Call for Papers: 6th Biennial Conference of the African International Economic Law Network

The African International Economic Law Network has issued a call for papers for its 6th Biennial Conference, which will take place at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, in Accra. The theme is: "International Economic Law in an Era of Multiple Crises: Opportunities and Challenges for Africa." The call is here.

Special Issue: Third World Approaches to International Law

The latest issue of the Indonesian Journal of International Law (Vol. 19, no. 2, 2022) contains a special issue on "Third World Approaches to International Law." Contents include:

• Special Issue: Third World Approaches to International Law
• Prabhakar Singh, Editorial: Tales of Multiple Decolonisations
• Yunita Maya Putri, Ria Wierma Putri, & HS Tisnanta, Communal Rights as the Hegemony in Third World Regime: An Indonesian Perspective
• Prosper Maguchu & Ahmad Ghozi, The Role of Civil Society Organisations in Asset Recovery
• Ngurah Parikesit Widiatedja, Export Restrictions on COVID-19 Vaccines: What Developing Countries Can Do Under the WTO Law?
• Mohsen Al Attar, The Peculiar Double-Consciousness of TWAIL
• Atul Alexander, Lack of ‘Will’ or ‘Options’: A Study on the International Court of Justice’s Tryst With Racial Discrimination
• Kishan Khoday, Decolonizing the Environment: Third World Approaches to the Planetary Crisis

Conference: The Trend of International Commercial & Economic Law

On October 20, 2022, the CIBEL-Tsinghua Joint Research Centre for International Commercial and Economic Law will hold an online conference on "The Trend of International Commercial & Economic Law." Program and registration are here.

Forteau, Miron, & Pellet: Droit international public (9e édition)

Mathias Forteau (Université Paris Nanterre - Law), Alina Miron (Université d'Angers - Law), & Alain Pellet (Université Paris Nanterre - Law) have published the ninth edition of Droit international public (LGDJ 2022). Here's the abstract:

Paru pour la première fois en 1975, cet ouvrage, qui s'est imposé comme une référence, s'efforce de présenter l'ensemble du droit international public d'une manière aussi simple et aussi complète que possible. Ses éditions successives ont tenu compte des évolutions rapides qu'a connues cette discipline et de son adaptation aux rapports géopolitiques. Des problèmes classiques connaissent une nouvelle actualité ; d'autres apparaissent ou se posent avec plus d'acuité ; certaines controverses idéologiques ou doctrinales sont affaiblies, d'autres s'affermissent. La neuvième édition est entièrement mise à jour et substantiellement refondue ; certains chapitres ont été profondément remodelés, notamment ceux concernant les relations entre les systèmes normatifs, ou ceux portant sur les personnes privées et la protection de l'environnement. Malgré le foisonnement des juridictions spécialisées, il a été largement tenu compte de leur jurisprudence, qu'il s'agisse des cours régionales de droits de l'homme, des juridictions internationales pénales, de l'Organe de règlement des différends de l'OMC, du Tribunal international du droit de la mer, ou des arbitrages en matière d'investissement.

Après une présentation d'ensemble de l'histoire et de la théorie du droit international, l'ouvrage décrit la formation de celui-ci, les règles applicables à la communauté internationale (États, organisations internationales, personnes privées) et aux rapports internationaux (relations diplomatiques, responsabilité, règlement des différends et recours à la force, relations économiques, régime international des espaces, protection de l'environnement).

L'ouvrage est conçu pour répondre aux besoins des étudiants et des praticiens du droit et aux questions que se posent tous ceux qu'intéresse le droit international.

Call for Submissions: Yearbook of International Disaster Law

A call for submissions has been issued for volume five of the Yearbook of International Disaster Law. The theme is: “Human Rights and Disasters.” The call is here. The deadline for abstracts is November 30, 2022.

Huang: Enforcing Judgments in China: Comparing the Conference Minutes of the Supreme People’s Court with the Hague 2019 Judgments Convention

Jie (Jeanne) Huang (Univ. of Sydney - Law) has posted an ASIL Insight on Enforcing Judgments in China: Comparing the Conference Minutes of the Supreme People’s Court with the Hague 2019 Judgments Convention.

New Issue: Global Policy

The latest issue of Global Policy (Vol. 13, no. 4, September 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Research Articles
• Aaron McKeil, Revisiting the World Order Models Project: A Case for Renewal?
• Samuel J. Spiegel & Johanne Mhlanga, Refugee Policy Amidst Global Shocks: Encampment, Resettlement Barriers and the Search for ‘Durable Solutions’
• Ilan Manor & Ronit Kampf, Digital Nativity and Digital Diplomacy: Exploring Conceptual Differences Between Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants
• Ashima Goyal & Rupayan Pal, Global shocks and international policy coordination
• Kristen Hopewell, Emerging Powers, Leadership, and South–South Solidarity: The Battle Over Special and Differential Treatment at the WTO
• Rodrigo Fagundes Cezar, The Intricacies of Firms’ Support for Labor Provisions in US Trade Agreements
• Douglas Zhihua Zeng, What Determines the Heterogeneous Performance of Special Economic Zones? Evidence from Sub-Sahara Africa
• Yuanzhi Liu, Akintoye Victor Adejumo, Oluwabunmi Opeyemi Adejumo, & Timothy Ayomitunde Aderemi, Globalization and Economic Growth: A Sustainability Analysis for South Asian Countries
• Practitioners' Special Section
• Mariane Søndergaard-Jensen & Andreas Klasen, Introduction to the practitioners' special section: Financing the green transition in times of crisis
• Xiana Méndez, Incorporating sustainability as a cross-cutting vector in the design of public policies
• Peder Lundquist, Export credit agencies delivering finance for the green transition in times of crisis
• Mairead Lavery, Leading an ECA through climate transformation: A President's perspective
• Yuichiro Akita, ECA’s roles to foster green and energy transition in emerging and developing countries
• Benedict Oramah, Transiting to green growth in fossil export-dependent economies: A pathway for Africa
• Ratnakar Adhikari, Leveraging aid for trade to mobilize climate finance in the least developed countries
• Marion Jansen, Managing the green transition: The role of the OECD export credit arrangement
• Alex Michie, The role of the global financial system in financing the transition to net zero
• Policy Insights
• Ian Johnstone & Joshua Lincoln, Global Governance in an Era of Pluralism
• Alexander E. Kentikelenis & Leonard Seabrooke, Governing and Measuring Health Security: The Global Push for Pandemic Preparedness Indicators
• Juergen Braunstein, Crisis and state investment funds with expiration dates: Risks and opportunities in a decarbonization context
• Bob Hancké & Angela Garcia Calvo, Mister Chips goes to Brussels: On the Pros and Cons of a Semiconductor Policy in the EU
• Olga Biryukova, Joint Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation in the WTO: The Case of Russia
• Diego Lawler & Miguel Fuentes, Presidential diplomacy meets science diplomacy
• Pratitioner Commentary
• Jari Lyytimäki, Hanna Nieminen, Nufar Finel, Elina Nyberg, & Tapio Reinikainen, Are the Indicators of the New Urban Agenda Failing Us?
• Response Article
• Suyu Liu, International Organizations' Policy Response to COVID-19 in Longer Terms

Srivastava: Hybrid Sovereignty in World Politics

Swati Srivastava (Purdue Univ. - Political Science) has published Hybrid Sovereignty in World Politics (Cambridge Univ. Press 2022). Here's the abstract:

The idea of 'hybrid sovereignty' describes overlapping relations between public and private actors in important areas of global power, such as contractors fighting international wars, corporations regulating global markets, or governments collaborating with nongovernmental entities to influence foreign elections. This innovative study shows that these connections – sometimes hidden and often poorly understood – underpin the global order, in which power flows without regard to public and private boundaries. Drawing on extensive original archival research, Swati Srivastava reveals the little-known stories of how this hybrid power operated at some of the most important turning points in world history: spreading the British empire, founding the United States, establishing free trade, realizing transnational human rights, and conducting twenty-first century wars. In order to sustain meaningful dialogues about the future of global power and political authority, it is crucial that we begin to understand how hybrid sovereignty emerged and continues to shape international relations.

Schwarz: Reparations for Slavery in International Law: Transatlantic Enslavement, the Maangamizi, and the Making of International Law

Katarina Schwarz (Univ. of Nottingham - Law) has published Reparations for Slavery in International Law: Transatlantic Enslavement, the Maangamizi, and the Making of International Law (Oxford Univ. Press 2022). Here's the abstract:

Reparations for Slavery in International Law examines the case for contemporary redress for the harms and legacies of transatlantic enslavement from a legal perspective. The book critically evaluates the history of transatlantic enslavement as well as the evolutions in international law that justified and perpetuated the exploitation of African peoples and people of African descent. It offers an analysis of the requirements of state responsibility, assessing the impact of time on claims for redress for historic injustices. A new theory of reparatory justice is proposed, which is responsive to both the underpinning principles and the modalities of redress in international law. This book considers the emerging practice of reparations in transitional justice and the relevance of these frameworks in cases of widespread historic injustice, while upending orthodox understandings of the international legal frameworks relevant to case for reparations. In so doing, it opens new space for the reconsideration not only of the international legal claim for reparations for slavery, but also the moral and political case.

Viñuales: The International Law of Energy

Jorge E. Viñuales (Univ. of Cambridge) has published The International Law of Energy (Cambridge Univ. Press 2022). Here's the abstract:

The world's energy structure underpins the global environmental crisis and changing it will require regulatory change at a massive level. Energy is highly regulated in international law, but the field has never been comprehensively mapped. The legal sources on which the governance of energy is based are plentiful but they are scattered across a vast legal expanse. This book is the first single-authored study of the international law of energy as a whole. Written by a world-leading expert, it provides a comprehensive account of the international law of energy and analyses the implications of the ongoing energy transformation for international law. The study combines conceptual and doctrinal analysis of all the main rules, processes and institutions to consider the past, present and likely future of global energy governance. Providing a solid foundation for teaching, research and practice, this book addresses both the theory and real-world policy dimension of the international law of energy.

Van Den Meerssche: The World Bank's Lawyers: The Life of International Law as Institutional Practice

Dimitri Van Den Meerssche (Queen Mary Univ. of London) has published The World Bank's Lawyers: The Life of International Law as Institutional Practice (Oxford Univ. Press 2022). Here's the abstract:

The World Bank's Lawyers provides an original socio-legal account of the evolving institutional life of international law. Informed by oral archives, months of participant observation, interviews, legal memoranda, and documents obtained through freedom-of-information requests, it tells a previously untold story of the World Bank's legal department between 1983 and 2016. This is a story of people and the beliefs they have, the influence they seek, and the tools they employ. It is an account of the practices they cling to and how these practices gain traction, or how they fail to do so, in an international bureaucracy. Inspired by actor-network theory, relational sociologies of association, and performativity theory, this ethnographic exploration multiplies the matters of concern in our study of international law (and lawyering): the human and non-human, material and semantic, visible and evasive actants that tie together the fragile fabric of legality.

In tracing these threads, this book signals important changes in the conceptual repertoire and materiality of international legal practice, as liberal ideals were gradually displaced by managerial modes of evaluation. It reveals a world teeming with life—a space where professional postures and prototypes, aesthetic styles, and technical routines are woven together in law's shifting mode of existence. This history of international law as a contingent cultural technique enriches our understanding of the discipline's disenchantment and the displacement of its traditional tropes by unexpected and unruly actors. It thereby inspires new ways of critical thinking about international law's political pathways, promises, and pathologies, as its language is inscribed in ever-evolving rationalities of rule.

Yip: Nuclear Deterrence in the War on Ukraine – A Legal Appraisal

Ka Lok Yip (Hamad Bin Khalifa Univ.) has posted Nuclear Deterrence in the War on Ukraine – A Legal Appraisal (Journal of International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Russia’s full-scaled armed attack on Ukraine beginning on 24 February 2022 is simultaneously a practical attack on the international law prohibiting the inter-state use of force. The deepening inhumanity of the ongoing aggression is partly attributable to the constraints on Ukraine and third states to fully exercise their individual and collective right of self-defence to repel Russian forces for fear of Russia’s use of nuclear force against Ukraine or other intervening states that could spark an annihilating nuclear exchange. On the other hand, the Russian President’s address on 24 February 2022 made numerous accusations about the geographical expansion of the nuclear-armed NATO alliance together with its nuclear military infrastructure. This article examines the legality of both Russia’s and NATO states’ nuclear deterrence postures in verbal, physical and political forms in the context of the war on Ukraine through the lens of the prohibition against the threat of force in international relations and reflects on the important goal furthered by this prohibition: to practice tolerance and live together in peace.

Beck & Burri: From 'Human Control' in International Law to 'Human Oversight' in the New EU Act on Artificial Intelligence

Juliane Beck (Univ. of St. Gallen) & Thomas Burri (Univ. of St. Gallen) have posted From 'Human Control' in International Law to 'Human Oversight' in the New EU Act on Artificial Intelligence (in Research Handbook on Meaningful Human Control of Artificial Intelligence Systems, Daniele Amoroso & Filippo Santoni De Sio eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This article examines "human control" of autonomous systems and "human oversight" of artificial intelligence in the light of the international legal discussions and the EU’s recent proposal for an AI Act. It also identifies some weaknesses of the draft EU AI Act and proposes ways of improving it.

New Issue: Journal of Human Rights Practice

The latest issue of the Journal of Human Rights Practice (Vol. 14, no. 2, July 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Special Collection - Reparations Beyond the State: Non-State Armed Groups and Dealing with Past Harms
• Luke Moffett, Cheryl Lawther, & Kieran McEvoy, Introduction: Reparations Beyond the State: Non-State Armed Groups and Dealing with Past Harms
• Katharine Fortin, The Procedural Right to a Remedy When the State has Left the Building? A Reflection on Armed Groups, Courts and Domestic Law
• Ezequiel Heffes, Responsible Rebels: Exploring Correlations Between Compliance and Reparations in Non-International Armed Conflicts
• Peter Dixon & Pamina Firchow, Collective Justice: Ex-Combatants and Community Reparations in Colombia
• Kieran McEvoy, Cheryl Lawther, & Luke Moffett, Changing the Script: Non-State Armed Groups, Restorative Justice and Reparations
• Clara Sandoval, Hobeth Martínez-Carrillo, & Michael Cruz-Rodríguez, The Challenges of Implementing Special Sanctions (Sanciones Propias) in Colombia and Providing Retribution, Reparation, Participation and Reincorporation
• Ziad Saab, Christina Foerch, & Luke Moffett, In Conversation: Fighters for Peace
• Articles
• Riley Klassen-Molyneaux, Doing Good and Feeling Good: A Critical Analysis of Human Rights Research
• Patricia Lundy, Pathways to Justice: Historical Institutional Child Abuse and the Role of Activist Research
• Daragh Murray, Yvonne McDermott, & K Alexa Koenig, Mapping the Use of Open Source Research in UN Human Rights Investigations
• Natalia Bermúdez Qvortrup, Archives of the Disappeared: Conceptualizing the Personal Collections of Families of Disappeared Persons
• Felicity Daly, Phil R Crehan, & Micah Grzywnowicz, The LGBTI Inclusion Index: An Innovative Tool to Incentivize Human Rights and Development Data
• Saeed Bagheri, Gender Equality in the Decision-Making Processes of Post-War Societies: Evidence from Iraqi Kurdistan
• Ahmad M Hayajneh & Shadi A Alshdaifat, Is the Law Per Se to Blame for Exacerbating So-Called ‘Honour Killings’? The Case of Jordan
• Shamayeta Bhattacharya, Debarchana Ghosh, & Bandana Purkayastha, ‘Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act’ of India: An Analysis of Substantive Access to Rights of a Transgender Community
• Siena Anstis & Sophie Barnett, Digital Transnational Repression and Host States’ Obligation to Protect Against Human Rights Abuses
• Noemi Magugliani, (In)Vulnerable Masculinities and Human Trafficking: Men, Victimhood, and Access to Protection in the United Kingdom

Gruszczynski, Menkes, Bilkova, & Farah: The Crisis of Multilateral Legal Order: Causes, Dynamics and Implications

Lukasz Gruszczynski (Kozminski Univ.), Marcin Menkes (Warsaw School of Economics), Veronika Bilkova (Charles Univ.), & Paolo Farah (West Virginia Univ.) have published The Crisis of Multilateral Legal Order: Causes, Dynamics and Implications (Routledge 2022). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Multilateralism has served as a foundation for international cooperation over the past several decades. Championed after the Second World War by the United States and Western Europe, it expanded into a broader global system of governance with the end of the Cold War. Lately, an increasing number of States appear to be disappointed with the existing multilateral arrangements, both at the level of norms and that of institutions. The great powers see unilateral and bilateral strategies, which maximize their political leverage rather than diluting it in multilateral fora, as more effective ways for controlling the course of international affairs.

The signs of the crisis have been visible for some time – but recent crises indicate an acceleration of the on-going disintegration of the multilateral system, such as Brexit, growing resistance on the part of States to international monitoring of compliance and the radical change in the US foreign policy during the presidency of Donald Trump which saw the US withdraw from several multilateral agreements (e.g. the Iran Nuclear Deal and the Paris Agreement), leave some international organizations or bodies (e.g. the United Nations Human Rights Council or the World Health Organization) or paralyze some others (e.g. the World Trade Organization (WTO)).

Tackling the debate surrounding the crisis of multilateralism and the related transformation of the underlying international legal order, The Crisis of Multilateral Legal Order analyzes selected aspects of the current crisis from the perspective of public international law to identify the nature of the crisis, its dynamics, and implications.

Venzke & Günther: International Investment Protection Made in Germany? On the Domestic and Foreign Policy Dynamics Behind the First BITs

Ingo Venzke (Univ. of Amsterdam) & Philipp Günther (WZB Berlin Social Science Center) have posted International Investment Protection Made in Germany? On the Domestic and Foreign Policy Dynamics Behind the First BITs (European Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The investment protection treaty concluded between Germany and Pakistan in 1959 is generally regarded as a milestone in the development of international investment law. It has entered the collective memory as the first bilateral investment treaty (BIT). In this article, we analyse archival sources to investigate why Germany and Pakistan concluded this agreement at that specific time and what makes this treaty the first of its kind. Through historical analysis, we trace the domestic and related foreign policies that led to the BIT and discuss the negotiation process. Our analysis shows that the BIT was so closely linked with the German federal investment guarantee scheme (Bundesgarantien) that it is best understood as an extension of that policy. This also helps us to specify the underlying rationale for the treaties. We further highlight the influence of the financial industry – especially of Hermann Josef Abs – on the genesis of the BIT, which was less decisive than is often suggested. We identify features of the 1959 BIT that do characterize it as a new international legal instrument, but nuance claims about its degree of innovation as well as underlying motivations, and counter considerable retrospective mythmaking.

Webinar: Lights and Shadows in the Ongwen Case at the International Criminal Court: Inter- and Multi-disciplinary approaches

On October 13-14, 2022, the research project team Negotiating International Criminal Law, Department of Language and Communication Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, will hold a webinar on "Lights and Shadows in the Ongwen Case at the International Criminal Court: Inter- and Multi-disciplinary approaches." Details are here.

Workshop: Queering International Law 2.0

The Queering International Law 2.0 Workshop will take place November 10-11, 2022, in Melbourne and online. Those who wish to participate must email anzsil[dot]gsil@gmail[dot]com by October 17, specifying their preferred mode of attendance. The program is here.

Call for Papers: Les terres australes et antarctiques françaises (TAAF) : enjeux juridiques, géopolitiques et environnementaux

A call for papers has been issued for three workshops on "Les terres australes et antarctiques françaises (TAAF) : enjeux juridiques, géopolitiques et environnementaux." The call is here.

Lecture: Knox on "The Invasion of Ukraine and the Politics of ‘Hypocrisy’"

On October 17, 2022, Robert Knox (Univ. of Liverpool) will deliver the second lecture of the 2022-2023 Essex Public International Law Lecture Series. The topic is: "The Invasion of Ukraine and the Politics of ‘Hypocrisy’". Details are here.

Conference: From SIEL 2021 Bocconi Conference to the WTO 12th Ministerial Conference, June 2022: How to relaunch the multilateral trading system?

On October 11, 2022, Bocconi University will host a conference, in the hybrid format, on ""From SIEL 2021 Bocconi Conference to the WTO 12th Ministerial Conference, June 2022: How to relaunch the multilateral trading system?" Details are here.

New Issue: Journal of International Dispute Settlement

The latest issue of the Journal of International Dispute Settlement (Vol. 13, no. 3, September 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Editorials
• Thomas Schultz, Editorial Series on Unusual Sources of Inspiration for International Dispute Settlement
• Maurizio Arcari & Thomas Schultz, Unusual Sources of Inspiration: Schrödinger and Everett
• Articles
• Myriam Gicquello, Biased or Not Biased? Arbitral Decision-Making and Arbitrators’ Preferences
• Chen Yu, Advancing Predictability via a Judicialized Investment Court? A Fresh Look Through the Lens of Constructivism
• Máté Csernus, Is There Life After Death?: The Persuasive Value of Annulled Investment Awards
• Lucas Clover Alcolea, The Rise of the International Commercial Court: A Threat to the Rule of Law?
• Ashley Barnes, Reconsidering International Compensation in Historical Context
• Current Developments
• Raymond Yang Gao, What Are We Talking About When We Talk About Deference in Investment Treaty Arbitration?
• Weihuan Zhou & Xiaomeng Qu, Confronting the ‘Non-Market Economy’ Treatment: The Evolving World Trade Organization Jurisprudence on Anti-Dumping and China’s Recent Practices