33rd meeting of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationales Recht will take place at the Universität Luzern, March 14-16, 2013.

New Issue: Revue de Droit International et de Droit Comparé

The latest issue of the Revue de Droit International et de Droit Comparé (Vol. 89, no. 4, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• M. Lacroix, Une conjugaison des temps passé et présent de l’illicéité : Analyse conceptuelle à travers un prisme historique et comparatiste
• J.F. Leclercq, Les sociétés de ferries et de bateaux de croisière protègent-elles les passagers maritimes et fluviaux ?
• A. Zarrouki, Le raisonnement a contrario : Étude méthodologique juridique comparée

New Issue: Journal of International Arbitration

The latest issue of the Journal of International Arbitration (Vol. 29, no. 6, December 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Leandro Tripodi, Provisional Measures, Permanent Changes: The Arbitration-Friendliness of the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice
• Gretta L. Walters, Fitting a Square Peg into a Round Hole: Do Res Judicata Challenges in International Arbitration Constitute Jurisdictional or Admissibility Problems?
• Manu Thadikkaran, Judicial Intervention in International Commercial Arbitration: Implications and Recent Developments from the Indian Perspective
• Sven-Michael Volkmer, Stay of Enforcement Decisions in ICSID Annulment Proceedings: Taking Stock
• Kun Fan, The New Arbitration Ordinance in Hong Kong
• Khalid Alnowaiser, The New Arbitration Law and its Impact on Investment in Saudi Arabia

New Issue: Journal of International Dispute Settlement

The latest issue of the Journal of International Dispute Settlement (Vol. 3, no. 3, November 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Introduction: Courts and Tribunals and the Treatment of Scientific Issues
• Tullio Treves, Law and Science in the Interpretation of the Law of the Sea Convention: Article 76 Between the Law of the Sea Tribunal and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf
• Gabrielle Z. Marceau & Jennifer K. Hawkins, Experts in WTO Dispute Settlement
• Makane Moïse Mbengue, Scientific Fact-finding by International Courts and Tribunals
• Caroline E. Foster, Adjudication, Arbitration and the Turn to Public Law ‘Standards of Review’: Putting the Precautionary Principle in the Crucible
• Yuka Fukunaga, Standard of Review and ‘Scientific Truths’ in the WTO Dispute Settlement System and Investment Arbitration
• Stephan W. Schill, Deference in Investment Treaty Arbitration: Re-conceptualizing the Standard of Review
• Eric de Brabandere, ‘Good Faith’, ‘Abuse of Process’ and the Initiation of Investment Treaty Claims

Ker-Lindsay: The Foreign Policy of Counter Secession: Preventing the Recognition of Contested States

James Ker-Lindsay (London School of Economics) has published The Foreign Policy of Counter Secession: Preventing the Recognition of Contested States (Oxford Univ. Press 2012). Here's the abstract:

How do states prevent the recognition of territories that have unilaterally declared independence? At a time when the issue of secession is becoming increasingly significant on the world stage, this is the first book to consider this crucial question. Analysing the efforts of the governments of Serbia, Georgia, and Cyprus to prevent the international recognition of Kosovo, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and northern Cyprus the work draws on in depth interviews with a number of leading policy makers to explain how each of the countries has designed, developed, and implemented its counter secession strategies. After explaining how the principle of the territorial integrity of states has tended to take precedence over the right of self-determination, it examines the range of ways countries facing a separatist threat can prevent recognition by other states and considers the increasingly important role played by international and regional organisations, especially the United Nations, in the recognition process. Additionally, it shows how forms of legitimisation or acknowledgement are also central elements of any counter-recognition process, and why steps to prevent secessionist entities from participating in major sporting and cultural bodies are given so much attention. Finally, it questions the effects of these counter recognition efforts on attempts to solve these territorial conflicts. Drawing on history, politics, and international law this book is the first and only comprehensive account of this increasingly important field of foreign policy.

Perry-Kessaris: Socio-Legal Approaches to International Economic Law: Text, Context, Subtext

Amanda Perry-Kessaris (SOAS, Univ. of London - Law) has published Socio-Legal Approaches to International Economic Law: Text, Context, Subtext (Routledge 2012). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This collection explores the analytical, empirical and normative components that distinguish socio-legal approaches to international economic law both from each other, and from other approaches. It pays particular attention to the substantive focus (what) of socio-legal approaches, noting that they go beyond the text to consider context and, often, subtext. In the process of identifying the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ (analytical and empirical tools) of their own socio-legal approaches, contributors to this collection reveal why they or anyone else ought to bother--the many reasons ‘why’ it is important, for theory and for practice, to take a social legal approach to international economic law.

New Issue: L'Observateur des Nations Unies

The latest issue of L'Observateur des Nations Unies (# 31, 2011-2) is out. Contents include:

• Dossier spécial : Le droit global
• Jean-Bernard Auby, À propos de la notion de droit global
• Débora Barreto Santana de Andrade, Les régimes autosuffisants : une menace à l'unité de l'ordre juridique international ?
• Catherine Rosso, L'OMC et le FMI face aux déséquilibres des échanges : entre transparence et surveillance
• Nicolas Sautereau, Internet et le droit global : approche critique
• Laurène Graziani, Le droit global à travers le prisme du féminisme
• Mariam Sallam, Globalisation et printemps arabes
• Point d’appui
• Samira Kauchakje, Droits sociaux et solidarité dans la sphère publique transnationale

New Issue: International Relations

The latest issue of International Relations (Vol. 26, no. 4, December 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Michael Cox, Power Shifts, Economic Change and the Decline of the West?
• Adam RC Humphreys, Another Waltz? Methodological Rhetoric and Practice in Theory of International Politics
• Pascal Vennesson & Nikolas M. Rajkovic, The Transnational Politics of Warfare Accountability: Human Rights Watch versus the Israel Defense Forces
• Lindsay Black & Yih-Jye Hwang, China and Japan’s Quest for Great Power Status: Norm Entrepreneurship in Anti-Piracy Responses
• William E. Scheuerman, Realism and the Kantian Tradition: A Revisionist Account

Gearty & Douzinas: The Cambridge Companion to Human Rights Law

Conor Gearty (London School of Economics - Law) & Costas Douzinas (Birkbeck, Univ. of London - Law) have published The Cambridge Companion to Human Rights Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2012). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Human rights are considered one of the big ideas of the early twenty-first century. This book presents in an authoritative and readable form the variety of platforms on which human rights law is practiced today, reflecting also on the dynamic inter-relationships that exist between these various levels. The collection has a critical edge. The chapters engage with how human rights law has developed in its various subfields, what (if anything) has been achieved and at what cost, in terms of expected or produced unexpected side-effects. The authors pass judgment about the consistency, efficacy and success of human rights law (set against the standards of the field itself or other external goals).

Conference: Colloque Annuel de la SFDI

The 2013 annual conference of the Société française pour le droit international will take place at the Université de Rouen, May 30-June 1. The theme is "Internet et le droit international."

Shaffer on Krisch's Beyond Constitutionalism

Gregory Shaffer (Univ. of Minnesota - Law) has posted A Transnational Take on Krisch's Pluralist Structure of Postnational Law (European Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This essay critiques Nico Krisch’s Beyond Constitutionalism: The Pluralist Structure of Postnational Law. The book’s primary foil is the turn to rethinking the international legal order in constitutionalist terms. Its contrasting normative vision is a postnational, pluralist one in which there is no legal center or hierarchy. This vision, although less ambitious than the constitutional program, is nonetheless quite radical, and shares more with most constitutionalist visions than it acknowledges. Krisch’s critique of his constitutionalist foil could be more radical than it is, and the essay provides arguments for such a critique. Nonetheless, the essay finds that Krisch’s postnational vision is also too radical for the world outside of Europe in being grounded in a European experience, as reflected in his case studies. The article contends that a framework addressing transnational legal ordering in which states continue to play a central role is superior given the ongoing centrality of the nation state in governance. The essay also finds that Krisch’s normative framework fails to address variation in its evaluation of institutional alternatives in which some hierarchy at times is preferable. Krisch’s vision is pluralist all the way through, while there are strong pragmatist arguments to be more context-specific in prescriptions.

Call for Papers: The Changing Face of Global Governance: International Institutions in the International Legal Order

The International Law Association - British Branch has issued a call for papers for its annual conference, to take place at the University of Oxford, April 12-13, 2013. The theme is: "The Changing Face of Global Governance: International Institutions in the International Legal Order." Here's the call:

INTERNATIONAL LAW ASSOCIATION

BRITISH BRANCH

The Changing Face of Global Governance:

International Institutions in the International Legal Order

SPRING CONFERENCE

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, 12-13 APRIL 2013

Keynote by

Patricia O’Brien

Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel

CONFERENCE THEME

The conference will explore the changing nature of international institutions and their impact on international governance, international law-making and law-enforcement. International institutions have become ‘a kind of superstructure over and above the international society of States’ (Mosler, 1974, referring specifically to international organisations). In the past, the content of the term ‘international institutions’ was by and large exhausted by reference to international organisations. However, the term comprises today not only traditional intergovernmental organisations but includes an expanded range of formal and informal institutions of global governance. The conference will explore the full range of international institutions, including international judicial and quasi-judicial organs, which—even when they are (subsidiary) organs of an international organisation—have acquired a life of their own; conferences of parties with wide-ranging powers over the interpretation and application of international treaties; compliance mechanisms; hybrid organisations which provide vital content to generic provisions of international treaties; a system of international criminal justice diffused in States and complemented at the international level; non-governmental organisations; informal networks of regulators, and so forth.

Papers will examine the role of international institutions in making, developing, interpreting, applying and enforcing international law and thus shaping the legal landscape of international and transnational interaction in a globalised world. The conference theme explores the multifarious impact of ever-present international institutions on international law, both by querying their impact in the areas of law-making and law-enforcement and by tracing their presence and importance in ‘sectoral regimes’ of international law, ranging from the law of armed conflict to international economic and investment law, through to the global environment.

CALL FOR PAPERS

The conference theme is broad enough as to encompass any type of international institution that has an impact on the creation, interpretation, development, and enforcement of international law.

Two areas of enquiry are envisaged:

(i) To what extent is the nature and form of international institutions changing? What is the law regulating the operation of such international institutions? What is the ‘international institutional law’ according to which they operate, and at the same time, what is their impact on our traditional understanding of international law-making and law-enforcement?

(ii) What is the nature and impact of international institutions in specific areas of international law? We invite papers on the nature and impact of institutions in the areas of international economic and investment law, international law and security, international environmental law, international human rights and humanitarian law, the international law of the sea, and international criminal law, among others.

Abstracts should be no longer than 500 words; they should be submitted by 31 January 2013 to ila2013oxford[at]gmail[dot]com.

d'Aspremont & Liefländer: Consolidating the Statehood of Kosovo: Leaving the International Law Narrative Behind

Jean d'Aspremont (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law) & Thomas Liefländer have posted Consolidating the Statehood of Kosovo: Leaving the International Law Narrative Behind (Journal of European and International Affairs, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The status of Kosovo remains controversial among international lawyers. Yet while international law was of relevance with respect to the emergence of Kosovo as an independent entity, it is more doubtful whether it still has any role to play in the consolidation of Kosovo’s status. After recalling how facts and law articulate in connection to questions of Statehood, this article scrutinizes a number of continuing legal controversies with a view to gauging international law’s relevance beyond the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice. Special attention is paid to the so-called ‘Footnote Agreement,’ the status of Resolution 1244 as well as the question of the name. It is argued that international law’s impact is, at best, indirect and that other factors can have a more direct influence.