Conference: 2020 ASIL Midyear Meeting

On October 29-30, 2020, the American Society of International Law will hold its Midyear Meeting in a fully virtual format. Registration is now open. The program is here.

Celermajer & Lefebvre: The Subject of Human Rights

Danielle Celermajer (Univ. of Sydney - Sociology and Social Policy) & Alexandre Lefebvre (Univ. of Sydney - Government and International Relations & Philosophy) have published The Subject of Human Rights (Stanford Univ. Press 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

The Subject of Human Rights is the first book to systematically address the "human" part of "human rights." Drawing on the finest thinking in political theory, cultural studies, history, law, anthropology, and literary studies, this volume examines how human rights—as discourse, law, and practice—shape how we understand humanity and human beings. It asks how the humanness that the human rights idea seeks to protect and promote is experienced.

The essays in this volume consider how human rights norms and practices affect the way we relate to ourselves, to other people, and to the nonhuman world. They investigate what kinds of institutions and actors are subjected to human rights and are charged with respecting their demands and realizing their aspirations. And they explore how human rights shape and even create the very subjects they seek to protect. Through critical reflection on these issues, The Subject of Human Rights suggests ways in which we might reimagine the relationship between human rights and subjectivity with a view to benefiting human rights and subjects alike.

Cormier: The Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over Nationals of Non-States Parties

Monique Cormier (Univ. of New England, Australia - Law) has published The Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over Nationals of Non-States Parties (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:

This book provides a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the ICC's jurisdiction over nationals of non-States Parties. It is within the context of developments at the Court in recent years that this work addresses the overarching question: On what legal basis is the ICC authorised to exercise jurisdiction over nationals of non-States Parties? Engaging with ICC jurisprudence and building upon arguments developed in legal scholarship, this book explores the theory of delegated jurisdiction and critically examines the idea that the Court might alternatively be exercising jurisdiction inherent to the international community. It argues that delegation of territorial jurisdiction and implied consent by virtue of UN membership provide a legal basis to allow the ICC to exercise jurisdiction over nationals of non-States Parties in almost all situations envisaged by the Rome Statute.

New Issue: Review of International Studies

The latest issue of the Review of International Studies (Vol. 46, no. 4, October 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Catherine Owen, Participatory authoritarianism: From bureaucratic transformation to civic participation in Russia and China
• Merisa S. Thompson, Alasdair Cochrane, & Justa Hopma, Democratising food: The case for a deliberative approach
• Yong Wook Lee, Performing civilisational narratives in East Asia: Asian values, multiple modernities, and the politics of economic development
• Sarah von Billerbeck, No action without talk? UN peacekeeping, discourse, and institutional self-legitimation
• Catherine Van Offelen & M. L. R. Smith, Agonising choices: Tragedy and International Relations – a tragic vision of humanitarian intervention in the Bosnian War
• Patrick Quinton-Brown, The South, the West, and the meanings of humanitarian intervention in history
• Alexander Beresford & Daniel Wand, Understanding bricolage in norm development: South Africa, the International Criminal Court, and the contested politics of transitional justice
• Tracy Adams & Zohar Kampf, ‘Solemn and just demands’: Seeking apologies in the international arena

New Issue: Humanity

The latest issue of Humanity (Vol. 11, no. 2, Summer 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Leslie Barnes, Live-Tweeting And Distant Suffering: Nicholas Kristof As Global Savior
• Kavita Ramakrishnan & Ludĕk Stavinoha, Beyond Humanitarian Logics: Volunteer-Refugee Encounters In Chios And Paris
• Dossier: Moral Economy
• Jeremy Adelman, Introduction: The Moral Economy, The Careers Of A Concept
• Francesca Trivellato, The Moral Economies Of Early Modern Europe
• Tim Rogan, R. H. Tawney
• Marion Fourcade, The Imperfect Promise Of The Gift
• Didier Fassin, Are The Two Approaches To Moral Economy Irreconcilable?
• Emilio Kourì, On The Mexican Ejido
• Margaret R. Somers, The Moral Economy Of The Capitalist Crowd: Utopianism, The Reality Of Society, And The Market As A Morally Instituted Process In Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation
• Samuel Moyn, T. H. Marshall, The Moral Economy, And Social Rights
• Timothy Shenk, “I Am No Longer Answerable For Its Actions”: E. P. Thompson After Moral Economy
• Joel Isaac, Moral Economy In Its Place: The Contribution Of James C. Scott

Atchabahian: Transterritorialidade: Uma Teoria de Responsabilização de Empresas por Violações aos Direitos Humanos

Ana Cláudia Ruy Cardia Atchabahian (Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie - Law) has published Transterritorialidade: Uma Teoria de Responsabilização de Empresas por Violações aos Direitos Humanos (Editora Lumen Juris 2020). Here's the abstract:

Segurança. A humanidade sempre empregou seus instintos e esforços na busca de circunstâncias que a colocasse em segurança. A garantia de conforto foi igualmente o ideal que permitiu o avanço social. Neste momento, a sociedade se depara com a promessa de garantir para si maior conforto e segurança por meio da aquisição de bens. Prosperidade econômica, investimentos, consumo de mercadorias, garantia de conforto e comodidade. Fortuna aparente de uma sociedade que condicionou sua identidade e felicidade à aquisição de produtos, esquecendo-se de avaliar os esforços humanos empregados para a construção desse imaginário. O resultado dessa equação é verificado na mesma proporção em que as mercadorias são produzidas: violações aos direitos humanos e ao meio ambiente, em uma sociedade que sobrevive às mazelas da natureza e aos seus semelhantes, mas continua a acreditar em um aparente conforto trazido pela atividade corporativa. É neste cenário que se situa a presente obra: diante da conivência estatal para com as empresas e da estrutura do Direito Internacional que ainda prioriza os Estados como os principais sujeitos de sua disciplina, a teoria da Transterritorialidade busca responsabilizar empresas e proteger as vítimas destas violações.

Safety. Humanity has always used its instincts and efforts in the search for circumstances that would make it safe. The guarantee of comfort was also the ideal that allowed social progress. At this moment, society is faced with the promise of guaranteeing greater comfort and security for itself through the acquisition of goods. Economic prosperity, investments, consumption of goods, guarantee of comfort and convenience. Apparent fortune of a society that conditioned its identity and happiness to the acquisition of products, forgetting to evaluate the human efforts used to build this imaginary. The result of this equation is verified in the same proportion in which the goods are produced: violations of human rights and the environment, in a society that survives the ailments of nature and its neighbors but continues to believe in an apparent comfort brought by the corporate activity. It is in this scenario that this book is published: in view of the state collusion with companies and the structure of international law that still prioritizes States as the main subjects of its discipline, the theory of Transterritoriality seeks to hold corporations accountable and protect the victims of the abovementioned violations . Based on multidisciplinary literature, deriving from Sociology, International Relations, International Law, International Law of Human Rights, Sociology of Law and from International Constitutional Law, it was built a theory with the objective of confirming the applicability of the rules of Private International Law, Public International Law and International Human Rights Law by the States and the national judges in a heterarchical and transversal manner, resulting in a true dialogue between the national jurisdictions and International Courts in holding corporations accountable for human rights violations.

Symposium: The Law and Logics of Attribution: Constructing the Identity and Responsibility of States and Firms

On September 11 and 18, 2020, the American Society of International Law's International Legal Theory Interest Group and the University of Georgia School of Law's Dean Rusk International Law Center will hold an online symposium on "The Law and Logics of Attribution: Constructing the Identity and Responsibility of States and Firms." The program is here.

Call for Submissions: Cambridge International Law Journal

The Cambridge International Law Journal invites submissions for the first issue of its tenth volume (June 2021). Here's the call:

The Cambridge International Law Journal (CILJ) publishes two issues per year: one open-call issue published in June and one Annual Conference issue published in December.

The Editorial Board of the Cambridge International Law Journal is pleased to invite submissions for its tenth anniversary volume (issues to be published in June and December 2021.)

The Board welcomes long articles, short articles and case notes that engage with current themes in international law.

To celebrate the journal’s tenth anniversary, Issue 1 will include a special section that reflects on seminal changes and developments in international law over the last decade.

The Board is particularly interested in contributions on this theme, which will be published as part of the special section. Other contributions will be published as part of the general section of Issue 1.

Submissions are to be made by 11:59 pm (BST) on Sunday, 25 October 2020 via our online platform accessible here. For full submission instructions for authors, please visit www.elgaronline.com/cilj. Further information can be obtained from the Editors-in-Chief at editors@cilj.co.uk.

All submissions are subject to double-blind peer review by the Journal’s Editorial Board. In addition, long articles are sent to the Academic Review Board, which consists of distinguished international law scholars and practitioners. Submissions can be made at any time. Articles submitted by 25 October 2020 will be considered for Volume 10 Issue 1.

Zhou: New WTO Ruling on National Security in Qatar-Saudi Arabia Case and its Impact on South Korea-Japan Dispute

Jinguyan Zhou has posted an ASIL Insight on New WTO Ruling on National Security in Qatar-Saudi Arabia Case and its Impact on South Korea-Japan Dispute.

New Issue: Global Environmental Politics

The latest issue of Global Environmental Politics (Vol. 20, no. 3, August 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: New Technologies and Global Environmental Politics
• Simon Nicholson & Jesse L. Reynolds, Taking Technology Seriously: Introduction to the Special Issue on New Technologies and Global Environmental Politics
• Leslie Paul Thiele, Nature 4.0: Assisted Evolution, De-extinction, and Ecological Restoration Technologies
• Jesse L. Reynolds, Governing New Biotechnologies for Biodiversity Conservation: Gene Drives, International Law, and Emerging Politics
• Jennifer Clapp & Sarah-Louise Ruder, Precision Technologies for Agriculture: Digital Farming, Gene-Edited Crops, and the Politics of Sustainability
• Edward A. Parson & Holly J. Buck, Large-Scale Carbon Dioxide Removal: The Problem of Phasedown
• Joshua B. Horton & Barbara Koremenos, Steering and Influence in Transnational Climate Governance: Nonstate Engagement in Solar Geoengineering Research

Shereshevsky: Are All Soldiers Created Equal? – On the Equal Application of the Law to Enhanced Soldiers

Yahli Shereshevsky (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem - Law) has posted Are All Soldiers Created Equal? – On the Equal Application of the Law to Enhanced Soldiers (Virginia Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Enhanced soldiers will soon become an integral part of armed conflicts. The deployment of soldiers with superior battlefield abilities raises important legal questions that are only now emerging as we begin to understand the implications of such technological advancements. One of the most pressing issues regarding enhanced soldiers is whether the existing legal framework, designed to regulate and safeguard the needs of conventional soldiers, can — and should — be applied differently when the subjects have qualitatively different capabilities than previously understood or considered. In this comprehensive analysis of the ability to treat enhanced soldiers differently, various international law issues are considered, such as the use of weapons in armed conflict, the treatment of detainees, and the prohibition against torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. This paper argues that, in most cases, enhanced soldiers should not be treated differently than unenhanced soldiers, even if their capabilities are significantly advanced when compared to conventional soldiers. More broadly, the case of enhanced soldiers brings new insights to the notions of formal and substantive equality in international law. This paper offers a one-directional approach to the subjective application of international law, especially in the context of the prohibition against torture. Under this approach, subjective factors may not be used to treat individuals and groups with better capabilities more harshly but can be used to improve the protection of vulnerable individuals and groups. Applying a one-directional approach is an important tool to prevent the abuse of legal rules by states and other international actors while enabling the protection of those who need it the most. This is a critical point in time where legal scholarship has a unique opportunity to shape the legal regulation of a transformative technological change as it occurs.

New Issue: Michigan Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Michigan Journal of International Law (Vol. 41, no. 3, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Ndjodi Ndeunyema, Unmuddying the Waters: Evaluating the Legal Basis of the Human Right to Water under Treaty Law, Customary International Law, and the General Principles of Law
• Donna Minha, The Possibility of Prosecuting Corporations for Climate Crimes before the International Criminal Court: All Roads Lead to the Rome Statute?

New Issue: Rivista di Diritto Internazionale

The latest issue of the Rivista di Diritto Internazionale (Vol. 103, no. 2, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Articoli
• F. Salerno, Le norme di diritto internazionale « gene- ralmente riconosciute » nella prospettiva della Corte costituzionale
• E. Tino, Riflessioni sulla natura consuetudinaria delle regole enunciate nell’art. 56 della Convenzione di Vienna sul diritto dei trattati
• A. Leandro, Il centro degli interessi principali del debitore tra regolamento (UE) 2015/848 e codice della crisi d’impresa e dell’insolvenza .
• Note e Commenti
• P. Pirrone, La Convenzione sui diritti del fanciullo nell’ordinamento italiano a trent’ anni dalla sua adozione
• P. Acconci, Responses of International Organizations to the Health Emergency Due to the Covid-19. A First Impression
• G. Puma, Riconoscimento di Governi, rottura delle relazioni diplomatiche e trattamento della sede della missione: il caso della crisi costituzionale venezuelana
• A. Chechi, ricercatore Univ. Ginevra, The Case of the Crimean Art Treasure and the Question of the Application of the UNESCO Convention of 1970
• M. Dimetto, La punibilità dei giudici internazionali corrotti secondo l’ordinamento italiano
• A. Stiano, Il diritto alla privacy alla prova della sorveglianza di massa e dell’intelligence sharing: la prospettiva della Corte europea dei diritti dell’uomo