Karavias: Interactions between International Law and Private Fisheries Certification

Markos Karavias (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law) has posted Interactions between International Law and Private Fisheries Certification (Transnational Environmental Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The management of fisheries at the international level is no longer the exclusive preserve of states and international organizations. The proliferation of private certification initiatives, the reach of which defies territorial boundaries, has heralded an era of transnational fisheries governance. Whereas the interactions between private standards and national regulation have attracted scholarly attention, the function of international law in the context of transnational fisheries governance is largely unexplored. This article maps the interactions between international fisheries law and the most prominent among private certification standards, namely the Marine Stewardship Council Fisheries Standard and Guidance (MSC FSG). It proposes a methodology to assess such interactions at the stage of norm development and argues that the interactions between the two regimes are multidirectional and complex. International law serves as a model for private standard setting and as a yardstick for private decision making. Conversely, the MSC FSG has acted as a model for the FAO Ecolabelling Guidelines. Moreover, the MSC FSG may constitute a benchmark for resolutions adopted by Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs). The MSC FSG, in incorporating international fisheries law, affirms the latter's resilience as a global point of reference for the management of fisheries globally. Yet, at the same time, by prompting states to comply with their international obligations in order to secure market access for their fishing industry, the MSC FSG may be exposing international law’s inability to generate compliance autonomously.

New Issue: International Relations

The latest issue of International Relations (Vol. 31, no. 2, June 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Lawrence Freedman, Force and the international community: Blair’s Chicago speech and the criteria for intervention
• Yoram Evron, China’s diplomatic initiatives in the Middle East: the quest for a great-power role in the region
• Erik Noreen, Roxanna Sjöstedt, & Jan Ångström, Why small states join big wars: the case of Sweden in Afghanistan 2002–2014
• Rory Cormac, Disruption and deniable interventionism: explaining the appeal of covert action and Special Forces in contemporary British policy
• William Wallace, Losing the narrative: the United Kingdom and the European Union as imagined communities

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

The latest issue of International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics (Vol. 17, no. 3, June 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: The International Governance of Energy Subsidies
• Thijs Van de Graaf & Harro van Asselt, Introduction to the special issue: energy subsidies at the intersection of climate, energy, and trade governance
• Joel E. Smith & Johannes Urpelainen, Removing fuel subsidies: How can international organizations support national policy reforms?
• Jakob Skovgaard, The devil lies in the definition: competing approaches to fossil fuel subsidies at the IMF and the OECD
• Harro van Asselt & Kati Kulovesi, Seizing the opportunity: tackling fossil fuel subsidies under the UNFCCC
• Margaret A. Young, Energy transitions and trade law: lessons from the reform of fisheries subsidies
• Timothy Meyer, Explaining energy disputes at the World Trade Organization
• Dirk De Bièvre, Ilaria Espa, & Arlo Poletti, No iceberg in sight: on the absence of WTO disputes challenging fossil fuel subsidies
• Harri Kalimo, Filip Sedefov, & Max S. Jansson, Market definition as value reconciliation: the case of renewable energy promotion under the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures

Kammerhofer: The US Intervention in Nicaragua (1981–8)

Jörg Kammerhofer (Universität Freiburg - Law) has posted The US Intervention in Nicaragua (1981–8) (in International Law on the Use of Force: A Case Based Approach, Tom Ruys & Olivier Corten eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This is a case study of the US intervention in Nicaragua from 1981 to approximately 1988, as a contribution to the state practice on the law on the use of force and the right to self-defence under both UN Charter and customary law. As it is a chapter in Corten and Ruys’ forthcoming book ‘International Law on the Use of Force’, it follows the structure of that volume: Section 1 gives an overview of the background of the so-called ‘Contra War’ and provides the salient facts regarding the US intervention in that conflict. Section 2 discusses the positions of the two parties on the facts and law, and notes the reaction of the international community, in this case focussing on the debates at the UN.

Section 3 discusses the legality of the operation. The paramount importance of the ICJ’s 1986 judgment on the merits in ‘Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua’ means that a discussion of the Court’s holdings forms the backbone of the discussion there, while taking note of dissent and comment both inside and outside the Court. Section 4 concludes by discussing the precedential value and effect of this conflict, and of the ICJ case.

Adinolfi, Baetens, Caiado, Lupone, & Micara: International Economic Law: Contemporary Issues

Giovanna Adinolfi (Univ. of Milan - Law), Freya Baetens (Univ. of Oslo - Law), José Caiado, Angela Lupone (Univ. of Milan - Law), & Anna G. Micara (Univ. of Milan - Law) have published International Economic Law: Contemporary Issues (Springer 2017). Contents include:

• Niall Moran, The First Twenty Cases Under GATT Article XX: Tuna or Shrimp Dear?
• Domenico Pauciulo, Remarks on the Practice of Regional Development Banks’ (RDBs) Accountability Mechanisms and the Safeguard of Human Rights
• Amalie Giødesen Thystrup & Güneş Ünüvar, A Waiver for Europe? CETA’s Trade in Services, and Investment Protection Provisions and Their Legal-Political Implications on Regulatory Competence
• Sunita Tripathy, The Human Right to Health: Reflecting on the Implications of IPRs as Endorsed by the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
• Tilahun E. Kassahun, Can (and) Should the WTO Tame Private Standards? Antitrust Mechanism as an Alternative Roadmap: Lessons from the WTO Telecommunications Reference Paper
• Belisa Esteca Eleoterio & Alebe Linhares Mesquita, The Twenty-First Century Regionalism: Brazil and Mercosur in the New International Scenario
• Anna G. Micara, Regionalization Within the SPS Agreement: Recent Developments
• Johannes Norpoth, The Mutually Agreed Solution Between Indonesia and the United States in US – Clove Cigarettes: A Case of Efficient Breach (or Power Politics)?
• Natasha A.Georgiou, Energy Regulation in International Trade: Legal Challenges in EU–Russia Energy Relations from an Investment Protection Perspective
• Jean-François Mayoraz, Renewable Energy and WTO Subsidy Rules: The Feed-In Tariff Scheme of Switzerland
• Anna Marhold, The Nexus Between the WTO and the ECT in Global Energy Governance
• Francesco Montanaro, “Ain’t No Sunshine”: Photovoltaic Energy Policy in Europe at the Crossroads Between EU Law and Energy Charter Treaty Obligations
• Elisabetta Cervone, The Final Volcker Rule and Its Impact Across the Atlantic: The Shaping of Extraterritoriality in a World of Dynamic Structural Banking Reforms
• Olga Gerlich, More Than a Friend? The European Commission’s Amicus Curiae Participation in Investor-State Arbitration
• Xenia Karametaxas, Sovereign Wealth Funds as Socially Responsible Investors

Bentolila: Arbitrators as Lawmakers

Dolores Bentolila (White & Case) has published Arbitrators as Lawmakers (Wolters Kluwer 2017). Here's the abstract:

Arbitrators as Lawmakers analyses how arbitrators make rules that guide, constrain, and define the process and substance of international arbitration. Arbitral lawmaking is an emerging topic with the existing literature not providing the needed analysis of legal theory and arbitral practice. This book aims to bridge the gap by explaining the three different stages of arbitral lawmaking – before, during, and after the rule is made: first stage is the situation of the arbitrator and the legal framework governing it; second stage is the process of lawmaking; and finally the third stage is when the consistent arbitral solution is launched to a wider public.

New Issue: Review of International Political Economy

The latest issue of the Review of International Political Economy (Vol. 24, no. 3, 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Nikhil Kalyanpur & Abraham Newman, Form over function in finance: international institutional design by bricolage
• Bart Stellinga & Daniel Mügge, The regulator's conundrum. How market reflexivity limits fundamental financial reform
• Jong-Woon Lee & Kevin Gray, Cause for optimism? Financial sanctions and the rise of the Sino-North Korean border economy
• Haley J. Swedlund, Can foreign aid donors credibly threaten to suspend aid? Evidence from a cross-national survey of donor officials
• Joseph Baines, Accumulating through food crisis? Farmers, commodity traders and the distributional politics of financialization
• Todd Allee & Manfred Elsig, Veto players and the design of preferential trade agreements

New Issue: Korean Journal of International and Comparative Law

The latest issue of the Korean Journal of International and Comparative Law (Vol. 5, no. 1, 2017) is out. Contents include:

• David Freestone, Davor Vidas & Alejandra Torres Camprubí, Sea Level Rise and Impacts on Maritime Zones and Limits: The Work of the ILA Committee on International Law and Sea Level Rise
• Clive Schofield, Climate Change and Changing Coasts: Geophysical and Jurisdictional Implications of Sea Level Rise for Pacific Island States
• Ah-Young Cho, Practical Implementation Issues for the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol from a Korean Perspective
• Anastasia Telesetsky, New Governance Models for Managing Coastal Fisheries: Are They Relevant for Asia-Pacific Communities?
• Giovanni Gruni, Labor Standards in the EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement
• Seokwoo Lee, Charting the Way Forward in the Aftermath of the Sewol Tragedy: Dismantling the Korea Coast Guard is Not the Answer

New Issue: Asia-Pacific Journal of Ocean Law and Policy

The latest issue of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ocean Law and Policy (Vol. 2, no. 1, 2017) is out. Contents include:

• The South China Sea
• Seokwoo Lee & Clive Schofield, Introduction to the Special Issue
• Nengye Liu & Md Saiful Karim, South China Sea after the Philippines v. China Arbitration: Conflict and Cooperation in Troubled Waters
• Hui Zhong & Michael White, South China Sea: Its Importance for Shipping, Trade, Energy and Fisheries
• Matthew Stubbs & Dale Stephens, Dredge Your Way to China? The Legal Significance of Chinese Reclamation and Construction in the South China Sea
• Michelle Lim & Nengye Liu, Condominium Arrangements as a Legal Mechanism for the Conservation of the South China Sea Large Marine Ecosystem
• Jeffrey McGee; Brendan Gogarty & Danielle Smith, Associational Balance of Power and the Possibilities for International Law in the South China Sea
• Cameron Moore, The Arbitral Award in the Matter of the South China Sea between the Philippines and China: What are the Implications for Freedom of Navigation and the Use of Force?
• Edwin Bikundo, Artificial Islands, Artificial Highways and Pirates: An East African Perspective on the South China Sea Disputes
• State Law of the Sea Practice in Asian Pacific States
• Jeffrey J. Smith, A High Tide of Cooperation?
• Lowell Bautista, Philippine Recent Legal Developments on Adapting to Climate Change
• Zaki Mubarok Busro, Burning and/or Sinking Foreign Fishing Vessels Conducting Illegal Fishing in Indonesia
• Current Legal Developments
• Mirko Forti, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Case 25, the M/V “Norstar” Case (Panama v Italy), a Brief Commentary on the Judgment on Preliminary Objections
• Donald K. Anton, Negotiating the Settlement of the Timor Sea Boundary Dispute between Australia and Timor Leste

Special Issue: International Investment Treaties

A recent issue of the International Review of Law (2016, no. 3) focuses on "International Investment Treaties." Contents include:

• International Investment Treaties
• Ronald Cullen Kerr Welsh, Frustration through futility - LDCs and the WTO DSU
• Long Van Tran, The power of transparency norms in the WTO legal framework: Impacts beyond the trade context
• Kei Nakajima, An elusive safeguard with loopholes: sovereign debt and its “negotiated restructuring” in international investment agreements in the age of global financial crisis
• Sanja Djajić, Searching for purpose: Critical assessment of teleological interpretation of treaties in investment arbitration
• Wolfgang Alschner, Dmitriy Skougarevskiy, & Mengyi Wang, Champions of protection? A Text-as-data analysis of the bilateral investment treaties of GCC countries

Prott: The Politics of Self-Determination

Volker Prott (Univ. of Melbourne - History) has published The Politics of Self-Determination: Remaking Territories and National Identities in Europe, 1917-1923 (Oxford Univ. Press 2016). Here's the abstract:

The Politics of Self-Determination examines the territorial restructuring of Europe between 1917 and 1923, when a radically new and highly fragile peace order was established. It opens with an exploration of the peace planning efforts of Great Britain, France, and the United States in the final phase of the First World War. It then provides an in-depth view on the practice of Allied border drawing at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, focussing on a new factor in foreign policymaking-academic experts employed by the three Allied states to aid in peace planning and border drawing. This examination of the international level is juxtaposed with two case studies of disputed regions where the newly drawn borders caused ethnic violence, albeit with different results: the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France in 1918-19, and the Greek-Turkish War between 1919 and 1922. A final chapter investigates the approach of the League of Nations to territorial revisionism and minority rights, thereby assessing the chances and dangers of the Paris peace order over the course of the 1920s and 1930s.

Volker Prott argues that at both the international and the local levels, the 'temptation of violence' drove key actors to simplify the acclaimed principle of national self-determination and use ethnic definitions of national identity. While the Allies thus hoped to avoid uncomfortable decisions and painstaking efforts to establish an elusive popular will, local elites, administrations, and paramilitary leaders soon used ethnic notions of identity to mobilise popular support under the guise of international legitimacy. Henceforth, national self-determination ceased to be a tool of peace-making and instead became an ideology of violent resistance.

Sander: Cyber Insecurity and the Politics of International Law

Barrie Sander (FGV Direito Rio) has posted an ESIL Reflection on Cyber Insecurity and the Politics of International Law.

Chilton, Milner, & Tingley: Reciprocity and Public Opposition to Foreign Direct Investment

Adam S. Chilton (Univ. of Chicago - Law), Helen V. Milner (Princeton Univ. - Woodrow Wilson School & Politics), & Dustin H. Tingley (Harvard Univ. - Government) have posted Reciprocity and Public Opposition to Foreign Direct Investment. Here's the abstract:

Prior International Political Economy (IPE) public opinion research has primarily examined how economic and socio-cultural factors shape individuals’ views on the flows of goods, people, and capital. What has largely been ignored is whether individuals also care about rewarding or punishing foreign countries for their policies on these subjects. To test this possibility, we administered a series of conjoint and traditional survey experiments in the United States and China that examined how reciprocity influences opposition to foreign acquisitions of domestic companies. We find that reciprocity is an important determinant of public opinion on the regulation of foreign investments. This suggests the need to consider the policies that other countries adopt when trying to explain public attitudes towards global economic integration.

New Issue: International Human Rights Law Review

The latest issue of the International Human Rights Law Review (Vol. 6, no. 1, 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Andrew Wolman, National Human Rights Institutions and Their Sub-National Counterparts
• Konstantinos D Magliveras, Completing the Institutional Mechanism of the Arab Human Rights System
• Kimberley Brayson, Securing the Future of the European Court of Human Rights in the Face of UK Opposition
• Rocío del Pilar Peña-Huertas, Luis Enrique Ruiz-González, Ricardo Álvarez-Morales & María Mónica Parada-Hernández, Restitution Judges: A Starting Point for an Agrarian Jurisdiction as a Guarantee of Non-repetition in Colombia
• Eleni Polymenopoulou, Arts, Censorship and the Greek Law

Call for Papers: Gender on the International Bench

PluriCourts - Centre for the Study of the Legitimate Roles of the Judiciary in the Global Order has issued a call for papers for a conference on "Gender on the International Bench," to be held January 11-12, 2018, in The Hague. Here's the call:

Gender on the International Bench

Conference on the impact of gender on the international bench. The conference is the first in the workshop series "Identity on the International Bench" organized by PluriCourts.

Time and Place: Jan. 11, 2018- Jan. 12, 2018, The Hague

Theme

Currently women judges make up on average 17% of international courts and tribunals, demonstrating significant disparity regarding the participation of women on the bench across different international legal regimes. Such lack of representativeness can affect the legitimacy of the international dispute settlement process and its outcomes.

The aim of this conference is to analyse causes and effects of the dearth of women judges, and the resulting implications for the legitimacy of international adjudicatory institutions and the judicial decisions rendered. This will for example include an examination of international rules and practices concerning appointment and composition of the bench; judicial behaviour linked to the absence or presence of female judges; and potential effects on compliance with judicial awards

This conference seeks to promote a higher level of understanding of both current challenges and best practices in terms of mentoring, gatekeeping, and sponsoring women on the path towards the international bench. The underlying assumption is that, with an increased gender balance, the normative and social legitimacy of the international judicial process will be enhanced.

This will require an enquiry into the various perspectives concerning gender on the international bench, including judicial/institutional perspectives and the perspectives of governments and private parties.

Call for Papers

Access the full Call for Papers (PDF)

Job Opening: Graduate Institute (Postdoctoral Researcher)

The Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher for the ERC-funded research project "The Paths of International Law: Stability and Change in the International Legal Order." The successful applicant will work closely with the principal investigator, Nico Krisch, in the realization of the project, through both theoretical work and case studies in different issue areas of international law. Candidates should be enthusiastic about work in an interdisciplinary research team; they should have an outstanding PhD in international law or international relations and be familiar with the respectively other field. The position is open from 1 October 2017. Recruitment will be for two years, with a possibility of extension up to five years; the gross starting salary will be CHF92,500pa. Further details on the project, the position and the application process can be found here.

von Arnauld: Völkerrechtsgeschichte(n): Historische Narrative und Konzepte im Wandel

Andreas von Arnauld (Universität Kiel - Law) has published Völkerrechtsgeschichte(n): Historische Narrative und Konzepte im Wandel (Duncker & Humblot 2017). Contents include:

• Andreas von Arnauld, Völkerrechtsgeschichte(n). Einleitende Überlegungen
• Rainer Grote, Das »Westfälische System« des Völkerrechts: Faktum oder Mythos?
• Jochen von Bernstorff, International Legal History and its Methodologies: How (Not) to Tell the Story of the Many Lives and Deaths of the ius ad bellum
• Heinhard Steiger, Das Ius Publicum Europaeum und das Andere: a global history approach
• Markus Kotzur, Konstitutionelle Momente? Gedanken über den Wandel im Völkerrecht
• Erika de Wet & Ioannis Georgiadis, From communitas orbis to a Community of States – and Back?
• Carsten Stahn, Das Ringen um den Frieden: Jus ad bellum – Jus contra bellum – Jus Post Bellum?
• Alexander Proelß & Camilla Haake, Gemeinschaftsräume in der Entwicklung: von der res communis omnium zum common heritage of mankind

Kelley: Scorecard Diplomacy: Grading States to Influence their Reputation and Behavior

Judith G. Kelley (Duke Univ. - Public Policy and Political Science) has published Scorecard Diplomacy: Grading States to Influence their Reputation and Behavior (Cambridge Univ. Press 2017). Here's the abstract:

What can the international community do when countries would rather ignore a thorny problem? Scorecard Diplomacy shows that, despite lacking traditional force, public grades are potent symbols that can evoke countries' concerns about their reputations and motivate them to address the problem. The book develops an unconventional but careful argument about the growing phenomenon of such ratings and rankings. It supports this by examining the United States' foreign policy on human trafficking using a global survey of NGOs, case studies, thousands of diplomatic cables, media stories, 90 interviews worldwide, and other documents. All of this is gathered together in a format that walks the reader through the mechanisms of scorecard diplomacy, including an assessment of the outcomes. Scorecard Diplomacy speaks both to those keen to understand the pros and cons of US policy on human trafficking and to those interested in the central question of influence in international relations. The book's companion website can be found here.

New Issue: Journal du Droit International

The latest issue of the Journal du Droit International ("Clunet") (Vol. 144, no. 1, Janvier-Février-Mars 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Arbitrage et Partie Faible
• Caroline Duclercq, Carine Jallamion, Daniel Mainguy, Achille Ngwanza, Walid Ben Hamida, Philippe Chavasse, Maximin de Fontmichel, Marc Henry & Guillaume Tattevin, Colloque du 9 mai 2016
• Doctrine
• Arnaud de Nanteuil, Les mécanismes permanents de règlement des différends, une alternative crédible à l'arbitrage d'investissement?
• Julien Cazala, La défiance étatique à l'égard de l'arbitrage investisseur-État exprimée dans quelques projets et instruments conventionnels
• Mathieu Jean Baptiste Altbuch, Le problème de l'identification des produits importés de territoires contestés: le cas d'Israël
• Variétés
• Christian Byk, Le droit international appliqué à la médicine traditionnelle: un facteur d'intégration pour quels objectifs?

New Issue: Revue Générale de Droit International Public

The latest issue of the Revue Générale de Droit International Public (Vol. 121, no. 1, 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Max Gounelle & Matthieu Gounelle, Météorites et droit des relations internationales
• Gaston Kenfack Douajni, Le règlement par voie d'arbitrage des litiges relatifs aux investissements dans l'espace OHADA
• Notes
• Nicolas Haupais, Cour internationale de Justice, Arrêts du 5 octobre 2016 (Exceptions préliminaires). Obligations relatives à des négociations concernant la cessation de la course aux armes nucléaires et le désarmement cucléaire (Iles Marshall c. Pakistan, Iles Marshall c. Inde, Iles Marshall c. Royaume-Uni)
• Florian Couveinhes Matsumoto, L'épopée de la Wallonie et la signature de l'AECG / CETA

Castellarin: La participation de l’Union européenne aux institutions économiques internationales

Emanuel Castellarin (Université de Strasbourg - Law) has published La participation de l’Union européenne aux institutions économiques internationales (Pedone 2017). Here's the abstract:

S’ appuyant sur une méthode comparative, cet ouvrage appréhende la participation de l’Union européenne aux institutions économiques internationales comme un ensemble unique, par-delà l’approche sectorielle souvent préférée. Cette démarche permet d’éclaircir la nature de l’Union en tant que sujet de droit international et son interaction avec la gouvernance économique mondiale.

L’Union européenne est associée à l’activité de toutes les institutions qui encadrent l’économie internationale, qu’il s’agisse d’organisations internationales ou d’autres organismes multilatéraux. L’inclusion de l’Union dans ces communautés juridiques présente des avantages mutuels. L’Union, désireuse d’émerger comme acteur sur la scène internationale, peut promouvoir ses valeurs et ses intérêts. En même temps, intégrée aux espaces normatifs des institutions économiques internationales, elle contribue à la mise en œuvre de l’activité de celles-ci. Toutefois, cette intégration soulève aussi des difficultés. L’Union est soucieuse de préserver la maîtrise de sa propre organisation et une marge d’appréciation dans la régulation des phénomènes économiques. Les institutions économiques internationales, quant à elles, sont a priori peu habituées au fonctionnement de l’Union, notamment en ce qui concerne l’articulation de ses compétences avec celles de ses Etats membres.

La participation de l’Union européenne aux institutions économiques internationales est un processus d’interaction institutionnelle permanente qui vise le dépassement de ces difficultés et l’adaptation réciproque. Projetant vers l’extérieur ses politiques publiques, qui constituent à leur tour la mise en œuvre de politiques des institutions économiques internationales, l’Union favorise la continuité des niveaux de la gouvernance économique mondiale. Ainsi, l’Union influence et est influencée par la libéralisation et la régulation multilatérales de tous les phénomènes économiques internationaux : le commerce, l’investissement, la finance et la coopération au développement.

Dancy: Deals with the Devil? Conflict Amnesties, Civil War, and Sustainable Peace

Geoff Dancy (Tulane Univ. - Political Science) has posted Deals with the Devil? Conflict Amnesties, Civil War, and Sustainable Peace (International Organization, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Do legal amnesties for combatants help end civil wars? International policy experts often take it for granted that amnesties are needed to bargain with rebels and prevent future fighting. However, a large number of amnesties are followed by continued fighting or a return to the battlefield. What, then, are mechanisms that make amnesties effective or ineffective? This article uses a disaggregated dataset of all amnesties enacted in the context of internal war since 1946 to evaluate a bargaining theory of amnesties and peace. Testing hypotheses about conflict patterns using models that account for selection, I find that (1) only amnesties passed following conflict termination help resolve civil wars, (2) amnesties are more effective when they are embedded in peace agreements, and (3) amnesties that grant human rights violators immunity have no observable pacifying effects. These policy-relevant findings represent a new breakthrough in an ossified “peace v. justice” debate pitting security specialists against global human rights advocates.

ASIL: 100 Days - A Live Online Briefing Series - U.S. Obligations towards Refugees

As noted previously, the American Society of International Law is sponsoring "100 Days - A Live Online Briefing Series." The fifth session - on "U.S. Obligations towards Refugees" - is scheduled for today, Tuesday, June 6, 2017. Here's the idea:

The United States has a long history of welcoming individuals who have fled their home countries due to a well-founded fear of persecution. Approximately two-thirds of all refugee resettlement referrals are undertaken by the U.S. and every U.S. President since Reagan has reaffirmed the important role refugee resettlement represents in supporting U.S. values. Since his election, President Trump has indicated an intent to reevaluate the United States' commitment to refugee resettlement, citing national security concerns and a distrust of the current vetting process. Two executive orders (January 27 and March 6, 2017) which proposed a suspension of all refugee admissions were blocked by U.S. federal courts.

This live online briefing, the fifth in the Society's series on "International Law and the Trump Administration," will feature former senior U.S. officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations who were responsible for formulating policy and advising the Executive Branch on the United States' domestic and international obligations towards refugees. They will discuss the international legal principles that apply to the resettlement of refugees; the role that the Executive Branch plays in implementing the United States' international obligations; and will examine the interplay between international law, domestic legislation, and Executive Branch policies U.S. officials consider in addressing refugee issues.

New Issue: ICSID Review: Foreign Investment Law Journal

The latest issue of the ICSID Review: Foreign Investment Law Journal (Vol. 32, no. 2, Spring 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Case Comments
• John Fellas & Pavlos Petrovas, Diag Human SE v Czech Republic-Ministry of Health: A Broad Interpretation of the ‘Arbitration Exception’ of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act 
• Carlo de Stefano, Adel A Hamadi Al Tamimi v Sultanate of Oman: Attributing to Sovereigns the Conduct of State-Owned Enterprises: Towards Circumvention of the Accountability of States under International Investment Law 
• Rattapong Supapa, Burlington Resources, Inc v Republic of Ecuador: Enforcing Economic Stability Guarantees through an Umbrella Mechanism: ‘Caveat Upstream Petroleum Investor’?
• Articles
• Andrew C. Blandford, The History of Fair and Equitable Treatment before the Second World War
• Ronald E.M. Goodman & Yuri Parkhomenko, Does the Chorzów Factory Standard Apply in Investment Arbitration? A Contextual Reappraisal
• Stephen S. Kho, Alan Yanovich, Brendan R. Casey & Johann Strauss, The EU TTIP Investment Court Proposal and the WTO Dispute Settlement System: Comparing Apples and Oranges?
• Jorge E. Viñuales, Investor Diligence in Investment Arbitration: Sources and Arguments
• Notes
• Kenneth B. Reisenfeld & Joshua M. Robbins, Finality under the Washington and New York Conventions: Another Swing of the Pendulum?
• David Khachvani, Compensation for Unlawful Expropriation: Targeting the Illegality
• Joaquim P. Muniz, Kabir A.N. Duggal, & Luis A.S. Peretti, The New Brazilian BIT on Cooperation and Facilitation of Investments: A New Approach in Times of Change
• Sungjin Kang, Conflict of Investment-Related Provisions under Regional Trade Agreements between Korea and China – Navigating the ‘Noodle Bowl’
• Anthony C. Sinclair & Odysseas G. Repousis, An Overview of Provisional Measures in ICSID Proceedings
• Wei Wang, The Non-Precluded Measure Type Clause in International Investment Agreements: Significances, Challenges, and Reactions

New Volume: South African Yearbook of International Law

The latest volume of the South African Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 39 Supplement, 2014) is out. This volume includes the proceedings of the "International Conference on the 30th Anniversary of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights." The table of contents is here.

AJIL Unbound Symposium: The Marshall Islands Case

AJIL Unbound has posted a symposium on "The Marshall Islands Case." The symposium includes an introduction by Antony T. Anghie and contributions by Ingo Venzke, George R.B. Galindo, Andrea Bianchi, Surabhi Ranganathan, and Vincent-Joël Proulx.

Titi: Refining the Expropriation Clause: What Role for Proportionality?

Catharine Titi (Centre national de la recherche scientifique; Université de Bourgogne - CREDIMI) has posted Refining the Expropriation Clause: What Role for Proportionality? (in China-European Union Investment Relationships: Towards a New Leadership in Global Investment Governance?, Julien Chaisse ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The role of proportionality in international investment law is largely conditioned on whether proportionality is considered a general principle of law or an element of material law, applicable only when explicitly or implicitly incorporated into a given set of rules. The chapter explores proportionality in relation to the expropriation standard in light of new investment treaty formulations and with a particular reference to the context of the EU-China investment negotiations. It discusses the dual approach to proportionality, as a general principle of law and as an element of substantive law. To better understand the function of proportionality, it establishes a comparative context, detailing the case law of the WTO’s adjudicative bodies, the CJEU and the ECtHR. It then turns to proportionality analysis in investment treaty arbitration, its explicit incorporation in IIAs, it addresses some related criticisms and argues that proportionality can be a useful tool for balancing competing interests.

Langford, Behn, & Lie: The Revolving Door in International Investment Arbitration

Malcolm Langford (Univ. of Oslo - Law), Daniel Behn (Univ. of Oslo - PluriCourts), & Runar Lie (Univ. of Oslo - PluriCourts) have posted The Revolving Door in International Investment Arbitration (Journal of International Economic Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

It is often claimed that international investment arbitration is marked by a revolving door: individuals act sequentially and even simultaneously as arbitrator, legal counsel, expert witness, or tribunal secretary. If this claim is correct, it has implications for our understanding of which individuals possess power and influence within this community; and ethical debates over conflicts of interests and transparency concerning ‘double hatting’—when individuals simultaneously perform different roles across cases. In this article, we offer the first comprehensive empirical analysis of the individuals that make up the entire investment arbitration community. Drawing on our database of 1039 investment arbitration cases (including ICSID annulments) and the relationships between the 3910 known individuals that form this community, we offer the first use of social network analysis to describe the full investment arbitration community and address key sociological and normative questions in the literature. Our results partly contradict recent empirical scholarship as we identify a different configuration of central ‘power brokers’. Moreover, the normative concerns with double hatting are partly substantiated. A select but significant group of individuals score highly and continually on our double hatting index.

New Issue: Rivista di Diritto Internazionale

The latest issue of the Rivista di Diritto Internazionale (Vol. 100, no. 1, 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Articoli
• Paolo Palchetti, Responsibility for Breach of Provisional Measures of the ICJ: between Protection of the Rights of the Parties and Respect for the Judicial Function
• Amina Maneggia, Il "controll preventivo" nella zona contigua
• Eleonora Branca, Recenti sviluppi in materia di repressione degli abusi sessuali commessi dai caschi blu nel corso delle missioni di pace delle Nacione Unite
• Note e Commenti
• Giuseppe Cataldi, Il contributo di Benedetto Conforti al diritto internazionale del mare
• Filippo Fontanelli, Reflections on the Indispensable Party Principle in the Wake of the Judgment on Preliminary Objections in the Norstar Case
• Panorama
• Riccardo Pavoni, Immunità e responsabilità dell'ONU per l'introduzione del colera ad Haiti:: la sentenza d'apello nel caso Georges, il "rapporto Alston" e le "scuse" del Secretario generale
• Loris Marotti, Esaurimento dei ricorsi interni e controversie in materia di interpretazione e applicazione della Convenzione sul diritto del mare:: riflessioni a margine del caso M/V "Norstar"
• Fulvio Maria Palombino, Il diritto umano all'acqua nella prospettiva della Corte europea dei diritti del-l'uomo: : in margine al caso Otgon
• Simone Vezzani, Sulla responsabilità extracontrattuale dell'Unione Europea per violazione della Carta dei diritti fondamentali: : riflessioni in margine alla sentenza della Corte di giustizia nel caso Ledra Advertising
• Marina Castellaneta, Concorso formale di reati e pincipio del ne bis in idem tra diritto interno e Convenzione europea dei diritti dell'uomo
• Ornella Feraci, Ordina pubblico e riconoscimento in Italia dello status di figlio "nato da due madri" all'estero:: considerazioni critiche sulla sentenza della Corte di cassazione

New Issue: International Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the International Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 21, no. 6, 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: The notion of maternal immunity in tort for pre-natal harms causing permanent or temporary disability for the born alive child: human rights controversies
• Sonja Grover, Introduction
• Miriam Cohen, International human rights norms and maternal tort immunity in Canada: connecting the dots
• Shauna Van Praagh & Angela Campbell, Women and (their) children: wrongs, rights and relationships
• Mariette Brennan, Is it time to reconsider Dobson (litigation guardian of) v Dobson? An international analysis of maternal tort liability
• Sonja Grover, Maternal tort immunity, the born alive rule and the disabled child’s right to legal capacity: reconsidering the Supreme Court of Canada judgment in Dobson v. Dobson
• Laura Westra, The notion of immunity for pre-birth harms: maternal and beyond
• Jason P. Blahuta, Liability for harms caused in utero: new technologies, new problems

New Issue: International Journal of Refugee Law

The latest issue of the International Journal of Refugee Law (Vol. 29, no. 1, March 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Jane McAdam, The Enduring Relevance of the 1951 Refugee Convention
• Pia Zambelli, Hearing Differently: Knowledge-Based Approaches to Assessment of Refugee Narrative
• Katia Bianchini, A Comparative Analysis of Statelessness Determination Procedures in 10 EU States
• Andrew Wolmanm Chinese Pressure to Repatriate Asylum Seekers: An International Law Analysis
• Forough Ramezankhahm, The Tale of Two Men: Testimonial Styles in the Presentation of Asylum Claims

Call for Submissions: Trade, Law and Development

The journal Trade, Law and Development has issued a call for submissions for its Winter 2017 issue (Vol. 9, no. 2). The call is here.

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 Christopher Thomas on “An Appellate Mechanism for Investment Treaty Disputes” and Hsien-Li Tan on “Coherence in Trade and Investment Law.”