One of the most complex and uncertain areas of international legal doctrine is how should international law deal with the aspiration of a people to achieve self-determination through the establishment of a new state and the related claim to a specific territory over which statehood is to be exercised. Recently, when the General Assembly of the United Nations referred to the International Court of Justice the question of the legality of the declaration of independence by Kosovar Albanians, the Court was given an opportunity to clarify and develop the law on external self-determination. Instead, the Court answered extremely narrowly, confining its analysis to the legality of the act of declaration without determining any consideration of international legal norms applicable to the act of secession that was being proposed. This paper intends to fill the gap left by the ICJ’s decision: first by critiquing the inadequacy and tensions visible in the existing doctrine and second, by examining how recent developments in international law may allow for a more normatively coherent approach to the problem.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Howse & Teitel: Humanity Bounded and Unbounded: The Regulation of External Self-Determination Under International Law
Robert L. Howse (New York Univ. - Law) & Ruti Teitel (New York Law School) have posted Humanity Bounded and Unbounded: The Regulation of External Self-Determination Under International Law (Law & Ethics of Human Rights, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
Friday, November 29, 2013
Call for Papers: Third Annual Junior Faculty Forum for International Law (Reminder)
New Issue: Netherlands International Law Review
The latest issue of the Netherlands International Law Review (Vol. 60, no. 3, December 2013) is out. Contents include:- Xandra E. Kramer, Cross-Border Enforcement and the Brussels I-Bis Regulation: Towards A New Balance Between Mutual Trust and National Control over Fundamental Rights
- Sharmin J. Tania, Least Developed Countries in the WTO Dispute Settlement System
- Maarten den Heijer, Shared Responsibility Before the European Court of Human Rights
Menkes: Immunitet jurysdykcyjny i egzekucyjny państwa
Publikacja stanowi komparatystyczny komentarz do dwóch najważniejszych aktów prawa międzynarodowego immunitetu jurysdykcyjnego i egzekucyjnego państw (ONZ oraz Rady Europy). Ponieważ obie konwencje stanowią przede wszystkim kodyfikację norm prawa zwyczajowego, poszczególne zagadnienia, zestawione w tabeli ekwiwalencji, zostały zbadane na podstawie prac przygotowawczych obu traktatów, orzecznictwa międzynarodowego oraz najistotniejszych orzeczeń krajowych (polskiego Sądu Najwyższego oraz wybranych rozstrzygnięć z państw trzecich). Uzupełnieniem prezentowanych rozważań są odwołania do stosownych fragmentów krajowych kodyfikacji przedmiotowych norm przyjętych, poniekąd paradoksalnie, przez państwa common law. Celem komentarza jest umożliwienie czytelnikowi szybkiego odnalezienia się w zawiłej materii norm międzynarodowego prawa zwyczajowego, regulacji konwencyjnych oraz dorobku orzeczniczego. Komentarz zawiera także autorskie tłumaczenie obu konwencji.
The book consists of a comparative commentary on the two most important acts of international law on state immunity from jurisdiction and execution, namely the UN Convention and the Council of Europe Convention. As both codify international customary law, the analysis of each topic (with the relevant provisions juxtapositioned in a table of equivalence) contains references to preparatory works for the conventions, as well as international and domestic court rulings. The commentary also indicates relevant domestic laws from common-law states. The principal purpose of the publication is to allow its readers to quickly find a path through the complexities of international customary law, international treaties and case-law. The book contains an original translation of both conventions into Polish.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Call for Papers: The Syrian Crisis and International Law
The
College
of
Law,
Qatar
University
and
the
Qatari
Branch
of
the
International
Law
Association
have issued a call for papers for a
conference
on
"The
Syrian
Crisis
and
International
Law," to take
place February
25-26,
2014,
in
Doha. Here's the call:
INTERNATIONAL LAW ASSOCIATION
-
QATARI BRANCH
-
CALL FOR PAPERS
The Syrian Crisis and International Law
An International Conference
Doha, 25 – 26 February 2014
College of Law, Qatar University
Introduction
The College of Law, Qatar University and the Qatari Branch of the International Law Association are co-‐organizing an international conference focusing on ‘The Syrian Crisis and International Law’. The conference is scheduled to take place on the 25th and 26th of February 2014, in Doha (Qatar). Invited speakers will include academics, diplomats, activists and legal practitioners who will discuss different aspects of International Law applicable to the Syrian crisis. The conference aims to not only revisit the tragic events that have occurred but also, most importantly, to think ahead in the quest for peace and justice. The overall objective is to exchange ideas and suggestions on the future of the rule of law in Syria.
Background
The crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic started in March 2011 with small-‐ scale protests confined to a few cities. The protests were violently suppressed by the Government, leading to nationwide demonstrations and subsequently to a non-‐international armed conflict. Furthermore recent developments raise the question of whether the conflict should be characterized as an international armed conflict instead. Owing to the failure to respond to the emerging crisis in a timely fashion, the conflict deepened and widened and new States and non-‐State actors became involved.
Syria remains a battlefield where tens of thousands of lives have been lost, millions of Syrians have been internally displaced and thousands others found refuge in neighboring countries. There is strong evidence of gross violations of human rights, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Syria is another devastating example of international law as a crisis discipline: a field of study in which international lawyers tend to focus on ongoing crises for the development of international law.
Panel Sessions
The Conference will have four Panel Sessions in order to offer a holistic approach. The four Panels will thematically address Public International Law, International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, International Criminal Law and, lastly, the Syrian crisis in the International World Order. Interested participants are kindly requested to submit papers falling within the following general questions/issues.
A. Public International Law Panel
The inability of the UN Security Council to effectively address the Syrian crisis challenges once more the tenets of the contemporary system of collective security. Is the collective security system, as it stands, responsive to the needs of the international community? Do the humanitarian intervention or the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) constitute lawful and/or legitimate alternatives? Moreover, what is the applicability of the rules on the use of force and what are the State responsibility challenges in light of the role of the various States and non-‐State actors involved in the Syrian context (government forces, pro-‐ government forces, anti-‐government armed groups)?
B. International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law Panel
The Syrian crisis furnishes strong evidence of gross and massive violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Still, international lawyers bear the responsibility to map and highlight the respective violations. Second, we should be in position to envisage how international humanitarian law and international human rights law may provide relief and serve justice to the victims. Do the victims of human rights abuses in Syria have viable options on the national and international level? How will the Syrian people exercise their right to truth and reparation in the future? How should the international community address the internal displacement of millions of Syrians and the thousands of refugees in the neighboring States? What are the relevant international obligations of the neighboring States? Finally, is there a shared responsibility on the international community to minimize the risks of a serious threat to regional and international peace and security?
C. International Criminal Law Panel
The Commission of Inquiry on Syria stated that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Government and affiliated militia as well as anti-‐ Government armed groups committed core international crimes, violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. In this respect what is the best way forward in order to ensure individual accountability and serve peace? What could be the role of the International Criminal Court? What other alternatives should we explore regarding criminal liability? Are there any best practices that could be followed as far as the national justice system and the establishment of a hybrid or international ad hoc tribunal are concerned? Further, are there any specific challenges arising in the context of the substantive international criminal law? For example, what is the current legal framework on the use of chemical weapons as a core international crime?
D. The Syrian Crisis and International World Order Panel
The Syrian crisis has not only posed a serious challenge to the interpretation and application of international laws, especially in the apparent discrepancies between enforcing international treaties and upholding the UN Charter, but it has also generated a critical debate on the shifting of sovereignty within the international world order expressed in the perceived decline of U.S. global supremacy and hegemony. While the Syrian crisis does not constitute the primary reason for this presumed shift, it has become the stage on which the rivalry for new global and regional balance of power has unfolded. In this regard, the fundamental question then becomes: Is there a real shift in the global order of power, and if so, how does this shift affect and impact the internal dynamics of the Syrian crisis? Moreover, what is the role of sectarian and ethno-‐geopolitics in fueling and sustaining the crisis? Finally, what are the implications of the potential change in the international order on the question of international law in the context of Syria?
Submission details
Interested participants should submit an abstract (800 words maximum) summarizing their argument and ideas that they intend to develop in their presentation. Abstracts should be sent to Dr Yaser Khalaileh (khalaileh@qu.edu.qa) or to Dr Adamantia Rachovitsa (rachovitsa@qu.edu.qa) by the 30th of December 2013.
Please note that the invited speakers should submit their paper (or at least a work-‐in-‐progress version of their paper) until the 1st of February 2013. Papers will be circulated beforehand to all participants to the Conference in an effort to engage in a productive discussion of pressing international law issues.
Publication of the papers
The speakers will be invited to submit their papers to be published in the International Review of Law. The International Review of Law has agreed to publish a selected number of the papers presented in the Conference subject to its peer-‐review process.
The International Law Review is an open-‐access, peer-‐reviewed, bilingual journal of law published by QScience.com. From its base in the Middle East, the journal aims to bring perspectives from around the world to developments in the law.
Conference Committee
1) Dr Francis Botchway (e-‐mail: fbotchway@qu.edu.qa)
2) Dr Yaser Khalaileh (e-‐mail: khalaileh@qu.edu.qa)
3) Dr Adamantia Rachovitsa (e-‐mail: rachovitsa@qu.edu.qa)
4) Dr Mohamad Hosam Hafez (e-‐mail: hosam.hafez@qu.edu.qa
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
van Aaken: Behavioral International Law and Economics
Anne van Aaken (Univ. of St. Gallen - Law) has posted an ESIL Reflection on Behavioral International Law and Economics.
Workshop: Right to Water: Access to Safe Drinking Water and the Need for Enhanced International Cooperation
Deva & Bilchitz: Human Rights Obligations of Business: Beyond the Corporate Responsibility to Respect?
In recent years, the UN Human Rights Council has approved the 'Respect, Protect, and Remedy' Framework and endorsed the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These developments have been welcomed widely, but do they adequately address the challenges concerning the human rights obligations of business? This volume of essays engages critically with these important developments. The chapters revolve around four key issues: the process and methodology adopted in arriving at these documents; the source and justification of corporate human rights obligations; the nature and extent of such obligations; and the implementation and enforcement thereof. In addition to highlighting several critical deficits in these documents, the contributing authors also outline a vision for the twenty-first century in which companies have obligations to society that go beyond the responsibility to respect human rights.
Paulsson: The Idea of Arbitration
What is arbitration? This volume provides a novel theoretical examination of the concept of arbitration, attempting to answer fundamental questions which have rarely been addressed systematically in English. It explores the place of arbitration in the legal process, offering a challenging, yet accessible overview of the field and its theoretical underpinnings and contending that arbitration is important enough to be understood in its own terms, as a sui generis feature of social life.
Why do individuals, companies, and States choose to go to arbitration rather than through litigation? Arbitration can offer increased flexibility and confidentiality, and provides the parties with the opportunity to select the arbitrators. But what makes them want to confide in an arbitrator rather than use the more traditional legal mechanisms for settling disputes?
This volume explores what the parties can expect of an arbitrator, and whether and how the conduct of an arbitrator might be questioned and under what authority. It examines the ethical challenges to arbitral authority and its moral hazards, evaluating the promises and dangers of self-contained systems of decision-making and compliance.
Lamy: The Geneva Consensus: Making Trade Work for All
As Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Pascal Lamy chaired the Doha Round of negotiations and witnessed a rapidly changing international trade environment. In his first book since leaving the WTO, Lamy reflects on his time there and outlines his views on the significance of open trade in generating global economic growth, reducing poverty and creating jobs around the world. He argues that trade can only act as a motor for growth if the correct mix of domestic and international economic and social policies is in place. This approach – the 'Geneva Consensus' – requires deeper cooperation and policy coherence between the international organizations active in setting international economic, social and political policies. The Geneva Consensus describes the ongoing efforts to put this into effect, calling for more effective global governance to tackle the challenges of globalization. It also examines relationships between trade and the key social, economic and political issues of our time.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
New Issue: Europa Ethnica
The latest issue of Europa Ethnica (2013, nos. 3/4). Contents include:- Richard Giragosian, Armenia in a Region at Risk
- Vahagn Avedian, Recognition, Responsibility and Reconciliation The Trinity of the Armenian Genocide
- Jasmine Dum-Tragut, „Unsere Sprache ist unsere Geschichte“ Die armenische Sprache als Spiegelbild der Geschichte
- Jasmine Dum-Tragut, „Wir sind wenige, aber wir sind (nicht) Armenier“ Die Minderheiten in der Republik Armenien – ein kurzer Überblick
- Mihran Dabag, Armenische Diaspora. Zwischen einer Tradition der Exilgemeinden (Gałut‘s) und radikal-diasporistischer Gegenwart
- Klemens Ludwig, Der Umgang der Türkei mit ihrem christlichen Erbe – unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Behandlung der Armenier
- Georg Kremnitz, Nouveaux problèmes pour les minorités linguistiques au XXIe siècle. Rendre les langues dominées visibles ?
- Ludmila & Peter Cichon, Unter einem Dach und doch getrennt: Die Nichtgemeinschaft von Spaniern und Berbern in Melilla
- Roberto L. Blanco Valdés, Spanien: Föderalismus versus interne Nationalismen
Yamamoto & Esteban: Atoll Island States and International Law: Climate Change Displacement and Sovereignty
Atoll Island States exist on top of what is perceived to be one of the planet's most vulnerable ecosystems: atolls. It has been predicted that an increase in the pace of sea level rise brought about by increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere will cause them to disappear, forcing their inhabitants to migrate.
The present book represents a multidisciplinary legal and engineering perspective on this problem, challenging some common misconceptions regarding atolls and their vulnerability to sea-level rise. Coral islands have survived past changes in sea levels, and it is the survival of coral reefs what will be crucial for their continued existence. These islands are important for their inhabitants as they represent not only their ancestral agricultural lands and heritage, but also a source of revenue through the exploitation of the maritime areas associated with them. However, even if faced with extreme climate change, it could theoretically be possible for the richer Atoll Island States to engineer ways to prevent their main islands from disappearing, though sadly not all will have the required financial resources to do so.
As islands become progressively uninhabitable their residents will be forced to settle in foreign lands, and could become stateless if the Atoll Island State ceases to be recognized as a sovereign country. However, rather than tackling this problem by entering into lengthy negotiations over new treaties, more practical solutions, encompassing bilateral negotiations or the possibility of acquiring small new territories, should be explored. This would make it possible for Atoll Island States in the future to keep some sort of international sovereign personality, which could benefit the descendents of its present day inhabitants.
Namakula: Language and the Right to Fair Hearing in International Criminal Trials
Language and the Right to Fair Hearing in International Criminal Trials explores the influence of the dynamic factor of language on trial fairness in international criminal proceedings. By means of empirical research and jurisprudential analysis, this book explores the implications that conducting a trial in more than one language can have for the right to fair trial. It reveals that the language debate is as old as international criminal justice, but due to misrepresentation of the status of language fair trial rights in international law, the debate has not yielded concrete reforms.
Language is the core foundation for justice. It is the means through which the rights of the accused are secured and exercised. Linguistic complexities such as misunderstandings, translation errors and cultural distance among participants in international criminal trials affect courtroom communication, the presentation and the perception of the evidence, hence jeopardizing the foundations of a fair trial.
The author concludes that language fair trial rights are priority rights situated in the minimum guarantees of fair criminal trial; the obligation of the court to ensure fair trial or accord the accused person a fair hearing also includes the duty to ensure they can understand and be understood.
New Issue: Military Law and the Law of War Review / Revue de Droit Militaire et de Droit de la Guerre
The latest issue of the Military Law and the Law of War Review / Revue de Droit Militaire et de Droit de la Guerre (Vol. 51, nos. 3-4, 2012) is out. Contents include:
- Ola Engdahl, Prosecution of Attacks against Peacekeepers in International Courts and Tribunals
- Bas Van Hoek, Legitimacy of the Use of Military Force: A New Ground for Excluding Criminal Responsibility under Dutch Law
- Salvatore Fabio Nicolosi, Status Giuridico Degli Scudi Umani Volontari ef Esigenze di Tutela nel Diritto Internazionale Umanitario
- Bas Van Hoek, Jarin Nijhof & Joop Voetelink, The Scope of Jurisdiction Provisions in Status of Forces Agreements Related to Crisis Management Operations
Kochenov & Amtenbrink: The European Union's Shaping of the International Legal Order
The European Union undoubtedly plays an important role in the formation of international law. This takes place through a number of avenues ranging from the simple existence of this supranational legal order within the sphere of international law to the actual influencing of international legal order. With contributions by leading scholars, this collection of essays constructs and analyses a new and stimulating approach in which the European Union is perceived as an active co-creator of the international legal order on a variety of planes. Providing concrete examples of the European Union's approach to the international legal order in different policy fields, this book will be a key reference point for a new active paradigm of EU external relations law.
Global Health and Human Rights Database
The Global Health and Human Rights Database, a database of judgments, constitutions, and international and regional legal instruments on health and human rights, has recently been launched. The database is a collaborative civil society initiative led by Lawyers Collective and the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, and consists of more than 1000 judgments from 80 countries, including 200 original translations from 25 languages.
Craig: EU Accession to the ECHR: Competence, Procedure and Substance
Paul P. Craig (Univ. of Oxford - Law) has posted EU Accession to the ECHR: Competence, Procedure and Substance (Fordham International Law Journal, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
The issues raised by EU Accession to the ECHR have already generated a valuable and growing literature. This article seeks to contribute to this literature. The discussion begins with an overview of the European Union’s competence to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights, and the process by which the Accession Agreement was negotiated. The focus then shifts to analysis of whether the EU needs its own Charter of Rights in addition to membership of the ECHR.
This is followed by examination of a range of procedural issues raised by EU accession to the ECHR. This includes the choices open to claimants when pursuing rights-based claims and the constraints placed on those choices resulting from EU accession to the ECHR. It will be seen that accession raises difficult issues concerning who should be the respondent and co-respondent in any particular case, and the manner in which a case concerning Convention rights is routed to the European Court of Human Rights. The new schema will moreover generate problems of delay.
The final section of the article addresses some of the prominent substantive issue raised by EU accession to the ECHR. This includes a re-assessment of the case law defining the relationship between the EU and the ECHR prior to accession and evaluation of the extent to which it is relevant post accession; discussion of the impact of accession on the autonomy of EU law; and consideration of the way in which the ECHR rights and Charter rights will interact in the future.
Monday, November 25, 2013
New Issue: Diritti umani e diritto internazionale
- Studi
- Gabrio Forti, Dignità umana e persone soggette all'esecuzione penale
- Roberto Perrone, Il concetto di 'public morals' nella giurisprudenza della Corte europea dei diritti umani: spunti per l'elaborazione di una 'moralità pubblica' europea - Parte II
- Andrea Spagnolo, Imputazione di condotte lesive dei diritti umani nell'ambito delle operazioni militari delle Nazioni Unite e rimedi per le vittime
- Il Caso
- Elena Carpanelli, "Extraordinary renditions" e diritti umani: alcune riflessioni sul caso "Abu Omar"
- Nicola Napoletano, "Extraordinary renditions", tortura, sparizioni forzate e "diritto alla verità": alcune riflessioni sul caso "El-Masri"
- Francesca Mussi, Extraordinary Renditions as Enforced Disappearances? The Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights
- Angelica Bonfanti, No Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Under the Alien Tort Statute: Which "Forum" for Disputes on Overseas Corporate Human Rights Violations After "Kiobel"?
- Marco Fasciglione, Corporate Liability, Extraterritorial Jurisdiction and the Future of the Alien Tort Claims Act: Some Remarks After "Kiobel"
- Interventi
- Pia Acconci, La riduzione del prezzo dei farmaci essenziali: uno strumento necessario ma non sufficiente per la tutela della salute nel quadro del diritto internazionale
- Giuseppe Morgese, Accordo TRIPs ed esclusione dalla brevettabilità di alcune invenzioni farmaceutiche in India: osservazioni in margine al caso "Novartis"
- Roberto CisottaDaniele Gallo, Il Tribunale costituzionale portoghese, i risvolti sociali delle misure di austerità ed il rispetto dei vincoli internazionali ed europei
- Maria Chiara Vitucci, Orientamento sessuale e adozione nella giurisprudenza della Corte europea dei diritti umani
- Michele Nino, Corte europea dei diritti umani, divieto di discriminazione e diritto all'istruzione della minoranza rom
- Osservatorio
- Chiara Macchi, Imprese multinazionali, violazioni ambientali e diritti individuali: la sentenza "Shell" della Corte distrettuale dell'Aja
- Alessandro Bufalini, La natura del divieto di detenzione arbitraria secondo il "Working Group on Arbitrary Detention" del Consiglio dei diritti umani
- Alberto Oddenino, Diritti individuali, sicurezza informatica e accesso alla conoscenza in Rete: la revisione delle "International Telecommunication Regulations" dell'ITU
- Laura Salvadego, Il regime delle deroghe ammesse nella Carta africana dei diritti dell'uomo e dei popoli in una recente sentenza della Corte di giustizia dell'ECOWAS: il caso "Gbagbo"
- Elisabetta Mottese, Lotta alla pirateria e giurisdizione universale in una recente decisione nazionale
- Federica Musso, Le Camere africane straordinarie in seno alle corti senegalesi: un esempio di giurisdizione penale particolare?
- Cristiana Carletti, Sull'attuale dibattito circa le opzioni di riforma della "Human Rights Machinery" delle Nazioni Unite
- Livia Cosenza, The UN Commission of Inquiry on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Relationship Between the Human Rights Council and the Security Council
- Stefano Montaldo, L'ambito di applicazione della Carta dei diritti fondamentali dell'Unione europea e il principio del "ne bis in idem"
New Issue: Internationales Handelsrecht
The latest issue of Internationales Handelsrecht (2013, no. 5) is out. Contents include:- Franco Ferrari, The CISG’s Interpretative Goals, Its Interpretative Method and Its General Principles in Case Law (Part II)
New Issue: Journal of International Maritime Law
The latest issue of the Journal of International Maritime Law (Vol. 19, no. 2, 2013) is out. Contents include:- David Hertzell & Laura Burgoyne, The Law Commissions and insurance contract law reform: an update
- Julianne Kelly-Horner, The Freedom of Navigation Program: Affirming U.S. Maritime Rights Under UNCLOS
- Mans Jacobsson, Liability and compensation for ship-source oil pollution in China
Silberman & Scherer: Forum Shopping and Post-Award Judgments
Linda Silberman (New York Univ. - Law) & Maxi Scherer (Queen Mary, Univ. of London - Centre for Commercial Law Studies) have posted Forum Shopping and Post-Award Judgments (in Forum Shopping in the International Commercial Arbitration Context, F. Ferrari, ed., 2013). Here's the abstract:
Forum shopping has become increasingly common in the context of post-award judgments. Post-award judgments can take several forms, depending on whether the award is set aside, confirmed, recognized or enforced. Creative parties may forum shop for a set-aside, confirmation, recognition or enforcement judgment and seek to rely on its effects in subsequent proceedings relating to the same award in another country. The courts in that other country will have to assess the effects they give to the foreign post-award judgment, including under existing doctrines of res judicata, issue/claim estoppel. The paper examines how courts should respond to such forum shopping attempts. It assesses whether a decision to set aside, confirm, recognize or enforce an arbitral award might affect subsequent attempts to recognize or enforce that award elsewhere.
Bianchi & Peters: Transparency in International Law
While its importance in domestic law has long been acknowledged, transparency has until now remained largely unexplored in international law. This study of transparency issues in key areas such as international economic law, environmental law, human rights law and humanitarian law brings together new and important insights on this pressing issue. Contributors explore the framing and content of transparency in their respective fields with regard to proceedings, institutions, law-making processes and legal culture, and a selection of cross-cutting essays completes the study by examining transparency in international law-making and adjudication.
Hakimi: Unfriendly Unilateralism
Monica Hakimi (Univ. of Michigan - Law) has posted Unfriendly Unilateralism (Harvard International Law Journal, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
This Article examines a category of conduct that I call “unfriendly unilateralism.” One state deprives another of a benefit (unfriendly) and, in some cases, strays from its own obligations (noncompliant), outside any structured international process (unilateral). Such conduct troubles many international lawyers because it looks more like the nastiness of power politics than like the order and stability of law. Worse, states can abuse the conduct to undercut the law. Nevertheless, international law tolerates unfriendly unilateralism for enforcement. A victim state may use unfriendly unilateralism against a scofflaw in order to restore the legal arrangement that existed before the breach. Unfriendly unilateralism is tolerated here, despite its unsavory attributes, because the formal processes for enforcing international law are often deficient. Unfriendly unilateralism can compensate for that procedural deficiency and help make the law effective.
This Article argues that unfriendly unilateralism can play a similarly vital role in lawmaking. The Article makes both a positive and a normative claim. The positive claim is that, in practice, states use unfriendly unilateralism not only to enforce but also to help generate law. Unfriendly unilateralism variously helps create new norms, prevent the erosion of existing norms, reconcile competing objectives, and strengthen or recalibrate regimes. Unfriendly unilateralism sometimes performs these functions even when the conduct itself is unlawful — that is, when the conduct is noncompliant and unexcused for enforcement. The Article’s normative claim is that such unchecked and even unlawful exercises of state power can be good for international law. Lawmaking allows the legal order to stay relevant and adapt to change. However, the formal processes for making international law, like those for enforcing it, can be deficient. Unfriendly unilateralism can compensate for that procedural deficiency and help instigate or support collective decisions.
Call for Papers: Transitional Justice and Civil Society: Learning from International Experience
The Transitional Justice Program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Minerva Center for Human Rights and Faculty of Law has issued a call for papers for a conference on "Transitional Justice and Civil Society: Learning from International Experience." Here's the call:
The Transitional Justice Program
CALL FOR PAPERS
The 3rd Annual Minerva Jerusalem Conference on Transitional Justice
TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL SOCIETY
LEARNING FROM INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
An International Conference
Jerusalem, 25-26 May 2014
Introduction
The Transitional Justice Program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Minerva Center for Human Rights and Faculty of Law is organizing an international conference that seeks to explore the role of civil society in developing and implementing transitional justice processes, particularly in the context of ongoing conflicts. The conference, the third in the series of Annual Minerva Jerusalem Conferences on Transitional Justice, is scheduled for 25-26 May 2014, in Jerusalem. Recipients of this call for papers are invited to submit proposals to present a paper at the conference. Authors of selected proposals will be offered full or partial flight and accommodation expenses.
Submission deadline: 31 December 2013
Background
Civil society has a vital, though often under-acknowledged, role in developing transitional justice mechanisms, institutions and concepts. Over the past three decades civil society organizations have set the agenda for transitional justice policies, promoted, supported and developed mechanisms and interventions, acted as advocates and critics of local and international institutions, and helped in developing the theoretical, legal and conceptual framework of transitional justice. From local grassroots organizations like the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina to international networks like the Coalition for the ICC, civil society organizations have been central in struggles for justice, truth and accountability across various contexts, while other civil society groups have been key actors in efforts of reconciliation, inter-community dialogue and conflict-transformation.
Indeed it is impossible to envisage the contemporary landscape of transitional justice without the role of civil society actors. At the same time there has not been sufficient academic reflection on the contribution of civil society to transitional justice, and dialogues between academia and civil society are not common enough.
The Transitional Justice Program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Minerva Center for Human Rights and Faculty of Law will hold a 2-day international conference on 25-26 May 2014 to explore comparative and theoretical lessons and insights drawn from the experience of civil society actors. The conference will discuss the various goals and methods of civil society actors struggling for transitional justice; their interactions with formal transitional justice mechanisms; their impact, successes and failures; and the practical and ideological dilemmas and challenges they face.
One of the conference’s main goals is to facilitate local learning and discussion in relation to civil society and transitional justice in the Israeli-Palestinian context. The conference therefore seeks to examine in particular the roles that civil society has fulfilled and can fulfill in ongoing conflicts, and possible implementations in the Israeli-Palestinian context of theoretical, historical, and comparative insights about the role of civil society in developing transitional justice mechanisms, institutions and concepts.
Conference topics may include:
Submission of Proposals
- unofficial civil society truth commissions and documentation projects
- the role of civil society in promoting inter-community dialogues and reconciliation
- civil society as litigation actors
- civil society and the work of international criminal tribunals
- civil society and the design, implementation and follow-up of official TJ mechanisms
- the impact of civil society and peace negotiations
- civil society and education reform
- civil society and reparations
- civil society, commemoration and memorialisation
- civil society in ongoing conflicts
- evaluation of existing initiatives in the Israeli-Palestinian context
Researchers interested in addressing questions related to these or related topics are invited to respond to this call for papers with a one- or two-page proposal for an article and presentation, along with a one-page CV. Proposals should be submitted to the Minerva Center for Human Rights via e-mail: mchr@savion.huji.ac.il no later than 31 December 2013
Applicants should receive notification of the committee's decision by the end of January 2014. Short drafts of 7,000-10,000 words based on the selected proposals will be expected by 1 May 2014.
The Israel Law Review (a Cambridge University Press publication) has expressed interest in publishing selected full-length papers based on conference presentations, subject to its standard review and editing procedures.
Conference Committee
Prof. Barak Medina, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Chair)
Prof. Tomer Broude, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Dr. Ron Dudai, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Adv. Danny Evron, Minerva Center for Human Rights, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Adv. Hassan Jabareen, Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel
Prof. Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, University of Minnesota; Transitional Justice Institute, Univ. of Ulster
Prof. Ruti Teitel, New York Law School
Dann: The Law of Development Cooperation: A Comparative Analysis of the World Bank, the EU and Germany
Development interventions are agreed by states and international organisations which administer public development funds of huge proportions. They have done so with debatable success, but, unlike the good governance of recipients, the rules applying to donors have hitherto received little scrutiny. This analysis of the normative structures and conceptual riddles of development co-operation argues that development co-operation is increasingly structured by legal rules and is therefore no longer merely a matter of politics, economics or ethics. By focusing on the rules of development co-operation, it puts forward a new perspective on the institutional law dealing with the process, instruments and organisation of this co-operation. Placing the law in its theoretical and political context, it provides the first comparative study on the laws of foreign aid as a central field of global public policy and asks how accountability, autonomy and human rights can be preserved while combating poverty.
New Issue: Revue Générale de Droit International Public
- Dossier: Coopértion judiciaire internationale
- Carlo Santulli, Coopération judiciaire internationale et respect de l'exclusivité territoriale: une responsabilité de l'Etat
- Adrien Flesch, La citation à comparaître des personnes se trouvant à l'étranger en matière civile et commerciale
- Agnès Bodard-Hermant, Obtention de preuves à l'étranger
- Michael Ostrove & Caroline Delaffond, La recherche de preuves à l'étranger dans le cadre de procédures arbitrales
- Yves Nouvel, L'abaissement du contrôle étatique sur l'exequatur des sentences arbitrales internationales
- Malik Laazouzi, Reconnaissance et exécution des décisions juridictionnelles étrangères
- Pierre Chevalier, L'exécution des décisions juridictionnelles étrangères hors espace judiciaire européen: état des lieux de la jurisprudence
- Loïc Grard, La communautarisation de "Bruxelles I"
- Catherine Kessedjian, L'espace judiciaire civil et commercial européen: le règlement "Bruxelles I" refondu
- Jean Matringe, L'exécution par le juge étatique des décisions judiciaires internationales
- Gérard Cahin, La double incrimination dans le droit de l'extradition
- Marie Sirinelli, Les rapports entre extradition et asile
- Philippe Weckel, Le conseil de sécurité et la coopération judiciaire internationale
- Baptiste Tranchant, Les immunités des Etats tiers devant la Cour pénale internationale
- Mathilde Brunot, Le transfèrement international des personnes détenues condamnées
- Rafaëlle Maison, Ne bis in idem et coopération judiciaire internationale
- Niki Aloupi, La décision d'enquête européenne: un mandat européen pour la recherche des preuves
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Hurd: International Organizations: Politics, Law, Practice (Second Edition)
This leading undergraduate textbook now covers international relations theory in more depth and includes new material on NATO and the EU, while its case studies have been updated throughout. Unlike other textbooks in the field, it takes readers behind the scenes of the world's most important international organizations (IOs), inviting them to ask: What are the legal obligations that give IOs international power? How do IOs ensure compliance from their members? And how do they enforce their rules? International Organizations explores these questions through in-depth, chapter-length case studies of the world's key international organizations, allowing students to connect essential IO theory with the law, practice and philosophy of the leading IOs, including the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union. Concise and engagingly written and with end-of-chapter questions, legal appendices and suggestions for further reading, this is core reading for any course on international institutions.
Abeyratne: Convention on International Civil Aviation: A Commentary
This book is both a repertory guide to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention) as well as a legal analysis of the provisions of the treaty. It traces action taken by the ICAO Assembly and the Council in the implementation of the Convention from the first ICAO Assembly in 1947 until 2012. Above all, the book offers a commentary on the functional and moral fabric of the Chicago Convention, which is not only a multilateral legal instrument that sets out basic principles of air navigation and air transport, but also serves as a moral compass that brings the people of the world together.
The teleological nature of the Chicago Convention is reflected from the outset – from its Preamble which sets the tone and philosophy of the Convention – that aviation builds friendship and understanding among all people, to its technical provisions that range from rules of the air to landing at airports and customs and immigration procedures. Standardization, or in other words, compliance, is the driver of the Convention that keeps aviation safe, regular, efficient and economical. To that end, this book traces and details the sustained relevance of the Chicago Convention and the efforts of ICAO and the international aviation community towards keeping air transport on track and ready for its future exponential growth, both in letter and in spirit.
Muller: Liberalization of Trade in Legal Services
The internationalization of legal services and the development of corporate law firms have led to profound changes in the practice of law, giving it a more commercial and international focus. These changes, coupled with a general intolerance of restrictions to competition, have led governments to reconsider the way they regulate the profession.
Liberalization of trade in legal services takes place both at the multilateral level within the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and at the regional level within preferential trade agreements (PTAs). This book analyses the liberalization process that takes place at both levels. It is the first publication to undertake an in-depth analysis of the obligations contained in these agreements.
Starting from an overview of the regulations related to legal services – and focusing on barriers to cross-border legal services that result from these regulations – the analysis goes a long way towards pinpointing which regulations should be removed and which adopted or preserved in order to facilitate international trade in legal services. Insightful considerations explore the cross-border features of such elements as the following: cross-border mergers and acquisitions; intellectual property rights; new financial instruments; business-to-business dispute resolution mechanisms; business permits; company formation; tax burdens; regulatory compliance; transparency rules; residency and local presence requirements; restrictions on (e.g.) ownership, investment, entry, fee-setting, and advertising; and extension of accountancy disciplines to legal services.
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