The latest volume of the Yearbook of International Environmental Law (Vol. 26, 2015) is out. Contents include:
The latest issue of the International Journal of Refugee Law (Vol. 29, no. 3, October 2017) is out. Contents include:
The latest issue of Climate Law (Vol. 7, no. 4, 2017) is out. Contents include:
The latest issue of the Nordic Journal of International Law (Vol. 86, no. 4, 2017) is out. Contents include:
Call for Submissions for the African Yearbook on International Humanitarian Law
The Editorial Board of the African Yearbook on International Humanitarian Law (AYIHL), a double-blind peer review journal published by Juta Publishing (South Africa), is pleased to announce the AYIHL is now accepting submissions for the 2017 volume of the Yearbook, to be published mid-2018.
The Board invites articles (7,000-12,000 words), case notes, and shorter pieces for inclusion in the ‘Current Developments’ section (up to 4,500 words). The Board welcomes submissions that engage with the themes of international humanitarian law and policy, and particularly aspects thereof that are of relevance of the African continent, broadly construed. The Yearbook publishes research not only on international humanitarian law stricto sensu, but also international human rights law, international criminal law, and other areas of public international law relevant to the regulation of armed conflict.
All submissions are subject to double-blind peer review before an editorial decision on publication is made. Further information on the Yearbook and instructions for prospective authors are available here.
The closing date for submissions is 1 January 2018. Manuscripts must be submitted via email to Hannah.woolaver@uct.ac.za by the closing date.
Hannah Woolaver
Editor-in-Chief of the African Yearbook on International Humanitarian Law
Hannah.woolaver@uct.ac.za
The article explores the trope of the “legal black hole” to reveal questions of legal theory arising from contemporary migrant drownings. The theme was popularized during what was then called the “war on terror,” but its trajectory is longer and more complex. Its material history, as well as its intellectual history within legal scholarship, suggest three distinct ‘legacies’ of legal black holes: the counter-terrorism legacy; the migrant-detention legacy; and the legacy of the maritime legal black hole. The tripartite division provides a typology of instances where persons are rendered rightless. While the two former types are characterized by de-facto rightlessness due to a violation of international law, the latter exposes a seldom-acknowledged yet crucial characteristic of international law: age-old doctrine on the division of responsibilities between states and individuals at land and at sea is now creating the conditions in which some people are rendered de-jure rightless. Moreover, the typology sheds light on the specifically legal reasons for the seeming failure to end mass drowning of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean Sea. Tracing the ways in which people become de-jure rightless is ultimately suggested as a broader research agenda for scholars of international law.
Constitutional courts in Latin America have used judicial review to enhance the relevance of international law in recent years. Some scholars even speak of a growing “constitutionalization of international law” in the region. But these domestic courts can also act as gatekeepers that blunt or entirely deflect the domestic impact of international law. This essay explores three recent episodes in which constitutional courts joined or led efforts to escape treaty obligations: the Venezuelan Supreme Court’s judgment urging the Chávez administration to denounce the American Convention of Human Rights on constitutional grounds, which Chavez then did in 2012 (a court-inspired treaty exit); the Colombian executive’s 2013 petition to have Colombia’s acceptance of the ICJ’s jurisdiction under the Pact of Bogotá declared unconstitutional (a court legitimated treaty exit), and the Dominican Republic (DR) Constitutional Tribunal’s 2014 judgment holding that the DR’s acceptance of the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court had been unconstitutional (a court-led treaty exit).
Each of the domestic rulings to be discussed were issued in response to an adverse judgment from an international court, and each reflects an effort to quell the international court’s impact by attacking the instrument granting jurisdiction to the court. The essay describes the episodes in context and then analyzes them as a single phenomenon. Taken together, the cases show that in the realm of treaty exit the region’s constitutional courts are drawing on constitutional law to take on a surprisingly prominent foreign affairs role.
The latest issue of the European Journal of International Law (Vol. 28, no. 3, August 2017) is out. Contents include:
The European Union (EU) has emerged as a key actor in the global investment regime since the 1980s. At the same time, international investment policy and agreements, which govern international investment liberalisation, treatment and protection through investor-to-state dispute settlement, have become increasingly contentious in the European public debate.
This book provides an accessible introduction to international investment policy and seeks to explain how the EU became an actor in the global investment regime. It offers a detailed analysis of the EU’s participation in all major trade and investment negotiations since the 1980s and EU-internal competence debates to identify the causes behind the EU’s growing role in this policy domain. Building on principal-agent and historical institutionalist models of incremental institutional change, the book shows that Commission entrepreneurship was instrumental in the emergence of the EU as a key actor in the global investment regime. It refutes business-centred liberal intergovernmental explanations, which suggest that business lobbying made the Member States accept the EU’s growing role and competence in this domain. The book lends support to supranational and challenges intergovernmental thinking on European Integration.
The latest issue of the Chinese Journal of International Law (Vol. 16, no. 3, September 2017) is out. Contents include:
The most important climate agreement in history, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change represents the commitment of the nations of the world to address and curb climate change.Signed in December 2015, it entered into force on 4th November 2016. Countries are moving into implementation, and efforts at all levels will be needed to fulfill its ambitious goals.
The Paris Climate Agreement: Commentary and Analysis combines a comprehensive legal appraisal and critique of the new Agreement with a practical and structured commentary to all its Articles. Part I discusses the general context for the Paris Agreement, detailing the scientific, political, and social drivers behind it, providing an overview of the pre-existing regime, and tracking the history of the negotiations. It examines the evolution of key concepts such as common but differentiated responsibilities, and analyses the legal form of the Agreement and the nature of its provisions. Part II comprises individual chapters on each Article of the Agreement, with detailed commentary of the provisions which highlights central aspects from the negotiating history and the legal nature of the obligations. It describes the institutional arrangements and considerations for national implementation, providing practical advice and prospects for future development. Part III reflects on the Paris Agreement as a whole: its strengths and weaknesses, its potential for further development, and its relationship with other areas of public international law and governance.
