Moses, Duranti, & Burke: Decolonization, Self-Determination, and the Rise of Global Human Rights Politics

A. Dirk Moses (Univ. of Sydney - History), Marco Duranti (Univ. of Sydney - History), & Roland Burke (La Trobe Univ. - History) have published Decolonization, Self-Determination, and the Rise of Global Human Rights Politics (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This volume presents the first global history of human rights politics in the age of decolonization. The conflict between independence movements and colonial powers shaped the global human rights order that emerged after the Second World War. It was also critical to the genesis of contemporary human rights organizations and humanitarian movements. Anti-colonial forces mobilized human rights and other rights language in their campaigns for self-determination. In response, European empires harnessed the new international politics of human rights for their own ends, claiming that their rule, with its promise of 'development,' was the authentic vehicle for realizing them. Ranging from the postwar partitions and the wars of independence to Indigenous rights activism and post-colonial memory, this volume offers new insights into the history and legacies of human rights, self-determination, and empire to the present day.

Achiume: Race, Refugees and International Law

Tendayi Achiume (Univ. of California, Los Angeles - Law) has posted Race, Refugees and International Law (in The Oxford Handbook of International Refugee Law, Cathryn Costello, Jane McAdam, & Michelle Foster eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The experiences of refugees are heavily mediated by race and ethnicity, and international law plays a significant role in this mediation—in some cases offering important protections, and in others entrenching discrimination and exclusion. This Chapter makes four contributions. First, it articulates a structural and intersectional account of race, racial discrimination and xenophobic discrimination as essential starting points for international legal analysis of race and refugees. This analysis includes the overlap and distinctions between racial and xenophobic discrimination, as well as the role of religion, class and gender in shaping racial discrimination against refugees. Secondly, it reviews the doctrine on race and refugees in international refugee law and international human rights law, and maps the attendant academic literature analyzing this law. Thirdly, the Chapter canvasses legal scholarship that has examined the structure, history and development of the international refugee regime in relation to race. Finally, it concludes with reflections on a research agenda on race and refugees.

Dreyfuss & Reichman: WIPO’s Role in Procedural and Substantive Patent Law Harmonization

Rochelle Cooper Dreyfuss (New York Univ. - Law) & Jerome H. Reichman (Duke Univ. - Law) have posted WIPO’s Role in Procedural and Substantive Patent Law Harmonization (in Research Handbook on the World Intellectual Property Organization: The First 50 Years and Beyond, Sam Ricketson ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This Chapter, part of a book examining the history of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), focuses on WIPO’s activities in the patent realm. The Chapter begins with a description of the successful procedural initiatives undertaken by WIPO and its administrative predecessor, the United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property (BIRPI), notably the development of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the Strasbourg Agreement, the Budapest Treaty, and the Patent Law Treaty (PLT). It then considers the less successful substantive efforts of WIPO and BIRPI to raise the level of patent protection, notably through the failed attempt to revise the Paris Convention in the 1980s and, later, in negotiations over a Substantive Patent Law Treaty. We argue the lesson to be learned is that when a regime governs a single area of law (in this case, intellectual property), especially one that is closely tied to health, safety and economic growth, it is not possible to achieve substantive gains without giving due consideration to the interests of all relevant parties. We end more optimistically by asking whether recent developments provide the basis for a renewed attempt to craft a better harmonized normative framework. In addition to the effort to raise substantive standards, these include an interest in procedural mechanisms to facilitate transnational litigation involving intellectual property rights, concerns about the adequacy of defenses and limitations, and a desire to recognize new kinds of intellectual contributions, such as traditional knowledge and genetic resources.

David: The Past Can't Heal Us: The Dangers of Mandating Memory in the Name of Human Rights

Lea David (Univ. College Dublin - Sociology) has published The Past Can't Heal Us: The Dangers of Mandating Memory in the Name of Human Rights (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:

In this innovative study, Lea David critically investigates the relationship between human rights and memory, suggesting that, instead of understanding human rights in a normative fashion, human rights should be treated as an ideology. Conceptualizing human rights as an ideology gives us useful theoretical and methodological tools to recognize the real impact human rights has on the ground. David traces the rise of the global phenomenon that is the human rights memorialization agenda, termed 'Moral Remembrance', and explores what happens once this agenda becomes implemented. Based on evidence from the Western Balkans and Israel/Palestine, she argues that the human rights memorialization agenda does not lead to a better appreciation of human rights but, contrary to what would be expected, it merely serves to strengthen national sentiments, divisions and animosities along ethnic lines, and leads to the new forms of societal inequalities that are closely connected to different forms of corruptions.

New Issue: Review of International Organizations

The latest issue of the Review of International Organizations (Vol. 15, no. 3, July 2020) is out. Contents include:

• The Political Economy of the European Union
• Andreas Dür, Christoph Moser, & Gabriele Spilker, The political economy of the European Union
• Nils Redeker & Stefanie Walter, We’d rather pay than change the politics of German non-adjustment in the Eurozone crisis
• Nikitas Konstantinidis & Yannis Karagiannis, Intrinsic vs. extrinsic incentives for reform: An informational mechanism of E(M)U conditionality
• Federica Genovese & Gerald Schneider, Smoke with fire: Financial crises and the demand for parliamentary oversight in the European Union
• Giancarlo Corsetti, Aitor Erce, & Timothy Uy, Official sector lending during the euro area crisis
• Zareh Asatryan & Annika Havlik, The political economy of multilateral lending to European regions
• Thomas Malang & Katharina Holzinger, The political economy of differentiated integration: The case of common agricultural policy

Pollack: International Relations Theory and International Courts and Tribunals

Mark A. Pollack (Temple Univ. - Political Science) has posted International Relations Theory and International Courts and Tribunals. Here's the abstract:

International relations (IR) scholars in political science have historically paid little attention to international courts and tribunals, which were seen through the prevailing realist lens as being of little or no importance in global politics. In recent decades, however, IR scholars have taken up the study of international courts, applying a distinctive set of theoretical lenses to questions about the design, behavior, and independence, and viability of these courts. The aim of this paper is to examine the four core traditions of IR theory as applied to ICTs, and to identify the value-added insights as well as the lacunae of this research. The paper first explores four great traditions in international relations theorizing about international adjudication, focusing in turn on realism, institutionalism, liberalism, and constructivism. Building on this theoretical basis, it identifies four substantive, value-added contributions of political science to the study of international adjudication, which I organize under the rubrics of institutional design, the behavior of litigants, judicial behavior and independence, and the dynamic evolution of international adjudication systems over time, including both positive feedbacks and progressive development as well as negative feedbacks and backlash. A brief final section concludes.

Conference: Thirty-Fourth Investment Treaty Forum Public Conference

The British Institute of International and Comparative Law will host online the Thirty-Fourth Investment Treaty Forum Public Conference on September 10-11, 2020. The theme is: "State Regulatory Powers and Its Limits." The program is here.

Akinkugbe: Towards an Analyses of the Mega-Politics Jurisprudence of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice

Olabisi D. Akinkugbe (Dalhousie Univ. - Law) has posted Towards an Analyses of the Mega-Politics Jurisprudence of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice (in The Performance of Africa’s International Courts: Using International Litigation for Political, Legal, and Social Change, James Thuo Gathii ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The judicialization of mega-political disputes before the ECOWAS Community Court is understudied. The ECOWAS Community Court lacks express mandate to adjudicate over political disputes. Despite this limitation, the court has been innovative in assuming jurisdiction over mega-political disputes where they are intertwined with potential or actual human rights violation. The Ugokwe Doctrine, enunciated in the case of, Dr. Jerry Ugokwe v. The Federal Republic of Nigeria and Dr. Christian Okeke, provides the precedential ‘cause of action’ for the judicialization of mega-political disputes before the ECOWAS Community Court.

This chapter addresses this new body of jurisprudence by critically analyzing judicialized political disputes before the ECOWAS Community Court. Unlike the traditional scholarship that measures effectiveness based on compliance with the decisions of the courts, the Chapter contends that the significance of the mega-political disputes judicialized before Africa’s regional courts derives from the instrumental objectives of the litigants. By incorporating the social, political, and economic contexts that gave rise to the Francophone and Anglophone cases disputes analyzed, the Chapter illuminates the judicialization of mega-political disputes in ways that are not wedded to the traditional analyses of the functions of regional economic courts.

Blanck: European Union Member States Sign Treaty to Terminate Intra-EU Bilateral Investment Treaties

John I. Blanck (U.S. Department of State - Office of the Legal Adviser) has posted an ASIL Insight on European Union Member States Sign Treaty to Terminate Intra-EU Bilateral Investment Treaties.

Ohlin: Election Interference: International Law and the Future of Democracy

Jens David Ohlin (Cornell Univ. - Law) has published Election Interference: International Law and the Future of Democracy (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:

Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election produced the biggest political scandal in a generation, marking the beginning of an ongoing attack on democracy. In the run-up to the 2020 election, Russia was found to have engaged in more “information operations,” a practice that has been increasingly adopted by other countries. In Election Interference, Jens David Ohlin makes the case that these operations violate international law, not as a cyberwar or a violation of sovereignty, but as a profound assault on democratic values protected by the international legal order under the rubric of self-determination. He argues that, in order to confront this new threat to democracy, countries must prohibit outsiders from participating in elections, enhance transparency on social media platforms, and punish domestic actors who solicit foreign interference.

New Issue: La Comunità Internazionale

The latest issue of La Comunità Internazionale (Vol. 75, no. 2, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Interventi
• Ugo Villani, Le misure italiane di contrasto al COVID-19 e il rispetto dei diritti umani
• Articoli e Saggi
• Fabrizio Vismara, Redistribuzione della ricchezza, fiscalità e ordinamento internazionale
• Donato Greco, Diritto internazionale e salute pubblica: l’Organizzazione mondiale della sanità alla prova della pandemia di COVID-19
• Osservatorio Europeo
• Nicola Ruccia, L’Unione europea e l’emergenza sanitaria da COVID-19
• Alessandro Nato, Il Meccanismo europeo di sostegno temporaneo per attenuare i rischi di disoccupazione nello stato di emergenza (SURE): solidarietà in prestito nella crisi COVID-19?
• Note e Commenti
• Francesco Cherubini, Accordi tra Stati membri e validità del diritto derivato: la Corte di giustizia UE torna sulla direttiva “qualifiche”

New Issue: Goettingen Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Goettingen Journal of International Law (Vol. 10, no. 1, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: Enhancing the Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts – the Draft Principles of the International Law Commission and Beyond
• Britta Sjöstedt & Anne Dienelt, Enhancing the Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts – the Draft Principles of the International Law Commission and Beyond
• Marie Jacobsson & Marja Lehto, Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts – An Overview of the International Law Commission’s Ongoing Work
• Stavros-Evdokimos Pantazopoulos, Reflections on the Legality of Attacks Against the Natural Environment by Way of Reprisals
• Elaine (Lan Yin) Hsiao, Protecting Protected Areas in Bello: Learning From Institutional Design and Conflict Resilience in the Greater Virunga and Kidepo Landscapes
• Daniëlla Dam-de Jong & Saskia Wolters, Through the Looking Glass: Corporate Actors and Environmental Harm Beyond the ILC
• Marie Davoise, Business, Armed Conflict, and Protection of the Environment: What Avenues for Corporate Accountability?
• Karen Hulme, Enhancing Environmental Protection During Occupation Through Human Rights
• Dieter Fleck, The Martens Clause and Environmental Protection in Relation to Armed Conflicts
• Michael Bothe, Precaution in International Environmental Law and Precautions in the Law of Armed Conflict
• Keina Yoshida, The Protection of the Environment: A Gendered Analysis
• Kirsten Davies, Thomas Riddell & Jürgen Scheffran, Preventing a Warming War: Protection of the Environment and Reducing Climate Conflict Risk as a Challenge of International Law

Pues: Discretion at the International Criminal Court

Anni Pues (Univ. of Glasgow - Law) has published Discretion at the International Criminal Court (Hart Publishing 2020). Here's the abstract:

This timely book provides a comprehensive guide to, and rigorous analysis of, prosecutorial discretion at the International Criminal Court. This is the first ever study that takes the reader through all the key stages of the Proscecutor's decision-making process. Starting from preliminary examinations and the decision to investigate, the book also explores case selection processes, plea agreements, culminating in the question of how to end engagement in specific country situations. The book serves as a guide to the Rome Statute through the lens of the Prosecutor's activities. With its unique combination of legal theory and specific policy analysis, it addresses broader questions that will be relevant to other international and hybrid criminal courts and tribunals. The book will be of interest to students, practitioners of law, academics, and the wider public concerned with international law, criminal justice and international relations.

Pozen & Scheppele: Executive Underreach, in Pandemics and Otherwise

David Pozen (Columbia Univ. - Law) & & Kim Lane Scheppele (Princeton Univ. - School of Public and International Affairs) have posted Executive Underreach, in Pandemics and Otherwise (American Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Legal scholars are familiar with the problem of executive overreach. Especially in emergencies, presidents and prime ministers may claim special powers that are then used to curb civil liberties, marginalize political opponents, and subvert the rule of law. Concerns about overreach have surfaced once again in the wake of COVID-19, as governments across the globe have taken extreme measures to tackle the virus.

Yet in other countries, including the United States and Brazil, a very different and in some respects opposite problem has arisen, wherein the national executive's efforts to control the pandemic have been disastrously insubstantial and insufficient. Because so many public law doctrines reflect fears of overreach, President Trump's and President Bolsonaro's responses to COVID-19 have left the legal community flat-footed. In this symposium essay, we seek to define and clarify the phenomenon of executive underreach, with special reference to the COVID-19 crisis; to outline ways in which executive underreach may compromise constitutional governance and the international legal order; and to suggest a partial remedy.

Johansen: The Human Rights Accountability Mechanisms of International Organizations

Stian Øby Johansen (Univ. of Oslo - Centre for European Law) has published The Human Rights Accountability Mechanisms of International Organizations (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:

International organizations are becoming increasingly powerful. Today, they affect the lives of individuals across the globe through their decisions and conduct. Consequently, international organizations are more capable of violating the human rights of individuals. But how can they be held to account for such violations? This book studies the procedural mechanisms that may hold international organizations to account for their human rights violations. It establishes a general framework for identifying, analyzing, and assessing the accountability mechanisms of international organizations. This general framework is then applied to three distinct cases: the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy missions, refugee camp administration by the UNHCR, and detention by the International Criminal Court. The overall conclusion is that none of the existing accountability mechanisms across the three cases fulfill the normative requirements set out in the general framework. However, there are significant variations between cases, and between different types of accountability mechanisms.

Lahmann: 'Hacking Back' by States and the Uneasy Place of Necessity within the Rule of Law

Henning Lahmann (ESMT Berlin - Digital Society Institute) has posted 'Hacking Back' by States and the Uneasy Place of Necessity within the Rule of Law (Zeitschrift für Ausländisches Öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The article deals with necessity as one of the circumstances precluding wrongfulness under customary international law and how, in view of the protracted problem of timely attribution in cyberspace, it will likely gain relevance when states are forced to defend against malicious cyber operations threatening important assets such as critical infrastructures. While the necessity doctrine seems fit for purpose in principle, the article argues that it lacks granularity, as it has rarely been tested on the international plane. More importantly, like all norms that invoke an exception to the normal function of the law in an emergency situation, necessity is problematic from an international rule-of-law point of view. Taking these pitfalls into account, the article proposes some general principles for a possible special emergency regime for cyberspace that could put cyber necessity on a normatively more stable footing.

Bodansky: The Ocean and Climate Change Law: Exploring the Relationships

Daniel Bodansky (Arizona State Univ. - Law) has posted The Ocean and Climate Change Law: Exploring the Relationships (in Frontiers in International Law: Oceans and Climate Challenges, Essays in Honor of David Freestone, Richard Barnes & Ronan Long eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Given the close physical interconnections between the ocean and climate change, should the legal regimes governing them be more closely tied? Could climate change law do more to address ocean issues and, if so, in what ways? The chapter argues that, in general, the current division of labor between climate change and ocean law makes sense: the UN climate change regime should focus on mitigating climate change, which is the most important way it can help the ocean; conversely, ocean law is better equipped to address how the ocean might adapt to the impacts of climate change. However, the chapter suggests two ways that a stronger focus by the climate change regime on ocean issues might help it both limit climate change and better protect the ocean. First, it should do more to encourage the conservation and enhancement of ocean sinks, including potentially in areas beyond national jurisdiction, if that proves legally and technically feasible. Second, it should give extra consideration to reducing CO2 emissions relative to other greenhouse gases, given their role in causing ocean acidification.

Shany & Schmitt: An International Attribution Mechanism for Hostile Cyber Operations

Yuval Shany (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem - Law) & Michael N. Schmitt (Univ. of Reading - Law) have posted An International Attribution Mechanism for Hostile Cyber Operations (International Law Studies, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This article is the result of an international research project organized by the Federmann Cyber Security Research Center at Hebrew University to consider the feasibility of establishing an international attribution mechanism for hostile cyber operations, as well as the usefulness of such a body. The authors observe that, at present, states wielding significant cyber capability have little interest in creating such a mechanism. These states appear to be of the view that they can generate sufficient accountability and deterrence based on their independent technological capacity, access to expertise and to offensive (active defense) cyber tools, political clout, security alliances, and other policy tools, such as sanctions. However, countries with limited technological capacity and less ability to mobilize international support for collective attribution are more amenable to the prospect.

To date, proposals to establish an international attribution mechanism have not acquired momentum. However, the authors suggest that progress remains possible by focusing on the three logical constituencies for such a body—States with limited technological, intelligence, and diplomatic capacity; States interested in generating broad collective attribution of attacks perpetrated against them; and international and regional organizations operating a cyber-related sanctions regime. Such a focus, combined with greater granularity, would significantly improve the prospects for the establishment of an international attribution mechanism and its eventual utilization by the international community.

Ní Aoláin: The Gender of Occupation

Fionnuala D. Ní Aoláin (Univ. of Minnesota - Law; Queen's Univ. of Belfast - Law) has posted The Gender of Occupation (Yale Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

International law scholars and policy makers have paid little attention to the gendered dimensions of living under occupation. Gender considerations have generally been at the margins of doctrinal and policy analysis. Feminist legal scholars have also largely ignored the legal effects of occupation law and practice on the regulation of women and girl’s lives including the gendered consequences of experiencing long-term, exceptional and transformative occupations. This article sets out how the rules governing occupation were not constructed with needs and experiences of women and girls at the forefront. It documents the effects of transformative occupations on women’s lives with a particular emphasis on how the lacunae in protection under the Hague and Geneva Conventions results in profound and sustained human rights and humanitarian law violations for women and girls, across a range of fundamental rights and protections. The historical and doctrinal analysis is complimented by a case study focused on Israel-Palestine, and particularly pertinent in the context of ongoing concerns about annexation of this occupied territory. The context specific analysis illustrates the gendered dimensions of occupation in general and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular demonstrating that the needs of, and harms experienced by, women living under sustained occupation have been underreported and underrepresented. The documentation of legal gaps underscores the need for revision and reinterpretation of occupation law through a gendered lens, underscoring the obligations of belligerent occupiers to ensure the protection of women in the context of armed conflict.

New Volume: Yearbook of International Environmental Law

The latest volume of the Yearbook of International Environmental Law (Vol. 29, 2018) is out. Contents include:

• Bharat H Desai, Making Sense of the International Environmental Law-Making Process at a Time of Perplexity
• Lydia Kriki, Towards a Global Pact for the Environment: Some Legal Reflections
• Tamar Meshel, Inter-State Fresh Water Dispute Resolution: Some Reflections on River Basin Organizations as Arbitral Institutions
• Nikolas Sellheim, The Evolution of Local Involvement in International Conservation Law

New Issue: Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy

The latest issue of the Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy (Vol. 23, no. 1, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Elke Hellinx & Jan Wouters, An International Lawyer’s Field Guide to Trophy Hunting
• Grazia Scocca, The Preservation of Coral Reefs as a Key Step for Healthy and Sustainable Oceans: The Belize Case
• Claudia Gafner-Rojas, Indigenous languages as contributors to the preservation of biodiversity and their presence in international environmental law
• Sophie Lemaître & Nathalie Hervé-Fournereau, Fighting Wildlife Trafficking: An Overview of the EU’s Implementation of Its Action Plan Against Wildlife Trafficking

Hughes & Shereshevsky: Something is not Always Better than Nothing: Problematizing Emerging Forms of Jus Ad Bellum Argument

David Hughes (Univ. of Ottawa - Law) & Yahli Shereshevsky (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem - Law) have posted Something is not Always Better than Nothing: Problematizing Emerging Forms of Jus Ad Bellum Argument (Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Since the adoption of the U.N. Charter, an unending debate concerning the permissible exceptions to the use of force prohibition has filled the pages of countless law reviews. The resulting legal regime, the jus ad bellum, has become increasingly strained as the international community faces new threats and encounters unforeseen scenarios. The post-War legal architecture is, so the debate goes, either insufficiently enabled to address contemporary challenges or consistently undermined by actors who seek exceptions to the strict limits placed upon state conduct. Debates regarding different instances when force is used exhibit a predictable pattern. Those that wish to limit the scope of the permissible use of force by states (minimalists) offer legal arguments that emphasize the importance of adhering to a strict reading of the U.N. Charter. Responding, those that support broadening the instances in which force is permissible (expansionists) provide moral arguments that stress the need to bridge the gap between what the law says and what is required to ensure a just international society. We identify a significant shift in the structure of this debate. Following the controversial airstrikes by U.S., French, and U.K. forces in Syria, proponents of an expansionist approach have moved from pursuing moral arguments about the necessity of armed intervention and instead embrace argumentative techniques that attempt to nullify minimalist apprehensions. We describe three forms of emergent expansionist arguments that have altered the traditional form of expansionist claims. In each instance, we suggest that good-faith expansionist efforts to ensure the legitimacy of the ad bellum regime are undermined by this emerging argumentative prioritization. We propose reversion to a form of legal argument that accentuates moral implications and positions international law to maintain its relevancy by effectively contributing to the redress of many of the most consuming challenges that face a non-ideal world.

New Issue: American Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the American Journal of International Law (Vol. 114, no. 3, July 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Ruth Mason, The Transformation of International Tax
• Armin von Bogdandy & René Urueña, International Transformative Constitutionalism in Latin America
• Current Developments
• Joris Larik, Brexit, the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement, and Global Treaty (Re-)Negotiations
• International Decisions
• Christian J. Tams, Die Linke v. Federal Government and Federal Parliament (Counter Daesh)
• Rafael Tamayo-Álvarez, Constitutionality of the Colombia-France Bilateral Investment Treaty
• Kristen Boon, The State of the Netherlands v. Respondents & Stichting Mothers of Srebrenica
• Cristina M. Mariottini, Deutsche Bahn AG v. Regione Stereá Ellada
• Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law
• Jean Galbraith, Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law
• Recent Books on International Law
• Thomas Kleinlein, reviewing Oxford Handbook of Comparative Foreign Relations Law, edited by Curtis A. Bradley
• Damian Chalmers, reviewing Transplanting International Courts: The Law and Politics of the Andean Tribunal of Justice, by Karen J. Alter and Laurence R. Helfer
• David L. Sloss, reviewing Constitution-Making and Transnational Legal Order, edited by Gregory Shaffer, Tom Ginsburg, and Terence C. Halliday
• Tullio Scovazzi, reviewing Piracy and the Origins of Universal Jurisdiction: On Stranger Tides?, by Mark Chadwick
• Stephan W. Schill, reviewing The Case for an International Court of Civil Justice, by Maya Steinitz

SIEL Conversations

The Society of International Economic Law has announced the launch of SIEL Conversations, a monthly webinar on international economic law. Here's the idea:

The aim of SIEL Conversations is to bring together authors and commentators to give talks that are idea-focused so as to foster learning and inspiration, and provoke conversations that matter. Each SIEL Conversation will last approximately one hour and will include commentary from the speakers, with questions from the public.

In our first SIEL Conversation, we will discuss The Origin and Evolution of Investment Treaty Standards (OUP 2019).

Author: Dr Federico Ortino

Discussants: Professor Tania Voon and Professor Michael Waibel

Moderator: Dr Maria Laura Marceddu

The book launch will take place on Thursday, 23 July 2020. More information can be found here.

Register for the event here.

Inaugural Volume: Balkan Yearbook of European and International Law

The inaugural volume of the Balkan Yearbook of European and International Law (Vol. 2019) is out. Contents include:

• Marc Bungenberg & Andrés E. Alvarado Garzón, One Size Fits All? Transparency in Investment and Commercial Arbitration
• Janet C. Checkley, Cross-Border Enforcement of Mediated Settlement Agreements and Potential Impact on the Practice of International Arbitration
• Nataša Hadžimanović, Third-Party Funding in Arbitration: A Case for Mandatory Disclosure?
• Almir Gagula, Arbitrability of Shareholder Disputes in Bosnian Law
• Aliz Káposznyák, Intra-EU Arbitral Awards After Achmea: Recognition and Enforcement Within the European Union Under the New York Convention
• Ilma Kasumagić, Granting and Enforcing Interim Measures in International Commercial Arbitration in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Anna Piszcz, EU Directive on Unfair Trading Practices in Business-to-Business Relationships in the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain: Dipping a Toe in the Regulatory Waters?
• Emilia Mišćenić, The Effectiveness of Judicial Enforcement of the EU Consumer Protection Law
• Adnan Mahmutovic and Nermina Memic-Mujagic, The Democratic Deficit of the EU: Two Schools Under One Roof
• Jasmina Alihodžić, Some Private International Law Aspects of European Economic Migration

Gathii: International Courts as Coordination Devices for Opposition Parties: The Case of the East African Court of Justice

James Thuo Gathii (Loyola Univ. Chicago - Law) has posted International Courts as Coordination Devices for Opposition Parties: The Case of the East African Court of Justice (in The Performance of Africa's International Courts: Using International Litigation for Political, Legal, and Social Change, James Gathii ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This chapter examines how opposition political parties and politicians have sought to overcome repressive practices in four of the six East African Community member states: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and South Sudan. Opposition political parties and politicians from these countries have prodded the East African Court of Justice to use a treaty remedy for violations of rules governing the elections of members to the East African Legislative Assembly in each of these countries. They have done so by pursuing a judicial remedy in the East African Court of Justice to resolve a coordination problem that opposition parties face when their opportunity to participate in an above-the-board election is compromised by a dominant party in their home country. These cases show how challenging the electoral malpractices of dominant parties in the East African Court of Justice, facilitate opposition mobilization against dominant parties in ways that are not always possible, or even anticipated, in the home country of the opposition party. The East African Court of Justice has facilitated this coordination by consistently affirming that above the board elections are the only permissible mode of electing members of the East African Legislative Assembly. This has in turn helped opposition political parties to know when they have a factual basis with a likelihood of success so that they could bring cases against dominant political parties in the East African Court of Justice. By contrast, the lack of cases from Burundi and Rwanda, the chapter argues shows that the clampdown on organizational rights in these countries have made it impossible for opposition parties and politicians to bring election cases before the East African Court of Justice.

New Issue: Revue québécoise de droit international

The latest issue of the Revue Québécoise de Droit International (Vol 32, no. 1, 2019) is out. Contents include:

• Études
• Olivier Grondin, Les amnisties des crimes internationaux : recherche sur l’état du droit
• Yenny Vega Cárdenas, L’évolution du droit international des eaux transfrontalières en Amérique du nord
• France Morrissette, Le recours à l’accord mixte au fil de l’évolution temporelle et matérielle de la compétence de l’Union européenne en matière commerciale
• Nidhal Mekki, Le rôle des principes de Paris dans l’institutionnalisation des droits de la personne en droit interne (étude axée sur quelques États arabes)
• Giulia Raimondo, The Chinese Hukou System: Reforming Institutions of Inequality between the Need for Roots and the Demands of Change
• Azé Kerté Amoulgam, Examens préliminaires à la cour pénale internationale : fondements juridiques, pratique du bureau de la procureure et développements judiciaires
• Félix Pominville Archambault, En matière d’accès à l’avortement, les États-Unis rencontrent-ils leurs obligations internationales en vertu du Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et politiques?
• Notes et commentaires
• Kristine Plouffe-Malette, De l’OIT à l’OMC. L’interdiction d’importation des produits intégrant le travail forcé et les pires formes de travail des enfants : un appel à la morale ?

New Issue: Yale Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Yale Journal of International Law (Vol. 45, no. 1, Winter 2020) is out. Contents include:

• James L. Cavallaro & Jamie O'Connell, When Prosecution Is Not Enough: How the International Criminal Court Can Prevent Atrocity and Advance Accountability by Emulating Regional Human Rights Institutions
• Stratos Pahis, Investment Misconceived: The Investment-Commerce Distinction in International Investment Law
• Michelle Rourke, Sam Halabi, Gian Luca Burci, & Rebecca Katz, The Nagoya Protocol and the Legal Structure of Global Biogenomic Research

New Issue: Harvard International Law Journal

The latest issue of the Harvard International Law Journal (Vol. 61, no. 1, Winter 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Naz K. Modirzadeh, Cut These Words: Passion and International Law of War Scholarship
• Gary Born, Danielle Morris & Stephanie Forrest, “A Margin of Appreciation”: Appreciating Its Irrelevance in International Law
• Tamar Meshel, Swimming Against the Current: Revisiting the Principles of International Water Law in the Resolution of Fresh Water Disputes
• Asaf Lubin, The Liberty to Spy

New Issue: Review of International Political Economy

The latest issue of the Review of International Political Economy (Vol. 27, no. 4, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue on the Political Economy of Managerialism
• Matthew Eagleton-Pierce & Samuel Knafo, Introduction: the political economy of managerialism
• Samuel Knafo, Neoliberalism and the origins of public management
• Leonard Seabrooke & Ole Jacob Sending, Contracting development: managerialism and consultants in intergovernmental organizations
• Sarah Sharma & Susanne Soederberg, Redesigning the business of development: the case of the World Economic Forum and global risk management
• Lukas Linsi, The discourse of competitiveness and the dis-embedding of the national economy
• Heather Whiteside, Public-private partnerships: market development through management reform
• Elena Baglioni , Liam Campling & Gerard Hanlon, Global value chains as entrepreneurial capture: insights from management theory
• Phoebe V. Moore & Simon Joyce, Black box or hidden abode? The expansion and exposure of platform work managerialism
• Alexander Nunn, Neoliberalization, fast policy transfer and the management of labor market services
• Matthew Eagleton-Pierce, The rise of managerialism in international NGOs

Íñigo Álvarez: Towards a Regime of Responsibility of Armed Groups in International Law

Laura Íñigo Álvarez has published Towards a Regime of Responsibility of Armed Groups in International Law (Intersentia 2020). Here's the abstract:

Armed groups have played a predominant role in the violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law committed in conflict settings. The increase in the number of non-international armed conflicts during the past decades has emphasised the need to address the multiple legal challenges posed by the actions of armed groups. In particular, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the framework of responsibility for armed groups in international law. While much has been written regarding their international (primary) obligations, the possibility of developing a responsibility framework for armed groups under international law has been underexplored. Consequently, the aim of this book is to examine how the principles of international responsibility could be developed and adjusted to account for armed groups as collective entities.

This general aim has been divided into three specific objectives. First, the book analyses the concept of responsibility in international law and assesses the legal and practical reasons in favour of developing such a regime for armed groups. Second, it examines the viability of establishing a responsibility regime for armed groups based on rules of attribution. Third, it explores the possible legal consequences of responsibility applicable to armed groups, with a particular focus on the obligation to provide reparations to victims. In doing so, this book will argue that certain non-traditional sources of international law could be used to interpret and adapt international law to the current conditions of contemporary armed conflict.

Jalloh: The Legal Legacy of the Special Court for Sierra Leone

Charles C. Jalloh (Florida International Univ. - Law) has published The Legal Legacy of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:

This important book considers whether the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), which was established jointly through an unprecedented bilateral treaty between the United Nations (UN) and Sierra Leone in 2002, has made jurisprudential contributions to the development of the nascent and still unsettled field of international criminal law. A leading authority on the application of international criminal justice in Africa, Charles Jalloh argues that the SCSL, as an innovative hybrid international penal tribunal, made useful jurisprudential additions on key legal questions concerning greatest responsibility jurisdiction, the war crime of child recruitment, forced marriage as a crime against humanity, amnesty, immunity and the relationship between truth commissions and criminal courts. He demonstrates that some of the SCSL case law broke new ground, and in so doing, bequeathed a 'legal legacy' that remains vital to the ongoing global fight against impunity for atrocity crimes and to the continued development of modern international criminal law.

Lewis, Nakagwa, Neuwirth, Picker, & Stoll: A Post-WTO International Legal Order: Utopian, Dystopian and Other Scenarios

Meredith Kolsky Lewis (Univ. at Buffalo; Victoria Univ. of Wellington), Junji Nakagwa (Anderson Mori & Tomotsune), Rostam J. Neuwirth (Univ. of Macau), Colin B. Picker (Univ. of Wollongong), & Peter-Tobias Stoll (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) have published A Post-WTO International Legal Order: Utopian, Dystopian and Other Scenarios (Springer 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This book provides readers with a unique opportunity to explore how the international economic legal order (IELO) may look in a post-WTO world. The substance of this book presupposes (whether correct or not) that the WTO either: (a) Stagnates into the foreseeable future (Doha withers, no new Rounds, at best minor amendments, little new jurisprudence, effective collapse of the DSB); or (b) Falls apart completely. While neither is desirable, the book underlines that it must be conceded that neither is inconceivable. The collapse of the Soviet Union tells us that anything is possible (in 1986 no one foresaw the end of the Cold War - clearly it was a much more significant event than would be the case for the demise of the WTO and the current international economic legal order (IELO)). Similarly, just a year or two before Brexit or the election of US President Donald Trump, no one foresaw those two eventualities. Consequently, a worst-case scenario for the future of the WTO cannot be ignored – rather, it must be explored, as has been done in this book. Indeed, despite most IEL academics’ commitment to multilateralism and specifically to a vibrant and dynamic WTO, academics in the field are now beginning to seriously discuss what a post-WTO world could look like (and it was the project behind this book that first launched those discussions). Accordingly, this examination of the post-WTO world will be of great value to practitioners, governmental and international officials and scholars in the IELO. This is particularly so in an era of increasingly rapid change, during which legal scholarship must also address the future if it wants to contribute creative solutions to the resolution and management of the many serious contemporary problems facing our field.

New Issue: INTER – Revista de Direito Internacional e Direitos Humanos da UFRJ

The latest issue of INTER – Revista de Direito Internacional e Direitos Humanos da UFRJ (Vol. 3, no. 1, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Eduardo Biacchi Gomes & Ane Elise Bransalise Gonçalves, A Metodologia Ativa E O Ensino Do Direito Internacional Público Litigio Estratégico Como Instrumento
• Kelvin Vitor Lima Vasconcelos & Carolina Hissa, A Revalidação Dos Diplomas De Ensino Superior No Âmbito Do Mercosul: Processo Burocrático Ou Desburocrático?
• Arménio Alberto Rodrigues Da Roda, As Normas Do Direito Internacional Público Face A Crise Global Das Migrações Em Massa: Constitucionalismo Internacional
• Xavier de Oliveira, Estudo De Direito Penal Comparado Acerca Da Jurisdição Universal Nos Sistemas Penais Brasileiro E Espanhol
• Naiara Pereira da Silva, Interfaces Da Psicologia E Direito: Guarda Compartilhada E A Alienação Parental
• Rodrigo Leite & Vinicius Meireles Fixina Barreto, Justiça Sem Rosto: A Compatibilidade Da Lei N. 12.694/2012 Com As Normas E Jurisprudência Do Sistema Interamericano De Direitos Humanos
• Pedro Augusto de Almeida Mosqueira, O Processo Legislativo De Aprovação De Tratados, Convenções E Atos Internacionais No Brasil E O Status Jurídico Dos Mesmos
• Julio Cesar de Sa da Rocha, O Sistema Africano De Proteção De Direitos Humanos: Uma Análise Crítica
• Juan Manuel Indacochea, The Right To Self-Determination Of Peoples: From Classical Conception To Modern Self-Determination

New Issue: Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht

The latest issue of the Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (Vol. 80, no. 2, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Comment
• Matthias Hartwig, The Coronavirus Challenges the International Order
• Abhandlungen
• Armin von Bogdandy & Pedro A. Villarreal, Die Weltgesundheitsorganisation in der COVID-19 Pandemie
• Jerzy Kranz, Kriegsbedingte Reparationen und individuelle Entschädigungsansprüche im Kontext der deutsch-polnischen Beziehungen
• Alexander Reuter, Taking Investors’ Rights Seriously: The Achmea and CETA Rulings of the European Court of Justice Do Not Bar Intra-EU Investment Arbitration
• The Rule of Law in Cyberspace
• Paulina Starski, The Rule of Law in Cyberspace
• Nicholas Tsagourias, The Rule of Law in Cyberspace: A Hybrid and Networked Concept?
• Henning Lahmann, “Hacking Back” by States and the Uneasy Place of Necessity within the Rule of Law
• Irene Couzigou, Hacking-Back by Private Companies and the Rule of Law
• Stephan Koloßa, Facebook and the Rule of Law
• Themis Tzimas, Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights: Their Role in the Evolution of AI
• Andreas Kulick, Regulating Cyberspace between Grotius, Lotus and Strasbourg

Krunke, Petersen, & Manners: Transnational Solidarity: Concept, Challenges and Opportunities

Helle Krunke (Univ. of Copenhagen - Law), Hanne Petersen (Univ. of Copenhagen - Law), & Ian Manners (Univ. of Copenhagen - Political Science) have published Transnational Solidarity: Concept, Challenges and Opportunities (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

The book analyses the concept and conditions of transnational solidarity, its challenges and opportunities, drawing on diverse disciplines as Law, Political Science, Sociology, Philosophy, Psychology and History. In the contemporary world, we see two major opposing trends. The first involves nationalistic and populistic movements. Transnational solidarity has been under pressure for a decade because of, among others, global economic and migration crises, leading to populistic and authoritarian leadership in some European countries, the United States and Brazil. Countries withdraw from international commitments on climate, trade and refugees and the European Union struggles with Brexit. The second trend, partly a reaction to the first, is a strengthened transnational grass-root community – a cosmopolitan movement – which protests primarily against climate change. Based on interdisciplinary reflections on the concept of transnational solidarity, its challenges and opportunities are analysed, drawing on Europe as a focal case study for a broader, global perspective.

Shaffer: Trade Law in a Data-Driven Economy: The Need for Modesty and Resilience

Gregory Shaffer (Univ. of California, Irvine - Law) has posted Trade Law in a Data-Driven Economy: The Need for Modesty and Resilience. Here's the abstract:

This article is in four parts. Part I introduces the transformative nature of innovation in the data-driven economy. Part II presents the severe challenges posed by this development, including its contribution to monopolization, inequality, social control through surveillance, geopolitical competition between the United States and China, and system vulnerability. Part III assesses the current trade negotiating context involving competing models advanced by the United States (advocating free data flow), the European Union (promoting privacy regulation), and China (stressing sovereignty and the facilitation of trade in goods through e-commerce). Part IV presents a governance framework that calls for modesty in recognition of national differences and the severe challenges posed, while building institutions to foster deliberation and learning in light of uncertainty.