Milanovic: Domestic Court Decisions as Sources of International Law and Their Effects on the International Plane

Marko Milanovic (Univ. of Nottingham - Law) has posted Domestic Court Decisions as Sources of International Law and Their Effects on the International Plane. Here's the abstract:

This was an introductory paper at the Third ILDC Colloquium, held at the University of Glasgow, 19 May 2011. It broadly covers two sets of issues: first, the place of the decisions of domestic courts within the doctrine of sources in modern international law, and second, the myriad of effects that these decisions can have on the international plane. It discusses inter alia the role of domestic courts as agents of international legal development and socializers of states through norm internalization, as well as their roles in generating, avoiding or resolving international disputes and checking international law and institutions against other norms and values.

New Issue: Diritti umani e diritto internazionale

The latest issue of Diritti umani e diritto internazionale (Vol. 6, no. 3, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Studi
• Angelica Bonfanti, Can Trade Liberalization Enhance Freedom of Expression? A WTO Perspective on Censorship
• Federico Casolari, L’azione dell’Unione europea contro le discriminazioni basate sulla religione: l’impatto della giurisprudenza della Corte europea dei diritti umani
• Pasquale De Sena, La dottrina internazionalistica italiana e la tutela internazionale dei diritti dell’uomo (1945-2005)
• Anna Liguori, Novella Ricciuti, Frontex ed il rispetto dei diritti umani nelle operazioni congiunte alle frontiere esterne dell’Unione europea
• Chiara Ragni, La condanna di Lubanga Dyilo: la questione della caratterizzazione dei crimini
• Elisabetta Bonomo, La sentenza della Corte penale internazionale contro Lubanga Dyilo: il primo caso di complementarietà calpestata?
• Interventi
• Pia Acconci, La “green economy” e la realizzazione dei diritti dell’uomo alla base dello sviluppo sostenibile
• Lorenza Mola, Ricorsi individuali alla Corte europea dei diritti umani riguardanti questioni già esaminate o in corso di esame da parte di altri organismi internazionali di controllo

New Issue: ICSID Review: Foreign Investment Law Journal

The latest issue of the ICSID Review: Foreign Investment Law Journal (Vol. 27, no. 2, Fall 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Case Comments
• Hans van Houtte & Bridie McAsey, Abaclat and others v Argentine Republic: ICSID, the BIT and Mass Claims
• Andrea Marco Steingruber, Abaclat and Others v Argentine Republic: Consent in Large-scale Arbitration Proceedings
• Céline Lévesque, Abaclat and Others v Argentine Republic: The Definition of Investment
• Samuel Wordsworth, Abaclat and Others v Argentine Republic: Jurisdiction, Admissibility and Pre-conditions to Arbitration
• Donald Francis Donovan, Abaclat and others v Argentine Republic: As a Collective Claims Proceeding
• Tony Cole, ICS Inspection and Control Services Limited (United Kingdom) v The Argentine Republic
• Patricia Nacimiento & Sven Lange, White Industries Australia Limited v The Republic of India
• Articles
• Mark Feldman, Setting Limits on Corporate Nationality Planning in Investment Treaty Arbitration
• Julien Fouret, Stay(ing) on Track or Falling off the Edge: The Absence of Legal Security in the Ad Hoc Committees’ Decisions under Article 52(5) of the ICSID Convention
• Mark Kantor, Little Has Changed in the New US Model Bilateral Investment Treaty
• Notes
• Eric De Brabandere & Julia Lepeltak, Third-Party Funding in International Investment Arbitration
• Joongi Kim, A Pivot to Asia in Investor–State Arbitration: The Coming Emergence of Asian Claimants
• Jan Kleinheisterkamp, European Policy Space in International Investment Law
• Felipe Mutis Téllez, Conditions and Criteria For The Protection of Legitimate Expectations Under International Investment Law: 2012 ICSID Review Student Writing Competition

Kettemann: The Future of Individuals in International Law: Lessons from International Internet Law

Matthias C. Kettemann (Univ. of Graz - Institute of International Law and International Relations) has published The Future of Individuals in International Law: Lessons from International Internet Law (Eleven International Publishing 2012). Here's the abstract:

The state-centric international order is in flux and the role of the individual as an actor in international law is growing. Yet in most international law regimes, states continue to interposition themselves between individuals and international law. Against the background of humanization which is shown to permeate all international legal regimes, this book sketches the future of individuals in international law. From the normative success of International Internet Law as the most innovative post-interposition regime this book draws lessons for the optimal design of (existing and emerging) legal frameworks. Describing in detail the characteristics of a post-interposition regime, including a commitment to multistakeholderism, non-traditional normative instruments and system-wide disintermediation, this book demonstrates why the future of individuals in international law looks bright.

Symposium: The Legal and Ethical Limits of Technological Warfare

On February 1, 2013, the Utah Law Review will host a symposium on "The Legal and Ethical Limits of Technological Warfare." The program is here. Here's the idea:

Unmanned drones, cruise missiles, automated weapons, even armed robot warriors on the battlefield— in a time of troop cutbacks, emerging technologies make it possible to conduct “clinical strikes” that limit civilian deaths, and even “remote warfare” that might lead to reductions in combatant casualties. What are the ethics of waging war from a safe distance? Who is responsible for decision-making? Do different rules of autonomy and accountability apply? If so, who is drafting these new rules of armed conflict and how will they be enforced? On February 1, 2013 the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law will examine these issues in a symposium titled, “The Legal and Ethical Limits of Technological Warfare.”

Symposium: The Future of Children in International Law

On February 22, 2013, the Southwestern Journal of International Law will host a symposium on "The Future of Children in International Law." The program is here. Here's the idea:

Uncertainty surrounding the legal protection of children jeopardizes their quality of life. When children are subjected to trafficking and abduction, displaced from their families, and ensnared in complex adoption matters, their countries of origin and the international community as a whole suffer. This symposium will bring academics and practitioners together to examine how laws affect children on an international level including trafficking, abductions and adoptions, and how the law can help improve the lives of children.

New Issue: Arbitration International

The latest issue of Arbitration International (Vol. 28, no. 4, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Karl-Heinz Böckstiegel, Commercial and Investment Arbitration: How Different Are They Today? – The Lalive Lecture 2012
• S.I. Strong, Mandatory Arbitration of Internal Trust Disputes – Improving Arbitrability and Enforceability through Proper Procedural Choices
• Lucy Greenwood & C. Mark Baker, Getting A Better Balance on International Arbitration Tribunals
• Gisela Knuts, Jura Novit Curia and the Right to be Heard – An Analysis of Recent Case Law
• Ola O. Olatawura, Stay of Proceedings in Nigerian Law of Arbitration – An Analysis of its Functions, Applications and Problems
• Danielle Morris, Revolutionary Movements and De Facto Governments – Implications of the ‘Arab Spring’ for International Investors
• Soledad Diaz Martinez, Interaction Between Courts and Arbitrators in Uruguay

New Issue: Review of International Studies

The latest issue of the Review of International Studies (Vol. 38, no. 5, December 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: The Postsecular in International Relations
• Luca Mavelli & Fabio Petito, The postsecular in International Relations: an overview
• Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, International politics after secularism
• Fred Dallmayr, Post-secularity and (global) politics: a need for radical redefinition
• Antonio Cerella, Religion and political form: Carl Schmitt's genealogy of politics as critique of Jürgen Habermas's post-secular discourse
• Adrian Pabst, The secularism of post-secularity: religion, realism, and the revival of grand theory in IR
• Joseph A. Camilleri, Postsecularist discourse in an ‘age of transition’
• Mustapha Kamal Pasha, Islam and the postsecular
• Luca Mavelli, Postsecular resistance, the body, and the 2011 Egyptian Revolution
• Mariano Barbato, Postsecular revolution: religion after the end of history
• Pinar Bilgin, Civilisation, dialogue, security: the challenge of post-secularism and the limits of civilisational dialogue

d'Aspremont & Tranchez: The Quest for a Non-Conflictual Coexistence of International Human Rights Law and Humanitarian Law: Which Role for the Lex Specialis Principle?

Jean d'Aspremont (Univ. of Manchester - Law) & Elodie Tranchez (Université du Maine) have posted The Quest for a Non-Conflictual Coexistence of International Human Rights Law and Humanitarian Law: Which Role for the Lex Specialis Principle? (in Research Handbook on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Robert Kolb & Gloria Gaggioli eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

International Humanitarian Law (hereafter IHL) and International Human Rights Law (hereafter HRL) undoubtedly share some kinship. Yet, most international lawyers and judges, confronted with the simultaneous application of these two sets of norms have made a resort to the principle lex specialis derogat generali. Their use of that principle has presupposed that norms of IHL and HRL belong to the same legal order and the same legal regime and are, at the surface, in conflict with one another. This paper tries to rebut these presuppositions and showed that the relations between IHL and HRL ought to be construed in terms of competition rather than conflict. Drawing on the idea of competition between these two sets of rules, this paper subsequently seeks to evaluate the contemporary uses of the principle lex specialis derogat generali – particularly witnessed in the case-law of the ICJ – to calibrate the systemic integration of international law. It concludes that such an unorthodox use of that principle does little to alleviate the uncertainty inherent in the competitive character of the relationship between IHL and HRL.

Huth, Croco, & Appel: Bringing Law to the Table: Legal Claims, Focal Points, and the Settlement of Territorial Disputes Since 1945

Paul K. Huth (Univ. of Maryland - Government and Politics), Sarah E. Croco (Univ. of Maryland - Government and Politics), & Benjamin J. Appel (Michigan State Univ. - Political Science) have published Bringing Law to the Table: Legal Claims, Focal Points, and the Settlement of Territorial Disputes Since 1945 (American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 90–103, January 2013). Here's the abstract:

In this article, we argue that international law can help state leaders reach a settlement in territorial disputes by suggesting a focal point for negotiations. International law is more likely to serve as a focal point when the legal principles relevant to the dispute are clear and well established and when one of the states in the dispute has a stronger legal claim to disputed territory. When these two conditions are present, we expect the state with a legal advantage to push for and receive favorable terms of settlement. In our analysis of all negotiated settlements in territorial disputes from 1945 to 2000, we find strong support for the importance of international law in influencing the terms of settlements. States with a strong legal advantage are more likely to secure favorable terms, whereas states lacking a strong legal claim are more likely to receive unfavorable terms.

Del Vecchio: Diritto delle organizzazioni internazionali

Angela Del Vecchio (LUISS Guido Carli - Law) has published Diritto delle organizzazioni internazionali (Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane 2012). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Il volume è diretto essenzialmente agli studenti universitari dei corsi di «Organizzazione internazionale», ma anche a tutti coloro che desiderano conoscere il complesso fenomeno delle organizzazioni internazionali. Nel volume vengono esaminate le principali tematiche inerenti alle Organizzazioni internazionali: dall’evoluzione storica del fenomeno, alla costituzione dell’ente e ai diversi profili strutturali e funzionali. Sono infine trattate le varie forme di disfunzione delle organizzazioni, i differenti tipi di responsabilità ed il loro rilievo nell’ambito dei modi di soluzione delle controversie che coinvolgono le organizzazioni stesse.

Call for Submissions: University of the Gambia Student Law Review

The University of the Gambia Student Law Review has issued a call for submissions for its inaugural issue. Here's the call:

The University of The Gambia Law Faculty will publish in September 2013 its first Student Law Review. We would welcome submissions from students, academics and law professionals. This is a call for papers with a human rights focus. The first edition will be a special edition on human rights. Please submit a 300 word abstract of your proposed article by and no later than 12.00 midday January 20 2013.

The final article will be 5,000 words including footnotes (OSCOLA) and will need to be submitted by 1 May 2013.

For any further question, please contact Fiona Batt (F.Batt@utg.edu.gm).

Please send abstracts to the same address: F.Batt@utg.edu.gm.

New Issue: Studi sull'integrazione europea

The latest issue of Studi sull'integrazione europea (Vol. 7, nos. 2-3, Maggio-Dicembre 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Articoli
• Paolo Fois, Dall’armonizzazione all’unificazione dei diritti interni nell’Unione europea. Valutazione critica di una tendenza in atto
• Gian Luigi Tosato, I vincoli europei sulle politiche di bilancio
• Andrea de Guttry, Duty of Care of the EU and Its Member States towards Their Personnel Deployed in International Missions
• Giandonato Caggiano, Il bilanciamento tra libertà di circolazione dei fattori produttivi ed esigenze imperative degli Stati membri nel mercato interno
• Cristina Fasone & Nicola Lupo, Il Parlamento europeo alla luce delle novità introdotte nel Trattato di Lisbona e nel suo regolamento interno
• Monica Lugato, Riflessioni sulla base giuridica del margine di apprezzamento statale nella Convenzione europea dei diritti dell’uomo
• Angela Di Stasi & Rossana Palladino, La perdurante frammentarietà dello “statuto” europeo del soggiornante di lungo periodo tra integrazione dei mercati ed integrazione politico-sociale
• Giovanni Moro, Lucia Mazzuca, & Roberto Ranucci, The Single Currency and European Citizenship
• Gianpaolo Maria Ruotolo, La costituzione economica dell’Unione europea al tempo della crisi globale
• Valeria Di Comite, Il desiderio di “vivere insieme” e il mancato diritto al ricongiungimento familiare per i cittadini europei “statici” alla luce del caso Dereci
• Note e Commenti
• Giovanni Cellamare, Brevi note sulla sentenza della Corte europea dei diritti dell’uomo nell’affare Hirsi Jamaa e altri c. Italia
• Patrizia De Pasquale, Misure nazionali di rimpatrio e diritto dell’Unione europea: da El Dridi ad Achughbabian
• Fabio Ferraro, Il nuovo istituto di democrazia partecipativa e le sue prime applicazioni
• Alessandra Mignolli, Il progetto di accordo di adesione dell’Unione europea alla Convenzione europea dei diritti dell’uomo: alcuni spunti di riflessione
• Nicola Colacino, Ammissibilità e limiti del sindacato giurisdizionale diffuso sulle sanzioni individuali del Consiglio di sicurezza
• Paolo Venturi, Sugli sviluppi del caso Ferrini nel quadro dell’UE: l’ordinanza nella causa Currà e altri c. Germania
• Chiara Gabrielli, La nozione di giurisdizione extra-territoriale alla luce della recente giurisprudenza
• Claudia Morini, L’azione dell’Unione europea in materia di diritti procedurali di indagati e imputati in procedimenti penali
• Chiara Sisler, La competenza pregiudiziale della Corte di giustizia in relazione ad accordi misti: una proposta di ricostruzione
• Andrea Spagnolo, Il trasferimento di presunti pirati nell’ambito dell’operazione Atalanta: gli accordi tra l’Unione europea e i Paesi terzi

Call for Papers: 2013 ILA-ASIL Asia-Pacific Research Forum (Reminder)

The Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for the 2013 ILA-ASIL Asia-Pacific Research Forum, to be held on May 15-16, 2013 in Taipei. The theme is "International Law and Dispute Resolution: Challenges in the Asia Pacific." Paper proposals must be submitted by January 20, 2013. The full call for papers is available here.

Giraudeau: Les différends territoriaux devant le juge international : Entre droit et transaction

Géraldine Giraudeau (Univ. of Orléans - Law) has published Les différends territoriaux devant le juge international : Entre droit et transaction (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2012). Here's the abstract:

Les décisions arbitrales et judiciaires relatives aux différends territoriaux terrestres et maritimes sont marquées par une tendance transactionnelle. Elles consacrent des tracés frontaliers situés entre les revendications respectives des parties et assurent plus globalement un équitable partage des espaces et des ressources. Ce phénomène de compromis s’exprime symptomatiquement dans la jurisprudence relative aux différends territoriaux en raison de la nature de ces litiges et de leurs enjeux géostratégique, économique et émotionnel. Il est aussi dû à la particulière flexibilité des règles et des principes applicables. Cette étude témoigne de l’instrumentalisation qui est faite du contenu des décisions juridictionnelles au profit de solutions équilibrées et démontre que le juge international est avant tout tourné vers la mission pacificatrice de son office.

New Issue: Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The latest issue of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law (Vol. 45, no. 5, November 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Christopher N.J. Roberts, Dynamics of Healthcare Reform: Bitter Pills Old and New
• Rivka Weill, Judicial Review of Constitutional Transitions: War and Peace and Other Sundry Matters
• Yvonne M. Dutton, Virtual Witness Confrontation in Criminal Cases: A Proposal to Use Videoconferencing Technology in Maritime Piracy Trials

Webster: Handbook of Investment Arbitration

Thomas H. Webster has published Handbook of Investment Arbitration (Sweet & Maxwell 2012). Here's the abstract:

The Handbook of Investment Arbitration covers the rules and substantive law in one easily transportable book providing everything you need for an ICSID arbitration.

Kreinin & Plummer: The Oxford Handbook of International Commercial Policy

Mordechai E. Kreinin (Michigan State Univ. - Economics) & Michael G. Plummer (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) have published The Oxford Handbook of International Commercial Policy (Oxford Univ. Press 2012). Here's the abstract:

As we enter the 2010s, the global economy is becoming increasingly integrated. International trade has been growing rapidly, an ostensibly irresistible trend that was only temporarily disrupted by the 2008-09 global recession. Globalization has become associated with a country's economic success while failure to open up markets is often viewed as a cause of economic stagnation. This is predicted by economic theory and verified by empirical investigations. One reason for the growth of trade is the impressive reduction of trade barriers over the past 60 years; namely the pursuit of liberal commercial policy by many countries, led by the United States. Yet, particularly with the economic malaise that has persisted since the Great Recession, the role of commercial policy has become increasingly controversial in the media and other public fora. The relationship between trade and employment, as well as the implications of trade for income distribution, are examples of profound influences on national economies that have provoked intensive debate in the public realm. These domestic effects go a long way towards explaining the widespread backlash against globalization that we have observed in recent years.

This volume of contributions from some of the best-known international trade economists explores and analyzes the various aspects of commercial policy -- theoretical, empirical, and institutional -- in a way that standard texts in international economics do not. It does this via two sets of chapters: the first part covers general approaches to commercial policy, including theoretical, institutional, historical, and empirical contributions. Topics addressed include a general analysis of free trade compared to its alternatives, the future of the international trading system (including the regional trade agreement zeitgeist), trade's effects on employment, and the "special" case of agriculture. The second part is comprised of country-specific and regional applications, including case studies of key players in the international trading system (United States, the European Union, and Japan); small, open markets (Australia and Israel); large emerging markets (China and India); and a South-South regional grouping (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

Fawcett: The History and Concept of Regionalism

Louise Fawcett (Univ. of Oxford - Politics and International Relations) has posted The History and Concept of Regionalism. Here's the abstract:

The growth of regionalism expressed as formal regional organization has received a great deal of scholarly attention since the Second World War. From its early days regionalism has been much debated, and alternatively praised for its potential and critiqued for its ill-defined nature and limited capacity. However, by the start of the 21st century, if not before, regionalism was well established in the vocabulary of International Relations scholars and practitioners such that it would be hard to imagine a world without it.

Mowbray: Linguistic Justice: International Law and Language Policy

Jacqueline Mowbray (Univ. of Sydney - Law) has published Linguistic Justice: International Law and Language Policy (Oxford Univ. Press 2012). Here's the abstract:

Globalization and migration are producing societies of increasing linguistic diversity. At the same time, English is achieving unprecedented global dominance, smaller languages are becoming 'extinct' at an alarming rate, and ethnic tensions in countries from Belgium to Tibet continue to centre on questions of language. Against this background, the issue of how to ensure justice between speakers of different languages becomes a pressing social concern. Matters of 'linguistic justice' are therefore drawing increasing scholarly attention across a range of disciplines.

How does international law contribute to linguistic justice? This book explores that question by conducting a comprehensive, interdisciplinary examination of international law on language, analysing the many disparate fields of international law which affect language use both directly (human rights, cultural heritage laws, and EU legislation, for example) and indirectly (international trade law and international labour standards, among others). Moving beyond the technical analysis of legal provisions, the book explores the conceptual framework which underpins international law on language, unearthing underlying assumptions and ideas about what constitutes a 'just' language policy from a legal perspective. In doing so, the book draws on the methodology of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, whose ideas of 'habitus' and 'field' offer a way of understanding the changing significance of language to human identity, and the way in which language becomes a focal point for the exercise of social power. This analysis reveals the limitations of contemporary international law on language, and charts a course towards the achievement of greater 'linguistic justice'.

Gorman: The Emergence of International Society in the 1920s

Daniel Gorman (Univ. of Waterloo - History) has published The Emergence of International Society in the 1920s (Cambridge Univ. Press 2012). Here's the abstract:

Chronicling the emergence of an international society in the 1920s, Daniel Gorman describes how the shock of the First World War gave rise to a broad array of overlapping initiatives in international cooperation. Though national rivalries continued to plague world politics, ordinary citizens and state officials found common causes in politics, religion, culture and sport with peers beyond their borders. The League of Nations, the turn to a less centralized British Empire, the beginning of an international ecumenical movement, international sporting events and audacious plans for the abolition of war all signaled internationalism's growth. State actors played an important role in these developments and were aided by international voluntary organizations, church groups and international networks of academics, athletes, women, pacifists and humanitarian activists. These international networks became the forerunners of international NGOs and global governance.