Smolinska: Le droit de la mer entre universalisme et régionalisme

Anna Maria Smolinska (Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 - Law) has published Le droit de la mer entre universalisme et régionalisme (Bruylant 2014). Here's the abstract:

Le droit de la mer est une matière façonnée non seulement par les juges et les juristes, mais aussi par les marins, la nature, et les évolutions géopolitiques. C’est aussi un droit coutumier conventionnalisé. C’est avant tout un droit complexe et très évolutif. L’évolution récente et actuelle du droit de la mer est profondément marquée et animée par la coexistence de l’approche universelle et des approches régionales. Si ce constat n’est pas nouveau, il existe encore des faces cachées de la question de l’universalisme et du régionalisme en droit de la mer contemporain. L’une d’elles, particulièrement délicate, est leur point de rencontre. En effet, ces deux éléments sont la plupart de temps envisagés de manière indépendante, or l’interaction qui se produit entre eux paraît aujourd’hui non seulement caractériser, mais aussi conditionner le droit de la mer. Il est, dans ce contexte, intéressant de procéder à une étude de l’interaction entre universalisme et régionalisme en droit de la mer dans son ensemble. Cette étude aura pour ambition, à travers l’analyse des cas concrets et des différentes sous-branches composant le droit de la mer, d’aboutir à une analyse générale, systémique et fonctionnelle.

Pauwelyn & Alschner: Forget About the WTO: The Network of Relations between Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) and 'Double PTAs'

Joost Pauwelyn (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies) & Wolfgang Alschner (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies) have posted Forget About the WTO: The Network of Relations between Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) and 'Double PTAs'. Here's the abstract:

The very definition of "preferential trade agreements" (PTAs) channels our almost exclusive attention to the relation between PTAs and the WTO. Successive PTAs between the same countries -- which we call "double PTAs" -- have largely escaped legal scrutiny. Think of the United States and Mexico first concluding NAFTA and then the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) or other "mega-regionals" currently under negotiation such as the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite in Africa or Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in Asia. We offer four reasons why the limits imposed by WTO rules on PTAs and plurilateral trade agreements must not be overrated. This should redirect attention away from the WTO-PTA relation toward relations between PTAs. We then describe the current network of PTAs in force, its structure and centrality features -- using basic methods of network analysis -- and also assesses the frequency of "double PTAs". Next we analyse the possible reasons to conclude "double PTAs" and assess ways in which successive PTAs involving the same countries can inter-relate in legal terms.

New Volume: New Zealand Yearbook of International Law

The latest volume of the New Zealand Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 10, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Treasa Dunworth, The Silent Killer: Toxic Chemicals for Law Enforcement and the Chemical Weapons Convention
• Ottavio Quirico, Amidst Fragmentation and Coherence: A Systemic Interpretation of the World Heritage Convention and the UNFCCC Regime
• Michelle Limenta, Open Trade Negotiations as Opposed to Secret Trade Negotiations: From Transparency to Public Participation
• Fleur Adcock, The UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and New Zealand: A Study in Compliance Ritualism
• Commentaries and Notes
• Amy Laird, Mali: A Legally Justifiable Intervention by France?
• Daniel Scherr, Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v Italy: Greece intervening): A Case Note
• Viviana Zanetti, Maybe there is a Judge in Strasbourg? The European Court of Human Rights and Torture in Italy

New Issue: Michigan Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Michigan Journal of International Law (Vol. 35, no. 1, Fall 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Special Feature
• James C. Hathaway, Introduction to the Sixth Colloquium on Challenges in International Refugee Law
• Sixth Colloquium Participants, Michigan Guidelines on the Exclusion of International Criminals
• Jennifer Bond, Principled Exclusions: A Revised Approach to Article 1(F)(A) of the Refugee Convention
• Articles
• Jens David Ohlin, Targeting and the Concept of Intent
• Uche Ewelukwa Ofodile, Africa-China Bilateral Investment Treaties: A Critique

New Volume: Anuario Mexicano de Derecho Internacional

The latest volume of the Anuario Mexicano de Derecho Internacional (Vol. 14, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Doctrina
• Virginia Gallo Cobián, El proyecto de artículos sobre la responsabilidad de las organizaciones internacionales adoptado por la Comisión de Derecho Internacional: principales conclusiones
• Javier Dondé Matute, La política criminal de la Fiscalía de la Corte Penal Internacional para el inicio de investigaciones
• Patricio Galella, La obligación de investigar las desapariciones forzadas y su aplicación a los crímenes del franquismo en España
• Diego Germán Mejía-Lemos, On the "Control de Convencionalidad" Doctrine: a Critical Appraisal of the Inter-American Court of Human Rigths Relevant Case Law
• María Cecilia Añaños Meza, La idea de los bienes comunes en el sistema internacional: ¿renacimiento o extinción?
• Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga, Responsabilidad estatal por el crimen de genocidio
• Germán Terán Samanamud, China en América Latina: los casos de Ecuador y Perú entre los años 2009-2012, ¿es posible una apuesta hacia el futuro?
• Marisol Anglés Hernández, Jurisprudencia interamericana. Acicate contra la discriminación y exclusión de pueblos originarios de México en relación con sus recursos naturales
• Luis A. López Zamora, El enfoque extractivo del derecho ambiental y los desafíos del concepto de "pueblos indígenas"
• Gerardo Tripolone, La doctrina de Carl Schmitt sobre el derecho internacional
• Manuel Jesús López Baroni, Apátridas saharauis en España: Europa y su memoria
• José Manuel Sánchez Patrón, El inicio de la vida humana y el alcance de su protección jurídica en la jurisprudencia europea e internacional
• Paulo Emílio Vauthier Borges de Macedo, Modernidade e medievalismo em Grócio: o discurso do método
• Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez & Daffne Cecilia Sánchez Mendoza, El sufragio de los mexicanos en el extranjero, una perspectiva jurídica
• Jânia Maria Lopes Saldanha & Lucas Pacheco Vieira, Nuevas geometrías y nuevos sentidos: internacionalización del derecho e internacionalización del diálogo de los sistemas de justicia
• Rosmerlin Estupiñan-Silva, Pueblos indígenas y tribales: la construcción de contenidos culturales inherentes en la jurisprudencia interamericana de derechos humanos
• Rafael Lamera Cabral, As interaçóes entre direito e filosofía no caso Damião Ximenez Lopes x Brasil na Corte Interamericana de Direitos Humanos-CIDH/OEA
• Elisa Ortega Velázquez, La consolidación histórica de la migración irregular en Europa: leyes, políticas migratorias defectuosas
• Renata Alvares Gaspar & Mariana Romanello Jacob, As Cláusulas de Integraçao sob a ótica das CIDIPs: o papel desse instrumento na consecuçao da cooperação jurídica interamericana
• Humberto Cantú Rivera, Developments in Extraterritoriality and Soft Law: Towards New Measures to Hold Corporations Accountable for their Human Rights Performance?
• Eric Tardif, Minerales que suscitan pasiones: ¿el inicio de la pugna por lo que queda?

New Issue: International Review of the Red Cross

The latest issue of the International Review of the Red Cross (Vol. 94, no. 888, Winter 2012) is out. The theme is "ICRC: 150 years of Humanitarian Action." Contents include:

• Interview
• Interview with Peter Maurer, President of the ICRC
• Perspectives on the ICRC
• John B. Bellinger, III, Observations on the 150th anniversary of the ICRC
• Sami El-haj, A Guantanamo detainee's perspective
• Kristalina Georgieva, The indispensable organization
• António Guterres, Forced displacement and the role of the ICRC: perspectives for the twenty-first century
• Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Thirty years of working within the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in a country affected by conflict
• Ban Ki-moon, The ICRC and the changing humanitarian landscape
• Tommy Koh, The ICRC at 150: reflections of an Asian admirer
• Ms Farzana Sadat 30, beneficiary of the ICRC orthopaedic programme in Afghanistan
• Matthias Schmale, Reflections on the ICRC's present and future role in addressing humanitarian crises
• James G. Stavridis, Working towards a better world
• Turning points in the history of the ICRC and the Movement
• Daniel Palmieri, An institution standing the test of time? A review of 150 years of the history of the International Committee of the Red Cross
• François Bugnion, Birth of an idea: the founding of the International Committee of the Red Cross and of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: from Solferino to the original Geneva Convention (1859–1864)
• Stefanie Haumer, 1863: the creation of the first National Society at the beginning of the Movement's history
• In Folio
• Valérie Gorin, Looking back over 150 years of humanitarian action: the photographic archives of the ICRC
• Sébastien Farré, The ICRC and the detainees in Nazi concentration camps (1942–1945)
• Marie-Luce Desgrandchamps, ‘Organising the unpredictable’: the Nigeria–Biafra war and its impact on the ICRC
• Katharine Fortin, Complementarity between the ICRC and the United Nations and international humanitarian law and international human rights law, 1948–1968
• The ICRC Today
• Olivier Dubois, Katharine Marshall & Siobhan Sparkes McNamara, New technologies and new policies: the ICRC's evolving approach to working with separated families
• Geoff Loane, A new challenge or a new role? The ICRC in Northern Ireland
• Peter Maurer, Challenges to international humanitarian law: Israel's occupation policy
• Alan Baker, International humanitarian law, ICRC and Israel's status in the Territories
• Comments and Opinions
• Rony Brauman, Médecins Sans Frontières and the ICRC: matters of principle
• Paul Bouvier, Humanitarian care and small things in dehumanised places

Conference: Peoples’ Friendship University 12th Annual Conference

On April 11, 2014, the Department of International Law, Law Faculty, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, will host its 12th Annual International Conference, in Moscow. The theme is "Current Issues in International Law." Here's the idea:

The Department of International Law, Law Faculty, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, is pleased to announce its 12th Annual International Conference ‘Current Issues in International Law’. The Conference will be held on April 11, 2014 at Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (Moscow).

The plenary session will be dedicated to 90-years anniversary of Honorary Director of IISL Prof. Dr. Gennady P. Zhukov. At the plenary session we anticipate the reports by the professors from abroad, experts of the UN system, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, ROSCOSMOS, chairs of the leading international law departments of Russia, by representatives of international organizations, institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences, etc. Working languages of the Conference are English and Russian.

Regarding this we are pleased to invite you and your colleagues to take part in the Conference. The registration for the Conference is open until 12.00 March 17, 2014. The registration process includes sending us the filled in application form with the abstract of up to 250 words. The full papers of the presented reports are expected by May 10, 2014. The articles in English and Russian are accepted. As a result of the Conference “Collected Essays. Liber Amicorum for Dr. Gennady P. Zhukov” will be published.

Finkelman: Francis Lieber and the Modern Law of War

Paul Finkelman (Albany Law School) has posted Francis Lieber and the Modern Law of War (University of Chicago Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This essay offers a critical analysis of John Witt's book on the law of war, Lincoln's Code. The essay applauds much of Witt's book, but criticizes his work for 1) failing to understand the way the US supported slavery in the Constitution from 1787 to 1861; 2) over emphasizing slavery as the reason for the promulgation of the Lieber Code during the Civil War; 3) failing to understand or discuss the nature of Confederate violations of accepted rules of warfare (including demanding tribute from captured towns and enslaving or murdering captured prisoners of war); and 4) incorrectly blaming the Lieber code for the post-Civil War behavior of the U.S. army towards Indians and during the war in the Philippines. This essay offers a detailed history of many of these issues in the light of the Lieber Code and the evolution of the law of war.

New Issue: Virginia Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Virginia Journal of International Law (Vol. 54, no. 1, Symposium 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Symposium: Financial Innovation in a Changing World
• Ethiopis Tafara, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: The Future of Financial Regulation
• W. Mark C. Weidemaier & Mitu Gulati, A People’s History of Collective Action Clauses
• Gabriel V. Rauterberg & Andrew Verstein, Assessing Transnational Private Regulation of the OTC Derivatives Market: ISDA, the BBA, and the Future of Financial Reform
• Galit A. Sarfaty, Human Rights Meets Securities Regulation
• Phillip M. Nichols, Are Facilitating Payments Legal?
• Richard C. Smith, Combating FCPA Charges: Is Resistance Futile?

van den Herik & Harwood: Sharing the Law: The Appeal of International Criminal Law for International Commissions of Inquiry

Larissa van den Herik (Leiden Univ. - Law) & Catherine Harwood (Leiden Univ. - Law) have posted Sharing the Law: The Appeal of International Criminal Law for International Commissions of Inquiry (in Human Rights Fact-Finding in the 21st Century, S. Knuckey & P. Alston eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Although international criminal law is the traditional language of international criminal tribunals, international commissions of inquiry and other international fact-finders are increasingly called upon to determine whether international crimes have been committed in a situation of armed conflict or distress. Questions have been raised regarding possibilities of evidence-sharing and other forms of cooperation between commissions of inquiry and criminal prosecutors. Rather than pursuing questions related to the sharing of facts, this Chapter analyses the phenomenon of sharing the law. It asks what the consequences are of the utilisation of the same body of law by different entities for different purposes. Do the different underlying purposes that inform the mandates of commissions of inquiry permit more flexible interpretations of international criminal law? And if commissions of inquiry indeed interpret international criminal law in a more lenient fashion, might this undermine the authority and credibility of this body of law? This Chapter grapples with these pressing questions by reference to the argument previously made in the R2P context that there may be grounds for legitimate difference in the application of the same concept when utilized for preventive or punitive purposes. The Chapter emphasizes the need for appreciation of the distinct settings in which international criminal law is invoked, and cautions that findings and interpretations from commissions of inquiry might only be transposed to the context of a criminal trial with a certain care and diligence.

Workshop: International Investment Law and the Global Financial Architecture

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), Preferential Trade and Investment Agreements: From Recalibration to Reintegration (Nomos 2013), and International Investment Law and Development: Friends or Foes?. This year’s workshop, which will take place March 14-15, will explore "International Investment Law and the Global Financial Architecture" The program is here. The workshop is organized by the Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, the University of Glasgow, and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law. Here's the idea:

Recent years have seen governments around the world re‐regulate (or consider re-regulating) markets in response to financial, banking, and sovereign debt crises. Re‐regulation is most clearly felt in the banking sector, but has also affected capital markets, rating agencies, and cross-border finance. All of this takes place in order to stabilize financial markets and to reduce the exposure of governments and central banks, but also of supranational and international institutions (such as the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, or the European Stability Mechanism) as lenders of last resort. The crises thus also involve serious concerns about public finance, monetary and fiscal policy, and sovereign insolvency. Accordingly, government activities as regulators of, but also participants in, global financial markets move center stage - and with it questions about the role of international investment law in the current reorganization of the global financial architecture. The 2014 Frankfurt Investment Law Workshop will explore this role through papers addressing the interaction between international investment law and financial market and banking regulation, free flow of capital, sovereign debt, and monetary policy.

New Issue: Journal of International Arbitration

The latest issue of the Journal of International Arbitration (Vol. 31, no. 1, February 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Baruch Baigel, The Emergency Arbitrator Procedure under the 2012 ICC Rules: A Juridical Analysis
• Deyan Draguiev, Unilateral Jurisdiction Clauses: The Case for Invalidity, Severability or Enforceability
• Patrick Dumberry, The Protection of Investors’ Legitimate Expectations and the Fair and Equitable Treatment Standard under NAFTA Article
• Youngjin Jung & Sangwook Daniel Han, Sovereign Debt Restructuring under the Investor-State Dispute Regime
• Mauro Rubino-Sammartano, Are All Transfers of an Investment Protected by the Treaty Which Deals with the Original Investment?
• Solomon Ebere & Blerina Xheraj, Who Decides Arbitrability Where a Precondition to Arbitration Has Not Been Satisfied?: A Comment on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision to Hear the Appeal in BG Group v. Argentina
• Nathan D. O’Malley & Luke N. Eaton, U.S. Discovery in Aid of International Arbitration: Where Things Presently Stand

New Issue: Journal of World Trade

The latest issue of the Journal of World Trade (Vol. 48, no. 1, February 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Leon E Trakman, The Status of Investor - State Arbitration: Resolving Investment Disputes under the Transpacific Partnership Agreement
• Broussolle Damien, Service, Trade in Services and Trade of Services Industries
• Lucas Bastin, Transfer Pricing and the WTO
• Pablo Zapatero Miguel, Trade in Generics v. World-Scale Market Segmentation: Market-Driven Solutions to the ‘Paragraph 6’ Issue
• Asif H Qureshi, The FTA Paradigm for the Configuration of World Trade and Foreign Investment: The Case of Outward Processing Zones
• Abhimanyu George Jain, Derivatives as a Test Case for International Financial Regulation through the WTO
• Ru Ding, 'Public Body' or Not: Chinese State-Owned Enterprise

Call for Panel Proposals: International Law Weekend 2014

The American Branch of the International Law Association and the International Law Students Association have issued a call for panel proposals for International Law Weekend 2014, which will take place October 23-25, 2014, in New York City. The theme is "International Law in a Time of Chaos." Here's the call:

International Law Weekend 2014: Call for Panel Proposals

In anticipation of International Law Weekend 2014 – the premier international law event of the fall season, to be held on October 23-25, 2014, in New York City – the sponsors would like to invite you and your colleagues to submit proposals for panels, roundtables, and lectures at International Law Weekend (ILW) 2014. The overall theme of ILW 2014 is International Law in a Time of Chaos.

About ILW

ILW is sponsored and organized by the American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA) and the International Law Students Association (ILSA). This annual conference attracts an audience of more than one thousand practitioners, academics, diplomats, members of the governmental and nongovernmental sectors, and most importantly, foreign policy and law students who are learning about the range of practice and career opportunities.

Call for Proposals

The unifying theme for this year’s meeting is International Law in a Time of Chaos. The role of international law in conflict mitigation remains key – whether by building commercial links between states, fighting corruption, improving democratic governance, or providing methods for resolving international and ethnic disputes. International Law Weekend 2014 will seek to address the role of public and private international lawyers in each of these tasks. Panel proposals may concern any aspect of international law, including trade, investment, arbitration, intellectual property, combatting corruption, labor standards in the global supply chain, and human rights, as well as issues of international organizations and international security.

The ILW Program Committee invites proposals to be submitted online here on or before Friday, March 21, 2014.

Please provide a title, brief description of the topic, and the names, titles, and affiliations of the chair and likely speakers – but also describe what you think would be the most engaging and exciting format, including ways to enhance participation by the audience. Thus, we encourage suggestions of varied formats, such as debates, roundtables, lectures, and break-out groups, as well as the usual practice of panel presentations. One of the objectives of ILW 2014 is to promote new dialogues among scholars and practicing lawyers; so formats should include presenters with diverse experiences and perspectives.

ILW 2014

ILW 2014 will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Branch in Manhattan at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York at 42 West 44th Street on Thursday evening, October 23, and at the Fordham Law School at Lincoln Center on October 24-25, 2014. We expect an audience that will include practitioners, professors, UN diplomats, business leaders, federal and state government officials, NGO leaders, writers, journalists, and interested citizens. This year, we plan to have a broad array of public international law topics, but will also have dedicated tracks of private international law topics in each program slot. Questions regarding ILW 2014 can be directed to conferences@ilsa.org.

Please feel free to forward this announcement to other interested parties.

ILW 2014 Program Committee

Tamara Cummings-John, Legal Officer, United Nations Office of Legal Affairs; Davis Robinson, Former Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State; Stephen Shapiro, Managing Partner, BSR Investments; Vivian Shen, Programs Director, International Law Students Association; David Stewart, President-Elect, American Branch of the International Law Association; and Ruth Wedgwood, President, American Branch of the International Law Association.

New Issue: Global Trade and Customs Journal

The latest issue of Global Trade and Customs Journal (Vol. 9, no. 2, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Davide Rovetta & Maurizio Gambardella, EU Common Foreign and Security Policy Sanctions: Litigation before the EU Courts and the “Sunday Punch” Approach
• Daniel L. Kiselbach, The Canada – EU Free Trade Agreement Demystified: New Opportunities for Trade, Investment and Government Procurement
• Dan Cannistra & Miguel A. Rodríguez Cuadros, The Dutiability of Royalty Payments: The Impact of the World Customs Organization’s Advisory Opinion 4.15
• Bernard O’Connor, The European Union and the United States: Conflicting Agendas on Geographical Indications – What’s Happening in Asia?
• Brendan McGivern, The WTO Seal Products Panel—The “Public Morals” Defense
• Ngoc T. Ho & Ngan K. Vu, Improving the Compliance of Vietnamese Exports with Importing WTO Member SPS/TBT Measures: Learning Experiences from Malaysia and Thailand

Koch: Den Gegner schützen? Zu einer aktuellen Kontroverse in der Ethik des bewaffneten Konflikts

Bernhard Koch has published Den Gegner schützen? Zu einer aktuellen Kontroverse in der Ethik des bewaffneten Konflikts (Nomos 2014). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Militärische Gewalt gefährdet Menschen: Gegner, Zivilisten, eigene Soldatinnen und Soldaten. Unterschiedliche militärische Maßnahmen gefährden aber in unterschiedlicher Weise: manche in besonderer Weise die Gegner, manche die eigenen Soldaten und manche besonders die Zivilisten. Können solche Risiken gegeneinander abgewogen werden? Wer soll die Risiken tragen? Der Band versammelt verschiedene Beiträge vorwiegend englischsprachiger Autoren, die sich mit dieser Problematik beschäftigen, die eine der drängendsten in der militärischen Ethik der Gegenwart ist. Er führt damit auch in die Diskussion um die Ethik des bewaffneten Konflikts im anglo-amerikanischen Raum ein. Mit Beiträgen von: Jeff McMahan, David Luban, David Rodin, Jeremy Waldron, Uwe Steinhoff, Robert G. Kennedy und Mary-Ellen O’Connell.

New Issue: Global Environmental Politics

The latest issue of Global Environmental Politics (Vol. 14, no. 1, February 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Research Articles
• Henrik Selin, Global Environmental Law and Treaty-Making on Hazardous Substances: The Minamata Convention and Mercury Abatement
• James Van Alstine, Transparency in Resource Governance: The Pitfalls and Potential of “New Oil” in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Craig M. Kauffman & Pamela L. Martin, Scaling up Buen Vivir: Globalizing Local Environmental Governance from Ecuador
• James Morton Turner, Counting Carbon: The Politics of Carbon Footprints and Climate Governance from the Individual to the Global
• So Young Kim & Yael Wolinsky-Nahmias, Cross-National Public Opinion on Climate Change: The Effects of Affluence and Vulnerability
• Lukas Hakelberg, Governance by Diffusion: Transnational Municipal Networks and the Spread of Local Climate Strategies in Europe

Jain: Derivatives as a Test Case for International Financial Regulation through the WTO

Abhimanyu George Jain (High Court of Delhi; Georgetown Univ. - Law) has posted Derivatives as a Test Case for International Financial Regulation through the WTO (Journal of World Trade, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Can the WTO play a role in international financial regulation? This paper examines that question focusing specifically on the regulation of international derivatives, reasoning that if that complex and controversial category of instruments can be successfully regulated, international financial regulation generally is theoretically possible. It goes on to describe how such regulation may be achieved through the World Trade Organization (WTO) employing the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) framework, and then demonstrates that the vesting of such regulatory authority in the WTO is in the interests of international finance, international trade and international economic relations generally.

Lautenbach:The Concept of the Rule of Law and the European Court of Human Rights

Geranne Lautenbach (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law) has published The Concept of the Rule of Law and the European Court of Human Rights (Oxford Univ. Press 2013). Here's the abstract:

This book analyses the concept of the rule of law in the context of international law, through the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. It investigates how the court has defined and interpreted the notion of the rule of law in its jurisprudence. It places this analysis against a background of more theoretical accounts of the idea of the rule of law, drawing in ideas of political philosophy. It also provides a comparative assessment, demonstrating how the idea of the rule of law has evolved in the UK, France, and Germany.

The book argues that at the core of the concept of the rule of law are the notions of legality and judicial safeguards. It states that the Court has developed the requirements of legality, which the work analyses in detail, based on that concept. It assesses the independence of the judiciary as an aspect of the rule of law in the context of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the relationship between the rule of law and the substantive contents of law. The book posits that the rule of law as seen at the Court is not mainly utilised with regard to 'freedom' rights, but is more concerned with procedural rights. It discusses the relationship between the rule of law and the view of the Convention as a constitutional instrument of the European public order, and shows that the rule of law and democracy are inextricably linked in the case law of the Court. Ultimately, the book demonstrates in its analysis of the Court's jurisprudence that the notion of the rule of law is a crucial part of the international legal order.

New Issue: Rivista di Diritto Internazionale

The latest issue of the Rivista di Diritto Internazionale (Vol. 96, no. 4, 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Articoli
• Natalino Ronziti, La difesa contro i pirati e l'imbarco di personale militare armato sui mercantili: Il caso della "Enrica Lexie" e la controversia Italia-India
• Tito Ballarino, Il nuovo regolamento europeo sulle successioni
• Francesco Salerno, Il coordinamento tra arbitrato e giustizia civile nel regolamento (UE) n. 1215/2012
• Note e Commenti
• Paolo Picone, Riflessioni sulle finalità del "rinvio" nel dirito internazionale privato contemporaneo
• Olivia Lopes Pegna, Il regime di circolazione delle decisioni nel regolamento (UE) n. 1215/2012 ("Bruxelles I-bis")
• Antonio Coco, I divieti di trasferimento ai sensi degli articoli 6 e 7 del Tratatto sul commercio delle armi
• Panorama
• Alessandra Gianelli, Exit "Kadi"
• Adelina Adinolfi, Una "rivoluzione silenziosa": Il primo rinvio pregiudiziale della Corte costituzionale italiana in un procedimento incidentale di legittimità costituzionale

Waibel: Coordinating Adjudication Processes

Michael Waibel (Univ. of Cambridge - Law) has posted Coordinating Adjudication Processes. Here's the abstract:

International investment tribunals, like all other international courts and tribunals, are created equal. This chapter focuses on genuine decisional fragmentation and the coordination of proceedings within the investment treaty regime, i.e. between parallel and subsequent investment arbitrations rather than cross-regime coordination of, for example, investment arbitrations and World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement. Decisional fragmentation refers to divergent rulings in cases that share the same factual matrix. Numerous authors posit that inconsistent decisions are a particular risk in investment arbitration given the lack of internal (e.g. stare decisis) as well as external control mechanisms to ensure uniform arbitral decisions.

The chapter examines what coordination tasks arise in international investment law (IIL), what the stakeholder interests related to these coordination tasks are and how overlapping jurisdictions of investment tribunals can be managed institutionally and procedurally. The distinction between jurisdiction and admissibility is an important element of successfully coordinating parallel investment arbitrations. The major advantage of declaring claims inadmissible is that it allows tribunals to fulfil their jurisdictional mandate – which many investments tribunals are keen to do – while coordinating proceedings through the lever of admissibility. After describing the structural features of IIL, and in particular the absence of stare decisis, Section 2 examines three coordination tasks that arise in IIL: related proceedings, mass claims and derivative shareholder claims.

Call for Applications: Venice Academy of Human Rights

The European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation's Venice Academy of Human Rights is accepting applications for its summer program, to take place July 7-16, 2014. The theme of this year’s Academy is "Judicial Legitimacy and the Rule of Law." The call for applications and further information is available here. A detailed program is here.

Shany: Assessing the Effectiveness of International Courts

Yuval Shany (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem - Law) has published Assessing the Effectiveness of International Courts (Oxford Univ. Press 2014). Here's the abstract:

Are international courts effective tools for international governance? Do they fulfill the expectations that led to their creation and empowerment? Why do some courts appear to be more effective than others, and do so such appearances reflect reality? Could their results have been produced by other mechanisms? This book evaluates the effectiveness of international courts and tribunals by comparing their stated goals to the actual outcomes they achieve. Using a theoretical model borrowed from social science, the book assesses their effectiveness by analysing key empirical data.

Its first part is dedicated to theory and methodology, laying out the effectiveness model, explaining its different components, its promise and limits, and discussing the measurement challenges it faces. The second part analyses the role that indicators such as jurisdiction, judicial independence, legitimacy, and compliance play in achieving effectiveness. Part three applies the effectiveness model to the International Court of Justice, the WTO dispute settlement mechanisms (panels and Appellate Body), the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia, the European Court of Human Rights, and the European Court of Justice, reflecting the diversity of the field of international adjudication. Given the recent proliferation of international courts and tribunals, this book makes an important contribution towards understanding and measuring the value that these institutions provide.

Jacobs & Stahn: Human Rights Fact-Finding and International Criminal Proceedings: Towards a Polycentric Model of Interaction

Dov Jacobs (Leiden Univ. - Law) & Carsten Stahn (Leiden Univ. - Law) have posted Human Rights Fact-Finding and International Criminal Proceedings: Towards a Polycentric Model of Interaction. Here's the abstract:

The interaction between fact-finding bodies and international criminal courts and tribunals has been subject to growing attention in past decades. There is a visible trend in UN practice to charge fact-finding missions with mandates involving (quasi-) criminal investigation or the determination of accountability of specific actors (e.g., individuals or groups) for human rights violations. In existing discourse, it is frequently assumed that this increased focus on criminalization supports the prevention or prosecution of atrocity crimes. This chapter re-visits this claim. It argues that the impact and use of the findings of fact-finding bodies for criminal investigations and prosecutions depends on a number of key parameters, namely (i) the nature of fact-finding entities, (ii) the relevant addressee in the criminal process (e.g., Prosecution, Defence, Judges), (iii) the stage of proceedings, (iv) the type of decision, and (v) the nature of evidence. These parameters provide a basis for a more nuanced assessment of institutional interaction that takes into account the different ‘centres of gravity’ of fact-finding and criminal proceedings. Based on analysis of these five parameters, and relevant practice and jurisprudence, it appears misleading to frame the link between external fact-finding and international criminal justice in terms of a natural continuum. It is more appropriate to conceptualize interaction based on a sliding scale. Materials, documents and testimony provided by fact-finding bodies have undisputed relevance to ‘context’-related evidence. They may also support other functions in the criminal process. But they are by no means determinative for the outcome of investigations and prosecutions.

Keys: Reclaiming American Virtue: The Human Rights Revolution of the 1970s

Barbara J. Keys (Univ. of Melbourne - History) has published Reclaiming American Virtue: The Human Rights Revolution of the 1970s (Harvard Univ. Press 2014). Here's the abstract:

The American commitment to international human rights emerged in the 1970s not as a logical outgrowth of American idealism but as a surprising response to national trauma, as Barbara Keys shows in this provocative history. Reclaiming American Virtue situates this novel enthusiasm as a reaction to the profound challenge of the Vietnam War and its tumultuous aftermath. Instead of looking inward for renewal, Americans on the right and the left alike looked outward for ways to restore America’s moral leadership.

Conservatives took up the language of Soviet dissidents to resuscitate a Cold War narrative that pitted a virtuous United States against the evils of communism. Liberals sought moral cleansing by dissociating the United States from foreign malefactors, spotlighting abuses such as torture in Chile, South Korea, and other right-wing allies. When Jimmy Carter in 1977 made human rights a central tenet of American foreign policy, his administration struggled to reconcile these conflicting visions.

Yet liberals and conservatives both saw human rights as a way of moving from guilt to pride. Less a critique of American power than a rehabilitation of it, human rights functioned for Americans as a sleight of hand that occluded from view much of America’s recent past and confined the lessons of Vietnam to narrow parameters. It would be a small step from world’s judge to world’s policeman, and American intervention in the name of human rights would be a cause both liberals and conservatives could embrace.

Call for Papers: Foundations and Futures of International Law (Update)

The British Branch of the International Law Association has issued a call for papers for its annual spring conference, which will take place at the Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London, on May 23-24, 2014. The theme is "Foundations and Futures of International Law." The call for papers is here. The deadline has been extended to February 15, 2014.

New Issue: Transnational Dispute Management

The latest issue of Transnational Dispute Management (2014, no. 1) is out. This is a special issue on "Reform of Investor-State Dispute Settlement: In Search of a Roadmap." The table of contents is here.

Roscini: Cyber Operations as Nuclear Counterproliferation Measures

Marco Roscini (Univ. of Westminster - Law) has posted Cyber Operations as Nuclear Counterproliferation Measures (Journal of Conflict and Security Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Focusing on recent malware that allegedly targeted Iran’s nuclear programme, this article discusses the legality of inter-state cyber operations as measures to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons approaching the problem from the perspective of the law of State responsibility, in particular the circumstances precluding wrongfulness. After examining the role that cyber attacks and cyber exploitation can play in preventing nuclear proliferation, the article explores whether cyber operations can be justified as countermeasures in response to a possible breach by Iran of its non-proliferation obligations. It then discusses whether counterproliferation cyber operations amounting to a use of force are submitted to a more lenient legal regime than other more traditional forms of the use of force in international relations. Finally, the article explores the legality of counterproliferation cyber operations from the perspective of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, and in particular of the resolutions adopted against Iran by the Security Council. The article concludes that the legality of counterproliferation cyber operations must be assessed in the light of the general primary and secondary rules of international law: neither the means used (cyber instead of kinetic) nor the aim pursued (the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons) justify a special legal regime.