New Issue: Netherlands International Law Review

The latest issue of the Netherlands International Law Review (Vol. 64, no. 1, April 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Max Brookman-Byrne, Drone Use ‘Outside Areas of Active Hostilities’: An Examination of the Legal Paradigms Governing US Covert Remote Strikes
• Nicolette Butler & Surya Subedi, The Future of International Investment Regulation: Towards a World Investment Organisation?
• Farouk El-Hosseny & Ezequiel H. Vetulli, Amicus Acceptance and Relevance: The Distinctive Example of Philip Morris v. Uruguay
• Peter Mankowski, The European World of Insolvency Tourism: Renewed, But Still Brave?
• Marek Zilinsky, Mutual Trust and Cross-Border Enforcement of Judgments in Civil Matters in the EU: Does the Step-by-Step Approach Work?
• Hugh Thirlway, The Role of Non-State Actors: A Response to Professor Ryngaert
• Cedric Ryngaert, Non-State Actors in International Law: A Rejoinder to Professor Thirlway

Blank: Examining the Role of Law of War Training in International Criminal Accountability

Laurie R. Blank (Emory Univ. - Law) has posted Examining the Role of Law of War Training in International Criminal Accountability (Utah Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Since the Hague Convention in 1899, the law has required soldiers to be trained in LOAC. Indeed, disseminating the law of war and training soldiers to fight in accordance with the law is central to the effective implementation of LOAC. Training is, of course, prospective in nature; it is about taking measures in advance of military operations to maximize adherence to the law and minimize violations. At the other end of the spectrum lies accountability — efforts after the fact to identify, prosecute and punish those responsible for international crimes. As in other legal regimes, enforcement and accountability for violations of LOAC are key to effective implementation of and adherence to the law. This article explores the intersection between training and enforcement in the context of international criminal prosecutions. Neither training nor prosecution alone can fulfill the crucial need to maximize compliance with the law. Criminal prosecution, whether at the national or international level, plays a critical deterrent role, but will not be sufficient on its own to ensure protection of civilians. Training and other mechanisms for dissemination and education are key tools to ensure compliance with the law before and during armed conflict, to help prevent crimes from being committed in the first place. In the end, coordinated and concerted efforts across the spectrum of LOAC implementation — from training to accountability — are essential to promote LOAC’s key objectives: protect civilians, minimize unnecessary suffering and enable effective military operations.

At a much more specific level, however, training and accountability intersect directly in the context of criminal prosecutions where LOAC training — the fact of training, the lack of training, or the quality of training — plays a role in the prosecution of, or sentencing for, crimes before an international tribunal. Similarly, LOAC training has also proven to be relevant in assessing a state’s responsibility for violations of LOAC. Although rarely the determinative factor in assessing responsibility, LOAC training factors into the accountability and responsibility paradigms in several different ways. Understanding how and why LOAC training matters in the accountability context — for command responsibility, for mitigation or aggravation in sentencing, and even for state responsibility — is thus one more useful consideration in emphasizing the importance and purpose of training. Ultimately, the intersection between training and accountability highlights that no commander, no state, and no soldier can be a bystander, but rather must take the necessary steps to ensure that anyone under her command or acting on its behalf is equipped and dedicated to applying the law.

Conference: Silent leges inter arma?

On September 20-22, 2017, the Belgian Group of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War will host a conference on "Silent leges inter arma?" in Bruges. The program is here. Here's the idea:

This conference will bring together practitioners and academics active in the field of security and defence with parliamentarians and their collaborators from a wide variety of Countries, to discuss the following topics:

• The initiative for a new multilateral treaty for mutual legal assistance and extradition for domestic prosecution of crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes
• The UN Charter and the legal bases to resort to the use of force in light of contemporary security challenges
• Parliamentary oversight and democratic control over armed forces, in particular with regard to military deployments abroad and in domestic situations, including in situations of state of emergency
• Legal considerations pertaining to the use of armed forces in domestic situations in support of counter-terrorism efforts
• Targeting in complex situations
• The legal challenges in hybrid warfare
• A commentary on the ICRC commentaries on the Geneva Conventions
• The human rights of military personnel
• The Leuven Manual on International Law Applicable to Peace Operation

New Issue: International Security

The latest issue of International Security (Vol. 41, no. 4, Spring 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Keir A. Lieber, & Daryl G. Press, The New Era of Counterforce: Technological Change and the Future of Nuclear Deterrence
• Caitlin Talmadge, Would China Go Nuclear? Assessing the Risk of Chinese Nuclear Escalation in a Conventional War with the United States
• Aila M. Matanock, Bullets for Ballots: Electoral Participation Provisions and Enduring Peace after Civil Conflict
• Jonathan Mercer, The Illusion of International Prestige
• H. Zeynep Bulutgil, Ethnic Cleansing and Its Alternatives in Wartime: A Comparison of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian Empires
• Correspondence
• Andrew S. Erickson, Evan Braden Montgomery, Craig Neuman, Stephen Biddle, & Ivan Oelrich, How Good Are China's Antiaccess/Area-Denial Capabilities?

Annweiler: Die Bewirtschaftung der genetischen Ressourcen des Meeresbodens jenseits der Grenzen nationaler Hoheitsgewalt

Matthias J. Annweiler has published Die Bewirtschaftung der genetischen Ressourcen des Meeresbodens jenseits der Grenzen nationaler Hoheitsgewalt (Duncker & Humblot 2017). Here's the abstract:

Auf dem Meeresboden, an sog. »Hydrothermalquellen«, befinden sich lebende Mikroorganismen. Diese haben sich an die dortigen extremen Umweltbedingungen angepasst und besondere genetische Eigenschaften entwickelt. In der Staatengemeinschaft besteht Uneinigkeit darüber, wer zu Abbau und Nutzung dieser genetischen Ressourcen befugt ist. Das Völkerrecht bietet dazu hauptsächlich zwei Ansätze: Während das Prinzip der Freiheit der Hohen See jedem Staat nach dem Grundsatz »wer zuerst kommt, mahlt zuerst« Zugang zu den Ressourcen gewährt, gebietet das Prinzip vom gemeinsamen Erbe der Menschheit eine gerechte Aufteilung der Nutzungsvorteile unter allen Mitliedern der Staatengemeinschaft. Der Autor zeigt, dass diese fundamentale Frage von den bestehenden völkerrechtlichen Verträgen nicht beantwortet wird und weist eine völkergewohnheitsrechtliche Geltung des Prinzips vom gemeinsamen Erbe der Menschheit für diese genetischen Ressourcen nach. Schließlich macht der Autor Vorschläge für die Ausgestaltung eines neuen umfassenden Vertragswerkes zu deren Bewirtschaftung.

Call for Submissions: International Investment Law

The Revista de Direito Internacional/Brazilian Journal of International Law has issued a call for submissions for a special issue on "International Investment Law." Here's the call:

BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

SPECIAL ISSUE 2017.2

INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT LAW

The Brazilian Journal of International Law invites submissions for a special issue on International Investment Law to be published in August 2017. The issue will be edited by Professors Hervé Ascensio (School of Law of Sorbonne, Paris), Catharine Titi (CREDIMI, University of Burgundy / French National Centre for Scientific Research) and Nitish Monebhurrun (University Centre of Brasília).

Submissions on all aspects of International Investment Law are welcome. The following non-exhaustive topics can be considered for submissions:

1. the interaction of International Investment Law with other fields;
2. international Investment Law and regional integration;
3. the execution of arbitral investment awards;
4. the duties of investors and corporate social responsibility;
5. International Investment Law and the public interest;
6. international financial institutions and International Investment Law.

THE JOURNAL

The Brazilian Journal of International Law is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal which publishes three issues per year.

SUBMISSION PROCESS

Manuscripts may be submitted in English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish. Articles in English are strongly recommended. Manuscript revisions will be in the language of submission. Non-native speakers are strongly encouraged to have their paper read by a native speaker. The Journal will reject articles if the level of chosen language is insufficient.

It adopts a double-blind peer-review policy. The response from the first review will normally be provided within 30 days from the submission. Authors are expected to correct and return proofs of accepted articles within 10 days.

Authors should preferably hold a PhD and/or have a strong professional/academic background in International Investment Law at the time of submission. The editors will reject manuscripts before review if they are not suitable for the journal, e.g. because of inadequate or imprecise analytical development, inconsistent formatting or non-compliance with our submission guidelines, and poor writing style (this list is not exhaustive).

The deadline for submission is 31st May 2017.

COPYRIGHT

All content published by the Journal, except where identified, is licensed under a Creative Commons attribution-type BY-NC. This will ensure the widest dissemination and protection against copyright infringement of articles. The “article” is defined as comprising the final, definitive, and citable Version of Scholarly Record, and includes: (a) the accepted manuscript in its final and revised form, including the text, abstract, and all accompanying tables, illustrations, data; and (b) any supplemental material.

As an author, you are required to secure permission to reproduce any proprietary text, illustration, table, or other material, including data, audio, video, film stills, and screenshots, and any supplemental material you propose to submit. This applies to direct reproduction as well as “derivative reproduction” (where you have created a new figure or table that derives substantially from a copyrighted source). The reproduction of short extracts of text, excluding poetry and song lyrics, for the purposes of criticism may be possible without formal permission on the basis that the quotation is reproduced accurately and full attribution is given.

MANUSCRIPT STRUCTURE

Complete guidelines for preparing and submitting your manuscript to this journal are provided below.

The Journal considers all manuscripts on the strict condition that they have not been submitted elsewhere, that they have not been published already, nor are they under consideration for publication or in press elsewhere. Contributions must report original research and will be subjected to review by referees at the discretion of the Editorial Committee.

GENERAL GUIDELINES

• Manuscripts should be written in Times New Roman, size 12, space between lines 1.5 throughout the manuscript (including all quotations, endnotes and references).
• Pages should be numbered consecutively.
• Notes should be listed consecutively at the end of the article (endnotes), and clearly marked in the text at the point of punctuation by superior numbers. Endnotes should be used for clarification purposes only.
• Manuscripts must be submitted in Word format (.doc). PDF files will not be accepted.
• All the authors of a paper must attach their short curriculum vitae (CV), which must consist of a single one paragraph-text of 100-120 words in length, each. This is to be done online during the submission process.
• The affiliations of all named co-authors should be the affiliation where the research was conducted. If any of the named co-authors moves affiliation during the peer review process, the new affiliation can be given as a footnote. Please note that no changes to affiliation can be made after the article is accepted.
• All manuscripts submitted should be free from jargon and be written as clearly and concisely as possible. Non-discriminatory language is mandatory. Sexist or racist terms must not be used.
• All submissions should be made online.

FORMAT

Articles should be based on original research and develop an original argument falling within the scope of the journal. The articles are subjected to a blind-peer review and must include:

• Title
• Abstract of up to 200 words
• 5-7 keywords
• Main text
• References (at the end of the article)
• Footnotes
• Acknowledgements (if appropriate)
• Table(s) and Figure(s) with caption(s) (on individual files) (if appropriate)

FURTHER INFORMATION

For questions regarding the content of this special issue, please contact:

Professor Nitish Monebhurrun — Editor of the Brazilian Journal of International law
nitish.monebhurrun@gmail.com

Dr Catharine Titi – Guest Editor
catharine.titi@u-bourgogne.fr or cathy_titi@hotmail.com

Bodansky, Brunnée, & Rajamani: International Climate Change Law

Daniel Bodansky (Arizona State Univ. - Law), Jutta Brunnée (Univ. of Toronto - Law), & Lavanya Rajamani (Centre for Policy Research) have published International Climate Change Law (Oxford Univ. Press 2017). Here's the abstract:

This textbook, by three experts in the field, provides a comprehensive overview of international climate change law. Climate change is one of the fundamental challenges facing the world today, and is the cause of significant international concern. In response, states have created an international climate regime. The treaties that comprise the regime - the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the 2015 Paris Agreement establish a system of governance to address climate change and its impacts. This book provides a clear analytical guide to the climate regime, as well as other relevant international legal rules.

The book begins by locating international climate change law within the broader context of international law and international environmental law. It considers the evolution of the international climate change regime, and the process of law-making that has led to it. It examines the key provisions of the Framework Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. It analyses the principles and obligations that underpin the climate regime, as well as the elaborate institutional and governance architecture that has been created at successive international conferences to develop commitments and promote transparency and compliance. The final two chapters address the polycentric nature of international climate change law, as well as the intersections of international climate change law with other areas of international regulation.

Gallus: The Temporal Jurisdiction of International Tribunals

Nick Gallus (Three Crowns) has published The Temporal Jurisdiction of International Tribunals (Oxford Univ. Press 2017). Here's the abstract:

The period of an international tribunal's temporal jurisdiction is the span of time during which an act must have occurred before the tribunal may consider if the act breached an obligation. There are many questions concerning this particular aspect of an international tribunal's jurisdiction: Does a tribunal have power over acts that occurred after the entry into force of the obligation allegedly breached, but before the tribunal's jurisdiction was accepted? What about acts that began before the tribunal's jurisdiction was accepted but continued after? To what extent can acts before the period of the tribunal's jurisdiction affect its decision on whether or not there is a breach through acts afterwards? The Temporal Jurisdiction of International Tribunals examines these questions in depth.

Despite its importance, the temporal jurisdiction of international tribunals is not well understood. Tribunals often confuse different aspects of their jurisdiction and refuse to hear cases they should have heard, or agree to hear cases they should not. This book reduces this confusion by clarifying the different limits on the temporal jurisdiction of international tribunals and the important distinctions between those limits. The book examines the temporal limits resulting from (i) the entry into force of the obligation supposedly breached, (ii) the acceptance of the tribunal's jurisdiction, and (iii) from the period of limitation, as well as the effect of acts that occurred before these limits.

Throughout the book, the author comprehensively compares decisions from a wide variety of sources, including the International Court of Justice, Human Rights Courts, World Trade Organization panels, and investment treaty tribunals. It comments on decisions that arose from some of the most notorious events of the twentieth century, including the "Katyn Massacre" of the Second World War, the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and the "forced disappearance" of American political opponents. It reviews these decisions and identifies common principles that help define the temporal jurisdiction of tribunals to decide breaches of international law.

New Additions to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law

The Codification Division of the UN Office of Legal Affairs Affairs is pleased to announce the completion of the International Law Handbook, which contains a collection of instruments used by the Codification Division as study materials for its training courses under the Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law. This publication was prepared to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Programme in 2015 and to promote the teaching and dissemination of international law around the world. The International Law Handbook is intended to be used as a general work of reference and comprises four books, which can be accessed under the Research Library pillar of the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law website free of charge.

Additionally, a new lecture has been added to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law website by ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on "The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court: Successes, Challenges and the Promise of International Criminal Justice."

New Issue: International Peacekeeping

The latest issue of International Peacekeeping (Vol. 24, no. 3, 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Judith Verweijen, Strange Battlefield Fellows: The Diagonal Interoperability Between Blue Helmets and the Congolese Army
• Annie Herro, The Elusive UN Agenda: Transnational Advocacy, Political Opportunities and the Latest Campaign to Establish a UN Standing Force
• Moritz Schuberth, Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in unconventional settings: the case of MINUSTAH’s community violence reduction
• Haldun Yalçınkaya & Yusuf Özer, Another lesson learned in Afghanistan: the concept of cultural intelligence
• Selver B. Sahin, The rhetoric and practice of the ‘ownership’ of security sector reform processes in fragile countries: the case of Kosovo

Martin, Salonidis, & Hioureas: Natural Resources and the Law of the Sea

Lawrence Martin (Foley Hoag LLP), Constantinos Salonidis (Foley Hoag LLP), and Christina Hioureas (Foley Hoag LLP) have published Natural Resources and the Law of the Sea: Exploration, Allocation, Exploitation of Natural Resources in Areas under National Jurisdiction and Beyond (JURIS 2017). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Natural Resources and the Law of the Sea is a timely and in-depth investigation and analysis of the key issues across the law of the sea and natural resources disciplines, focusing on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and its application to natural resources. This volume, the second in the - International Law Institute Series on International Law, Arbitration and Practice, features edited transcripts of speeches from the recent International Law Institute (ILI) - Georgetown Law School conference on this topic from some of the most distinguished scholars and practitioners in the world supplemented by additional papers from a number of scholars, practitioners and various government officials addressing and complementing issues related to those discussed at the conference.

Heupel & Zürn: Protecting the Individual from International Authority

Monika Heupel (Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg - Politics) & Michael Zürn (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung; Freie Universität Berlin - International Relations) have published Protecting the Individual from International Authority: Human Rights in International Organizations (Cambridge Univ. Press 2017). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

International organizations (IOs) develop institutional provisions to make sure that their policies do not violate human rights. Accordingly, whilst IOs have a greater scope of action and ability to promote collective goods than ever before, they also have a greater capacity to do harm. Based on ten case studies on UN and EU sanctions policy, UN and NATO peacekeeping, and World Bank and IMF lending, this book examines human rights violations which can arise from the actions of IOs rather than those of states. It further explains how powerful IOs have introduced human rights protection provisions and analyzes the features of these provisions, including differences in their design and quality. This book provides evidence of a novel legitimation strategy authoritative IOs draw on that has, as yet, never been systematically studied before.

New Issue: Revista Latinoamericana de Derecho Comercial Internacional

The latest issue of the Revista Latinoamericana de Derecho Comercial Internacional/Latin American Journal of International Trade Law (Vol. 4, no. 2, 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Nicolás E. Rosero, Clausulas de Fork in the Road en Acuerdos Internacionales de Inversion: Insumos Para la Construccion de un Test Unificado
• Emilio Arteaga Vázquez, The Energy Overhaul’s Effects on Mexico’s Nafta Reservations Concerning Investments in the Oil Sector
• Marieke Koekkoek, Thinking Differently About Gats Mode 4 Negotiations on the Movement of Low Skilled Workers

Cubie: The International Legal Protection of Persons in Humanitarian Crises

Dug Cubie (Univ. College Cork - Law) has published The International Legal Protection of Persons in Humanitarian Crises: Exploring the Acquis Humanitaire (Hart Publishing 2017). Here's the abstract:

The instinctual desire to support those in need, irrespective of geographic, cultural or religious links, is both facilitated and overwhelmed by the extent of information now available about the multiple humanitarian crises which occur on a daily basis around the world. Behind the images of devastating floods and earthquakes, or massive forced displacements resulting from armed conflicts, is the all too real suffering faced by individuals and families. From the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami to the on-going conflict in Syria, recent years have seen an increasing debate regarding the international legal mechanisms to protect persons in such humanitarian crises.

The International Legal Protection of Persons in Humanitarian Crises argues that an acquis humanitaire is identifiable through the interconnected web of existing and emerging international, regional and national laws, policies and practices for the protection of persons caught up in humanitarian crises. Indeed, the humanitarian imperative to alleviate suffering wherever it may be found permeates various branches of international law, and is reflected in the extensive humanitarian activities undertaken by States and other actors in times of armed conflict, population displacement and disaster. Dug Cubie argues that by clarifying the conceptual framework and normative content of the acquis humanitaire, gaps and lacunae can be identified and the overall protection of persons strengthened. - See more at: http://www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/the-international-legal-protection-of-persons-in-humanitarian-crises-9781849468008/#sthash.h0vPVVaS.dpuf

Bradley: What is Foreign Relations Law?

Curtis A. Bradley (Duke Univ. - Law) has posted What is Foreign Relations Law? (in The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Foreign Relations Law, Curtis A. Bradley ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This draft first chapter of The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Foreign Relations Law considers what is potentially encompassed by the term “foreign relations law,” and what it might mean to think about it as a distinct field of law that can be compared and contrasted across national jurisdictions. The chapter begins by outlining some differences between foreign relations law and international law. It then describes the development of foreign relations law as a field of study within the United States and considers why, at least until recently, it has not been treated as a field in most other countries. Finally, the chapter highlights a central question for foreign relations law, which is the extent to which it (or at least some parts or elements of it) should be treated differently than other types of domestic law — a debate referred to in the United States as one over “foreign affairs exceptionalism.”

Festschrift in Honor of Henry J. Richardson III

The latest issue of the Temple International and Comparative Law Journal (Vol. 31, no. 1, Spring 2017) celebrates Henry J. Richardson III. Contents include:

• Jaya Ramji-Nogales, Introduction to the Festschrift in Honor of Henry J. Richardson III
• Antony Anghie, Slavery and International Law: The Jurisprudence of Henry Richardson
• Karen E. Bravo, Interrogating Everyperson’s Roles in Today’s Slaveries
• Daniel D. Bradlow, Using a Shield as a Sword: Are International Organizations Abusing Their Immunity?
• Natsu Taylor Saito, All Peoples Have a Right to Self-Determination: Henry J. Richardson III’s Liberatory Perspective on Racial Justice
• Mary Ellen O’Connell, Ending the Excessive Use of Force At Home and Abroad
• Jordan J. Paust, R2P and Protective Intervention
• Maxwell O. Chibundu, International Law and the Legitimation of External Coercive Measures in Aid of Internal Change
• Bartram S. Brown, The International Criminal Court in Africa: Impartiality, Politics, Complementarity and Brexit
• Obiora Chinedu Okafor & Uchechukwu Ngwaba, Between Tunnel Vision and a Sliding Scale: Power, Normativity and Justice in the Praxis of the International Criminal Court
• Ruth Gordon, Development Disrupted: The Global South in the 21st Century
• Chantal Thomas, International Trade and African Heritage: The Cotton Story
• Makau Mutua, The Richardson Escuela: Law as Politics
• Ziyad Motala, International Law and Human Empowerment: Moving Beyond a Paradigm of Subordination
• Rafael A. Porrata-Doria, Jr., The Lawyer as Historian: Professor Henry Richardson and the Origins of African American Interests in International Law
• D.A. Jeremy Telman, The African-American Interest in Higher Law in the Supreme Court: Justices Marshall and Thomas
• Jeremy I. Levitt, Beyond Borders: Martin Luther King, Jr., Africa and Pan Africanism
• James T. Gathii, Henry J. Richardson III: The Father of Black Traditions of International Law
• Jeffrey L. Dunoff, Fanfare for the Common Man: An Appreciation of Professor Henry Richardson’s Scholarship
• Michael P. Van Alstine, Prescience and Insight in International Law Scholarship
• Kevin Brown, Benefiting from Breaking the Color Barrier: Tribute to Professor Richardson for Being the Pioneer at Indiana University Maurer School of Law
• Adrien Katherine Wing, Henry J. Richardson III: A Critical Race Man
• Henry J. Richardson III, Appreciation: Festschrift

Call for Papers: 10th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

A call for papers has been issued for a conference on "10th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Conference to review progress and challenges," to be held at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. Here's the call:

10th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples:
Conference to review progress and challenges

Senate House, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London, UK

Friday, 20 October 2017

A decade on from the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in September 2007, the conference asks what progress has been made in securing indigenous peoples’ rights and what are the challenges remaining? While there is widespread recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples, including their right to their lands and resources and the right to be fully consulted to obtain their consent prior to activities affecting them, there are still countless areas of conflict in which rights are violated, peoples are displaced and lands despoiled.

The conference invites UK-based and international scholars and NGOs to share their research, experiences and reflections on the current situations of the world’s indigenous peoples 10 years after the Declaration’s adoption.

This conference is jointly organised and funded by: the Human Rights Consortium, School of Advanced Study, University of London; The City Law School, City, University of London; Queen Mary, University of London’s Centre for European and International Legal Affairs; and the University of Lapland. We are also grateful to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and the Academy of Finland for additional funding.

Call for papers:

We are issuing a call for papers on the following areas of interest but also welcome additional topics:

• Indigenous rights after the Declaration
• UNDRIP and compliance by non-state actors
• Rights excluded from the Declaration
• Free, prior and informed consent in practice
• Regional approaches to the Declaration
• Implementing the Declaration – what are future research needs?
• Monitoring indigenous peoples’ rights – existing tools or the case for a convention?
• Indigenous peoples and data collection and disaggregation: needs and best practices
• Indigenous cultural heritage rights

Please send paper proposals of up to 300 words, plus a short biography, by email to hrc@sas.ac.uk before 29 May 2017. Accepted applicants will be notified by 3 July 2017. Early career scholars are encouraged to apply. We also welcome panel proposals: please submit the names and the contact details of panellists, titles and abstracts of the papers and title and description of the panel/roundtable.

One output of the conference will be a special issue of the International Journal of Human Rights (published by Taylor and Francis). Conference papers will be invited to submit to the special issue.

For more information on the conference, please contact Dr. Julian Burger (julian.burger@sas.ac.uk) or Dr. Corinne Lennox (corinne.lennox@sas.ac.uk) at the School of Advanced Study, University of London.

Feibelman: Law in the Global Order: The IMF and Financial Regulation

Adam Feibelman (Tulane Univ. - Law) has posted Law in the Global Order: The IMF and Financial Regulation (New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

It is widely accepted that the framework of international financial regulation does not rely on traditional international legal institutions or arrangements. This conventional account misapprehends the scope of international monetary law and the role of the International Monetary Fund, a treaty-based international institution. It miscasts the Fund as only a monitor of its members’ compliance with agreements forged elsewhere. In fact, although the Fund is largely known for its conditional lending function, it is a regulatory institution charged with enforcing formal obligations of its nearly universal membership, including members’ obligations with regard to their financial policies. The Fund’s primary regulatory role is to conduct bilateral surveillance of its members’ performance of these obligations and multilateral surveillance to “oversee the international monetary system in order to ensure its effective operation.” Surveillance is thus a mode of enforcement, albeit one that relies primarily on persuasion and not on coercive sanctions. By misapprehending this regulatory function, scholars and commentators have underestimated the Fund’s potential impact on its members’ domestic and international financial policies and what that impact may tell us about global governance. This Article relocates the Fund within the framework of international financial regulation and describes its "financial surveillance." It observes that Fund surveillance has significant impact on its members' financial policies and proposes that this impact is, at least in part, due to the formal legal basis of its regulatory responsibilities and its members' obligations.

Fairlie: The Abiding Problem of Witness Statements in International Criminal Trials

Megan Fairlie (Florida International Univ. - Law) has posted The Abiding Problem of Witness Statements in International Criminal Trials (New York University Journal of International law and Politics, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Recent amendments to the Rules of Procedure and Evidence for the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) give Trial Chambers the discretion to admit unexamined, party-generated witness statements in lieu of live testimony. The use of this evidence—which undermines the right of confrontation and prevents the judges from independently assessing witness credibility—is now a hotly contested issue in each of the Court’s ongoing trials. As ICC judges grapple with the thorny question of how to implement these new provisions without undermining the right to a fair trial, this Article, which is the first to examine the rule amendments and their early implementation, looks to the history of international criminal justice for answers. It traces the tension between more efficient written testimony and the importance of assuring procedural fairness from Nuremberg and Tokyo through to the present day. It focuses in particular on the experience of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), whose rules served as a model for the ICC revisions, and it analyzes each of the rules imported from the ICTY from adoption to application. Through its thorough analysis of ICTY and ICC precedent, this Article identifies the fairness concerns that ought to shape the Court’s implementation of its recently revised rule, and highlights instances wherein the ICC has already fallen short of the mark.

The goal of this article is to encourage the international legal community to revisit its tacit acceptance of ICTY practice as imitable precedent. This can lead to a debate that prompts more careful consideration of, and seeks out fairness-enhancing alternatives to, the use of witness statements at the International Criminal Court.

New Issue: Global Environmental Politics

The latest issue of Global Environmental Politics (Vol. 17, no. 2, May 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Research Articles
• Ken Conca, Joe Thwaites, & Goueun Lee, Climate Change and the UN Security Council: Bully Pulpit or Bull in a China Shop?
• Yixian Sun, Transnational Public-Private Partnerships as Learning Facilitators: Global Governance of Mercury
• Marcel J. Dorsch & Christian Flachsland, A Polycentric Approach to Global Climate Governance
• Fred Gale, Francisco Ascui, & Heather Lovell, Sensing Reality? New Monitoring Technologies for Global Sustainability Standards
• Jon Birger Skjærseth, The European Commission’s Shifting Climate Leadership
• Torbjørg Jevnaker & Jørgen Wettestad, Ratcheting Up Carbon Trade: The Politics of Reforming EU Emissions Trading
• Kemi Fuentes-George, Consensus, Certainty, and Catastrophe: Discourse, Governance, and Ocean Iron Fertilization
• Book Review Essay
• Garrett Graddy-Lovelace, Beyond Biodiversity Conservation: Why Policy Needs Social Theory, Social Theory Needs Justice, and Justice Needs Policy

Mälksoo: Sources of International Law in the 19th Century European Tradition: Insights from Practice and Theory

Lauri Mälksoo (Univ. of Tartu - Law) has posted Sources of International Law in the 19th Century European Tradition: Insights from Practice and Theory (in The Oxford Handbook on the Sources of International Law, Jean d’Aspremont & Samantha Besson eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

How were sources of international law seen at a time before the were 'codified' in the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice in 1920? Was there a struggle between positivist and natural law ideas as often postulated in the literature? The article examines both the theory and practice of international law in the late 19th century and discusses how we ended up with the catalogue of sources of international law as we currently have it in Article 38 of the Statute of the ICJ.

New Issue: New York University Journal of International Law and Politics

The latest issue of the New York University Journal of International Law and Politics (Vol. 49, no. 1, Fall 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Anthony J. Colangelo, A Systems Theory of Fragmentation and Harmonization
• Manuel Casas, Nationalities of Convenience, Personal Jurisdiction, and Access to Investor-State Dispute Settlement
• Christopher R. Rossi, The International Community, South Sudan, and the Responsibility to Protect

New Issue: Polish Review of International and European Law

The latest issue of the Polish Review of International and European Law (Vol. 4, no. 1, 2015) is out. Contents include:

• Radosław Zenderowski & Krzysztof Cebul, Post-Modern Wars as a Challenge for the Theory of International Relations and International Law
• Magdalena Inglot, Separability of or Overlap between Public Policy and Procedural Grounds for Refusal of Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards under the New York Convention
• Robert Grzeszczak & Magdalena Gniadzik, The Right of European Union citizens and their family members to move freely within the territory of Member States (in the Light of the Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Oliari v. Italy)

New Volume: Berichte der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Völkerrecht

The latest volume of the Berichte der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Völkerrecht (Vol. 48) is out. Edited by Stephan Hobe & Thilo Marauhn, the theme is "Lehre des internationalen Rechts – zeitgemäß?"

Kolb: The International Law of State Responsibility: An Introduction

Robert Kolb (Univ. of Geneva - Law) has published The International Law of State Responsibility: An Introduction (Edward Elgar Publishing 2017). Here's the abstract:

This highly readable book examines the law of State responsibility, presenting it as a fundamental aspect of public international law. Covering the key aspects of the topic, it combines a clear overview with use of specific case studies in order to provide a deeper understanding. The concise chapters are organized into two parts. Part One provides a structural overview of the law, with up-to-date coverage of practice and case law reflecting the key international law reports. Part Two offers specific case studies, asking probing questions in order to explore how the international legal order deals with breaches of its norms and what rights and faculties are accorded to the aggrieved State.

Dothan: Social Networks and the Enforcement of International Law

Shai Dothan (Univ. of Copenhagen - iCourts) has posted Social Networks and the Enforcement of International Law (in Research Handbook on the Sociology of International Law, Andrew Lang & Moshe Hirsch eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Social Network Analysis has a growing influence on legal scholarship. By investigating social connections between individuals or institutions, hypotheses about their behavior can be raised and tested. One of the key debates in Social Network Analysis is whether interactions within the network can help improve the information held by its members (the "Bandwidth hypothesis") or do they instead corrupt the information held by the members by amplifying their biases (the "Echo hypothesis"). The paper argues that the network of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) which try to enforce the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on recalcitrant states processes information well and complies with the Bandwidth hypothesis. It draws on an earlier empirical study that used both quantitative and qualitative methods to show that NGOs focus most of their attention on severe violations and legally important cases. This study also showed that NGOs tend to focus on states that usually comply with international law rather than states that usually violate their international obligations. This finding has valuable implications for the understanding of reputational sanctions among states in the international arena.

Conference: Exploring the Human Element of the Oceans: The Gender Implications of the Law of the Sea

On May 25-26, 2017, the School of Law of the Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca will hold a conference on "Exploring the Human Element of the Oceans: The Gender Implications of the Law of the Sea," in Milan The program is here. Here's the idea:

The conference stems from an empirical consideration: international law of the sea, including maritime law, has been traditionally silent about the role played by women at sea, and this is very much the case still today. Regulation is scant and scholarly research almost non-existent. The growing interest of scholars in the analysis of law of the sea and maritime law from a more human-oriented approach, in an attempt to integrate the human element into the law of the sea rules, has led to multiple interconnections between these two fields and international human rights law. However, none of these efforts have broached the impact of gender and women at sea. Yet, the issue is far from idle: women are increasingly accessing maritime careers and states and private actors are faced with the ensuing issues. In particular, the contribution of women in small- and medium-scale commercial fisheries is paramount, although often unrecognised and unregulated. The role of women as active agents and participants has been overlooked and international law of the sea still largely qualifies as a “male affair”. At the same time, women constitute also a vulnerable group in international law of the sea, as they are more likely to be subject to trafficking, torture, and sexual abuses at seas, whether they end up there as seafarers, members of national navies, passengers or victims of trafficking. Furthermore, after the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action set the agenda for reaching women’s rights, gender equality has been placed at the frontline on the 2000 Millennium Development Goals. The MDG call upon the UN, the international community and civil society to adopt action and policies of gender mainstreaming tailored to achieve the equality commitments. At the institutional level, the need to recognise and strengthen the capacity of women in the maritime sector is currently addressed by the International Maritime Organization, the International Labour Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization, and has been recently recalled also by the Secretary General of the United Nations in his 2014 and 2015 Reports to the General Assembly on Oceans and Law of the Sea.

The purpose of the conference is therefore to open up this field of research to the academic and professional communities, by mapping the existing international legal framework and discussing whether existing norms provide adequate protection for both women and men at sea and sufficient tools to strengthen their capacity to engage in a productive manner in this area. Questions that the conference intends to explore include: Is international law of the sea gender neutral, or does it reflect a male perspective that eventually marginalises women? What can be said about the role of international human rights law in providing protection to women at sea? Should a re-evaluation or re-interpretation of the system be taken into account in order to integrate a gender perspective? What are the most relevant areas in the law of the sea and maritime law where women play a major role or face particular hardships? How can their role be strengthened and women themselves be empowered?

Rossi: Sovereignty and Territorial Temptation: The Grotian Tendency

Christopher Rossi (Univ. of Iowa - Law) has published Sovereignty and Territorial Temptation: The Grotian Tendency (Cambridge Univ. Press 2017). Here's the abstract:

This powerful book stands on its head the most venerated tradition in international law and discusses the challenges of scarcity, sovereignty, and territorial temptation. Newly emergent resources, accessible through global climate change, discovery, or technological advancement, highlight time-tested problems of sovereignty and challenge liberal internationalism's promise of beneficial or shared solutions. From the High Arctic to the hyper-arid reaches of the Atacama Desert, from the South China Sea to the history of the law of the sea, from doctrinal and scholarly treatments to institutional forms of global governance, the historically recurring problem of territorial temptation in the ageless age of scarcity calls into question the future of the global commons, and illuminates the tendency among states to share resources, but only when necessary.

Dawidowicz: Third-Party Countermeasures in International Law

Martin Dawidowicz (Stockholms Universitet - Law) has published Third-Party Countermeasures in International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2017). Here's the abstract:

The use of third-party countermeasures is an increasingly common phenomenon in international relations, yet their legal position remains uncertain. Providing the first systematic and comprehensive study of this key concept in international law, Martin Dawidowicz explores the position of third-party countermeasures and their safeguards regime based on the development of ideas on countermeasures in the UN International Law Commission and a thorough examination of state practice. The book clarifies the position of third-party countermeasures in international law, and in doing so challenges some widely held assumptions about the likely impact of a regime of third-party countermeasures on international relations. It will be of interest to international law and relations scholars and students, diplomats, policy makers, international civil servants and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the field of human rights.

New Issue: International Organization

The latest issue of International Organization (Vol. 71, no. S1, Supplement 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Emilie M. Hafner-Burton, Stephan Haggard, David A. Lake, & David G. Victor, The Behavioral Revolution and International Relations
• Brian C. Rathbun, Joshua D. Kertzer, & Mark Paradis, Homo Diplomaticus: Mixed-Method Evidence of Variation in Strategic Rationality
• Richard K. Herrmann, How Attachments to the Nation Shape Beliefs About the World: A Theory of Motivated Reasoning
• Sungmin Rho & Michael Tomz, Why Don't Trade Preferences Reflect Economic Self-Interest?
• Joshua D. Kertzer, Resolve, Time, and Risk
• A. Burcu Bayram, Due Deference: Cosmopolitan Social Identity and the Psychology of Legal Obligation in International Politics
• Dustin Tingley, Rising Power on the Mind
• Jonathan Renshon, Julia J. Lee, & Dustin Tingley, Emotions and the Micro-Foundations of Commitment Problems
• Elizabeth N. Saunders, No Substitute for Experience: Presidents, Advisers, and Information in Group Decision Making
• Janice Gross Stein, The Micro-Foundations of International Relations Theory: Psychology and Behavioral Economics
• Robert Powell, Research Bets and Behavioral IR

Pascale: La tutela internazionale dei diritti dell’uomo nel continente africano

Giuseppe Pascale (Università "La Sapienza" di Roma - Law) has published La tutela internazionale dei diritti dell'uomo nel continente africano (Jovene Editore 2017). Here's the abstract:

It is well known that contemporary international law is influenced, at least as for the content of its norms, by a great sensitiveness for the topic of human rights. As a consequence, the doctrine gives nowadays great importance to the problems linked to human rights law. However, often unconsciously, the majority of authors assumes as a matter of fact that human rights law is dominated by a sort of ‘western’ paradigm. So, the doctrine has already written a lot on the treaties, resolutions and mechanisms operating under the aegis of the United Nations. Similarly, on a regional level, the European Human Rights System has always been at the core of a huge number of scientific analysis, while the American Human Rights System has recently begun to stimulate the doctrine. As for the African Human Rights System, several authors have dealt with some of its aspects, even if a complete and critical monograph on this topic has never been published. This book examines the whole African Human Rights System, with special focus on the peculiarities of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, both as for its content and as for its structure. This book also dwells on the African Commission and on the African Court, respectively the quasi-jurisdictional organ and the jurisdictional organ in charge of controlling the respect of the African Charter by the African States. Particular attention is given to the later developments concerning the African Court, which is going to be merged with the Court of Justice of the African Union in the new single African Court of Justice and Human Rights. Then, the 2014 Malabo Protocol is assessed in order to understand the impact on the regional human rights system of the project to add a new competence in the field of criminal international law to the aforementioned single African Court. The main aim of the book is to evaluate the efficiency of the international protection of human rights in the African continent. This aim is reached only to a certain extant according to a comparative analysis with the other two regional systems, which are considered only when necessary. In fact, they have not to be considered as ideal aspirations to which the African Human Rights System has the ambition to resemble. The efficiency of the African Human Rights System is better examined in the light of the cultural, economical, political and social background of the African continent.

New Issue: World Trade Review

The latest issue of the World Trade Review (Vol. 16, no. 2, April 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Chad P. Bown & Petros C. Mavroidis, WTO Dispute Settlement in 2015: Going Strong after Two Decades
• Dukgeun Ahn & Maurizio Zanardi, China–HP-SSST: Last Part of Growing Pains?
• Ben Zissimos & Jan Wouters, US–Shrimp II (Vietnam): Dubious Application of Anti-Dumping Duties – Should Have Used Safeguards
• Julia Qin & Hylke Vandenbussche, China–GOES (Article 21.5): Time to Clarify the Standard for Price Suppression and Price Depression in AD/CVD Investigations
• Arevik Gnutzmann-Mkrtchyan & Simon Lester, Does Safeguards Need Saving? Lessons from the Ukraine–Passenger Cars Dispute
• Chad P. Bown & Jennifer A. Hillman, Foot-and-Mouth Disease and Argentina's Beef Exports: The WTO's US–Animals Dispute
• Kamal Saggi & Mark Wu, Trade and Agricultural Disease: Import Restrictions in the Wake of the India–Agricultural Products Dispute
• Gregory Shaffer & L. Alan Winters, FTA Law in WTO Dispute Settlement: Peru–Additional Duty and the Fragmentation of Trade Law
• Cary Coglianese & André Sapir, Risk and Regulatory Calibration: WTO Compliance Review of the US Dolphin–Safe Tuna Labeling Regime
• Paola Conconi & Harm Schepel, Argentina–Import Measures: How a Porsche is worth Peanuts
• Chad P. Bown & Rachel Brewster, US–COOL Retaliation: The WTO's Article 22.6 Arbitration
• Petros C. Mavroidis, Niall Meagher, Thomas J. Prusa, & Tatiana Yanguas, Ask for the Moon, Settle for the Stars: What is a Reasonable Period to Comply with WTO Awards?

New Issue: Leiden Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Leiden Journal of International Law (Vol. 30, no. 2, June 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Editorial
• Geoff Gordon, Indicators, Rankings and the Political Economy of Academic Production in International Law
• International Legal Theory
• Dana Burchardt, Intertwinement of Legal Spaces in the Transnational Legal Sphere
• Urška Šadl & Henrik Palmer Olsen, Can Quantitative Methods Complement Doctrinal Legal Studies? Using Citation Network and Corpus Linguistic Analysis to Understand International Courts
• International Law and Practice
• Lorenzo Cotula, Democracy and International Investment Law
• Pietro Ortolani, Are Bondholders Investors? Sovereign Debt and Investment Arbitration after Poštová
• Leon Trakman & Hugh Montgomery, The ‘Judicialization’ of International Commercial Arbitration: Pitfall or Virtue?
• Daragh Murray, Non-State Armed Groups, Detention Authority in Non-International Armed Conflict, and the Coherence of International Law: Searching for a Way Forward
• Hague International Tribunals: International Court of Justice
• Asier Garrido-Muñoz, Managing Uncertainty: The International Court of Justice, ‘Objective Reasonableness’ and the Judicial Function
• International Criminal Courts and Tribunals
• Marina Aksenova, Symbolism as a Constraint on International Criminal Law
• Mikkel Jarle Christensen, Crafting and Promoting International Crimes: A Controversy among Professionals of Core-Crimes and Anti-Corruption
• Shannon Fyfe, Tracking Hate Speech Acts as Incitement to Genocide in International Criminal Law

Føllesdal: Towards a More Just WTO: Which Justice, Whose Interpretation?

Andreas Føllesdal (Univ. of Oslo - Law) has posted Towards a More Just WTO: Which Justice, Whose Interpretation? (in The Legitimacy of International Trade Tribunals, Robert Howse, Helene Ruiz Fabri, Qingzi Zang, Ole Kristian Fauchald & Geir Ulfstein eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The WTO is often criticized as promoting global injustice. Critics of many such protests against the WTO may firstly dismiss the objections as ‘category mistakes’, holding that standards of justice cannot apply to entities such as the WTO system. A second line of response would be that even granting that there are such risks, several reform proposals are ill-founded. To alleviate whatever injustice the WTO system is complicit in, less radical changes than fundamental treaty changes may suffice.

The present chapter challenges the first of these counter-arguments, and supports the second, as regards WTO and global distribute justice. The chapter leaves urgent issues of the environment and many human rights concerns aside – though some of the arguments are also relevant for some of these issues. The focus is on the WTO dispute settlement mechanism (DSM, ‘Mechanism’), especially the adjudicatory panels and the Appellate Body (‘AB’).

This article has three main objectives. It firstly defends the diagnoses that the WTO system contributes to global distributive injustice, against some potentially devastating criticisms. The substantive contents of the principles of global justice are not central to the arguments, but to fix ideas the next section of this introduction sketches the contours of such principles.

The second objective is to challenge the prescriptions many critics hitherto have promoted, for two main reasons. Section 4 argues that principles of global justice for the GBS as a whole drastically underdetermine reform proposals for the Mechanism. Furthermore, many critics underestimate the scope of discretion international judges and panel members enjoy in interpreting and specifying treaties. The upshot is that broad scale reforms may be neither possible nor effective – but also not necessary. Radical treaty changes are unlikely since many of them require consensus among states. Instead, the AB may change its interpretative practice to make significant moves toward a more just WTO system. The third contribution, in sections 5 and 6, is to start to explore ways that the existing WTO system may become more just if members of the panels and of the AB develop their interpretive standards in one or more of four ways.

Haftel: BRICS and the Global Investment Regime

Yoram Z. Haftel (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem - International Relations) has posted BRICS and the Global Investment Regime (in BRICs and the Global Economy, Soo Yeon Kim ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

What role do Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) play in the global investment regime and what policies do they espouse? How can we account for similarities among and differences across these countries with respect to their approach to international investment agreements (IIAs) and investment arbitration? What are their implications for the future of this regime? This study addresses these questions by situating emerging market economies in the persistent North-South divide, that is endemic to the global politics of foreign direct investment (FDI). Surveying the policies of the five countries since the 1980s, it shows that all were initially motivated to provide foreign investors with protection against political risk in order to attract FDI. As their own position in the global economy has changed and the rules of the regime itself have evolved, the investment policies of the BRICS countries have transformed, albeit in distinct ways. China and, to a lesser extent, Russia appear broadly content with the current state of affairs. Brazil, India, and South Africa, on the other hand, seem to object to current rules, which they view as overly protective of foreign investors at the expense of host state regulatory space. I argue and show that two factors – the amount of FDI outflows and regime type – usefully account for the observed variation across BRICS' international investment policies, but that more research is needed to fully understand this matter. Regardless its sources, the diversity between the BRICS countries suggests that the prospects of them shaping the rules of the global investment regime, either individually or collectively, are rather bleak.

New Issue: Questions of International Law

The latest issue of Questions of International Law / Questioni di Diritto Internazionale (no. 38, 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Back to consistency? The relationship between UNSC resolutions and the ECHR after the Grand Chamber’s decision in Al-Dulimi II
• Introduced by Maurizio Arcari
• Vassilis P. Tzevelekos, The Al-Dulimi Case before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights: Business as usual? Test of Equivalent Protection, (Constitutional) Hierarchy and Systemic Integration
• Iris Canor, Beyond the ‘spirit of systemic harmonization’: The devil is in the details

Hernandez-Truyol & Virzo: Orientamento sessuale, identità di genere e tutela dei minori. Profili di diritto internazionale e di diritto comparato

Berta Esperanza Hernandez-Truyol (Univ. of Florida - Law) & Roberto Virzo (Università del Sannio - Law) have published Orientamento sessuale, identità di genere e tutela dei minori. Profili di diritto internazionale e di diritto comparato (Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane 2016). Contents include:

• Marco Silvaggi, Aspetti psicologici nell’adolescente omosessuale
• Berta Esperanza Hernández-Truyol, La juventud y las familias LGBTI como poblaciones vulnerables: mito y realidad de las protecciones legales
• Andreas R. Ziegler & Julie Kuffer, Orientation sexuelle et identité de genre des mineurs en droit international
• Roberto Virzo, La Convenzione delle Nazioni Unite sui diritti del fanciullo e l’orientamento sessuale dei minori
• Daniel Angelo Borrillo, Les structures élémenaires de l’homoparenté
• Maria Chiara Vitucci, El best interest of the child, gran ausente en las decisiones del Tribunal europeo de los derechos humanos en materia de adopción
• Luca Paladini, La familia homoparental en la jurisprudencia de la Corte interamericana de derechos umanos
• Giulia Rossolillo, Superiore interesse del minore e continuità dello status: recenti sviluppi in materia di riconoscimento delle adozioni omoparentali in Italia
• Rosanna Pane, Unioni Same-sex e adozioni in casi particolari
• Nicola Cipriani, Le adozioni nelle famiglie omogenitoriali in Italia dopo la l. n. 76 del 2016
• Jonátan Cruz Ángeles, La doctrina del Tribunal europeo de derechos humanos y su influencia en la regulación brasileña de los nuevos modelos de familia

Schultz & Ridi: Comity and International Courts and Tribunals

Thomas Schultz (King's College London – Law) & Niccolò Ridi (King's College London – Law) have posted Comity and International Courts and Tribunals (Cornell International Law Journal, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Comity plays an important and underestimated role in many efforts to coordinate legal regimes. In this regard, it has a place in the theory and practice of modern public international law adjudication. Its exact place is what this article seeks to examine. It starts with a conceptual discussion of comity in private and public international law, then reviews the types of problems for which its use has been considered, and finally discusses and classifies all the publicly available decisions by international courts and tribunals using the term ‘comity’.

d'Aspremont, Gazzini, Nollkaemper, & Werner: International Law as a Profession

Jean d'Aspremont (Univ. of Manchester - Law; Universiteit van Amsterdam - Law), Tarcisio Gazzini (Univ. of Lausanne), André Nollkaemper (Universiteit van Amsterdam - Law), & Wouter Werner (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam - Law) have published International Law as a Profession (Cambridge Univ. Press 2017). Contents include:

• Jean d'Aspremont, Tarcisio Gazzini, André Nollkaemper, & Wouter Werner, Introduction
• Jean d'Aspremont, The professionalization of international law
• Martti Koskenniemi, Between commitment and cynicism: outline for a theory of international law as practice
• Alexandra Bohm & Richard Collins, The (academic) profession of international law and the commitment to legal autonomy
• Anne Orford, Scientific reason and the discipline of international law
• Anne Peters, Realizing Utopia as a scholarly endeavour
• Gleider Hernández, The activist academic in international legal scholarship
• Akbar Rasulov, How NAIL works: the production of heterodoxy in international law
• Jochen von Bernstorff, International legal research and the quest for immanent moral order
• John Haskell, The turn to history within international legal scholarship
• Samantha Besson, International legal theory qua practice of international law
• Tanja Aalberts & Ingo Venzke, International law as practice: moving past the anxieties of interdisciplinarity
• Sara Dezalay & Yves Dezalay, Towards a political sociology of international justice(s)
• James Crawford, The international law bar: essence before existence?
• Matthew Windsor, Consigliere or conscience? The role of the government legal adviser
• René Uruena, International law as expertise: exploring pluralism and the anxiety of certainty as professional experiences
• Pierre d'Argent, Teachers of international law
• Wouter Werner, Concluding remarks: the Praxis of international law

New Issue: International Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the International Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 21, no. 5, 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Nicholas Idris Erameh, Humanitarian intervention, Syria and the politics of human rights protection
• Rosa Ana Alija Fernández & Olga Martin-Ortega, Silence and the right to justice: confronting impunity in Spain
• Elena Abrusci, Judicial fragmentation on indigenous property rights: causes, consequences and solutions
• Nicolas Bueno, Corporate liability for violations of the human right to just conditions of work in extraterritorial operations
• Roland Burke, Disseminating discord and discovering the world: UN advisory services on human rights and the illusory faith in specialist knowledge
• Ulf Johansson Dahre, Searching for a middle ground: anthropologists and the debate on the universalism and the cultural relativism of human rights
• Anneke Osse & Ignacio Cano, Police deadly use of firearms: an international comparison

Dang: International Law, Human Rights and Public Opinion

Heping Dang (Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong, Shenzhen) has published International Law, Human Rights and Public Opinion: The Role of the State in Educating on Human Rights Standards (Routledge 2017). Here's the abstract:

This book explores situations in which public opinion presents itself as an obstacle to the protection and promotion of human rights. Taking an international law perspective, it primarily deals with two questions: first, whether international law requires States to take an independent stance on human rights issues; second, whether international law encourages States to inform and mobilise public opinion with regard to core human rights standards. The discussion is mainly organised within the framework of the UN system. The work is particularly relevant to situations in which public opinion appears as discriminatory attitudes based on race, gender, age, health, sexual orientation and other factors. It is also pertinent to circumstances in which public opinion is responsible for the existence of certain harmful customs and practices such as female genital mutilation and capital punishment. Noting that the death penalty is increasingly recognised as an infringement of human rights, this study further challenges States’ argument that capital punishment cannot be abolished because of public opinion. The book also discusses the role that education bears under international law in moulding favourable attitudes towards human rights. Finally, the book challenges States’ acceptance that public opinion cannot be confronted in this respect.

Sidhu: The Concept of Equality of Arms in Criminal Proceedings Under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights

Omkar Sidhu has published The Concept of Equality of Arms in Criminal Proceedings Under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Intersentia 2017). Here's the abstract:

Inherent to and at the very core of the right to a fair criminal trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights is the concept of equality of arms (procedural equality) between the parties, the construct given detailed and innovative treatment in this book.

As a contextual prelude to more specific analysis of this concept under Article 6, certain influential historical developments in trial safeguards which mark a centuries-long evolution in standards of, and the value attributed to, procedural fairness are identified to establish a background to Article 6 before its inception. Thereafter, the book offers a thorough theoretical insight into equality of arms, investigating its multi-faceted value, identifying its contemporary legal basis in Article 6 and in international law, and defining its fundamental constituent elements to elucidate its nature, including its underpinning relationship with Article 6(3). The book argues that the most important of these constituent elements––the requirement of ‘disadvantage’––is not equated by the European Court of Human Rights with inequality in itself, which would be a dignitarian interpretation, but with inequality that gives rise to actual or, in some circumstances, inevitable prejudice. This proposition is the golden thread running through the analytical heart of the book’s survey of case-law in which the Court’s approach to procedural equality in practice is demonstrated and assessed within the context of the Article 6(3) rights to challenge and call witness evidence, to adequate time and facilities, and to legal assistance.

The end result is a book for both scholars and practitioners that will not only forge an enhanced general understanding of procedural fairness safeguards and standards, including from a historical perspective, but also provoke, more specifically, new reflection on the concept of equality of arms.

Mälksoo: The Soviet Approach to Right of Peoples to Self-Determination

Lauri Mälksoo (Univ. of Tartu - Law) has posted The Soviet Approach to Right of Peoples to Self-Determination (Journal of the History of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

One hundred years after the Russian revolutions of 1917, the article deals with Soviet approaches to the right of peoples to self-determination. Is is true that in 1917 and afterwords, Lenin and the Soviets contributed significantly to the establishment of the right of peoples to self-determination as principle of international law? The article examins the thesis of the Bolshevik contribution to the right of peoples to self-deterination in international law from a critical historical perspective.