Heller: The Taylor Sentencing Judgment: A Critical Analysis

Kevin Jon Heller (Univ. of Melbourne - Law) has posted The Taylor Sentencing Judgment: A Critical Analysis (Journal of International Criminal Justice, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

On 30 May 2012, despite concluding that he was liable for crimes committed in Sierra Leone only as an accessory, Trial Chamber II of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) sentenced Charles Taylor to 50 years imprisonment – the second longest sentence in the Tribunal’s history. This article provides a critical analysis of Taylor’s sentence, asking whether it comports with the principle – widely accepted by international tribunals – that a sentence is unjustified if it is ‘out of reasonable proportion with a line of sentences passed in similar circumstances for the same offences’. The article concludes that Taylor’s sentence is, in fact disproportionate in comparison to other sentences imposed by the SCSL – Augustine Gbao’s 25-year sentence in particular.

In reaching that conclusion, the article is mindful of how difficult it is to reliably compare sentences. Sentencing is highly discretionary, and no two cases are ever completely alike. Moreover, sentencing judgments rarely explain in a systematic way how the judges have decided upon a particular sentence; as Boas et al. have noted, ‘it often seems as though the trial chamber has simply pulled the number out of the air’. The Taylor Sentencing Judgment, unfortunately, is no exception. A mere 40 pages long – in contrast to the 2,499-page Trial Judgment – it discusses the gravity of Taylor’s offences, his individual circumstances, and the relevant aggravating and mitigating factors, but makes little attempt to explain why those factors require a 50-year sentence.

The article itself is divided into four sections. Section 1 provides a brief summary of the Sentencing Judgment. Section 2 explains why the Trial Chamber has overestimated the gravity of Taylor’s offenses. Section 3 argues that the Trial Chamber misapplied a number of aggravating factors and impermissibly double-counted others. Finally, Section 4 criticizes the Trial Chamber’s refusal to consider Taylor’s contributions to the Sierra Leone peace process as a mitigating factor.

Kaye: International Law Issues in the Department of Justice White Paper on Targeted Killing

David Kaye (Univ. of California, Irvine - Law) has posted an ASIL Insight on International Law Issues in the Department of Justice White Paper on Targeted Killing.

New Volume: Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy

The latest volume of the Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy (2011-2012) is out. Contents include:

• Part One
• Persephone Economou & Karl P. Sauvant, FDI trends in 2010-2011 and the challenge of investment policies for outward foreign direct investment
• Ian A. Laird, Borzu Sabahi, Frédéric G. Sourgens, & Nicholas J. Birch, International investment law and arbitration: 2011 in review
• Stephan W. Schill & Marc Jacob, Trends in international investment agreements, 2010/2011: The increasing complexity of international investment law
• Part Two: Symposium on Regulatory and Policy Developments Regarding FDI in Extractive Industries
• Erlend Bakken & Andrea K. Bjorklund, Introduction to symposium on regulatory and policy developments regarding FDI in extractive industries
• Luke J. Danielson & Mark D. Phillips, The International Bar Association Model Mine Development Agreement project: A step toward better practice and better development results
• Tonje P. Gormley, Legal mechanisms for increased transparency in the extractive industries
• Lorenzo Cotula & Kyla Tienhaara, Reconfiguring investment contracts to promote sustainable development
• Peter D. Cameron, Reflections on sovereignty over natural resources and the enforcement of stabilization clauses
• Lisa E. Sachs, Perrine Toledano, & Jacky Mandelbaum, with James Otto, Impacts of fiscal reforms on country attractiveness: Learning from the facts
• Ivar Alvik, Arbitration in long-term international petroleum contracts: The "internationalization" of the applicable law
• Part Three: General Articles
• Leah D. Harhay, The Argentine annulments: The uneasy application of ICSID article 52 in parallel claims
• Javier El-Hage, How may tribunals apply the customary necessity rule to the Argentine cases? An analysis of ICSID decisions with respect to the interaction between article XI of the U.S.-Argentina BIT and the customary rule of necessity
• Michael D. Nolan, Frédéric G. Sourgens, & Hugh Carlson, Leviathan on life-support? Restructuring sovereign debt and international investment protection after Abaclat
• Rahim Moloo & Justin M. Jacinto, Standards of review and reviewing standards: Public interest regulation in international investment law
• Patrick Dumberry & Gabrielle Dumas-Aubin, How to impose human rights obligations on corporations under investment treaties? Pragmatic guidelines for the amendment of BITs
• Kevin Lim, Upholding corrupt investors' claims against complicit or compliant host states nullWhere angels should not fear to tread
• Jonathan Bonnitcha & Emma Aisbett, An economic analysis of the substantive protections provided by investment treaties
• Valentina S. Vadi, Converging divergences: The rise of Chinese outward foreign investment and its implications for international (investment) law

Call for Papers: Deux demi-journées d’étude : « Cybercriminalité » et « Internet et Commerce international »

A call for papers has been issued for two demi-journées d’étude for young researchers, one on "Cybercriminalité" and another on "Internet et Commerce international." Here's the call:

Appel à communication pour deux demi-journées d’étude : « Cybercriminalité » et « Internet et Commerce international »

Demi-journée d’étude du 5 avril 2013 sur la Cybercriminalité

organisée par le Bureau des Jeunes chercheurs de la SFDI à l’Université Montpellier 1

Sous le parrainage de Monsieur Adel Jomni, Maître de conférences à l’Université Montpellier 1, Directeur du diplôme d’université « Cybercriminalité : Droit, Sécurité de l’information & Informatique légale », Membre de l’European Cybercrime Training and Education Group (ECTEG).

Dans le cadre du colloque annuel de la Société Française pour le Droit International (SFDI) « Internet et le droit international » qui se déroulera au sein de l’Université de Rouen du 30 mai au 1er juin 2013, le Bureau des Jeunes chercheurs de la SFDI organise une demi-journée d’étude destinée aux jeunes doctorants et docteurs sur le thème de la cybercriminalité.

Cet atelier se déroulera sous la présidence de Monsieur Adel Jomni, Maître de conférences à l’Université Montpellier 1, le 5 avril 2013, à l’Université Montpellier 1 (UFR Droit et Science politique – 39 rue de l’Université – 34060 Montpellier).

Les communications dureront 20 minutes chacune et seront suivies d’un débat. Elles donneront lieu, par la suite,

• à la présentation d’un rapport, par l’un des intervenants choisis, sur les travaux réalisés au cours de l’Atelier, lors du colloque annuel de la SFDI ;
• voire, à une publication sur le site de la SFDI.

Les propositions de communication (un titre et un résumé d’une quinzaine de lignes) sont à envoyer, accompagnées d’un curriculum vitae, pour le 25 février 2013 au plus tard, aux deux organisateurs, responsables du Bureau des Jeunes chercheurs :

Caroline Breton, caroline-breton[at]hotmail.fr

Xavier Aurey, xavier.aurey[at]free.fr

* * * *

Demi-journée d’étude du 17 avril 2013 sur Internet et le commerce international

organisée par le Bureau des Jeunes chercheurs de la SFDI à l’Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense

Sous le parrainage de Monsieur Patrick Daillier

Professeur émérite de l’Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense.

Dans le cadre du colloque annuel de la Société Française pour le Droit International (SFDI) « Internet et le droit international » qui se déroulera au sein de l’Université de Rouen du 30 mai au 1er juin 2013, le Bureau des Jeunes chercheurs de la SFDI organise une demi-journée d’étude destinée aux jeunes doctorants et docteurs sur le thème de Internet et le commerce international.

Cet atelier se déroulera sous la présidence de Patrick Daillier Professeur émérite de l’Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, le 17 avril 2013, à l’Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense (UFR de Droit et Science politique – 200 avenue de la République – 92001 Nanterre).

Les communications dureront 20 minutes chacune et seront suivies d’un débat. Elles donneront lieu, par la suite,

• à la présentation d’un rapport, par l’un des intervenants choisis, sur les travaux réalisés au cours de l’Atelier, lors du colloque annuel de la SFDI ;
• voire, à une publication sur le site de la SFDI.

Les propositions de communication (un titre et un résumé d’une quinzaine de lignes) sont à envoyer, accompagnées d’un curriculum vitae, pour le 28 février 2013 au plus tard, aux deux organisateurs, responsables du Bureau des Jeunes chercheurs :

Caroline Breton, caroline-breton[at]hotmail.fr

Xavier Aurey, xavier.aurey[at]free.fr

New Issue: Ethics & International Affairs

The latest issue of Ethics & International Affairs (Vol. 27, no. 1, Spring 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Essay
• Shefa Siegel, The Missing Ethics of Mining
• Special Section: Just War And Its Critics
• Cian O'Driscoll, Introduction: Thinking Ethically about the Use of Force
• James Turner Johnson, Contemporary Just War Thinking: Which Is Worse, to Have Friends or Critics?
• Cian O'Driscoll, Divisions within the Ranks? The Just War Tradition and the Use and Abuse of History
• John Kelsay, Just War Thinking as a Social Practice
• Daniel Brunstetter & Megan Braun, From Jus ad Bellum to Jus ad Vim: Recalibrating Our Understanding of the Moral Use of Force

Call for Papers: Colloque Annuel de la SFDI

The Société française pour le droit international has issued a call for papers for its annual conference, which will take place in Rouen, May 30-June 1, 2013. The theme is "Internet et le droit international." Here's the call:

Appels à communications pour les ateliers

PDF de l’appel à communication

ATELIER N° 1 : DROIT INTERNATIONAL ET CYBERGUERRE

Président : Paul TAVERNIER - Professeur émérite de l’Université de Paris sud

Discutant : Abdelwahab BIAD - Maître de Conférences de l’Université de Rouen

Les propositions doivent être envoyées à Paul Tavernier (credho@credho.org) et Abdelwahab Biad (biad.abdelwahab@univ-rouen.fr) avec copie à Anne-Thida Norodom (anne-thida.norodom@univ-rouen.fr) et Philippe Lagrange (philippe.lagrange@univ-rouen.fr), avant le 18 mars 2013.

ATELIER N°2 : DROIT INTERNATIONAL ET CYBERCRIMINALITE

Présidente : Geneviève BURDEAU - Professeur à l’Ecole de droit de la Sorbonne (Paris I)

Discutant : Philippe GUILLOT - Maître de conférences à l’Université de Rouen

Les personnes intéressées sont invitées à transmettre un bref projet d’intervention (5 pages maximum) et un curriculum vitæ à Philippe Guillot (philippe.guillot@univ-rouen.fr) avec copie à Anne-Thida Norodom (anne-thida.norodom@univ-rouen.fr) et Philippe Lagrange (philippe.lagrange@univ-rouen.fr) avant le 18 mars 2013.

ATELIER N° 3 : INTERNET ET COMMERCE INTERNATIONAL

Présidente : Laurence BOISSON DE CHAZOURNES - Professeur à l’Université de Genève

Discutante : Valérie PARISOT - Maître de conférences à l’Université de Rouen

Les propositions doivent être envoyées à Valérie Parisot (valerie.parisot@univ-rouen.fr) avec copie à Anne-Thida Norodom (anne-thida.norodom@univ-rouen.fr) et Philippe Lagrange (philippe.lagrange@univ-rouen.fr), avant le 18 mars 2013

Boisson de Chazournes, Leb, & Tignino: International Law and Freshwater: The Multiple Challenges

Laurence Boisson de Chazournes (Univ. of Geneva - Law), Christina Leb (Univ. of Geneva - Platform for International Water Law), & Mara Tignino (Univ. of Geneva - Platform for International Water Law) have published International Law and Freshwater: The Multiple Challenges (Edward Elgar Publishing 2013). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstact:

The issues surrounding water embody some of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. The editors of this timely book have brought together the leading authors in the field to explore the key questions involving international law and water governance.

International Law and Freshwater connects recent legal developments through the breadth and synergies of a multidisciplinary analysis. It addresses such critical issues as water security, the right to water, international cooperation and dispute resolution, State succession to transboundary watercourse treaties, and facets of international economic law, including trade in ‘virtual water’ and the impacts of ‘land grabs’.

Call for Papers: 4th Biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law

The Asian Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its 4th Biennial Conference, to be hosted by the Indian Society of International Law in New Delhi, November 14-16, 2013. The theme is "Asia and International Law in the Twenty-First Century: New Horizons." Here's the call:

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Asian Society of International Law was established in 2007. Following three successful biennial conferences, the next biennial conference of the Society is to be hosted by the Indian Society of International Law in New Delhi, from 15 to 16 November 2013.

Theme of the Conference

Governments, scholars, and civil society in Asia are actively engaged in all facets of the development and implementation of contemporary international law. Asia’s leading powers are no longer `emerging’ but have emerged. There is, nevertheless, great diversity around the region. While countries in the Asian region may regard certain issues as of particular concern to them, those issues are generally also of great moment in other regions and/or at a global level. This conference will seek to share perspectives on emergent dimensions of international law from around the Asian region, broadly defined, and from beyond.

Topics of Papers

To this end, proposals for papers are now being invited on any of the following topics:

• Anti-dumping and safeguards
• ASEAN-related special issues of International Law
• Climate change
• Competition law
• Conflict of laws relating to marriage, adoption, surrogacy and custody of children
• Emergent issues in international human rights law
• Evolving positions in relation to R2P
• Intellectual property rights
• International commercial law/enforcement of foreign judgments
• International investment law (including resolution of international investment disputes)
• Key elements of sustainable development for Asia
• Law of the Sea; Piracy; Maritime Security and Safety in the Asian region
• National implementation of the WTO’s and RTAs’ commitments in the Asian countries
• Peaceful Resolution of International Disputes in Asia (including resolution of International Trade and Business Disputes in Asian countries)
• Regulating the internet
• The Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization
• The contribution of civil society to international law and the growth of `bottom-up’ processes of international law creation and implementation
• The teaching, research and practice of international law in Asian languages
• The turn to history in international law
• Third World approaches to international law

The Organizers seek to encourage the participation in the Conference of all persons interested in international law all over the world, whether established or junior scholars, academics or practitioners, government officials and NGO officers, by inviting applications for positions as panelists. Papers may provide an Asian perspective on these topics, and/or international/comparative approaches to the listed topics.

Application Procedure

You will be required to provide in the submission form:

1. A 600-word abstract/summary of the proposed paper. Please clearly identify the title of your paper and the panel category in the online form.

2. Affiliation details and brief bio This would include details of professional status, educational background, institutional affiliation, office address, contact telephone number, and e-mail address. Please also provide, in the section titled `brief biography’ any information about presentations given, publications, and any other relevant information about your research or experience.

3. Your affiliation to the Asian Society of International Law Preference will be given to existing members of the Asian Society of International Law in the selection process. To sign up for membership, Please Click Here.

4. Whether your participation is dependent on the provision of financial assistance. Although the organizers may be able to secure a small sum of sponsorship to provide financial assistance, it is preferable for accepted presenters to secure their own travel funding from their respective institutions.

In addition to paper proposals, proposals for panels will also be considered. A panel should address a topical issue of international law and consist of 5-6 speakers from a range of countries and stages of career development.

Please complete the online submission forms by Monday, 15 April 2013, 2300 hrs, India Time.

Click HERE for online abstract submission for individual papers.

Click HERE for online submission for panels.

Click HERE to view Conference Website.

Please note that a student workshop is being organized in conjunction with the conference and it is expected that students will submit their abstracts to that rather than to the conference itself. Click HERE to view the Call for Expression of Interest for the student workshop.

Any questions about the paper selection process may be addressed to: asiansil-conferences@nus.edu.sg

All enquiries about the India Conference 2013 should be directed to: info.isil@gmail.com

Successful applicants will be informed by mid July 2013 and are required to submit their completed papers and registration to the Conference Organizers by Monday, 30 September 2013. The paper should be between 6000 and 8000 words.

All papers accepted by the Organizers for the Conference may be featured on the Conference web-site or as part of the AsianSIL Working Paper Series. Paper presenters are encouraged to submit finalized papers to the Society’s new Asian Journal of International Law. Publication is subject to a double-blind peer-review and editorial discretion. Details may be found on the Journal’s Web site.

New Volume: Yearbook of International Environmental Law

The latest volume of the Yearbook of International Environmental Law (Vol. 22, 2011) is out. Contents include:

• Halina Ward, Beyond the Short Term: Legal and Institutional Space for Future Generations in Global Governance
• Richard Caddell, The Integration of Multilateral Environmental Agreements: Lessons from the Biodiversity-Related Conventions
• Javier de Cendra de Larragán, Tying the Knot of Energy Security and Climate Change Mitigation: A Tale of Solidarity?
• Elizabeth A. Kirk, Marine Governance, Adaptation, and Legitimacy
• Douglas de Castro, The Shared Management of the Guarani Aquifer: The South American Example in Global Governance over Water Resources

Techera: Marine Environmental Governance: From International Law to Local Practice

Erika Techera (Macquarie Univ. - Centre for International & Environmental Law) has published Marine Environmental Governance: From International Law to Local Practice (Routledge 2013). Here's the abstract:

Marine Environmental Governance: From International Law to Local Practice considers the relationship between international environmental law and community-based management of marine areas. Focusing on small island states, in which indigenous populations have to a large extent continued to maintain traditional lifestyles, this book takes up the question of how indigenous customary law and state-based legislation can be reconciled in the implementation of international environmental law. Including a range of case studies, as well as detailed comparative analysis, it pursues an interdisciplinary approach to legal pluralism 'in practice' that will be of considerable interest to environmental lawyers, legal anthropologists, conservation biologists and those working in the area of community-based conservation.

Schmitt & Thurnher: 'Out of the Loop': Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Law of Armed Conflict

Michael N. Schmitt (Naval War College - Law) & Jeffrey S. Thurnher (Naval War College - Law) have posted 'Out of the Loop': Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Law of Armed Conflict (Harvard National Security Journal, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Examines the law of armed conflict (international humanitarian law) issues surrounding the fielding and use of autonomous weapon systems.

Roach: China’s Straight Baseline Claim: Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands

J. Ashley Roach has posted an ASIL Insight on China’s Straight Baseline Claim: Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands.

New Issue: Asian Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Asian Journal of International Law (Vol. 3, no. 1, January 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Jean d'Aspremont, Towards an International Law of Brigandage: Interpretative Engineering for the Regulation of Natural Resources Exploitation
• Hitoshi Nasu, Revisiting the Principle of Non-Intervention: A Structural Principle of International Law or a Political Obstacle to Regional Security in Asia?
• Benny Tan Zhi Peng, The International Law Commission's Draft Articles on the Effects of Armed Conflicts on Treaties: Evaluating the Applicability of Impossibility of Performance and Fundamental Change
• Andrew Wolman, National Human Rights Commissions and Asian Human Rights Norms
• Benoît Mayer, Environmental Migration in the Asia-Pacific Region: Could We Hang Out Sometime?
• Khorsed Zaman, The TRIPS Patent Protection Provisions and Their Effects on Transferring Climate Change Technologies to LDCs and Poor Developing Countries: A Critical Appraisal
• Steven M. Dejong, Hot Air and Hot Heads: An Examination of the Legal Arguments Surrounding the Extension of the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme to Aviation

Bradley: International Law in the U.S. Legal System

Curtis A. Bradley (Duke Univ. - Law) has published International Law in the U.S. Legal System (Oxford Univ. Press 2013). Here's the abstract:

International Law in the U.S. Legal System explores the dynamic intersection between international law and the domestic legal system within the United States and covers both settled principles as well as unresolved issues and areas of controversy. Curtis Bradley considers all of the principal forms of international law: treaties, decisions and orders of international institutions, customary international law, and jus cogens norms. He also explores a number of specific topics that are implicated by the intersection of U.S. law and international law, such as foreign sovereign immunity, international human rights litigation, extradition, war powers, and extraterritoriality. As he explains, international law plays an important and sometimes under-appreciated role in the U.S. legal system, but its domestic application is mediated by a variety of structural considerations, including federalism and the separation of powers. This book highlights recent decisions and events relating to the topic (including decisions and events arising out of the war on terrorism), while also taking into account relevant historical materials, including materials relating to the U.S. constitutional founding. The book is designed to be accessible to a wide range of lawyers, judges, law students, and policymakers, both inside and outside the United States.

New Issue: Global Policy

The latest issue of Global Policy (Vol. 3, Supp. no. 1, December 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: Changing the Debate on Europe – The Inaugural Dahrendorf Symposium
• Damian Chalmers, Introduction: A Moment for European Sturm und Drang?
• Helmut K. Anheier & Gesa-Stefanie Brincker, Setting the Stage: Lord Ralf Dahrendorf and the European Project
• Mark Hallerberg & Joachim Wehner, The Educational Competence of Economic Policymakers in the EU
• Waltraud Schelkle & Anke Hassel, The Policy Consensus Ruling European Political Economy: The Political Attractions of Discredited Economics
• Daniela Schwarzer, The Euro Area Crises, Shifting Power Relations and Institutional Change in the European Union
• Loukas Tsoukalis, The Political Economy of the Crisis: The End of an Era?
• Sylvie Goulard, Contribution: The Financial and Euro Crisis, 2011 Dahrendorf Symposium in Berlin
• Helmut K Anheier & Mariella Falkenhain, Europe’s Stratified Social Space: Diagnosis and Remedies
• Norbert Röttgen, Keynote address: ‘Changing the Debate on Europe’, 2011 Dahrendorf Symposium in Berlin: Towards a European Political Imperative
• Wolfgang Ischinger, Contribution: Changing the European Debate: 2011 Dahrendorf Symposium in Berlin
• Jim Murphy, Changing the debate on Europe 2011 Dahrendorf Symposium in Berlin
• Michael Cox, Too Big To Fail?: The Transatlantic Relationship from Bush to Obama
• Mary Kaldor, The EU as a New Form of Political Authority: The Example of the Common Security and Defence Policy
• Thomas Risse, Identity Matters: Exploring the Ambivalence of EU Foreign Policy
• Arne Westad, China and Europe: Opportunities or Dangers?

Allain: Slavery in International Law: Of Human Exploitation and Trafficking

Jean Allain (Queen's Univ., Belfast - Law) has published Slavery in International Law: Of Human Exploitation and Trafficking (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2013). Here's the abstract:

With the advent, in the twenty-first century, of the trafficking conventions and the criminalisation of enslavement before the International Criminal Court, the need to establish the black-letter law dealing with human exploitation has become acute.

Slavery in International Law sets out the applicable law of human exploitation in the various sub-areas of international law, including general international law, human rights law, humanitarian law, labour law and the law of the sea; so as to create an overall understanding of what constitutes, in law, slavery and lesser types of human exploitation including: forced labour and servitudes such as debt bondage or servile marriage, as set out in the established definition of ‘trafficking in persons’.

Ohlin: Targeting and the Concept of Intent

Jens David Ohlin (Cornell Univ. - Law) has posted Targeting and the Concept of Intent (Michigan Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

International law generally prohibits military forces from intentionally targeting civilians; this is the principle of distinction. In contrast, unintended collateral damage is permissible unless the anticipated civilian deaths outweigh the expected military advantage of the strike; this is the principle of proportionality. These cardinal targeting rules of international humanitarian law are generally assumed by military lawyers to be relatively well settled. However, recent international tribunals applying this law in a string of little-noticed decisions have completely upended this understanding. Armed with criminal law principles from their own domestic systems, often civil law jurisdictions, prosecutors, judges and even scholars have progressively redefined what it means to “intentionally” target a civilian population. In particular, these accounts rely on the civil law notion of dolus eventualis, a mental state akin to common law recklessness that differs in at least one crucial respect: it classifies risk-taking behavior as a species of intent.

This problem represents a clash of legal cultures. International lawyers trained in civil law jurisdictions are nonplussed by this development, while the Anglo-American literature on targeting has all-but-ignored this conflict. But when told of these decisions, U.S. military lawyers view this “reinterpretation” of intent as conflating the principles of distinction and proportionality. If a military commander anticipates that attacking a building may result in civilian casualties, why bother analyzing whether the collateral damage is proportional? Under the dolus eventualis view, the commander is already guilty of violating the principle of distinction. The following Article voices skepticism about this vanguard application of dolus eventualis to the law of targeting, in particular by noting that dolus eventualis was excluded by the framers of the Rome Statute and was nowhere considered by negotiators of Additional Protocol I of the Geneva Convention. Finally and most importantly, a dolus eventualis-inspired law of targeting undermines the Doctrine of Double Effect, the principle of moral theology on which the collateral damage rule rests. At stake is nothing less than the moral and legal distinction between terrorists who deliberately kill civilians and lawful combatants who foresee collateral damage.

Call for Papers: How Can International and Comparative Law Scholars Benefit from Each Other's Perspectives?

The New Professionals Interest Group of the American Society of International Law and the Younger Comparativists Committee of the American Society of Comparative Law have issued a call for papers for a junior scholars workshop on "How Can International and Comparative Law Scholars Benefit from Each Other's Perspectives?" Here's the call:

Call for Papers: ASIL/NPIG-ASCL/YCC International and Comparative Junior Scholar Workshop, Columbia Law School, March 29, 2013

The New Professionals Interest Group of the American Society of International Law and the Younger Comparativists Committee of the American Society of Comparative Law are pleased to invite the submission of papers for a junior scholar workshop to be held at Columbia Law School on March 29, 2013.

How can international and comparative law scholars benefit from each other’s perspectives? What comparative law questions arise in the work of international law scholars? How do international law scholars approach comparative questions methodologically? Conversely, which international law questions are comparative law scholars interested in and how do they approach such questions?

Papers concerning any area of international or comparative law selected for the workshop will raise one of these questions. Proposals for a 10/10 format paper (10 page paper/10 minute presentation, or less) should consist of abstracts of no more than 500 words. Submissions will be accepted from scholars who have been teaching international and/or comparative law for no longer than 10 years. Please submit proposals by March 1 to Bart Szewczyk (bart.szewczyk@law.columbia.edu) and Claudia Haupt (chaupt@law.columbia.edu).

Panel: Targeted Killings and the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles - International Law Responds

On February 21, 2013, the European University Institute will host a panel discussion on "Targeted Killings and the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles - International Law Responds." The program is here.

Call for Papers: Peoples' Tribunals and International Law

The Australian Human Rights Centre at the University of New South Wales Faculty of Law has issued a call for papers for an expert seminar on "Peoples' Tribunals and International Law." Here's the call:

EXPERT SEMINAR ON PEOPLES’ TRIBUNALS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

The Australian Human Rights Centre, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

in collaboration with the

Fondazione Lelio e Lisli Basso ISSOCO, Rome, Italy

CALL FOR PAPERS

Since the 1960s there have been dozens of “peoples’ tribunals”, “citizens’ tribunals” or similar commissions of inquiry established outside formal State and international structures. Many have sought to apply accepted norms of international law and quasi-judicial procedures, even though their judgments and verdicts have no formal status. These include the Russell Tribunals of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the many proceedings convened by the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal since its founding in 1979, the First and Second International Water Tribunal, the Latin American Water Tribunal, the Tokyo International Women’s Tribunal, and the World Tribunal on Iraq.

The seminar will be held on 27-28 September 2013 in Rome. The seminar will bring together 10-12 scholars or other experts from different disciplines to examine a number of general themes about the nature and impact of peoples’ tribunals over the last half century, and to critically examine the operation of a number of specific tribunals.

Papers are invited from scholars working in any relevant discipline, including law, political science, history, anthropology, sociology and other disciplines. Paper proposals should address a specific theme or a particular tribunal. Ideally papers would addresses issues such as:

• theoretical framework(s) for understanding the origins, functions and impact of peoples’ tribunals

• if a specific case study of a tribunal is proposed: the origins of the tribunal being examined and its relationship to campaigns of advocacy around the issues being addressed by the tribunal, the structure and organisation of the tribunal, the nature of the claim, procedural matters including the gathering and quality of evidence, the extent to which the tribunal draws on existing international law, expands its scope or otherwise contributes to its development, and the impact(s) of the tribunal proceedings

• tensions between tribunals as political events and as legal events

• the future of international peoples’ tribunals

• who ‘owns’ international law?

• other relevant issues.

Those interested in submitting abstracts should submit a one-page proposal for a paper, together with a brief curriculum vitae listing publications or details of other relevant work, to Andrew.Byrnes@unsw.edu.au and g.simm@unsw.edu.au by no later than 11 March 2013. Successful participants will be notified by the end of March 2013. There may be funding available to support travel to the conference. Draft papers of 6,000-8,000 words will be due by 15 July 2013 to enable circulation to other participants so that they can provide useful commentary on each other’s work. Final revised papers will be due on 30 October 2013.

The aim is to publish an edited volume in English with a leading academic press. Papers will be subjected to anonymous peer review and the best papers selected for inclusion in the edited volume.

Proposals and papers will be accepted in English, French, Spanish, Italian and German; however, the primary working language of the workshop and the language of the edited volume will be English (its contents will also include papers translated from other languages as well as papers written in English). The Fondazione Lelio e Lisli Basso ISSOCO may also publish a book of the proceedings of the conference which may include papers in languages other than English.

For further information, please see our webpages: here and here.

We gratefully acknowledge funding provided by the Australian Research Council (DP110101594 Peoples’ Tribunals and International Law).

Call for Papers: Human Rights and the Use of Drones in International Law

The Fordham Law School Visiting Scholars and Research Section on International Law has issued a call for papers for a workshop on "Human Rights and the Use of Drones in International Law." Here's the call:

Fordham Law School Visiting Scholars and Research Section on International Law will be holding a workshop on Human Rights and the Use of Drones in International Law. The workshop will be an exchange of scholarly views pertaining to the legality of the use of drones and its impact on human rights.

The international war on terror has shifted in recent years to other "non-state actors," which is increasingly being executed by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS). This new form of attack takes the shape of an invincible war with significant implications on the local population and for international law. This new art of warfare raises a number of legal issues. Are drone strikes a form of use of force in International Law? If so, who are legally responsible for drone warfare? Should there be standard rules of warfare that include drone strikes? What are the rules of modern warfare? What is the impact of drone strikes on human rights? Should the law be concerned about drone strikes and human rights? These and other questions will be addressed in this workshop.

Participants chosen for the workshop will be informed by February 28, 2013, and expected to submit their full papers by March 29, 2013. The workshop will take place on April 19, 2013 at Fordham Law School.

For submissions and other information:

Sean Morris

Chair, Fordham Law VSR Section on International Law

Email: smorris22@law.fordham.edu

Fournet: Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity: Misconceptions and Confusion in French Law and Practice

Caroline Fournet (Univ. of Groningen - Law) has published Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity: Misconceptions and Confusion in French Law and Practice (Hart Publishing 2013). Here's the abstract:

This book explores the ambiguities of the French law of genocide by exposing the inexplicable dichotomy between a progressive theory and an overly conservative practice. Based on the observation that the crime of genocide has remained absent from French courtrooms to the benefit of crimes against humanity, this research dissects the reasons for this absence, reviewing and analysing the potential legal obstacles to the judicial use of the law of genocide before contemplating the definitional impact of this judicial reluctance and the consequent confusion between the two crimes. Whilst it uses the French law of genocide and related case law on crimes against humanity as its focal points, the book further adopts a more general standpoint, suggesting that the French misunderstandings of the crime of genocide might ultimately be symptomatic of a more widespread misconception of the crime of genocide as a crime perpetrated against 'a group'.

New Issue: American Review of International Arbitration

The latest issue of the American Review of International Arbitration (Vol. 23, no. 2, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Otto Sandrock, The UK Supreme Court misses the point: estoppel applies without the existence of a common intention
• Timothy G. Nelson, The explosion and the testimony: the WWI sabotage claims and an international arbitral tribunal’s power to revise its own awards
• George Gluck, Great expectations: meeting the challenge of a new arbitration paradigm
• Stephanie Bijlmakers, Effects of foreign direct investment arbitration on a state’s regulatory autonomy involving the public interest
• Suyash Paliwal, The more favorable regime within the “overlapping coverage” of FAA Chapters One and Two
• Deming Liu, Think twice before arbitrating a patent dispute?
• Rubino-Sammartano, Mauro. A continuous search for new horizons
• Laurent Vercauteren, The taking of documentary evidence in international arbitration

New Issue: Journal of World Energy Law & Business

The latest issue of Journal of World Energy Law & Business (Vol. 6, no. 1, March 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Rae Lindsay, Robert McCorquodale, Lara Blecher, Jonathan Bonnitcha, Antony Crockett, & Audley Sheppard, Human rights responsibilities in the oil and gas sector: applying the UN Guiding Principles
• Christopher Cooper, Physics envy: why energy policy is more art than science

New Issue: Revue Générale de Droit International Public

The latest issue of the Revue Générale de Droit International Public (Vol. 116, no. 4, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Emmanuelle Jouannet, Le droit international de la reconnaissance
• Véronique Guevremont, Le développement durable: ce gêne méconnu du droit international de la culture
• Edouard Dubout, Le refus de saisine préjudicielle de la Cour de justice de l'Union européenne peut-il constituer un déni de justice?. Réflexion sur le dédoublement fonctionnel des juges nationaux à partir de l'arrêt de la Cour de cassation du 26 octobre 2011 Société McCormick Guadeloupe
• Laurent Trigeaud, Les effets des conflits armés sur les traités suivant le projet d'articles de la Commission du droit international

New Issue: Journal du Droit International

The latest issue of the Journal du Droit International ("Clunet") (Vol. 140, no. 1, Janvier-Février-Mars 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Doctrine
• Jean-Sylvestre Berge, De la hiérarchie des normes au droit hiérarchisé : figures pratiques de l’application du droit à différents niveaux
• Marie-Eve Pancrazi, L’actif étranger du débiteur en procédure collective
• Louis Savadogo, Le régime international des câbles sous-marins
• Variétés
• Maryse Muller & Gilles Cuniberti, Une étude empirique sur la pratique de l’exequatur dans la Grande Région
• Guillaume Feld, Contract manager, un autre métier du droit en entreprise

New Issue: Human Rights Quarterly

The latest issue of the Human Rights Quarterly (Vol. 35, no. 1, February 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Rhona Smith, "To see Themselves as Others see Them": The Five Permanent Members of the Security Council and the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review
• Heiner Bielefeldt, Misperceptions of Freedom of Religion or Belief
• Jonathan Graubart, R2P and Pragmatic Liberal Interventionism: Values in the Service of Interests
• Vrinda Narain, Muslim Women's Equality in India: Applying a Human Rights Framework
• Derya Bayır, Representation of the Kurds by the Turkish Judiciary
• Aurora Plomer, The Human Rights Paradox: Intellectual Property Rights and Rights of Access to Science
• Eva Brems & Laurens Lavrysen, Procedural Justice in Human Rights Adjudication: The European Court of Human Rights
• Joshua Castellino, No Room at the International Table: The Importance of Designing Effective Litmus Tests for Minority Protection at Home

New Issue: Review of International Organizations

The latest issue of the Review of International Organizations (Vol. 8, no. 1, March 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Eric Neumayer, Do governments mean business when they derogate? Human rights violations during notified states of emergency
• Amanda Murdie & Dursun Peksen, The impact of human rights INGO activities on economic sanctions
• Tobias Böhmelt, A closer look at the information provision rationale: Civil society participation in states’ delegations at the UNFCCC
• Patrick Bayer & Johannes Urpelainen, External sources of clean technology: Evidence from the Clean Development Mechanism

Goodman: The Power to Kill or Capture Enemy Combatants

Ryan Goodman (New York Univ. - Law) has posted The Power to Kill or Capture Enemy Combatants (European Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

During wartime a critical legal question involves the scope of authority to choose whether to kill or capture enemy combatants. An important view, expressed by many contemporary experts, maintains that a combatant can be subject to lethal force wherever the person is found — unless and until the individual offers to surrender. I argue that, in certain well-specified and narrow circumstances, the use of force should instead be governed by a least-restrictive-means analysis. That is, I contend that the modern law of armed conflict supports the following maxim: if enemy combatants can be put out of action by capturing them, they should not be injured; if they can be put out of action by injury, they should not be killed; and if they can be put out of action by light injury, grave injury should be avoided. The article shows how this maxim fits into the overall structure of the laws of war. It also shows how a parallel set of rules — on the definition of hors de combat — achieves many of the same effects. And it identifies plausible scenarios in which these rules would apply. Admittedly, there are all manner of caveats and conditions that will qualify the application of this maxim. However, the general formula — and its key components — should be understood to have a solid foundation in the structure, rules and practices of modern warfare. In sum, belligerents must comply with an important (albeit conditional) set of constraints in planning and conducting kill or capture operations against enemy fighters.

Workshop: International Investment Law and Development: Friends or Foes?

For several years, the Frankfurt Investment Law Workshop has been a forum to discuss conceptual issues of international investment law. Previous workshops focused on International Investment Law and General International Law: From Clinical Isolation to Systemic Integration? (Nomos 2011), International Investment Law and Its Others (Nomos 2012), and Preferential Trade and Investment Agreements: A New Ordering Paradigm for International Investment Relations? This year’s workshop, which will take place March 22-23, will explore "International Investment Law and Development: Friends or Foes?" The program is here. Here's the idea:

The relationship between international investment law and development is a matter of some controversy. For some, especially those arguing for a change in the current system of investment law and arbitration, investment (law) and development are incompatible. Others point to historical developments and more recent development summits (such as Rio 1992, or Rio +20) to argue that investment (law) facilitates development. The 2013 Frankfurt Investment Law Workshop seeks to re-assess the relationship between the two concepts. Following the ‘Frankfurt tradition’ of conceptual inquiries into questions of investment law, it will trace the history of both concepts and their interaction and consider how international investment law should be construed to contribute to development.

Baradaran, Findley, Nielson, & Sharman: Does International Law Matter?

Shima Baradaran (Brigham Young Univ. - Law), Michael Findley (Univ. of Texas - Government), Daniel Nielson (Brigham Young Univ. - Political Science), & J. C. Sharman (Griffith Univ. - Centre for Governance and Public Policy) have posted Does International Law Matter? (Minnesota Law Review, Vol. 97, p.743, 2013). Here's the abstract:

The importance of international law has grown in an increasingly global world. States and their citizens are interconnected and depend on each other to enforce and comply with international law to meet common goals. Despite the expanding presence of international law, the question that remains is whether international law matters. Do individuals comply with international law? And when they comply, do they comply because they fear penalties or because they desire to behave appropriately? This Article presents results from a randomized field experiment designed to investigate these questions. Major findings include that roughly one in seven international actors is willing to violate international law and the existence of penalties actually motivates some actors to break international law in greater numbers. In the first and largest global field experiment to date, this Article not only advances the scope of research methods generally, but also marks new ground by providing theoretical insights on the central questions of international law.