Call for Papers: Celebrating the 'Historical Turn': International Law in Global Histories

A call for papers has been issued for the 29th Annual SLS/BIICL Workshop on Theory in International Law, to be held virtually on November 25, 2020. The theme is: "Celebrating the 'Historical Turn': International Law in Global Histories." The deadline is October 12, 2020. The call is here.

Cornu, Vaivade, Martinet, & Hance: Intangible Cultural Heritage Under National and International Law: Going Beyond the 2003 UNESCO Convention

Marie Cornu (Centre national de la recherche scientifique), Anita Vaivade (Latvian Academy of Culture), Lily Martinet (Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for Procedural Law), & Clea Hance (University Paris-Saclay; Fondation des Sciences du Patrimoine) have published Intangible Cultural Heritage Under National and International Law: Going Beyond the 2003 UNESCO Convention (Edward Elgar Publishing 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This illuminating book offers an authoritative analysis of the legal issues relating to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. Taking a critical approach, it provides a unique insight into the impact of international and national law on the present and future safeguarding processes of intangible cultural heritage.

Expert contributors draw on the results of an international study conducted in 26 countries to illustrate how domestic laws comprehend the notion of intangible cultural heritage. The book explores the relationship that these states maintain with the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage, and highlights challenging concepts, including the principle of participation and community and the nature of safeguarding. Through the analysis and synthesis of empirical data, the book also identifies new developments in cultural heritage law.

New Issue: Netherlands International Law Review

The latest issue of the Netherlands International Law Review (Vol. 67, no. 2, September 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Natalie L. Dobson, Competing Climate Change Responses: Reflections on EU Unilateral Regulation of International Transport Emissions in Light of Multilateral Developments
• Ruth A. van der Pol, Article 75 of the Rome Statute: Reparations and Their Implementation in the Dutch Legal System
• Yulia Levashova, Fair and Equitable Treatment and Investor’s Due Diligence Under International Investment Law
• Evelien Campfens, Whose Cultural Objects? Introducing Heritage Title for Cross-Border Cultural Property Claims
• Remy Jorritsma, The Nomination of International Judges by ‘the Enlightened Few’: A Comment on the Royal Decree of 23 January 2020 Concerning the Establishment of a Dutch National Group at the Permanent Court of Arbitration
• Jaap Spier, ‘The “Strongest” Climate Ruling Yet’: The Dutch Supreme Court’s Urgenda Judgment

New Issue: Journal of International Dispute Settlement

The latest issue of the Journal of International Dispute Settlement (Vol. 11, no. 3, September 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Prabhakar Singh, Indian Princely States and the 19th-century Transformation of the Law of Nations
• Ka Lok Yip, The Missing Elephant in the Room—the Jurisdiction of International Human Rights Tribunals over International Humanitarian Law
• Clemens Treichl, The Singapore Convention: Towards a Universal Standard for the Recognition and Enforcement of International Settlement Agreements?
• Massimiliano Sassoli de Bianchi, The Missing Reading of the Parable: Comment on ‘The Twelfth Camel, or the Economics of Justice’, by F Ost [(2011) 2(2) J Int Disp Settlement 333–51]
• Current Developments
• Sandrine De Herdt, Judges ad hoc and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea: An Overview of its Practice
• Gracious Timothy Dunna, Keeping with the Times, Revisiting the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration
• Jason Rudall, The Tribunal with a Toolbox: On Perenco v Ecuador, Black Gold and Shades of Green

New Issue: Swiss Review of International and European Law

The latest issue of the Swiss Review of International and European Law (Vol. 30, no. 3, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• SVIR-Tagung 2019
• Daniel Girsberger & Fabian Loretan, Neue Entwicklungen im Internationalen Privatrecht
• Ning Zhao, Completing a long-awaited puzzle in the landscape of cross-border recognition and enforcement of judgments: An overview of the HCCH2019 Judgments Convention
• Barbara Graham-Siegenthaler & Philipp Eberhard, Entwicklungen und Tendenzen im Internationalen Erbrecht und die damit verbundenen Neuerungen im IPRG: Ein Überblick über die IPRG-Revision des 6. Kapitels
• Daniel Girsberger & Fabian Loretan, Internationale Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit: Revision des 12. Kapitels IPRG

d'Aspremont: A Worldly Law in a Legal World

Jean d'Aspremont (Sciences Po - Law; Univ. of Manchester - Law) has posted A Worldly Law in a Legal World (in International Law’s Invisible Frames, Andrea Bianchi & Moshe Hirsch eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Most of international legal thought and practice rests on a distinction between international law and the world to which international law applies. One commonly distinguishes between international law and the world to which international law applies when, for example, seeking to ground international law in practice, explicating the origin of international law, appreciating the impact of international law on global actors, elucidating the actual formation and functioning of international law, historicizing international legal discourses and international legal institutions, and even when shedding light on the world-making role of international law. Most international legal thought and practice is informed, in this sense, by what is called here a form of ontological dualism whereby the actuality, historicity, and materiality of international law is distinct from the actuality, historicity, and materiality of the world to which international law applies.

This chapter questions the ontological dualism that dominates international law and shows that, notwithstanding this common ontological dualism, international law and the world to which it applies are better construed as having no distinct actuality, historicity, and materiality, because international law exists nowhere else than in the world to which it applies and the world to which international law applies exists nowhere else than in international law. This chapter argues accordingly that the relationship between international law and the world to which it applies should be understood in totalizing rather than dualistic terms.

New Issue: International Relations

The latest issue of International Relations (Vol. 34, no. 3, September 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: Facing Human Interconnections: Thinking IR into the Future
• Charalampos Efstathopoulos, Milja Kurki, & Alistair Shepherd, Facing human interconnections: thinking International Relations into the future
• Vicki Squire, Migration and the politics of ‘the human’: confronting the privileged subjects of IR
• Audra Mitchell & Aadita Chaudhury, Worlding beyond ‘the’ ‘end’ of ‘the world’: white apocalyptic visions and BIPOC futurisms
• Amy Niang, The slave, the migrant and the ontological topographies of the international
• Richard Beardsworth, Climate science, the politics of climate change and futures of IR
• Madeline Carr & Feja Lesniewska, Internet of Things, cybersecurity and governing wicked problems: learning from climate change governance
• Oliver Kessler & Marc Lenglet, Between concepts and thought: digital technologies and temporal relationality
• Jairus Grove, From geopolitics to geotechnics: global futures in the shadow of automation, cunning machines, and human speciation

Creutz: State Responsibility in the International Legal Order: A Critical Appraisal

Katja Creutz (Finnish Institute of International Affairs) has published State Responsibility in the International Legal Order: A Critical Appraisal (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:

State responsibility in international law is considered one of the cornerstones of the field. For a long time it remained the exclusive responsibility system due to the primacy of States as subjects of international law. Its unique position has nonetheless been challenged by several developments both within and outside the international legal order, such as the rise of alternative responsibility ideas and practices, as well as globalization and its consequences. This book adopts a critical and holistic approach to the law of State responsibility and analyzes the functionality of the general rules of State responsibility in a changed international landscape characterized by the fragmentation of responsibility. It is argued that State responsibility is not equally relevant across the broad spectrum of international obligations, and that alternative constructions of responsibility, namely international criminal law and international liability, have increased in standing.

New Issue: Security Studies

The latest issue of Security Studies (Vol. 29, no. 3, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Jack Hoagland, Amy Oakes, Eric Parajon & Susan Peterson, The Blind Men and the Elephant: Comparing the Study of International Security Across Journals
• Robert Jervis, Liberalism, the Blob, and American Foreign Policy: Evidence and Methodology
• Ron E. Hassner, The Cost of Torture: Evidence from the Spanish Inquisition
• Sean I. Kay, Realist Foreign Policy and Transatlantic Security Institutions
• Madison Schramm & Alexandra Stark, Peacemakers or Iron Ladies? A Cross-National Study of Gender and International Conflict
• Karl C. Kaltenthaler, Daniel M. Silverman & Munqith M. Dagher, Nationalism, Threat, and Support for External Intervention: Evidence from Iraq

O'Rourke: Women's Rights in Armed Conflict under International Law

Catherine O'Rourke (Univ. of Ulster - Law) has published Women's Rights in Armed Conflict under International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:

Laws and norms that focus on women's lives in conflict have proliferated across the regimes of international humanitarian law, international criminal law, international human rights law and the United Nations Security Council. While separate institutions, with differing powers of monitoring and enforcement, implement these laws and norms, the activities of regimes overlap. Women's Rights in Armed Conflict under International Law is the first book to account for this pluralism and institutional diversity. This book identifies key aspects of how different regimes regulate women's rights in conflict, and how they interact. Using country case studies to reveal the practical implications of the fragmented protection of women's rights in conflict, this book offers a dynamic account of how regimes and institutions interact, the extent to which they reinforce each other, and the tensions and gaps in regulation that emerge.

Lieblich: Can There Be a Crime of Internal Aggression?

Eliav Lieblich (Tel Aviv Univ. - Law) has posted Can There Be a Crime of Internal Aggression? (in Rethinking the Crime of Aggression: International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Eckart Conze & Stefanie Bock eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Aggression is usually conceived as a phenomenon of inter-state relations. However, this view seems lacking in an era in which most – and certainly the deadliest – wars are conflicts within states. Yet, much in line with the general view in international law that there is no internal jus ad bellum, there is no international norm that criminalizes, in a straightforward manner, the wrongful resort to armed force within states. Crucially, if the normative core of the crime of aggression is to address the unjust killings that it entails – including killings that might be lawful under jus in bello – then the absence of an internal equivalent of aggression reflects an inconsistency. This Chapter, therefore, offers a preliminary discussion of a crime of internal aggression. Building on a previous work, it argues that international human rights law can serve as an internal equivalent of jus ad bellum. It then discusses whether existing international criminal law captures wrongful killings that do not violate international humanitarian law, when these occur in internal conflicts. Arguing that the answer is negative, this Chapter imagines a crime of internal aggression, applicable both to the leaders of states and of armed opposition groups.

Conference: Ethical Governance of Surveillance Technologies in Times of Crisis: Global Challenges and Divergent Perspectives

On October 30 and November 5, 2020, the Utrecht Centre for Global Challenges will host virtually a conference on "Ethical Governance of Surveillance Technologies in Times of Crisis: Global Challenges and Divergent Perspectives." The program is here. Here’s the idea:

The interdisciplinary online conference will examine how crises and crisis-narratives interact with the ongoing transformation in the governance of surveillance technologies in different parts of the world. Seven speakers from diverse fields will examine the interplays between science and technology, human rights, ethics, culture and surveillance technologies, taking the Covid-19 pandemic as a starting point. Emphasis will be placed on translating theory to practice in interactive workshops, where participants will interact with each other as well as experts from a variety of cultural, institutional, and design perspectives.

Call for Papers: The extraterritorial application of EU law: A contribution to its global reach (Doctoral Workshop)

A call for papers has been issued for the 6th Jean Monnet Doctoral Workshop, to take place March 18-19, 2021. The topic is "The extraterritorial application of EU law: A contribution to its global reach." The call is here.

Hoekman & Mavroidis: To AB or Not to AB? Dispute Settlement in WTO Reform

Bernard Hoekman (European Univ. Institute) & Petros C. Mavroidis (Columbia Univ. - Law) have posted To AB or Not to AB? Dispute Settlement in WTO Reform. Here's the abstract:

Recent debates on the operation of the WTO’s dispute resolution mechanism have focused primarily on the Appellate Body (AB). We argue that this neglects the first-order issue confronting the rules-based trading system: sustaining the principle of de-politicized conflict resolution that is reflected in the negative consensus rule for adoption of dispute settlement findings. Improving the quality of the work of panels by appointing a roster of full-time professional adjudicators, complemented by reforms to WTO working practices that reduce incentives to resort to formal dispute settlement, can resolve the main issues that led to the AB crisis. Effective, coherent, and consistent WTO dispute resolution need not include an AB. An appropriately redesigned single-stage process can serve just as well, if not better.

New Issue: European Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the European Journal of International Law (Vol. 31, no. 2, September 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Editorial
  • Gender in Academic Publishing; The Legality of the Israeli Annexation – Redux; In This Issue
• Articles
• Maria Laura Marceddu & Pietro Ortolani, What Is Wrong with Investment Arbitration? Evidence from a Set of Behavioural Experiments
• Daniel Statman, Raanan Sulitzeanu-Kenan, Micha Mandel, Michael Skerker and Steven De Wijze, Unreliable Protection: An Experimental Study of Experts’ In Bello Proportionality Decisions
• Jasenka Ferizović, The Case of Female Perpetrators of International Crimes: Exploratory Insights and New Research Directions
• Symposium: Theorizing International Organizations Law
• Jan Klabbers & Guy Fiti Sinclair, On Theorizing International Organizations Law: Editors’ Introduction
• Jochen von Bernstorff, Autorité oblige: The Rise and Fall of Hans Kelsen’s Legal Concept of International Institutions
• Guy Fiti Sinclair, C. Wilfred Jenks and the Futures of International Organizations Law
• Evelyne Lagrange, Functionalism According to Paul Reuter: Playing a Lone Hand
• Jan Klabbers, Schermers’ Dilemma
• Ian Johnstone, Louis Sohn’s Legacy
• Umut Özsu, Organizing Internationally: Georges Abi-Saab, the Congo Crisis and the Decolonization of the United Nations
• Roaming Charges: Still Life Portrait
• Focus: Human Rights and Science
• Anna-Maria Hubert, The Human Right to Science and Its Relationship to International Environmental Law
• Jacqueline Peel, The ‘Rights’ Way to Democratize the Science–Policy Interface in International Environmental Law? A Reply to Anna-Maria Hubert
• Rumiana Yotova & Bartha M. Knoppers, The Right to Benefit from Science and Its Implications for Genomic Data Sharing
• EJIL: Debates!
• Andreas J. Ullmann & Andreas von Staden, Challenges and Pitfalls in Research on Compliance with the ‘Views’ of UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies: A Reply to Vera Shikhelman
• Jochen von Bernstorff, Is IHL a Sham? A Reply to Eyal Benvenisti and Doreen Lustig
• Eyal Benvenisti & Doreen Lustig, Beyond the ‘Sham’ Critique and the Narrative of Humanitarianism: A Rejoinder to Jochen von Bernstorff
• Changing the Guards - Part II
• Daniel Sarmiento, The Juncker Presidency – A Study in Character
• Review Essays
• Jan Klabbers, The Days of Wine and Roses. Review of Rosalyn Higgins, Philippa Webb, Dapo Akande, Sandesh Sivakumaran and James Sloan, Oppenheim’s International Law: United Nations
• Christiane Ahlborn, The Allocation of International Responsibility between International Organizations and Their Member States: A Case of Indirect Responsibility? Review of Nikolaos Voulgaris, Allocating International Responsibility Between Member States and International Organizations
• Book Reviews
• Samantha Besson, reviewing Fernando Lusa Bordin, The Analogy between States and International Organizations
• Frédéric Dopagne, reviewing Éric David, Droit des organisations internationales
• Lorenzo Gasbarri, reviewing Gerhard Ullrich, The Law of the International Civil Service
• The Last Page
• Judge Epitácio Pessoa, A Selection

SFDI: Extraterritorialités et droit international : Colloque d'Angers

The Société française pour le droit international has published Extraterritorialités et droit international : Colloque d'Angers (Pedone 2020). The table of contents is here.

Hirsch: Social Movements, Reframing Investment Relations, and Enhancing the Application of Human Rights Norms in International Investment Law

Moshe Hirsch (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem - Law) has posted Social Movements, Reframing Investment Relations, and Enhancing the Application of Human Rights Norms in International Investment Law (Leiden Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The recent moderate trend to increasingly apply human rights law in investment awards is accompanied by certain new investment treaties which include expressed human rights provisions. An analysis of recent investment awards indicates that though there are some 'winds of change' in this field, it is equally noticeable that human rights law is far from being mainstreamed in international investment law. Investment arbitration procedural law is also undergoing a process of change, and the new procedural rules tend to enhance public elements in the investment arbitral system. This study is aimed at explaining these recent legal changes, highlighting the role of social movements in reframing investment relations as well as increasing public pressure to apply human rights law. These framing changes concern broadening the frame of investment arbitration (beyond the foreign investor–host state dyad), reversing the perceived balance of power between investors and host states, and zooming-in on local individuals and communities residing in host states. The discussion on factors impeding legal change in this field emphasizes the role of the private legal culture prevalent in the investment arbitration system, which is reflected and reinforced by certain resilient socio-legal frames. Informed by this analysis, the study suggests some legal mechanisms which can mitigate the inter-partes frame, and increase the application of human rights law in investment arbitration; inter alia, rigorous transparency rules that are likely to facilitate increased public pressure on tribunals and increase the participation of social movements representing local actors in arbitral processes.

Schultz & Ortino: The Oxford Handbook of International Arbitration

Thomas Schultz (King's College London - Law) & Federico Ortino (King's College London - Law) have published The Oxford Handbook of International Arbitration (Oxford Univ. Press 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This Handbook brings together many of the key scholars and leading practitioners in international arbitration, to present and examine cutting-edge knowledge in the field. Innovative in its breadth of coverage, chapter-topics range from the practicalities of how arbitration works, to big picture discussions of the actors involved and the values that underpin it. The book includes critical analysis of some of international arbitrations most controversial aspects, whilst providing a nuanced account overall that allows readers to draw their own informed conclusions.

The book is divided into six parts, after an introduction discussing the formation of knowledge in the field. Part I provides an overview of the key legal notions needed to understand how international arbitration technically works, such as the relation between arbitration and law, the power of arbitral tribunals to make decisions, the appointment of arbitrators, and the role of public policy. Part II focuses on key actors in international arbitration, such as arbitrators, parties choosing arbitrators, and civil society. Part III examines the central values at stake in the field, including efficiency, legal certainty, and constitutional ideals. Part IV discusses intellectual paradigms structuring the thinking in and about international arbitration, such as the idea of autonomous transnational legal orders and conflicts of law. Part V presents the empirical evidence we currently have about the operations and effects of both commercial and investment arbitration. Finally, Part VI provides different disciplinary perspectives on international arbitration, including historical, sociological, literary, economic, and psychological accounts.

New Issue: African Journal of International Criminal Justice

The latest issue of the African Journal of International Criminal Justice (2020, no. 1) is out. Contents include:

• Fabrice Tambe Endoh, African Union and the Politics of Selective Prosecutions at the International Criminal Court
• Judicaël Elisée Tiehi, Le nouveau code de procédure pénale en Côte d’ivoire
• Aghem Hanson Ekori, The ICC or the ACC: Defining the Future of the Immunities of African State Officials

Conference: BIICL WTO Conference 2020

On October 22-23, 2020, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law will host virtually its 2020 WTO Conference. The program is here. Here's the idea:

This is a pivotal moment for trade affairs and a critical time to take stock and reflect on the future of global economic governance and connectivity. The conference will bring together leading academics and practitioners to explore emerging ideas and the most recent developments, at a critical time for international trade law. This year, amidst a global pandemic, the conference will take place virtually over two half days: 22 October 12.00-17.00 and 23 October 09.00-13.00 (BST) BIICL will host 6 virtual panels around the world to cover strategically important geographical areas where major developments, discussions and decisions impacting international trade are taking place.

Mégret & Tallgren: The Dawn of a Discipline: International Criminal Justice and Its Early Exponents

Frédéric Mégret (McGill Univ. - Law) & Immi Tallgren (Univ. of Helsinki - Erik Castrén Institute) have published The Dawn of a Discipline: International Criminal Justice and Its Early Exponents (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

The history of international criminal justice is often recounted as a series of institutional innovations. But international criminal justice is also the product of intellectual developments made in its infancy. This book examines the contributions of a dozen key figures in the early phase of international criminal justice, focusing principally on the inter-war years up to Nuremberg. Where did these figures come from, what did they have in common, and what is left of their legacy? What did they leave out? How was international criminal justice framed by the concerns of their epoch and what intuitions have passed the test of time? What does it mean to reimagine international criminal justice as emanating from individual intellectual narratives? In interrogating this past in all its complexity one does not only do justice to it; one can recover a sense of the manifold trajectories that international criminal justice could have taken.

Storr: International Status in the Shadow of Empire: Nauru and the Histories of International Law

Cait Storr (Univ. of Technology Sydney) has published International Status in the Shadow of Empire: Nauru and the Histories of International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:

Nauru is often figured as an anomaly in the international order. This book offers a new account of Nauru's imperial history and examines its significance to the histories of international law. Drawing on theories of jurisdiction and bureaucracy, it reconstructs four shifts in Nauru's status – from German protectorate, to League of Nations C Mandate, to UN Trust Territory, to sovereign state – as a means of redescribing the transition from the nineteenth century imperial order to the twentieth century state system. The book argues that as international status shifts, imperial form accretes: as Nauru's status shifted, what occurred at the local level was a gradual process of bureaucratisation. Two conclusions emerge from this argument. The first is that imperial administration in Nauru produced the Republic's post-independence 'failures'. The second is that international recognition of sovereign status is best understood as marking a beginning, not an end, of the process of decolonisation.

Gostin & Meier: Foundations of Global Health & Human Rights

Lawrence O. Gostin (Georgetown Univ.) & Benjamin Mason Meier (Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) have published Foundations of Global Health & Human Rights (Oxford Univ. Press 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Human rights are essential to global health, yet rising threats in an increasingly divided world are challenging the progressive evolution of health-related human rights. It is necessary to empower a new generation of scholars, advocates, and practitioners to sustain the global commitment to universal rights in public health. Looking to the next generation to face the struggles ahead, this book provides a detailed understanding of the evolving relationship between global health and human rights, laying a human rights foundation for the advancement of transformative health policies, programs, and practices.

International human rights law has been repeatedly shown to advance health and wellbeing - empowering communities and fostering accountability for realizing the highest attainable standard of health. This book provides a compelling examination of international human rights as essential for advancing public health. It demonstrates how human rights strengthens human autonomy and dignity, while placing clear responsibilities on government to safeguard the public's health and safety.

Bringing together leading academics in the field of health and human rights, this volume: (1) explains the norms and principles that define the field, (2) examines the methods and tools for implementing human rights to promote health, (3) applies essential human rights to leading public health threats, and (4) analyzes rising human rights challenges in a rapidly globalizing world. This foundational text shows why interdisciplinary scholarship and action are essential for health-related human rights, placing human rights at the center of public health and securing a future of global health with justice.

New Issue: Journal of International Arbitration

The latest issue of the Journal of International Arbitration (Vol. 37, no. 5, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Mees Brenninkmeijer & Fabien Gélinas, Execution Immunities and the Effect of the Arbitration Agreement
• Klaus Peter Berger, Adaptation of Long-Term Contracts by International Arbitrators in the Face of Severe Economic Disruptions: Three Salient Problems
• Thomas Obersteiner, Provisional Measures Under ICSID Rules: The Power of Tribunals to Interfere with Domestic Criminal Proceedings
• Darius Chan & Teo Jim Yang, Ascertaining the Proper Law of an Arbitration Agreement: The Artificiality of Inferring Intention When There Is None
• Adrian Fourie, Unionmatex v. Turkmenistan: The Emerging Jurisprudence of Security for Costs in Investor- State Arbitration
• Dimitrios Katsikis & Anthony Cheah Nicholls, Enforcement in Indonesia: Obtaining a Power of Attorney for Registration of the Award

New Issue: Arbitration International

The latest issue of Arbitration International (Vol. 36, no. 3, September 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Luuk Uilenbroek, The power of investment tribunals to enjoin domestic criminal proceedings
• Richard Garnett, Anti-arbitration injunctions: walking the tightrope
• Tolu O Obamuroh, Jurisdiction and admissibility: a case study
• Case Notes
• Hetal Doshi & Sankalp Udgata, Anti-arbitration injunction by Malaysian High Court—un(measured) invocation of sovereign immunity
• Myron Phua & Matthew Chan, The distinctive status of international arbitration agreements in English private international law?
• Mark Campbell, Setting aside arbitral awards in Singapore: due process and good faith obligations
• Recent Developments
• Nikos Lavranos, The changing ecosystem of Dutch BITs

Maus: United Nations Peace Operations and Human Rights: Normativity and Compliance

Sylvia Maus has published United Nations Peace Operations and Human Rights: Normativity and Compliance (Brill | Nijhoff 2020). Here's the abstract:

In United Nations Peace Operations and Human Rights: Normativity and Compliance Sylvia Maus offers a comprehensive account of the human rights obligations of United Nations peace operations with a dual focus on the applicability and the content of UN peace operations’ human rights obligations. Selected case studies show a triad of human rights gaps: a protection gap, an accountability gap and a remedy gap.

Going further than purely legal studies on the subject, Maus makes use of international relations theory and addresses considerations of reputation and legitimacy as reasons for (non-)compliance with human rights by the UN. Based on this interdisciplinary approach, she convincingly proposes ways for enhancing human rights compliance in UN peace operations.

Makris: Verwalten in »Modernen Protektoraten«

Agnė Makris has published Verwalten in »Modernen Protektoraten«: Rechtmäßigkeitsanforderungen an EU-Verwaltungsmissionen am Beispiel der EULEX-Mission im Kosovo (Mohr Siebeck 2020). Here's the abstract:

Die Rechtsstaatlichkeitsmission der Europäischen Union im Kosovo, die sog. EULEX-Mission, ist ein Beispiel der Ausübung von Hoheitsgewalt durch die EU außerhalb ihrer Grenzen. Agnė Makris untersucht die Mission aus völker-, europa- und verwaltungsrechtlicher Perspektive, um im Wesentlichen zwei Legitimationsfragen nachzugehen: Erstens, ist die EU als Rechtsgemeinschaft sui generis und zugleich als Teil des Völkerrechtssystems dazu befugt, staatliche Aufgaben auf Drittgebieten zu übernehmen, und falls ja, unter welchen rechtlichen Bedingungen? Auf einer zweiten Ebene stellt sich dann die Frage nach den rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen für das eigentliche Handeln der EU vor Ort. An welche rechtlichen Vorgaben ist eine EU-Verwaltungsmission im Einsatzgebiet gebunden bzw. welchen rechtlichen Standards muss sie genügen? Um diese Fragen beantworten zu können, erarbeitet die Autorin zunächst auf abstrakter Ebene rechtliche Vorgaben, die speziell auf hoheitlich tätige zivile Missionen bezogen sind. Diese können auch als Maßstab für künftige EU-Missionen dieser Art herangezogen werden.

Kalmanovitz: The Laws of War in International Thought

Pablo Kalmanovitz (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas) has published The Laws of War in International Thought (Oxford Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:

The Law of Armed Conflict is usually understood to be a regime of exception that applies only during armed conflict and regulates hostilities among enemies. It assigns privileges to states far beyond what they are allowed to do in peacetime, and it mandates certain protections for non-combatants, which can often be defeated by appeals to military necessity or advantage.

The Laws of War in International Thought examines the intellectual history of the laws of war before their codification. It reconstructs the processes by which political and legal theorists built the laws' distinctive vocabularies and legitimized some of their broadest permissions, and it situates these processes within the broader intellectual project that from early modernity spelled out the nature, function, and powers of state sovereignty.

The book focuses on four historical moments in the intellectual history of the laws of war: the doctrine of just war in Spanish scholasticism; Hugo Grotius's theory of solemn war; the Enlightenment theory of regular war; and late nineteenth-century humanitarianism. By looking at these moments, Pablo Kalmanovitz shows how challenging and polemical it has been for international theorists to justify the exceptional and permissive character of the laws of war. In this way, he contributes to recover a sense of the historical foundations and many still problematic aspects of the Law of Armed Conflict.

ASIL 2020 Annual Meeting Videos

The American Society of International Law has made available open access the videos of its 2020 Annual Meeting. Videos can be found here.

New Issue: Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Institutions

The latest issue of Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Institutions (Vol. 26, no. 3, July-September 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Jeff Crisp, UNHCR at 70: An Uncertain Future for the International Refugee Regime
• Erika Feller, UNHCR at 70: A Personal and Retrospective Look at Making Refugee Protection Real
• Catherine Gegout & Shogo Suzuki, China, Responsibility to Protect, and the Case of Syria: From Sovereignty Protection to Pragmatism
• William R. Heaston, Matthew C. Mitchell, & Jeffrey A. Kappen, Institutional Reflections on Organizational Corruption Control: The Case of FIFA
• William W. Grimes & William N. Kring, Institutionalizing Financial Cooperation in East Asia: AMRO and the Future of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization
• Saori N. Katada & Jessica Liao, China and Japan in Pursuit of Infrastructure Investment Leadership in Asia: Competition or Convergence?
• Noele Crossley, Consistency, Protection, Responsibility: Revisiting the Debate on Selective Humanitarianism
• Dorottya Mendly, Global Governance and the Double Movement: A Genealogy

New Issue: Transnational Dispute Management

The latest issue of Transnational Dispute Management (2020, no. 5) is out. This is a special issue on "The Interaction Between International Investment Law and Special Economic Zones (SEZs)." The table of contents is here.

Webinar: Contested Fundamentals of the Law of International Organizations

The Bocconi University, in collaboration with the Interest Group on International Organisations of the European Society of International Law, will host a webinar on the theme of ‘"Contested Fundamentals of the Law of International Organizations" on October 2, 2020. Program and registration information are here.

Meierhenrich & Wilson: 'The Life of the Law Has Not Been Logic; It Has Been Experience:' International Legal Ethnography and the New Legal Realism

Jens Meierhenrich (Harvard Univ. - Government) & Richard Ashby Wilson (Univ. of Connecticut - Law) have posted 'The Life of the Law Has Not Been Logic; It Has Been Experience:' International Legal Ethnography and the New Legal Realism (in Handbook on New Legal Realism, Heinz Klug, Elizabeth Mertz, Shauhin Talesh & Frances Tung eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Scholars in law and the social sciences are calling into question the conventional doctrinal account of how international law works. We join this chorus by extolling the virtues of a new method for studying the social life of international law: international legal ethnography. Ethnographic approaches advance the project of the New Legal Realism by explaining legal outcomes through a multidisciplinary study of concrete institutional practices and the subjectivity of legal actors in international justice institutions. A full understanding of why international courts produce influential legal precedent as well as incoherent law and failed prosecutions requires a grasp of both international legal doctrine as well as the organizational culture and quotidian practice of international organizations. International justice institutions are neither insulated from the vagaries of global politics, nor simply reducible to them. Because of their unique and structurally-fragile position betwixt and between national legal cultures, international criminal tribunals have of necessity created a socialization process that inculcates distinctive norms, practices and values among its staff, a process that has identifiable consequences for legal process and outcomes. Our ultimate goal is neither naive faith in the probity of international tribunals, nor a reflexively moral dystopian-ism, but a clear-eyed assessment of both the successes and shortcomings of international justice institutions.

Murphy: Peremptory Norms of General International Law (Jus Cogens) and Other Topics: The Seventy-First Session of the International Law Commission

Sean D. Murphy (George Washington Univ. - Law) has posted Peremptory Norms of General International Law (Jus Cogens) and Other Topics: The Seventy-First Session of the International Law Commission (American Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This essay analyzes the outcome of the International Law Commission (ILC)’s seventy- first session, held from April 29 to June 7 and from July 8 to August 9, 2019 in Geneva, under the chairmanship of Pavel Šturma (Czech Republic). Notably, the Commission completed the first reading of its topic on peremptory norms of general international law (jus cogens). The Commission also completed the first reading of its topic on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict and completed the second reading of its topic on crimes against humanity. Progress was also made in developing draft articles on succession of states with respect to state responsibility, draft articles on immunity of state officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction, and draft conclusions on general principles of law. Additionally, the Commission held informal consultations concerning model clauses for its topic on provisional application of treaties, the first reading of which was completed in the seventieth session and the second reading of which is expected during the seventy-second session in 2020.

The Commission added to its agenda a topic on sea-level rise in relation to international law, which is being addressed in the context of a study group rather than by use of a special rapporteur. It also added two new topics to its long-term work program: (1) reparation to individuals for gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law; and (2) prevention and repression of piracy and armed robbery at sea.

Lixinski & Tzevelekos: The Hagia Sophia, Secularism, and International Cultural Heritage Law

Lucas Lixinski (Univ. of New South Wales - Law) & Vassilis P. Tzevelekos (Univ. of Liverpool - Law and Social Justice) have posted an ASIL Insight on The Hagia Sophia, Secularism, and International Cultural Heritage Law.

New Issue: Chinese Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Chinese Journal of International Law (Vol. 19, no. 2, June 2020) is out. Contents include:

• To Fight a New Coronavirus: Special Section of Letters and a Comment
• Kennedy Gastorn, To Name a New Coronavirus and the Associated Pandemic: International Law and Politics
• David P Fidler, To Fight a New Coronavirus: The COVID-19 Pandemic, Political Herd Immunity, and Global Health Jurisprudence
• Patrick C R Terry, To Fight a New Coronavirus: Crisis Management and International Cooperation from a Local Perspective in Germany
• Chao Wang, To Cope with a New Coronavirus Pandemic: How Life May Be Changed Forever
• Chimène I Keitner, To Litigate a Pandemic: Cases in the United States Against China and the Chinese Communist Party and Foreign Sovereign Immunities
• Sienho Yee, To Deal with a New Coronavirus Pandemic: Making Sense of the Lack of Any State Practice in Pursuing State Responsibility for Alleged Malfeasances in a Pandemic—Lex Specialis or Lex Generalis at Work?
• Articles
• Jingjing Wu, Is China Playing by the Rules? — Assessing China’s Reservations to International Human Rights Treaties
• Mark McLaughlin, State-Owned Enterprises and Threats to National Security Under Investment Treaties
• Diego Zannoni, The Dilemma Between the Freedom to Use and the Proscription against Appropriating Outer Space and Celestial Bodies

Webinars: History of International Law

The O.P. Jindal Global University is hosting a series of webinars this fall semester on the history of intenrational law. The schedule is here. The first webinar is on Wednesday, September 23. Email cils@jgu.edu.in for registration.

New Issue: Global Trade and Customs Journal

The latest issue of Global Trade and Customs Journal (Vol. 15, no. 10, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Xiaoling Li, DSU Article 25 Appeal Arbitration: A Viable Interim Alternative to the WTO Appellate Body?
• Pier Paolo Ghetti & Stefano Inama, The Real Cost of Rules of Origin: A Business Perspective to Discipline Rules of Origin in a Post COVID-19 Scenario
• Dhruv Gupta & Bhargav Mansatta, India’s Response to Increases in Imports from Countries Subject to Preferential Tariffs Under FTAs: Bilateral Safeguard Investigations?
• Eti Best Herbert & Fasilat Abimbola Olalere, What Is Economic Globalization Without Trans-boundary Migration?

New Issue: Nordic Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the Nordic Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 38, no. 1, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Heiner Bielefeldt, Human Rights as a ‘Substitute Utopia’? Questionable Assumptions in Samuel Moyn’s Work
• Maja Janmyr & Özlem Gürakar Skribeland, Human Rights References in Norway’s Readmission Agreements: (How) Do They Protect?
• Johan Karlsson Schaffer, The Self-Exempting Activist: Sweden and the International Human Rights Regime
• Lilian Chenwi, The Advisory Proceedings of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
• Maria-Louiza Deftou, Fostering the Rule of Law in the Americas: Is There any Room for Judicial Dialogue between the IACtHR and National Courts?

Roundtable: Coordinating Brussels Ia with other Instruments of EU Law

On September 24, 2020, there will be an online roundtable on “Coordinating Brussels Ia with Other Instruments of EU Law.” The program is here.

Lauterpacht Centre Friday Lunchtime Lecture Series for Michaelmas Term 2020

Here's the schedule for the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law's Michaelmas Term 2020 Friday Lunchtime Lectures (all lectures will be online):

• October 9, 2020: Radhika Coomaraswamy, Women and Children and the Transformation of International Law (Eli Lauterpacht Lecture)
• October 16, 2020: Alexandre Kedar (Univ. of Haifa), Emptied Lands: Bedouin rights, dispossession and resistance in the Negev
• October 23, 2020: Philippa Webb (King’s College London), The Right to a Fair Trial in International Law: Shining a light on a critical human rights protection
• October 30, 2020: Monica Hakimi (Univ. of Michigan), Two Visions of the International Rule of Law
• November 6, 2020: Helen Frowe (Univ. of Stockholm), Implementing the 1954 Hague Convention: Conflicts between People and Heritage
• November 13, 2020: Nehal Bhuta (Univ. of Edinburgh), The State Theory of Grotius
• November 20, 2020: Andrew Serdy (Univ. of Southampton), Brexit and Fisheries: International Law Dimensions of the 2018 White Paper and Current Fisheries Bill (CILJ-LCIL Annual Lecture)
• November 27, 2020: Prabhash Ranjan (South Asian Univ.) India and International Investment Law: Refusal, Acceptance, Backlash

Call for Papers: ASIL International Organizations IG Works-in-Progress Workshop

The International Organizations Interest Group of the American Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for a works-in-progress workshop, to be held virtually on February 19, 2021. Here's the call:

Call for Papers: International Organizations Workshop

Friday, 19 February 2021

Virtual

The International Organizations Interest Group (IOIG) of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) welcomes abstract submissions for its biennial work-in-progress workshop, to be held on Friday, 19 February 2021 virtually.

Abstracts must relate to the study of international organizations (broadly defined). We particularly encourage submissions on one of the following topics: (1) international law and climate change; (2) global health governance.

To submit an abstract, please email the Co-Chairs and Vice-Chair Christie Edwards, Melinda Kuritzky and Ayelet Berman at IOIG@asil.org by midnight on 1 November 2020.

Authors whose abstracts have been selected will be notified by 1 December 2020. Papers are due no later than 5 February 2021 and will be pre-circulated. Papers should not yet be published.

Each paper will be assigned a commentator, who will introduce the paper followed by a discussion with workshop participants. The workshop will be conducted on the assumption that everyone has read all of the papers in advance. Attendance will be open.

The workshop will be held virtually and Zoom details will be provided in advance of the event.

New Additions to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law

The Codification Division of the UN Office of Legal Affairs recently added new materials to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law website. They include: a lecture given by Diane A. Desierto on “Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in International Investment Law” in video and audio formats, accompanied by a related materials list; an introductory note by Gian Luca Burci on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, 2003; and the procedural history of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, 1981.