Helfer: The Effectiveness of International Adjudicators

Laurence R. Helfer (Duke Univ. - Law) has posted The Effectiveness of International Adjudicators (in Oxford Handbook of International Adjudication, Karen J. Alter, Cesare Romano & Yuval Shany eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This chapter, forthcoming in the Oxford Handbook of International Adjudication, provides an analytical overview of the burgeoning literature on the effectiveness of international courts and tribunals (ICs). It considers four dimensions of effectiveness that have engendered debates among scholars or received insufficient scrutiny. The first dimension, case-specific effectiveness, evaluates whether the litigants to a specific dispute change their behavior following an IC ruling, an issue closely linked to compliance with IC judgments. The second variant, erga omnes effectiveness, assesses whether IC decisions have systemic precedential effects that influence the behavior of all states subject to a tribunal’s jurisdiction. The third approach, embeddedness effectiveness, evaluates the extent to which ICs anchor their judgments in domestic legal orders, enabling national actors to remedy potential treaty violations at home and avoid the need for international litigation. The fourth type, norm-development effectiveness, considers how IC decisions contribute to building a coherent body of international jurisprudence. For each dimension of effectiveness, the chapter reviews recent studies, identifies contested or under-analyzed issues, and suggests avenues for future research.

New Issue: Journal of Private International Law

The latest issue of the Journal of Private International Law (Vol. 8, no. 3, December 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Vaughan Black, Simplifying Court Jurisdiction in Canada
• Maud Piers & Johan Erauw, Application of the Unidroit Principles of International Commercial Contracts in Arbitration
• Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Time for the Law to Take Internet Geolocation Technologies Seriously
• Lorna Gillies, Creation of Subsidiary Jurisdiction Rules in the Recast of Brussels I: Back to the Drawing Board?
• Chukwuma Samuel Adesina Okoli & Gabriel Omoshemime Arishe, The Operation of the Escape Clauses in the Rome Convention, Rome I Regulation and Rome II Regulation
• Jennifer Paton, The Correct Approach to the Examination of the Best Interests of the Child in Abduction Convention Proceedings Following the Decision of the Supreme Court in Re E (Children) (Abduction: Custody Appeal)

Eagleton-Pierce: Symbolic Power in the World Trade Organization

Matthew Eagleton-Pierce (Univ. of Exeter - International Relations) has published Symbolic Power in the World Trade Organization (Oxford Univ. Press 2013). Here's the abstract:

Questions of power are central to understanding global trade politics and no account of the World Trade Organization (WTO) can afford to avoid at least an acknowledgment of the concept. A closer examination of power can help us to explain why the structures and rules of international commerce take their existing forms, how the actions of countries are either enabled or disabled, and what distributional outcomes are achieved. However, within conventional accounts, there has been a tendency to either view power according to a single reading - namely the direct, coercive sense - or to overlook the concept entirely, focusing instead on liberal cooperation and legalization. In this book, Matthew Eagleton-Pierce shows that each of these approaches betray certain limitations which, in turn, have cut short, or worked against, more critical appraisals of power in transnational capitalism. To expand the intellectual space, the book investigates the complex relationship between power and legitimation by drawing upon Pierre Bourdieu's notion of symbolic power. A focus on symbolic power aims to alert scholars to how the construction of certain knowledge claims are fundamental to, and entwined within, the material struggle for international trade. Empirically, the argument uncovers and plots the recent strategies adopted by Southern countries in their pursuit of a more equitable trading order. By bringing together insights from political economy, sociology, and law, Symbolic Power in the WTO not only enlivens and enriches the study of diplomatic practice within a major multilateral institution, it also advances the broader understanding of power in world politics.

New Volume: Recueil des Cours

Volume 353 of the Recueil des Cours, Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law is out. Contents include:

• Volume 353
• Johan Meeusen, Le droit international privé et le principe de non-discrimination
• Vera Gowlland-Debbas, The Security Council and Issues of Responsibility under International Law

Webb: Regional Challenges to the Law of State Immunity

Philippa Webb (King's College London - Law) has posted Regional Challenges to the Law of State Immunity. Here's the abstract:

State immunity is an area of the law where a unified, universal approach is critical to the fulfilment of its goals. Those goals are well-summarised by the 2009 Naples Resolution of the Institut de droit international: immunities are ‘conferred to ensure an orderly allocation and exercise of jurisdiction in accordance with international law in proceedings concerning states, to respect the sovereign equality of states and to permit the effective performance of the functions of persons who act on behalf of states’. Each of these goals requires a common understanding of the scope of state immunity. Without such an understanding, we could be faced with competing claims to jurisdiction, inter-state disputes over the limits of sovereignty, and the disruption of international relations.

Joyner: What if Iran Withdraws from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty? Part II: What Would the Legal Implications Be?

Daniel H. Joyner (Univ. of Alabama - Law) has posted an ESIL Reflection on What if Iran Withdraws from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty? Part II: What Would the Legal Implications Be?

Oswald & Winkler: Copenhagen Process Principles and Guidelines on the Handling of Detainees in International Military Operations

Bruce "Ossie" Oswald (Univ. of Melbourne - Law) & Thomas Winkler (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark) have posted an ASIL Insight on Copenhagen Process Principles and Guidelines on the Handling of Detainees in International Military Operations.

New Issue: Internationales Handelsrecht

The latest issue of Internationales Handelsrecht (2012, no. 6) is out. Contents include:

• Phillip Hellwege, UN-Kaufrecht oder Gemeinsames Europäisches Kaufrecht?

New Volume: Yearbook of Polar Law

The latest volume of the Yearbook of Polar Law (Vol. 4, 2012) is out. The table of contents is here.

Kruckenberg: The UNreal world of human rights: An ethnography of the UN Committee in the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Lena J. Kruckenberg has published The UNreal world of human rights: An ethnography of the UN Committee in the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (Nomos 2012). Here's the abstract:

‘UNreal world’ breathes new life into the ethnography of international law at a time, when transnational actors challenge its traditional principles. The study investigates the multi-actor relations and micro-practices that constitute international human rights monitoring, through an in-depth exploration of the work of the oldest amongst the UN human rights treaty bodies, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). As the study focuses on the practices of (re)constructing, interpreting, and evaluating human rights in a quasi-judicial and politicised context, it analyses human rights monitoring from an embedded micro-perspective rather than functionalist macro-perspective. The author traces three groups of actors through their experiences of the ‘UN-real world’ of one of CERDs semi-annual sessions: state representatives, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and the members of the Committee. Vivid accounts and detailed analyses illuminate the tacit knowledge and subterranean diplomacy through which international human rights law evolves as a ‘gentle civiliser’ of states.

Öberg: Processing Evidence and Drafting Judgments in International Criminal Trial Chambers

Marko Divac Öberg (International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia) has posted Processing Evidence and Drafting Judgments in International Criminal Trial Chambers (Criminal Law Forum, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

International criminal trials are usually very complex, lengthy and heavy on evidence. This complicates the Trial Chamber’s fact finding task and hampers its ability to issue a reasoned written judgment without undue delay. The present article examines the specific challenges of drafting an international criminal trial judgment, with the main focus being on mastering the huge amounts of evidence. It further provides practical recommendations on how to deal with these challenges.

New Issue: Chinese Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Chinese Journal of International Law (Vol. 11, no. 4, December 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Editorial Comments
• Sienho Yee, The Dynamic Interplay between the Interpreters of Security Council Resolutions
• Articles
• Huang Yao, Universal Jurisdiction over Piracy and East Asian Practice
• Nina H. B. Jørgensen, Child Soldiers and the Parameters of International Criminal Law
• Bjørn Kunoy, The Ambit of Pactum de Negotiatum in the Management of Shared Fish Stocks: A Rumble in the Jungle
• Comments
• Erik Franckx, Fisheries in the South China Sea: A Centrifugal or Centripetal Force?
• Zou Keyuan, How Coastal States Claim Maritime Geographic Features: Legal Clarity or Conundrum?
• Dimitris Xenos, The Issue of Safety of Media Professionals and Human Rights Defenders in the Jurisprudence of the UN Human Rights Committee
• Daniel Seah, The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia: The Issue of Non-Intervention and its Accession by Australia and the USA

New Issue: Ethics & International Affairs

The latest issue of Ethics & International Affairs (Vol. 26, no. 4, Winter 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Essay
• Oran R. Young, Arctic Stewardship: Maintaining Regional Resilience in an Era of Global Change
• Special Section: Safeguarding Fairness In Global Climate Governance
• Jonathan Pickering & Steve Vanderheiden, Introductory Note
• Jonathan Pickering, Steve Vanderheiden, & Seumas Miller, “If Equity's In, We're Out”: Scope for Fairness in the Next Global Climate Agreement
• David Schlosberg, Climate Justice and Capabilities: A Framework for Adaptation Policy
• Steve Vanderheiden, Coaxing Climate Policy Leadership

New Volume: Indian Journal of International Economic Law

The latest volume of the Indian Journal of International Economic Law (Vol. 5, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Pallavi Kishore, A Development Reading of India’s Cases in the World Trade Organization
• Eve Mizerak, When 90% Of The Loans Are Exceptions To The Rule, There Is No Rule: Navigating Through Post-Financial Crisis Regulation And Wall Street’s Caveat Emptor Defense
• Dorothy Shapiro, A Competition Act by India, for India: The First Three Years of Enforcement Under the New Competition Act
• Enrico Baffi, Public Goods and Contract Standard Clauses : A New Approach

New Issue: Journal of World Intellectual Property

The latest issue of the Journal of World Intellectual Property (Vol. 15, nos. 5-6, December 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Shamnad Basheer, The Invention of an Investment Incentive for Pharmaceutical Innovation
• Chaminda Nalaka Wickramasinghe & Nobaya Ahmad, Influence of Demographic and Technical Profile on Success of Independent Inventors in Sri Lanka