Alston: Against a World Court for Human Rights

Philip Alston (New York Univ. - Law) has posted Against a World Court for Human Rights (Ethics and International Affairs, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

In 2011 a Swiss-sponsored initiative, endorsed by some of the world’s leading human rights lawyers, called for a World Court of Human Rights to be created. It would be permanent, have jurisdiction over 21 different human rights treaties, apply to non-state actors as well as states, and issue binding judgments that could ultimately be enforced by the Security Council. This paper argues that the proposal is fundamentally misconceived. In addition to practical issues such as political feasibility and cost, the proposal overstates the role that can and should be played by judicial mechanisms, downplays the immense groundwork that needs to be undertaken before such a mechanism could be helpful, sets up a straw man to be attacked by those who thrive on exaggerating the threat posed by giving greater prominence to human rights instruments at the international level, and distracts attention from far more pressing and important issues.

von Bernstorff: The Global 'Land-Grab', Sovereignty and Human Rights

Jochen von Bernstorff (Univ. of Tuebingen - Law) has posted an ESIL Reflection on The Global 'Land-Grab', Sovereignty and Human Rights.

Hajjami: La responsabilité de protéger

Nabil Hajjami (Université de Paris Ouest – Nanterre la Défense - Law) has published La responsabilité de protéger (Bruylant 2013). Here's the abstract:

La responsabilité de protéger est un concept issu des travaux de la Commission internationale de l’intervention et de la souveraineté des États (CIISE). Établie en 2000 à l’initiative du Canada, elle a recherché à dépasser les controverses inhérentes aux débats relatifs au « droit d’intervention humanitaire ». Aux fins d’atteindre cet objectif, la Commission a forgé un nouveau concept, la « responsabilité de protéger », qui permît de concilier, plutôt qu’opposer, les notions de souveraineté et d’intervention.

Depuis lors, la responsabilité de protéger a fait l’objet de vives controverses en droit international. Intégrée dans une résolution de l’Assemblée générale de l’ONU en septembre 2005, appliquée par le Conseil de sécurité lors des crises en Côte d’Ivoire et en Libye de mars 2011, le concept se trouve, aujourd’hui, au centre des débats se rapportant au cadre juridique de la protection des populations civiles. Le présent ouvrage entend examiner les différentes implications juridiques de la responsabilité de protéger, en optant pour une démarche résolument positiviste. La réflexion proposée tente d’en embrasser les différents aspects, tant conceptuels qu’opérationnels, aux fins d’aboutir à une étude globale, synthétique et actualisée du concept. Partant, une interrogation commandera l’ensemble de la réflexion : l’émergence de la responsabilité de protéger a-t-elle, en droit international, permis une amélioration de la protection des populations civiles ?

New Issue: Revue de Droit International et de Droit Comparé

The latest issue of the Revue de Droit International et de Droit Comparé (Vol. 90, no. 3, 2013) is out. Contents include:

• J. F. Leclercq, Brèves considérations pratiques sur le démembrement d'État en droit international public
• Joseph Kazadi Mpiana, La saisine du juge africain des droits de l'Homme par les individus et les ONG
• Sylvestre Kwahou, L'influence du droit communautaire sur les finances publiques nationales: le cas des États de la Communauté Économique et Monétaire de l'Afrique Centrale (CEMAC)
• F. Quilleré-Majzoub & Tarek Majzoub, Le droit d'être candidat à l'élection de Président de la République au Liban: mauvaise appréciation et réalité juridique
• Manuel Gutan, Le droit comparé contemporain et l'actualité de la théorie des "formes sans fond" en Roumanie

Huerta-Goldman, Romanetti, & Stirnimann: WTO Litigation, Investment Arbitration, and Commercial Arbitration

Jorge A. Huerta-Goldman, Antoine Romanetti, & Franz X. Stirnimann have published WTO Litigation, Investment Arbitration, and Commercial Arbitration (Wolters Kluwer 2013). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This book gathers contributions by twenty-five world-class practitioners, leading academics, adjudicators, and civil servants in the field of WTO litigation, investment arbitration, and commercial arbitration. It provides a practical cross-cutting analysis of the different dispute settlement mechanisms that exist in international trade and investment and offers valuable insights into how to use best practices among the three systems. The book addresses the critical areas of overlap that exist in the three disciplines, including: management of parallel proceedings and role of politics and ‘pressure points’ within host governments; selection and appointment of arbitrators, panels and Appellate Body members; use of experts and economics; search of the applicable law; interpretation of the national treatment principle and other substantive standards and legal tests; methods of redressing ‘moral damage’; regimes of review, appeals and annulment; enforcement systems of awards, implementation of WTO law and other legal remedies; and allocation of costs.

Gow, Kerr, & Pajić: Prosecuting War Crimes: Lessons and legacies of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

James Gow (King's College London), Rachel Kerr (King's College London), & Zoran Pajić (King's College London) have published Prosecuting War Crimes: Lessons and legacies of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (Routledge 2013). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This volume examines the legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which was created under Chapter VII of the UN Charter as a mechanism explicitly aimed at the restoration and maintenance of international peace and security.

As the ICTY has now entered its twentieth year, this volume reflects on the record and practices of the Tribunal. Since it was established, it has had enormous impact on the procedural, jurisprudential and institutional development of international criminal law, as well as the international criminal justice project. This will be its international legacy, but its legacy in the region where the crimes under its jurisdiction took place is less clear; research has shown that reactions to the ICTY have been mixed among the communities most affected by its work. Bringing together a range of key thinkers in the field, Prosecuting War Crimes explores these findings and discusses why many feel that the ICTY has failed to fully engage with people’s experiences and meet their expectations.

New Issue: Revue trimestrielle des droits de l'homme

The latest issue of the Revue trimestrielle des droits de l'homme (No. 95, July 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Pierre Lambert, In memoriam Edouard Jakhian
• Jean Dhommeaux, La Convention relative aux droits des personnes handicapées et son Protocole du 13 décembre 2006
• Andrew Drzemczewski, L’élection du juge de l’Union européenne à la Cour européenne
• Franck Yonan, La révision du mécanisme conventionnel ACP-UE
• Olivier Van der Noot, Les travaux de la « Commission on a Bill of Rights » britannique : jalons pour une clarification de la valeur ajoutée des instruments nationaux de protection des droits de l’homme
• Barbara Goncalves, Interrogations et espoirs sur l’usage de la peine de mort en Chine
• Elisabeth Lambert-Abdelgawad, L’exécution des arrêts de la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme (2012)
• Institut de droit européen des droits de l'homme (I.D.E.D.H.) - Caroline Picheral - Hélène Surrel - Katarzyna Grabarczyk - Christophe Maubernard - Laure Milano - Romain Tinière, Les juridictions de l’Union européenne et les droits fondamentaux Chronique de jurisprudence (2012)
• Catherine-Amélie Chassin, La rétention des étrangers mineurs accompagnant leurs parents (obs/s. Cour eur. dr. h., Popov c. France, 19 janvier 2012)
• Petr Muzny, La liberté d’expression des idéaux par voie d’affichage sur le domaine public ne vaut pas pour tous (obs/s. Cour eur. dr. h., Gde Ch., Association Mouvement raëlien c. Suisse, 13 juillet 2012)
• Sylvain Bollée, La conformité à la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme de l’interdiction d’adopter un enfant recueilli en kafala (obs/s. Cour eur. dr. h., Harroudji c. France, 4 octobre 2012)
• Lyn François, Le secret des sources journalistiques face aux services de renseignements (obs/s. Cour eur. dr. h., Telegraaf Media c. Pays-Bas, 22 novembre 2012)

Wuerth: More Apology than Utopia. Reviewing Curtis A. Bradley, International Law in the U.S. Legal System

Ingrid B. Wuerth (Vanderbilt Univ. - Law) has posted More Apology than Utopia. Reviewing Curtis A. Bradley, International Law in the U.S. Legal System (American Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Curtis Bradley’s book, International Law in the U.S. Legal System, provides a skillful description of its topic in a much-needed contribution to several fields of law. This short review provides an overview of the book, notes its many strengths, and points out a few minor weaknesses in coverage. It concludes by offering some thoughts on an issue largely unaddressed by Bradley: how to evaluate as a normative matter the controversial doctrinal developments he describes.

Brysk: Speaking Rights to Power: Constructing Political Will

Alison Brysk (Univ. of California, Santa Barbara - Global and International Studies) has published Speaking Rights to Power: Constructing Political Will (Oxford Univ. Press 2013). Here's the abstract:

How can "Speaking Rights to Power" construct political will to respond to human rights abuse worldwide? Examining dozens of cases of human rights campaigns, this book shows how carefully crafted communications build recognition, solidarity, and social change. Alison Brysk presents an innovative analysis of the politics of persuasion, based in the strategic use of voice, framing, media, protest performance, and audience bridging.

Building on twenty years of research on five continents, this comprehensive study ranges from Aung San Suu Kyi to Anna Hazare, from Congo to Colombia, and from the Arab Spring to Pussy Riot. It includes both well-chronicled campaigns, such as the struggle to end violence against women, as well as lesser-known efforts, including inter-ethnic human rights alliances in the U.S. Brysk compares relatively successful human rights campaigns with unavailing struggles. Grounding her analysis in the concrete practice of human rights campaigns, she lays out testable strategic guidance for human rights advocates.

Speaking Rights to Power addresses cutting edge debates on human rights and the ethic of care, cosmopolitanism, charismatic leadership, communicative action and political theater, and the role of social media. It draws on constructivist literature from social movement and international relations theory, and it analyzes human rights as a form of global social imagination. Combining a normative contribution with judicious critique, this book shows not only that human rights rhetoric matters-but how to make it matter more.

Murphy: Reflections on the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Kosovo: Interpreting Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999)

Sean D. Murphy (George Washington Univ. - Law) has posted Reflections on the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Kosovo: Interpreting Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) (in The Law and Politics of the Kosovo Advisory Opinion, Michael Wood & Marko Milanovic eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

In its 2010 advisory opinion on Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo, the International Court of Justice was called upon to interpret the meaning and legal effects of Security Council Resolution 1244, which had authorized the deployment of international military forces and civilian administration into Kosovo in the aftermath of NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign against Serbia. The Court’s treatment of Resolution 1244 entailed a rich mosaic of issues, some of which were specific to the situation of Kosovo, but others that have ramifications for the interpretation and application of Security Council resolutions more generally. While doubts and disagreements with the Court’s decision can be fairly expressed, the Court rather systematically addressed the principal legal arguments placed before it, and there is nothing about the opinion that operates outside the realm of plausible judicial reasoning. Though the Court was faced with the difficult situation of an ambiguous resolution and a divided Council, as well as blocs of states with diametrically opposed views, the Court assumed its responsibility of interpreting whether the resolution barred Kosovo’s declaration of independence and answered clearly the question placed before it by the General Assembly, without unleashing any apparent adverse consequences for the United Nations, for the Balkans, or for the international rule of law more generally.

Symposium: The Function of Judges and Arbitrators in International Law

Today, the Nineteenth Annual Herbert Rubin and Justice Rose Luttan Rubin International Law Symposium will take place at New York University School of Law. The theme is "The Function of Judges and Arbitrators in International Law." The program is here.

deGuzman: Harsh Justice for International Crimes?

Margaret M. deGuzman (Temple Univ. - Law) has posted Harsh Justice for International Crimes? (Yale Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

As the International Criminal Court (ICC or Court) begins to sentence defendants for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, it must determine how much punishment is appropriate for these crimes. The initial sentencing decisions are especially important because they will serve as reference points for future sentences at the ICC and will likely influence the sentences of other international courts as well. Few international norms exist to guide the Court. The punishment practices of other international courts have been inconsistent, ranging from very mild to quite severe. National norms are even more divergent. Punishments considered appropriate in some systems are deemed inhumane in others. Nonetheless, the limited commentary on the appropriate punishment severity for international crimes largely speaks with one voice: international justice should be harsh.

This Article takes issue with the call for harsh international punishment. Despite distracting appeals to punishment theory, such calls ultimately rest on the intuition that international crimes are so serious as to require harsh punishment. That intuition is misleading because, at least in some cases, the rhetoric and narrative surrounding international crimes inflate perceptions of their seriousness and create a risk of over-punishing. While judges exercising discretion cannot completely avoid the influence of intuitions, they should be cautious in applying them and should seek to develop norms to guide their sentencing decisions. Such norms should be rooted in the human rights regime in which international criminal courts are embedded. Attention to human rights norms will generally counsel leniency rather than harshness.

Jain: Consent to Counterclaims in Investor-State Arbitration: A Post-Roussalis Analysis

Abhimanyu George Jain has posted Consent to Counterclaims in Investor-State Arbitration: A Post-Roussalis Analysis (International Arbitration Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Cases such as Klöckner v. Cameroon and Roussalis v. Romania have featured contradictory expressions of consent with regard to the permissibility of counterclaims. In both these cases the tribunals sought to maintain the effectiveness of the contradictory provisions while resolving these conflicts. The dissenting opinion in Roussalis and subsequent academic analyses, however, have suggested resolving these conflicts in favor of the permissibility of counterclaims. These approaches necessarily render one of the conflicting provisions otiose, but are justified by reference to the policy benefits of counterclaims. The approaches taken by the Klöckner and Roussalis tribunals are preferable precisely because they attempt to maintain the effectiveness of both contradictory provisions. This is a longstanding rule in the interpretation of both treaties and contracts and emphasizes the all-important role of consent in the arbitration process. Notwithstanding the policy benefits of counterclaims, this desirability cannot be judicially imposed at the cost of treaty and contract terms negotiated and consented to by the parties to the arbitration.

Shelton: The Oxford Handbook of International Human Rights Law

Dinah Shelton (George Washington Univ. - Law) has published The Oxford Handbook of International Human Rights Law (Oxford Univ. Press 2013). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

The Oxford Handbook of International Human Rights Law provides a comprehensive and original overview of one of the fundamental topics within international law. It contains substantial new essays by over forty leading experts in the field, giving students, scholars, and practitioners a complete overview of the issues that inform research and a "map" of the debates that animate the field. Each chapter features critical and up-to-date analysis of the current state of debate and discussion, assessing recent work, and advancing the understanding of all aspects of this developing area of international law.

Addressing all aspects of international human rights law, the Handbook consists of over forty chapters, divided into seven parts. The first two sections explore the foundational theories and the historical antecedents of human rights law from a diverse set of disciplines, including the philosophical, religious, biological, and psychological origins of moral development and altruism, and sociological findings about cooperation and conflict. They also trace the historical sources of human rights through comparative and international law by conducting a case study of the anti-slavery movement. Section III focuses on the law-making process and certain categories of rights. Sections IV and V examine the normative and institutional evolution of human rights, and discuss its impact on various doctrines of general international law. The final two sections are more speculative, examining whether there is an advantage to considering major social problems from a human rights perspective and, if so, how that might be done. Section VI analyses several current problems that are being addressed by governments both domestically and through international organizations, and issues that have been placed on the human rights agenda of the United Nations, such as state responsibility for human rights violations and economic sanctions to enforce human rights. The final section then evaluates the impact of international human rights law over the past six decades from a variety of perspectives.

Strong: Class, Mass, and Collective Arbitration in National and International Law

S.I. Strong (Univ. of Missouri - Law) has published Class, Mass, and Collective Arbitration in National and International Law (Oxford Univ. Press 2013). Here's the abstract:

Class arbitration first developed in the United States in the 1980s as a means of providing large numbers of individuals with the opportunity to assert their claims at the same time and in the same proceeding. Large-scale arbitration has since spread beyond U.S. borders, with collective arbitration being seen in Europe and mass arbitration being used in the international investment regime. Class, Mass, and Collective Arbitration in National and International Law considers all three forms of arbitration as a matter of domestic and international law, providing arbitrators, advocates and scholars with the tools they need to evaluate these sorts of procedural mechanisms.

The book covers the best-known decisions in the field - Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. Animal Feeds International Corp. and AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion from the U.S. Supreme Court and Abaclat v. Argentine Republic from the world of investment arbitration - as well as specialized rules promulgated by the American Arbitration Association, JAMS and the German Institution of Arbitration (DIS). The text introduces dozens of previously undiscussed judicial opinions and covers issues ranging from contractual (or treaty) silence and waiver to regulatory concerns and matters of enforcement. The book discusses the entire timeline of class, mass and collective arbitration, ranging from the devices' historical origins through the present and into the future. Lawyers in a wide variety of jurisdictions will benefit from the material contained in this text, which is the first full-length monograph to address large-scale arbitration as a matter of national and international law.

New Issue: Journal of Conflict Resolution

The latest issue of the Journal of Conflict Resolution (Vol. 57, no. 6, December 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Ursula Daxecker & Brandon Prins, Insurgents of the Sea: Institutional and Economic Opportunities for Maritime Piracy
• Daniel Druckman & Mara Olekalns, Motivational Primes, Trust, and Negotiators’ Reaction to Crisis
• Milica Kecmanovic, The Short-run Effects of the Croatian War on Education, Employment, and Earnings
• Yonatan Lupu & Vincent A. Traag, Trading Communities, the Networked Structure of International Relations, and the Kantian Peace
• Rose McDermott, Chris Dawes, Elizabeth Prom-Wormley, Lindon Eaves, & Peter K. Hatemi, MAOA and Aggression: A Gene–Environment Interaction in Two Populations
• Ahmer Tarar & Bahar Leventoğlu, Limited Audience Costs in International Crises

New Issue: International Negotiation

The latest issue of International Negotiation (Vol. 18, no. 3, 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Revisiting International Regimes and Post-Agreement Negotiation
• I. William Zartman & Bertram I. Spector, Post-Agreement Negotiating within Multilateral Regimes
• Lynn M. Wagner, A Forty-Year Search for a Single-Negotiating Text: Rio+20 as a Post-Agreement Negotiation
• Mordechai (Moti) Melamud, Post-Agreement Negotiations in the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Regime
• Joelien Pretorius, Nuclear Politics of Denial: South Africa and the Additional Protocol
• Mordechai (Moti) Melamud, CTBT On-Site Inspection: A Special Case of Post-Agreement Negotiation
• Bertram I. Spector, Multilevel Regimes and Asserting the “Right to Negotiate:” Fitting the Public into Post-Agreement Negotiation
• Philipp Brugger, Andreas Hasenclever, & Lukas Kasten, Theorizing the Impact of Trust on Post-Agreement Negotiations: The Case of Franco-German Security Relations
• Valérie Rosoux, Is Reconciliation Negotiable?

New Issue: Revue belge de droit international

The latest issue of the Revue belge de droit international (Vol. 45, no. 2, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Dossier spécial : Le juge belge face au conflit entre droit interne et droit international
• Pierre D'Argent, Remarques sur le conflit entre normes de droit interne et de droit international
• Yves Lejeune, Les rapports normatifs entre la constitution belge et le droit international ou européen dans l'ordre interne à l'aune des relations entre ordres juridiques primaires
• Eric De Brabandere & Anne Lagerwall, Le conflit entre le droit belge et le droit international: un conflit dont les multiples formes sont abordées par les juges sous diifférents angles
• Marc Bossuyt, De verhouding tussen de Belgische Grondwet en de verdragen
• Marc Bossuyt, Les rapports entre la Constitution belge et les traités
• Cédric Van Assche, Het grondwettelijk hof en het internationaal recht je t'aime, moi non plus?
• Nicolas Angelet, Le pouvoir judiciaire face aux dispositions législative incorporant des règles de la coutume internationale
• Fréderic Dopagne, L'effet direct est-il une condition de la primauté du droit international sur le droit belge?
• Dries Van Eeckhoutte, What is the use of a book, without pictures or conversations? pleidooi om de achterliggende overwegingen voor het al of niet toekennen van directe weking in ale openheid en transparantie te motiveren
• Thomas Bombois, Réflexions sur la question prioritaire de constitutionnalité et sa conformité au droit de l'Union européenne
• Patricia Popelier, Conversaties tussen Belgische en Europese rechtscolleges: van isolement naar communicatie
• Études
• Sara de Vido, The right to water: from an inchoate rigth to an emerging international norm
• Daniel Rietiker, La nature et le régime juridique des traités de maîtrise des armements: analyse à la lumière des droits des états parties en cas de violations des traités
• Pauline Helinck, Les mesures de protection des victimes et des témoins dans le système de la cour pénale internationale face aux droits de l'accusé
• Leïla Lahssaini, Quelle protection des double-nationaux en Belgique? réflexions sur l'affaire Ali Aarrass

New Issue: New York University Journal of International Law and Politics

The latest issue of the New York University Journal of International Law and Politics (Vol. 45, no. 2, Winter 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Fatma E. Marouf, The role of foreign authorities in U.S. asylum adjudication
• Ariel Meyerstein, Transnational private financial regulation and sustainable development: an empirical assessment of the implementation of the Equator Principles

New Issue: Journal of East Asia and International Law

The latest issue of the Journal of East Asia and International Law (Vol. 6, no. 1, Spring 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Issue Focus: Changing Trade Norms in the Twenty-first Century
• Yoshinori Abe, Implementation System of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body: A Comparative Approach
• Ying Bi, Is Dumping Still Harmful? New Thinking on Antidumping in the Global Free Trade
• Jaemin Lee, Bracing for the Hidden Fallout: Systemic Implications of the Sino-US Trade Disputes at a Time of Changing International Trade Paradigms
• Articles
• Seung Hwan Choi, Human Dignity' as an Indispensable Requirement for Sustainable Regional Economic Integration
• Kamrul Hossain, The UNCLOS and the China-US Hegemonic Competition over the South China Sea
• Notes & Comments
• Hyunsoo Kim, China's Basepoints and Baselines under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: A Critical Analysis
• Yun Zhao, Legal Issues of China's Possible Participation in the International Space Station: Comparing to the Russian Experience
• Regional Focus & Controversies: Judicial Reparation for the so-called 'Comfort Women' during World War II
• Korea: Seong Phil Hong
• Japan: Teraya Koji

Bungenberg, Griebel, Hobe, & Reinisch: International Investment Law: A Handbook

Marc Bungenberg (Univ. of Siegen - Law), Jörn Griebel (Univ. of Cologne - International Investment Law Centre Cologne), Stephan Hobe (Univ. of Cologne - International Investment Law Centre Cologne), & August Reinisch (Univ. of Vienna - Law) have published International Investment Law: A Handbook (C.H. Beck/Hart Publishing/Nomos 2013). Here's the abstract:

The growing importance of international investment law, fuelled by the processes of globalisation and the search for natural resources, and fostered by the ease of cross-border financial flows, has given rise to a huge expansion in the incidence of new investment treaties and, consequently, disputes. The complexity of this area and the enormous sums of investment involved mean that the agreements and treaties themselves are highly evolved, while the disputes arising are often hugely intricate and intractible. No area of international law is more in need of the careful and balanced attention of scholars, of the sort which this Handbook brings to bear. Anyone interested in international investment law will appreciate the comprehensive, thoughtful and detailed exploration of this area which this distinguished group of German scholars have provided.

Hopgood: The Endtimes of Human Rights

Stephen Hopgood (SOAS, Univ. of London - Politics and International Studies) has published The Endtimes of Human Rights (Cornell Univ. Press 2013). Here's the abstract:

In a book that is at once passionate and provocative, Stephen Hopgood argues, against the conventional wisdom, that the idea of universal human rights has become not only ill adapted to current realities but also overambitious and unresponsive. A shift in the global balance of power away from the United States further undermines the foundations on which the global human rights regime is based. American decline exposes the contradictions, hypocrisies and weaknesses behind the attempt to enforce this regime around the world and opens the way for resurgent religious and sovereign actors to challenge human rights.

Historically, Hopgood writes, universal humanist norms inspired a sense of secular religiosity among the new middle classes of a rapidly modernizing Europe. Human rights were the product of a particular worldview (Western European and Christian) and specific historical moments (humanitarianism in the nineteenth century, the aftermath of the Holocaust). They were an antidote to a troubling contradiction—the coexistence of a belief in progress with horrifying violence and growing inequality. The obsolescence of that founding purpose in the modern globalized world has, Hopgood asserts, transformed the institutions created to perform it, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and recently the International Criminal Court, into self-perpetuating structures of intermittent power and authority that mask their lack of democratic legitimacy and systematic ineffectiveness. At their best, they provide relief in extraordinary situations of great distress; otherwise they are serving up a mixture of false hope and unaccountability sustained by “human rights” as a global brand.

The Endtimes of Human Rights is sure to be controversial. Hopgood makes a plea for a new understanding of where hope lies for human rights, a plea that mourns the promise but rejects the reality of universalism in favor of a less predictable encounter with the diverse realities of today’s multipolar world.

Hilpold: Die Schutzverantwortung (R2P): Ein Paradigmenwechsel in der Entwicklung des Internationalen Rechts?

Peter Hilpold (Universität Innsbruck - Law) has published Die Schutzverantwortung (R2P): Ein Paradigmenwechsel in der Entwicklung des Internationalen Rechts? (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2013). Contents include:

• Peter Hilpold, Von der humanitären Intervention zur Schutzverantwortung
• Alex J. Bellamy, The Responsibility to Protect: A Wide or Narrow Conception?
• Peter Hilpold, Schutzverantwortung und humanitäre Intervention in historischer Perspektive
• Krista Nakavukaren Schefer & Thomas Cottier, Responsibility to Protect R2P and the Emerging Principle of Common Concern
• Peter-Tobias Stoll, Die Schutzverantwortung: Kreativer Impuls oder bleibender Fortschritt für die Völkerrechtsordnung
• Enzo Cannizzaro, Responsibility to Protect and the Consequence of UN Organs
• Andrea Gattini, Responsibility to Protect and the Responsibility of International Organizations
• Martina Caroni & Corinna Seiberth, From Gender-Blind to Gender-Sensitive: The Relevance of the UN Women, Peace and Security Agenda for Operationalizing Responsibility to Protect
• Fernand de Varennes, R2P and the Protection of Minorities
• Manfred Nowak & Karolina Januszewski, R2P und das Folterverbot
• Stefanie Schmahl, Responsibility to Protect, humanitäres Völkerrecht und internationale Strafgerichtsbarkeit - Überlegungen zum Libyen-Konflikt 2011
• Hans-Joachim Heintze, Naturkatastrophen und die internationale Schutzverantwortung
• Lotta Vikari, Responsibility to Protect and the Environment
• Oliver Diggelmann, Ethical Dilemmas Connected with the "Responsibility to Protect"

d'Aspremont & van den Herik: The Digitalization of the Assembly Line of Knowledge About Law

Jean d'Aspremont (Univ. of Manchester - Law) & Larissa van den Herik (Leiden Univ. - Law) have posted The Digitalization of the Assembly Line of Knowledge About Law: A Reinvention of the Confrontational Nature of Legal Scholarship? Here's the abstract:

This paper reflects upon the rise of new tools of production and dissemination of knowledge about law as well as their impact on the dynamics and the nature of the profession of legal scholar. Taking the contemporary international legal scholarship as a case-study, it discusses the potentially dramatic changes brought about by the new media of communication, not only with respect to the configuration of the assembly line of knowledge about law in the 21st century but also regarding the profession of legal academic as a whole.

This paper starts by distinguishing modes of law-making and modes of knowledge-production with a view to showing that these two modes of production of authoritative statements share are not always following radically different dynamics. It then recalls that the production of knowledge about law has always been estranged from the State and rested on a competitive social process between professionals. The paper subsequently makes the point that knowledge-producing processes in international legal scholarship have been dramatically altered in the cyber-age. Knowledge about international law is now created, selected and disseminated through previously unknown channels that cannot be influenced by the State. These mutations have required legal scholars to change how they envisage and construe their contribution to the production of knowledge and thus how they see their own profession. The paper finally formulates some concluding remarks about what it means for the discipline as a whole.

Aust: From Diplomat to Academic Activist: André Mandelstam and the History of Human Rights

Helmut Aust (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Law) has posted From Diplomat to Academic Activist: André Mandelstam and the History of Human Rights (European Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Today mostly forgotten, André Mandelstam (1869-1949) was a pioneer of the human rights movement in the interwar period. Originally a diplomat in the service of the Russian Empire, he went into exile after the Bolshevik revolution and became an important member of the internationalist scene in Paris. An active contributor to the various professional associations and institutions of the time, Mandelstam came to draft the first ever international human rights declaration which was pronounced by the Institut de droit international at its New York session in 1929. His work on human rights protection was influenced by his experiences as diplomat in Constantinople where, in the years preceding the First World War, he had witnessed the growing tensions over the treatment of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. This article traces Mandelstam’s impact on the development of international human rights law and uncovers the driving forces for his work: the end of the Russian and Ottoman empires as well as his career change from diplomat to academic activist. The contribution invites us to reconsider traditional narratives of the origins of international human rights protection as well as to rethink the imperial(ist) influences upon this development.

New Issue: Aegean Review of the Law of the Sea and Maritime Law

The latest issue of the Aegean Review of the Law of the Sea and Maritime Law (Vol. 2, nos. 1-2, October 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Jung-Eun Kim, The incongruity between the ecosystem approach to high seas marine protected areas and the existing high seas conservation regime
• George P. Politakis, Bringing the human element to the forefront: the ILO’s Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 ready to sail
• Kari Hakapää, Oceans and the Law of the Sea at the UN General Assembly
• Yoshinobu Takei, Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic: an assessment

New Issue: Revista de Derecho Económico Internacional

The latest issue of the Revista de Derecho Económico Internacional (Vol. 3, no. 2, June 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Artículos académicos
• Gloria Niembro Castro, Interpretación del término ‘escala comercial’ en la penalización de la falsificación y piratería, a la luz del derecho internacional
• Franz Erwin Oberarzbacher, El derecho a la alimentación adecuada: una visión comparada de revisión judicial y valoración de políticas públicas
• Miguel Ángel Martín López, El reconocimiento de las comunidades locales por el derecho internacional: un condicionante de las inversiones y una oportunidad para el desarrollo sostenible y la seguridad alimentaria en las áreas rurales
• Lilián Balderas Morales, El Acuerdo sobre la Aplicación de Medidas Sanitarias y Fitosanitarias: ¿Reconciliación o barrera entre la OMC y la seguridad alimentaria?
• Comentarios sobre casos
• Gabriel Gari, Comentario sobre China – Determinadas medidas que afectan a los servicios de pago electrónico, Informe del Grupo Especial
• José Manuel Vargas Menchaca, Comentario sobre Australia – Medidas que afectan la importación de manzanas procedentes de Nueva Zelandia, Informes del Grupo Especial y del Órgano de Apelación
• Yahir Acosta, Comentario sobre Estados Unidos – Atún II (México), Informe del Órgano de Apelación

New Issue: Revista Tribuna Internacional

The latest issue of Revista Tribuna Internacional (Vol. 2, no. 3, 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Pablo Andrés Cornejo Aguilera, Matrimonios entre personas del mismo sexo celebrados en el extranjero y sus efectos jurídicos en Chile. Análisis crítico del artículo 80 de la Ley de Matrimonio Civil
• Rodrigo A. González Fernández & M. Soledad Krause Muñoz, La responsabilidad en el derecho penal internacional: una aproximación desde la filosofía de John Searle. Reflexiones a partir del caso Lubanga
• Paloma Infante M., Effectiveness of REDD programs in the protection of sui generis indigenous rights
• Hernany Veytia, Los usos. Si las inversiones y operaciones comerciales en diversos sectores implican diversos riesgos y oportunidades, ¿por qué no se invocan adecuadamente “los usos” en el procedimiento arbitral?

New Issue: Revista Peruana de Derecho Internacional

The latest issue of Revista Peruana de Derecho Internacional (Vol. 63, no. 148, January-July 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Ernesto Pinto Bazurco Rittler, Derecho Internacional, Política Exterior y Diplomacia
• Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Mackay, La Haya: Anotaciones acerca del triángulo terrestre
• Luis Delgado-Aparicio Porta, Deshumanizando la especie: Corea del Norte
• Idarmis Knight Soto, Instituciones jurídicas procesales en el derecho internacional. Especial referencia a la aquiescencia. Comportamiento de los Estados en los procedimientos de extradición

van Aaken: Behavioral International Law and Economics

Anne van Aaken (Univ. of St. Gallen - Law) has posted Behavioral International Law and Economics. Here's the abstract:

Whereas the rational choice approach to international law has been widely accepted in legal scholarship and international relations theory, challenges to the rational choice paradigm in economic analysis of international law have hitherto not been systematically explored. Nevertheless, behavioral law and economics and psychology have been successfully applied to national law constellations. Behavioral economic insights have furthermore been used in international relations scholarship under the heading of political psychology but here, international norms play no role. Building on those insights, the paper explores the potential and challenges of extending the behavioral law and economics approach to public international law and thus starts filling this research gap. It looks specifically at treaty design problems and compliance questions. This ties in with increased use of empirical research in international law: a clear desideratum for evidence-based international law.

Conference: Human Rights Education in Russia and Other European Countries

Today and tomorrow, October 21-22, 2013, a conference on "Human Rights Education in Russia and Other European Countries" will take place in Yekaterinburg, Russia. The program is here.

New Issue: Polish Review of International and European Law

The latest issue of the Polish Review of International and European Law (Vol. 2, no. 1, 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Studies
• Roman Kwiecień, International Legal Personality of the State in the Age of Multilevel Global Governance and Responsibility to Protect – Continuity or Change of the Paradigm?
• Symposium on Maritime Piracy in International Law
• Elżbieta Karska, Piracy and International Criminal Law
• Cezary Mik, The Role of Regional State Integration Organizations in Combating Piracy in-between Africa and Asia
• Articles
• Marta Andrecka & Michał Kania, Choosing the Private Partner for a Public Private Partnership: a European Union Law Perspective on the Polish Practice
• Stefan A. Jarecki, Public Service Compensation in Land Transport. When Does It not Constitute State Aid?

Nuzzo & Vec: Constructing International Law: The Birth of a Discipline

Luigi Nuzzo (Università del Salento - Law) & Miloš Vec (Universität Wien - Law) have published Constructing International Law: The Birth of a Discipline (Vittorio Klostermann 2012). Contents include:

• M. Koskenniemi, Ius Gentium and the Birth of Modernity
• L. Nuzzo, History, Science and Christianity. International Law and Savigny’s Paradigm
• C. Storti, Empirismo e scienza. Il crocevia del diritto internazionale nella prima metà dell’Ottocento
• L. Lacchè, Albericus Gentilis and Hugo Grotius in constructing a discipline (1875–1886)
• M. Vec, Principles in 19th century International Law doctrine
• A. Carty, Did International Law really become a Science at the End of the 19th Century?
• E. Augusti, L’intervento europeo in Oriente nel XIX secolo: storia contesa di un istituto controverso
• M. Craven, The Invention of a Tradition. Westlake, the Berlin Conference and the Historicisation of International Law
• B. Durand, Colonisation et impératifs internationaux ou Pourquoi et comment l’international a bridé la souveraineté coloniale?
• S. Legarre, Police and Police Power. Domestic and International Law at the Crossroads
• F. Salerno, Genesis and Different Meanings of the Notion of 'Organ' in Italian International Legal Theory
• L. Passero, Guerra e diritto. Dalle convenzione di Ginevra alla 'morte' del diritto internazionale nella prima guerra civile europea