Kelley & Pevehouse: An Opportunity Cost Theory of US Treaty Behavior

Judith Kelley (Duke Univ. - Political Science) & Jon Pevehouse (Univ. of Wisconsin - Political Science) have posted An Opportunity Cost Theory of US Treaty Behavior. Here's the abstract:

What factors influence whether the US participates in global treaty-based cooperation? Traditional explanations hold that states act based on their national interest and, for the US this means that as long as two-thirds of senators are convinced that the benefits of the treaty outweigh the costs, the US should participate in the treaty. However, at times the US fails to join treaties that appear to have the support of the requisite 2/3 of senators, or even quite uncontroversial treaties. This has long ago earned the senate a reputation as “the graveyard of treaties.” This paper argues that this occurs because the constitutional advice and consent process imposes opportunity costs for both the president and the senate in terms of senate floor time, and that these costs slow down the process significantly or even block it completely. A statistical analysis of all multilateral treaties after 1967 shows that while, as expected, the traditional political and treatyspecific factors influence a treaty’s success in the senate, so do opportunity cost. This means that the president and the senate do not simply consider each treaty on its own merits; rather treaties may be sidelined due to the opportunity costs associated with dealing with them.

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

I previously noted that 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." The deadline for the call has been extended from January 15 to January 31, 2013.

Workshop: Fundamental Rights in Europe: A Matter for Two Courts

The Oxford Brookes University School of Law will host a workshop on "Fundamental Rights in Europe: A Matter for Two Courts," on January 18, 2013. Here's the idea:

The aim of this workshop is to bring together scholars, judges and policy makers to discuss the legal framework for the protection of fundamental rights in Europe. This event will reflect on the relationship between the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in Luxembourg and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg. It will examine the current state of accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and consider the legal implications of the accession for the protection of the fundamental rights of EU and non-EU citizens. It will explore this theme from a number of different angles and as such it is divided into four main streams: employment rights, citizenship and migration, fundamental rights versus fundamental freedoms and access to justice.

New Issue: Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The latest issue of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law (Vol. 45, no. 4, October 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Fatou B. Bensouda, 2012 Jonathan I. Charney Lecture: Reflections from the International Criminal Court Prosecutor
• Adeno Addis, Imagining the Homeland from Afar: Community and Peoplehood in the Age of the Diaspora
• Perry S. Bechky, Microinvestment Disputes
• George K. Foster, Recovering Protection and Security: The Treaty Standard’s Obscure Origins, Forgotten Meaning, and Key Current Significance
• S.I. Strong, Arbitration of Trust Disputes: Two Bodies of Law Collide

New Issue: Journal of the History of International Law

The latest issue of the Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d'histoire du droit international (Vol. 14, no. 2, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Ian Hunter, ‘A Jus gentium for America’. The Rules of War and the Rule of Law in the Revolutionary United States
• Ignacio de la Rasilla y del Moral, The Fascist Mimesis of Spanish International Law and its Vitorian Aftermath, 1939–1953
• Giulio Bartolini, The Impact of Fascism on the Italian Doctrine of International Law
• Mark Somos, Selden’s Mare Clausum. The Secularisation of International Law and the Rise of Soft Imperialism

New Issue: Journal of International Economic Law

The latest issue of the Journal of International Economic Law (Vol. 15, no. 4, December 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann, JIEL Debate: Methodological Pluralism and its Critics in International Economic Law Research
• Han-Wei Liu & John Maughan, China's Rare Earths Export Quotas: Out of the China-Raw Materials Gate, But Past the WTO's Finish Line?
• Bin Gu, Applicability of GATT Article XX in China – Raw Materials: A Clash within the WTO Agreement
• Véronique Fraser, Horizontal Mechanism Proposal for the Resolution of Non-Tariff Barrier Disputes at the WTO: An Analysis
• Weihuan Zhou, US – Clove Cigarettes and US – Tuna II (Mexico): Implications for the Role of Regulatory Purpose under Article III:4 of the GATT

New Issue: Revista Electrónica de Estudios Internacionales

The latest issue of the Revista Electrónica de Estudios Internacionales (No. 24, December 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Estudios
• Javier Chinchón Álvarez, El concepto de impunidad a la luz del Derecho internacional: Una aproximación sistémica desde el Derecho internacional penal y el Derecho internacional de los derechos humanos
• Eloísa González Hidalgo & Eduardo J. Ruiz Vieytez, El derecho a la autonomía como contenido emergente del derecho a la participación política de las minorías nacionales en Europa
• Héctor Olásolo Alonso, El principio de complementariedad y las estrategias de actuación de la Corte Penal Internacional en la fase de examen preliminar: ¿Por qué la Corte Penal Internacional mantiene su examen preliminar, pero no abre una investigación, sobre la situación en Colombia?
• Rosa Riquelme Cortado, El Protocolo Facultativo del Pacto Internacional de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales. Comunicaciones de personas o grupos como piedra angular
• Romualdo Bermejo García & Rosana Garciandía Garmendia, La expropiación de YPF (Repsol) a la luz del Derecho Internacional
• Jaume Ferrer Lloret, La insoportable levedad del Derecho internacional consuetudinario en la jurisprudencia de la Corte Internacional de Justicia: El caso de las inmunidades jurisdiccionales del Estado
• Cástor Miguel Díaz Barrado, La responsabilidad de proteger en el Derecho Internacional contemporáneo: Entre lo conceptual y la práctica internacional
• Millán Requena Casanova, La solución de controversias en los modelos de APPRI: Cláusulas tradicionales y nuevas tendencias
• Valentín Bou Franch, Los crímenes sexuales en la jurisprudencia internacional
• Javier Lion Bustillo, ¿Por qué participan algunos Estados europeos en las operaciones de paz en el Líbano?
• Notas
• William Fernando Martínez Luna, El artículo 4.3 del Reglamento Roma I. Una verdadera cláusula de excepción
• Luis González Vaqué, El Tribunal General de la UE clarifica el concepto de actos impugnables por los particulares según el artículo 263(4) TFUE: La sentencia “Microban”
• Pablo La Porte, La práctica internacional de las disculpas de estado: España, Marruecos y el Rif en el centenario del protectorado (1912-2012)
• Marina Lostal Becerril, La Protección de bienes culturales en el Tribunal Penal Internacional para la ex Yugoslavia
• José Abu-Tarbush, Palestina: Retomando la iniciativa

Ronen: International legal positivism in a post modern world – international humanitarian law

Yael Ronen (Sha'arei Mishpat College) has posted International legal positivism in a post modern world – international humanitarian law (in International Legal Positivism in a Post-Modern World, Jean d’Aspremont & Jörg Kammerhofer eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

International legal scholarship presents important critique of positivist approaches to international humanitarian law (IHL), insofar as ‘positivism’ is read to mean unity of sources, recognizing as law only those norms which are generated by a pre-set legal procedure, independent of any inherent value. It is often contended that if state practice on the battlefield is the yardstick to be used to identify rules of IHL, then IHL is in a precarious state, given the prevalence of contrary practice, which puts into doubt the existence of law in the first place, or, where the law had been established, suggests that it has been modified. In addition, it is said that positivist approaches hamper the ability of IHL to address contemporary realities and challenges, such as the massive involvement of non-state actors in armed conflicts. Classical legal positivism thus encounters difficulties in conceptualizing IHL in a manner which retain the latter’s effectiveness and authority. This chapter evaluates these claims in light of developments in the theory of sources and in its application specifically to IHL.

Part 2 of this chapter addresses some preliminary questions on the role of positivism in IHL. Parts 3, 4 and 5 examine the challenges to a positivist account of IHL in the context of the specific sources of international law – treaties, custom and general principles. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight some of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the sources of law as they are manifested in present-day IHL.

New Issue: European Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the European Journal of International Law (Vol. 23, no. 4, November 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Editorial
  • JHHW, Slouching towards the Cool War; Catalonian Independence and the European Union; Roll of Honour; In this Issue; A Personal Statement
• Articles
• Jens David Ohlin, Nash Equilibrium and International Law
• Mark Neocleous, International Law as Primitive Accumulation; Or, the Secret of Systematic Colonization
• Critical Review of International Governance
• Laurence Boisson de Chazournes & Edouard Fromageau, Balancing the Scales: The World Bank Sanctions Process and Access to Remedies
• Arman Sarvarian, Common Ethical Standards for Counsel before the European Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights
• Critical Review of International Jurisprudence
• Julianne Kokott & Christoph Sobotta, The Kadi Case: Constitutional Core Values and International Law – Finding the Balance?
• Roaming Charges: Places of Kitsch: Orlando California
• Realizing Utopia: Reflections on Antonio Cassese’s Vision of International Law
• JHHW, Antonio Cassese: Head in the Clouds, Feet on the Ground
• Marko Milanovic, On Realistic Utopias and Other Oxymorons: An Essay on Antonio Cassese’s Last Book
• Hélène Ruiz Fabri, Enhancing the Rhetoric of Jus Cogens
• Pierre-Marie Dupuy, Back to the Future of a Multilateral Dimension of the Law of State Responsibility for Breaches of ‘Obligations Owed to the International Community as a Whole’
• Iain Scobbie, ‘All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up’: Some Critical Reflections on Professor Cassese’s ‘The International Court of Justice: It is High Time to Restyle the Respected Old Lady’
• Philip Alston & Colin Gillespie, Global Human Rights Monitoring, New Technologies, and the Politics of Information
• Francesco Francioni, From Utopia to Disenchantment: The Ill Fate of ‘Moderate Monism’ in the ICJ Judgment on The Jurisdictional Immunities of the State
• Orna Ben-Naftali, Sentiment, Sense and Sensibility in the Genesis of Utopian Traditions
• Isabel Feichtner, Realizing Utopia through the Practice of International Law
• Impressions
• B. S. Chimni, The Self, Modern Civilization, and International Law: Learning from Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule

New Volume: Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs

The latest volume of the Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs (Vol. 28, 2010) is out. Contents include:

• Leading Articles
• Sujin Chan, Beyond Special and Differential Treatment: Key Trends of Importance to East Asian Regionalism
• Caroline Ehlert & Christine Kaufmann, The Dutch Trial at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia – Involving the Cambodians in the Process
• Eliza Mik, Evaluating the Impact of the UN Convention on the Use of Electronic
• Communications in International Contracts on Domestic Contract Law - The Singapore Example
• Miyazaki Takashi, Recognition of States and Governments in International Law: Theory and Practice
• Raul (Pete) Pedrozo, Sovereignty Claims over the Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo/Takeshima)
• H.A. Strydom, Refining the Scope of State Obligations for Treaty-Based Human Rights
• Violations in Respect of Violence against Women: The Meaning of the 2009 Gonzales Ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
• Anastasia Telesetsky, Rule of Marine Capture versus Rule of Cooperation in the East China Sea: Exploring Options for Regional Ecosystem Restoration
• Emilio E. Varanini, Running Soft Convergence into the Ground: The Case for an International Antitrust Treaty
• Essays and Recent Developments
• Loo Choon Chiaw, Chia Foon Yeow & Wu Yanjuan, The Taiwan Government Sues Two Individuals for the return of a Sum of USD29.8 Million (The Papua New Guinea Case)
• Francesco Seatzu, The Right to Social Security under Article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

New Volume: Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law

The latest volume of the Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law (Vol. 16, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Markus Krajewski & Christopher Singer, Should Judges be Front-Runners? The ICJ, State Immunity and the Protection of Fundamental Human Rights
• Michael Wood, The Immunity of Official Visitors
• Volker Roeben, Responsibility in International Law
• John H. Dingfelder Stone, Assessing the Existence of the Right to Translation under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
• Maya Hertig Randall, Human Rights Within a Multilayered Constitution: The Example of Freedom of Expression and the WTO
• Mirka Möldner, Responsibility of International Organizations - Introducing the ILC's DARIO
• Adele J. Kirschner & Katrin Tiroch, The Waters of Euphrates and Tigris: An International Law Perspective
• Daniela Wehlend, Improving Compliance Mechanisms of the International Waste Trade Regime by Introducing Economic Compliance Incentives

New Volume: Anuario Argentino de Derecho Internacional

The latest volume of the Anuario Argentino de Derecho Internacional (Vol. 20, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Doctrina
• Sandra M. Blanco, Diversos Aspectos de la Determinación de la Ley del Estatuto Personal, Influencia en la Personalidad Jurídica de la Persona Física Desde su Comienzo Hasta su Extinción
• María Elena Caballero, Libre Circulación de los Profesionales Liberales en El Mercosur
• Miryam Colacrai, La Política Antártica Argentina y su Compromiso con el Tratado Antártico
• Facundo M. Gómez Pulisich, Contribución al Análisis de la Opinión Consultiva de la Corte Internacional de Justicia Concerniente a la Conformidad con el Derecho Internacional de la Declaración Unilateral de Independencia Relativa a Kosovo
• Alberto Van Klaveren, Política Internacional y Derecho Internacional el Análisis de Los Regímenes Internacionales
• XXIIIº Congreso Argentino de Derecho Internacional “Juan Varisco Bonaparte - Jorge Alberto Giner” Asamblea General Ordinaria de la Asociación Argentina de Derecho Internacional - 2011. Facultad De Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales de la Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Santa Fe, 10, 11 y 12 de Noviembre de 2011
• María Elsa Uzal, Palabras de Apertura de la Señora Presidente de la Asociación Argentina de Derecho Internacional – AADI

New Issue: Mealey's International Arbitration Report

The latest issue of Mealey's International Arbitration Report (Vol. 27, no. 12, December 2012) is out.

New Issue: Journal of International Maritime Law

The latest issue of the Journal of International Maritime Law (Vol. 18, no. 3, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Paul Todd, Ransom, Piracy and Time Charterparties
• Manuel Franco, Multimodal Transport after the Rotterdam Rules : will it work this Time?
• Vincent P. Cogliati-Bantz, My Platform, my State : the Principality of Sealand in International Law

New Issue: International Studies Quarterly

The latest issue of the International Studies Quarterly (Vol. 56, no. 4, December 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Etel Solingen, Of Dominoes and Firewalls: The Domestic, Regional, and Global Politics of International Diffusion
• Fabian Barthel & Eric Neumayer, Competing for Scarce Foreign Capital: Spatial Dependence in the Diffusion of Double Taxation Treaties
• Stephen Bell, The Power of Ideas: The Ideational Shaping of the Structural Power of Business
• Jacqueline Best, Ambiguity and Uncertainty in International Organizations: A History of Debating IMF Conditionality
• Apichai W. Shipper, Influence of the Weak: The Role of Foreigners, Activism, and NGO Networks in Democratizing Northeast Asia
• Moonhawk Kim, Ex Ante Due Diligence: Formation of PTAs and Protection of Labor Rights
• Zeev Maoz & Belgin San-Akca, Rivalry and State Support of Non-State Armed Groups (NAGs), 1946–2001
• Kishore Gawande & Christopher Magee, Free Riding and Protection for Sale
• James R. Hollyer & B. Peter Rosendorff, Leadership Survival, Regime Type, Policy Uncertainty and PTA Accession
• Gary Uzonyi, Mark Souva & Sona N. Golder, Domestic Institutions and Credible Signals
• Stephanie J. Rickard, A Non-Tariff Protectionist Bias in Majoritarian Politics: Government Subsidies and Electoral Institutions
• Lucy M. Goodhart & Anastasia Xenias, Guns and Money in the Open Economy: The Exchange Rate and the Demand for Arms Imports
• Julia Gray & Philip B.K. Potter, Trade and Volatility at the Core and Periphery of the Global Economy
• Virginia Page Fortna & Reyko Huang, Democratization after Civil War: A Brush-Clearing Exercise
• Alejandro Quiroz Flores, A Competing Risks Model of War Termination and Leader Change
• Joe Weinberg, Do Majoritarian Electoral Systems Favor Consumers: Identifying Cross-National Consumer Bias
• Mark A. Abdollahian, Travis G. Coan, Hana Oh & Birol A. Yesilada, Dynamics of Cultural Change: The Human Development Perspective
• Indra De Soysa & Paul Midford, Enter The Dragon! An Empirical Analysis of Chinese versus US Arms Transfers to Autocrats and Violators of Human Rights, 1989–2006

De Schutter, Swinnen, & Wouters: Foreign Direct Investment and Human Development: The Law and Economics of International Investment Agreements

Olivier De Schutter (United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food), Johan Swinnen (KU Leuven - Economics), & Jan Wouters (KU Leuven - Law) have published Foreign Direct Investment and Human Development: The Law and Economics of International Investment Agreements (Routledge 2012). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This book presents original research that examines the growth of international investment agreements as a means to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and considers how this affects the ability of capital-importing countries to pursue their development goals. The hope of countries signing such treaties is that foreign capital will accelerate transfers of technologies, create employment, and benefit the local economy through various types of linkages. But do international investment agreements in fact succeed in attracting foreign direct investment? And if so, are the sovereignty costs involved worth paying? In particular, are these costs such that they risk undermining the very purpose of attracting investors, which is to promote human development in the host country? This book uses both economic and legal analysis to answer these questions that have become central to discussions on the impact of economic globalization on human rights and human development. It explains the dangers of developing countries being tempted to 'signal' their willingness to attract investors by providing far-reaching protections to investors' rights that would annul, or at least seriously diminish, the benefits they have a right to expect from the arrival of FDI. It examines a variety of tools that could be used, by capital-exporting countries and by capital-importing countries alike, to ensure that FDI works for development, and that international investment agreements contribute to that end.

New Issue: Global Trade and Customs Journal

The latest issue of Global Trade and Customs Journal (Vol. 8, no. 1, 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Christian Pitschas & Hannes Schloemann, WTO Customs Valuation Agreement: Customs Value of Goods Imported as Gifts
• Seung-ho Kim, Trade Governance is Working, but the WTO Needs a Shot in the Arm
• Manu Thadikkaran, Local Working Requirement: Reconciling TRIPS Agreement with the Paris Convention
• Gary N. Horlick, History of the One/Three Formula for WTO Antidumping

Tran: Les obligations de vigilance des États parties à la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme

Hélène Tran has published Les obligations de vigilance des États parties à la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme (Bruylant 2012). Here's the abstract:

Dernière étape de la sophistication du droit de la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme, la vigilance conduit à transcender toute approche classique des obligations des états. Elle permet une lecture renouvelée de ses évolutions les plus audacieuses, au moyen d’une mise en perspective dynamique, inscrite dans le cadre global de l’ordre juridique international.

New Volume: Israel Yearbook on Human Rights

The latest volume of the Israel Yearbook on Human Rights (Vol. 42, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• International Law Conference: “Non-International Armed Conflict in the 21st Century” United States Naval War College Newport, Rhode Island 21 - 23 June 2011
• John F. Murphy, Will-o’-the Wisp? The Search for Law in Non-International Armed Conflicts
• Michael N. Schmitt, The Status of Opposition Fighters in a Non-International Armed Conflict
• Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg, Methods and Means of Naval Warfare in Non-International Armed Conflicts
• Bill Boothby, Differences in the Law of Weaponry When Applied to a Non-International Armed Conflict
• John Cerone, International Law and International Enforcement Action in Libya
• William K. Leitzau, Detention of Terrorists in the 21st Century
• Yoram Dinstein, Concluding Remarks on Non-International Armed Conflicts
• Special Issues
• Rein Müllerson, Regime Change: Contextual Analysis
• Arne Willy Dahl, New Technologies in Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Insurgency Operations

New Volume: Recueil des Cours

Volume 356 of the Recueil des Cours, Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law is out. Contents include:

• Volume 356
• Jeffrey Talpis, Succession Substitutes
• Evelyne Lagrange, L’efficacité des normes internationales concernant la situation des personnes privées dans les ordres juridiques internes

de Brouwer, Ku, Römkens, & van den Herik: Sexual Violence as an International Crime: Interdisciplinary Approaches

Anne-Marie de Brouwer (Tilburg Univ. - Law), Charlotte Ku (Univ. of Illinois - Law), Renée Römkens (Aletta), & Larissa van den Herik (Leiden Univ. - Law) have published Sexual Violence as an International Crime: Interdisciplinary Approaches (Intersentia 2012). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This edited volume focuses on developments in recognizing, investigating, and prosecuting cases of sexual violence in (post-)conflict situations from an interdisciplinary angle. The investigation and prosecution of these cases raises new and challenging questions as to how to build evidence, but also how to address victims’ concerns in that process. It addresses innovations and challenges of empirical and other new kinds of social scientific, archival and medical data collection techniques; the development of evidence in relation to charges ranging from sexual violence as a war crime, crime against humanity to genocide; evidentiary and procedural achievements and challenges involved in prosecuting sexual victimization in international courts; and how to create awareness of sexual violence crimes in order to recognize such crimes and to prevent them in the future.

Call for Submissions: Revista Española de Relaciones Internacionales

The Revista Española de Relaciones Internacionales has issued a call for submissions for its upcoming volume, which will focus on the theme "The Enlargement of the European Union." Here's the call:

La Revista Española de Relaciones Internacionales (RERI) ha abierto el plazo para la remisión de contribuciones para su número 5. El tema principal será "La ampliación de la Unión Europea" en homenaje al 40 aniversario de la primera ampliación y la próxima entrada de la República de Croacia a la Unión en 2013.

La fecha límite para la remisión de artículos, notas o reseñas es el 1 de abril.

Más detalles contactando con nuestro equipo editorial a través de reri@difusionjuridica.es.

The Spanish Review of International Relations (Revista Española de Relaciones Internacionales, RERI) is now considering submissions for its 5th volume. The central theme will be "The Enlargement of the European Union" as a tribute to the 40th anniversary of the First enlargement and the entry of the Republic of Croatia in 2013.

Deadline for articles, notes and book reviews: 1st of April.

For more details, please contact our editor at reri@difusionjuridica.es.

New Issue: International Studies Review

The latest issue of International Studies Review (Vol. 14, no. 4, December 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Richard J. Harknett & Hasan B. Yalcin, The Struggle for Autonomy: A Realist Structural Theory of International Relations
• Frank Grundig, Jon Hovi, Arild Underdal & Stine Aakre, Self-Enforcing Peace and Environmental Agreements: Toward Scholarly Cross-Fertilization?
• Monika Bauhr & Naghmeh Nasiritousi, How Do International Organizations Promote Quality of Government? Contestation, Integration, and the Limits of IO Power
• Peter Wilson, The English School Meets the Chicago School: The Case for a Grounded Theory of International Institutions
• Johan Hellman, The Occurrence of Mediation: A Critical Evaluation of the Current Debate

New Issue: Global Society

The latest issue of Global Society (Vol. 27, no. 1, 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: Cosmopolitanism and Global Citizenship
• Catherine Goetze, Introduction
• Theresa Scavenius, National Responsibility and Global Poverty
• Andrea Schlenker, Cosmopolitan Europeans or Partisans of Fortress Europe? Supranational Identity Patterns in the EU
• Heike Brabandt & Steffen Mau, Liberal Cosmopolitanism and Cross-Border Mobility: The Case of Visa Policies
• Sofia Laine, Possibilities for Cosmopolitan Emancipation among Local Poor and Minority Youth in Transnational Political Events
• Catherine Goetze, The Particularism of Cosmopolitanism
• Catherine Goetze, Conclusion

New Issue: Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy

The latest issue of the Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy (Vol. 15, nos. 3-4, July-December 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Howard S. Schiffman, Culture, Conservation and Competition: Orange Roughy and the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization
• Colin T. Reid, Towards a Biodiversity Law: The Changing Nature of Wildlife Law in Scotland
• Sonali Senaratna Sellamuttu, Sanjiv de Silva, Nidhi Nagabhatla, C. Max Finlayson, Chiranjibi Pattanaik & Narendra Prasad, The Ramsar Convention's Wise Use Concept in Theory and Practice: An Inter-Disciplinary Investigation of Practice in Kolleru Lake, India

Ambos & Stegmiller: Prosecuting International Crimes at the International: Criminal Court: Is There a Coherent and Comprehensive Prosecution Strategy?

Kai Ambos (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen - Law) & Ignaz Stegmiller (Franz von Liszt-Institut für internationales Recht und Rechtsvergleichung) have posted Prosecuting International Crimes at the International: Criminal Court: Is There a Coherent and Comprehensive Prosecution Strategy? (Crime, Law and Social Change, Vol. 58, No. 4, 2012). Here's the abstract:

The authors analyze the so far published selection and strategy papers of the Office of the Prosecutor (“OTP”) of the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) with a view to their consistency, coherence and comprehensiveness. Given the high number of communications and referrals to the ICC a focused strategy setting out the criteria for situation and case selection and prioritization should be one of the priorities of the Prosecutor. Thus far the Office has developed a strategic framework guided by four fundamental principles: focused investigations, positive complementarity, the interests of the victims and the impact of the OTP’s work. These four principles are critically evaluated by the authors in light of the ICC Statute and existing case law. In particular the positive complementarity approach, focusing on the cooperation with national jurisdictions and enhancing their own capacity to prosecute, is to be welcomed and reflects a realistic prosecutorial policy approach. The cooperation between the OTP and Germany in the prosecution of the leadership of the FDLR is a good case in point. Only such a close interaction with national jurisdictions enables the ICC to contribute to the further closing of the impunity gap. Yet, the OTP must still more precisely define its position with regard to the criteria used for the selection of situations and cases. Thus, a priority for the new Prosecutor should be the drafting of a more precise and comprehensive strategy, integrating the already existing policy and strategy papers as well as drawing on lessons learned.

Talmon: Über Grenzen: Kolloquium zum 70. Geburtstag von Wolfgang Graf Vitzthum

Stefan Talmon (Universität Bonn - Law) has published Über Grenzen: Kolloquium zum 70. Geburtstag von Wolfgang Graf Vitzthum (Duncker & Humblot 2012). Contents include:

• Martin Nettesheim, Wolfgang Graf Vitzthum zum 70. Geburtstag
• Andreas Pohlmann, Compliance über Grenzen. Integritätsmanagement in global operierenden Unternehmen
• Jörn Axel Kämmerer, Das Völkerrecht des Kolonialismus: No peace between the lines?
• Philipp Molsberger, Grenzen und Chancen des Rechtsstaatsdialogs.Funde und Folgerungen in China
• Stefan Talmon, Die Grenzen der Völkerrechtsrezeption in Deutschland
• Wolfram Hertel, Vergessene Grenzen in der Nordsee
• Alexander Proelß, Grenzen der Zuständigkeit der Unionsorgane am Beispiel von »Erika III«
• Martin Nettesheim, An den Grenzen der Legitimität. Euro-Krisenbewältigungspolitik und EU-Entwicklungsperspektiven
• Wolfgang Graf Vitzthum, George über Grenzen

Greschek: Die evolutive Auslegung völkerrechtlicher Verträge am Beispiel des GATT

Eva Greschek has published Die evolutive Auslegung völkerrechtlicher Verträge am Beispiel des GATT (Peter Lang Publishing 2012). Here's abstract:

Diese Arbeit thematisiert die evolutive, also die einen völkerrechtlichen Vertrag insgesamt weiterentwickelnde Auslegung. Somit bewegt sie sich an der Schnittstelle zwischen einem voluntaristischen und einem den Legislativcharakter multilateraler Verträge betonenden Völkerrechtsverständnis. Am Beispiel des Allgemeinen Zoll- und Handelsabkommens (GATT) wird dabei das komplexe Verhältnis zwischen Welthandel und Umweltschutz dargelegt. Den entscheidenden Wendepunkt in der Wechselbeziehung von Welthandel und Umweltschutz markiert die Rechtsprechung des Appellate Body im Shrimps-Meeresschildkröten-Fall aus dem Jahr 1998. In dieser Entscheidung machte die WTO-Rechtsmittelinstanz deutlich, dass das GATT ein dynamisches Vertragswerk darstellt, das nur im Zusammenhang mit dem umweltvölkerrechtlichen Umfeld zu verstehen ist. Auf diese Weise gelang es dem Streitbeilegungsorgan, den internationalen Handel weitgehend in Einklang mit einem zeitgemäßen Umweltschutz zu bringen. Dieser einschneidende und richtungsweisende Schiedsspruch wirft die Frage auf, ob und inwieweit die evolutive Auslegung von Verträgen in der Praxis anerkannt und ferner mit den gewohnheitsrechtlich geltenden Regeln der Wiener Vertragsrechtskonvention (WVRK) zu vereinbaren ist. So erörtert und analysiert die Untersuchung exemplarisch Entscheidungen internationaler Organe und beleuchtet sowohl Voraussetzungen als auch Grenzen einer evolutiven Auslegung.

Ngangjoh Hodu: Theories and Practices of Compliance with WTO Law

Yenkong Ngangjoh Hodu has published Theories and Practices of Compliance with WTO Law (Wolters Kluwer 2012). Here's the abstract:

Compliance with international institutional norms is often conceived as a yardstick with which to test the effectiveness of international law. However, the ongoing failure of the WTO regime to elicit compliance with its agreements has led many legal theorists to reject this view in favour of a ‘realism’ that describes an international system, void of any authority to enforce rules, in which egoistic states calculate their own interests in light of the existing distribution of power. An ‘institutionalist’ riposte, which insists on the capability of states to come together nonetheless to make binding rules that will determine their behaviour vis-à-vis each other, of necessity focuses on developing enforceable remedies when rules are not complied with. Confronting this stark and apparently intractable situation, this book applies social science theories to the question as to why nation-states comply or do not comply with international trade law obligations. The author examines various theories of compliance in the context of world trade law, and discusses ways in which a much more robust compliance with global trade rules may be ensured. In the course of the analysis numerous germane issues arise, including the following: the stalemate in the WTO judicial and political process; third party rights and WTO Law compliance; the role of arbitrators in determining reasonable period of time; contract theory; reputation costs; good faith obligations required by pacta sunt servanda; imposing remedies collectively; multilateral enforcement of DSB findings; and early determination of injuries once nullification and impairment have been established.

Liberman: The New WHO FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products – Challenges Ahead

Jonathan Liberman (McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer) has posted an ASIL Insight on The New WHO FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products – Challenges Ahead.