Wallace: The Application of the European Convention on Human Rights to Military Operations

Stuart Wallace (Univ. of Cambridge) has published The Application of the European Convention on Human Rights to Military Operations (Cambridge Univ. Press 2019). Here's the abstract:

The European Convention on Human Rights is being applied to military operations of every kind from internal operations in Russia and Turkey, to international armed conflicts in Iraq, Ukraine and elsewhere. This book exposes the challenge that this development presents to the integrity and universality of Convention rights. Can states realistically investigate all instances where life is lost during military operations? Can the Convention offer the same level of protection to soldiers in combat as it does to its citizens at home? How can we reconcile the application of the Convention with other international law applicable to military operations? This book offers detailed analysis of how the Convention applies to military operations of all kinds. It highlights the creeping relativism of the standards applied by the European Court of Human Rights to military operations and offers guidance on how to interpret and apply the Convention to military operations.

Ruys, Ferro, & Haesebrouck: Parliamentary war powers and the role of international law in foreign troop deployment decisions: The US-led coalition against “Islamic State” in Iraq and Syria

Tom Ruys (Ghent Univ.- Law), Luca Ferro (Ghent Univ. - Ghent Rolin-Jaequemyns International Law Institute), & Tim Haesebrouck (Ghent Univ. - Ghent Institute for International Studies) have published Parliamentary war powers and the role of international law in foreign troop deployment decisions: The US-led coalition against “Islamic State” in Iraq and Syria (International Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 118–150, January 2019). Here's the abstract:

This article addresses the degree of parliamentary involvement in decisions to deploy armed forces abroad. It observes how the recourse to force by the US-led military coalition fighting against the so-called Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL, or Da’esh) in Iraq and Syria seems to fit into a broader trend of increased parliamentary control over war-and-peace decisions on both sides of the Atlantic. Inasmuch as international legal arguments can and do play a role in parliamentary debates and concomitant resolutions, this trend carries the potential of contributing to the compliance pull of the jus ad bellum. Against this background, the article explores to what extent newfound war powers on the part of national parliaments go hand in hand with recourse to international legal arguments. The article engages this question through an analysis of the dialogue between the executive and legislative branches in a number of countries (in particular Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada) pertaining to the participation in the US-led coalition against IS.

New Issue: International Organization

The latest issue of International Organization (Vol. 73, no. 2, Spring 2019) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Kaitlyn Webster, Chong Chen, & Kyle Beardsley, Conflict, Peace, and the Evolution of Women's Empowerment
• Lachlan McNamee & Anna Zhang, Demographic Engineering and International Conflict: Evidence from China and the Former USSR
• Gautam Nair & Nicholas Sambanis, Violence Exposure and Ethnic Identification: Evidence from Kashmir
• Robert A. Blair, International Intervention and the Rule of Law after Civil War: Evidence from Liberia
• Thomas Sommerer & Jonas Tallberg, Diffusion Across International Organizations: Connectivity and Convergence
• Benjamin O. Fordham, The Domestic Politics of World Power: Explaining Debates over the United States Battleship Fleet, 1890–91
• Research Note
• Daniel Naurin, Elin Naurin, & Amy Alexander, Gender Stereotyping and Chivalry in International Negotiations: A Survey Experiment in the Council of the European Union

Call for Papers: The crisis of multilateral international order: causes, dynamics and consequences

The European Society of International Law, the Warsaw School of Economics, and the Polish Academy of Sciences's Institute of Law Studies have issued a call for papers for a conference on "The crisis of multilateral international order: causes, dynamics and consequences," to take place November 22-23, 2019, in Warsaw. The call is here.

Call for Papers: International Investments and Ecological Sustainability

The International Investments in Latin America Network and the School of Policy and Government of the Universidad Nacional de San Martín, with the support of the University of Dundee and the Transnational Institute, are organizing a workshop on "International Investments and Ecological Sustainability," to take place July 25-26, 2019, at the Universidad Nacional de San Martín. The call for papers is here.

Call for Papers: New Histories of Sovereigns and Sovereignties

The ESIL Interest Group on the History of International Law has issued a call for papers for a side event at the 2019 ESIL Annual Conference. The theme is: "New Histories of Sovereigns and Sovereignty." The event will take place on September 12, 2019. The call is here.

New Issue: African Journal of International and Comparative Law

The latest issue of the African Journal of International and Comparative Law (Vol. 27, no. 2, May 2019) is out. Contents include:

• Aaron Olaniyi Salau, Positive Obligation to Protect African Charter's Access to Information Norm Versus National Security Restrictions in Nigerian Law: Striking a Balance
• Cecil Yongo, Constitutional Interpretation of Rights and Court Powers in Kenya: Towards a More Nuanced Understanding
• Bukola Faturoti, Godswill Agbaitoro & Obinna Onya, Environmental Protection in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry and Jonah Gbemre v. Shell PDC Nigeria Limited: Let the Plunder Continue?
• Jabeur Fathally, Des Pouvoirs Souverains des Assemblées Constituantes Post-Révolutions : Réflexion à Partir du Cas de L'assemblée Constituante Tunisienne (ANC)
• Jean-Claude N. Ashukem, A Human Rights-Based Approach to Foreign Agricultural Investment in Uganda
• Jean Michel Marone, Regulation of Venture Capital in the EU and East and West Africa: Impacts and Possibilities
• Norman Mugarura, The Use of ‘Mobile Phones’ in Changing the Banking Regulatory Landscape in Africa

Mishra: Privacy, Cybersecurity and GATS Article XIV: A New Frontier for Trade and Internet Regulation?

Neha Mishra (Univ. of Melbourne - Law) has posted Privacy, Cybersecurity and GATS Article XIV: A New Frontier for Trade and Internet Regulation? (World Trade Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Measures restricting data flows outside one's borders, including mandatory data/server localization measures, are not only a barrier to trade, but also largely ineffective in achieving better internet security or trust. Nevertheless, governments deploy such measures, primarily on grounds of cybersecurity and privacy, potentially violating their obligations under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). In this article, I investigate whether GATS-inconsistent measures may be justified under GATS Art. XIV when aimed at ensuring privacy or cybersecurity, and, if so, whether GATS Art. XIV effectively balances trade and internet policy. As the internet governance framework is complex and somewhat ambiguous, applying GATS Art. XIV to cybersecurity/privacy measures necessitates balancing of trade liberalization principles and domestic internet policy. This exercise can be effective in weeding out data localization measures disguised as privacy/cybersecurity measures, particularly by employing relevant technical and factual evidence. However, given the lack of binding international law/norms on these issues, GATS Art. XIV has a limited role, particularly in cases involving direct conflict between multistakeholder/transnational internet norms and domestic internet policies, or where the measures are founded on contentious standards/benchmarks on privacy/cybersecurity. Ultimately, ensuring free and secure data flows requires a multidimensional policy response, including strengthening linkages between trade law and internet governance.

New Addition to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law

The Codification Division of the UN Office of Legal Affairs recently added a lecture to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law. It was given by Pablo Moscoso de la Cuba on “The Obligation to Comply with the Decisions of the International Court of Justice” in both English and Spanish.

Kleinlein: Social Rights Protection Through Core International Human Rights Treaties Beyond the ICESCR

Thomas Kleinlein (Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena - Law) has posted Social Rights Protection Through Core International Human Rights Treaties Beyond the ICESCR (in Research Handbook on International Law and Social Rights, C. Binder, F. Piovesan, A. Úbeda de Torres, & J.A. Hofbauer eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This chapter analyzes the protection of social rights through core international human rights treaties beyond the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Other core international human rights instruments, namely the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) of 1979, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) of 1989, the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CRMW) of 1990, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) of 2006 and even the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) guarantee economic, social and cultural rights as well. Protection can be achieved either directly, i.e. through social rights provisions in other core human rights instruments, or indirectly, i.e. through different types of rights provisions which do not guarantee social rights themselves. Indirect protection can be achieved through non-discrimination provisions as applied to the protection of social rights. In this respect, a suitable distinction can be made between non-discrimination provisions that specifically address discrimination with regard to social rights on the one hand and general non-discrimination provisions like Article 26 ICCPR on the other. Moreover, considering the inseparability and interdependence of human rights, other substantive guarantees, albeit essentially civil or political rights, are, if understood accordingly, also relevant for the protection of social rights. Building on these distinctions, the chapter explains the legal framework for direct and indirect protection of human rights through other core international human rights treaties and highlights the challenge of coherence.

Call for Papers: The Reality and Rhetoric of Sovereignty in Relation to Natural Resources, Environment, Trade and Development

The ESIL Interest Group on International Environmental Law has issued a call for papers for a side event at the 2019 ESIL Annual Conference. The theme is: "The Reality and Rhetoric of Sovereignty in Relation to Natural Resources, Environment, Trade and Development." The event will take place on September 12, 2019. The call is here.

Support the Work of ILR with Your Donation

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Call for Submissions: Rosalyn Higgins Prize of The Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals

The journal The Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals has issued a call for submissions for the Rosalyn Higgins Prize. Here's the call:

The Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals now invites submissions for the Rosalyn Higgins Prize

In light of her outstanding and inspiring achievements in the field of international dispute settlement, the Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals (LPICT) has named a Prize in honour of H.E. Rosalyn Higgins.

The Rosalyn Higgins Prize is an annual prize which awards EUR 1.000 of Brill book vouchers and a LPICT subscription to the author of the best article on the law and practice of the International Court of Justice, either solely focusing on the ICJ or with the ICJ as one of the dispute settlement mechanisms under consideration. The winning article will also be published in LPICT and made freely available online to maximize its dissemination.

Competition for the Prize is open to all: scholars as well as practitioners, junior as well as senior professionals. Submissions will be selected via a double-blind peer review process by a Prize Committee, including both co-Editors-in-Chief.

Exceptionally, two papers of an equally high standard can be selected. The Committee is also able to choose not to award the Prize if in its opinion none of the submitted papers reaches the required standards.

Submissions should be between 6.500 and 8.000 words in length, not yet published or under review elsewhere. Other submission requirements are the same as for regular LPICT submissions (instructions available here).

Submissions now open! Deadline: 31 August 2019

All papers for consideration of the 2019 prize should be sent directly to Pierre Bodeau-Livinec (bodeaulivinec@gmail.com) and Freya Baetens (freya.baetens@jus.uio.no), LPICT Co-Editors- in-Chief.

The winner(s) will be announced in September 2019.

Papa, Pascale, & Gervasi: La tutela internazionale della libertà religiosa: problemi e prospettive

Maria Irene Papa (Sapienza Università di Roma – Law), Giuseppe Pascale (Università degli studi di Trieste – Political and Social Sciences), & Mario Gervasi (Sapienza Università di Roma – Law) have published La tutela internazionale della libertà religiosa: problemi e prospettive (Jovene Editore 2019). Contents include:

• Maria Irene Papa, La tutela della libertà religiosa nel sistema delle Nazioni Unite: quadro normativo e meccanismi di controllo
• Gabriele Asta, Alcune riflessioni sulla libertà religiosa nei sistemi europeo e interamericano di tutela dei diritti umani
• Mario Gervasi, La libertà religiosa nelle regioni africana e asiatica tra universalismo e relativismo culturale
• Alessandra Mignolli, Eredità e libertà. Il ruolo della libertà religiosa nel diritto dell’Unione europea
• Lucia Graziano, Santa Sede e Comunità internazionale: la cura della ‘casa comune’ nell’era della global governance
• Francesca Angelini, L’influenza del diritto internazionale sulla tutela costituzionale della libertà di religione in Italia
• Fabrizio Marongiu Buonaiuti, Libertà di religione e circolazione internazionale degli status personali e familiari
• Giovanni Carlo Bruno, Il rapporto tra libertà di religione e libertà di espressione: satira, blasfemia ed hate speech
• Angelo Schillaci, Coscienza e diritti. I comportamenti obiettori tra libertà e solidarietà: il caso delle unioni omosessuali
• Giulia Ciliberto & Fulvio Maria Palombino, L’esposizione dei simboli religiosi
• Fabio Franceschi, La libertà religiosa nei Paesi islamici dell’Africa mediterranea fra democrazia, secolarizzazione e sharî‘a
• Marina Mancini, La tutela internazionale dei luoghi di culto nei conflitti armati
• Giuseppe Pascale, L’evoluzione storica della tutela internazionale delle minoranze religiose
• Francesco Cherubini, Le persecuzioni religiose nel contesto della protezione internazionale
• Marcella Distefano, Il diritto dei minori alla libertà di religione: ‘una protezione nella protezione’
• Azzurra Muccione, Il diritto dei detenuti di praticare liberamente la propria religione
• Joseph Kazadi Mpiana, La discrimination en matière d’accès aux hautes fonctions publiques pour motifs religieux dans certains États africains

Symposium: Adjudicating the International Responsibility of the EU

On June 14, 2019, the European Society of International Law, in collaboration with the Court of Justice of the European Union, will hold a symposium at the Court on "Adjudicating the International Responsibility of the EU." The program is here.

New Issue: International Affairs

The latest issue of International Affairs (Vol. 95, no. 3, May 2019) is out. Contents include:

• Anette Stimmer & Lea Wisken, The dynamics of dissent: when actions are louder than words
• Christian Kreuder-Sonnen, China vs the WHO: a behavioural norm conflict in the SARS crisis
• Jacqui True & Antje Wiener, Everyone wants (a) peace: the dynamics of rhetoric and practice on ‘Women, Peace and Security’
• Nina Hall, Norm contestation in the digital era: campaigning for refugee rights
• Emily Paddon Rhoads & Jennifer Welsh, Close cousins in protection: the evolution of two norms
• Peter Trubowitz & Peter Harris, The end of the American century? Slow erosion of the domestic sources of usable power
• Chris Alden & Lu Jiang, Brave new world: debt, industrialization and security in China–Africa relations
• Håkon Lunde Saxi, The rise, fall and resurgence of Nordic defence cooperation
• Patrick Bury & Sergio Catignani, Future Reserves 2020, the British Army and the politics of military innovation during the Cameron era

Conference: International Criminal Justice at the Crossroads: Reflecting upon the Past, Discussing the Present, and Imagining the Future

On May 17, 2019, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam will host a conference on "International Criminal Justice at the Crossroads: Reflecting upon the Past, Discussing the Present, and Imagining the Future." The program is here. Here's the idea:

In July 1998, with loud ovations, diplomats and activists celebrated the adoption of the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC). Set up in 2002 in the footsteps of various ad hoc international and hybrid criminal tribunals, the ICC was welcomed with great anticipation and high hopes as a global institution that would speak justice to power, hold perpetrators accountable and satisfy victims of the most serious crimes of international concern. Twenty years later, some say that international criminal justice is in crisis. The ICC is facing increasing criticism from States, academia and commentators. Not only is the Court’s case record relatively meagre, but the difficulties relating to issues such as witness interference, political influences, and a lack of state cooperation, make future prospects of the Court challenging. Calls for justice after mass atrocity crimes from victims, activists and others, however, are not likely to dissipate.

This one-day event brings together different generations of practitioners and scholars studying, observing and practicing international criminal justice. During interactive roundtable sessions, the discussants will reflect upon the past, discuss how to address the current challenges, and imagine the future of criminal justice after atrocities.

New Issue: International Peacekeeping

The latest issue of International Peacekeeping (Vol. 26, no. 3, 2019) is out. Contents include:

• John Karlsrud & Kseniya Oksamytna, Norms and Practices in UN Peacekeeping: Evolution and Contestation
• Marion Laurence, An ‘Impartial’ Force? Normative Ambiguity and Practice Change in UN Peace Operations
• Emily Paddon Rhoads, Putting Human Rights up Front: Implications for Impartiality and the Politics of UN Peacekeeping
• Lucile Maertens, From Blue to Green? Environmentalization and Securitization in UN Peacekeeping Practices
• Nicole Jenne, Peacekeeping, Latin America and the UN Charter’s Chapter VIII: Past Initiatives and Future Prospects
• Giulia Piccolino, Local Peacebuilding in a Victor’s Peace. Why Local Peace Fails Without National Reconciliation

New Issue: Jus Gentium: Journal of International Legal History

The latest issue of Jus Gentium: Journal of International Legal History (Vol. 4, no. 1, 2019) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• A. Carty, Archives on Historical Titles to South China Sea Islands: The Spratlys
• V. I. Ivanenko, Ignatii Ivanovskii: First Head of the Chair of International Law at St. Petersburg University
• T. Korotkyi & A. Khevtsurian, Island of Hope in the Vortex of Revolution: The Georgian Consul General in Odessa, 1918-1919
• O. O. Merezhko, Petrażycki’s Psychological Theory of Private International Law
• Notes and Comments
• W. E. Butler & V. I. Ivanenko, F. F. Martens: Russian Scholar, Diplomat, and Arbitrator

Call for Papers: Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property: Emergence of New International Customary Law Rules – by Whom?

The Faculty of Law of National Research University Higher School of Economics and the PluriCourts Center of the Faculty of Law of the University of Oslo have issued a call for papers for a conference on "Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property: Emergence of New International Customary Law Rules – by Whom?," which will take place October 3-4, 2019, in Moscow. The call is here.

Bailliet: Research Handbook on International Law and Peace

Cecilia M. Bailliet (Univ. of Oslo - Institute for Public and International Law) has published Research Handbook on International Law and Peace (Edward Elgar Publishing 2019). Contents include:

• Cecilia M. Bailliet, Introduction: Researching International Law and Peace
• Kristoffer Lidén & Henrik Syse, The Politics of Peace and Law: Realism, Internationalism and the Cosmopolitan Challenge
• Cecilia M. Bailliet, Normative Foundation of the International Law of Peace
• Cecilia M. Bailliet & Simon O’Connor, The Good Faith Obligation to Maintain International Peace and Security and the Pacific Settlement of Disputes
• Pål Wrange, Protecting Which Peace for Whom against What? A Conceptual Analysis of Collective Security
• Ola Engdahl, Protection of Human Rights and the Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Necessary Precondition or a Clash of Interests?
• Kjersti Skarstad, Human Rights Violations and Conflict Risk: A Theoretical and Empirical Assessment
• Bård A. Andreassen, Traps of Violence: A Human Rights Analysis of the Relationship between Peace and Sustainable Development
• Ole Kristian Fauchald & Daniel Behn, World Peace and International Investment: The Role of Investment Treaties and Arbitration
• Christina Voigt, Environmentally Sustainable Development and Peace: The Role of International Law
• Kjølv Egeland, Nuclear Abolition from Baruch to the Ban
• Gro Nystuen & Kjølv Egeland, The Potential of the Arms Trade Treaty to Reduce Violations of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law
• Vibeke Blaker Strand, Non-Discrimination and Equality as the Foundations of Peace
• Maja Janmyr, Refugees and Peace
• Cornelia Weiss, Transforming Reality: Employing International Law to End Practices that Exclude Women as Peacemakers, Peacekeepers, and Peacebuilders
• Kjetil Mujezinović Larsen, Promoting Peace Through the International Law of Peace Operations
• Cecilie Hellestveit, Quasi-Judicial Mechanisms: International Fact-Finding?
• Jemima García-Godos, Building Trust Through Accountability: Transitional Justice in the Search for Peace
• Gentian Zyberi, The Role and Contribution of International Courts in Furthering Peace as an Essential Community Interest
• Ole Kristian Fauchald, World Peace through World Trade? The Role of Dispute Settlement in the WTO
• Sean Kanuck, Promoting peace and stability in cyberspace
• Juan Carlos Sainz-Borgo, Epilogue