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 Michael W. Lodge on “The Legal Regime for the Deep Seabed under Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”; an introductory note by Mónica Pinto on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966; and an introductory note by Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov on the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction of 1972. The Audiovisual Library of International Law is also available as a podcast on SoundCloud and can also be accessed through the relevant preinstalled applications on Apple or Google devices, or through the podcast application of your preference by searching “Audiovisual Library of International Law.”

New Issue: La Comunità Internazionale

The latest issue of La Comunità Internazionale (Vol. 75, no. 4, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Articoli e Saggi
• Giovanni Cellamare, In tema di cooperazione tra Nazioni Unite, Unione africana e Unione europea in materia di mantenimento della pace e della sicurezza internazionale
• Michele Nino, The Evolution of the Concept of Territorial Sovereignty. From the Traditional Westphalian System to the State-Peoples Binomial
• Fabio D’Orlando, On Technological Unemployment
• Osservatorio Diritti Umani
• Maurizio Cadonna, Il diritto di voto nell’interpretazione del Comitato per i diritti delle persone con disabilità: oltre la prassi del Comitato per i diritti umani e della Corte europea dei diritti dell’uomo
• Note e Commenti
• Agnese Vitale, Il recesso dai trattati multilaterali: tra buona fede e principio di non Riconoscimento
• Francesca Di Gianni, Note sulla tutela della salute dei migranti in condizione irregolare

Call for Papers: Asian Society of International Law 8th Biennial Conference

The Asian Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its 8th Biennial Conference, which will be held online. The theme is: "What place for international law in the Asian future?" The conference will take place May 24-29, 2021, preceded by a PhD Students Workshop on May 20-21, 2021. The call is here. Submissions can be made here. The deadline is February 15, 2021.

New Issue: Global Trade and Customs Journal

The latest issue of Global Trade and Customs Journal (Vol. 16, no. 1, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Edward Borovikov & Nicoleta Tuominen, How the European Commission Implements WTO Rulings and European Courts’ Judgments Annulling Trade Defence Regulations: Identifying Similar Trends
• Henry Gao, Dhiraj G Chainani, & Chew Siu Farn, Trading Through a Pandemic: The Singaporean Experience
• Sara Ashour, Lessons from COVID-19 Stress Test: Filling the Gaps in Rules of Origin Provisions
• Jiangyuan Fu & Joseph A. McMahon, Tackling Technical Barriers to PPE: Pathways to Mutual Recognition Agreements in the Post-Pandemic Future
• Alessandro Fruscione, The Free Trade Agreement Between the European Union and Vietnam

New Issue: Journal of Conflict & Security Law

The latest issue of the Journal of Conflict & Security Law (Vol. 25, no. 3, Winter 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Samantha Frances Bradley, Protection of Detainees from Sexual Violence under International Humanitarian Law
• Thibault Moulin, Reviving the Principle of Non-Intervention in Cyberspace: The Path Forward
• Stuart Casey-Maslen & Tobias Vestner, Trends in Global Disarmament Treaties
• Miloš Hrnjaz & Janja Simentić Popović, Protracted Armed Violence as a Criterion for the Existence of Non-international Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law and Beyond
• Robert Cryer & Natalia Perova, Peacekeepers: Internationalist Protectors or National Perpetrators, Protected Either Way?
• Bence Kis Kelemen, Human Shielding, Subjective Intent, and Harm to the Enemy
• Alon Margalit, Accounting for Those in the Hands of the Belligerent: Security Detainees, the Missing and the Dead in the Israeli–Hamas Conflict

Call for Papers: 10th Conference of the Postgraduate and Early Professionals/Academics Network of SIEL

A call for papers has been issued for the 10th Conference of the Postgraduate and Early Professionals/Academics Network of the Society of International Economic Law, to be held online on May 19-21, 2021. The call is here.

New Issue: Review of International Studies

The latest issue of the Review of International Studies (Vol. 47, no. 1, January 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Charlotte Heath-Kelly & Laura Fernández de Mosteyrín, The political use of victimhood: Spanish collective memory of ETA through the war on terror paradigm
• Felix Berenskötter & Nicola Nymalm, States of ambivalence: Recovering the concept of ‘the Stranger’ in International Relations
• Carolijn van Noort & Thomas Colley, How do strategic narratives shape policy adoption? Responses to China's Belt and Road Initiative
• Theresa Squatrito, Judicial diplomacy: International courts and legitimation
• Nicholas Lees, The Brandt Line after forty years: The more North–South relations change, the more they stay the same?
• Victoria Mason, The ‘Question of Palestine’: From liminality to emancipation
• Thomas Winzen & Jofre Rocabert, Citizen-centred or state-centred? The representational design of International Parliamentary Institutions

Call for Papers: The Influence, Legacy and Future of the European Court of Human Rights in the International Legal Order

The ESIL Interest Group on International Courts and Tribunals has issued a call for papers for an online webinar on "The Influence, Legacy and Future of the European Court of Human Rights in the International Legal Order." The call is here. The deadline for submitting abstracts is February 21, 2021.

New Issue: Journal of Human Rights and the Environment

The latest issue of the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment (Vol. 11, no. 3, December 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Editorial
• Benjamin J. Richardson, Climate strikes to Extinction Rebellion: environmental activism shaping our future
• Research Articles
• Neil Gunningham, Can climate activism deliver transformative change? Extinction Rebellion, business and people power
• Dana James & Trevor Mack, Toward an ethics of decolonizing allyship in climate organizing: reflections on Extinction Rebellion Vancouver
• Francine Rochford, Morally motivated protest in the face of orthodoxy – environmental crisis and dissent in Australian democracy
• Anna Berti Suman, Sven Schade & Yasuhito Abe, Exploring legitimization strategies for contested uses of citizen-generated data for policy
• Nicole Rogers, Victim, litigant, activist, messiah: the child in a time of climate change
• Tyler McCreary, Between the commodity and the gift: the Coastal GasLink pipeline and the contested temporalities of Canadian and Witsuwit'en law
• Corrie Grosse & Brigid Mark, A colonized COP: Indigenous exclusion and youth climate justice activism at the United Nations climate change negotiations
• Claire Burgess & Rupert Read, Extinction Rebellion and environmental activism – the XR interviews
• Paul Manly, Jonathan Bartley & Chlöe Swarbrick, Green parties and environmental activism

Perrone: Investment Treaties and the Legal Imagination: How Foreign Investors Play By Their Own Rules

Nicolás M. Perrone (Universidad Andres Bello - Law) has published Investment Treaties and the Legal Imagination: How Foreign Investors Play By Their Own Rules (Oxford Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

Foreign investors have a privileged position under investment treaties. They enjoy strong rights, have no obligations, and can rely on a highly efficient enforcement mechanism: investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). Unsurprisingly, this extraordinary status has made international investment law one of the most controversial areas of the global economic order.

This book sheds new light on the topic, by showing that foreign investor rights are not the result of unpredicted arbitral interpretations, but rather the outcome of a world-making project realized by a coalition of business leaders, bankers, and their lawyers in the 1950s and 1960s. Some initiatives that these figures planned for did not emerge, such as a multilateral investment convention, but they were successful in developing a legal imagination that gradually occupied the space of international investment law. They sought not only to set up a dispute settlement mechanism but also to create a platform to ground their vision of foreign investment relations. Tracing their normative project from the post-World War II period, this book shows that the legal imagination of these business leaders, bankers, and lawyers is remarkably similar to present ISDS practice. Common to both is what they protect, such as foreign investors' legitimate expectations, as well as what they silence or make invisible. Ultimate, this book argues that our canon of imagination, of adjustment and potential reform, remains closely associated with this world-making project of the 1950s and 1960s.

6th SIEL Conversation: US Trade Policy Under the Biden Administration: What to Expect or Hope For?

The 6th SIEL Conversation, on the topic "US Trade Policy Under the Biden Administration: What to Expect or Hope For?," will take place on Thursday, January 28, 2021. Registration and other details are available here.

McDonough: Human Rights Commitments of Islamic States: Sharia, Treaties and Consensus

Paul McDonough (Cardiff Univ. - Law) has published Human Rights Commitments of Islamic States: Sharia, Treaties and Consensus (Hart Publishing 2021). Here's the abstract:

This book examines the legal nature of Islamic states and the human rights they have committed to uphold. It begins with an overview of the political history of Islam, and of Islamic law, focusing primarily on key developments of the first two centuries of Islam. Building on this foundation, the book presents the first study into Islamic constitutions to map the relationship between Sharia and the state in terms of institutions of governance. It then assesses the place of Islamic law in the national legal order of all of today's Islamic states, before proceeding to a comprehensive analysis of those states' adherences to the UN human rights treaties, and finally, a set of international human rights declarations made jointly by Islamic states.

Throughout, the focus remains on human rights. Having examined Islamic law first in isolation, then as it reflects into state structures and national constitutional orders, the book provides the background necessary to understand how an Islamic state's treaty commitments reflect into national law. In this endeavour, the book unites three strands of analysis: the compatibility of Sharia with the human rights enunciated in UN treaties; the patterns of adherence of Islamic states with those treaties; and the compatibility of international Islamic human rights declarations with UN standards. By exploring the international human rights commitments of all Islamic states within a single analytical framework, this book will appeal to international human rights and constitutional scholars with an interest in Islamic law and states. It will also be useful to readers with a general interest in the relationships between Sharia, Islamic states, and internationally recognised human rights.

Call for Submissions: JICJ Symposium on "International Criminal Justice in an 'Age of Misinformation'" (Reminder)

The Journal of International Criminal Justice has issued a call for abstracts for a forthcoming symposium on the theme of "International Criminal Justice in an 'Age of Misinformation.'" The call is here. The deadline is January 25, 2021.

New Organization: Association of Young International Criminal Lawyers

Recently, the Association of Young International Criminal Lawyers was founded by a group of young international lawyers who seek to create a platform for fostering connections with likeminded professionals. Here's the idea:

The Association of Young International Criminal Lawyers (YICL) is a non-profit organisation open to all those interested in International Criminal Law (ICL), International Human Rights Law (IHRL), International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Public International Law (PIL), and Criminal Law, irrespective of nationality, background or level of experience.

YICL is a platform on which academicians, practitioners, and students from all around the world can share their knowledge and experience, evaluate and discuss current developments in the field, and work together toward building a global network.

New Issue: Military Law and the Law of War Review / Revue de Droit Militaire et de Droit de la Guerre

The latest issue of the Military Law and the Law of War Review / Revue de Droit Militaire et de Droit de la Guerre (Vol. 58, no. 2, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• War in Cities: Searching for practical solutions to the contemporary challenges
• Darren Stewart, The conduct of military operations in the urban environment
• Dominique Loye, Urban warfare and the humanitarian concerns of the International Committee of the Red Cross
• Discussion on war in cities: setting the scene
• Randall Bagwell, Preparing for the inevitability of urban warfare
• Valerii Koval, Implementation of practical measures during combat in urban areas: the case of Ukraine
• Andrés Muñoz Mosquera, NATO’s perspective on urban conflicts: recent developments
• Randall Bagwell & Vaios Koutroulis, Discussion on practical implementation of the principle of precaution in urban conflicts
• Pieter van Malderen & Simon Gerard, Legal and operational challenges related to methods and means of warfare in urban conflicts
• Roland Evans, The need for better data in the explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA) debate
• Stéphane Kolanowski, Explosive weapons in populated areas
• Paul Berman, Stéphane Kolanowski, Simon Gerard & Pieter van Malderen, Discussion on legal and operational challenges related to methods and means of warfare in urban conflicts
• Patrick Hamilton, Challenges raised by contemporary urban conflicts in humanitarian action: the ICRC perspective
• Ben Klappe, Displacement of civilians during non-international armed conflict
• Ezequiel Heffes, Generating compliance in conflict settings: how to engage armed non-state actors on International Law and live to tell the tale
• Patrick Hamilton, Ben Klappe, Ezequiel Heffes & Emanuela-Chiara Gillard, Discussion on challenges raised by contemporary urban conflicts in humanitarian action
• Georgia Beatty, War crimes in cyberspace: prosecuting disruptive cyber operations under Article 8 of the Rome Statute
• Elliot Winter, The compatibility of the use of autonomous weapons with the principle of precaution in the law of armed conflict

de la Rasilla: International Law and History: Modern Interfaces

Ignacio de la Rasilla (Wuhan Univ. - Institute of International Law) has published International Law and History: Modern Interfaces (Cambridge Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

This interdisciplinary exploration of the modern historiography of international law invites a diverse assessment of the indissoluble unity of the old and the new in the most global of all legal disciplines. The study of the history of international law does not only serve a better understanding of how international law has evolved to become what it is and what it is not. Its histories, which rethink the past in the present, also influence our perception of contemporary matters in international law and our understandings of how they may potentially unfold. This multi-perspectival enquiry into the dominant modes of international legal history and its fundamental debates may also help students of both international law and history to identify the historical approaches that best suit their international legal-historical perspectives and best address their historical and legal research questions.

Temple University International Law Colloquium Spring 2021

Here's the schedule for Temple University Law School's International Law Colloquium for spring 2021:

• January 20, 2021: Chimène Keitner (U.C. Hastings Law), “Prosecuting Foreign States”
  Commentator: Ingrid Wuerth (Vanderbilt Law School)
• February 3, 2021: Steven Koh (Boston College Law School), “The Criminalization of Foreign Relations”
  Commentator: Lauren Ouziel (Temple Law School)
• February 17, 2021: Karima Bennoune (U.C. Davis School of Law), “‘Lest We Should Sleep’: COVID-19 and Human Rights”
  Commentator: TBA
• March 3, 2021: Frédéric Mégret (McGill University Faculty of Law), “The Independence of the Judiciary in the Cauldron of International Relations”
  Commentator: Michael Byers (Univ. of British Columbia Political Science)
• March 24, 2021: Sarah Nouwen (European University Institute Department of Law), “An International Law on Peacemaking?”
  Commentator: Samuel Moyn (Yale Law School)
• April 7, 2021: Máximo Langer (UCLA School of Law), “Migration and the Demand for Transnational Justice”
  Commentator: Kathryn Sikkink (Harvard Kennedy School of Government)
• April 21, 2021: Kathleen Claussen (University of Miami School of Law)
  Commentator: TB

Ackermann & Wuschka: Investments in Conflict Zones: The Role of International Investment Law in Armed Conflicts, Disputed Territories, and ‘Frozen’ Conflicts

Tobias Ackermann & Sebastian Wuschka have published Investments in Conflict Zones: The Role of International Investment Law in Armed Conflicts, Disputed Territories, and ‘Frozen’ Conflicts (Brill | Nijhoff 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Investments in Conflict Zones addresses the topical and underexplored role of international investment law in armed conflicts, disputed territories, and ‘frozen’ conflicts. The edited collection explores how these different conflict situations impact the application and interpretation of international investment law and how the protection of investors can be reconciled with the politically charged circumstances and state interests involved. Written by a selected group of experts from different fields of international law, the volume moves beyond the confines of investment law, offering novel insights on its intersection with the law of armed conflict, human rights law, the law of the sea, general international law and national laws, including those adopted by de facto regimes which lack recognition as states.

Hutchison & Myburgh: Research Handbook on International Commercial Contracts

Andrew Hutchison (Univ. of Cape Town - Law) & Franziska Myburgh (Univ. of Stellenbosch - Law) have published Research Handbook on International Commercial Contracts (Edward Elgar Publishing 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This comprehensive Research Handbook examines the continuum between private ordering and state regulation in the lex mercatoria. It highlights constancy and change in this dynamic and evolving system in order to offer an in-depth discussion of international commercial contract law.

International scholars, from a range of jurisdictions and legal cultures across Africa, North America and Europe, dissect a plethora of contract types, including sale, insurance, shipping, credit, negotiable instruments and agency, against the backdrop of key legal regimes commonly chosen in international agreements. These include: the UN CISG, Unidroit PICC, European DCFR and English law. The Research Handbook examines key general principles in commercial contract law, such as interpretation, good faith, remedies for breach and choice of law clauses from an international perspective. It also engages with various emerging aspects of internet contracting, including smart contracts.

Johansen, Busch, & Jakobsen: The Law of the Sea and Climate Change: Solutions and Constraints

Elise Johansen (UiT the Arctic Univ. of Norway), Signe Busch (UiT the Arctic Univ. of Norway), & Ingvild Ulrikke Jakobsen (UiT the Arctic Univ. of Norway) have published The Law of the Sea and Climate Change: Solutions and Constraints (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Our oceans are suffering under the impacts of climate change. Despite the critical role that oceans play in climate regulation, international climate law and the law of the sea are developed as two different, largely separate, legal regimes. The main objective of this book is to assess how the law of the sea can be interpreted, developed and applied to support the objectives of the United Nations Climate Regime. By identifying the potential and constraints of the law of the sea regime in supporting and complementing the climate regime in the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, this book offers a new perspective on the law of the sea and its capacity to evolve to respond to systemic challenges, and its potential to adapt and ensure a resilient and sustainable future.

Wang: The Belt and Road Initiative Agreements: Characteristics, Rationale and Challenges

Heng Wang (Univ. of New South Wales - Law) has posted The Belt and Road Initiative Agreements: Characteristics, Rationale and Challenges (World Trade Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has brought with it an unprecedented number of agreements. BRI agreements consist of primary agreements (particularly MOUs) and secondary agreements (like performance agreements). They are a distinct, landmark feature of the BRI. Focusing on primary agreements and their close link with secondary agreements, this paper explores the following questions: What are the legal status and characteristics of primary agreements? Why are they adopted by China? What challenges do they face? BRI primary agreements can be regarded as a form of soft law, but as one that repurposes soft law characteristics for project development rather than rule development. BRI primary agreements feature the unique characteristics of (i) minimal legalization, (ii) a coordinated, project-based nature, and (iii) hub-and-spoke network structure. While BRI primary agreements benefit from the advantages of soft law (e.g., reduced contracting costs, flexibility), they face challenges including those concerning underlying interests and their effectiveness.

Longobardo: The Legality of Closure on Land and Safe Passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Marco Longobardo (Univ. of Westminster - Law) has posted The Legality of Closure on Land and Safe Passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (Asian Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This article explores the legality of the land closure imposed upon the Gaza Strip by Israel. After having considered the area under occupation, the article argues that the legality of the closure must be determined under international humanitarian law, international human rights law, the principle of self-determination of peoples, and the Israeli- Palestinian agreements. In light of these rules, the arbitrary closure of the Gaza Strip should be considered illegal because it breaches the unity between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and because it violates the freedom of movement of the local population. Moreover, the closure breaches the relevant rules pertaining to the transit of goods in occupied territory. This article concludes that most of the violations caused by the closure affect peremptory rules which produce obligations erga omnes, so that any state in the international community is entitled to react under the law of state responsibility.