Chiussi Curzi: General Principles for Business and Human Rights in International Law

Ludovica Chiussi Curzi (Univ. of Bologna - Law) has published General Principles for Business and Human Rights in International Law (Brill | Nijhoff 2021). Here's the abstract:

In General Principles for Business and Human Rights in International Law Ludovica Chiussi Curzi offers an overview of the relevance of general principles of law in the multifaceted discourse on business and human rights. What are the implications of the state duty to protect human rights in good faith and to guarantee victims of corporate human rights violations access to justice? Can general principles of law, such as abuse of rights, due diligence, and estoppel provide a source of obligations for companies that is relevant to human rights protection? Has an autonomous principle on corporate liability developed in international law?

Call for Submissions: UCM-Study on the notion, characteristics, legal status and targets of unilateral sanctions

The Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of the Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights has issued a call for submissions for a study on the “Notion, characteristics, legal status and targets of unilateral sanctions.” The call is here.

Fournet & Matwijkiw: Biolaw and International Criminal Law

Caroline Fournet (Univ. of Groningen - Law) & Anja Matwijkiw (Lund Univ. - Law; Indiana Univ. Northwest - Philosophy) have published Biolaw and International Criminal Law: Towards Interdisciplinary Synergies (Brill | Nijhoff 2021). Here's the abstract:

The originality of this volume lies in the interdisciplinary synergies that emerge through the issues it explores and the approaches it adopts. It offers legal and ethical reflections on the criminal qualification of a series of conducts ranging from human experimentation and non-consensual medical interventions to organ transplant trafficking and marketing of human body parts. It also considers procedural matters, notably related to psychiatric and medical evidence. In so doing, it combines legal and other types of conceptualizations to examine such contemporary issues as rights of the LGBTIQ population, access to medical care, corporate criminal liability, rights of children and Islamic jurisprudence.

Motz: The Refugee Status of Persons with Disabilities

Stephanie Anna Motz has published The Refugee Status of Persons with Disabilities (Brill | Nijhoff 2021). Here's the abstract:

Persons with disabilities often face persecution. How does the 1951 Refugee Convention apply to them? In this first comprehensive study on the refugee definition for persons with disabilities, Stephanie Motz proposes a disability-specific approach to refugee status. The book provides a critical analysis of case law on refugee status determination focusing on four selected jurisdictions. Each chapter examines a different element of the refugee definition in light of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as well as international refugee law standards.

Vleugel: Culture in the State Reporting Procedure of the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies

Vincent Vleugel has published Culture in the State Reporting Procedure of the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies (Intersentia 2020). Here's the abstract:

Ever since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 there has been a debate on the issue of universality and cultural diversity. Nowadays, this debate is not so much framed in terms of opposites, but more in terms of reconciliation.

Under the international human rights framework, States are allowed to take cultural particularities into account when implementing the treaties. The UN human rights treaty bodies which monitor the implementation of the treaties by States have an important role to play in ensuring a proper balance between safeguarding the universality of the rights, while at the same time leaving room for cultural particularities in the interpretation and implementation of those rights by States. This book examines how the UN treaty bodies, in particular the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, fulfil this role.

The research shows that human rights are used as a sword to protect and safeguard culture and cultural diversity, and as a shield to protect against harmful aspects of culture. It also looks in-depth at the dialogue between treaty bodies and States parties, and the way cultural arguments are dealt with. The study concludes that the treaty bodies are first and foremost guardians of the universality of human rights. They use their monitoring role not so much (actively) to reconcile universality and cultural diversity or to accommodate cultural variation, but more to determine the limits of such cultural variation.

New Issue: Cooperation and Conflict

The latest issue of Cooperation and Conflict (Vol. 55, no. 4, December 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: Emplaced Security
• Morgan Brigg & Nicole George, Emplacing the spatial turn in peace and conflict studies
• M Anne Brown, The spatial turn, reification and relational epistemologies in ‘knowing about’ security and peace
• Kate Higgins, Place, peace and security in Solomon Islands
• Damian Grenfell, Death, emplaced security and space in contemporary Timor-Leste
• Joanne Wallis, Displaced security? The relationships, routines and rhythms of peacebuilding interveners
• Volker Boege & Charles T Hunt, On ‘travelling traditions’: Emplaced security in Liberia and Vanuatu
• Nicole George, Conflict transition, emplaced identity and the gendered politics of scale in Solomon Islands
• Morgan Brigg, The spatial-relational challenge: Emplacing the spatial turn in peace and conflict studies

Call for Submissions: Translating Feminist Jurisprudence

The Australian Feminist Law Journal has issued a call for submissions for a special issue on "Translating Feminist Jurisprudence." The call is here.

New Issue: International Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the International Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 24, no. 10, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Michael P. Donnelly, Democracy and sovereignty vs international human rights: reconciling the irreconcilable?
• Andika Wahab, The state of human rights disclosure among sustainably certified palm oil companies in Malaysia
• Ian Turner, Conceptualising a protection of liberal constitutionalism post 9/11: an emphasis upon rights in the social contract philosophy of Thomas Hobbes
• Miriam Cohen, Doing business abroad: a review of selected recent Canadian case-studies on corporate accountability for foreign human rights violations
• icle Julie Ada Tchoukou, Religion as an ideological weapon and the feminisation of culture in Nigeria: a critical analysis of the textuality of violence through the legal regulation of child marriages
• Heather Smith-Cannoy, Wendy H. Wong, Arjumand Siddiqi, Christopher Tait & Abtin Parnia, When everyone agrees: human rights norms on women and children and their effects on health
• Frederik J. Zuiderveen Borgesius, Strengthening legal protection against discrimination by algorithms and artificial intelligence
• Ergul Celiksoy, ‘UK exceptionalism’ in the ECtHR’s jurisprudence on irreducible life sentences
• Malayna Raftopoulos & Joanna Morley, Ecocide in the Amazon: the contested politics of environmental rights in Brazil
• Andrew M. Robinson, Governments must not wait on courts to implement UNDRIP rights concerning Indigenous sacred sites: lessons from Canada and Ktunaxa Nation v. British Columbia
• Mauricia John, A critical approach to understanding human trafficking in the Caribbean
• Dag Øistein Endsjø, The other way around? How freedom of religion may protect LGBT rights
• David M. Doyle, Marie Muldoon & Clíodhna Murphy, Education in Ireland: accessible without discrimination for all?

Saravanan & Subramanian: Role of Domestic Courts in the Settlement of Investor-State Disputes: The Indian Scenario

A. Saravanan (Indian Institute of Management Indore) & S.R. Subramanian (Indian Institute of Technology) have published Role of Domestic Courts in the Settlement of Investor-State Disputes: The Indian Scenario (Springer 2020). Here's the abstract:

This book addresses the interactions between the domestic courts and the international investment arbitral tribunals, one of the most pressing issues confronting both domestic legal systems and the international legal system. It deals with the core issues inherent in the above interactions, especially with regard to countries outside the ICSID system. It contrasts this narrative with the position under classical international investment law, where national courts are assigned a very specific and minimalistic role in the process of investment disputes settlement. For this purpose, the book chooses India, which follows the non-ICSID model, as the major point of focus and considers both domestic judicial decisions and investment arbitral decisions for critical analysis. The ICSID Convention grants limited powers to domestic courts to issue provisional measures and to enforce ICSID awards.

As the central theme of the book lies at the intersection of domestic law and international law, the work is indispensable for any scholar working in the areas of general international law, international investment law, international economic law, law and economics, international dispute settlement, or international law in domestic courts, as well as domestic judges and international arbitrators. Further, as the subject matter has great implications for both domestic and global governance, it will benefit civil servants, opinion leaders, policy planners and subject experts in economics, the political economy and regional studies, to name a few.

Symposium: Exploring the Frontiers of International Law in Cyberspace

On December 4, 2020, the European Society of International Law, the Jagiellonian University Chair of Public International Law, and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies will hold an online symposium on "Exploring the Frontiers of International Law in Cyberspace." Program and registration information are here.

Gathii: The Performance of Africa's International Courts: Using Litigation for Political, Legal, and Social Change

James Thuo Gathii (Loyola Univ. Chicago - Law) has published The Performance of Africa's International Courts: Using Litigation for Political, Legal, and Social Change (Oxford Univ. Press 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

The performance of international courts has traditionally been judged against criteria of compliance and effectiveness. Whilst these are clearly desirable objectives for litigants before Africa's international courts, this book shows that we must look beyond these criteria to fully appreciate the impact of these courts. This book shows how litigants use their participation in international litigation to achieve other objectives: to amplify political disputes with their governments, to build their movement, to educate the public about their cause, and to challenge the status quo.

Chapters in this collection show how these courts act as coordination points for opposition political parties to name and shame dominant parties for violation of their organizational rights. Others demonstrate how Africa's international courts serve as transitional justice mechanisms in which truth telling about ongoing conflict and authoritarian governance receives significant attention. This attention serves as a platform to galvanize resistance against continued authoritarian rule, especially from outside the conflict countries. Ultimately, the book shows that these courts must be judged against new and broader criteria, and understood as increasingly important venues for waging political, social, environmental, and legal struggles.

Hilpold: European International Law Traditions

Peter Hilpold (Universität Innsbruck - Law) has published European International Law Traditions (Springer 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

International Law is usually considered, at least initially, to be a unitary legal order that is not subject to different national approaches. Ex definition it should be an order that transcends the national, and one that merges national perspectives into a higher understanding of law. It gains broad recognition precisely because it gives expression to a common consensus transcending national positions. The reality, however, is quite different. Individual countries’ approaches to International Law, and the meanings attached to different concepts, often diverge considerably. The result is a lack of comprehension that can ultimately lead to outright conflicts. In this book, several renowned international lawyers engage in an enquiry directed at sorting out how different European nations have contributed to the development of International Law, and how various national approaches to International Law differ. In doing so, their goal is to promote a better understanding of theory and practice in International Law.

Ostřanský & Pérez-Aznar: Investment Treaties and National Governance in India: Rearrangements, Empowerment, and Discipline

Josef Ostřanský (European Univ. Institute) & Facundo Pérez-Aznar (Geneva Center for International Dispute Settlement) have posted Investment Treaties and National Governance in India: Rearrangements, Empowerment, and Discipline (Leiden Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This paper presents selected findings on India relating to the effects of international investment agreements (IIAs) on national governance. Our research used ethnography-inspired methods to explore the often-voiced hypothesis that IIAs induce good governance reforms in their state parties. Our findings demonstrate that the good governance hypothesis is too sweeping and lacks subtlety, but they also bring forward new conceptualisations of the impact of the international investment regime on national governance. Our research shows that governance actors use IIAs selectively in order to advance various agendas and interests. The Indian case study shows that rather than acting like a monolith when reacting to the experience of IIAs, the state is instead a site of struggle between different actors with different motivations, agendas and interests. In such context, IIAs produce various formal-institutional as well as ideological-discursive effects that have not been captured by the existing literature. First, IIAs lead to the simultaneous practices of internalisation through external adjustment and internalisation through accommodation. At the same time, these modes of internalisation lead to rearrangements by internalisation within the public administration. Second, governance actors resort to various narratives about IIAs, which we present in this paper. Importantly, the deployments of various narratives about IIAs are context-dependent and are used by governance actors tactically as convenient tools in internal political struggles within the public administration. These findings have important consequences for the design and reform of international investment regulation, should such regulation have ambition, as it does, to promote good governance.

V.P. de Oliveira & Hourani: Access to Justice in Arbitration: Concept, Context and Practice

Leonardo V.P. de Oliveira (Royal Holloway, Univ. of London) & Sara Hourani (Middlesex Univ. London) have published Access to Justice in Arbitration: Concept, Context and Practice (Wolters Kluwer 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Access to Justice in Arbitration is a compendium of essays by arbitral practitioners, academics, and arbitral institution officials presenting, for the first time, an in-depth analysis of the role access to justice plays in arbitration. The exponential growth of arbitration beyond commercial and investment matters, reaching disputes that have traditionally been decided by courts – such as labour and employment, sports, and competition disputes, and those involving human rights violations – raises questions about the impact of this expansion on access to justice. On the whole, this pioneering book assesses how access to justice can be guaranteed in arbitration and, in particular, shows how access to justice works in various types of arbitration.

New Issue: Climate Law

The latest issue of Climate Law (Vol. 10, nos. 3-4, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Joshua D. Sarnoff, Negative-Emission Technologies and Patent Rights after COVID-19
• Gareth Davies, Climate Change and Reversed Intergenerational Equity: the Problem of Costs Now, for Benefits Later
• Daria Shapovalova, Arctic Petroleum and the 2°C Goal: a Case for Accountability for Fossil-Fuel Supply
• Chrysa Alexandraki, MRV of Emissions and Mitigation Action: the Paris Agreement and Financial Support for Transparency-Related Capacity Building in Developing Countries

New Issue: European Convention on Human Rights Law Review

The latest issue of the European Convention on Human Rights Law Review (Vol. 1, no. 2, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Vassilis P Tzevelekos & Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou, Normal as Usual? Human Rights in Times of covid-19
• Wolfgang Benedek, Are the Tools of the Council of Europe Sufficient to Protect Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law from Backsliding?
• Ineta Ziemele, Liberal Values, Covid-19 and the Judiciary
• Mikael Rask Madsen & Robert Spano, Authority and Legitimacy of the European Court of Human Rights: Interview with Robert Spano, President of the European Court of Human Rights
• Conall Mallory, A Traffic-Light System of State Arguments before the European Court of Human Rights
• Janneke Gerards, Abstract and Concrete Reasonableness Review by the European Court of Human Rights
• Elif Erken, The Participation of Non-Governmental Organisations and National Human Rights Institutions in the Execution of Judgments of the Strasbourg Court: Exploring Rule 9 Communications at the Committee of Ministers

New Issue: Virginia Journal of International Law

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

• Articles
• Cosette D. Creamer & Neha Jain, Separate Judicial Speech
• Caroline Davidson, Aging Out: Elderly Defendants and International Crimes
• Essay
• Mary Kabir-Seraj Bischoping, The Rise of the Nonstate Actor: The New Face of the Bilateral Investment Treaty in the Middle East

New Issue: Journal of World Intellectual Property

The latest issue of the Journal of World Intellectual Property (Vol. 23, nos. 5-6, November 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Tim Wilsdon, Artes Haderi, Zlatina Dobreva, & Giuliano Ricciardi, The economic impact of changing the environment for innovation in Argentina—Applying the lessons of Asia to Latin America
• William Van Caenegem & Kana Nakano, Standard trade marks, geographical indications and provenance branding in Australia: What we can learn from King Island
• S. O'Sullivan, Michael Friebe, W. R. Tonti, Margaret Hartnett, Manuel Castro, M. I. Pozzo, & Y. Nilsiam, Surveyed impact of intellectual property training in STEM education on innovation, research, and development
• Julian Cockbain & Sigrid Sterckx, Quis custodet custodes? Referral G‐3/19 before the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal and the imperative of challenging the board's interpretation of Art. 53(b) EPC
• Chan‐Yuan Wong & Mergen Elbegsaikhan, Geographical indications in development contexts: Function, supply chain and pursuit of rural industrial development
• Ivan Stepanov, Economic development dimension of intellectual property as investment in international investment law
• Aleksei Gudkov, Robot on the shoulders of humans
• Luminița Olteanu, Rebranding strategies and their boomerang effect—The curious case of Burberry
• Mengna Liang, Copyright issues related to reproduction rights arising from streaming
• Maria Mercedes Frabboni, Fashion designs and brands: The role of the informed user and the average consumer

Monteiro de Matos: Indigenous Land Rights in the Inter-American System: Substantive and Procedural Law

Mariana Monteiro de Matos (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology) has published Indigenous Land Rights in the Inter-American System: Substantive and Procedural Law (Brill | Nijhoff 2021). Here's the abstract:

Rights to their traditional lands and resources are essential to the survival of indigenous peoples. They have been formulated and advanced in the most progressive way by the Inter-American system of human rights protection. In this book, Mariana Monteiro de Matos analyzes, in detailed and comprehensive inquiry, the pertinent jurisprudence of the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights. She identifies three distinct waves of decision regarding the objects of ownership or possession, the rights associated, and the holders of the rights. Originally, the book also offers a profound analysis of corollary procedural law.

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 Steven Hill on “Legal Aspects of the Work of NATO”; a lecture by Donald M. McRae on “Varieties of International Dispute Settlement: From Litigation to Conciliation”; a lecture by Manuel Rama Montaldo on “Aspectos conceptuales e históricos del proceso de codificación y de desarrollo progresivo del derecho internacional en la Naciones Unidas, con especial referencia a la labor de la Comisión de Derecho Internacional”; and an introductory note by Hans Corell on Agreement between the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia concerning the prosecution under Cambodian law of crimes committed during the period of Democratic Kampuchea, 2003.

Call for Applications: Research Associate - Nuclear Law and Policy (NUS Centre for International Law)

The Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore invites applications for the position of Research Associate (Nuclear Law and Policy). The call is here.

New Issue: Global Trade and Customs Journal

The latest issue of Global Trade and Customs Journal (Vol. 15, nos. 11/12, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Badar Alam Iqbal, Guest Editorial: China–US Trade War
• Roseline Tapuwa Karambakuwa & Ronney Ncwadi, The Impact of United States of America-China Trade War on Market Capitalization of Emerging Economies
• Itumeleng Mongale, Thobeka Ncanywa, & Ombeswa Ralarala, An Analysis of Mean Spillover Effects of US-China Trade War on Sub-Saharan Africa
• Ebere Ume Kalu, Chinwe Okoyeuzu, & Wilfred Isioma Ukpere, Transmission Effect of Uncertainties in USA & China Trade Spat on West Africa Trade Relationships
• Collins C. Ngwakwe & Mokoko P. Sebola, The US-China Trade War and the Economic Ripple on South Africa
• Kashika Arora, Vijaya Katti, US-China Trade War: Opportunities for India
• M Karthik, Ram Kumar Mishra, Understanding the US-China Trade War: Causes, Consequences and Economic Impact
• Adriana Peluffo, The China–United States Trade War: Will It Impact Latin American Countries?
• Renato Lopes da Costa, Carolina Rodrigues, Miguel Sousa, & Maria José Sousa, US-China Policy on Global Trade: A Survey of Selected Literature
• Felix Fofana N’Zué & Wumi Kolawole Olayiwola, The China–US Trade Dispute: Economic Implications for the ECOWAS Region
• Tajul Ariffin Masron, Eliza Nor, & Yogeeswari Subramaniam, The Spillover Effect of the US-China Trade War on Exports of Major Trading Partners of US and China

Call for Applications: Post-Doctoral Fellowship (NUS Centre for International Law)

The Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore invites applications for a Post-Doctoral Fellowship position with a focus on international economic law, commencing in January 2021. The call is here.

Amoroso: Autonomous Weapons Systems and International Law

Daniele Amoroso (Università degli Studi di Cagliari - Law) has published Autonomous Weapons Systems and International Law: A Study on Human-Machine Interactions in Ethically and Legally Sensitive Domains (Nomos 2020). Here's the abstract:

Recent advances in robotics and AI have paved the way to robots autonomously performing a wide variety of tasks in ethically and legally sensitive domains. Among them, a prominent place is occupied by robots endowed with the ability to deliver destructive force without human intervention, a.k.a. Autonomous Weapons Systems (or AWS), whose legality under international law is currently at the center of a heated academic and diplomatic debate. The AWS debate provides a uniquely representative sample of the (potentially) disruptive impact of new technologies on norms and principles of international law, in that it touches on key questions of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, international criminal law, and State responsibility. Against this backdrop, this book’s primary aim is to explore the international legal implications of autonomy in weapons systems, by inquiring what existing international law has to say in this respect, to what extent the persisting validity of its principles and categories is challenged, and what could be a way forward for future international regulation on the matter. From a broader perspective, the research carried out on the issue of the legality of AWS under international law aspires to offer some more general insights on the normative aspects of the shared control relationship between human decision-makers and artificial agents.

Call for Papers: Cambridge International Law Journal 2021 Conference

The Cambridge International Law Journal has issued a call for papers for its 10th Annual Conference, which will be held online on March 18-20, 2021. The theme is: "National Sovereignty and International Co‑operation: The Challenges of Navigating Global Crises." The call is here.

New Volume: Italian Yearbook of International Law

The latest volume of the Italian Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 29, 2019) is out. Contents include:

• Symposium: Challenges to Multilateralism in International Trade Law
• Giorgio Sacerdoti, Multilateralism and the WTO in the Post Covid-19 World
• Tommaso Soave, Who Controls WTO Dispute Settlement? Socio-Professional Practices and the Crisis of the Appellate Body
• Elisa Baroncini, Preserving the Appellate Stage in the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism: The EU and the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement
• Regis Yann Simo, The African Continental Free Trade Area in a Stagnating Multilateral Trading System: On the Likely (Ir)relevance of the Enabling Clause
• Antonino Alì, National Security and Trade Wars: Legal Implications for Multilateralism
• Articles
• Deborah Russo, The Attribution to States of the Conduct of Public Enterprises in the Fields of Investment and Human Rights Law
• Catherine Costaggiu, The Evolution of BITs: Toward Reconciling Foreign Investment Protection and Socio-Economic Human Rights
• Carlo De Stefano, From Arbitrators to Judges? Reflections on the Reform of Investor-State Dispute Settlement
• Notes and Comments
• Silvia Borelli & Maria Chiara Vitucci, The Italian Response to Exploitation of Migrant Workers in the Agricultural Sector: Between Criminalization and Prevention
• Natalino Ronzitti, The Agreement Between Italy and Niger on Defence Cooperation
• Maria Rosaria Mauro, “National Security”, Foreign Investments and National Screening Procedures: The Italian Regime
• Gustavo Minervini, Viola v. Italy: A First Step Towards the End of Life Imprisonment in Italy
• Paola Mariani, Unilateral Measures in a No-Deal Brexit: The Italian Way to Mitigate the Impact of an Abrupt Change of Regulation

New Volume: Recueil des Cours

Volume 409 of the Recueil des Cours, Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law is out. Contents include:

• Volume 409
• Yuval Shany, The Extraterritorial Application of International Human Rights Law
• Samantha Besson, La due diligence en droit international