Cardenas: Chains of Justice: The Global Rise of State Institutions for Human Rights

Sonia Cardenas (Trinity College - Political Science) has published Chains of Justice: The Global Rise of State Institutions for Human Rights (Univ. of Pennsylvania Press 2014). Here's the abstract:

National human rights institutions—state agencies charged with protecting and promoting human rights domestically—have proliferated dramatically since the 1990s; today more than a hundred countries have NHRIs, with dozens more seeking to join the global trend. These institutions are found in states of all sizes—from the Maldives and Barbados to South Africa, Mexico, and India; they exist in conflict zones and comparatively stable democracies alike. In Chains of Justice, Sonia Cardenas offers a sweeping historical and global account of the emergence of NHRIs, linking their growing prominence to the contradictions and possibilities of the modern state.

As human rights norms gained visibility at the end of the twentieth century, states began creating NHRIs based on the idea that if international human rights standards were ever to take root, they had to be firmly implanted within countries—impacting domestic laws and administrative practices and even systems of education. However, this very position within a complex state makes it particularly challenging to assess the design and influence of NHRIs: some observers are inclined to associate NHRIs with ideals of restraint and accountability, whereas others are suspicious of these institutions as "pretenders" in democratic disguise. In her theoretically and politically grounded examination, Cardenas tackles the role of NHRIs, asking how we can understand the global diffusion of these institutions, including why individual states decide to create an NHRI at a particular time while others resist the trend. She explores the influence of these institutions in states seeking mostly to appease international audiences as well as their value in places where respect for human rights is already strong.

The most comprehensive account of the NHRI phenomenon to date, Chains of Justice analyzes many institutions never studied before and draws from new data released from the Universal Periodic Review Mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council. With its global scope and fresh insights into the origins and influence of NHRIs, Chains of Justice promises to become a standard reference that will appeal to scholars immersed in the workings of these understudied institutions as well as nonspecialists curious about the role of the state in human rights.

Fikfak: Judicial Strategies and Their Impact on the Development of the International Rule of Law

Veronika Fikfak (Univ. of Cambridge - Lauterpacht Centre for International Law) has posted Judicial Strategies and Their Impact on the Development of the International Rule of Law (a shorter version appears in The Rule of Law at the National and International Levels: Contestations and Deference, Machiko Kanetake & André Nollkaemper eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

International scholars describe domestic courts as agents in the international legal order, acting in the service of the international rule of law. These courts are the first post of call where international claims are adjudicated and they are therefore the ideal organs to ensure that international law is applied as law, even against a reluctant Executive, whose actions threaten to breach the State’s international obligations. But what does it mean to say that courts protect the rule of international law? What type of behaviour does this rule require of domestic courts? The issue of how courts should act has become especially problematic in the context of challenges individuals have brought against decisions of international institutions, which the Executive has sought to enforce domestically and which arguably limit individuals’ human rights without according any opportunity for review at an international level. Faced with applications for review of legality, domestic judges have had to choose between refusing the implementation of these 'strict' international decisions and abstaining from review altogether, thus giving these international decisions their full effectiveness. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, this chapter discusses whether domestic courts can reconcile the competing interests of individuals, international institutions and the international legal order. It investigates what strategies courts have at their disposal to undertake review which provides due process protections to individuals whilst at the same time avoiding a challenge of the authority of the international institution and ensuring the international rule of law.

New Issue: Revue Générale de Droit International Public

The latest issue of the Revue Générale de Droit International Public (Vol. 118, no. 1, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Robert Kolb, La détermination du concept de "jus cogens"
• Arnaud de Nanteuil, L'application du droit international public dans l'arbitrage transnational
• Marie-Clotilde Runavot, Le protocole nº 16 à la convention européenne: réflexion sur une nouvelle espèce du genre
• Julien Jeanneney, L'Atlantide remarques sur la submersion de l'intégralité du territoire d'un Etat

Caron & Oral: Navigating Straits: Challenges for International Law

David D. Caron (King's College London - Law) & Nilufer Oral (Istanbul Bilgi Univ. - Law) have published Navigating Straits: Challenges for International Law (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2014). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

The importance of straits, particularly those used in international navigation, has been long recognized in international law. One of the important debates during the Third United Nations Law of the Sea Conference concerned the regime of passage through straits used in international navigation. The result was the creation of a multi-tiered legal framework of passage that included the entirely a new “transit passage” regime. Although over thirty years have passed since the adoption of the 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, the vital role played by straits in the global communications network continues to be surrounded by conflicts between the interests of coastal states and shipping. Challenges still exist to achieving the simultaneous global goals of secure passage of vessels and protection of the marine environment.

In Navigating Straits: Challenges for International Law, internationally recognized international law scholars provide in-depth analysis of the legal challenges in straits concerning security, piracy, safety and environmental protection. All readers interested in international and law of the sea will find this seminal volume of interest.

Lubell: The Problem of Imminence in an Uncertain World

Noam Lubell (Univ. of Essex - Law) has posted The Problem of Imminence in an Uncertain World (in The Oxford Handbook of the Use of Force in International Law, M. Weller, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Almost any discussion of self-defence under international law inevitably includes the debate over anticipatory self-defence. This is true not only in modern writings, but also throughout the centuries of legal and philosophical examinations of the matter. Most arguments supporting anticipatory action invariably turn at some point to requiring a criterion of imminence, whether stating it specifically, or in another guise. Whether or not anticipatory self-defence should be allowed is a question that encompasses numerous legal, moral, and political conundrums. The current examination does not aim to resolve the wider debate on anticipatory self-debate. Rather, it focuses on one particular and crucial component of the debate: the concept of imminence. The following examination proceeds, therefore, on the assumption that anticipatory self-defence may be a legitimate option for action. Based on this premise, it sets out to analyse the meaning of imminence in this context, how it is to be interpreted, what it might justify and what it might exclude, and whether it is in fact a criterion that can be upheld in light of modern challenges.

Baetens & Caiado: Frontiers of International Economic Law: Legal Tools to Confront Interdisciplinary Challenges

Freya Baetens (Leiden Univ. - Law) & José Caiado (Univ. of Hamburg) have published Frontiers of International Economic Law: Legal Tools to Confront Interdisciplinary Challenges (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2014). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Confronted with today’s global interdisciplinary challenges, international economic law offers a myriad of legal tools to provide both procedural and substantive solutions. Frontiers of International Economic Law: Legal Tools to Confront Interdisciplinary Challenges will appeal to those interested in the general theory of international economic law, but also readers looking for innovative answers to practical questions will also be pleased to find a broad array of topics structured along four frontier themes: facing economic crises and uncertainties, confronting environmental challenges, considering human rights and development objectives, and finally, regulating energy transit and new technologies. The contributions presented here will help to push forward, through promoting and developing the rule of law, the – at times contentious – frontiers of international economic law.

New Issue: Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The latest issue of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law (Vol. 47, no. 1, January 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Annecoos Wiersema, Climate Change, Forests, and International Law: REDD’s Descent into Irrelevance
• Jack M. Beard, Legal Phantoms in Cyberspace: The Problematic Status of Information as a Weapon and a Target Under International Humanitarian Law
• Alejandro Piera & Michael Gill, Will the New ICAO–Beijing Instruments Build a Chinese Wall for International Aviation Security?
• J. Benton Heath, Managing the “Republic of NGOs:” Accountability and Legitimation Problems Facing the UN Cluster System

New Issue: Columbia Journal of Transnational Law

The latest issue of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law (Vol. 52, no. 2, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Gilles Cuniberti, Three Theories of Lex Mercatoria
• Merritt B. Fox, Ongoing Issues in Russian Corporate Governance
• John G. Sprankling, The Global Right to Property

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. 46, no. 1, Fall 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Frank J. Garcia, Between Cosmopolis and Community: The Emerging Basis for Global Justice
• Erika R. George, In Good Company: How Corporate Social Responsibility Can Protect Rights and Aid Efforts to End Child Sex Trafficking and Modern Slavery
• Jedidiah J. Kroncke, Property Rights, Labor Rights and Democratization: Lessons from China and Experimental Authoritarians

Conference: Indian Society of International Law's 43rd Annual Conference

On April 11-12, 2014, the Indian Society of International Law will hold its 43rd Annual Conference, in New Delhi. The following themes will be discussed: (1) Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges; (2) Investment Disputes - International Arbitration; and (3) Private International Law.

Payne: Australia v. Japan: ICJ Halts Antarctic Whaling

Cymie R. Payne (Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick - School of Environmental and Biological Sciences) has posted an ASIL Insight on Australia v. Japan: ICJ Halts Antarctic Whaling.

Hill: The New International Telecommunication Regulations and the Internet

Richard Hill has published The New International Telecommunication Regulations and the Internet: A Commentary and Legislative History (Springer 2014). Here's the abstract:

​​​This book provides a clear and thorough account of the process leading up to the revision of the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) one of the four treaties administered by the ITU. The author’s inside view of the events, and his legal analysis of the new ITRs, are different from that what has been aired in most other accounts to date. His systematic approach shows how much of the criticism of the WCIT-12 process, and of the ITRs themselves, is unjustified. This book provides the most accurate view to date of what the ITRs really mean and of what really happened at WCIT-12, which was undoubtedly a key event in the history of telecommunication policy and which is likely to have significant long-term effects.

The book covers in some detail the events leading to the non-signature of the treaty by a significant number of states, outlines possible consequences of that split between states, and offers possible ways forward. The book includes a detailed article-by-article analysis of the new ITRs, explaining their implications, and concludes with recommendations for national authorities. It concludes with an analysis of events from the point of view of dispute resolution theory, offering suggestions for how to avoid divisive outcomes in the future.​

ASIL: Benchbook on International Law

Under the editorship of Diane Marie Amann (Univ. of Georgia - Law), the American Society of International Law has published Benchbook on International Law (2014). Professor Amann announces the book's publication and describes its contents on her blog.

New Issue: Journal of International Arbitration

The latest issue of the Journal of International Arbitration (Vol. 31, no. 2, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Nadia Darwazeh, The Jerusalem Arbitration Centre: From Tradition to Innovation
• Marianne Rose, The Tarnished Brand of CIETAC: Understanding the 2012 CIETAC Dispute
• Cecily Rose, Questioning the Role of International Arbitration in the Fight against Corruption
• Thomas Obersteiner, ‘In Accordance with Domestic Law’ Clauses: How International Investment Tribunals Deal with Allegations of Unlawful Conduct of Investors
• Kristina Klykova, Bias in Arbitral Decision-Making: Rescuing the Mentschikoff Archives from a Half Century of Oblivion
• Philippe Cavalieros, The Hungarian Arbitration Law: A Leap into the Past

New Issue: Legal Issues of Economic Integration

The latest issue of Legal Issues of Economic Integration (Vol. 41, no. 2, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Siyu Tao, China’s FTAs and GATS: The Consistency and the Achievements
• Hans Mahncke, Applying the MFN Principle to WTO Anti-dumping Law: An Opportunity for Curbing the Use of Anti-dumping Measures
• Laurens Ankersmit, The Scope of the Common Commercial Policy after Lisbon: The Daiichi Sankyo and Conditional Access Services Grand Chamber Judgments

New Issue: International Criminal Law Review

The latest issue of the International Criminal Law Review (Vol. 14, no. 1, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Stathis N. Palassis, From The Hague to the Balkans: A Victim-oriented Reparations Approach to Improved International Criminal Justice
• Geert-Jan Alexander Knoops, Drones at Trial. State and Individual (Criminal) Liabilities for Drone Attacks
• Alicia Gil Gil, Mens Rea in Co-perpetration and Indirect Perpetration According to Article 30 of the Rome Statute. Arguments against Punishment for Excesses Committed by the Agent or the Co-perpetrator
• Tomas Hamilton & Michael Ramsden, The Politicisation of Hybrid Courts: Observations from the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
• William R. Pruitt, Aggravating and Mitigating Sentencing Factors at the ICTR—An Exploratory Analysis
• Tiyanjana Mphepo, The Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone. Rationale and Challenges
• James Meernik, What Kind of Bargain Is a Plea?

New Issue: European Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the European Journal of International Law (Vol. 25, no. 1, February 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Editorial
  • JHHW, The International Society for Public Law – Call for Papers and Panels; Van Gend en Loos – 50th Anniversary; Vital Statistics; Roll of Honour; Quantitative Empirical International Legal Scholarship; In this Issue
• EJIL: Keynote Debate!
• Daniel Bethlehem, The End of Geography: The Changing Nature of the International System and the Challenge to International Law
• David S. Koller, The End of Geography: The Changing Nature of the International System and the Challenge to International Law: A Reply to Daniel Bethlehem
• Carl Landauer, The Ever-Ending Geography of International Law: The Changing Nature of the International System and the Challenge to International Law: A Reply to Daniel Bethlehem
• Articles
• Maria Aristodemou, A Constant Craving for Fresh Brains and a Taste for Decaffeinated Neighbours
• Christopher Wadlow, The Beneficiaries of TRIPs: Some Questions of Rights, Ressortissants and International Locus Standi
• Revisiting Van Gend en Loos: A Joint Symposium with the International Journal of Constitutional Law (I•CON)
• J.H.H. Weiler, Van Gend en Loos: The Individual as Subject and Object and the Dilemma of European Legitimacy (Abstract only)
• Eyal Benvenisti & George W. Downs, The Premises, Assumptions, and Implications of Van Gend en Loos: Viewed from the Perspectives of Democracy and Legitimacy of International Institutions
• Damian Chalmers & Luis Barroso, What Van Gend en Loos Stands For (Abstract only)
• André Nollkaemper, The Duality of Direct Effect of International Law
• Morten Rasmussen, Revolutionizing European Law: A History of the Van Gend en Loos Judgment (Abstract only)
• Francesca Martines, Direct Effect of International Agreements of the European Union
• Sophie Robin-Olivier, The Evolution of Direct Effect in the EU: Stocktaking, Problems, Projections (Abstract only)
• Hélène Ruiz Fabri, Is There a Case – Legally and Politically – for Direct Effect of WTO Obligations?
• Jan Komárek, Waiting for the Existential Revolution in Europe (Abstract only)
• Michel Rosenfeld, Is Global Constitutionalism Meaningful or Desirable?
• Roaming Charges: Moments of Dignity: Prepping for the Prewedding Photograph, Peking
• EJIL: Debate!
• Dia Anagnostou & Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, Domestic Implementation of Human Rights Judgments in Europe: Legal Infrastructure and Government Effectiveness Matter
• Erik Voeten, Domestic Implementation of European Court of Human Rights Judgments: Legal Infrastructure and Government Effectiveness Matter: A Reply to Dia Anagnostou and Alina Mungiu-Pippidi
• Critical Review of International Governance
• Rosa Freedman, UN Immunity or Impunity? A Human Rights Based Challenge
• A Life’s Work
• Heiko Meiertöns, An International Lawyer in Democracy and Dictatorship – Re-Introducing Herbert Kraus
• Book Review Symposium: Bardo Fassbender and Anne Peters (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the History of International Law
• Alexandra Kemmerer, Towards a Global History of International Law? Editor’s Note
• Rose Parfitt, The Spectre of Sources
• Stefan B. Kirmse, Sleepy Side Alleys, Dead Ends, and the Perpetuation of Eurocentrism
• Nahed Samour, Is there a Role for Islamic International Law in the History of International Law?
• Will Hanley, Statelessness: An Invisible Theme in the History of International Law
• Anne-Charlotte Martineau, Overcoming Eurocentrism? Global History and the Oxford Handbook of the History of International Law
• Anne Peters & Bardo Fassbender, Prospects and Limits of a Global History of International Law: A Brief Rejoinder

New Issue: International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics

The latest issue of International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics (Vol. 14, no. 2, May 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Martin Stadelmann, Åsa Persson, Izabela Ratajczak-Juszko, & Axel Michaelowa, Equity and cost-effectiveness of multilateral adaptation finance: are they friends or foes?
• Marcia Levaggi, Response to “Equity and cost-effectiveness of multilateral adaptation finance: are they friends or foes?”
• Martin Stadelmann, Åsa Persson, Izabela Ratajczak-Juszko, & Axel Michaelowa, Answer of the authors to the response of the Adaptation Fund Board Secretariat to the article
• Narasimha D. Rao, International and intranational equity in sharing climate change mitigation burdens
• Inkyoung Kim, Messages from a middle power: participation by the Republic of Korea in regional environmental cooperation on transboundary air pollution issues
• Dragoljub Todić & Duško Dimitrijević, Priority goals in international co-operation of the Republic of Serbia in the field of environment and sustainable development
• Felix Kanungwe Kalaba, Claire Helen Quinn, & Andrew John Dougill, Policy coherence and interplay between Zambia’s forest, energy, agricultural and climate change policies and multilateral environmental agreements

New Volume: Australian Year Book of International Law

The latest volume of the Australian Year Book of International Law (Vol. 30, 2012) is out. Contents include:

• Alison Duxbury, International Human Rights Law and the Events of 2001: Has the World Changed Forever?
• David McBride, Who is a Member? Targeted Killings against Members of Organized Armed Groups
• Alison Pert, The Good International Citizenship of the Rudd Government
• Fanny Thornton, Climate Change, Displacement and International Law: Between Crisis and Ambiguity
• Kate Westmoreland, Sharing Evidence across Borders: the Human Rights Challenge
• Jack Williams, Biting off more than it can chew? The International Criminal Court and the Crime of Aggression

New Issue: Global Society

The latest issue of Global Society (Vol. 28, no. 2, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Thomas R. Eimer, Philosopher-Kings in Real Life: The Epistemic Community on Biodiversity in Brazil and India
• Meshal Al-Sabah, Intangible Infrastructure of the GCC: Bridging the Divide
• Roberto Belloni, Civil Society and the Responsibility to Protect
• Marjo Lindroth & Heidi Sinevaara-Niskanen, Adapt or Die? The Biopolitics of Indigeneity—From the Civilising Mission to the Need for Adaptation
• Warren Clarke, Creating the Financial Stability Forum: What Role for Existing Institutions?
• Kirsten Haack, Gaining Access to the “World's Largest Men's Club”: Women Leading UN Agencies
• Adam Quinn, Does the Flaw Lie within Us? Classical Realism and Unrealistic Policy

New Issue: ASA Bulletin

The latest issue of the ASA Bulletin (Vol. 32, no. 1, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Eduardo Zuleta & Rafael Rincón, Colombia Enacts a New Arbitration Statute
• Duarte G. Henriques, The extension of arbitration agreements: a “glimpse” of connectivity?

Saul: Identifying Jus Cogens Norms: The Interaction of Scholars and International Judges

Matthew Saul (Univ. of Oslo - Law) has posted Identifying Jus Cogens Norms: The Interaction of Scholars and International Judges (Asian Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

In this paper I address the justifications and methods adopted by scholars and international judges for the identification of jus cogens norms. More specifically, I examine how the approaches taken by these two subsidiary sources of international law relate. In so doing, I seek to highlight and develop a clearer understanding of why, in spite of considerable scholarly and judicial attention, more progress on the doctrine of jus cogens identification has not been made. The analysis covers assessment of the practice of interaction, but also its underpinnings, which include the implications of jus cogens identification for the legitimacy of international courts. I argue that scholars have focused on justificatory theory at the expense of methodological considerations and that this has limited the scope for the development of a useful discourse with international judicial bodies on matters of jus cogens identification.

Cohen: Theorizing Precedent in International Law

Harlan Grant Cohen (Univ. of Georgia - Law) has posted Theorizing Precedent in International Law (in Interpretation in International Law, Andrea Bianchi, Daniel Peat & Matthew Windsor eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Precedent presents a puzzle for international law. As a matter of doctrine, judicial decisions construing international law are not-in-and-of themselves law. They are not binding on future parties in future cases, even before the same tribunal. And yet, international precedent is everywhere. From international investment to international criminal law to international human rights to international trade, prior decisions are invoked, argued over, and applied as precedents by practitioners and by tribunals.

How and why do certain interpretations of international law take on the weight of precedent, reshaping international law arguments around them, while others do not? This chapter develops a framework for explaining the emergence of precedent in international law that can begin to solve this puzzle. It focuses on three sets of factors relevant to a prior interpretation’s precedential weight, (1) the varied potential sources of precedent, (2) the factors that might imbue a source with authority, (3) and the actors and audiences who might invoke a precedent or respond it, before weaving them into three overlapping accounts of how these factors interact, (1) a rationalist account, (2) a jurisprudential account, (3) and a sociological account. The chapter ends with a couple of case-studies that demonstrate how these factors and accounts can help explain the actual patterns of precedent we observe in international law today.