Buga: Modification of Treaties by Subsequent Practice

Irina Buga (De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek) has published Modification of Treaties by Subsequent Practice (Oxford Univ. Press 2018). Here's the abstract:

While treaties can be notoriously difficult to amend by formal means, they must nevertheless be adapted over time in order to remain useful. Herein lies the role of subsequent practice as a key tool for treaty change. Subsequent practice-a well-established means of treaty interpretation-sometimes diverges from the original treaty provision to such an extent that it can no longer be said to constitute an act of interpretation or application. Rather, it becomes, in effect, one of treaty modification.

The modification of treaties by subsequent practice extends to all fields of international law, from the law of the sea, environmental law, and investment law, to human rights and humanitarian law. Such modifications can have significant practical consequences, from revising or creating new rights and obligations, to establishing new institutional mechanisms. Determining when and how treaty modification by subsequent practice occurs poses difficulty to legal scholars and dispute settlement bodies alike, and impacts States' expectations as to their treaty obligations. This significant yet underexplored process is the focus of this book.

Modification of Treaties by Subsequent Practice proves that subsequent practice can-under carefully defined conditions that ensure strict accordance with the will of the treaty parties-alter, supplement, and terminate treaty provisions or even entire treaty frameworks. It can also generate customary law and fuel regime interaction. Ultimately, this book demonstrates the relevance and dynamism of the process of treaty modification by subsequent practice, emphasizing the need to deal with the issue head on, and explains-on a theoretical and practical level-how it can be identified and dealt with more consistently in the future. The book thus contributes to a deeper understanding of the process of treaty modification by subsequent practice and its continued role in striking the judicious balance between the stability of treaties on the one hand, and the organic evolution of the law on the other.

Conference: International Investment Law and NCD Prevention

On May 10-11, 2018, the Law and NCD Unit of the University of Liverpool will host a conference on "International Investment Law and NCD Prevention." The program is here. Here's the idea:

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are responsible for almost 70% of all deaths worldwide. Almost three quarters of all NCD deaths, and 82% of the 16 million premature deaths, occur in low- and middle-income countries. NCDs have devastating consequences for individuals, families and communities; they threaten to overwhelm health systems; and they hinder development.

Since the first UN High Level Meeting on NCDs in 2011, the international community has acknowledged the scope of the problem and undertaken to take coordinated and coherent action to reduce the burden of NCDs. In particular, the WHO Global Action Plan on the Prevention and Control of NCDs for 2013-2020 lays down the foundation for the adoption of effective strategies intended to reduce the availability, acceptability and affordability of tobacco products, alcoholic beverages and unhealthy food, which include the adoption of marketing restrictions, labelling rules and fiscal measures. More recently, States renewed their commitment to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” and “reduce premature deaths from NCDs by one-third by 2030” (Sustainable Development Goal 3). In September 2018, the third UN High Level Meeting on NCDs will assess the progress that States have made towards their commitment to reduce the burden of NCDs.

Over the last thirty years, globalisation and economic liberalisation have greatly increased foreign direct investment in the tobacco, alcohol and food industries. Foreign investors enjoy certain protections under international investment agreements which empower them to bring compensation claims against host states for any measure that interferes with foreign investment. Thus, state efforts to regulate the tobacco, alcohol and food industries to prevent NCDs and promote public health could give rise to expensive arbitrations, as illustrated by recent claims challenging tobacco control legislation in Australia and Uruguay. The regulation of alcoholic beverages and unhealthy food could face similar challenges under international investment law. This raises important and timely questions about how international investment law can affect state regulatory autonomy in designing and implementing measures for preventing NCDs.

The Law & NCD Unit at the University of Liverpool is organising a one-and-a-half day conference to discuss these questions and explore the relationship between the NCD prevention policies and international investment law.

Symposium: Heritage Destruction, Human Rights and International Law

On April 30-May 2, 2018, Leiden University will hold a symposium on "Heritage Destruction, Human Rights and International Law." The program is here. Here's the idea:

Leiden Global Interactions recently awarded a GIAS grant to Dr Amy Strecker (Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University) and Dr Joseph Powderly (Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, Leiden University) for their inter-faculty collaboration on ‘Heritage Destruction, Human Rights and International Law.’

Central to the project is the convening of a high level advanced seminar in Leiden from 30 May to 2 May 2018. Amongst the primary objectives of the advanced seminar is to move beyond the usual focus of international law on the destruction and threat to heritage in the context of armed conflict, to also include an examination of heritage destruction in peacetime, and the role of human rights law in this regard. Normative developments in international cultural heritage law increasingly advocate a human rights approach to heritage. Likewise in heritage studies, there has been a proliferation and assertion of ‘rights’ in relation to heritage protection. Yet ascertaining the exact nature of these rights remains a challenge, especially in terms of accessing justice for heritage destruction beyond the framework of international criminal law. For example, what happens when heritage is under threat in peacetime by the very state charged with its protection? Human rights are by nature limited by their focus on individual rights. Yet heritage is a collective good, and as such, cannot be measured in terms of personal injury in the same way that the loss of property can. As a consequence, it is difficult to make a case before a human rights court for heritage destruction, even though cultural heritage forms an inherent part of cultural rights. By scrutinizing the various areas of international law and governance dealing with heritage destruction, the advanced seminar hopes to consider creative ways as to how the protection of important heritage sites and landscapes can be advanced beyond rhetoric.

The symposium will begin in the afternoon of 30 April with a keynote address by Prof. Francesco Francioni on the question of, “Is International Law Ready for the Recognition of a General Obligation to Prevent and Avoid Destruction of Cultural Heritage?”.

New Issue: Revue québécoise de droit international

The latest issue of the Revue Québécoise de Droit International (Vol 30, no. 1, 2017) is out. Contents include:

• Études
• Ezéchiel Amani Cirimwami & Stefaan Smis, Le régime des obligations positives de prévenir et de poursuivre à défaut d’extrader ou de remise prévues dans le texte des projets d’articles sur les crimes contre l’humanité provisoirement adoptés par la Commission du droit international
• Marion Mompontet, La responsabilité civile de l’Organisation des Nations Unies, effectivité et efficacité des mécanismes de réparation offerts pour les personnes privées, le cas des exactions sexuelles commises par les casques bleus
• Rafal Soroczyński, Acquisition of Title to Territory in the Aftermath of the Use of Force in the United Nations Era. The Case of the State of Israel
• Seyed Hossein Tabatabaei, Les avantages et les inconvénients des contrats buy-back par rapport aux contrats de partage de production
• Blaise Tchikaya, Les orientations doctrinales de la Commission de l’Union africaine sur le droit international

New Additions to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law

The Codification Division of the UN Office of Legal Affairs recently added new lectures to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law. They were given by Angelika Nussberger on “Change and Continuity in International Human Rights Law: The Example of the European Convention of Human Rights” and Linos-Alexander Sicilianos on “The European Court of Human Rights Facing the Security Council: Towards Systemic Harmonization.”

Lauterpacht Centre Friday Lunchtime Lecture Series for Easter Term 2018

Here's the schedule for the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law's Easter Term 2018 Friday Lunchtime Lectures:

• April 27, 2018: Mónica García-Salmones Rovira (Univ. of Helsinki), Human Rights, Natural Rights and the Ordering of Conquest
• May 4, 2018: Anthea Roberts (Australian National Univ. - School of Regulation and Global Governance), Is International Law in International?
• May 11, 2018: Hayk Kupelyants (Univ. of Cambridge), Conflict of Laws before International Courts and Tribunals

Sourgens, Duggal, & Laird: Evidence in International Investment Arbitration

Frédéric G. Sourgens (Washburn Univ. - Law), Kabir Duggal (Baker & McKenzie LLP), & Ian A. Laird (Crowell & Moring LLP) have published Evidence in International Investment Arbitration (Oxford Univ. Press 2018). Here's the abstract:

Evidence in International Investment Arbitration is a guide for practitioners representing a party in investment arbitration disputes, whilst also offering academics a perspective on the practical elements affecting the treatment of evidence in the area. The book is the first of its kind to systematically review the jurisprudence of investor-state tribunals on evidentiary matters and inductively establish the rules recognized in those decisions. It uses a comparative approach to demonstrate the points of commonality and uniformity in the transnational foundations of the law of evidence as it affects international investment arbitration, providing theoretical and practical guidance on the treatment of evidence at all stages of such disputes.

The work establishes the rules of evidence as currently recognized by investor-state arbitral jurisprudence and examines these rules of evidence against those recognized in the traditional rules of international law, as well as against those codified by the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration. It examines the theory and function of international investment law dispute resolution against which the role of evidence must be assessed; practical management of the evidence-gathering process in investment arbitration disputes; and what to anticipate as challenges in the gathering and pleading of evidence in these disputes. Chapters cover a broad range of evidence-based topics, including: burden and standard of proof, presumptions and inferences, witness and expert evidence, exclusionary rules including privileged and confidential documents, and annulment.

New Issue: World Trade Review

The latest issue of the World Trade Review (Vol. 17, no. 2, April 2018) is out. Contents include:

• Meredith A. Crowley & Jennifer A. Hillman, Slamming the Door on Trade Policy Discretion? The WTO Appellate Body’s Ruling on Market Distortions and Production Costs in EU–Biodiesel (Argentina)
• Marianna Karttunen & Michael O. Moore, India–Solar Cells: Trade Rules, Climate Policy, and Sustainable Development Goals
• Petros C. Mavroidis & Thomas J. Prusa, Die Another Day: Zeroing in on Targeted Dumping – Did the AB Hit the Mark in US–Washing Machines?
• Panagiotis Delimatsis & Bernard Hoekman, National Tax Regulation, Voluntary International Standards, and the GATS: Argentina–Financial Services
• Kara M. Reynolds & Boris Rigod, Russia–Tariff Treatment: Identifying Systematic Violations of WTO Law
• Ilaria Espa & Philip I. Levy, The Analogue Method Comes Unfastened – The Awkward Space between Market and Non-Market Economies in EC–Fasteners (Article 21.5)
• Joseph Francois & Janet Whittaker, Colombia – Measures Relating to the Importation of Textiles, Apparel and Footwear (DS461)
• Kholofelo Kugler, United States – Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from Korea (US–OCTG (Korea)), DS488
• Kholofelo Kugler, United States – Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Measures on Certain Coated Paper from Indonesia (US–Coated Paper (Indonesia)), DS491

New Issue: International Community Law Review

The latest issue of the International Community Law Review (Vol. 20, no. 2, 2018) is out. Contents include:

• Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Concept of a Treaty in Decisions of International Courts and Tribunals
• Yusuke Nakanishi, Defining the Boundaries of Legally Binding Treaties – Some Aspects of Japan’s Practice in Treaty-Making in Light of State Practice
• Masahiko Asada, How to Determine the Legal Character of an International Instrument: The Case of a Note Accompanying the Japan-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement
• Dai Tamada, The Japan-South Korea Comfort Women Agreement: Unfortunate Fate of a Non-Legally Binding Agreement
• Mika Hayashi, Benefits of a Legally Non-Binding Agreement: The Case of the 2013 US-Russian Agreement on the Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons

Dawuni & Kuenyehia: International Courts and the African Woman Judge: Unveiled Narratives

Josephine Jarpa Dawuni (Howard Univ. - Political Science) & Akua Kuenyehia (formerly, Judge, International Criminal Court) have published International Courts and the African Woman Judge: Unveiled Narratives (Routledge 2018). Contents include:

• Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, Foreword
• Josephine Jarpa Dawuni, Introduction: Challenging Gender Universalism and Unveiling the Silenced Narratives of the African Woman Judge
• Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba, Women Judges in International Courts and Tribunals –The Quest for Equal Opportunities: Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
• Nienke Grossman, Julia Sebutinde: An Unbreakable Cloth
• Josephine Jarpa Dawuni, Akua Kuenyehia: Leaving a Mark Along the Journey for Human Rights
• Sara Dezalay, Fatoumata Dembélé Diarra: Trajectory of A Malian Magistrate and Civil Society Advocate to The International Criminal Court
• Kuukuwa Andam & Sena Dei-Tutu, Sophia Akuffo: Balancing the Equities
• Rachel Ellett, Justina Kelello Mafoso- Guni: The Gendering of Judicial Appointment Processes in African Courts
• Rebecca Emiene Badejogbin, Elsie Nwanwuri Thompson: The Trajectory of a Noble Passion
• Josephine Jarpa Dawuni & Akua Kuenyehia, Conclusion: International Courts and The African Woman Judge: Unlocking Doors, Leaving a Legacy

ASIL: Proceedings of the 111th Annual Meeting

The Proceedings of the 111th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law (2017), edited by Aloysius Llamzon, Julie Maupin, & Saira Mohamed, is now in print. The table of contents is here.

New Issue: African Journal of International and Comparative Law

The latest issue of the African Journal of International and Comparative Law (Vol. 26, no. 2, May 2018) is out. Contents include:

• Khaled El Taweel & Gustav Brink, Trade Defence Instruments in Africa: Possible Scenarios for Implementation under the TFTA
• Cristiano d'Orsi, Ghana and the Paradoxical Situation of Its Asylum-Seekers: Selected Grounds for Alleged Persecution in a Supposed Democratic Country
• Bonolo Ramadi Dinokopila & Rhoda Igweta Murangiri, The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights under the 2010 Constitutional Dispensation
• Alex Ansong, Unclogging WTO Decision-Making with the Provisions on Amendments in Article X of the WTO Agreement
• Tarcisio Gazzini, Travelling the National Route: South Africa's Protection of Investment Act 2015
• Hakeem Ijaiya, Wardah I. Abbas & O. T. Wuraola, Re-Examining Hazardous Waste in Nigeria: Practical Possibilities within the United Nations System

New Volume: South African Yearbook of International Law

The latest volume of the South African Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 41, 2016) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Alabo Ozubide, How the Use of Force against Non-State Actors Transformed the Law of Self-defence after 9/11
• Olufemi Oluyeju & Michael Mafu, The African Growth and Opportunity Act: A Poisoned Chalice Handed to South Africa?
• James Fowkes, Armed Conflicts and the Lex Specialis Debate in Africa: lmplications of the Emerging Women’s and Children’s-rights Regimes
• Patrick Vrancken, Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy and the Law of the Sea
• Emma Charlene Lubaale, The First Cultural-Property Conviction at the ICC: An Analysis of the Al Mahdi Judgement
• International Law in Practice
• Dire Tladi, Progressively Developing and Codifying International Law: The Work of the International Law Commission in its 68th Session
• Sandea de Wet, Highlights from the Office of the Chief State Law Advisor (International Law)
• Notes and Comments
• George Barrie, A Synopsis of the International Law Commission’s Final Report on the Obligation to Extradite or Prosecute
• Comments on the Al Bashir cases
• Mia Swart & Chelsea Ramsden, A Shrewd Awakening: The Mobilisation of South African Civil Society in the Al Bashir Matter
• Hendrik Johannes Lubbe, Democratic Alliance v Minister of International Relations and Cooperation 2017 (3) SA 212 (GP)

Nikogosian & Kickbusch: The Legal Strength of International Health Instruments - What It Brings to Global Health Governance?

Haik Nikogosian (World Health Organization) & Ilona Kickbusch (Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies) have published The Legal Strength of International Health Instruments - What It Brings to Global Health Governance? (International Journal of Health Policy & Management, Vol. 5, no. 12, pp. 683-85, December 2016), and Marlies Hesselman (Univ. of Groningen - Law) & Brigit Toebes (Univ. of Groningen - Law) have published a comment in response (International Journal of Health Policy & Management, Vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 264-267, March 2018).

Stephens: The Antarctic Treaty System and the Anthropocene

Tim Stephens (Univ. of Sydney - Law) has posted The Antarctic Treaty System and the Anthropocene (Polar Journal, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Despite Antarctica’s isolation, the Anthropocene’s signature is inscribed deeply there, from the ozone hole etched in the southern sky to the cleaving of the ice shelves into the Southern Ocean. The Antarctic Treaty sought to quarantine Antarctica from the nuclear technologies that heralded the advent of the Anthropocene, and the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) is imbued with a romantic environmental ideal of Antarctica as a pristine wilderness that needs only to be left alone to be protected. But in the Anthropocene it is the global forces let loose by human hands that are transforming Antarctica, rather than any activities on the continent itself. What does this mean for our legal imaginings of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean? What might an ATS that understands and responds to the challenges of the Anthropocene look like?

Waibel: The Origins of Interpretive Canons in Domestic Legal Systems

Michael Waibel (Univ. of Cambridge - Law) has posted The Origins of Interpretive Canons in Domestic Legal Systems. Here's the abstract:

This chapter examines the domestic origins of the canons of construction used in treaty interpretation. It shows that these canons typically draw on domestic principles for statutory and contractual interpretation. Section I surveys general themes emerging from specific canons of construction, and provides a summary of some key links between the canons of construction and foundational sources such as the Roman Law Digest and the work of early international lawyers, such as Grotius, Pufendorf, and de Vattel.

Section II then zooms into some specific canons and their domestic origins. It examines the links that each canon has to the common and civil law traditions (and other sources), and the extent to which international tribunals have acknowledged the domestic origins of these canons. Just like national courts unconsciously rely on contract and statutory analogies in interpreting treaties, this section shows that international courts and tribunals often rely on these canons without awareness of their domestic origins, and even though they are not found explicitly in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

Kallergis: La compétence fiscale

Andréas Kallergis (Sorbonne Law School) has published La compétence fiscale (Dalloz 2018). Here's the abstract:

Pour identifier des limites internationales de la liberté de l'État en matière fiscale, il convient d'étudier non seulement sa compétence fiscale - envers qui il peut exercer le pouvoir fiscal - mais aussi son pouvoir fiscal - ce qu'il peut faire dans l'exercice de ce pouvoir. Ces éléments sont éclaircis à travers l'analyse de la pratique étatique et de la jurisprudence internationale. La compétence fiscale de l'État ne repose pas sur une habilitation par l'ordre juridique international, mais doit être appréhendée sous le prisme des deux faces de l'État : personne publique et sujet de droit international. D'une part, les États disposent d'un pouvoir fiscal originaire de leur constitution comme personnes publiques souveraines. D'une autre part, en tant que sujets de droit international, ils peuvent se reconnaître des droits et des obligations subjectifs, et donc aménager l'exercice de leurs pouvoirs fiscaux par la détermination des sphères de leurs compétences par la conclusion d'engagements interétatiques. En dehors de cette hypothèse, les critères de rattachement fiscal sont des représentations d'une relation entre l'État et le sujet ou l'objet de l'impôt selon l'appréciation de l'État normateur, et non pas des règles certaines de compétence internationale. La liberté de l'État de déterminer le contenu de son pouvoir fiscal est encadrée de manière rudimentaire par le droit international. Cet encadrement implique essentiellement l'inopposabilité des normes fiscales d'effet extraterritorial et l'interdiction de réalisation d'opérations matérielles en territoire étranger. Pour autant, parce qu'il est souverain, l'État peut consentir à des limitations de son pouvoir fiscal dans le cadre de la coopération ou l'intégration internationale, sans que le titre de son pouvoir ne soit contesté.

New Issue: Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law

The latest issue of the Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law (Vol. 27, no. 1, April 2018) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: Arctic Environmental Governance
• Sabaa Ahmad Khan & Kati Kulovesi, Black carbon and the Arctic: Global problem‐solving through the nexus of science, law and space
• Layla Hughes, Relationships with Arctic indigenous peoples: To what extent has prior informed consent become a norm?
• Stefan Kirchner & Pirjo Kleemola‐Juntunen, Dumping and oil pollution: Regulatory approaches for vessel operations in an ice‐free Central Arctic Ocean
• Dorottya Bognar, Russia and the polar marine environment: The negotiation of the environmental protection measures of the mandatory Polar Code
• Seita Romppanen, Arctic climate governance via EU law on black carbon?
• Nengye Liu, Will China build a green Belt and Road in the Arctic?
• Konstantia Koutouki, Katherine Lofts & Giselle Davidian, A rights‐based approach to indigenous women and gender inequities in resource development in northern Canada
• Regular Article
• Natalie L. Dobson, The EU's conditioning of the ‘extraterritorial’ carbon footprint: A call for an integrated approach in trade law discourse
• Case Note
  • Yoshifumi Tanaka, The South China Sea arbitration: Environmental obligations under the Law of the Sea Convention

Conference: The Return of the "S" Word: Sovereignty in Contemporary International Law

On May 16, 2018, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law will host the 27th Annual SLS/BIICL Workshop on Theory & International Law. The theme is: "The Return of the 'S' Word: Sovereignty in Contemporary International Law." The program is here. Here's the idea:

It was not too long ago, in the days, months and years following the collapse of the Berlin Wall, that many prominent "internationalists" (lawyers and international relations theorists alike) were relishing the end, or death, of state sovereignty - or at the very least ushering in the concept's twilight years. Fast forward to the present, however, and the geo-political climate at the start of 2018 seems only to highlight the naivety of this assumption and the continuing longevity of the idea of sovereignty and the importance of states' political independence. Under a rising tide of populist nationalism in the West and a resurgence of authoritarianism among existing and emerging superpowers in the East, sovereigntist rhetoric continues to play out in self-determination struggles, as well as mooted withdrawals from international institutions like the European Union and the International Criminal Court - institutions championed very much in opposition to the worst excesses of state sovereignty.

With this background in mind, the 2018 Workshop on Theory and International Law aims to re-engage the concept of sovereignty in contemporary international law, inviting contributions which relate to the (contested) nature or evolving meaning of state sovereignty, as well as how the concept manifests in relation to specific areas of international law and institutional practice, including e.g. statehood and self-determination struggles, membership and withdrawal of international organisations, etc.

Lecture: Singh on "Semicolonialism, Siam and the Making of a Nation State"

On April 27, 2018, Prabhakar Singh (Jindal Global Law School) will deliver a lecture at the Nehru Memorial Library. The topic is: "Semicolonialism, Siam and the Making of a Nation State."

Conference: BIICL WTO Conference 2018

On June 8, 2018, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law will host its 2018 WTO Conference. Here's the idea:

As in the past, this year's WTO Conference will explore emerging ideas and developments in international trade law. It will bring together leading academics and practitioners to discuss the implications of recent global developments. 2018 has seen great challenges and debates concerning the validity of WTO law and its very foundation. This year's BIICL WTO Conference will debate some of the most important current academic and practical issues with topics ranging from Brexit to the active undermining of the international legal trade order by some of its founding members. New topics will also be debated such as trade and climate change. The founding of the WTO in 1994 and, before it, the establishment of the GATT 1947 have provided the legal framework for the rules-based international trading system. The BIICL WTO Conference takes place at a critical crossroad where this system may either be affirmed and strengthened or undermined by a resurgence of economic nationalism and new barriers to trade. This conference is of high practical value as the UK prepares to leave the European Union. As such legal practitioners will have to take WTO rules more directly into account when advising international companies and actors.

New Issue: Leiden Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Leiden Journal of International Law (Vol. 31, no. 2, June 2018) is out. Contents include:

• Editorial
• Machiko Kanetake, Blind Spots in International Law
• International Legal Theory
• Anne-Charlotte Martineau, A Forgotten Chapter in the History of International Commercial Arbitration: The Slave Trade's Dispute Settlement System
• Symposium on International Law and Political Economy
• John Haskell & Akbar Rasulov, International Law and the Turn to Political Economy
• Anne Saab, An International Law Approach to Food Regime Theory
• Nikolas M. Rajkovic, The Visual Conquest of International Law: Brute Boundaries, the Map, and the Legacy of Cartogenesis
• Jamee K. Moudud, Analyzing the Constitutional Theory of Money: Governance, Power, and Instability
• International Law and Practice
• Lea Raible, Title to Territory and Jurisdiction in International Human Rights Law: Three Models for a Fraught Relationship
• Björnstjern Baade, The ECtHR's Role as a Guardian of Discourse: Safeguarding a Decision-Making Process Based on Well-Established Standards, Practical Rationality, and Facts
• Mauro Megliani, For the Orphan, the Widow, the Poor: How to Curb Enforcing by Vulture Funds against the Highly Indebted Poor Countries
• Hague International Tribunals: International Court of Justice
• Niccolò Ridi, Precarious Finality? Reflections on Res Judicata and the Question of the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf Case
• International Criminal Courts and Tribunals
• Alexandre Skander Galand, Approaching Custom Identification as a Conflict Avoidance Technique: Tadić and Kupreškić Revisited

Zheng: Unlawful Blockades as Crimes Against Humanity

Junteng Zheng has posted an ASIL Insight on Unlawful Blockades as Crimes Against Humanity.

Call for Papers: Rethinking Reparations in International Law (Reminder)

A reminder that a call for papers has been issued for a workshop on "Rethinking Reparation in International Law," to take place in November 2018, at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law. The deadline is April 30, 2018. Here's the call:

Call for Papers: Rethinking Reparations in International Law

What role do reparations play in international law today? What is the theory behind reparations in different areas/systems of international law? Do reparations play a different role in different areas of international law (human rights, investment law)? How are reparations chosen by judges and arbitrators and how are damages calculated? What is the link between efficiency and reparations? How can reparations be made more efficient? How do judges/arbitrators understand their role in relation to reparations?

These questions will be at the centre of an ESIL-sponsored workshop held at the Lauterpacht Centre, University of Cambridge in November 2018. The workshop will seek to address the recent developments and scholarship in the area of reparations (remedies) in international law. It will bring together scholars writing on theory of reparations, those conducting empirical or comparative research, as well as practitioners, judges and arbitrators. The aim is to provide a platform for discussion of new ideas about efficiency of reparations in international law.

At this point, we would like to invite scholars and practitioners working in the area, to submit a max. 400-word abstract to Dr Veronika Fikfak at vf243@cam.ac.uk. The deadline for submission is 30 April 2018. Abstracts will be selected by early June. Papers for the workshop will have to be submitted by mid-September.

The workshop is part of a larger project on Damages for Human Rights Violations funded by the ESRC. It is organised by Dr Veronika Fikfak, Lauterpacht Centre, University of Cambridge and Professor Photini Pazartzis, Athens Public International Law Centre, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens. The aim is to publish suitable contributions as an edited collection or special edition of an international journal. Papers with an empirical or comparative approach are particularly welcome.

New Issue: Climate Law

The latest issue of Climate Law (Vol. 8, nos. 1-2, 2018) is out. Contents include:

• Christopher Campbell-Duruflé, Accountability or Accounting? Elaboration of the Paris Agreement’s Implementation and Compliance Committee at COP 23
• Sebastian Oberthür & Eliza Northrop, Towards an Effective Mechanism to Facilitate Implementation and Promote Compliance under the Paris Agreement
• Jeffrey J. Smith & M. Tanveer Ahmad, Globalization’s Vehicle: The Evolution and Future of Emission Regulation in the ICAO and IMO in Comparative Assessment
• Chris Lyle, Beyond the ICAO’s CORSIA: Towards a More Climatically Effective Strategy for Mitigation of Civil-Aviation Emissions

New Issue: Chinese Journal of Global Governance

The latest issue of the Chinese Journal of Global Governance (Vol. 4, no. 1, 2018) is out. Contents include:

• Xiaoshi Zhang, Rethinking International Legal Narrative Concerning Nineteenth Century China: Seeking China’s Intellectual Connection to International Law
• Chuanfang Zhang, On the High-Standard Trade Rules in the 21st Century and China’s Responsive Strategy—A Classical Liberalism Perspective
• Chengjin Xu & Bin Gu, A Critique of Immunity for Multilateral Development Banks in National Courts

New Issue: International Criminal Law Review

The latest issue of the International Criminal Law Review (Vol. 18, no. 2, 2018) is out. Contents include:

• Jennifer Trahan, From Kampala to New York—The Final Negotiations to Activate the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over the Crime of Aggression
• Andrea Caligiuri, Governing International Cooperation in Criminal Matters: The Role of the aut dedere aut judicare Principle
• Kazuya Yokohama, The Failure to Control and the Failure to Prevent, Repress and Submit: The Structure of Superior Responsibility under Article 28 ICC Statute
• Alexis Galán, Julius Stone, Aggression, and the Future of the International Criminal Court
• Annie Bunting & Izevbuwa Kehinde Ikhimiukor, The Expressive Nature of Law: What We Learn from Conjugal Slavery to Forced Marriage in International Criminal Law
• Caleb H. Wheeler, Rights in Conflict: The Clash between Abolishing the Death Penalty and Delivering Justice to the Victims

New Issue: International Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the International Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 22, no. 5, 2018) is out. Contents include:

• Richard Landes & Gerald Steinberg, The human rights discourse and Israel: beyond victimhood and underdogs
• Bella Kovner & Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Children, human rights organisations, and the law under occupation: the case of Palestinian children in East Jerusalem
• Westmin R.A. James, In search of progress: the implications of Caleb Orozco v. AG of Belize for the Commonwealth Caribbean
• Morten Broberg & Hans-Otto Sano, Strengths and weaknesses in a human rights-based approach to international development – an analysis of a rights-based approach to development assistance based on practical experiences
• Asher Lazarus Hirsch & Cameron Doig, Outsourcing control: the International Organization for Migration in Indonesia
• Danielle Worden, Sex trafficking: towards a human rights paradigm
• Lisa Grans, The concept of due diligence and the positive obligation to prevent honour-related violence: beyond deterrence

New Issue: Journal of World Investment & Trade

The latest issue of the Journal of World Investment & Trade (Vol. 19, no. 2, 2018) is out. Contents include:

• Joshua Paine, On Investment Law and Questions of Change
• Kei Nakajima, Beyond Abaclat: Mass Claims in Investment Treaty Arbitration and Regulatory Governance for Sovereign Debt Restructuring
• Uchenna Jerome Orji, Promoting Technology Transfers in Nigeria’s Extractive Industries: A Review of the Legal Regime, the Challenges and Proposals for Responses
• Jawad Ahmad, Complicity in Forgery and Investor Due Diligence over Local Partners
• Hannes Lenk, More Trade and Less Investment for Future EU Trade and Investment Policy

Conference: Colloque annuel de la Société française pour le droit international

On May 31-June 1, 2018, the Société française pour le droit international will hold its Colloque annuel at the Université de Rennes 1. The theme is: "Droit international et santé." The program is here. Here's the idea:

Définie comme « un état de complet bien-être physique, mental et social et ne consiste pas seulement en une absence de maladie ou d’infirmité », la santé est indiscutablement un thème transversal en droit international. Chacune de ses différentes branches, à l’instar notamment du droit international de l’environnement, du droit international des droits de l’homme, du droit du commerce international, du droit des investissements, du droit international humanitaire, consacre des développements plus ou moins substantiels aux questions de santé. Pourtant, en dépit de son existence et de son importance, le droit international de la santé est indiscutablement un parent pauvre de la littérature juridique internationale. Le présent colloque vise dès lors à remédier à cette lacune. Son objet est de revenir sur le droit international de la santé (son existence, son effectivité, son avenir) sans pour autant s’y limiter car la santé est une question au carrefour de différents domaines du droit international.

La santé est une question qui implique de multiples acteurs du droit international. Elle est au cœur de la souveraineté des Etats. Pour autant, pour mettre en place des politiques efficaces au plan international ceux-ci doivent nécessairement coopérer. D’où le recours aux organisations internationales et en particulier à l’Organisation mondiale de la santé. Elle est aidée en cela par les organisations non gouvernementales et doit en outre souvent faire face aux puissants groupes de pression. D’autres organisations à l’instar de la Banque Mondiale, de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce ou bien encore l’Organisation des Nations Unies sont amenées également à intervenir dans le domaine de la santé. Même le Conseil de sécurité, que rien ne prédestinait à devenir un acteur dans ce domaine, a pris des mesures n’hésitant pas, par exemple, à qualifier Ebola de menace à la paix et à la sécurité internationales. D’autres acteurs ont vu le jour afin de répondre à des problématiques particulières sous forme de partenariats publics ou privés comme le GAVI (l’alliance du vaccin) ou bien encore UNITAID. Les personnes privées à l’image des laboratoires pharmaceutiques, ne sont pas non plus en reste. La santé est un domaine dans lequel les acteurs et les normes sont foisonnants. La question de l’accès aux médicaments en est une illustration flagrante pour le pire et le meilleur.

La santé renouvelle en outre de nombreuses problématiques du droit international. Ainsi en va-t-il notamment de la responsabilité internationale. L’épidémie de choléra dont les casques bleus ont été à l’origine en Haïti soulève la délicate question de la responsabilité de l’ONU. De la même façon, le refus de certains Etats de prendre dans un premier temps les mesures nécessaires pour faire face à l’épidémie de SRAS soulève la question de la responsabilité étatique.

Pour des motifs de santé publique, les Etat peuvent prendre des mesures attentatoires à la libre circulation, au commerce ou bien encore au droit des investissements. Ces questions ont pu donner lieu à différents contentieux devant l’Organe de règlement des différends de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce ou bien encore dans le cadre de tribunaux CIRDI.

Le colloque sera également l’occasion d’envisager des grands enjeux contemporains comme la question des migrations et de la santé, la bioéthique et le droit international, l’accès aux soins de santé, la santé face aux nouvelles technologies.

L’objet du colloque est donc de faire le point sur la santé et le droit international : question fondamentale et pourtant peu analysée dans sa globalité. Des universitaires de renom, des praticiens dont certains sont issus du monde académique, des juristes mais aussi des médecins ou bien encore des représentants de l’industrie pharmaceutique pourront, durant ces deux jours discuter, apprendre, et approfondir leur réflexion.

New Issue: Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d'histoire du droit international

The latest issue of the Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d'histoire du droit international (Vol. 20, no. 1, 2018) is out. Contents include:

• Andrew Fitzmaurice, Context in the History of International Law
• Gábor Sulyok, Breach of Treaties in the Ancient Near East
• Jorg Kustermans, Henry Maine and the Modern Invention of Peace
• Ofra Friesel, Fifty Years since the 1967 Annexation of East Jerusalem: Israel, the United States, and the First United Nations Denunciation