Van Schaack: Human Shields: Complementary Duties under IHL

Beth Van Schaack (Stanford Univ. - Law) has posted Human Shields: Complementary Duties under IHL. Here's the abstract:

Like other law-of-war practices, human shielding has become the subject of intense lawfare. In today’s conflicts, the prohibition on the use of human shields is being cynically deployed to shield attackers from responsibility for civilian deaths. In an effort to eliminate the tactical and legal advantages that parties gain from using human shields, a range of implicated actors and norm entrepreneurs are manipulating IHL rules in ways that undermine the principle of proportionality, the presumption of civilian status, the prohibition on reprisals against protected persons, and the imperative of civilian protection. In particular, in response to the unlawful use of human shields, parties on the attack are all too liberally denying the civilian character of any of the shields in order to avoid having to consider their presence in pre-strike determinations of proportionality. These schemes, however, have no basis in treaty law or in authoritative articulations of customary international law (CIL) and will do little to deter unscrupulous parties willing to use human shields in the first place. As such, efforts to “relax” or alter the principle of proportionality and the presumption of civilian status, even in the face of blatant violations of the human shields prohibition by a ruthless adversary, should be rejected. The right approach is to hold all sides to their IHL obligations, which in the case of human shields, are complementary and mutually reinforcing. This instrumentalization of the prohibition on human shields is exemplified in this paper’s case study: the competing narratives around civilian casualties stemming from the civil war in Sri Lanka, where the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s strategic, and despicable, manipulation of the Tamil civilian population has been trotted out in defense of the government’s deliberate, indiscriminate, and disproportionate attacks on civilians.

de la Rasilla del Moral: An International Terrorism Court in nuce in the Age of International Adjudication

Ignacio de la Rasilla del Moral (Brunel Univ. London - Law) has posted An International Terrorism Court in nuce in the Age of International Adjudication (Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

After characterizing the different dimensions of an increasing focus on terrorism in international law and the move towards international adjudicative mechanisms as defining features of the international legal zeitgeist in the post-cold war era, the main technical and political difficulties involved in bringing transnational terrorism under the jurisdictional scope of the International Criminal Court are assessed. An overview of the history and the precedential value of the 1937 Conventions on the Punishment and Prevention of Terrorism, and the Creation of an International Criminal Court, is followed by an appraisal of a contemporary blueprint for the establishment of a permanent international terrorism court by a Resolution of the Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the UN Chapter. In an age of international adjudication, the present international volatility, fueled by the on-going series of ISIS-inspired suicide terrorist attacks, may well turn out to be what 'historical institutionalism' terms a ‘critical juncture’ for the creation of new international adjudicative mechanisms for dealing with transnational terrorist offences.

ASIL: 100 Days - A Live Online Briefing Series

The American Society of International Law is sponsoring "100 Days - A Live Online Briefing Series." The first session - on "The Future of International Agreements" - is scheduled for this coming Wednesday, February 1, 2017. Here's the idea:

International Law and the Trump Administration:
A Live Online Briefing Series

For generations, across administrations of both political parties, the United States has played a central role in the creation of international legal structures, including treaties, regional agreements, and institutions, that have helped promote prosperity, stability, and the peaceful resolution of disputes within the international community.

The policy choices made by the U.S. government over the coming months will have major implications for a range of vital international legal issues. The series will bring together leading experts in the field to provide concise, nonpartisan background and perspectives on these issues.

Job Opening: Amsterdam (Postdoctoral Researcher)

The Faculty of Law of the University of Amsterdam is accepting applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher in International Law or Private Law. The researcher will develop his or her project within the framework of the Faculty’s research priority area on "Law and Justice Across Borders." The vacancy announcement is here.

Panel Discussion: Accountability: International Crimes in Syria and Iraq

On March 29, 2017, the International Law Programme at Chatham House will host a panel discussion on "Accountability: International Crimes in Syria and Iraq." Participants will include: Zeid Raad Al Hussein, Amal Clooney, Christian Ritscher, and Elizabeth Wilmshurst (chair). This event, held in partnership with Doughty Street Chambers, is in commemoration of John Jones QC. The program is here.

New Issue: International Organization

The latest issue of International Organization (Vol. 71, no. 1, Winter 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Bernd Beber, Michael J. Gilligan, Jenny Guardado, & Sabrina Karim, Peacekeeping, Compliance with International Norms, and Transactional Sex in Monrovia, Liberia
• Hein E. Goemans & Kenneth A. Schultz, The Politics of Territorial Claims: A Geospatial Approach Applied to Africa
• David H. Bearce & Andrew F. Hart, International Labor Mobility and the Variety of Democratic Political Institutions
• Scott F Abramson, The Economic Origins of the Territorial State
• Bentley B. Allan, Producing the Climate: States, Scientists, and the Constitution of Global Governance Objects
• Research Notes
• Andrea Ruggeri, Han Dorussen, & Theodora-Ismene Gizelis, Winning the Peace Locally: UN Peacekeeping and Local Conflict
• Ryan C. Briggs, Does Foreign Aid Target the Poorest?

Miles: Provisional Measures before International Courts and Tribunals

Cameron A. Miles (3 Verulam Buildings) has published Provisional Measures before International Courts and Tribunals (Cambridge Univ. Press 2017). Here's the abstract:

Since the decision of the International Court of Justice in LaGrand (Germany v United States of America), the law of provisional measures has expanded dramatically both in terms of the volume of relevant decisions and the complexity of their reasoning. Provisional Measures before International Courts and Tribunals seeks to describe and evaluate this expansion, and to undertake a comparative analysis of provisional measures jurisprudence in a range of significant international courts and tribunals so as to situate interim relief in the wider procedure of those adjudicative bodies. The result is the first comprehensive examination of the law of provisional measures in over a decade, and the first to compare investor-state arbitration jurisprudence with more traditional inter-state courts and tribunals.

Turk: The Banking-Sovereign Nexus: Law, Economics & Policy

Matthew C. Turk (Indiana Univ., Bloomington - Kelley School of Business) has posted The Banking-Sovereign Nexus: Law, Economics & Policy (Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This article examines a previously overlooked policy interdependence between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Basel Committee), which results from economic dynamics associated with the “banking-sovereign nexus.” The failure of legal scholarship on international financial regulation to address the banking-sovereign nexus represents a substantial oversight because linkages among private banking sectors (subject to the Basel Committee’s regulations) and the public finances of sovereign governments (under the purview of the IMF) have historically been a leading source of instability in the global financial system.

The main finding of this article is that interventions by the IMF and the Basel Committee function as regulatory complements by subtly reinforcing one another through a number of channels. In order to leverage that complementarity, the article presents the following two-part policy proposal. First, that the Basel Committee enhance the stringency of its capital requirements with an increase in the risk-weights that are assigned to sovereign bonds that banks hold as assets. Second, that the IMF revise its lending criteria to allow countries that have effectively implemented the stricter version of the Basel Rules to prequalify for access to its credit facilities. The broader contribution of this article is to provide a more integrated perspective on the international financial architecture, which looks across formal legal categories to identify functional relationships between markets and regulations that affect how the system operates as a whole.

Niezen & Sapignoli: Palaces of Hope: The Anthropology of Global Organizations

Ronald Niezen (McGill Univ. - Law and Anthropology) & Maria Sapignoli (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology) have published Palaces of Hope: The Anthropology of Global Organizations (Cambridge Univ. Press 2017). Contents include:

• Ronald Niezen & Maria Sapignoli, Introduction
• Marc Abélès, Heart of darkness: an exploration of the WTO
• Niels Nagelhus Schia, Horseshoe and catwalk: power, complexity and consensus-making in the United Nations Security Council
• Maria Sapignoli, A kaleidoscopic institutional form: expertise and transformation in the permanent forum on indigenous issues
• Jane K. Cowan & Julie Billaud, The 'public' character of the Universal Periodic Review: contested concept and methodological challenge
• Miia Halme-Tuomisaari, Meeting 'the world' at the Palais Wilson: embodied universalism at the UN Human Rights Committee
• Sally Engle Merry, Expertise and quantification in global institutions
• Robert K. Hitchcock, From boardrooms to field programs: humanitarianism and international development in Southern Africa
• Tobias Berger, Global village courts: international organizations and the bureaucratization of rural justice systems in the Global South
• Noor Johnson & David Rojas, Contrasting values of forests and ice in the making of a global climate agreement
• Christoph Brumann, The best of the best: positing, measuring and sensing value in the UNESCO World Heritage Arena
• Richard Ashby Wilson, Propaganda on trial: structural fragility and the epistemology of international legal institutions
• Ronald Niezen, The anthropology by organizations: legal knowledge and the UN's ethnological imagination

Dunne & Reus-Smit: The Globalization of International Society

Tim Dunne (Univ. of Queensland - International Relations) & Christian Reus-Smit (Univ. of Queensland - International Relations) have published The Globalization of International Society (Oxford Univ. Press 2017). Contents include:

• Christian Reus-Smit & Tim Dunne, Introduction
• Christian Reus-Smit & Tim Dunne, The Globalization of International Society
• Andrew Phillips, International Systems
• Heather Rae, Patterns of Identification on the Cusp of Globalization
• Hendrik Spruyt, Economies and Economic Integration Across Eurasia in the Early Modern Period
• Neta C. Crawford, The Making of International Society from an Indigenous Perspective
• Richard Devetak & Emily Tannock, Imperial Rivalry and the First Global War
• Jennifer M. Welsh, Empire and Fragmentation
• Paul Keal, Beyond 'War in the Strict Sense'
• Jacinta O'Hagan, The Role of Civilization in the Globalization of International Society
• Yongjin Zhang, Worlding China, 1500-1800
• Barry Buzan, Universal Sovereignty
• Ian Clark, Hierarchy, Hegemony, and the Norms of International Society
• Gerry Simpson, The Globalization of International Law
• Mark Beeson and Stephen Bell, The Impact of Economic Structures on Institutions and States
• Hun Joon Kim, Universal Human Rights
• Sarah Teitt, Sovereignty as Responsibility
• Ian Hall, The 'Revolt Against the West' Revisited
• Audie Klotz, Racial Inequality
• Ann E. Towns, Gender, Power, and International Society
• Lene Hansen, Communication
• Tim Dunne & Christian Reus-Smit, Conclusion

New Issue: International Legal Materials

The latest issue of International Legal Materials (Vol. 55, no. 4, 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Perinçek v. Switzerland (Eur. Ct. H.R.), with introductory note by Uladzislau Belavusau
• Skatteverket v. Hedqvist (C.J.E.U), with introductory note by Redmar Wolf
• International Stem Cell Corporation v. Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (C.J.E.U), with introductory note by Aurora Plomer
• Paris Agreement, with introductory note by Cara A. Horowitz
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 2272 & Secretary-General Report on Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, with introductory note by Rembert Boom

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 Jorge E. Viñuales on “The International Law of Climate Change after the Paris Agreement” and “Environmental Protection in Customary International Law.”

Olmos Giupponi: Rethinking Free Trade, Economic Integration and Human Rights in the Americas

María Belén Olmos Giupponi (Liverpool Hope Univ. - Law) has published Rethinking Free Trade, Economic Integration and Human Rights in the Americas (Hart Publishing 2017). Here's the abstract:

This monograph offers the first systematic overview of the protection of human rights in trade agreements in the Americas. Traditionally, trade agreements in the Americas were concerned with economic questions and paid little attention to human rights. However, in the wake of the 'new regionalism', which emerged at the end of the last century, more clauses addressing social issues such as labour rights and environmental standards were inserted in trade agreements. As economic integration increased, a framework for the protection of human rights evolved. This book argues that this framework allows for human rights protection on a transnational level, while constructing regional identities. Looking at the four key regional integration processes, namely the Caribbean Community, the Central American Integration System, the Andean Community of Nations and the Southern Common Market, and also at the North American Free Trade Agreement, it shows how the integration process has reached a considerable degree of consolidation. Writing on key sources in English for the first time, this book will be essential reading for all free trade and human rights scholars.

Buxbaum: Transnational Legal Ordering and Regulatory Conflict

Hannah L. Buxbaum (Indiana Univ., Bloomington - Law) has posted Transnational Legal Ordering and Regulatory Conflict: Lessons from the Regulation of Cross-Border Derivatives (UC Irvine Journal of International, Transnational, & Comparative Law, Vol. 1, p. 91, 2016) Here's the abstract:

This paper is about the theory and practice of transnational legal ordering. It seeks to gain insight into how transnational legal orders advance by examining one particular problem: the regulation of over-the-counter derivatives. It focuses on events following the global financial crisis, which exposed the deficiencies of the existing regulatory order in identifying and containing the risks created by trading in those securities. In the aftermath of the crisis, the cross-border systemic risk created by OTC derivatives trading was characterized as a problem of global dimension that necessitated a global response. A wide array of actors and institutions, both domestic and international, mobilized quickly to craft a legislative and regulatory response. Given the catastrophic nature of the crisis, and the general manifestation of political will to address the problem, one might have predicted the successful development and institutionalization of shared norms regulating derivatives trading. That move, however, has been limited.

The paper begins by outlining the regulatory challenges resulting from the globalization of securities markets and describing the evolution of the international regulatory regime. It suggests that to the extent a transnational order has emerged in that area, it is characterized not by substantive norms that have settled across multiple national systems, but rather by conflicts norms guiding the allocation of regulatory authority among national systems. The paper then turns to the actions of regulators in the aftermath of the financial crisis. It analyzes the rulemaking process in the United States and elsewhere, considering the various actors and organizations involved in that process — from national regulatory agencies to international standard-setting bodies to multinational regulatory networks. This section investigates whether the financial crisis has precipitated the implementation of shared substantive norms within multiple legal systems. It concludes that it has not, and explores certain obstacles that have impeded the development of an effective transnational legal order in this area. The paper concludes with some observations about how the political economy of particular regulatory regimes intersects with the theory of transnational legal ordering.

Stephan: Competing Sovereignty and Laws' Domains

Paul B. Stephan III (Univ. of Virginia - Law) has posted Competing Sovereignty and Laws' Domains. Here's the abstract:

In the contemporary world, the domains of laws overlap a lot. With human activity (business, family, political, creative) unfolding at a greater distance as well as thickness, what people do increasingly implicates multiple sovereigns. Almost nothing important, whether it be a public act of a government or a transaction among private parties, goes forward without encountering overlapping domains. Assigning problems that arise in this behavior to particular legal domains is a pervasive issue.

What makes this issue immediately important, and not just a technical exercise in thinking about law, is the growth of the international-law enterprise over the last quarter-century. Both the ambitions and the institutions of international law expanded greatly in the decade after the collapse of the Soviet system. Even as they currently face assault from nationalist populists in the rich world and elsewhere, these institutions continue to play a critical role in many fields. Their influence means more frequent and more intrusive claims about the domain of international law to the derogation of national and subnational law. Such domain conflicts always existed, but they have grown in salience.

Rather than looking at the problem of international law nested within national legal systems in isolation, we can see this issue as a particular instance of the general problem of competition among sovereigns and the domains of their laws. Reframing the problem in this way lets us draw on a great body of practical experience. Legal actors wrestle with domain problems all the time and have worked out approaches that manage potential conflicts in a reasonably helpful fashion. As the ambitions of international law have grown, we see the same practice at work there.

This article offers the first systematic analysis of conflicts over domain assignments across different kinds of sovereignty. It provides five explanations for these patterns. The article begins by providing an account of the ways that domains overlap, the kinds of conflicts that may result, and how authoritative actors might resolve these conflicts. It proposes a rational-choice model that can explain consistent patterns of deference in domain assignments. The article then surveys the evidence in support of the model, drawing on examples from tax law, the law of federal courts, and international law. The article concludes by considering whether a systematic approach to domain assignments based on the rational interest of states should prevail. Why not give greater normative content to assignment rules?

Pronto: Irredentist Secession in International Law

Arnold N. Pronto (Office of Legal Affairs, United Nations) has posted Irredentist Secession in International Law (Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 103–122, Summer 2016). Here's the abstract:

Irredentism refers to the movement of people and territory from one state to another along with the modification of international boundaries and a transfer of sovereignty. Te concept, which originated in the nineteenth century, has been at the root of many territorial disputes since the Second World War. Te possibility of an irredentist outcome is rarely covered in the discourse on secession. This essay argues that irredentism is legally distinct from secession in the application of the principle of self-determination, the question of recognition by the international community, and the role of consent. It discusses the legal hurdles facing a people seeking to secede from one state in order to join another state, and outlines the contemporary legal framework applicable to irredentist secession based on the principles of territorial sovereignty, non-intervention and peaceful settlement of disputes. It concludes that international law significantly constrains the scope for irredentist secession as a legal and political phenomenon.

Sadat & Falconer: The UN International Law Commission Progresses Towards a New Global Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity

Leila Nadya Sadat (Washington Univ., St. Louis - Law) & Kate Falconer have posted an ASIL Insight on The UN International Law Commission Progresses Towards a New Global Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity.

New Issue: Chicago Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Chicago Journal of International Law (Vol. 17, no. 2, Winter 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Sungjoon Cho & Jürgen Kurtz, The Limits of Isomorphism: Global Investment Law and the ASEAN Investment Regime
• Daniel C.K. Chow, How the United States Uses the Trans-Pacific Partnership to Contain China in International Trade
• Vivian Grosswald Curran, Harmonizing Multinational Parent Company Liability for Foreign Subsidiary Human Rights Violations
• Jennifer M. Green, Corporate Torts: International Human Rights and Superior Officers/li>
• William Magnuson, Unilateral Corporate Regulation/li>
• Christopher N.J. Roberts, Grasping at Origins: Shifting the Conversation in the Historical Study of Human Rights

New Issue: Journal of Human Rights and the Environment

The latest issue of the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment (Vol. 7, no. 2, September 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Julia Dehm, Indigenous peoples and REDD+ safeguards: rights as resistance or as disciplinary inclusion in the green economy?
• Erin Daly & James R May, Bridging constitutional dignity and environmental rights jurisprudence
• Joshua C Gellers, The great indoors: linking human rights and the built environment

Mitchell, Heaton, & Henckels: Non-Discrimination and the Role of Regulatory Purpose in International Trade and Investment Law

Andrew D. Mitchell (Univ. of Melbourne - Law), David Heaton (Brick Court Chambers), & Caroline Henckels (Monash Univ. - Law) have published Non-Discrimination and the Role of Regulatory Purpose in International Trade and Investment Law (Edward Elgar Publishing 2016). Here's the abstract:

Central to this book is an analysis of the obligation upon states to ensure non-discrimination in the form of adherence to the principles of national treatment and most-favoured nation treatment. These are critical principles for both international trade law and international investment law, yet the case-law in both fields reveals significant inconsistencies regarding key elements of non-discrimination. Tribunals have invoked ‘regulatory purpose’ to assist in identifying relevant discrimination, but have done so without offering a definition of regulatory purpose and in significantly differing ways. This book explains these inconsistencies and offers a new definition of regulatory purpose.

Footer: The Panama Papers, corporate transnationalism and the public international order

Mary E Footer (Univ. of Nottingham - Law) has posted an ESIL Reflection on The Panama Papers, corporate transnationalism and the public international order.

New Issue: International Law: Revista Colombiana de Derecho Internacional

The latest issue of International Law: Revista Colombiana de Derecho Internacional (Vol. 14, no. 28, 2016) is out. Contents include:

• María Angélica Benavides-Casals, La Constitución Del Derecho Internacional, El Sueño De Un Reducto Jurídico Occidental
• Gustavo Emilio Cote-Barco, Responsabilidad Del Superior Jerárquico Y Responsabilidad Penal Por Omisión De Miembros De La Fuerza Pública En Colombia: ¿Convergencia Entre El Derecho Penal Nacional E Internacional?
• Facundo M. Gómez-Pulisich, El Diferendo Territorial Y Marítimo Entre Nicaragua Y Colombia: Ciertas Cuestiones Concernientes A La Soberanía Territorial Y A La Delimitación Marítima
• Jorge Leiva-Poveda, Tratamiento Sustantivo De Las Costas En La Jurisprudencia De La Corte Interamericana De Derechos Humanos
• William Fernando Martínez-Luna, La Ley Aplicable A Los Contratos De Distribución En El Reglamento De La Unión Europea 593/2008 (Roma I)
• Irene Soler-Noguera & Emilia Iglesias-Ortuño, Evidencias Respecto A La Mediación Penal En La Norma Europea

Job Openings: Helsinki (Four Positions)

As part of broader funding of research at the University of Helsinki, the Faculty of Law has opened four positions for assistant/associate professors or professors. The general announcement is here. The particulars on the four positions are here: Assistant/Associate Professor or Professor in Law and Digitalization; Assistant/Associate Professor or Professor in Law and Globalisation; Assistant/Associate Professor or Professor in Transnational European Law; Assistant/Associate Professor in Russian Law and Administration.

Call for Papers: Disaster Risk Reduction and International Law

A call for papers has been issued for a symposium on "Disaster Risk Reduction and International Law," to be held June 29-July 1, 2017, at the University of Reading. Here's the call:

Disaster Risk Reduction and International Law Symposium

University of Reading, UK - 29 June to 1 July 2017

The changing global landscape

The international community is grappling with the increasing frequency and severity of a broad range of ‘man-made’ and ‘natural’ disasters, through initiatives such as the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, Sustainable Development Goals 2015, and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The current global landscape governing disaster risk reduction (DRR) is therefore in a significant period of evolution. It is likely that the reach of DRR will extend into many different legal regimes, both in the development of ‘soft’ (non-binding policy) and ‘hard’ (formally binding) law governing a broad range of disasters.

Be part of the response

In response to this changing global landscape, a significant symposium will take place at the University of Reading between 29 June and 1 July 2017. It is organised by the University of Reading (School of Law, and the multidisciplinary Walker Institute).

This symposium, which will be framed around the principles and objectives underpinning the Sendai Framework, is a unique opportunity to discuss, debate, inform and progress the development of law, policy and practice governing DRR and disasters at the national, regional and international levels.

Join us and some of the world’s leading academics and professionals

The symposium is designed to bring together a multinational spectrum of participants drawn from across governmental, intergovernmental, private, NGO/civil society, academic and media sectors. Participants will comprise a mixture of those contributing papers and non-contributors informing wider discussions and debate. Whilst the discussions and papers will be framed primarily around international law and policy, other disciplinary perspectives which inform law and policy understanding are welcome also.

Programme

A mixture of:

• Keynote speakers - those confirmed so far include
  - Professor Virginia Murray, Consultant in Global Disaster Risk Reduction Public Health England, UK Government member on the UN International Strategy for Disaster Scientific and Technical Advisory Group since 2008
  - Eduardo Valencia-Ospina, International Law Commission Special Rapporteur on “Protection of Persons in the event of Disasters”
  - Ms Peri Lynne Johnson, Director and Legal Advisor, Office of Legal Affairs, International Atomic Energy Agency.
• Panel discussions
• Presentations of leading research
• Interactive activities
• Networking opportunities including through the planned social events

Further details of the programme will be available from early 2017. Preliminary details can be found in the symposium flyer: you are welcome to use this flyer to publicise the event on your own web pages or by e-mail to relevant contacts.

Output and Impact

The overarching sought impact is to inform and make recommendations regarding the development of national, regional and international law and policy governing DRR. A significant edited handbook is planned for publication by Cambridge University Press (subject to satisfactory completion of the formal peer review process).

Call for Papers

Papers are invited which examine one or more of the following research questions to be explored during the symposium, which should be framed around key principles and objectives of the Sendai Framework on DRR (see further guidance notes) together with the benchmark indicators recently agreed by the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Indicators and Terminology Relating to Disaster Risk Reduction (November 2016):

(1) What ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ law DRR related norms currently exist within international law, whether more generally or within specific legal regimes?

(2) How will/should DRR related law and policy develop within specific fields of law?

(3) What are the current and potential law, policy and/or practice implications of findings in (1) and/or (2) above, especially in relation to improving the coherence of DRR law at national/regional/ global levels, and associated implementation and enforcement mechanisms?

Adopted approaches should include: (a) regional or country-specific case studies; (b) theoretical/ conceptual frameworks; and/or (c) examples of state/non-state actor practice.

Anyone wishing to present a paper should submit a 500 word abstract outlining their proposed topic(s) together with a personal biography of no more than 200 words to drrsymposium@reading.ac.uk no later than Friday 17 February 2017. Decisions regarding whether or not proposed papers have been accepted will be communicated by mid/late March 2017.

Other key deadlines

(1) 15 June 2017 – submission of invited draft papers to symposium organisers for compilation. NOTE: no hard copies of these papers will be made available during the symposium. All participants will be given a USB memory stick during registration containing digital copies of all symposium materials submitted prior to the inclusion deadline.

(2) 15 July 2017 – notification to symposium organisers by participants wishing to contribute to the planned publication. Confirmation will be given shortly thereafter as to whether or not individual nominated papers have been accepted for inclusion within the planned book (subject to the final submitted version being of satisfactory quality and submitted on time).

(2) 30 November 2017 – submission of fully worked up book chapters to editors.

All notifications, submissions (abstracts, bios, papers, and book chapters) should be sent to drrsymposium@reading.ac.uk

Location

The symposium will take place within the award-winning campus of the University of Reading.

Reading is located approximately 50 km west of London. It is well-served by transport facilities, with fast and frequent rail links to central London, Oxford, Birmingham, Manchester and Southampton and to London/Gatwick airport, a frequent bus service to London's Heathrow airport, and three junctions from the M4 motorway.

Cost

The cost for each participant will include use of conference facilities, lunch, soft refreshments, reception and BBQ (29 June), and social/dinner (30 June).

Unfortunately, it will not be possible to offer any discounted symposium rate to participants giving papers.

A number of scholarships may be available too. Please contact the symposium organisers if you wish to be considered for one.

Sponsorship is currently being sought to keep symposium costs for participants to a minimum. Full details will be available in early 2017.

Accommodation

A number of premium en suite single rooms have been provisionally booked in the University of Reading Halls of Residence in close proximity (5-10 minutes walk) to the symposium venue. The cost is £73.20 per night including breakfast. These rooms will be allocated on a first come basis and may be booked directly online. Full payment is required at the time of booking - bookings will open in early 2017, and the booking link will be provided on this page at that time.

Alternatively, you may wish to make your own accommodation arrangements. A list of suggested hotels within the Reading area will be provided in early 2017.

Bookings

Bookings for symposium attendance and University accommodation may be made online, and will be possible from early 2017. The booking link will be included on this page as it becomes available). Please note that full payment will be necessary at the time of booking.

Notification of Intention to Attend

If you plan to attend the symposium and wish to be notified of when full booking details are available, please e-mail drrsymposium@reading.ac.uk with 'DRR symposium' in the e-mail heading, and we will e-mail you full details as they become available.

For further information, please contact drrsymposium@reading.ac.uk

Additional information for participants wishing to give papers

Framework for Symposium: Sendai Framework on Disater Risk Reduction (DRR) The symposium’s discussions and approach will be framed principally around the Sendai Framework on DRR in a number of ways:

(1) It will adopt the Framework’s broad approach to disaster risk management engaging with the spectrum of ‘natural’ and ‘man-made’ hazards together with related environmental, technological and biological hazards and risks.

(2) The adoption of such an all-encompassing approach necessitates the examination of many diverse legal regimes, notably their self-standing relationship with DRR, the increasingly interconnected and interstitial relationship between them in relation to DRR law and policy making, implementation, and enforcement. The symposium expects contributions from across many legal regimes of potential DRR relevance, which will enable examination of the Framework’s seven global targets for which law has a positive role to play in respect of their achievement.

(3) As with the Framework, the symposium will engage with the spectrum of available hard and soft law instruments necessary to achieve its objectives, ranging from national regulations, legislation, bilateral/(sub)regional/international treaties to non-formally binding arrangements and other measures (eg frameworks, guidelines, and codes of practice). It will consider existing, emerging as well as the requirement for new DRR law. Furthermore, the symposium will make recommendations regarding how the current coherence of DRR might be improved at all levels, and associated implementation and enforcement mechanism be strengthened.

(4) The complete disaster risk management cycle will be examined, namely prevention, mitigation, adaptation, preparedness, response, recovery/reconstruction including legal obligations relating to the overall objective to ‘Build Back Better’. Such examination will be informed by the Framework’s guiding principles, eg regarding the appropriate apportionment of state/non-state, public/private, actor responsibilities; accountability; protection of persons and their property, health, livelihoods, etc under but not limited to human rights and development law; improved protection of more vulnerable groups (eg women, children, the elderly and disabled).

Approach The symposium will reflect the Sendai Framework’s broad definitional approach to the concept of ‘disaster’. Consequently, expert substantive contributions are invited across a wide range of legal regimes relevant to DRR, including but not limited to: international human rights law, international refugee law, international environmental law, climate change law, law of the sea, (sustainable) development law, law of armed conflict, international trade law, international investment law, insurance law, planning and construction law, aviation law, space law, together with issues of food/water/energy security, global health, governance, and corruption. Additionally, the contribution of other disciplinary perspectives are being invited which contribute to the development and/or better understanding of the reach of DRR within legal regimes. As such, the adopted approach will be both intra- and inter-disciplinary, reflecting increasing global recognition (but not yet accompanying levels of practice) of the interrelated nature of diverse legal and non-legal disciplines to develop and implement real solutions to these global challenges.

Output and Impact The overarching sought impact is to inform and make recommendations regarding the development of national, regional and international law and policy governing DRR. A significant handbook (250K-300K words) is planned for publication. An initial book proposal has been agreed in principle with Cambridge University Press subject to completion of its peer review process once details of participants’ papers are known. The symposium will strengthen existing networks examining DRR and international law network.

Strauss: Returning Guantanamo Bay to Cuban Control

Michael J. Strauss (Centre d'Etudes Diplomatiques et Stratégiques) has published Returning Guantanamo Bay to Cuban Control (in Cuba in Transition: Papers and Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, 2016). Here's the introduction:

The revival of relations between the United States and Cuba since the end of 2014 has included the restoration of diplomatic ties, a limited easing of travel and financial restrictions, and new efforts to cooperate in areas ranging from law enforcement to the environment. However, a “full normalization” of bilateral relations is subject to resolving many outstanding issues. Among the main ones are a U.S. demand that Cuba compensate American interests for property seized during the Revolution, and Cuba’s insistence that the United States lift its trade embargo and return control of Guantanamo Bay to Cuba.

None of the outstanding issues is isolated — each can become interdependent with others in the negotiations to broaden relations — but every issue has distinct characteristics that can determine what might be done to address it. This paper focuses on identifying the legal and political options that may shape how the United States responds to Cuba’s demand for recovering control of Guantanamo Bay. It will also discuss some practical implications for both the United States and Cuba of satisfying this demand.

Call for Papers: 13th Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law (Reminder)

A reminder that the European Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its 2017 Annual Conference, which will be hosted by the Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, on September 7-9, 2017. The theme is: "Global Public Goods, Global Commons and Fundamental Values: The Responses of International Law." The call is here. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is January 31, 2017.

Börnsen: Nationales Recht in Investitionsschiedsverfahren

Nils Börnsen has published Nationales Recht in Investitionsschiedsverfahren (Mohr Siebeck 2016). Here's the abstract:

Das Verhältnis von Völkerrecht und nationalem Recht wird meist im Hinblick auf die Rezeption von Völkerrecht im nationalen Recht betrachtet. Dabei findet an vielen Stellen umgekehrt auch nationales Recht Eingang ins Völkerrecht und wird als solches in Entscheidungen internationaler Gerichte vielfach angewendet. Nils Börnsen untersucht die theoretischen Grundlagen der Anwendbarkeit nationalen Rechts im Völkerrecht anhand einer Betrachtung des Investitionsschutzrechts. Er untersucht dabei Existenz und Gestalt eines völkerrechtlichen Rechtsanwendungsrechts. Neben der Bestimmung der konkreten Rechtsgrundlagen für die Anwendung nationalen Rechts in Form von Verweisen untersucht er auch die Frage der richtigen Bestimmung und Auslegung des nationalen Rechts. Dem schließt sich eine Betrachtung der Grenzen der Anwendung nationalen Rechts im Falle von Normkonflikten zwischen Völkerrecht und anwendbarem nationalen Recht an. Hierbei kommen verschiedene rechtsordnungsinterne und -externe Kollisionsregeln einschließlich des Internationalen Ordre Public zur Anwendung.

Domestic law is often part of the applicable law for international courts and tribunals, especially in investor-state dispute settlement cases. Applicability, determination and interpretation of domestic law are governed by the conflict-of-laws rules of international law, which also provide a set of rules for the resolution of conflicts of norms between applicable domestic law and international law.

Bhandari: Global Constitutionalism and the Path of International Law

Surendra Bhandari (Ritsumeikan Univ. - Law) has published Global Constitutionalism and the Path of International Law: Transformation of Law and State in the Globalized World (Brill | Nijhoff 2016). Here's the abstract:

In Global Constitutionalism and the Path of International Law, Surendra Bhandari succinctly offers an account of the most important growth and features of international law from the perspectives of global constitutionalism. The author examines the concept from its constitutive features and the operative standards or modus operandi. These two aspects offer a new and innovative methodology in explicating the theory of ‘global constitutionalism’. By examining three cases: international trade (WTO), human rights, and the role of Security Council, the author demonstrates how the idea of global constitutionalism is shaping and deepening the path of international law in the 21st century and elucidates the development of international law as a body of positive rules.

Symposium: Reconsidering the Tax Treaty

The latest issue of the Brooklyn Journal of International Law (Vol. 41, no. 3, 2016) contains a symposium on "Reconsidering the Tax Treaty." Contents include:

• Symposium: Reconsidering the Tax Treaty
• Steven A. Dean & Rebecca M. Kysar, Introduction: Reconsidering the Tax Treaty
• Yariv Brauner, Treaties in the Aftermath of BEPS
• Allison Christians & Alexander Ezenagu, Kill-Switches in the U.S. Model Tax Treaty
• Tsilly Dagan, Tax Treaties as a Network Product
• Mitchell A. Kane, Location Savings and Segmented Factor Input Markets: In Search of a Tax Treaty Solution
• Michael S. Kirsch, Tax Treaties and the Taxation of Services in the Absence of Physical Presence
• Omri Marian, Unilateral Responses to Tax Treaty Abuse: A Functional Approach
• Diane Ring, When International Tax Agreements Fail at Home: A U.S. Example
• Adam H. Rosenzweig, “Thinking Outside the (Tax) Treaty” Revisited
• Fadi Shaheen, How Reform-Friendly Are U.S. Tax Treaties?
• Daniel Shaviro, The Two Faces of the Single Tax Principle

Call for Papers/Appel à contributions: Training, Ideas and Practices. The Law of Nations in the Long Eighteenth Century

A call for papers has been issued for a conference on "Training, Ideas and Practices. The Law of Nations in the Long Eighteenth Century," to take place May 18-19, 2017, in Paris. Here's the call:

CALL FOR PAPERS

Training, Ideas and Practices. The Law of Nations in the Long Eighteenth Century

(Paris, 18-19 May 2017)

The purpose of this conference is to explore the roots of international law and the various concepts related to the “law of nations” by looking at the legal language of diplomats and foreign offices in Europe during the long eighteenth century. The conference also aims to render the variety and complexity of specific mechanisms through which the law of nations was applied for diplomatic use, to explore social and cultural aspects, and to investigate the practical questions that diplomats frequently faced (N. Drocourt & E. Schnakenbourg (eds.), Thémis en diplomatie, PURennes, 2016).

The relationship between diplomacy and the law of nations is at best ambiguous. On the one hand, the law of nations seems to be a hybrid product of philosophical concepts and a digest of diplomatic practice. Lawyers have difficulty resisting the temptation to write a purely academic or genealogical history of the law of nations. The frequent invocation of authors such as Vattel as an authority seems to support this (P. Haggenmacher & V. Chetail (eds.), Vattel’s International Law from a XXIst Century Perspective, Brill, 2011). On the other hand, interaction in negotiations involves a lot more than invoked legal principles. A thorough analysis of diplomatic practice often reveals implicit rules within diplomacy as a social field (P. Bourdieu, Sur l’Etat, Seuil, 2012). Legal arguments are a part of this microcosm, but geopolitical determinants and state interests can bend and bow the use of legal language.

One of the main issues of this conference will be whether law of nations theories influenced diplomatic practice and at the same time whether diplomatic practice altered traditional law of nations concepts. Through fruitful dialogue between young legal historians, historians of political thought and historians of politics from France, Germany and other parts of Europe, we would like to explore and investigate three different scenarios in which law of nations theories emerged both in the practice and the doctrine of diplomacy:

1) Training of diplomats

Was the law of nations the basis of diplomatic education? Did diplomats also receive specific, in-house, foreign affairs training? Was it only theoretical or also based on practice and experience? Was there already a form of professionalisation of diplomats, especially in view of later developments in the 19th century (L. Nuzzo & M. Vec (dir.), Constructing International Law – The Birth of a Discipline, V. Klostermann, 2012)? Finally, to what extent can we envisage a common European diplomatic culture?

2) Circulation of ideas and diplomatic networks

What was the legal and intellectual background of the various traités du droit des gens? To what extent were legal expertise (G. Braun, La connaissance du Saint-Empire en France du baroque aux Lumières (1643-1756), De Gruyter, 2010) or legal rhetorics pragmatic tools used in everyday politics? For whom did thinkers such as Abbé de Saint-Pierre (1658-1743) write their treatises? The sovereign? Legal advisers? Public opinion? If the law of nations formed a kind of a common European diplomatic culture, how did it spread throughout Europe? Can we identify the same use in various diplomatic flows of the time? How were diplomatic networks organised? Can we find examples of specific territories - such as the principalities of Walachia and Moldova, between the Ottoman Empire and the “European” powers – functioning as kinds of “diplomatic hubs”?

3) Transformation

Is the diplomatic habitus of the Vienna Congress a turning point? Where did the transition from the 18th to the 19th century take place, both in theory and in practice? How important was the impact of Enlightenment and French Revolutionary thought (M. Bélissa, Fraternité universelle et intérêt national, 1713-1795, Kimé, 1998)? How far can we find echoes in diplomatic culture and correspondence?

We kindly invite young scholars (up to 6 years after PhD) to present their new research within French-German and European perspectives. All applications must be sent by 20 February 2017 with a short CV (5 to 10 lines) and a proposal of 400 words to diplomacyconference2017@gmail.com. Results will be communicated by 15 March 2017. This conference has received the generous support of the CIERA (Centre interdisciplinaire d'études et de recherches sur l'Allemagne, www.ciera.fr) as a colloque junior and will take place on the 18th (afternoon) and 19th (morning) of May 2017.

Papers can be presented in English, French or German. A peer-reviewed publication of the proceedings is envisaged.

Organising Committee

Raphael Cahen (Orléans/VUB-FWO)
Frederik Dhondt (VUB/Antwerp/Ghent-FWO)
Elisabetta Fiocchi Malaspina

Scientific Committee

Jacques Bouineau (La Rochelle)
Paul De Hert (VUB)
Dirk Heirbaut (Ghent)
Christine Lebeau (Paris I)
Gabriella Silvestrini (Piemonte Orientale)
Matthias Schmoeckel (Bonn)
Antonio Trampus (Venezia)
Miloš Vec (Vienna)

* * * * *

APPEL À CONTRIBUTIONS

Formation, idées et pratique. Le droit des gens dans le long dix-huitième siècle

(Paris, 18-19 mai 2017)

Les origines du droit international et les divers concepts du « droit des gens » seront au cœur d’une rencontre scientifique, portant sur l’étude du langage juridique des diplomates et des chancelleries européennes pendant le long dix-huitième siècle. Les mécanismes d’application spécifiques à travers lesquels le droit des gens fut invoqué pour une utilisation diplomatique ne se conçoivent pas en dehors des aspects culturels et sociaux, ou des problèmes pratiques que les diplomates avaient à trancher (N. Drocourt & E. Schnakenbourg (dir.), Thémis en diplomatie, PU Rennes, 2016).

La relation entre la diplomatie et le droit des gens est ambiguë. D’une part, le droit des gens semble un produit hybride de concepts philosophiques et une cristallisation de pratique diplomatique. Les juristes peinent à résister la tentation d’écrire une histoire purement académique ou généalogique du droit des gens. L’invocation fréquente d’auteurs tels que Vattel en est une indication courante (P. Haggenmacher & V. Chetail (dir.), Vattel’s International Law from a XXIst Century Perspective, Brill, 2011). Néanmoins, l’interaction de la négociation entraîne bien plus qu’une invocation de principes juridiques. Une analyse rigoureuse de la pratique diplomatique révèle des règles implicites au sein de la diplomatie comme champ social (P. Bourdieu, Sur l’Etat, Seuil, 2012). L’argumentation juridique relève de ce microcosme et doit donc être apprécié dans une sociabilité qui transcende les traditions juridiques nationales (L. Bély, L’art de la paix en Europe : naissance de la diplomatie moderne, XVIe-XVIIIe siècle, PUF, 2007). Toutefois, les déterminants géopolitiques et les intérêts d’État peuvent amender ou infléchir l’utilisation d’arguments juridiques.

Une question centrale sera d’essayer de savoir si les théories du droit des gens ont influé la pratique diplomatique, et si de son côté la pratique diplomatique a réussi à changer les concepts traditionnels du droit des gens. Un échange fructueux entre jeunes historiens du droit, historiens de la pensée politique et historiens « du politique » de France, d’Allemagne et d’autres traditions intellectuelles européennes permettra d’explorer trois scénarios différents à travers lesquels les théories du droit des gens émergeaient aussi bien en pratique qu’en doctrine diplomatique.

1) Formation des diplomates

Le droit des gens constituait-il le cœur de la formation diplomatique ? Qu’en fut-il des enseignements pratiques, organisés par les administrations étatiques des affaires étrangères ? Quel était le rapport entre les connaissances tirées de l’objet même de la négociation (la pratique) et celle dérivée des écrits qui font autorité dans nos traditions scientifiques ? Pouvait-on vraiment parler de professionnalisation, également eu égard aux développements du XIXe (L. Nuzzo & M. Vec (dir.), Constructing International Law – The Birth of a Discipline, V. Klostermann, 2012) ? Finalement, qu’en fut-il du caractère commun ou européen de la culture diplomatique des divers corps ?

2) Circulation des idées et réseaux diplomatiques

Les traités dévoués au droit des gens sont souvent étudiés en isolement, hors contexte, dans leur lignée intellectuelle ou académique. Cependant, qu’en fut-il de leur utilisation pratique ou de celle de l’expertise juridique plus générale (G. Braun, La connaissance du Saint-Empire en France du baroque aux Lumières (1643-1756), De Gruyter, 2010), comme outil rhétorique dans la politique quotidienne ? À qui s’adressaient les traités de penseurs comme l’abbé de Saint-Pierre (1658-1743) ? Le souverain, ou bien ses conseillers juridiques, ou bien l’opinion de la république des lettres ? Si le droit des gens constituait une sorte de culture diplomatique européenne commune, comment se diffusait-elle sur le continent ? Peut-on identifier des usages similaires dans les flux diplomatiques ? Comment les réseaux s’organisaient-ils ? Peut-on identifier des carrefours diplomatiques, tels que les principautés de Valachie et Moldavie, entre l’Empire Ottoman et les puissances européennes ?

3) Transformation

Le Congrès de Vienne (1815) fut-il vraiment un tournant pour le droit des gens ? Si nous pouvons identifier une transition, relève-t-elle de la doctrine juridique ou plutôt des idées politiques ? À quel degré la pensée des Lumières et de la Révolution a-t-elle impacté le droit des gens classique (M. Bélissa, Fraternité universelle et intérêt national, 1713-1795, Kimé, 1998) ? Dans quelle mesure la correspondance diplomatique en fut-elle le témoin ?

Nous invitons les jeunes chercheurs (jusqu’à six ans après soutenance de la thèse de doctorat) à présenter leurs recherches nouvelles, dans une perspective franco-allemande et européenne. Les propositions doivent être envoyées pour le 20 février 2017 au plus tard, accompagnées d’un CV concis (5 à 10 lignes) et d’un résumé de 400 mots au maximum (diplomacyconference2017@gmail.com). Les résultats seront communiqués pour le 15 mars 2017 au plus tard.

La conférence a reçu le soutien du CIERA (Centre interdisciplinaire d’études et de recherches sur l’Allemagne, www.ciera.fr) en tant que colloque junior. Elle aura lieu à Paris, le 18 mai 2017 (à la Maison de la Recherche), et le 19 mai 2017 (Fondation Biermans-Lapôtre, Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris). Les contributions peuvent être présentées en anglais, français ou allemand. Les frais de déplacement et d'hébergement pourront être pris en charge sous certaines conditions. Une publication soumise au contrôle des pairs est envisagée.

Comité organisateur

Raphael Cahen (VUB-FWO/Orléans-POLEN)
Frederik Dhondt (VUB/Anvers/Gand-FWO)
Elisabetta Fiocchi Malaspina

Comité scientifique

Jacques Bouineau (La Rochelle)
Paul De Hert (VUB)
Dirk Heirbaut (Gand)
Christine Lebeau (Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne)
Gabriella Silvestrini (Piemonte Orientale)
Matthias Schmoeckel (Bonn)
Antonio Trampus (Venise)
Miloš Vec (Vienne)

New Issue: Revue Générale de Droit International Public

The latest issue of the Revue Générale de Droit International Public (Vol. 120, no. 3, 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Ouverture
• Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade, Le Droit International contemporain et la personne humaine
• Articles
• Abdoulaye Soma, Le regionalisme africain en Droit international penal
• Sabrina Rovert-Cuendet, Crise ou renouveau du Droit des investissements internationaux? : réflexions sur l'objet des mécanismes de protection des investisseurs étrangers
• Catherine Colard-Fabregoule, Les principes directeurs de l'OCDE a l'egard des multinationals : contribution à l'étude de la circulation normative et au dialogue entre institutions à l'aune de l'exemple de la gouvernance environnementale

New Volume: Spanish Yearbook of International Law

The latest volume of the Spanish Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 19, 2015) is out. Contents include:

• The Classics’ Corner
• Oriol Casanovas y La Rosa, A debate over International Economic Law: The discussion between Adolfo Miaja de la Muela and Mariano Aguilar Navarro in 1971/72
• General Articles
• Nuria González Martín, Non Exceptional Exceptions: The Latest on The United State of America and Mexico Supreme Courts’ Hague Abduction Decisions (Lozano and Direct Amparo under Revision 903/2014)
• José Martín y Pérez de Nanclares, Legal considerations regarding a hypothetical unilateral declaration of independence by Catalonia: a legally unfeasible political scenario
• José Manuel Sobrino Heredia & Gabriela A. Oanta, The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements of the European Union and the Objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy : Fisheries and/or Development?
• Ana Peyró Llopis, Building a Security Council Resolution: When Numbers on Illicit Activities Matter
• Forum: As time goes by: Spain in the UN at 60s and EU at 30s!
• Xavier Pons Rafols, Spain in the United Nations: Sixtieth Anniversary
• Francisco Aldecoa Luzárraga, Spain’s contribution to the advancement and consolidation of the European political union
• Agora: The extraterritorial application of EU Law
• Montserrat Abad Castelos & Laura Carballo Piñeiro, An introduction by the guest co-editors of the Agora
• Carmen Pérez González, On Transparency, Good Governance and the Fight against Corruption: Some Lessons (and Questions) from an International Law Perspective
• María Asunción Cebrian Salvat, The Extraterritorial Application of European Contract Law
• Marta Ortega Gómez, European Union Intellectual Property Standards in the Framework of the ongoing Negotiations of a Free Trade Agreement between the EU and India
• Anabela Susana de Sousa Gonçalves, The extraterritorial application of the EU Directive on data protection
• Yi-Hsuan Chen, The EU Data Protection Law Reform: Challenges for Service Trade Liberalization and Possible Approaches for Harmonizing Privacy Standards into the Context of GATS
• Mistale Taylor, Flying from the EU to the US: necessary extraterritorial legal diffusion in the US-EU Passenger Name Record agreement
• Martyna Kusak, The Standards for Protection of Financial Information Gathered Within EU-US Cooperation in Criminal Matters. An Outline of the Existing Legal Framework and New Initiatives in Personal Data Protection
• Nesrin Suleiman, Concentrations between Non-European Enterprises and the European Merger Control Regulation
• Ricardo Pereira, The External Dimensions of the EU Legislative Initiatives to Combat Environmental Crime
• Nelson F. Coelho, Extraterritoriality from the Port: EU’s approach to jurisdiction over ship-source pollution

Thévenot-Werner: Le droit des agents internationaux à un recours effectif

Anne-Marie Thévenot-Werner (Université Paris 2 Panthéon Assas - Law) has published Le droit des agents internationaux à un recours effectif : Vers un droit commun de la procédure administrative internationale (Brill | Nijhoff 2016). Here's the abstract:

The right of international agents to an effective remedy demonstrates the existence of a common legal framework which applies to all international organisations and provides for the right to an effective remedy not only of their international civil servants, but of all their agents. At the same time, the study points out the deficiencies in the implementation of this right from the moment of the crystallisation of the dispute to the execution of the judgement. The detailed analysis of the legal framework within international organisations as well as of the international administrative case law of over twenty tribunals by Anne-Marie Thévenot-Werner serves as a guide for practitioners and researchers wishing to engage in this little-known but rich field.

Le droit des agents internationaux à un recours effectif met en lumière l’existence d’un cadre juridique commun applicable à toutes les organisations internationales prévoyant le droit à un recours effectif non seulement de leurs fonctionnaires, mais de tous leurs agents. Dans le même temps, l’étude met le doigt sur des lacunes dans la mise en œuvre de ce droit dès l’instant de la cristallisation du différend jusqu’à l’exécution du jugement. L’analyse détaillée des dispositions des organisations internationales et de la jurisprudence administrative internationale de plus d’une vingtaine de juridictions menée par Anne-Marie Thévenot-Werner sert ainsi de guide pour le praticien et pour le chercheur souhaitant s’immerger dans ce domaine méconnu mais dont la substance est particulièrement riche.

Workshop: Oceans and Space: New Frontiers in Investment Protection?

On March 10-11, 2017, Rainer Hofmann (Univ. of Frankfurt), Stephan W. Schill (Univ. of Amsterdam), and Christian J. Tams (Univ. of Glasgow) will again convene the Frankfurt Investment Law Workshop. The topic is: "Oceans and Space: New Frontiers in Investment Protection?" The program is here. Here's the idea:

Frankfurt Investment Law Workshop 2017: Oceans and Space: New Frontiers in Investment Protection? (10-11 March 2017)

For many years, the Frankfurt Investment Law Workshop – jointly organized by Rainer Hofmann (Frankfurt), Stephan W. Schill (Amsterdam), and Christian J. Tams (Glasgow) – has been a forum for the discussion of foundational issues of international investment law.

With activities ranging from energy production at sea via deep seabed mining to space mining, spacefaring and space tourism, areas beyond territorial sovereignty increasingly attract foreign investment. These investments raise questions that go to the core of investment law, but have so far hardly been explored, such as: How are commercial activities on the oceans or in space protected against political risk? What law, if any, protects them, and how does it balance commercial interests against regulatory concerns, including the environmental protection, national security, and the common heritage of mankind? How can disputes be settled in an effective and balanced manner?

The 2017 Frankfurt Investment Law Workshop will offer a systematic analysis of these issues by inquiring into traditional sources of investment protection, such as investment treaties, contractual arrangements, and domestic laws, and by addressing the interaction of the law of the sea, space law and international investment law. The Workshop will bring together academics and practitioners and provide them with a forum for open and frank exchanges. The Workshop program is available here; for edited collections that have grown out of earlier Frankfurt Investment Law Workshops see here, here, here and here.

If you are interested in attending, please contact Sabine Schimpf, Merton Centre for European Integration and International Economic Order, University of Frankfurt, E-Mail: S.Schimpf@jur.uni-frankfurt.de by 28 February 2017.

Delimatsis: Research Handbook on Climate Change and Trade Law

Panagiotis Delimatsis (Tilburg Univ. - Law) has published Research Handbook on Climate Change and Trade Law (Edward Elgar Publishing 2016). Contents include:

• Panagiotis Delimatsis, Introduction: Climate change and trade law—challenges for governance and coordination
• Thomas Cottier & Tetyana Payosova, Common Concern and the Legitimacy of the WTO in Dealing with Climate Change
• Anastasios Gourgourinis, Common but Differentiated Responsibilities in Transnational Climate Change Governance and the WTO: A Tale of Two ‘Interconnected Worlds’ or a Tale of Two ‘Crossing Swords’?
• Krista Nadakavukaren Schefer & Pablo Arnaiz, Duty to Protect, Climate Change and Trade
• Erich Vranes, Carbon Taxes, PPMs and the GATT
• Joel P. Trachtman, WTO Law Constraints on Carbon Credit Mechanisms and Export Border Tax Adjustments
• Sadeq Z. Bigdeli, Feed-in Tariffs and the WTO Regulation of Subsidies – A Moment of Progressive Adjudication in Canada – Renewable Energy
• Panagiotis Delimatsis, Sustainable Standard-Setting, Climate Change and the TBT Agreement
• Michaël Alder, Aik Hoe Lim, & Ruosi Zhang, Climate Change and Services Trade: What Role for the GATS?
• Matthew Rimmer, Trade Wars in the TRIPS Council: Intellectual Property, Technology Transfer, and Climate Change
• Vitaliy Pogoretskyy & Sergii Melnyk, Energy security, climate change and trade: does the WTO provide for a viable framework for sustainable energy security?
• Joseph A. McMahon, Food Security and Agricultural Trade: An Early Warning for Climate Change!
• Mark Wu, The WTO Environmental Goods Agreement: From Multilateralism to Plurilateralism
• Roy Andrew Partain, Climate Change, Green Paradox Models and International Trade Rules
• Margaret A. Young, Trade Measures to Address Climate Change: Territory and Extraterritoriality
• Emily Reid, EU Climate Law and the WTO
• Floor Fleurke, EU Climate Law and Human Rights: New Prospects for Judicial Environmental Activism?
• James Munro, Climate Change in the TPP and the TTIP
• Angelos Dimopoulos, Climate Change and Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Identifying the Linkages
• J. Anthony VanDuzer, The Complex Relationship between International Investment Law and Climate Change Initiatives: Exploring the Tension
• Julien Chaisse, Rules and Disputes on Foreign Investment in Renewable Energies – Exploring the Nexus of Trade and Investment Treaties
• Ludivine Tamiotti & Daniel Ramos, Climate change mitigation and the WTO framework

Breau & Samuel: Research Handbook on Disasters and International Law

Susan C. Breau (Univ. of Reading - Law) & Katja L.H. Samuel (Univ. of Reading - Law) have published Research Handbook on Disasters and International Law (Edward Elgar Publishing 2016). Contents include:

• Susan C. Breau & Katja L.H. Samuel, Introduction
• Christopher Newdick, Global Capitalism and the Crisis of the Public Interest – Sleepwalking Into Disaster
• Kirsten Nakjavani Bookmiller, Closing ‘The Yawning Gap’? International Disaster Response Law at Fifteen
• Susan C. Breau, Responses by States
• Kristian Cedervall Lauta, Human Rights and Natural Disasters
• Evelyne Schmid, Adverse human agency and disasters: a role for international criminal law?
• Tilman Rodenhäuser & Gilles Giacca, The international humanitarian law framework for humanitarian relief during armed conflicts and complex emergencies
• Tim Stephens, Disasters, international environmental law and the Anthropocene
• Tahmina Karimova, Sustainable Development and Disasters
• Leïla Choukroune, Disasters and international trade and investment law – the state’s regulatory autonomy between risk protection and exception justification
• Stefano Silingardi, Responses by private corporations
• Anastasia Telesetsky, An evolving role for law and policy in addressing food security before, during and after a disaster
• Tade Oyewunmi, Security implications of conflicts, crises and disasters in the international energy industry: legal and policy considerations
• Hà Lê Phan & Inga T. Winkler, Water security
• Marie Aronsson-Storrier & Haythem Salama, Tackling water contamination: Development, human rights and disaster risk reduction
• Michael Eburn, The international law of wildfires
• Walter Kälin & Hannah Entwisle Chapuisat, Displacement in the context of disasters and adverse effects of climate change
• Mary Crock, The Protection of Vulnerable Groups
• James A. Green, Disasters Caused in Cyberspace
• Simon Whitbourn, National Contingency Planning
• Thérèse O’Donnell & Craig Allan, A Duty of Solidarity?: the International Law Commission’s Draft Articles and the right to offer assistance in disasters
• Alison Bisset, Building Resilience in Post-Conflict Disaster Contexts: Children and Transitional Justice
• Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, Dispute Settlement in the Aftermath of Disasters