Hoffmann: Post-World War II. Hungarian Criminal Justice and International Law – The Legacy of the People's Tribunals

Tamás Hoffmann (Corvinus Univ. of Budapest) has posted Post-World War II. Hungarian Criminal Justice and International Law – The Legacy of the People's Tribunals (in The Historical Origins of International Criminal Law, Morten Bergsmo, Cheah Wui Ling & Yi Ping eds., Vol. 2, pp. 735-63, 2014). Here's the abstract:

This contribution aims to introduce the organization and jurisprudence of a post-Second World War Hungarian special tribunal that was established to try Hungarian war criminals. Relying in part on public international law, the People's Tribunals conducted probably the very first criminal proceedings in the history of international criminal justice for the crime of aggression, convicting former prime ministers, cabinet members and members of parliament. Moreover, the Hungarian tribunals created a special category of crimes - crimes against the people - that could be seen as a domestic version of crimes against humanity.

New Issue: Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The latest issue of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law (Vol. 47, no. 5, November 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Freya Baetens, Gerard Kreijen & Andrea Varga, Determining International Responsibility Under the New Extra-EU Investment Agreements: What Foreign Investors in the EU Should Know
• Gil Lan, Foreign Direct Investment in the United States and Canada: Fractured Neoliberalism and the Regulatory Imperative
• Ryan B. Stoa, The United Nations Watercourses Convention on the Dawn of Entry Into Force
• Markus Wagner, The Dehumanization of International Humanitarian Law: Legal, Ethical, and Political Implications of Autonomous Weapon Systems

Symposium: Recognition of Governments and Customary International Law

AJIL Unbound is hosting a symposium this week on "Recognition of Governments and Customary International Law." James Gathii's introductory post is here.

New Volume: Indian Journal of International Economic Law

The latest volume of the Indian Journal of International Economic Law (Vol. 6, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Rafael Leal Arcas & Ehab S. Abu-Gosh, Energy Trade as a Special Sector in the WTO: Unique Features, Unprecedented Challenges and Unresolved Issues
• Colin Picker, Comparative Legal Cultural Analyses of International Economic Law: Insights, Lessons and Approaches
• Akhil Raina, The Question of Market Access in the Field of Environmental Services: Determining and Defending its Scope
• James Nedumpura, Development Space in India’s Trade and Investment Agreements: A Fresh Look

New Issue: Journal of World Trade

The latest issue of the Journal of World Trade (Vol. 49, no. 1, 2015) is out. Contents include:

• Yang Guohua, China in the WTO Dispute Settlement: A Memoir
• Simon Lester, Domestic Tobacco Regulation and International Law: The Interaction of Trade Agreements and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
• Jean-Jacques Hallaert, Importing Growth: The Critical Role of Imports in a Trade-Led Growth Strategy
• Razeen Sappideen & Ling Ling He, Dispute Resolution in Investment Treaties: Balancing the Rights of Investors and Host States
• Jaemin Lee, State Responsibility and Government-Affiliated Entities in International Economic Law: The Danger of Blurring the Chinese Wall between ‘State Organ’ and ‘Non-State Organ’ as Designed in the ILC Draft Articles
• Md. Rizwanul Islam & Naimul Muquim, The Scope for Trade Restrictions to Address the Lack of Compliance with Fire Safety Standards in Garment Factories of Bangladesh
• Yury Rovnov, The Relationship between the MFN Principle and Anti-Dumping Norms of the WTO Law Revisited

New Issue: Virginia Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Virginia Journal of International Law (Vol. 54, no. 3, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• John B. Bellinger, III & Reeves Anderson, Tort Tourism: The Case for a Federal Law on Foreign Judgment Recognition
• Julian Arato, The Margin of Appreciation in International Investment Law
• Russell A. Miller, Germany vs. Europe: The Principle of Democracy in German Constitutional Law and the Troubled Future of European Integration
• Dawood I. Ahmed & Tom Ginsburg, Constitutional Islamization and Human Rights: The Surprising Origin and Spread of Islamic Supremacy in Constitutions
• Michael N. Schmitt, “Below the Threshold” Cyber Operations: The Countermeasures Response Option and International Law

Jo & Simmons: Can the International Criminal Court Deter Atrocity?

Hyeran Jo (Texas A&M Unive. - Political Science) & Beth A. Simmons (Harvard Univ. - Government) have posted Can the International Criminal Court Deter Atrocity? Here's the abstract:

Whether and how violence can be controlled to spare innocent lives is a central issue in international relations. The most ambitious effort to date has been the International Criminal Court (ICC), designed to enhance security and safety by preventing and deterring war crimes. A key question facing the young ICC is whether or not it can deter perpetrators and reduce intentional violence against civilians in civil wars. We offer the first systematic assessment of the deterrent effects of the ICC for both state and non-state actors. We argue that the ICC can potentially deter through both prosecution and social deterrence. While no institution can deter all actors, we argue that the ICC can deter some governments and those rebel groups that seek legitimacy. We find support for this conditional impact of the ICC cross-nationally. Our work has implications for the study of international institutions and international relations, and supports the violence-reducing role of pursuing justice in international affairs.

New Issue: European Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the European Journal of International Law (Vol. 25, no. 4, November 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Editorial
  • JHHW, Guest Editorial: Ten Years of ESIL – Reflections; European Hypocrisy: TTIP and ISDS; Masthead Changes; Roll of Honour; In this Issue; Christmas Reading? Christmas Gifts? Some Suggestions from the Editor-in-Chief
• Articles
• Jochen von Bernstorff, International Legal Scholarship as a Cooling Medium in International Law and Politics
• Kristina Daugirdas, Reputation and the Responsibility of International Organizations
• Richard Bellamy, The Democratic Legitimacy of International Human Rights Conventions: Political Constitutionalism and the European Convention on Human Rights
• Oisin Suttle, Equality in Global Commerce: Towards a Political Theory of International Economic Law
• EJIL: Debate!
• Lorand Bartels, The EU’s Human Rights Obligations in Relation to Policies with Extraterritorial Effects
• Enzo Cannizzaro, The EU’s Human Rights Obligations in Relation to Policies with Extraterritorial Effects: A Reply to Lorand Bartels
• Roaming Charges: Places of Permanence and Transition: On the Mekong River
• The European Tradition in International Law
• Helmut Philipp Aust, From Diplomat to Academic Activist: André Mandelstam and the History of Human Rights
• Reut Yael Paz, A Forgotten Kelsenian? The Story of Helen Silving-Ryu (1906–1993)
• Critical Review of International Governance
• Thomas Schultz & Cédric Dupont, Investment Arbitration: Promoting the Rule of Law or Over-empowering Investors? A Quantitative Empirical Study
• Review Essay
• Elizabeth Stubbins Bates, Sophisticated Constructivism in Human Rights Compliance Theory
• Impressions
• Hanne Sophie Greve, A Dictionary of Maqiao – In Medias Res

Job Opening: Graduate Institute (Assistant Professor)

The Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies invites applications for an assistant professorship in international law, with potential specializations in international economic law, the protection of human dignity, international environmental law, or transnational law. The advertisement is here.

New Issue: Diritti umani e diritto internazionale

The latest issue of Diritti umani e diritto internazionale (Vol. 8, no. 3, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Studi: Diritti umani e diritto internazionale privato e processuale: pluralismo, relativismo e flessibilità
• Pasquale Pirrone, Giulia Rossolillo, Introduzione
• Gabriella Carella, Sistema delle norme di conflitto e tutela internazionale dei diritti umani: una rivoluzione copernicana?
• Francesco Salerno, Il vincolo al rispetto dei diritti dell’uomo nel sistema delle fonti del diritto internazionale privato
• Luigi Fumagalli, Criteri di giurisdizione in materia civile e commerciale e rispetto dei diritti dell’uomo: il sistema europeo e la garanzia del due process
• Interventi
• Pasquale De Sena, Caratteri e prospettive del Protocollo 16 nel prisma dell’esperienza del sistema interamericano di protezione dei diritti dell’uomo
• James A. Sweeney, Non-retroactivity, Candour and ‘Transitional Relativism’: A Response to the ECtHR Judgment in Maktouf and Damjanovi v. Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Osservatorio
• Marco Citelli, Public Morals, Animal Welfare and Indigenous Peoples vs. International Trade Law? The EC – Seal Products Case
• Angela Cossiri, Il limite degli obblighi internazionali tra funzione ermeneutica e residualità a margine della sentenza del 10 giugno 2014, n. 162
• Rosario Sapienza, Ancora sulla sentenza del 10 giugno 2014, n. 162, della Corte costituzionale. La fecondazione eterologa tra margine d’apprezzamento e vincolo di interpretazione conforme alla Convenzione europea
• Giuseppe Pascale, Extraterritorial Applicability of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
• Giovanni Verardi, La crisi in Siria, le Conferenze di Ginevra e la dottrina della responsibility to protect
• Maria Eugenia Bartoloni, La cooperazione allo sviluppo dell’Unione europea con Paesi terzi: da politica contro la povertà a cooperazione globale?
• Stefano Montaldo, Ne bis in idem e sistema ‘multilivello’ di tutela dei diritti fondamentali: i rapporti tra l’art. 54 della Convenzione di applicazione dell’Accordo di Schengen e l’art. 50 della Carta dei diritti fondamentali

Charlesworth & Larking: Human Rights and the Universal Periodic Review: Rituals and Ritualism

Hilary Charlesworth (Australian National Univ. - Law) & Emma Larking (Australian National Univ. - Centre for International Governance and Justice) have published Human Rights and the Universal Periodic Review: Rituals and Ritualism (Cambridge Univ. Press 2015). Contents include:

• Hilary Charlesworth & Emma Larking, Introduction: the regulatory power of the Universal Periodic Review
• Walter Kälin, Ritual and ritualism at the Universal Periodic Review: a preliminary appraisal
• Jane Cowan, The Universal Periodic Review as a public audit ritual: an anthropological perspective on emerging practices in the global governance of human rights
• Julie Billaud, Keepers of the truth: producing 'transparent' documents for the Universal Periodic Review
• Roland Chauville, The Universal Periodic Review's first cycle: successes and failures
• Heather Collister, Rituals and implementation in the Universal Periodic Review and the human rights treaty bodies
• Ben Schockman & Philip Lynch, Effective NGO engagement with the Universal Periodic Review
• Sarah Joseph, Global media coverage of the Universal Periodic Review process
• Benjamin Authers, Representation and suspicion in Canada's appearance under the Universal Periodic Review
• Natalie Baird, The Universal Periodic Review: building a bridge between the Pacific and Geneva?
• Constance de la Vega & Cassandra Yamasaki, The effects of the Universal Periodic Review on human rights practices in the United States
• Takele Soboka Bulto, Africa's engagement with the Universal Periodic Review: commitment or capitulation?
• Yuyan Wahyuningrum, Indonesia and the Universal Periodic Review: negotiating rights

Weller: The Oxford Handbook of the Use of Force in International Law

Marc Weller (Univ. of Cambridge - Law) has published The Oxford Handbook of the Use of Force in International Law (Oxford Univ. Press 2015). Here's the abstract:

The prohibition of the use of force in international law is one of the major achievements of international law in the past century. The attempt to outlaw war as a means of national policy and to establish a system of collective security after both World Wars resulted in the creation of the United Nations Charter, which remains a principal point of reference for the law on the use of force to this day. There have, however, been considerable challenges to the law on the prohibition of the use of force over the past two decades.

This Oxford Handbook is a comprehensive and authoritative study of the modern law on the use of force. Over seventy experts in the field offer a detailed analysis, and to an extent a restatement, of the law in this area. The Handbook reviews the status of the law on the use of force, and assesses what changes, if any, have occurred in consequence to recent developments. It offers cutting-edge and up-to-date scholarship on all major aspects of the prohibition of the use of force. The work is set in context by an extensive introductory section, reviewing the history of the subject, recent challenges, and addressing major conceptual approaches. Its second part addresses collective security, in particular the law and practice of the United Nations organs, and of regional organizations and arrangements. It then considers the substance of the prohibition of the use of force, and of the right to self-defence and associated doctrines. The next section is devoted to armed action undertaken on behalf of peoples and populations. This includes self-determination conflicts, resistance to armed occupation, and forcible humanitarian and pro-democratic action. The possibility of the revival of classical, expansive justifications for the use of force is then addressed. This is matched by a final section considering new security challenges and the emerging law in relation to them. Finally, the key arguments developed in the book are tied together in a substantive conclusion. The Handbook will be essential reading for scholars and students of international law and the use of force, and legal advisers to both government and NGOs.

Green & Waters: Adjudicating International Human Rights

James A. Green (Univ. of Reading - Law) & Christopher P.M. Waters (Univ. of Windsor - Law) have published Adjudicating International Human Rights: Essays in Honour of Sandy Ghandhi (Brill | Nijhoff 2015). Contents include:

• James A. Green, Preface
• Rosalyn Higgins, Foreword
• Christopher P.M. Waters, Introduction
• Nigel Rodley, The International Court of Justice and Human Rights Treaty Bodies
• Robert P. Barnidge, Jr., The Contribution of Judge Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade to the Adjudication of International Human Rights at the International Court of Justice
• J. Craig Barker, The Pinochet Judgment Fifteen Years On
• David Leary, Balancing Liberty and the Security Council: Judicial Responses to the Conflict between Chapter VII Resolutions and Human Rights Law under the Council’s Targeted Sanctions Regime
• Tawhida Ahmed, The EU’s Protection of ECHR Standards: More Stringent than the Bosphorus Legacy?
• Javaid Rehman, Adjudicating on the Rights of Sexual Minorities in the Muslim World
• Nora Honkala, A Feminist Human Rights Perspective on the Use of Internal Relocation by Asylum Adjudicators
• James A. Green, Persistent Objector Teflon? Customary International Human Rights Law and the United States in International Adjudicative Proceedings
• Alison Bisset, The Role of Truth Commissions in Adjudicating Human Rights Violations
• Malcolm Evans, Adjudicating Human Rights in the Preventive Sphere

Ratner: The Thin Justice of International Law

Steven R. Ratner (Univ. of Michigan - Law) has published The Thin Justice of International Law: A Moral Reckoning of the Law of Nations (Oxford Univ. Press 2015). Here's the abstract:

In a world full of armed conflict and human misery, global justice remains one of the most compelling missions of our time. Understanding the promises and limitations of global justice demands a careful appreciation of international law, the web of binding norms and institutions that help govern the behaviour of states and other global actors.

This book provides a new interdisciplinary approach to global justice, one that integrates the work and insights of international law and contemporary ethics. It asks whether the core norms of international law are just, appraising them according to a standard of global justice derived from the fundamental values of peace and the protection of human rights.

Through a combination of a careful explanation of the legal norms and philosophical argument, Ratner concludes that many international law norms meet such a standard of justice, even as distinct areas of injustice remain within the law and the verdict is still out on others. Among the subjects covered in the book are the rules on the use of force, self-determination, sovereign equality, the decision making procedures of key international organizations, the territorial scope of human rights obligations (including humanitarian intervention), and key areas of international economic law.

Ultimately, the book shows how an understanding of international law's moral foundations will enrich the global justice debate, while exposing the ethical consequences of different rules.

New Issue: International Journal of Refugee Law

The latest issue of the International Journal of Refugee Law (Vol. 26, no. 4, December 2014) is out. Contents include:

• William Thomas Worster, The Contemporary International Law Status of the Right to Receive Asylum
• Matthew Hunt, The Safe Country of Origin Concept in European Asylum Law: Past, Present and Future
• Bríd Ní Ghráinne, UNHCR’s Involvement with IDPs – ‘Protection of that Country’ for the Purposes of Precluding Refugee Status?
• Tamara Wood, Expanding Protection in Africa? Case Studies of the Implementation of the 1969 African Refugee Convention’s Expanded Refugee Definition
• Noura Erakat, Palestinian Refugees and the Syrian Uprising: Filling the Protection Gap during Secondary Forced Displacement

New Issue: Journal of International Organizations Studies

The latest issue of the Journal of International Organizations Studies (Vol. 5, no. 2, Fall 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Charlotta Friedner Parrat, International Organization in International Society: UN Reform from an English School Perspective
• Andrew Glencross, Democratic Inputs versus Output-Oriented Governance: The ECB's Evolving Role and the New Architecture of Legitimacy in the EU
• Bessma Momani & Dustyn Lanz, Change in IMF Policy Advice to North Africa after the Arab Uprisings
• Jarle Trondal & Frode Veggeland, The Autonomy of Bureaucratic Organizations: An Organization Theory Argument
• Chadwick F. Alger with Kent J. Kille, How Are Parliamentarians of States Involved in Global Governance, and How Should They Be
• Llewelyn Hughes, Jeffrey S. Lantis, & Mireya Solís, The Life-Cycle of Regimes: Temporality and Exclusive Forms of International Cooperation

Lalonde & McDorman: International Law and Politics of the Arctic Ocean

Suzanne Lalonde (Université de Montréal - Law) & Ted L. McDorman (Univ. of Victoria - Law) have published International Law and Politics of the Arctic Ocean: Essays in Honor of Donat Pharand (Brill | Nijhoff 2015). Contents include:

• Donald McRae, Foreword
• Suzanne Lalonde & Ronald St. J. Macdonald, Donat Pharand: The Arctic Scholar
• Kristin Bartenstein, The Arctic Region Council Revisited – Inspiring Future Development of the Arctic Council
• Andrea Charron, Lessons Learned and Lost from Pharand’s Arctic Regional Council Treaty Proposal
• Julia Jabour, Pharand’s Arctic Treaty: Would an Antarctic Treaty-style Model Work in the Arctic?
• Armand de Mestral, Article 234 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: Its Origins and Its Future
• J. Ashley Roach, A Note on Making the Polar Code Mandatory
• Ted L. McDorman, A Note on the Potential Conflicting Treaty Rights and Obligations between the IMO’s Polar Code and Article 234 of the Law of the Sea Convention
• Donald R. Rothwell, The United States and Arctic Straits: The Northwest Passage and the Bering Strait
• Frédéric Lasserre & Olga Alexeeva, Analysis of Maritime Transit Trends in the Arctic Passages
• Bernard H. Oxman, Canada’s Arctic Waters: Comments on Circumnavigating the Legal Dispute
• Elizabeth B. Elliot-Meisel, Understanding the Canada-United States Arctic Relationship
• P. Whitney Lackenbauer & Peter Kikkert, The Dog in the Manger – and Letting Sleeping Dogs Lie: The United States, Canada and the Sector Principle, 1924–1955
• Jonathan R. Edge & David L. VanderZwaag, Canada – Russia Relations in the Arctic – Conflictual Rhetoric, Cooperative Realities
• Alex G. Oude Elferink, Does Recent Practice of the Russian Federation Point to an Arctic Sunset for the Sector Principle?
• Clive Schofield & Blanche Sas, Uncovered and Unstable Coasts: Climate Change and Territorial Sea Baselines in the Arctic
• Andrew Serdy, Delineation of the Outer Limits of Canada’s Arctic Ocean Continental Shelf and Its Delimitation with Neighboring States: Does It Matter Which Comes First?
• Betsy Baker, A Note on Arctic Information Platforms and International Law

Lalani & Polanco: The Role of the State in Investor-State Arbitration

Shaheeza Lalani (Univ. of Bern - World Trade Institute) & Rodrigo Polanco (Univ. of Bern - World Trade Institute) have published The Role of the State in Investor-State Arbitration (Brill | Nijhoff 2015). Contents include:

• Shaheeza Lalani, Foreword
• Michael E. Schneider, The Role of the State in Investor-State Arbitration: Introductory Remarks
• Krista Nadakavukaren Schefer, State Powers and Investor-State Dispute Settlement
• Tarcisio Gazzini, States and Foreign Investment: A Law of the Treaties Perspective
• Danielle Morris, The Regulatory State and the Duty of Consistency
• Teerawat Wongkaew, The Transplantation of Legitimate Expectations in Investment Treaty Arbitration: A Critique
• Dai Tamada, Host States as Claimants: Corruption Allegations
• Stephen Gelb, States and the Investor-State Arbitration Regime
• Todd Tucker, The Concept of the State in Investor-State Arbitration: A Social Science Perspective
• Mavluda Sattorova, The Impact of Investment Treaty Law on Host State Behavior: Some Doctrinal, Empirical and Interdisciplinary Insights
• Zoe Williams, Domestic Demands and International Agreements: What Causes Investor State Disputes?
• Anna Katselas, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty in Investment Treaty Arbitration: A Summary
• David Gaukrodger, Inter-Governmental Consideration of Investor-State Dispute Settlement at the OECD-Hosted Freedom of Investment (FOI) Roundtable
• Rodrigo Polanco Lazo, The Changing Role of the State in Investor-State Disputes
• Michele Potestà, Towards a Greater Role for State-to-State Arbitration in the Architecture of Investment Treaties?
• Tomonori Mizushima, The Role of the State After an Award Is Rendered in Investor-State Arbitration
• Wolfgang Alschner, The Return of the Home State and the Rise of ‘Embedded’ Investor-State Arbitration
• Sergey Usoskin, Illegal Investments And Actions Attributable To A State Under International Law
• Georgios Petrochilos, Attribution of Conduct of Non-State Organ Entities: An Introduction
• Cornel Marian, The European Union Investment Arbitration Regime and Local Governments: The Need for a Synchronization of Efforts
• Ji Li, State-Owned Enterprises in the Current Regime of Investor-State Arbitration
• Chien-Huei Wu, The Many Faces of States in International Investment Law: Supranational Organizations, Unrecognized States and Sub-State Entities
• Rodrigo Polanco Lazo, The Changing Role of the Home and the Host State in Investor-State Arbitration: Some Conclusions

Brunnée & Toope: The Rule of Law in an Agnostic World: The Prohibition on the Use of Force and Humanitarian Exceptions

Jutta Brunnée (Univ. of Toronto - Law) & Stephen J. Toope (Univ. of Toronto - Munk School of Global Affairs) have posted The Rule of Law in an Agnostic World: The Prohibition on the Use of Force and Humanitarian Exceptions (in Koskenniemi and his Critics, Wouter Werner et al. eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Over the last ten years, we have developed an interactional understanding of international law that connects insights from IR constructivism to the legal theory of Lon Fuller. Drawing on these two influences, our framework posits that legal norms arise when social norms built upon shared understandings meet certain criteria of legality and are upheld by robust practices of legality. In this article, we argue that the interactional understanding of international law, especially in its emphasis on the “practice of legality,” supports a contemporary understanding of the Rule of Law in international society. Our framework highlights that the Rule of Law is not only about constraining power in hierarchical settings, but also about managing and shaping power within “horizontal” systems like international law. We engage with Martti Koskenniemi’s influential accounts of the “culture of formalism” and of the “politics” of international law. Like Koskenniemi’s “culture of formalism,” our account of legality does not presuppose commitments to strong substantive ends or goods. But we suggest that, because all actors are constrained by the requirements of legality and prevailing practices of legality, such a “culture of legality” provides for a relative autonomy of law from politics. We use a case study on recent attempts to create “humanitarian” exceptions to the prohibition on the use of force to illustrate these points, and to show how an emphasis on practices of legality reveals that building and maintaining the Rule of Law is a collective enterprise. Empowered agents (actors in international society) are therefore central, yet international law is not simply what states and other actors want it to be.

Job Opening: Cambridge (Whewell Professorship)

The University of Cambridge invites applications for the Whewell Professorship of International Law. The advertisement is here.

New Issue: Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies

The latest issue of the Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies (Vol. 5, nos. 1-2, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Gil Marvel P. Tabucanon, Protection for Resettled Island Populations
• Maja Janmyr, Attributing Wrongful Conduct of Implementing Partners to UNHCR
• Shahla Ali & Tom Kabau, Non-State Actors and the Evolution of Humanitarian Norms
• Eve Massingham & Kelisiana Thynne, Promoting Access to Health Care in ‘Other Situations of Violence’
• Antonio Galli, The US Humanitarian Assistance Facilitation Act
• Elizabeth Salmon, Institutional Approach between IHL and IHRL
• Lijiang Zhu, International Humanitarian Law in the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council
• Seira Yun, Breaking Imaginary Barriers
• Thomas Winkler, The Copenhagen Process and the Copenhagen Process Principles and Guidelines on the Handling of Detainees in International Military Operations
• Festus M. Kinoti, Prosecution of War Crimes by Invading and Occupying Forces
• Sanoj Rajan, Principles of Laws of War in Ancient India and the Concept of Mitigating Armed Conflicts through Controlled Fights
• Christopher R. Rossi, The Responsibility to Protect and the Plenitudinal Mindset of International Humanitarian Law

NYU IILJ International Legal Theory Colloquium for Spring 2015

Here's the schedule for this spring's New York University School of Law Institute for International Law and Justice International Legal Theory Colloquium:

• January 26, 2015: André Nollkaemper (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law), Diffusion of Responsibility in International Law
• February 2, 2015: Nienke Grossman (Univ. of Baltimore - Law), Shattering the Glass Ceiling in International Adjudication
• February 9, 2015: Timothy Meyer (Univ. of Georgia - Law), Local Discrimination and Global Public Goods
• March 2, 2015: Alexandra Huneeus (Univ. of Wisconsin - Law), Constitutional Lawyers and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Forging a Ius Constitucionale Commune Americano
• March 9, 2015: Jean Galbraith (Univ. of Pennsylvania - Law), International Law, Domestic Law, and the Evolution of War Powers
• April 13, 2015: Comparative International Law: Two Papers - Congyan Cai (Xiamen Univ. - Law) on China & Lauri Mälksoo (Univ. of Tartu - Law) on Russia
• April 20, 2015: tba
• April 22, 2015: Joost Pauwelyn (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies), WTO Panelists Are from Mars, ICSID Arbitrators from Venus: Why? And Does It Matter?

Caron: Regulating Opacity: Shaping How Tribunals Think

David D. Caron (King's College London – Law) has posted Regulating Opacity: Shaping How Tribunals Think (in Practicing Virtue: Inside International Arbitration, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This manuscript in a novel fashion looks at transparency by considering an aspect of arbitration where the opposite condition remains quite accepted; namely, the opacity of the deliberations of the arbitral tribunal. The manuscript considers how the institutional structure of arbitration shapes the decision-making process of arbitration tribunals even though that process is as a general matter conducted out of sight of the parties or the public generally. Examining only arbitral decision-making puts to one side the general political assertion that arbitration is a secret process that is suspect and instead allows an examination of a specific activity within arbitration where it is generally accepted that a degree of opacity is required in order to function effectively. A core conclusion is that the risks posed by opacity arguably are mediated significantly by a number of regulatory devices expressed in terms of procedural rules.

The manuscript proceeds in three parts. First, it examines the justification and procedural construction of the opacity granted to arbitral decision-making. It is trite to observe that tribunal deliberations are undertaken in private. Forgotten is the choice of informed parties to make arbitral decision-making opaque in this way. Second, it examines the regulation of the opacity created. If the choice to create opacity is forgotten; totally overlooked is the nuanced way in which the formal institutions of arbitration seek to regulate, and thereby moderate, this opacity. In particular, the institutional perspective employed illuminates various aspects of arbitral rules that shape the ways in which arbitral decision-making will take place. Finally, the manuscript points to the gain and challenge of a regulatory perspective. Having exposed the role that various procedural rules play in moderating the opacity placed over arbitral decision making, also exposed is the possibility that some aspects of the opacity granted could be further regulated. But the possibility of regulation begs the question of the aim of regulation and leads the academic and arbitration communities to difficult transnational legal culture questions as to the precise aim of transparency and what it is about collective decision-making that conveys integrity or raises suspicion.

Hakimi: Defensive Force Against Non-State Actors: The State of Play

Monica Hakimi (Univ. of Michigan - Law) has posted Defensive Force Against Non-State Actors: The State of Play (International Law Studies, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This article assesses the implications of the current Syria situation for the international law on the use of defensive force against non-State actors. The law in this area is highly unsettled, with multiple legal positions in play. After mapping the legal terrain, the article shows that the Syria situation accentuates three preexisting trends. First, the claim that international law absolutely prohibits the use of defensive force against non-State actors is increasingly difficult to sustain. States, on the whole, have supported the operation against the so-called Islamic State in Syria. Second, States still have not coalesced around a legal standard on when such force is lawful. Most States seem conflicted or uncertain on that question. Third, this ambivalence has contributed to a sizable gap between the norms that are most often articulated as law and the ones that are operational. States regularly tolerate operations that they are unwilling to legitimize with legal language.

Call for Papers: International Law and Domestic Law-Making Processes

The Working Group of Young Scholars in Public International Law (Arbeitskreis junger Völkerrechtswissenschaftler*innen, AjV) has issued a call for papers for a conference on "International Law and Domestic Law-Making Processes," to be held on September 4, 2015, at the University of Basel. Here's the call:

Call for Papers

International Law and Domestic Law-Making Processes

University of Basel Faculty of Law, 4 September 2015

Deadline: 27 March 2015

The reality of international law ‘in action’ largely depends on domestic legislators implementing and shaping norms originating at the international level: Domestic parliaments and other law-making bodies undoubtedly play a central role in determining whether or not the promises of international law can be fulfilled.

The importance of domestic parliaments in making international law ‘work’ is clearly due to the decentralized nature of the international legal order. In most cases, international legal norms leave considerable discretion to the state and make only minimal requirements regarding implementation. In some fields, however, international norms start to become more statute-like, decreasing the margin for the states how to implement them. Some international norms explicitly oblige states to take legislative measures. Yet, it is very unusual that international law can rely on mechanisms that would ensure the uniform implementation of international norms within national jurisdictions. Given the complex interaction between the domestic and the international level in the field of law-making, it is warranted to consider how the interactions between the international and the domestic levels complement, contest or mutually influence each other. Recent research, e.g. that on international law in domestic courts, confirms this need.

We start from the premise that the complexities of interaction and mutual influencing between domestic parliaments and the international legal order is increasing, rather than decreasing. Therefore, the upcoming event of the Working Group of Young Scholars in Public International Law (Arbeitskreis junger Völkerrechtswissenschaftler*innen, AjV) wants to shed light on selected problems connected with the interaction of domestic law-making and international law.

Topics to explore include (but are not limited to):

1. When do domestic legislators legislate because of international norms – soft or hard?

2. International law, domestic law-making processes and direct democratic institutions

3. International law and sub-entities of federal states (e.g. international law in the law-making of cantons / Länder)

4. Designing democracy: The ECHR and the organizational law of national parliaments and voting rules

5. National parliaments as opposition in international law

6. National parliaments as providers of legitimacy to international law

7. Duties to protect (Schutzpflichten) and national law-making

8. State responsibility and the legislative: e.g. the legislative branch in the preparatory works of the ILA Articles on State Responsibility or in international case-law such as before the ICJ or the ECtHR

9. Domestic parliaments and the formation of customary international law

10. The involvement and information of members of domestic legislatives prior to ratifications of international treaties

11. International law and national law-making processes in transitional states / post-conflict societies

12. Transnational legislative networks

13. Methodological approaches on international law and domestic law-making

The conference/workshop will take place on 4 September 2015 at the University of Basel and is intended for young researchers (including PhD students and Post Docs). Apart from those working in international law, other legal researchers are explicitly invited to apply. In addition, those working in related disciplines (such as sociology, political science, history, etc.) are also welcome to apply.

Presentations can be held in English and German, although English is considered more conducive for international exchange. Participants are not required to submit papers and may present work in progress. However, those who do submit final papers shortly after the workshop will be considered for publication in a special issue of a Swiss online law journal (Jusletter). Such papers can range from short notes to full articles (1’500 to 10’000 words).

We invite you to send an abstract of max. 500 words by the 27th March 2015. Please address submissions and any queries to evelyne.schmid@unibas.ch and tilmann.altwicker@unibas.ch. When submitting an abstract, please also include the following information about yourself: your name, your affiliation, your function/job title and your address. Researchers who have completed a PhD should please indicate the month and year of completion. We will notify applicants by mid-May.

Travel expenses will be covered to at least a certain extent and child care will be available. Details will be communicated in the mail of acceptance.

Organizers: Dr. Evelyne Schmid / Dr. Tilmann Altwicker (both University of Basel)

P.S. Please note that there will also be an informal AjV-workshop in Hamburg from 25-27th September 2015 – organized by Anne Dienelt und Katrin Kohoutek. Interested doctoral students and post docs are welcome to submit abstracts to the open call until 31st May to workshop_ajv@gmx.de.

Shah: International Law and Drone Strikes in Pakistan: The Legal and Socio-political Aspects

Sikander Ahmed Shah (Lahore Univ. of Management Studies - Law) has published International Law and Drone Strikes in Pakistan: The Legal and Socio-political Aspects (Routledge 2015). Here's the abstract:

While conventional warfare has an established body of legal precedence, the legality of drone strikes by the United States in Pakistan and elsewhere remains ambiguous. This book explores the legal and political issues surrounding the use of drones in Pakistan. Drawing from international treaty law, customary international law, and statistical data on the impact of the strikes, Sikander Ahmed Shah asks whether drone strikes by the United States in Pakistan are in compliance with international humanitarian law. The book questions how international law views the giving of consent between States for military action, and explores what this means for the interaction between sovereignty and consent.

The book goes on to look at the socio-political realities of drone strikes in Pakistan, scrutinizing the impact of drone strikes on both Pakistani politics and US-Pakistan relationships. Topics include the Pakistan army-government relationship, the evolution of international institutions as a result of drone strikes, and the geopolitical dynamics affecting the region.

Findley, Nielson, & Sharman: Causes of Noncompliance with International Law: A Field Experiment on Anonymous Incorporation

Michael G. Findley (Univ. of Texas, Austin - Government), Daniel L. Nielson (Brigham Young Univ. - Political Science) & J.C. Sharman (Griffith Univ. - Centre for Governance and Public Policy) have published Causes of Noncompliance with International Law: A Field Experiment on Anonymous Incorporation (American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 146–61, January 2015). Here's the abstract:

Using two field experiments, we probe the efficacy of international rules mandating that incorporation services establish their customers’ true identities. The standards were designed to prevent anonymous “shell” corporations central to money laundering, corruption, and other crimes. Posing as consultants seeking confidential incorporation, we randomly assigned six experimental conditions in emails varying information about monetary reward, international and domestic law, and customer risk to 1,793 incorporation services in 177 countries and 1,722 U.S. firms. Firms in tax havens obey the rules significantly more often than in OECD countries, whereas services in poor nations sometimes prove more compliant than those in rich countries. Only the risk of terrorism and specter of the Internal Revenue Service decrease offers for anonymous incorporation, but they also lower compliance. Offers to “pay a premium” reduce compliance. The risk of corruption decreases response rates but, alarmingly, also decreases compliance rates. Raising international law has no significant effect.