Call for Papers: Global Corporations and International Law (PhD/Early Career Researcher Workshop)

A call for papers has been issued for a PhD/Early Career Researcher Workshop on "Global Corporations and International Law," to be held July 13-14, 2023, at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public and International Law, Heidelberg. The call is here.

Call for Papers: VI Biennial Conference of the Latin American Network of International Law

A call for papers has been issued for the VI Biennial Conference of the Latin American Network of International Law / VI Conferencia Bienal de la Red Latinoamericana de Derecho Económico Internacional, to take place July 11-12, 2023, at the Universidad Externado de Colombia, Bogotá. The theme is: Prospects for Latin American international economic law in times of crisis / Perspectivas del derecho económico internacional latinoamericano en tiempos de crisis. The call is here (English/Español).

Call for Submissions: Symposium on the ICC's Ongwen Case (JICJ)

The Journal of International Criminal Justice has issued a call for submissions for a symposium on the ICC's Ongwen Case. The call is here.

Workshop: Legal Clinics and International Law: A Growing Interaction

On June 15, 2023, the Department of Law, Roma Tre University will hold an ESIL-supported hybrid workshop on "Legal Clinics and International Law: A Growing Interaction" to discuss opportunities and challenges of the clinical movement in relation to public international law. Details are here. To facilitate a fruitful discussion, directors of PIL legal clinics acting in Europe are kindly invited to complete an on-line questionnaire by Thursday, May 18.

Call for Abstracts: 2023 ASIL Research Forum

The American Society of International Law has issued a call for abstracts for its 2023 Research Forum, a part of the Society's Midyear Meeting, which will be held November 9-11, in Pittsburgh. The deadline is May 31, 2023 at 5:00PM EDT. The call is here.

Lectures: Chinkin and Jarvis on "Combating Conflict-Related Sexual Violence"

On May 12, 2023, Christine Chinkin (London School of Economics - Law) and Michelle Jarvis (International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism) will deliver public keynote lectures in Berlin as part of a closed workshop on “Combating Conflict-Related Sexual Violence – Comparative Insights on International and National Capacities.” Details are here.

Wang & Gao: The future of the international financial system: The emerging CBDC network and its impact on regulation

Heng Wang (Singapore Management Univ. - Law) & Simin Gao (Tsinghua Univ. - Law) have posted The future of the international financial system: The emerging CBDC network and its impact on regulation (Regulation and Governance, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Central bank digital currency (CBDC) is a digital form of fiat currency. CBDC has the potential to be a game challenger in the international financial system, bringing increased complexities arising from technology and regulatory considerations, as well as generating greater currency competition. As more states begin exploring CBDC, the interactions between actors may lead to the emergence of a new CBDC network. What shape would the emerging CBDC network take? What would its network effects be? What would be the impact of the CBDC network on the international financial system, or the global financial network? This article explores these questions by examining the emerging CBDC network and its regulatory implications. It argues that the CBDC network would likely be both decentralized and uncoordinated, making it unlikely to lead to convergence in CBDC regulation. The CBDC network would probably bring policy diffusion effects, with states behaving instrumentally, while shaking up the power balance between different actors, generating both cooperation and conflict. The CBDC network also has the potential to push international financial system toward becoming more decentralized.

New Issue: Global Trade and Customs Journal

The latest issue of Global Trade and Customs Journal (Vol. 18, no. 5, 2023) is out. Contents include:

• Jin Woo Kim, Isabel Fressynet, Anna Golouchko, & Valentina Van Opdenbosch, EU Case Laws on Trade Defence Instruments (TDI) in 2022
• Fernando Piérola-Castro, Safeguard Activity in 2022: An Overview of Notifications Made to the WTO Committee on Safeguards
• Mustafa Mohammad Al-Husban & Emad Mohammad Al-Amaren, Jordan’s Ability to Complete the Third Trade Policy Review at the WTO
• Alessandro Fruscione, New Agreement on Northern Ireland Simplifies Relations Between EU and UK

Yip: Equality in International Law and Its Social Ontological Discontent

Ka Lok Yip (Hamad Bin Khalifa Univ. - Law) has posted Equality in International Law and Its Social Ontological Discontent (Jus Cogens, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This article examines, through a theoretical lens, two issues concerning equality under international law thrown up by the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War: the equal treatment of belligerents on different sides under international humanitarian law (IHL), which is being contested by revisionist just war theorists, and the unequal treatment of Ukrainians with different genders assigned at birth who are trying to flee Ukraine, which is being contested under international human rights law (IHRL). By examining different conceptions of equality through the lens of social ontology, this article distinguishes between the regulatory focus of IHL on individual agency and the regulatory focus of IHRL on social structures, which directly influence how ‘difference’ and ‘sameness’ are recognized and determined for the purpose of conceptualizing equality. Because of IHL’s focus on individuals, whose agency is limited in war, only highly agential conduct (e.g. targeting civilians) makes a ‘difference’ under IHL. Meanwhile, outside IHL’s regulatory focus, the different causes of states’ participation in war are evened out as the ‘same’ structured positions occupied by different individuals, warranting their same treatment according to belligerent equality. On the other hand, because of IHRL’s focus on social structures, which heavily condition the individuals, structural arrangements make a ‘difference’ under IHRL. Outside IHRL’s regulatory focus, individuals’ different innate characteristics such as sexual characteristics are evened out as the ‘same’ agential quality of being human, warranting their same treatment according to sex equality. The article argues that the contestations about these equality principles find deeper roots in their divergent social ontological visions, the revelation of which can open up new spaces for dialogue on and inquiry into a common social world that grounds the legal conceptions of equality.

Conference: The Aesthetics of International Law

On May 12-13, 2023, the Central European University Department of Legal Studies and the ESIL Interest Group on Social Sciences and International Law will host a conference (in the hybrid format) on "The Aesthetics of International Law," in Vienna. Details are here.

New Volume: Netherlands Yearbook of International Law

The latest volume of the Netherlands Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 52, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• The Greening Phenomenon in International Law
• Daniëlla Dam-de Jong & Fabian Amtenbrink, A Greener International Law: International Legal Responses to the Global Environmental Crisis
• Fin-Jasper Langmack, Remedies for Climate Change—A Decisive Push Towards Paris?
• Jérémie Gilbert, Elizabeth Macpherson, Emily Jones, & Julia Dehm, The Rights of Nature as a Legal Response to the Global Environmental Crisis? A Critical Review of International Law’s ‘Greening’ Agenda
• Stavros-Evdokimos Pantazopoulos, Greening the Law of Environmental Protection in Armed Conflicts
• Merle Kooijman, From Anthropos to Oikos in International Criminal Law: A Critical-Theoretical Exploration of Ecocide as an ‘Ecocentric’ Amendment to the Rome Statute
• Jason Rudall, Greening International Investment Agreements
• Aniruddha Rajput, Climate Justice and The Greening of Investment Arbitration
• Nathan de Arriba-Sellier, The International Regulation and Coordination of Sustainable Finance
• Jan-Henrik Hinselmann, “A Coalition of the Committed”—Climate Protection of Central Banks Through the Central Bank Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) from a Perspective of Global Administrative Law
• Dutch Practice in International Law
• Kate Clark, Ziada vs Gantz and Eshel: A Civilian Claimant Between Ship and Shore in The Netherlands
• Phillip Paiement, Reimagining the Energy Corporation: Milieudefensie and Others v Royal Dutch Shell Plc
• Lachezar Yanev, Syrian War Crimes Trials in The Netherlands: Claiming Universal Jurisdiction Over Terrorist Offences and the War Crime of Outrages Upon Personal Dignity of the Dead

Workshop: Externalisation of Migration Controls and Accountability Challenges in International Law

On May 26, 2023, a workshop on "Externalisation of Migration Controls and Accountability Challenges in International Law" will be held at Utrecht University. Details are here.

Lall: Making International Institutions Work: The Politics of Performance

Ranjit Lall (Univ. of Oxford) has published Making International Institutions Work: The Politics of Performance (Cambridge Univ. Press 2023). Here's the abstract:

International institutions are essential for tackling many of the most urgent challenges facing the world, from pandemics to humanitarian crises, yet we know little about when they succeed, when they fail, and why. This book proposes a new theory of institutional performance and tests it using a diverse array of sources, including the most comprehensive dataset on the topic. Challenging popular characterizations of international institutions as 'runaway bureaucracies,' Ranjit Lall argues that the most serious threat to performance comes from the pursuit of narrow political interests by states – paradoxically, the same actors who create and give purpose to institutions. The discreet operational processes through which international bureaucrats cultivate and sustain autonomy vis-à-vis governments, he contends, are critical to making institutions 'work.' The findings enhance our understanding of international cooperation, public goods, and organizational behavior while offering practical lessons to policymakers, NGOs, businesses, and citizens interested in improving institutional effectiveness.

New Additions to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law

The Codification Division of the UN Office of Legal Affairs recently added the following materials to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law: a lecture on "The End of an Armed Conflict under International Law" by Dustin A. Lewis.

The Audiovisual Library of International Law is also available as an audio podcast on Apple, Google, and SoundCloud.

Arredondo: Diplomacia. Teoría y práctica

Ricardo Arredondo has published Diplomacia. Teoría y práctica (Aranzadi 2023). Here's the abstract:

Existe un creciente interés en la diplomacia en un orden internacional en transición, donde están cambiando muchos de los viejos paradigmas de relaciones internacionales, tales como la distribución del poder y la riqueza y las formas en que nos representamos. La diplomacia es el medio institucional por el cual los Estados y otros actores no estatales lidian con la incertidumbre sobre los cambios y es la forma en que interactúan y se comunican con otros para actuar y afectar ese cambio. La diplomacia es una actividad fundamental que se ha emprendido a lo largo de la historia y en todo el mundo con el objetivo de mediar en la comunicación intercultural que subyace en las conexiones entre todas las personas y todas las sociedades. Esto incluye la paz y la guerra, el comercio y los derechos humanos, pero también una mayor conciencia de nuestras interacciones interculturales en todos los niveles. Por esta razón, se vuelve cada vez más importante también ampliar nuestras ideas sobre la diplomacia. Por otra parte, en adición al crecimiento de la agenda temática, se ha ampliado el número de actores que participan de los diferentes procesos que comprende la diplomacia. Muchas personas se involucran en lo que se puede considerar como diplomacia, desde el nivel "global" al "local", y estos modificadores de uso común nos desafían a explorar nuestra noción fundamental de quiénes están involucrados en el proceso. Incluso aquellos actores que pueden no estar involucrados en la diplomacia "oficial" o "formal", se preocupan por cuestiones globales como los derechos humanos, el medio ambiente, el comercio y el desarrollo, o aquellos a quienes simplemente les encanta viajar y apreciar las culturas y los idiomas extranjeros, encontrarán que comprender el desarrollo de la diplomacia y su papel les ayudará a comprender, participar y cambiar nuestra sociedad cada vez más global. El objetivo de esta obra es proporcionar una herramienta de referencia actual tanto para aquellos que ejercen funciones diplomáticas y consulares o están en contacto profesional con ellas, así como para quienes la estudian en los distintos niveles académicos en los que se imparte esta asignatura. Brinda un compendio actualizado de las últimas novedades en el campo de las relaciones diplomáticas y consulares, tanto desde el punto de vista teórico como práctico, con particular énfasis en la práctica, la normativa interna y la jurisprudencia argentina, además de internacional. Diplomacia. Teoría y práctica ofrece un análisis integral y una descripción del estado de la diplomacia en el siglo XXI y es un recurso esencial para los diplomáticos, profesionales y académicos.

Wheatley: Election hacking, the rule of sovereignty, and deductive reasoning in customary international law

Steven Wheatley (Univ. of Lancaster - Law) has posted Election hacking, the rule of sovereignty, and deductive reasoning in customary international law (Leiden Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This article considers the international laws applicable to irresponsible state behaviour in cyberspace through the lens of the problem of election hacking. The rule of sovereignty has taken centre stage in these discussions and is said to be preferred to the non-intervention rule because it evades the problem of coercion. Proponents of the cyber rule of sovereignty contend that there is such a rule; opponents reject the existence of the rule as a matter of existing law. The objective here is to explore the methodologies involved in the identification of the cyber rule of sovereignty under customary international law. The work first frames the debate in the language of regulative and constitutive rules, allowing us to show that a regulative rule of sovereignty can, logically, and necessarily, be deduced from the constitutive rule of sovereignty. The content of the regulative rule can also be deduced from the constitutive rule of sovereignty, but it has a more limited scope than claimed by the proponents of the rule, notably the Tallinn Manual 2.0. The rule of sovereignty prohibits state cyber operations carried out on the territory of the target state and remote cyber operations which involve the exercise of sovereign authority on that territory, e.g., police evidence-gathering operations. The rule of sovereignty does not, however, prohibit other remote, ex situ state cyber operations, even those targeting ICTs used for governmental functions, including the conduct of elections. The rule of sovereignty is not, then, the solution to the problem of election hacking.

Call for Submissions: Military Law and the Law of War Review / Revue de Droit Militaire et de Droit de la Guerre

The Military Law and the Law of War Review / Revue de Droit Militaire et de Droit de la Guerre has issued a call for submissions for its volume 61, number 2. The deadline for submission is May 15, 2023. Here's the call:

The Editorial Board of The Military Law and the Law of War Review / Revue de Droit Militaire et de Droit de la Guerre (MLLWR) is pleased to invite submissions for the upcoming Volume 61-2, due for publication in 2023.

The Review's editorial board welcomes submissions that come within the broader scope of the Review, including military law, law of armed conflict, law on the use of force, as well as international criminal law and human rights law (inasmuch as related to situations of armed conflict).

The deadline for submission is May 15th 2023. Submissions should be sent to mllwr@ismllw.org and will be subject to double-blind peer review.

Articles should normally not be longer than 15,000 words (footnotes included), although longer pieces may exceptionally be considered.

Inquiries as to whether a possible submission comes within the scope of the Review can be sent to the above mentioned email address.

New Issue: Revista romana de drept international

The latest issue of Revista romana de drept international (No. 28, July-December 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Articole
• Ana-Maria Vlăsceanu & Ana-Mihaela V. Acatrinei, Măsurile de politică socială implementate de statul român în favoarea cetățenilor străini și apatrizilor care provin din Ucraina
• Elena Lazăr, Minoritățile din Ucraina - evoluția istorică și impactul conflictelor ruso-ucrainene
• Studii și comentarii de jurisprudență și legislație
• Maria Bebec & Carmen Achimescu, În umbra marelui zid: mai există speranță pentru pacea israelo-palestiniană?
• Ioana-Roxana Oltean, Evoluția jurisprudenței Curții Internaționale de Justiție cu privire la examinarea disputelor teritoriale recente
• Contribuţia doctorandului şi masterandului
• Filip-Andrei Lariu, Imunitatea ca o circumstanță care înlătură obligația de a extrăda sau judeca – Partea II: Imunitățile și existența unui conflict de norme
• Maria R. Bodea, Clarificarea standardului controlului efectiv și al dependenței complete în jurisprudența Curții Internaționale de Justiție

New Issue: International & Comparative Law Quarterly

The latest issue of the International & Comparative Law Quarterly (Vol. 72, no. 2, April 2023) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Lewis Graham, Liberty and Its Exceptions
• Shaun Matos, Arbitration Agreements and the Winding-Up Process: Reconciling Competing Values
• Nicola Sharman, Objectives of Public Participation in International Environmental Decision-Making
• CL Lim & Ryan Martínez Mitchell, Neutral Rights and Collective Countermeasures for Erga Omnes Violations
• Margaret A Young & Georgina Clough, Net Zero Emissions and Free Trade Agreements: Efforts at Integrating Climate Goals by the United Kingdom and Australia
• Chris Noonan & Victoria Plekhanova, Mandatory Binding Dispute Resolution in the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Two Pillar Solution
• Catherine Turner & Aisling Swaine, Aligning Participation and Protection in the Women, Peace and Security Agenda
• Shorter Articles
• Simon Camilleri, Sense and Separability
• Pearce Clancy, Neutral Arms Transfers and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
• Ben Köhler, Applicational Ambiguity? Taiwan's Status in International Sales Law

Haldemann: Transitional Justice for Foxes: Conflict, Pluralism and the Politics of Compromise

Frank Haldemann (Université de Fribourg) has published Transitional Justice for Foxes: Conflict, Pluralism and the Politics of Compromise (Cambridge Univ. Press 2022). Here's the abstract:

There is a memorable line by ancient Greek poet Archilochus: 'The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.' Drawing on this metaphor made popular by Isaiah Berlin, this book sets out to 'think like a fox' about transitional justice in an intellectual environment largely dominated by hedgehogs. Critical of the unitary 'hedgehog-like' vision underlying mainstream discourse, this book proposes a pluralist reading of the field. It asks: What would it mean for transitional justice to constructively deal with conflicts of values and interests in societies grappling with a violent past? And what would it imply to make meaningful room for diversity, to see 'the many' rather than just 'the one'?

Call for Papers: Academic Forum on ISDS 2023 Conference

The Academic Forum on ISDS has issued a call for papers for its next conference, to be held September 29-30, 2023, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The call is here.

New Issue: Michigan Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Michigan Journal of International Law (Vol. 44, no. 1, 2023) is out. Contents include:

• Sungyong Kang, Measuring Corruption as a Threat to International Security: An Emerging Indicator for Enhancement of Global Corruption Governance
• Benoit Mayer, International Advisory Proceedings on Climate Change
• Chang-hsien Tsai & Ching-Fu Lin, Shedding New Light on Multinational Corporations and Human Rights: Promises and Limits of "Blockchainizing" the Global Supply Chain

Workshop: International Law and Attachment

The 5th Öresund International Law Workshop will take place at the Lund University Faculty of Law on June 13, 2023. The theme is "International Law and Attachment." Details are here.

Monebhurrun: A invocação das expectativas do investidor para determinar uma desapropriação indireta na arbitragem internacional dos investimentos

Nitish Monebhurrun (PPGD Centro Universitário de Brasília) has published A invocação das expectativas do investidor para determinar uma desapropriação indireta na arbitragem internacional dos investimentos (Opinião Jurídica, Vol. 27, no. 3, 2023). Here's the abstract:

O presente artigo examina a função das expectativas dos investidores estrangeiros na determinação de uma desapropriação indireta em arbitragens de investimentos internacionais. A desapropriação indireta ocorre quando uma medida regulatória do Estado que tem o objetivo de reger uma determinada política pública projeta efeitos que são equiparados a uma desapropriação. O impacto da medida no investimento estrangeiro é de natureza a neutralizá-lo e a torná-lo inoperante. Na prática do Direito Internacional dos Investimentos, os acordos de proteção dos investimentos bem como a jurisprudência arbitral têm se referido às expectativas inequívocas e razoáveis dos investidores para analisar os efeitos desapropriatórios das medidas regulatórias do Estado. Contudo, os contornos dessas expectativas ainda não estão nitidamente delimitados, de forma a dificultar a busca da legitimidade e da razoabilidade das expectativas dos investidores. O artigo aborda essa problemática.

New Issue: Harvard International Law Journal

The latest issue of the Harvard International Law Journal (Vol. 64, no. 1, Winter 2023) is out. Contents include:

• Trang (Mae) Nguyen, Hidden Power in Global Supply Chains
• Brenda Dvoskin, Expert Governance of Online Speech
• Catherine A. Rogers, Reconceptualizing the Party-Appointed Arbitrator and the Meaning of Impartiality
• Minhao Benjamin Chen & Zhiyu Li, Courts Without Separation of Powers: The Case of Judicial Suggestions in China

New Issue: International Interactions

The latest issue of International Interactions (Vol. 49, no. 2, 2023) is out. Contents include:

• The Micro-dynamics of Conflict and Peace: Evidence from Colombia
• Santiago Sosa, The micro-dynamics of conflict and peace: Evidence from Colombia
• German Lambardi & Paola Palacios, Land use and the incidence of forced displacement
• Jose Antonio Fortou, Sandra Lillian Johansson & Juan Carlos Muñoz Mora, Control, dispute, and concentration of land during civil war: Evidence from Colombia
• Juan Albarracín, Juan Pablo Milanese, Inge H. Valencia & Jonas Wolff, Local competitive authoritarianism and post-conflict violence. An analysis of the assassination of social leaders in Colombia