New Issue: International Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the International Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 26, no. 4, 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Javier Trevino-Rangel, Raúl Bejarano-Romero, Laura H. Atuesta & Sara Velázquez-Moreno, Deadly force and denial: the military's legacy in Mexico's ‘war on drugs’
• Jody Heymann, Amy Raub, Brianna Pierce, Michael McCormack, Corina Post & Aleta Sprague, Preventing immigration detention of children: a comparative study of laws in 150 countries
• Marc Polizzi & Jeffrey King, Aid for justice? Analyzing the impact of foreign aid on recipient transitional justice implementation
• Janine Natalya Clark, Resilience in the context of conflict-related sexual violence: children as protective resources and wider implications
• Shaun Star & Arindam Bharadwaj, Constitutional rights and guarantees: the contrasting approaches of Australia and India
• Howard Davis & Melanie Klinkner, Investigating across borders: the right to the truth in an European context
• Kinfe Micheal Yilma, Bill of rights for the 21st century: some lessons from the Internet Bill of Rights movement
• Caroline Emmer De Albuquerque Green, Anthea Tinker & Jill Manthorpe, Human rights and care homes for older people: a typology of approaches from academic literature as a starting point for activist scholarship in human rights and institutional care
• Vera Rusinova, Privacy and the legalisation of mass surveillance: in search of a second wind for international human rights law

Podcast: Singh on "International Law and the Third Pole"

The Arctic Institute Bookshelf Podcast recently hosted an episode with Prabhakar Singh (DY Patil Univ. - Law) on "International Law and the Third Pole." Details are here.

New Issue: Journal of Conflict & Security Law

The latest issue of the Journal of Conflict & Security Law (Vol. 27, no. 1, Spring 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Elliot Winter, The Compatibility of Autonomous Weapons with the Principles of International Humanitarian Law
• Manuel Galvis Martínez, The ‘Allegiance’ Test: Judicial Legislation and Interpretation of GCIV
• Julia Schmidt, The Legality of Unilateral Extra-territorial Sanctions under International Law
• Kasey McCall-Smith, How Torture and National Security Have Corrupted the Right to Fair Trial in the 9/11 Military Commissions

Fikfak & Izvorova: Language and Persuasion: Human Dignity at the European Court of Human Rights

Veronika Fikfak (Univ. of Copenhagen - Law) & Lora Izvorova (Univ. of Cambridge - Law) have posted Language and Persuasion: Human Dignity at the European Court of Human Rights (Human Rights Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Although the concept of human dignity is absent from the text of the European Convention on Human Rights, it is mentioned in more than 2100 judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The judges at the Court have used dignity to develop the scope of Convention rights, but also to signal to respondent states just how serious a violation is and to nudge them towards better compliance. However, these strategies reach dead ends when the Court is faced with government submissions that are based on a conception of dignity that is different from the notion of human dignity relied on by the Court. Through empirical analysis and by focusing on Russia, the country against which the term dignity is used most frequently, the paper maps out situations of conceptual contestation and overlap. We reveal how the Court strategically uses mirroring, substitutes dignity for other Convention values, or altogether avoids confrontation. In such situations, the Court’s use (and non-use) of dignity becomes less about persuading states to comply with the Convention and more about preserving its authority and managing its relationship with states.

Conference: Sustainable Finance in European Jurisdictions

On April 29, 2022, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences will host in a hybrid format a conference on "Sustainable Finance in European Jurisdictions." Details are here.

New Issue: Swiss Review of International and European Law

The latest issue of the Swiss Review of International and European Law (Vol. 32, no. 1, 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Andreas R. Ziegler, The Role of Learned Societies in the Development of International and European Law in Switzerland
• Georgios Pavlidis, The Global Fight against Money Laundering: Informal Synergies between the FATF and the EU Listing of High-Risk Third Countries
• Lorène Anthonioz, Les mariages en ligne et leur reconnaissance: une analyse de droit comparé et de droit international privé suisse

Guilfoyle, Kyriakakis, & O’Brien: Command Responsibility, Australian War Crimes in Afghanistan, and the Brereton Report

Douglas Guilfoyle (Univ. of New South Wales - Law), Joanna Kyriakakis (Monash Univ. - Law), & Melanie O’Brien (Univ. of Western Australia - Law) have posted Command Responsibility, Australian War Crimes in Afghanistan, and the Brereton Report (International Law Studies, Vol. 99, 2022). Here's the abstract:

This article examines the question of command responsibility for war crimes under international and Australian law, and how far such responsibility extends. It uses the results of the Brereton Report, an Australian investigation into alleged crimes committed by its special forces in Afghanistan, as its starting point. While this is very much an Australian case study, the concerns it raises should be of interest to all professional militaries. The article also provides an important case study of the implications when national legal standards adopted for war crimes prosecutions differ from the provisions of international law.

New Issue: GlobaLex

The latest issue of GlobaLex (March/April 2022) includes the following:

• Hernando Otero, International Arbitration Between Foreign Investors and Host States (Investor-State Arbitration)
• Lara Eid Jreissati, Researching the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)
• Marylin Johnson Raisch, Transnational and Comparative Family Law: Harmonization and Implementation

New Issue: Athena – Critical Inquiries in Law, Philosophy and Globalization

The latest issue of Athena – Critical Inquiries in Law, Philosophy and Globalization (Vol. 2, 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Global Justice: Current Situation and New Challenges
• Silvia Bagni, Annalisa Furia, & Luigi Sammartino, Foreword
• Elisa Piras, Post-Pandemic Frontiers of Global Justice. A Preliminary Analysis
• Anthi Koskina & Konstantina Angelopoulou, Space Sustainability in the Context of Global Space Governance
• Matheus Gobbato Leichtweis, International Law and the Struggle for the Future: Historicizing Agenda 2030 for Radical Critique of International Legal Ideology
• Ozlem Ulgen, The Cosmopolitan “No-Harm” Duty in Warfare: Exposing the Utilitarian Pretence of Universalism
• Juan Pablo Gómez-Moreno, Fear of Arbitration and Hope for Transition: Why Should We Care About the Interaction Between Investment Arbitration and Transitional Justice?
• Aytekin Kaan Kurtul, The Evolving Qualification of Unilateral Coercive Measures: A Historical and Doctrinal Study

Waibel: The UK and the Development of Investor-State Dispute Settlement

Michael Waibel (Univ. of Vienna - Law) has posted The UK and the Development of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (British Yearbook of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The UK has made major contributions to the development of investor-state dispute settlement from 1920-2020. This essay shows that the UK contributed in three ways (1) law-making, both before and after the launch of its investment treaty programme in the early 1970s; (2) dispute settlement – with UK nationals as claimants, or through British nationals serving as arbitrator or counsel in investor-state arbitrations; and (3) scholarship by British scholars or by scholars in the UK. This contribution surveys how the UK contributed to international investment law (Section I) and investor-state arbitration (Section II) in broad strokes over the last hundred years.

New Issue: World Trade Review

The latest issue of the World Trade Review (Vol. 21, no. 2, May 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Judith Goldstein & Robert Gulotty, Trading Away Tariffs: The Operations of the GATT System
• Patricia Tovar, Political–Economic Determinants of External Import Protection under a Preferential Trade Agreement
• Daniel J. Gervais, TRIPS Pluralism
• James J. Nedumpara, Sparsha Janardhan, & Aparna Bhattacharya, Agriculture Subsidies: Unravelling the Linkages between the Amber Box and the Blue Box Support
• Zhen Zhang, Yue Gao, & Taoyuan Wei, The Impact of Trade Barrier Reductions on Global Value Chains for Agricultural Products in China and Countries along the ‘Belt and Road’
• Research Note
• Christian Delev, A Moral Stretch? US–Tariff Measures and the Public Morals Exception in WTO Law

New Issue: Legal Issues of Economic Integration

The latest issue of Legal Issues of Economic Integration (Vol. 49, no. 2, 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Pasha L. Hsieh, The Roadmap to the ASEAN-EU FTA in the Post-Pandemic Era
• Mira Burri, Approaches to Digital Trade and Data Flow Regulation Across Jurisdictions: Implications for the Future ASEAN-EU Agreement
• Ching-Fu Lin, The Roadmap to the ASEAN-EU FTA: Reimagining SPS Cooperation in the Regionto-Region Context
• Michelle Limenta, Toward an ASEAN-EU FTA: Examining the Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter in the Prospective Indonesia-EU CEPA
• Nguyen Thi Nhung & Hai Yen Trinh, Demystifying the Sustainable Development Chapter in the EU-Vietnam FTA

New Issue: Journal of World Trade

The latest issue of the Journal of World Trade (Vol. 56, no. 3, 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Sakuya (Yoshida) Sato, EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: Will It Achieve Its Objective(s)?
• Yong-Shik Lee, Weaponizing International Trade in Political Disputes: Issues Under International Economic Law and Systemic Risks
• Olia Kanevskaia, ICT Standards Bodies and International Trade: What Role For The WTO?
• Carlisle Ford Runge, Famine and Free Trade in the Covid Age: Lessons from the Great Irish Famine
• Alisher Umirdinov, Reforming the BRI from the Inside: Japan’s Contribution via Soft Law Diplomacy
• Maarten Smeets, Africa’s Integration into the WTO Multilateral Trading System: Academic Support and the Role of the WTO Chairs
• Prabhash Ranjan, Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Waiver at the World Trade Organization: A BIT of a Challenge

Redgwell & Tzanakopoulos: Custom and Treaty Entanglements Revisited: The Concept of an Offshore or Outlying Archipelago in the Law of the Sea

Catherine Redgwell (Univ. of Oxford - Law) & Antonios Tzanakopoulos (Univ. of Oxford - Law) have posted Custom and Treaty Entanglements Revisited: The Concept of an Offshore or Outlying Archipelago in the Law of the Sea. Here's the abstract:

This paper discusses whether claims to close off the waters of so-called 'offshore archipelagos' by non-archipelagic states are consistent with international law against the background of the relationship (and potential entanglement) between treaty and custom. First, it discusses the term ‘archipelagos’ and ‘archipelagic state’ in international law and traces its development and status before the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC). The paper then turns to the regulation of archipelagic states, and their rights and obligations, in the LOSC, against the background of the travaux preparatoires—ie the discussion in the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. We argue that the analysis demonstrates quite clearly that there is no basis for claiming rights accruing to an archipelagic state for non-archipelagic states that have sovereignty over one or more offshore archipelagos. This sets the stage for a discussion of possible arguments for ‘going beyond the LOSC’ and seeking to argue on the basis of customary international law, or, more timidly, practice. Hence, the paper addresses the relationship between treaty and custom and the argument that the question at hand is actually not regulated by the LOSC and remains subject to customary international law. Then, the paper discusses whether there is an argument that subsequent practice may have established the agreement of the parties that the relevant provisions of the LOSC are to be interpreted as allowing their invocation by non-archipelagic states with offshore archipelagos. Finally, the paper considers a potential argument regarding ‘supervening custom’, ie customary law that may have emerged since the adoption of the LOSC and that permits such claims by non-archipelagic states. We conclude that there is no basis for arguing that non-archipelagic states are able to claim any sort of special status for 'offshore archipelagos'.

Yao: The Ideal River: How Control of Nature Shaped the International Order

Joanne Yao (Queen Mary, Univ. of London - International Relations) has published The Ideal River: How Control of Nature Shaped the International Order (Manchester Univ. Press 2022). Here's the abstract:

Environmental politics has traditionally been a peripheral concern for international relations theory, but increasing alarm over global environmental challenges has elevated international society's relationship with the natural world into the theoretical limelight. IR theory's engagement with environmental politics, however, has largely focused on interstate cooperation in the late twentieth century, with less attention paid to how the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century quest to tame nature came to shape the modern international order.

The ideal river examines nineteenth-century efforts to establish international commissions on three transboundary rivers - the Rhine, the Danube, and the Congo. It charts how the Enlightenment ambition to tame the natural world, and human nature itself, became an international standard for rational and civilized authority and informed our geographical imagination of the international. This relationship of domination over nature shaped three core IR concepts central to the emergence of early international order: the territorial sovereign state; imperial hierarchies; and international organizations. The book contributes to environmental politics and international relations by highlighting how the relationship between society and nature is not a peripheral concern, but one at the heart of international politics.

Mahaseth & Bansal: Asia and the ICC: The Development of International Criminal Law in a World Changing Order

Harsh Mahaseth & Ayushi Bansal have posted Asia and the ICC: The Development of International Criminal Law in a World Changing Order (International and Comparative Law Review, Vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 162–186, 2021). Here's the abstract:

Although Asia houses over 50 percent of world’s population, it is under-represented in the ICC. This underrepresentation is due to rationales both legal and political in nature. While the Asian nations do lack enthusiasm towards ratifying the Rome Statute, there could be tangible benefits to becoming a part of the ICC. This could help in the ongoing development of international law in Asia as well as greater recognition of human rights, international justice and accountability, thus, further emphasizing the importance of the rule of law in the continent. The benefits of ratifying the Rome Statute outweigh any disadvantages, real or perceived, and thus, domestic steps need to be undertaken to lead to eventual ratification. This paper will trace the histories of International Criminal Law and analyse the Asian participation in its discourse while further exploring the reasons for the disinclination of the Asian nations to join the ICC.

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 lectures given by Cecilia M. Bailliet on “Women Refugees and Gender Persecution/Mujeres Refugiadas y Persecución de Género” and “Refugee and Asylum Law: Towards the Centrality of Human Rights/Derecho de refugiados y asilo: hacia la centralidad de los derechos humanos.”

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.”

Newman: Research Handbook on the International Law of Indigenous Rights

Dwight Newman (Univ. of Saskatchewan - Law) has published Research Handbook on the International Law of Indigenous Rights (Edward Elgar Publishing 2022). Here's the abstract:

This ground-breaking Research Handbook provides a state-of-the-art discussion of the international law of Indigenous rights and how it has developed in recent decades. Drawing from their extensive knowledge of the topic, leading scholars provide strong general coverage and highlight the challenges and cutting-edge issues arising for Indigenous peoples. Offering readers an engaging review of ongoing lawmaking, adoption and implementation processes from both a global and regional perspective, it also investigates the important elements of Indigenous rights and economic issues, including trade, investment and economic growth. Furthermore, it offers timely coverage of environmental rights, land and natural resources.

Lieblich: The Law of Warfare: 1989-2022

Eliav Lieblich (Tel Aviv Univ. - Law) has posted The Law of Warfare: 1989-2022. Here's the abstract:

This chapter presents a historical account of international humanitarian law (IHL) in the post-Cold War era. It does so by focusing on key tensions that shed light on the dynamics of IHL as a field of contestation among competing groups or interpretive communities.

The chapter begins with a representative controversy: that surrounding the International Committee of the Red Cross's ‘Interpretive Guidance on the Notion of Direct Participation in Hostilities’ of 2009. As a personification of this controversy, the chapter focuses on the critique levelled against the Guidance by W. Hays Parks – one of the most prominent military lawyers of the time. The chapter then expands and generalizes from Parks's critique, to demonstrate both the types of issues that preoccupied the profession, as well as the dynamics of the legal discourse surrounding them.

The chapter demonstrates that the era's legal struggles were, to a large extent, driven by anxiety relating to the ‘the loss of monopoly’ of military lawyers over the laws of war, and the advent of competing forms of expertise and normative frameworks. It does so by expanding from three key tensions reflected in Parks's critique: regarding who makes the law, who can be killed in war, and who should bear the risks emanating from IHL's 'humanization'.

Ultimately, the chapter demonstrates that while the loss of monopoly mentioned above is undisputed, it is unclear whether this development ushered in a more protective law, because of intertwining relations of contestation, concession, accommodation and legitimation.

Call for Papers: In/ex-clusiveness in the Energy Transition and Climate Action

The ESIL Interest Group on International Environmental Law has issued a call for papers for a workshop on "In/ex-clusiveness in the Energy Transition and Climate Action," to be held as a side-event to the ESIL 2022 Annual Conference, on August 31 and September 1, 2022. The call is here.

Hilpold: Teaching International Law in the 21th Century – Opening up the hidden room in the palace of International Law

Peter Hilpold (Univ. of Innsbruck- Law) has posted Teaching International Law in the 21th Century – Opening up the hidden room in the palace of International Law. Here's the abstract:

The great challenges of our time – such climate change/environmental protection, the preservation of basic human rights, the speedy response to regional/civil war conflicts – require powerful and effective answers from international law. Also at the national level, the international perspective strongly gained in importance. International law and national law are intertwined closer than ever before. This prompts the question about the status of international law teaching. The picture is vague. Curricula at law faculties and law schools have still to adapt to this new and further evolving situation. In this context, also the role of the international law teachers needs further scrutiny. In academia and in law practice they are looked at form very different angles and depending on the vantage point, they are seen as priest, as marginalized utopians, as “tin soldiers” or as technician that can make a difference.

In the following, it will be shown that international lawyers can give important contributions to the most pivotal challenges as mentioned above. This has to happen, however, on basis of an international dialogue, also of an interdisciplinary nature. To make this endeavor succeed, the society (both nationally and internationally) has to provide for the basic requisites such as academic freedom, open discourse and free competition of ideas in a secure institutional setting.

Webinar: Ranganathan on "Terra/aqueous: vexing vents and amphibious legalities in the Anthropocene"

On April 19, 2022, the Centre for Environmental Law at Macquarie University will host a webinar on "Terra/aqueous: vexing vents and amphibious legalities in the Anthropocene" by Surabhi Ranganathan (Univ. of Cambridge - Law). This is part of the Centre's Biodiversity Law and Governance webinar series: Law & Nature Dialogues. Details are here. Recordings of this and all future and past Law and Nature Dialogues can be viewed on the Macquarie CEL YouTube account.

New Volume: Recueil des Cours

Volume 423 of the Recueil des Cours, Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law is out. Contents include:

• Volume 423
• Meg Kinnear, The Growth, Challenges and Future Prospects for Investment Dispute Settlement
• Matthias Weller, “Mutual Trust”: A Suitable Foundation for Private International Law in Regional Integration Communities and Beyond?

New Volume: Recueil des Cours

Volume 422 of the Recueil des Cours, Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law is out. Contents include:

• Volume 422
• Michael Karayanni, The Private International Law of Class Actions: A Functional Approach
• Said Mahmoudi, Self-Defence and “Unwilling or Unable” States

Call for Papers: Histories of Inclusion / Exclusion in International Law

The ESIL Interest Group on the History of International Law has issued a call for papers for a workshop on "Histories of Inclusion / Exclusion in International Law," to be held as a side-event to the ESIL 2022 Annual Conference, on August 31, 2022. The call is here.

Call for Papers: Peace and Security for whom? Inclusion and exclusion in international peace and security law

The ESIL Interest Group on Peace and Security has issued a call for papers for a workshop on "Peace and Security for whom? Inclusion and exclusion in international peace and security law," to be held as a side-event to the ESIL 2022 Annual Conference, on August 31, 2022. The call is here.

Call for Papers: Law of the sea and its in/ex-clusiveness

The ESIL Interest Group on the Law of the Sea has issued a call for papers for a workshop on "Law of the sea and its in/ex-clusiveness," to be held as a side-event to the ESIL 2022 Annual Conference, on September 1, 2022. The call is here.

Workshop: Mbengue on "The ‘Africanization’ of International Investment Law: Myth or Reality?"

On April 13, 2022, the Athens PIL Discussion Group will host an online discussion with Makane Mbengue (Univ. of Geneva - Law) on "The ‘Africanization’ of International Investment Law: Myth or Reality?" Details are here.

Call for Papers: Enhancing Climate Action beyond the State

The Centre for International Law and Governance, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, and the Frank Guarini Center, New York University School of Law, have issued a call for papers for the IV TRAMEREN International Conference on "Enhancing Climate Action beyond the State," to take place June 1-2, 2022, in Copenhagen. The call is here.