- October 11, 2018: Florian Jeßberger (Univ. of Hamburg), Why punish perpetrators of mass atrocities? Reflections on peace, punishment and the ICC
- October 18, 2018: Natasa Mavronicola (Univ. of Birmingham), Addressing key challenges to the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- October 25, 2018: Surabhi Ranganathan (Univ. of Cambridge), Unmaking the ocean
- November 1, 2018: Fernando Bordin (Univ. of Cambridge), The analogy between States and International Organizations
- November 8, 2018: Andrew Hood (Dechert LLP), The consequences of Brexit
- November 15, 2018: Daniel Costelloe (WilmerHale), Succession of States and the policies of International Law
- November 22, 2018: Stephen Bailey & Rutsel Martha (Lindeborg LLP), INTERPOL and the responsibility of International Organisations
- November 29, 2018: Liesbeth Lijnzaad (Judge, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; Maastricht Univ.), The role of reference works (travaux, commentaries, etc.) in international law - how we write them, how we use them
Friday, October 5, 2018
Oxford Public International Law Discussion Group for Michaelmas Term 2018
Here's the schedule for the Oxford Public International Law Discussion Group for Michaelmas Term 2018:
Alvarez: Reviewing the Use of “Soft Law” in Investment Arbitration
José E. Alvarez (New York Univ. - Law) has posted Reviewing the Use of “Soft Law” in Investment Arbitration (European International Arbitration Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
This essay surveys the extent to which instruments, such as those issued by the International Bar Association for use in arbitration that are not included in the formal sources of international law, are relied upon in investor-state arbitration. It considers the difficulties of defining what some call ‘soft’ or ‘informal’ law, of empirically measuring the extent to which arbitrators resort to it, and of determining whether its use is consistent with the accepted rules of treaty interpretation. It canvasses the significance of soft law in two recent rulings, Urbaser v. Argentina and Philip Morris v. Uruguay. The author, who previously has addressed the use of European human rights and trade law in investor-state arbitrator, reviews the pros and cons of this particular kind of ‘boundary crossing.’ He concludes that it is as yet too early to say whether resort to soft law will ameliorate or worsen the perceived ‘legitimate deficits’ of the investment regime.
Call for Papers: Eighth Annual Junior Faculty Forum for International Law
Thursday, October 4, 2018
New Issue: International Journal of Human Rights
The latest issue of the International Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 22, no. 8, 2018) is out. Contents include:- Ahmed Almutawa, Terrorism measures in Bahrain: proportionality and the interplay between security, civil liberties and political stability
- Antoine Buyse, Squeezing civic space: restrictions on civil society organizations and the linkages with human rights
- Aminath Didi, Leanne Dowse & Louisa Smith, Intellectual disability and complex support needs: human rights perspective for policy and practice
- Graeme Young, De-democratisation and the rights of street vendors in Kampala, Uganda
- Nicolas Pirsoul, Islam and political liberalism: a Shi’ite approach to the overlapping consensus
- Samar El-Masri, Prosecuting ISIS for the sexual slavery of the Yazidi women and girls
- Stefan Newton, The excessive use of force against blacks in the United States of America
- Joshua Holzer, Democratic presidential elections and human rights: does a runoff round reduce repression?
New Issue: International Theory
- Jean-François Drolet & Michael C Williams, Radical conservatism and global order: international theory and the new right
- Michael Barnett, Human rights, humanitarianism, and the practices of humanity
- Mareike Kleine, Keeping tabs on your cooperating partners: a coalition perspective on international organizations
- Erik O. Eriksen, Getting to agreement: mechanisms of deliberative decision-making
Hakimi: Techniques for Regulating Military Force
Monica Hakimi (Univ. of Michigan - Law) has posted Techniques for Regulating Military Force (in The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Foreign Relations Law, Curtis Bradley ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
This book chapter identifies and analyzes some of the techniques that states use to regulate their war powers, and then reflects on the value of comparative research in this area. Three basic techniques are: (1) to establish substantive standards on when the government may or may not use force, (2) to divide among different branches of government the authority to deploy the country’s armed forces, and (3) to subject such decisions to oversight or review. There is considerable variation, both across countries and over time within particular countries, in how and with what effect each technique is used. Given this variation, comparative war powers research is likely to be of limited relevance to national officials who make use of force decisions or to analysts who seek to explain them. Instead, the principal benefit of such research might be to bring into stark relief a country’s own national ethos — to shed light on how it defines itself and conceives of its relationship with the rest of the world.
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Zemach: Assessing the Scope of the Palestinian Territorial Entitlement
Ariel Zemach (Ono Academic College - Law) has posted Assessing the Scope of the Palestinian Territorial Entitlement (Fordham International Law Journal, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
What is the scope of the Palestinian entitlement to the territory of the West Bank, currently occupied by Israel? The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and its derivative, a Palestinian right to statehood, have been widely acknowledged. But does the right to self-determination determine the borders of the Palestinian state, giving rise to a Palestinian territorial entitlement to the whole of the West Bank? The article answers this question in the negative, demonstrating that neither state practice nor the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice support a rule of customary international law that assigns self-determination considerations a role in the demarcation of international boundaries.
The article also examines the role of international recognition of title to territory in the resolution of the territorial dispute between Israel and the Palestinians. To what extent does international law empower the international community to resolve a territorial dispute over the objection of an affected party, by pronouncing a collective position that reflects near-consensus? The article concludes that a collective recognition by the international community of Palestinian title to territories currently occupied by Israel would have neither a probative value nor a constitutive effect under international law, unless such international position takes the form of U.N. Security Council action in the exercise of its binding powers under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter.
The article further demonstrates that international law does not support an Israeli claim to sovereignty over the occupied West Bank. This inquiry focuses on a critical examination of a theory recently advanced in legal literature, which predicates such a claim on the doctrine of uti possidetis juris. Finally, the article considers the consequences of the absence of a norm of international law governing the demarcation of the border between Israel and the Palestinians.
Espósito: Spanish Foreign Relations Law and the Process for Making Treaties and Other International Agreements
Carlos Espósito (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid - Law) has posted Spanish Foreign Relations Law and the Process for Making Treaties and Other International Agreements (in The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Foreign Relations Law, Curtis A. Bradley ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
This chapter explores the concept of a Spanish foreign relations law in two ways. First, it discusses scholarly texts on matters related to foreign relations law, domestic case law on the principle of universal jurisdiction, and national legislation on state immunity as evidence of a Spanish foreign relations law. Second, it deals with the process under Spanish law for making treaties and other international agreements, and issues arising from the conclusion and enforcement of the law of treaties in relation to autonomous communities. The chapter suggests that the Spanish conception of foreign relations law can be described as predominantly internationalist, with elements of allocative, constitutional, and diplomatic functions.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Zeccola: Die Strafzumessung im Völkerstrafrecht unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Rechtssprechung der Ad-hoc-Tribunale der Vereinten Nationen
Die Ad-hoc-Tribunale der UN wurden eingerichtet, um zur Befriedung der Konfliktstaaten beizutragen. Ihre Urteile erfahren vor allem dort viel Aufmerksamkeit, wobei sie häufig auf den Strafausspruch reduziert werden. Im Fokus steht deshalb die Strafzumessung, die der richterlichen Straffindung als Fundament dient. Die Ad-hoc-Tribunale als Vorreiter des Völkerstrafrechts formulierten hierbei wichtige Grundsätze. Die Arbeit untersucht, wie die bislang ergangenen Urteile in diesem Bereich ausgestaltet sind und insbesondere, welche Strafumstände bei der Bemessung der Strafe eine Rolle spielen. Neben einer Analyse der ergangenen Urteile wurden diese einem Rechtsvergleich mit deutschem und österreichischem Recht unterzogen. Auch wenn dieser Rechtsvergleich hierbei an seine Grenzen stößt, da Makrokriminalität vor allem in der Strafzumessung Besonderheiten aufweist, konnte er einhergehend mit einer kritischen Analyse der ergangenen Urteile aufzeigen, dass die Praxis der Rechtsprechung der Ad-hoc-Tribunale, vor allem im Hinblick auf Urteile des Internationalen Strafgerichtshofs, verbesserungswürdig ist.
New Issue: Global Society
The latest issue of Global Society (Vol. 32, no. 4, 2018) is out. Contents include:- Gendering Security in Theory and Practice
- Andrea Den Boer & Ingvild Bode, Gendering Security: Connecting Theory and Practice
- Gina Heathcote, Security Council Resolution 2242 on Women, Peace and Security: Progressive Gains or Dangerous Development?
- Maria Martin de Almagro, Producing Participants: Gender, Race, Class, and Women, Peace and Security
- Maria-Adriana Deiana & Kenneth McDonagh, Translating the Women, Peace and Security Agenda into EU Common Security and Defence Policy: Reflections from EU Peacebuilding
- Matthew Hurley, Watermelons and Weddings: Making Women, Peace and Security “Relevant” at NATO Through (Re)Telling Stories of Success
- Phoebe Donnelly, The Interactive Relationship between Gender and Strategy
- Maike Messerschmidt, Ingrained Practices: Sexual Violence, Hypermasculinity, and Re-Mobilisation for Violent Conflict
- Debra L. DeLaet & Elizabeth Mills, Discursive Silence as a Global Response to Sexual Violence: From Title IX to Truth Commissions
Baade: Fake News and International Law
Björnstjern Baade (Freie Universität Berlin - Law) has posted Fake News and International Law (European Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
In light of current efforts at addressing the dangers of fake news, this article will revisit the international law relevant to the phenomenon, in particular the prohibition of intervention, the 1936 International Convention on the Use of Broadcasting in the Cause of Peace, and the 1953 Convention on the International Right of Correction. It will be argued that important lessons can be learned from the League of Nations’ (LON) efforts in the interwar period and the UN’s activities in the immediate post-WWII era, while taking into account the new challenges that arise from modern communication technology.
Taking up the LON’s and UN’s distinction between false and distorted news, the international legal framework will be tested, in particular, against the coverage of the 2016 ‘Lisa case’ by Russian Government-funded media. This coverage is widely considered to be fake news aimed at destabilizing Germany’s society and institutions.
The article argues that false news can be subject to repressive regulation in a sensible manner. Distorted news, however, will have to be tolerated legally, since prohibitions in this regard would be too prone to abuse. A free and pluralist media, complemented by an appropriate governmental information policy, remains the best answer to fake news in all its forms. Due diligence obligations to fact-check, transparency, and remedies that are effective despite difficulties in attribution, and despite a lack of universal acceptance, could likewise be conducive.
Call for Papers: The rule of law and international law in historical perspective
The ESIL Interest Group on the History of International Law has issued a call for papers for an event on the occasion of the ESIL Research Forum, April 4-5, 2019, in Göttingen. The theme is: "The rule of law and international law in historical perspective." The call is here.
Genin: Le laboratoire belge du droit international : Une communauté épistémique et internationale de juristes (1869-1914)
L’histoire des juristes belges de droit international n’a jusqu’ici été l’objet d’aucune étude synthétique et l’intégration de l’histoire du droit international à la réflexion en sciences humaines en est encore à ses commencements. L’approche que propose ce livre, s’écartant des chemins classiques des points de vue purement juridique ou philosophique, est par conséquent pionnière. Cette réflexion, historique par sa méthode et ses enjeux, qui se veut ouvertement interdisciplinaire (histoire, droit, sociologie), appartient à l’histoire des relations internationales, dans la mesure où le rapport au droit international représente une des grandes données conditionnant la manière d’être au monde d’un pays.
Monday, October 1, 2018
New Issue: Asian International Arbitration Journal
The latest issue of the Asian International Arbitration Journal (Vol. 14, no. 1, 2018) is out. Contents include:- Christine Sim, Will Artificial Intelligence Take Over Arbitration?
- Elizabeth Wu & Lawrence Boo, Of Moving Frontiers and Notes Verbales: Ascertaining the Intentions of State Parties in BITs (Sanum Investments Ltd v. Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic [2016] SGCA 57)
- V. K. Rajah, The Case for Singapore to Take the Lead in International Arbitration Ethics
- Gracious Timothy Dunna, Supreme Court in Centrotrade 2016: Too Quick to Nod at the Validity of the Two-Tier Arbitration Clause?
- Sai Anukaran, ‘Scope of Arbitrability of Disputes’ from the Indian Perspective
- Mohamed H. Negm & Huthaifa Bustanji, Particularity of Arbitration in International Intellectual Property Disputes: Fitting Square Peg into Round Hole
Sunday, September 30, 2018
New Issue: Questions of International Law
- May third states directly and/or indirectly intervene in the Syrian armed conflict?
- Introduced by Micaela Frulli, Marco Roscini, & Chiara Vitucci
- Olivier Corten, L’intervention de la Russie en Syrie: que reste-t-il du principe de non-intervention dans les guerres civiles
- Pietro Pustorino, The principle of non-intervention in recent non-international armed conflicts
New Issue: Criminal Law Forum
The latest issue of Criminal Law Forum (Vol. 29, no. 3, September 2018) is out. Contents include:- Neil Boister, Global Simplification of Extradition: Interviews with Selected Extradition Experts in New Zealand, Canada, the US and EU
- Andrew Britton, Pressing for Sentence? An Examination of the New Zealand Crown Prosecutor’s Role in Sentencing
- Nurilign Mulugeta Gurmessa, The Right to Representation by Criminal Defense Counsel in Ethiopia: A Critical Analysis
- Thomas Weigend, A Comprehensive View of International Criminal Law and Procedure
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