New Issue: Review of International Political Economy

The latest issue of the Review of International Political Economy (Vol. 23, no. 6, 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Special Section on Shadow Banking
• Cornel Ban & Daniela Gabor, The political economy of shadow banking
• Oddný Helgadóttir, Banking upside down: the implicit politics of shadow banking expertise
• Dick Bryan, Michael Rafferty & Duncan Wigan, Politics, time and space in the era of shadow banking
• Daniela Gabor, The (impossible) repo trinity: the political economy of repo markets
• Cornel Ban, Leonard Seabrooke & Sarah Freitas, Grey matter in shadow banking: international organizations and expert strategies in global financial governance
• Other Research Articles
• Jan Fichtner, The anatomy of the Cayman Islands offshore financial center: Anglo-America, Japan, and the role of hedge funds
• Benjamin Braun, Speaking to the people? Money, trust, and central bank legitimacy in the age of quantitative easing

Marciniak: The Polish Baselines and Contiguous Zone

Konrad Jan Marciniak (Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski Univ. - Law) has posted The Polish Baselines and Contiguous Zone: Remarks from the Perspective of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Prawo Morskie, Vol. 32, 2016). Here's the abstract:

This contribution seeks to describe briefly two innovations in the Polish law from the international law, especially UNCLOS, perspective. These are: (a) the adoption of new and more precise regulations concerning the Polish baselines and (b) the establishment by Poland of its Contiguous Zone. Hence, the structure of the paper is as follows. The two main parts of this paper are devoted to the analysis of baselines and the Contiguous Zone, respectively. Each of them is divided into two main subsections. One describes a given issue from the international law perspective; the other presents the ‘other side of the coin’, namely: the Polish national regulations in that respect. Finally, some concluding remarks are offered in the final section.

Posner: Liberal Internationalism and the Populist Backlash

Eric A. Posner (Univ. of Chicago - Law) has posted Liberal Internationalism and the Populist Backlash. Here's the abstract:

A populist backlash around the world has targeted international law and legal institutions. Populists see international law as a device used by global elites to dominate policymaking and benefit themselves at the expense of the common people. This turn of events exposes the hollowness at the core of mainstream international law scholarship, for which the expansion of international law and the erosion of sovereignty have always been a forgone conclusion. But international law is dependent on public trust in technocratic rule-by-elites, which has been called into question by a series of international crises.

New Issue: Cambridge Review of International Affairs

The latest issue of the Cambridge Review of International Affairs (Vol. 29, no. 3, 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Rising Powers and Intervention
• Philip Cunliffe & Kai Michael Kenkel, Rising powers and intervention: contested norms and shifts in global order
• Anastasia Shesterinina, Evolving norms of protection: China, Libya and the problem of intervention in armed conflict
• Stephanie C. Hofmann, Barbara Bravo De Moraes Mendes & Susanna Campbell, Investing in international security: rising powers and organizational choices
• Maíra Siman Gomes, Analysing interventionism beyond conventional foreign policy rationales: the engagement of Brazil in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)
• Charles T. Hunt, Emerging powers and the responsibility to protect: non-linear norm dynamics in complex international society
• Brian L Job, Evolution, retreat or rejection: Brazil’s, India’s and China’s normative stances on R2P
• EU Sanctions
• Clara Portela, Are European Union sanctions “targeted”?
• Sascha Lohmann, The convergence of transatlantic sanction policy against Iran
• Mark Daniel Jaeger, Constructing sanctions: rallying around the target in Zimbabwe
• Kathrin Kranz, European Union arms embargoes: the relationship between institutional design and norms
• Elin Hellquist, Either with us or against us? Third-country alignment with EU sanctions against Russia/Ukraine
• Kerstin Schembera, The rocky road of interregionalism: EU sanctions against human rights-violating Myanmar and repercussions on ASEAN–EU relations
• Articles
• Mervyn Bain, Moscow, Havana and asymmetry in international relations
• Jessica Evans, The uneven and combined development of class forces: migration as combined development
• Marwa Daoudy, The structure-identity nexus: Syria and Turkey’s collapse (2011)
• Li Sheng, Explaining US–China economic imbalances: a social perspective
• Adriana Erthal Abdenur, Frank Mattheis & Pedro Seabra, An ocean for the Global South: Brazil and the zone of peace and cooperation in the South Atlantic
• Dan Öberg, War, transparency and control: the military architecture of operational warfare
• Aysegul Sever & Gonca Oguz Gok, The UN factor in the “regional power role” and the Turkish case in the 2000s

Bazyler: Holocaust, Genocide, and the Law

Michael Bazyler (Chapman Univ. - Law) has published Holocaust, Genocide, and the Law: A Quest for Justice in a Post-Holocaust World (Oxford Univ. Press 2016). Here's the abstract:

A great deal of contemporary law has a direct connection to the Holocaust. That connection, however, is seldom acknowledged in legal texts and has never been the subject of a full-length scholarly work. This book examines the background of the Holocaust and genocide through the prism of the law; the criminal and civil prosecution of the Nazis and their collaborators for Holocaust-era crimes; and contemporary attempts to criminally prosecute perpetrators for the crime of genocide. It provides the history of the Holocaust as a legal event, and sets out how genocide has become known as the "crime of crimes" under both international law and in popular discourse. It goes on to discuss specific post-Holocaust legal topics, and examines the Holocaust as a catalyst for post-Holocaust international justice. Together, this collection of subjects establishes a new legal discipline, which the author Michael Bazyler labels "Post-Holocaust Law."

Call for Papers: Asian Perspectives on International Investment Law

The Asian International Economic Law Network will hold its 5th Biennial Conference on June 16-17, 2017, at Xiamen University. The theme is: "Asian Perspectives on International Investment Law." The call is here. The deadline has been extended to February 15, 2017.

Petersmann: Multilevel Constitutionalism for Multilevel Governance of Public Goods

Ernst Ulrich Petersmann (European Univ. Institute - Law) has published Multilevel Constitutionalism for Multilevel Governance of Public Goods: Methodology Problems in International Law (Hart Publishing 2017). Here's the abstract:

This is the first legal monograph analysing multilevel governance of global 'aggregate public goods' (PGs) from the perspective of democractic, republican and cosmopolitan constitutionalism by using historical, legal, political and economic methods. It explains the need for a 'new philosophy of international law' in order to protect human rights and PGs more effectively and more legitimately. 'Constitutional approaches' are justified by the universal recognition of human rights and by the need to protect 'human rights', 'rule of law', 'democracy' and other 'principles of justice' that are used in national, regional and UN legal systems as indeterminate legal concepts. The study describes and criticizes the legal methodology problems of 'disconnected' governance in UN, GATT and WTO institutions as well as in certain areas of the external relations of the EU (like transatlantic free trade agreements). Based on 40 years of practical experiences of the author in German, European, UN, GATT and WTO governance institutions and of simultaneous academic teaching, this study develops five propositions for constituting, limiting, regulating and justifying multilevel governance for the benefit of citizens and their constitutional rights as 'constituent powers', 'democratic principals' and main 'republican actors', who must hold multilevel governance institutions and their limited 'constituted powers' legally, democratically and judicially more accountable.

New Issue: London Review of International Law

The latest issue of the London Review of International Law (Vol. 4, no. 3, November 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Sheila Jasanoff, Subjects of reason: goods, markets and competing imaginaries of global governance
• Michelle Burgis-Kasthala, (In)dependent lives? International lawyers and the politics of state-building within the Palestinian advocacy field
• Lucas Lixinski, Moral, legal and archaeological relics of the past: portrayals of international cultural heritage law in cinema
• Books etc.
• Book Symposium
• David Kennedy, Introducing A World of Struggle
• Stephen Hopgood, Law and lawyers in a world after virtue
• Gina Heathcote, From ‘people with projects’ to ‘encountering expertise’: a feminist reading of Kennedy’s A World of Struggle
• Ben Fine, From performativity to the material culture of legal expertise?

AJIL Unbound Symposium: Critical Perspectives on Human Shields

On its new website, AJIL Unbound has posted a symposium on "Critical Perspectives on Human Shields." The symposium includes an introduction by Nicola Perugini and Neve Gordon and contributions by Neve Gordon and Nicola Perugin, Banu Bargu, Charles J. Dunlap, Helen M. Kinsella, Vasuki Nesiah, and Beth Van Schaack.

New Issue: Journal of East Asia and International Law

The latest issue of the Journal of East Asia and International Law (Vol. 9, no. 2, Autumn 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Issue Focus: Public International Law for Private International Lawyers
• Sung Pil Park, The Coordinating Role of Public International Law: Observations in the Field of Intellectual Property
• Lin Zhang, Engineering Compulsory Food Safety Liability Insurance in China: A Joint Perspective of Public and Private International Law
• Keisuke Takeshita, Sovereignty and National Civil Procedure: An Analysis of State Practice in Japan
• Articles
• Tsung-Sheng Liao, MNCs under International Climate Change Regime: Recognizing Atmospheric Absorptive Capacity as the Common Heritage of Mankind
• Jinyuan Su, Active Debris Removal: Potential Legal Barriers and Possible Ways Forward
• Notes & Comments
• Jonathan Liljeblad, The 2014 Enabling Law of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission and the UN Paris Principles: A Critical Evaluation
• Xiaoyi Zhang, Problematic Expansion on Jurisdiction: Some Observation on the South China Sea Arbitration
• Regional Focus & Controversies: Taiwan’s Position over the South China Sea Dispute
• Yen-Chiang Chang, Mainland
• Michael Sheng-ti Gau, Taiwan
• East Asian Observer
• Keechang Kim, A Long Road to Brexit: How Britain came to leave the EU
• Pilsu Jin, The ‘All Okinawa’ Movement: Political and Legal Implications of the Okinawan Protest against the US Bases

New Additions to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law

The Codification Division of the UN Office of Legal Affairs recently added two lectures to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law. They were given by Alain Pellet on “The Guide to Practice on Reservations to Treaties,” in English and French.

New Issue: China and WTO Review

The latest issue of China and WTO Review (Vol. 2, no. 2, September 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Xiaoqing Feng & Zhixiao Wu, The Influence of TPP on China and the Corresponding Countermeasures to Intellectual Property
• Hadas Peled, Rethinking the China-Israel BIT in Light of the Fragmented International Investment Legal Order: A Commentary
• Zhongmei Wang & Thomas Hoffmann, Enforcing Chinese Antimonopoly Law in the Internet Industry: An Analysis with Special References to Baidu.com
• Olivier Sempiga, China’s Investment Engagement in Africa: From the Washington Consensus to the Beijing Consensus
• Current Developments
• Ying Bi, Beat or Join? The Challenges of China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to the US and Japan
• Xin Chen, The Globalization of Chinese Yuan (CNY) and Its Rising Role in the International Currency System
• Deepali Fernandes & Yongmin Bian, Sustainability Standards and Their Trade Implications
• Yong-Shik Lee & Xiaojie Lu, China’s Trade and Development Policy under the WTO: An Evaluation of Law and Economics Aspect
• Correspondence
• Stuart S. Malawer, Obama, WTO Trade Enforcement, and China
• Adriana G. Quintero R., Transcontinental Railway: Peru-Brazil (FETAB)

Rossi: Treaty of Tordesillas Syndrome: Sovereignty Ad Absurdum and the South China Sea Arbitration

Christopher R. Rossi (Univ. of Iowa – Law) has posted Treaty of Tordesillas Syndrome: Sovereignty Ad Absurdum and the South China Sea Arbitration (Cornell International Law Journal, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The South China Sea is the fifth largest body of water in the world. It accounts for five trillion dollars in annual commercial activity involving a third of maritime traffic worldwide. China claims wide-ranging sovereign rights over upwards of ninety percent of this Sea via a controversial U-shaped line. Its claim upsets regional stability and portends a coming conflict with the United States, the world’s supreme maritime power, over the application of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). China claims its sovereign authority predates UNCLOS by millennia; critics date China’s claim to 1947. Already described as the most important ruling in the modern history of the international law of the sea, a Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration handed down a sweeping rebuke of China’s contentions in the July 2016 Award in the South China Sea Arbitration (Philippines v. China), setting up a confrontation between emergent China and established United States. This Article discusses that Award in light of the fundamental tension within the liberal model of freedom of the seas -- the unreconciled tension involving ownership interests over resources of the sea (dominium) and the decision-making power to rule over the seas (imperium). While scholarly attention dissects the Tribunal’s discussion of historical and factual circumstances (effectivités) that aggregate against China’s sovereignty claims, this Article notes deeper problems, too: Ambiguities in UNCLOS have allowed powerful states to historically territorialize wide swaths of the dwindling global commons, all within the compliant liberal framework. Such claims are reminiscent of the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), where Spain and Portugal divided up ownership of the world. The territorializing instinct of the Treaty of Tordesillas serves as a syndromic indicator of a recurring problem involving the sea and its increasingly scarce resources. It sets up a major challenge for international law as between superpower interests in the South China Sea, and, more generally, over disputes involving the global commons and spatial regimes on the emerging frontier of technological capability.

Nguyen: La démocratisation de la procédure de règlement des différends de l’OMC

Ngoc Ha Nguyen has published La démocratisation de la procédure de règlement des différends de l’OMC : une vraie ouverture pour les acteurs privés ? (Revue internationale de droit économique, Vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 339-362, 2016). Here's the abstract:

La démocratisation de la procédure de règlement des différends de l’OMC marque d’ores et déjà une transformation importante de ce système. L’acceptation des mémoires d’amicus curiae et l’ouverture des audiences au public par des groupes spéciaux et par l’Organe d’appel en constituent deux figures importantes. Toutefois, force est de constater que cette transformation n’est qu’à mi-chemin. Les limites pratiques et juridiques empêchent encore l’aboutissement à une codification officielle de telle ou telle ouverture en faveur de l’accès des acteurs privés au système. Cela permet aux critiques du déficit démocratique, auxquelles ce système a dû faire face depuis sa naissance, de gagner encore du terrain.

Fine & Ypi: Migration in Political Theory: The Ethics of Movement and Membership

Sarah Fine (King's College London - Philosophy) & Lea Ypi (London School of Economics - Government) have published Migration in Political Theory: The Ethics of Movement and Membership (Oxford Univ. Press 2016). Contents include:

• Sarah Fine & Lea Ypi, The Ethics of Movement and Membership: An Introduction
• David Miller, Is there a Human Right to Immigrate?
• Kieran Oberman, Immigration as a Human Right
• Anna Stilz, Is there an Unqualified Right to Leave?
• Christopher Heath Wellman, Freedom of Movement and the Rights to Enter and Exit
• Arash Abizadeh, The Special-Obligations Challenge to More Open Borders
• Sarah Fine, Immigration and Discrimination
• Lea Ypi, Taking Workers as a Class: The Moral Dilemmas of Guestworker Programmes
• Ayelet Shachar, Selecting By Merit: The Brave New World of Stratified Mobility
• Joseph H. Carens, In Defense of Birthright Citizenship
• Sarah Song, The Significance of Territorial Presence and the Rights of Immigrants
• Chandran Kukathas, Are Refugees Special?
• David Owen, In Loco Civitatis: On the Normative Basis of the Institution of Refugeehood and Responsibilities for Refugees

Numéro spécial : Le droit international saisi par "la communauté universitaire"

A recent issue of Revue juridique & politique des états francophones (Vol. 70, no. 1, Janvier-Mars 2016) focuses on "Le droit international saisi par 'la communauté universitaire.'" Contents include:

• Numéro spécial : Le droit international saisi par "la communauté universitaire"
• Alioune Gueye & Moda Dieng, Le droit international saisi par « la communauté universitaire »
• Emile Ouedraogo, Revisiter la convention sur le génocide ? Le débat complexe sur la question du dol spécial et le contexte de génocide
• Jean-Baptiste Galley, L'efficacité éprouvée des décisions de justice internationale
• Safa Ben Saad, L'internationalisation de la justice transitionnelle en questions
• Awalou Ouedraogo, La renaissance du jus gentium ou le fondement cosmopolitique du droit de la « communauté internationale »
• Alimata Diallo, Le droit d'intervention de l'Union africaine au motif de "menace grave à l'ordre légitime" : Etat des lieux et perspectives de mise en oeuvre

Biniaz: I Beg to Differ: Taking Account of National Circumstances under the Paris Agreement, the ICAO Market-Based Measure, and the Montreal Protocol's HFC Amendment

Susan Biniaz (Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State) has posted I Beg to Differ: Taking Account of National Circumstances under the Paris Agreement, the ICAO Market-Based Measure, and the Montreal Protocol's HFC Amendment. Here's the abstract:

This paper explores the different ways in which negotiators to three recent environmental instruments accounted for different national circumstances in formulating commitments and other aspects of cooperation in the instruments. The author finds that the negotiators of these instruments have significantly expanded the arsenal of differentiation tools based on considerations pertaining to logic, fairness, limited capacity, and negotiating leverage.

Boer: Environmental Principles and the Right to a Quality Environment

Ben Boer (Univ. of Sydney - Law) has posted Environmental Principles and the Right to a Quality Environment (in Principles of Environmental Law, L. Kramer & E. Orlando eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This contribution traces the history of environmental rights over the past few decades, focusing on international and regional human rights instruments, as well as case law. It does so in the context of the environmental principles associated with environmental rights. It explores the meaning of a ‘quality’ environment, and canvasses the distinction between procedural and substantive rights in the environmental realm. The work of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to environment is covered. The constitutionalization and legislative enactment of the right to environment are explored. The role of the courts in addressing environmental rights is briefly looked at. Research gaps are identified, and areas for further research are also set out. A comprehensive bibliography is included.

Zidar & Gauci: The Role of Legal Advisers in International Law

Andraž Zidar (Univ. of Bologna) & Jean-Pierre Gauci (British Institute of International and Comparative Law) have published The Role of Legal Advisers in International Law (Brill | Nijhoff 2016). Contents include:

• Andraz Zidar & Jean-Pierre Gauci, Introduction: legal advisers as the visible college of international lawyers
• David Anderson, The functions of the legal adviser: advising, negotiating, litigating
• Iain Macleod, The FCO's legal advisers and contemporary challenges
• Jessica Gladstone, The legal adviser and international disputes: preparing to commence or defend litigation or arbitration
• Michael Wood, Legal advisers
• James Kingston, Organisation and context for the work of the legal adviser: the legal division of the department of foreign affairs and trade of Ireland
• Eugenia Gutierrez Ruiz, The experience of legal advisers in Costa Rica: a case for peaceful international law
• Sarah McCosker, The intersecting professions of the international law adviser and diplomat in a rising Asia: Australia, India and Malaysia
• Yasuo Kita, The legal advice system of the ministry of foreign affairs of Japan: between legal advisers and foreign policy makers
• Petr Valek, The different roles of the Czech legal adviser: from a watchdog to a headhunter
• Dire Tladi, Reflections on advising the South African government on international law
• Francois Alabrune, The case of the legal advisor to the French ministry of foreign affairs
• Anders Ronquist, The role of legal advisers in international law: the Swedish experience
• Hans Corell, Personal reflections on the role of the legal adviser: between law and politics, authority and influence
• Lucio Gussetti, Legal advisers and the European Union: a new perspective to cooperation in international law
• Steven Hill, The role of NATO's legal adviser
• Valerie Hughes, The role of the legal adviser in the World Trade Organization
• Peter Quayle, Legal advisers and international organisations: the convergence of interior and exterior legal obligations
• Margaret Purdasy, The competency-based legal adviser
• Harold Hongju Koh, The legal adviser's duty to explain
• Andraz Zidar, Legal advisers and professional ethics
• Martti Koskenniemi, The place of law and the role of legal advisers in collective security
• Maike Kuhn & Antje Berger, Legal advisers in the armed forces
• Roberto Di Donatantonio, The monitoring, mentoring and advising role exercised by international or rule of law missions in the prosecutorial area
• Jean-Pierre Gauci & Kate Jones, Conference report: the role of legal advisers in international law
• Franklin Berman, Conclusion

New Volume: Czech Yearbook of Public & Private International Law

The latest volume of the Czech Yearbook of Public & Private International Law (Vol. 7, 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Studies in International Law and Organizations
• Ernest Petrič, Principles of the Charter of the United Nations – Jus Cogens?
• Čestmír Čepelka, Problem with the Inclusion of Aggression into the Rome Statute of the ICC
• Jan Ondřej & Magda Uxová, Islamic State, an Actor Threatening Peace in the Middle East
• Josef Mrázek, Some Critical Reflections on the Extended Use of Military Force in the Contemporary World
• Zuzana Trávníčková, Are Unilateral (Economic) Sanctions Really Impermissible under International Law?
• Jakub Handrlica, International Administrative Law and Administrative Acts: Transterritorial Decision Making Revisited
• International Law and European Law
• Dalibor Jílek & Jana Michaličková, The Conceptual Role of Habitual Residence
• Solange Maslowski, The Scope and the Future of Equality of Treatment for Economically Inactive Union Citizens on the Move
• Václav Šmejkal, Saving EU and its Welfare States Through Disincentives to Migration? On a Recent CJEU Case-Law Limiting the Access of EU Migrants to Social Assistance
• Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law
• Veronika Bílková, Towards a New Convention for the Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons?
• Pavel Bureš, Consensus on Human Nature? The Concept of European Consensus in the Case-Law of the Court in Strasbourg
• Harald Christian Scheu, The Status of New Minorities in the Light of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
• Tuomas Heikkinen & Martin Faix, The Use of Human Shields and the Principle of Proportionality under Law of Armed Conflict
• Petra Ditrichová-Ochmannová, International Law and the Use of Armed Drones: Where is the Controversy?
• Milan Lipovský, The Digital Aspects of the Right to Privacy – Surveillance Issues
• Monika Forejová, Right to a Fair Trial in Asylum Procedures
• International Criminal Law
• Petr Válek, The Czech Contribution to the Work of the United Nations War Crimes Commission: the Auschwitz and Birkenau Case
• Pavel Caban, Immunity of State Officials from Foreign Criminal Jurisdiction – Exceptions to Immunity ratione materiae
• Jan Lhotský, The ICC Arrest Warrant for the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in Connection with his Visit to the Republic of South Africa
• Ondřej Svaček, Applicable Law, Interpretation, Inherent and Implied Powers – Brief Rendezvous with the ICC
• Environmental Protection and Law of the Sea
• Birutė Pranevičienė & Violeta Vasiliauskienė, Do the Europeans have the Right to get Information about Ostrovets Nuclear Power Plant in Belarus?
• Soma Hegdekatte, The Bay of Bengal Maritime Arbitration: a New Ray of Hope
• Views on Investment and Trade Law
• Katarína Chovancová, Non- Precluded Measures in International Investments Arbitration
• Ondřej Svoboda & Jan Kunstýř, Third Party to Pick up the Bill? Cost Issues Relating to Third Party Funding in Investment Arbitration
• Vojtěch Trapl, About Recent Development in a Further Aim to Reform the Investor-State Arbitration by the Introduction of a Permanent Investment Tribunal and an Appeal Mechanism – focused on the work done by CIDS under auspices of the UNCITRAL
• Czech Practice of International Law
• Pavel Šturma, The International Law Commision at the End of Quinquennium: an Exceptional Session and Positive Results
• Vít Alexander Schorm, The Czech Republic before the European Court of Human Rights in 2015
• Milan Beránek, International Treaties ratified by the Czech Republic
• Shorter Articles and Notes
• Miloš Olík, Case Notes, Court of Justice of the European Union to Rule on The Compatibility of intra-EU BITs with EU Law in the Case Achmea B.V. vs. The Slovak Republic
• Milan Lipovský, Moot Courts on Issues of International Law in 2015/2016

University of Georgia School of Law International Law Colloquium

Here's the schedule for the University of Georgia School of Law International Law Colloquium for the Spring Semester 2017:

• January 20, 2017: Duncan B. Hollis (Temple Univ. – Law), Constructing Norms for Global Cybersecurity
• January 27, 2017: Benedict Kingsbury (New York Univ. – Law), Contested Megaregulation: Global Economic Ordering After TPP
• February 3, 2017: Jonathan Todres (Georgia State Univ. – Law), Human Rights Education: Traversing Legal and Geographical Boundaries
• February 10, 2017: Neha Jain (Univ. of Minnesota – Law), Radical Dissents at International Criminal Courts
• February 24, 2017: Sergio Puig (Univ. of Arizona – Law), Blinding International Justice
• March 15, 2017: Javier Dondé Matute (National Institute of Criminal Sciences), Criminal Responsibility as a Founding Principle of International Criminal Law
• March 24, 2017: Melissa J. Durkee (Univ. of Washington – Law), The Global Norms Market
• March 31, 2017: E. Tendayi Achiume (Univ. of California, Los Angeles - Law), International Law and Xenophobic Anxiety

Temple University School of Law International Law Colloquium

Here's the schedule for the Temple University School of Law's International Law Colloquium for the Spring Semester 2017:

• January 17, 2017: Sarah Dadush (Rutgers Univ.), “Industry Associations and Transnational Governance” (Commentator: Paul Berman, George Washington)
• January 31, 2017: Adam Chilton (Univ. of Chicago), “The Empirics of Human Rights Compliance” (Commentator: David Zaring, Univ. of Pennsylvania)
• February 14, 2017: Peter Danchin (Univ. of Maryland), “Can There Be a Unified Theory of Religious Freedom in International Law?” (Commentator: Adnan Zulfiqar, Univ. of Pennsylvania)
• February 28, 2017: Matiangai Sirleaf (Univ. of Pittsburgh), “Ebola Does Not Fall From the Sky: Global Structural Violence and International Responsibility” (Commentator: Ryan Liss, Columbia Univ.)
• March 21, 2017: Rebecca Ingber (Boston Univ.), "The Obama War Powers Legacy and the Internal Forces That Entrench Executive Power" (Commentator: Jean Galbraith, Univ. of Pennsylvania)
• April 4, 2017: Alexandra Huneeus (Univ. of Wisconsin), “The Judicialization of Peace: Colombia, the ICC and the Inter-American Court” (Commentator: TBD)
• April 18, 2017: Jonathan Hafetz (Seton Hall Univ.), “The Selectivity Problem in International Criminal Law and the Challenge for Fair Trials” (Commentator: TBD)

New Issue: Revue trimestrielle des droits de l'homme

The latest issue of the Revue trimestrielle des droits de l'homme (No. 109, Janvier 2017) is out. Contents include:

• P. Lambert, In memoriam - Roger Lallemand
• P. Gaïa, Le Conseil constitutionnel et la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme
• G. Rosoux, Offensive de la Russie contre l’autorité de la jurisprudence européenne relative au droit de vote des détenus : la Cour constitutionnelle russe et le contrôle du caractère « exécutoire » d’un arrêt de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme
• V. Souty, Les dérogations en cas de circonstances exceptionnelles : un régime en demi-teinte
• L. Maulet, Le principe ne bis in idem, objet d’un « dialogue » contrasté entre la Cour de justice de l’Union européenne et la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme
• T. Hochmann, Chronique des arrêts de la Cour suprême des États-Unis en matière de droits fondamentaux (octobre 2014-juin 2016)
• M. Cadelli & J. Englebert, Se taire, c’est mentir
• M. Beulay, Le baroud d’honneur d’un organe malheureusement méconnu
• C. Matray, Verve ou réserve du juge

New Volume: Czech Yearbook of International Law

The latest volume of the Czech Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 7, 2016) is out. The theme is "International Dispute Resolution." Contents include:

• Jaroslav Valerievich Antonov, Remote and alternative international dispute resolution : electronic mediation and electronic arbitration
• Filip Balcerzak, The extent of human rights protection for investors in arbitration based on international investment treaties
• Alexander J. Bělohlávek, Effects of opening (commencement) of insolvency proceedings on pending lawsuits and similar proceedings under Article 15 of Council Regulation (EC) no. 1346/2000 of 29 May 2000 on insolvency proceedings and under Article 18 of the European Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) no 2015/848
• Martin Bulla, The law on international civil service : time for harmonisation?
• Jan Iosifovich Funk & Inna Vladimirova Pererva, The rights and duties of the parties in arbitration in proceedings with a permanent arbitral institutions : contractual basis of arbitration (special focus on Belarus)
• Marie Karfíková & Zdeněk Karfík, International cooperation in tax administration in the Czech Republic
• Aleksandra Sergeevna Kasatkina, Concept, legal nature and law applicable to recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments
• Karel Klíma, The fair trade doctrine in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights
• Haflidi Kristjan Larusson, Technology SMEs and international arbitration : towards lesser cost and greater efficiency?
• Pavla Plachá, Change of the definition of the COMI-issue connected with the revision of Council Regulation (EC) no 1346/2000
• Robert Porubský & Ondrej Poništiak, The importance of the seat of arbitration in the European context
• Alexander Sergeev & Tatiana Tereshchenko, The recognition of cross-border insolvencies and bankruptcies
• Pille Talpsepp, Alternative dispute resolution in post-socialist countries : adequate institutional structure as a prerequisite for successful arbitration in an open market economy
• Natalia N. Viktorov, The Russian Federation and international investment disputes

Rossi: The International Community, South Sudan, and the Responsibility to Protect

Christopher R. Rossi (Univ. of Iowa - Law) has posted The International Community, South Sudan, and the Responsibility to Protect (New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, Vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 129-180, 2016). Here's the abstract:

This Article investigates the problem of implementing the Responsibility to Protect doctrine against the backdrop of South Sudan’s dire circumstance. It investigates the problématique of the international community in relation to the doctrine and the imploding new-born country. The international community maintains residual responsibility to implement the doctrine during time of humanitarian crisis internal to states, making the international community a constitutive norm that shapes the language of the Responsibility to Protect. But marshaling international support to confront internal abuse in South Sudan proves difficult because of an elusive understanding of the international community. This Article views the Responsibility to Protect as a rejection of Vatellian pluralism but seeks to understand why a solidarist formulation has forestalled within the growing internal emergency presented by South Sudan, the world’s newest country. Situating the Responsibility to Protect within the context of South Sudan reveals the need to bolster pluralist pathways to solidarist norm construction rather than to abandon pluralist perspectives completely. This Article suggests that the general abandonment of pluralist teachings has hindered the normative reception and development of the Responsibility to Protect and has contributed to the swift turn South Sudan has made in the direction of failed state status.

Roundtable Discussion: Corporate Planning Through International Law

On February 1, 2017, the Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law at Brooklyn Law School will host a roundtable discussion on "Corporate Planning Through International Law: The Use and Abuse of Tax Treaties, Investment Law, and Political Risk Insurance." Here's the idea:

Corporations are not formally subjects of international law. Yet in diverse fields, business entities can make use of robust treaty regimes to protect their ventures around the globe. By navigating a labyrinth of thousands of bilateral and multilateral treaties, corporations can unlock access to valuable benefits and protections far in excess of what is ordinarily available under national law – including especially tax treatment, protections for foreign direct investment, and political risk insurance.

Corporate planning through international law is fast becoming a critical field of practice in our increasingly globalized economy. At the same time, international economic law in these areas continues to feed into global anxiety over the distribution of benefits and burdens across the globe, and the national community’s loss of sovereignty. The international legal bar remains bitterly divided over how far international tax and investment law ought to discipline the domestic regulatory action of sovereign states.

The panel of scholars and practitioners in international tax, the law of foreign direct investment, and political risk insurance will examine how multinational corporations can use international law to plan for growth in the 21st century. The speakers will explore practical aspects of corporate planning through international law, with due attention to the broader social consequences and legitimation concerns attending such maneuvers.

Conference: 111th ASIL Annual Meeting

On April 12-15, 2017, the American Society of International Law will hold its 111th Annual Meeting, in Washington, DC. The theme is: "What International Law Values." The program is not yet available, but early bird registration is open. Here's the idea:

Well into the second decade of the 21st century, international law continues to expand on numerous fronts. Yet seemingly intractable global problems persist, raising vital questions about the field. We often ask whether international law is achieving its goals. In this Annual Meeting, we seek to consider the normative basis of international law and how those goals are realized in practice. Does international law reflect the values of the international community? How do these values affect the practice and theory of international law? For that matter, should international law reflect the international community's values, and what constituencies ought to be considered in determining what those values are? If international law should not reflect values, why not, and what interests are served or harmed by treating this body of law as a value-neutral set of rules? What role should international lawyers play in the shaping of those values and how can the core values of our profession – in all its heterogeneity, contestation, and dynamism – be brought to bear? Through the panels and events of the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law, leading and emerging voices in international legal scholarship, policy, and practice will attempt to answer these urgent questions.

Shaffer & Coye: From International Law to Jessup's Transnational Law, from Transnational Law to Transnational Legal Orders

Gregory Shaffer (Univ. of California, Irvine - Law) & Carlos Coye (Univ. of California, Irvine - Law) have posted From International Law to Jessup's Transnational Law, from Transnational Law to Transnational Legal Orders. Here's the abstract:

In Jessup’s 1956 Storrs Lecture he defined transnational law as “all law which regulates actions or events that transcend national frontiers,” which includes public international law, private international law, and “other rules which do not wholly fit into such standard categories.” Considerable recent scholarship on transnational law has focused on that residual category of “other rules” and their “private” character. There has, however, been a revolution in international law itself since 1956, reflected in a proliferation of international institutions, international courts, treaties, and so-called “soft law” technologies of governance. This chapter assesses the role of international law in the creation of what can be viewed as “transnational legal orders” that penetrate and imbue state law, shape social identity, and inform public and private legal practice. International law, this chapter contends, is even a more important shaper of the transnational than in Jessup’s time, and, in turn is shaped by it.

New Issue: Michigan Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Michigan Journal of International Law (Vol. 37, no. 3, Spring 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Tiyanjana Maluwa, Oil Under Troubled Waters?: Some Legal Aspects of the Boundary Dispute Between Malawi and Tanzania Over Lake Malawi
• Patrick J. Keenan, The Problem of Purpose in International Criminal Law
• Aravind Ganesh, The European Union’s Human Rights Obligations Towards Distant Strangers

Workshop: Civil War, Intervention and International Law

On January 12, 2017, the Centre for Law and Society in a Global Context at Queen Mary University of London will hold a workshop on "Civil War, Intervention and International Law." The program is here. Here's the idea:

This workshop brings together leading scholars in history, international relations, international law, and political theory to discuss the 5-year project on Civil War, Intervention, and International Law directed by Anne Orford at Melbourne Law School as part of an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship. The lawfulness of external intervention in the domestic affairs of states is one of the most enduring and contested topics of debate within the disciplines of international law and international relations. The question of whether and when external actors can intervene in support of parties to a civil war has become an urgent one in recent times, with resort to an old pattern of proxy wars and support for competing factions emerging across the Middle East as well as the former Soviet bloc and the Great Lakes region in Africa. The Laureate Fellowship project explores whether the legal principle of non-intervention still makes any meaningful sense in a world which has been so radically transformed since the heyday of the principle in the nineteenth century, and if not what concepts or frameworks have been or should be developed to take its place. It combines historical research, legal analysis, and critical theorising to grasp the changing patterns and practices of intervention and account for the emerging role and responsibilities of external actors in civil conflicts. The workshop will discuss the methodological, conceptual, and normative challenges to which the Laureate Fellowship project gives rise, and offer responses to those challenges from a range of perspectives.

Call for Papers: Solidarity and the Promotion of Peace and Security

The Interest Group on Peace and Security of the European Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for an agora proposal for ESIL's 2017 Annual Conference in Naples. Here's the call:

The ESIL Interest Group on Peace and Security will submit a proposal for a panel during the 13th ESIL Annual Conference in Naples (7 – 9 September 2017). The ESIL IGPS proposal fits perfectly into the overall thematic setting of the conference in Naples (‘Global Public Goods, Global Commons and Fundamental Values: The Responses Of International Law’), by focusing in an innovative way on the concept of “solidarity” as applied in the field of peace and security.

In an interconnected and interdependent world, the attainment of security requires global coordinated action. The security of each state needs to take into account the security of other states and of the international system as a whole. Solidarity is thus critical in attaining peace and security and underpins the UN system of collective security.

This panel will invite papers that address the following questions: 1. What is the nature and what are the ethical foundations of the principle of solidarity? 2. What are the implications of the constitutional reading of the principle of solidarity? 3. What specific responsibilities are attached to the principle of solidarity?; 4. How does solidarity contribute to the effective realisation of public goods? 5. What are the specific expressions of solidarity in the fields of jus ad bellum and jus in bello (for example collective self-defense, intervention by invitation, R2P, protection of civilians in times of armed conflict….) and what are the related legal problems?

Application Process

Please submit an abstract in PDF (in English of French) of no more than 800 words by 24:00 of 16 January 2017 (London-UK time) to: theodore.christakis@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr; starski@mpil.de; nicholas.tsagourias@sheffield.ac.uk.

Applicants will be informed of the selection committee’s decision no later than 27 January 2017. The proposal will then be submitted by the ESIL IGPS coordinating Committee to the organisers of the Naples Conference by 31 January 2017.

The following information must be provided with each abstract:

• The author’s name and affiliation;
• The author’s brief CV, including a list of relevant publications;
• The author’s contact details, including email address and phone number.

Only one abstract per author will be considered.

Evaluation criteria: Abstracts will be selected for inclusion, on the basis of following criteria: 1) their alignment with the panel description and objectives; 2) the overall coherence of the panel, and 3) the general criteria according to the ESIL Conference Call for Papers. Submissions in both English and French, the two official languages of the Society, are welcome.

Oehmke: Der Einsatz privater Sicherheitsdienste auf Handelsschiffen zur Abwehr gegen Piraterie

Christiane Oehmke has published Der Einsatz privater Sicherheitsdienste auf Handelsschiffen zur Abwehr gegen Piraterie: Eine Analyse unter Aspekten des Völkerrechts und des deutschen Rechts (Nomos 2016). Here's the abstract:

Auf einer breiten Literaturbasis analysiert die Autorin das komplexe Regime aus Völkerrecht, transnationalen Standards und nationalem Recht, in dem sich der Einsatz privater Sicherheitsfirmen auf Handelsschiffen abspielt. Zentrale Fragen sind: Welche Rechte und Pflichten haben Firmen, Reedereien und Kapitäne sowie die involvierten Staaten? Wo bestehen Rechtsunsicherheiten bzw. -lücken? Wie sollte eine weitergehende Regulierung erfolgen? Im Fokus der Analyse steht das mehrpolige Verantwortungsgefüge, das sich v.a. aus dem Seevölkerrecht und den Menschenrechten ergibt und durch transnationales Recht sowie das deutsche Verfassungs-, Gewerbe- und Strafrecht erfüllt und ergänzt wird. Die Autorin macht praktische Vorschläge zur Verbesserung der regulatorischen Rahmenbedingungen. Zugleich leistet sie weiterführende Beiträge zu grundlegenden Fragen der Menschenrechtsdogmatik wie zur Theoriendebatte um transnationale Regulierung. Die umfassende Aufbereitung schwer zugänglichen Materials macht die Arbeit zu einer Fundgrube für alle, die sich mit dem Thema befassen.

This work analyses the complex interplay between international, transnational and national law that governs the use of private security companies (PSCs) in combating piracy. The author addresses the following key questions: What are the rights and duties of PSCs, ship owners and captains as well as those of the nation states involved? Are there legal uncertainties or gaps? How can the regulatory framework be improved? In the analysis, special emphasis is put on the multipolar structure of responsibilities arising from the international law of the sea and international human rights law, complemented by transnational standards and German constitutional, public and penal law. The work proposes concrete regulatory reforms. At the same time, it makes valuable contributions to fundamental questions concerning human rights law doctrine and the theoretical debate on transnational law. Its comprehensive examination of research material makes this work a treasure trove for anyone interested in the topic.

Sasson: Milking the Third World? Humanitarianism, Capitalism, and the Moral Economy of the Nestle´ Boycott

Tehila Sasson (Institute for Historical Research) has published Milking the Third World? Humanitarianism, Capitalism, and the Moral Economy of the Nestle´ Boycott (American Historical Review, Vol. 121, no. 4, pp. 1196-1224, October 2016). Here's the abstract:

This article traces the history of the Nestlé boycott, one of the most well-known and successful boycotts of the 1970s. As part of the campaign to end bottle-feeding in Third World societies, it called for the global regulation of controversial marketing strategies implemented by Western formula companies. The story adds a crucial yet understudied aspect of rights discourse in the 1970s, when humanitarian activists strove to reform the global market and create ethical forms of capitalism. The history of the boycott may seem like a marginal tale within this history, but it is illuminating both for what it teaches us about the role of multinational companies, ethics, and the market in the period, and for what it reveals about the global history of human rights and humanitarianism. The history of the campaign allows us to uncover how in the 1970s not only diplomats and non-governmental organizations, but also ordinary people, business experts, and even multinational corporations became part of the project of feeding the world’s hungry. By politicizing breastfeeding, the Nestlé boycott played an important role in changing how those in the Third World were conceived by aid programs, transforming them from producers to consumers in the global market. While international attempts to limit the power of these corporations have failed, the Nestlé boycott became a somewhat minimal solution that emphasized the moral responsibilities of corporations. It offered a “weak” form of utopianism that emerged after the end of empire and attempted to reform global inequalities through the market.

New Volume: Yearbook Commercial Arbitration

The latest volume of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration's Yearbook Commercial Arbitration (Vol. 41, 2016) is out. The table of contents is here.

Hetherington: ‘The Highest Guardian of the Child’: International Criminology and the Russian Fight against Transnational Obscenity, 1885–1925

Philippa Hetherington (Univ. College London - School of Slavonic and East European Studies) has published ‘The Highest Guardian of the Child’: International Criminology and the Russian Fight against Transnational Obscenity, 1885–1925 (Russian History, Vol. 43, nos. 3-4, pp. 275–310, 2016). Here's the abstract:

This article examines Russian criminologists’ engagements with emergent norms of international criminal law at the fin-de-siècle. In particular, it discusses attempts to end the ‘international traffic in pornography’ from the 1880s onwards, framing these attempts as key elements in the development of Russian ideas about sexual crime more broadly. For pre- and post-revolutionary Russian criminologists involved with the Hague-based International Union for Penal Law, the crime of trafficking in pornography was conceptualized as both a crime against the censor and also an offense that did specific harm to certain social groups, namely women and children. In this way, anxieties about gender and sex lay at the heart of the calls to ban the cross-border trade in obscenity, suggesting a particular biopolitical understanding of international security haunting early twentieth century international criminal law.

New Issue: World Trade Review

The latest issue of the World Trade Review (Vol. 16, no. 1, January 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Petros C. Mavroidis & Robert Wolfe, Private Standards and the WTO: Reclusive No More
• Matias E. Margulis, The Forgotten History of Food Security in Multilateral Trade Negotiations
• Magnus Lodefalk, Servicification of Firms and Trade Policy Implications
• Tu-Anh Vu-Thanh, Does WTO Accession Help Domestic Reform? The Political Economy of SOE Reform Backsliding in Vietnam
• Qian Zhan, The International Registration of Non-traditional Trademarks: Compliance with the TRIPS Agreement and the Paris Convention
• Rodd Izadnia, Colombia – Measures Relating to the Importation of Textiles, Apparel and Footwear (Colombia–Textiles), DS461
• Rebecca Hekman, Nadège Huart, & Janet Whittaker, Menzies Middle East and Africa S.A. and Aviation Handling Services International Ltd. v. Republic of Senegal

New Issue: Journal of International Organizations Studies

The latest issue of the Journal of International Organizations Studies (Vol. 7, no. 2, Fall 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Benjamin Zyla, NATO Burden Sharing: A New Research Design
• Catherine Hecht, Success after Stalemate? Persistence, Reiteration, and Windows of Opportunity in Multilateral Negotiations
• Hae Kim, Regional Intergovernmental Organizations, Globalization, and Economic Development
• David Eichert, Separation amidst Integration: The Redefining Influence of the European Union on Secessionist Party Policy

Daza-Clark: International Investment Law and Water Resources Management

Ana Maria Daza-Clark (Univ. of Edinburgh - Law) has published International Investment Law and Water Resources Management: An Appraisal of Indirect Expropriation (Brill | Nijhoff 2017). Here's the abstract:

Hydrological variability, increasing competition for water, and the need for regulatory flexibility may increasingly compel governments to adopt measures with significant economic impact on foreign investment. In International Investment Law and Water Resources Management, Daza-Clark offers an appraisal of indirect expropriation, revisiting the well-known doctrine of the police power. Through the lens of international investment law, the author explores a framework that assesses the legitimate exercise of police power with particular attention to the special nature of water resources.

Bağlayan: The Turkish State of Emergency Under Turkish Constitutional Law and International Human Rights Law

Başak Bağlayan (Univ. of Luxembourg - Law) has posted an ASIL Insight on The Turkish State of Emergency Under Turkish Constitutional Law and International Human Rights Law.

New Issue: Asian International Arbitration Journal

The latest issue of the Asian International Arbitration Journal (Vol. 12, no. 2, 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Khushboo Hashu Shahdadpuri, Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration: Regulating the Treacherous Trajectory
• Ajay Kr Sharma, Arbitrators Appointed in the ICSID Cases Commencing Since 2011: Data Compilation and Analysis
• Saad Badah, Public Policy and Non-Arbitrability in Kuwait
• Rohan Tigadi, Indian Arbitration: The Ghost of Implied Exclusion and other Related Issues
• Sam Luttrell & Isuru Devendra, Freezing Orders in Australia – Inherent Powers and the International Arbitration Act 1974 (CTH)