d'Aspremont: The League of Nations and the Power of 'Experiment Narratives' in International Institutional Law

Jean d'Aspremont (Sciences Po - Law; Univ. of Manchester - Law) has posted The League of Nations and the Power of 'Experiment Narratives' in International Institutional Law (International Community Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This article engages with the image of the League of Nations as an experiment in international law and the law of international institutions. This image populates international legal literature of the second half of the 20th century and of the 21st century. It corresponds to what is called here the “experiment narrative” about the League. Many of the claims made about international institutional law, collective security and international institutions in international legal discourses are informed by this specific narrative. Drawing on the “experiment narratives” about the League, this article shows that “experiment narratives” in international law constitute a common tool for international lawyers to uphold a progressive and linear global history and to organize their discourses.

Call for Papers: Global Public-Private Law Approaches to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The School of Law of the Singapore Management University has issued a call for papers for a virtual conference on "Global Public-Private Law Approaches to the COVID-19 Pandemic," on September 10, 2020. 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 Podcast Channel. Due to current circumstances, the AVL team can post these only to the podcast channel and not the website. The lectures were given by Steven Hill on "Legal Aspects of the Work of NATO" and Donald M. McRae on "Varieties of International Dispute Settlement: From Litigation to Conciliation."

New Issue: International Organizations Law Review

The latest issue of the International Organizations Law Review (Vol. 17, no. 1, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: International Institutions, Public Governance and Future Regulation of Work: Taking Stock at the International Labour Organization’s Centenary
• Franz Christian Ebert & Tonia Novitz, Introduction: International Institutions, Public Governance and Future Regulation of Work: Taking Stock at the International Labour Organization’s Centenary
• Tonia Novitz, Past and Future Work at the International Labour Organization: Labour as a Fictitious Commodity, Countermovement and Sustainability
• Janelle M. Diller, The Role of the State in the Exercise of Transnational Public and Private Authority over Labour Standards
• Henner Gött, Interactions between International Organizations: Approaching a Neglected Governance Dimension
• Franz Christian Ebert, A Public Law Perspective on Labour Governance by International Financial Institutions: The Case of the IMF’s Article IV Consultations
• Gabriele Buchholtz, Social and Labour Standards in the OECD Guidelines: Enforcement Mechanisms
• Joo-Cheong Tham & K D Ewing, Labour Provisions in Trade Agreements: Neoliberal Regulation at Work?
• Reingard Zimmer, International Framework Agreements: New Developments through Better Implementation on the Basis of an Analysis of the Bangladesh Accord and the Indonesian Freedom of Association Protocol
• Petra Herzfeld Olsson, The Role of Effective Enforcement in International Law on Labour Migration
• Antonio Garcia-Muñoz Alhambra, Beryl Ter Haar & Attila Kun, Harnessing Public Institutions for Labour Law Enforcement: Embedding a Transnational Labour Inspectorate within the ILO
• Steven A. Solomon & Claudia Nannini, Participation in the World Health Organization
• Francis Maupain, A Second Century for What? The ILO at a Regulatory Crossroad

New Issue: Swiss Review of International and European Law

The latest issue of the Swiss Review of International and European Law (Vol. 30, no. 1, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Adeline Michoud, L’Europe: un havre de protection contre les abus des entreprises multinationales à l’étranger? – considérations de droit international privé
• Lorenz Raess, Court Assistance in the Taking of Evidence: Switzerland’s Way Forward

Chinoy: Are You With Me? Kevin Boyle and the Rise of the Human Rights Movement

Mike Chinoy has published Are You With Me? Kevin Boyle and the Rise of the Human Rights Movement (Lilliput Press 2020). Here's the abstract:

Kevin Boyle was one of the world’s great human rights lawyers. In a career that lasted decades and spanned continents, he tackled issues ranging from freedom of the press to terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism to the rights of gay people, women and minorities. This compelling account of Kevin Boyle’s life and work is an inspiring tale of how a taxi driver’s son from Northern Ireland became a globally renowned activist, advocate, and academic, inspiring the human rights movement around the world.

Born in Newry in 1943, Boyle attended Queen’s University Belfast in the early 1960s, beginning to teach law in 1966. He was a co-founder of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and the People’s Democracy, mediated during the 1981 hunger strikes and helped forge the intellectual underpinning of the agreement that ended the Troubles. Through a series of landmark cases at the European Court of Human Rights, he left an enduring mark on international human rights law, campaigning against apartheid in South Africa and repression in Turkey. He also played a critical role as the senior advisor to Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as helping to found human rights law centres at universities from Ireland and Britain to Brazil and Japan.

Though Kevin Boyle was a towering figure in his field, his personal story and his impact in crucial areas is not well known. Now, based on years of research, thousands of documents, and scores of interviews, former CNN correspondent Mike Chinoy has crafted the compelling life story of a remarkable Irishman.

New Issue: Human Rights Review

The latest issue of the Human Rights Review (Vol. 21, no. 2, June 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Adam Kochanski, Mandating Truth: Patterns and Trends in Truth Commission Design
• Sarah Pedigo Kulzer & Ryan Phillips, Those Who Must Die: Syrian Refugees in the Age of National Security
• Daniel Vázquez & Horacio Ortiz, Impunity and Economic and Social Rights
• Lantz Fleming Miller, Human Rights of Users of Humanlike Care Automata

Call for Papers: The Evolution of Transnational Private Rule-Makers: Understanding Drivers and Dynamics

The Tilburg Law and Economics Center has issued a call for papers for a conference on "The Evolution of Transnational Private Rule-Makers: Understanding Drivers and Dynamics," to take place December 3-4, 2020, in Tilburg. The call is here.

Horowitz: Cyber Operations under International Humanitarian Law: Perspectives from the ICRC

Jonathan Horowitz (ICRC) has posted an ASIL Insight on Cyber Operations under International Humanitarian Law: Perspectives from the ICRC.

New Issue: Human Rights Quarterly

The latest issue of the Human Rights Quarterly (Vol. 42, no. 2, May 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Todd Landman, Measuring Modern Slavery: Law, Human Rights, and New Forms of Data
• Sebastian Porsdam Mann, Helle Porsdam, & Yvonne Donders, “Sleeping Beauty”: The Right to Science as a Global Ethical Discourse
• Sun Meng & Lu Haina, China and the Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council: Is China Cooperative and Can They Work Better With Each Other?
• Patricia Palacios Zuloaga, Judging Inter-American Human Rights: The Riddle of Compliance with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
• Michael J. Perry, The Morality of Human Rights
• Ertuğrul Apakan & Cono Giardullo, UAVs for the Benefit of People: The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Within the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission
• James L. Cavallaro & Meghna Sridhar, Reducing Bias in Human Rights Fact-Finding: The Potential of the Clinical Simulation Model to Overcome Ethical, Practical, and Cultural Tensions in “Foreign” Contexts

New Issue: ASA Bulletin

The latest issue of the ASA Bulletin (Vol. 38, no. 1, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Catherine A. Kunz, Revision of Arbitral Awards in Switzerland: An Extraordinary Tool or Simply a Popular Chimera?
• Bernhard Berger, Die Schweiz als Schiedsort für Investitionsstreitigkeiten – Erkenntnisse aus der neueren Rechtsprechung des Bundesgerichts Teil I
• Marco Stacher, Jurisdiction and Admissibility under Swiss Arbitration Law – the Relevance of the Distinction and a New Hope
• Hans-Ueli Vogt & Patrick Schmidt, Schiedsklauseln in Vereinsstatuten Bemerkungen zum Bundesgerichtsurteil 5A_1027/2018* vom 22. Juli 2019 und zur Revision des 12. Kapitels des IPRG und des Aktienrechts (Teil I)

New Issue: Air & Space Law

The latest issue of Air & Space Law (Vol. 45, no. 2, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Martin Strom, European Union Competition Law Developments in the Aviation Sector: July to December 2019
• Michael K. Simpson, Benefit in Space Law: Principle and Pathway
• Magda Cocco & Helena Correia Mendonça, The Portuguese Space Act: An Innovative Framework for Space Activities
• Solange Leandro, The Tale of the Airfreight Cartel Case
• John Balfour, Pablo Mendes de Leon, Increase of the Limits Laid Down in the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, Done at Montreal, 1999 (Montreal Convention, 1999)

New Issue: Europa Ethnica

The latest issue of Europa Ethnica (Vol. 77, nos. 1/2, 2020). Contents include:

• Gilbert Gornig, Europäische Grundwerte. Insbesondere der Minderheitenschutz in Deutschland
• Peter Hilpold, Minderheitenschutz in Österreich – Die Rechtsstaatlichkeitsfrage im europäischen Kontext
• Oskar Peterlini, Droht ein Italexit? Gefahren, Garantien, Minderheiten
• Władysław Czapliński, Protection of National and Ethnic Minorities in Poland: a European Dimension
• Vadzim Samaryn, Belarus: Wahrung der Souveränität in der vorherrschenden Sprache des Nachbarn
• Harald Christian Scheu, Der Kampf gegen Stereotype als eine neue Dimension des europäischen Antidiskriminierungsrechts
• Hans-Ingo Radatz, „Nation ohne Staat“ oder „Unruheprovinz“? Spanien, Katalonien und die Nationalismuskritik
• Georg Kremnitz, Gedanken zu Katalonien, Spanien – und zur Europäischen Union. Aus Anlass eines neuen Buches

Steininger: The Role of Human Rights in Investment Law and Arbitration: State Obligations, Corporate Responsibility, and Community Empowerment

Silvia Steininger (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) has posted The Role of Human Rights in Investment Law and Arbitration: State Obligations, Corporate Responsibility, and Community Empowerment. Here's the abstract:

This paper investigates the multiple roles of human rights in investment law and arbitration, in particular with respect to state parties, foreign investors, and affected communities. Human rights are not only conflicting and complementary to investment treaties, but can both expand and restrict the scope of jurisdiction of investment tribunals. For states, investors, and third parties alike human rights can be used as a sword or a shield in international investment law and arbitration. By relying on historical, theoretical, and empirical insights, this paper zooms into three different roles of human rights in investment law and arbitration: human rights as obligations for states parties, human rights as defence rights and as part of an emerging responsibility for corporate actors, and human rights as tools to address structural imbalances for affected communities.

Fajdiga et al.: Heightened Scrutiny of Colonial Consent according to the Chagos Advisory Opinion: Pandora's Box Reopened?

Mohor Fajdiga, Ula Aleksandra Kos, Gregor Oprčkal, Anže Mediževec, Pia Novak, Ana Samobor, Miha Plahutnik, Anže Kimovec, Urša Demšar, Vid Drole, & Hana Šerbec (all Univ. of Ljubljana - Law) have posted Heightened Scrutiny of Colonial Consent according to the Chagos Advisory Opinion: Pandora's Box Reopened? (in The International Court of Justice and Decolonization: New Directions from the Chagos Advisory Opinion, T. Burri & J. Trinidad eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

In the Chagos Advisory Opinion, the ICJ held that the detachment of the Chagos Archipelago from colonial Mauritius had not been based on the free and genuine expression of the will of the Mauritian people and had thus been unlawful. This chapter sheds light on the intriguing heightened scrutiny standard, applied but not defined by the ICJ, and the reasons that convinced the Court to hold that the consent given by the Mauritian representatives was invalid.

Renckens: Private Governance and Public Authority: Regulating Sustainability in a Global Economy

Stefan Renckens (Univ. of Toronto - Political Science) has published Private Governance and Public Authority: Regulating Sustainability in a Global Economy (Cambirdge Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:

At a time of significant concern about the sustainability of the global economy, businesses are eager to display responsible corporate practices. While rulemaking for these practices was once the prerogative of states, businesses and civil society actors are increasingly engaged in creating private rulemaking instruments, such as eco-labeling and certification schemes, to govern corporate behavior. When does a public authority intervene in such private governance and reassert the primacy of public policy? Renckens develops a new theory of public-private regulatory interactions and argues that when and how a public authority intervenes in private governance depends on the economic benefits to domestic producers that such intervention generates and the degree of fragmentation of private governance schemes. Drawing on European Union policymaking on organic agriculture, biofuels, fisheries, and fair trade, he exposes the political-economic conflicts between private and public rule makers and the strategic nature of regulating sustainability in a global economy.

Evans & Galani: Maritime Security and the Law of the Sea: Help or Hindrance?

Malcolm D. Evans (Univ. of Bristol - Law) & Sofia Galani (Univ. of Bristol - Law) have published Maritime Security and the Law of the Sea: Help or Hindrance? (Edward Elgar Publishing 2020). Contents include:

• Sofia Galani & Malcolm D. Evans, The interplay between maritime security and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: help or hindrance?
• Christian Bueger & Timothy Edmunds, Beyond seablindness: a new agenda for maritime security studies
• Richard Barnes & Mercedes Rosello, Fisheries and maritime security: understanding and enhancing the connection
• Volker Roeben, High-end maritime security as legal argumentation
• Anna Petrig, The commission of maritime crimes with unmanned systems: an interpretive challenge for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
• Kara Chadwick, Unmanned maritime systems will shape the future of naval operations: is international law ready?
• Andrew Murdoch, Ships without nationality: interdiction on the high seas
• Sophia Kopela, Tackling maritime security threats from a port state’s perspective
• Keyuan Zou, Towards the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea: maritime security dimensions

Pavoni: International Legal Protection of Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflict: Achievements and Developments

Riccardo Pavoni (Univ. of Siena - Law) has posted International Legal Protection of Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflict: Achievements and Developments. Here's the abstract:

The recent statement by President Donald Trump, according to which he was ready to strike at 52 sites in Iran – some of them of primary cultural importance – in response to possible attacks against United States targets in the aftermath of the killing of General Soleimani, has been met with outrage by many international observers, while the Pentagon hastened to distance itself from ‘its’ President. These reactions shed light on the fundamental importance that the international community presently attaches to the safeguarding of cultural property in times of armed conflict, in particular that property of outstanding universal value that should be considered part of the world cultural heritage, such as the many Iranian sites that provide testimony of some of the most ancient civilizations. This paper will first summarize the existing legal framework for the protection of cultural property in times of war and the main problems associated with it. That framework will then be revisited in light of the various developments arising from the normative and judicial practice which has emerged, to an unprecedented extent, in the context of recent cultural crises and tragedies caused by armed conflict. Developments relating to customary law, individual criminal responsibility and the activities of the UN Security Council in this area are especially analyzed. The paper concludes that, ultimately, all conditions are in place for the protection of cultural heritage in armed conflict to take further steps forward, for example by strengthening the ban on the use of cultural property for military purposes, or by increasing the legal and political synergies between UNESCO’s work, chiefly in safeguarding the world heritage, and that of the institutions most involved in the military and humanitarian field.