Conference: International Law and Conflict at Sea

The 5th Annual Alexander C. Cushing International Law Conference, on the topic "International Law and Conflict at Sea," will take place, in the hybrid format, at the U.S. Naval War College, on May 23-25, 2023. The program is here. Registration is here.

Kleczkowska: The legal assessment of acts of environmental warfare during the armed conflict in Ukraine

Agata Kleczkowska (Polish Academy of Sciences - Institute of Law Studies) has published The legal assessment of acts of environmental warfare during the armed conflict in Ukraine (Neue Zeitschrift für Wehrrecht, Vol. 65, no. 2, 2023). Here's the abstract:

Even now, when there is still no end in sight for the armed conflict in Ukraine, the first initiatives aimed at planning the rebuilding of this State are being discussed. One of the key aspects which should be taken into account is the state of the natural environment in Ukraine once the armed conflict is over. While one could rightly claim that the protection of human lives is more important than preserving plants and animals, the latter element is also of great importance: contaminated soil, water and air; destruction of grain fields preventing farming; or flooded residential areas may be critical for the survival of many Ukrainians. It is thus important to highlight Russia’s obligations to protect the environment during armed conflict, as well as to point out the violations committed by Russian forces. The aim of the paper is to discuss these issues by referring to the notion of environmental warfare. This paper is divided into three major parts: the first discusses what environmental warfare is, and introduces the differentiation between direct environmental warfare (IEW) and indirect environmental warfare (IEW). In the next two parts, acts of environmental warfare committed by Russia are qualified as either direct or indirect and assessed from the perspective of international humanitarian law (IHL).

Call for Papers: Countering terrorism and violent extremism in the public interest

The T.M.C. Asser Instituut has issued a call for papers for a workshop on "Countering terrorism and violent extremism in the public interest," to take place October 31– November 1, 2023, in The Hague and online. The call is here.

Conference: BIICL WTO Conference 2023

On October 6, 2023, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law will host, in the hybrid format, its 2023 WTO Conference. The topic is: "Technology and Trade: Challenges and Opportunities." The program is here.

Call for Papers: Russia, Imperialism, and International Law

A call for papers has been issued for a symposium on "Russia, Imperialism, and International Law," to be held September 14-16, 2023, at the Walther Schücking Institute for International Law, University of Kiel. Details are here.

Seminar: Business in conflict and post-conflict situations: towards a responsible business conduct

On May 30, 2023, NOVA School of Law will host a seminar on "Business in conflict and post-conflict situations: towards a responsible business conduct.” Details are here.

von Bernstorff & Venzke: International Law and Justice

Jochen von Bernstorff (Universität Tübingen - Law) & Ingo Venzke (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law) have posted International Law and Justice (in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Anne Peters ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

How does international law relate to justice? We distinguish three sets of answers to this overarching question: First are those answers that are affirmative about justice, about the possibilities of establishing what justice requires, and about its progressive potential for international legal discourse and practice. They see justice as a foundation and yardstick for the law. To the contrary, the second set of answers is marked by its scepticism in this regard. It sees justice as a distraction for the law, and as a disguise for ulterior motives and for the workings of power. The third set of answers, finally, is marked less by its scepticism towards justice as such, but towards law as a form or medium to pursue justice-related concerns. It sees international law mostly as an expression of injustice and prompts questions about the possibilities of law’s progressive appropriation and transformation.

Rothwell: Climate Change, Small Island States, and the Law of the Sea: The ITLOS Advisory Opinion Request

Donald R. Rothwell (Australian National Univ. - Law) has posted an ASIL Insignt on Climate Change, Small Island States, and the Law of the Sea: The ITLOS Advisory Opinion Request.

Conference: Society of International Economic Law Eighth Biennial Conference

The Society of International Economic Law will hold its eighth biennial conference in Bogotá on July 12-14, 2023, in collaboration with Universidad Externado de Colombia and Universidad del Rosario Colombia. The theme is: "International Economic Law in Times of Geo-Political Confrontation and Geo-Economic Fragmentation." The program is here. Registration is here.

Montanaro: The European Union and International Investment Law: The Two Dimensions of an Uneasy Relationship

Francesco Montanaro has published The European Union and International Investment Law: The Two Dimensions of an Uneasy Relationship (Hart Publishing 2023). Here's the abstract:

This book explores the interaction between the EU and international investment law, both at the internal level, namely within the EU internal market, and at the external level, i.e. in the context of its relations with third States.

The joint treatment of these dimensions reveals that the EU has assumed an ostensibly ambivalent attitude towards international investment law. At the internal level, it has consistently asserted that intra-EU international investment agreements (IIAs) are not compatible with EU law and advocated their termination. At the external level, by contrast, it has eagerly deployed IIAs to develop its post-Lisbon international investment policy.

The book finds that beneath this apparent ambivalence towards international investment law ultimately lies the EU's attempt to impose, both internally and externally, its own original model of regulation of cross-border investment. It then argues that the EU adopted this approach with a view to supporting its internal market, enhancing its external influence, and, ultimately, pursuing long-term 'federal aspirations'. Finally, the book identifies the legal and political obstacles that have curtailed the EU's efforts at both the internal and the external level.

New Issue: Yale Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Yale Journal of International Law (Vol. 48, no. 1, 2023) is out. Contents include:

• Melissa J. Durkee, The Pledging World Order
• Adnan A. Zulfiqar, Human Rights Norms From Below

Eslava: Development, International Law, and the Cold War: A Long History of Disembedding

Luis Eslava (Univ. of Kent - Law) has posted Development, International Law, and the Cold War: A Long History of Disembedding (in The Cambridge History of International Law (Vol. XI) - International Law during the Cold War (1945-1990), forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

In this chapter, I first trace how development, alongside equivalent ideas, graduated from its early usage in the colonial project and the activities of the League of Nations to become a key concept in the lexicon of international law and institutions after 1945. In the second section, I examine the framing of development programmes and activism around the concept according to the parameters set by the Cold War, from the mid-1940s to the early 1980s. In the third and final section, I discuss how the Cold War’s unravelling and the ascent of private interests, individual rights, financial logics, and expansive security in the late 1980s made even more intractable the promise of development and the emancipatory potential of international law. The events described here came at the clear cost of the dreams of much of the developing world and its allies. These peoples’ hopes for gaining control of their destinies, for a new world order in which past colonial wrongdoings could be reversed, and the uneven operation of the global economy levelled out by a justiciable version of development, were confined to a claim rather than an enforceable duty. In this history of disembedding relations, the biggest losers were marginalised populations across the planet and the natural environment.

Kaye: The United Nations Charter, International Human Rights, and the Hollowness of Sovereignty Claims

David Kaye (Univ. of California, Irvine - Law) has posted The United Nations Charter, International Human Rights, and the Hollowness of Sovereignty Claims (in Handbook on the UN Human Rights System, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The negotiators of the United Nations Charter provided a special place for the emergent field of human rights. With a preamble focused on an end to human suffering and a principal purpose of “promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion,” the UN system has human rights in its DNA. The course of human rights practice in the UN, moreover, reflects a decades-long understanding that matters within the corpus of international human rights law are not excluded from UN debate, investigation and action. Nonetheless, states have increasingly pushed back, perhaps none more so than China, which objected vehemently to UN consideration of its massive rights abuses in Xinjiang in 2022. What of these renewed sovereigntist arguments? Do they have merit? This paper returns to an issue many scholars and governments thought they had buried, revisiting the fundamentals of the Charter and restating the Charter’s rejection of sovereignty as a magic wand to wave away human rights claims.

Besson: Anticipation under the Human Right to Science: Concepts, Stakes and Specificities

Samantha Besson (Collège de France) has posted Anticipation under the Human Right to Science: Concepts, Stakes and Specificities (International Journal of Human Rights, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Recent years have seen the emergence of dual-use technologies and, more generally, of scientific practices that are potentially beneficial to humanity, but that may also have an irreversible impact on human beings. In those circumstances, the issue of the adequate anticipation not only of the risks (of harm) of science, but also of its (opportunities for) benefits has become more pressing. One framework from which States may derive duties and responsibilities to anticipate both those ‘risks’ and ‘benefits’ of science is the human right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and to participate in that progress (in short, the ‘human right to science’). Not only indeed does that right include everyone’s right to participate in the scientific enterprise and its organisation and to access to and enjoy the benefits of scientific progress, but it also includes the right to be protected against the adverse effects of science. Interestingly, while some duties to anticipate grounded in the human right to science have been briefly mentioned in recent interpretations of the right, albeit not in those terms, their specific content, scope and bearers have not yet been addressed in depth. Nor has the tension between preventing the risks of science and promoting its benefits, created by their unique combination in the duties correlative to the human right to science, been clarified to date. Remedying this gap is the aim of this special issue and of its eight original contributions. This introduction explains the concepts, stakes and specificities of the human right to science in the context of anticipation of both the beneficial and adverse effects of science.

Milanovic: The International Law of Intelligence Sharing During Military Operations

Marko Milanovic (Univ. of Reading - Law) has posted The International Law of Intelligence Sharing During Military Operations (in Research Handbook on Intelligence and International Law, Russell Buchan & Inaki Navarrete eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Intelligence sharing is indispensable to modern coalition warfare, but also in numerous other contexts, e.g., peacetime counterterrorism. An excellent recent example demonstrating the importance of intelligence sharing to contemporary conflicts is the massive provision of intelligence by Western allies to Ukraine, to help in its resistance against the Russian invasion, but there are many others. This chapter examines the following international legal issues raised by intelligence sharing during military operations. First, whether the sharing of intelligence by a State with another State or non-State actor engaged in an armed conflict with a third party can make the sharing State a party to the armed conflict. Second, when intelligence sharing can be internationally wrongful on the basis of rules that may prohibit the sharing of intelligence as such, including the prohibition on the use of force, the principle of non-intervention, the requirements of neutrality, and international human rights law. Finally, State responsibility for complicity, whereby the sharing of intelligence becomes internationally wrongful because it facilitates the wrongful conduct of a third party.

Call for Submissions: Race, Racism and Transitional Justice (International Journal of Transitional Justice)

The International Journal of Transitional Justice has issued a call for submissions for a special issue on "Race, Racism and Transitional Justice." The call is here.

New Issue: Journal on the Use of Force and International Law

The latest issue of the Journal on the Use of Force and International Law (Vol. 10, no. 1, 2023) is out. Contents include:

• James A. Green, The provision of weapons and logistical support to Ukraine and the jus ad bellum
• Işıl Aral, The role of the Security Council and its authorisation to use force to create normative markers in democratic governance discourses
• Chloe Goldthorpe, The armed attack requirement and customary international law: whose views count?
• Isaias T. Berhe & Senai W. Andemariam, Legal consequences of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s unprecedented declaration attributing the instigation of the Eritrea-Ethiopia border war to Ethiopia’s previous ruling party
• Jasmin Johurun Nessa, Seyfullah Hasar & Agata Kleczkowska, Digest of state practice: 1 July – 31 December 2022

Call for Session Ideas: 2024 ASIL Annual Meeting

The American Society of International Law has issued a call for session ideas for its 118th Annual Meeting, which will take place April 3-6, 2024, in Washington, DC. The conference theme is: "International Law in an Interdependent World." The deadline is July 19, 2023. The call is here.

New Issue: Journal of International Economic Law

The latest issue of the Journal of International Economic Law (Vol. 26, no. 2, June 2023) is out. Contents include:

• International Economic Law and Climate Change
• James Harrison, Trade Agreements and Sustainability: Exploring the Potential of Global Value Chain (GVC) Obligations
• Roland Ismer, Harro van Asselt, Jennifer Haverkamp, Michael Mehling, Karsten Neuhoff & Alice Pirlot, Supporting the Transition to Climate-Neutral Production: An Evaluation Under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
• Anthea Roberts, Risk, Reward, and Resilience Framework: Integrative Policy Making in a Complex World
• Bernard M. Hoekman, Petros C. Mavroidis & Sunayana Sasmal, Managing Externalities in the WTO: The Agreement On Fisheries Subsidies
• Joshua Paine & Elizabeth Sheargold, A Climate Change Carve-Out for Investment Treaties 285
• Trade
• Marc-Antoine Couet, From Bananas to Large Civil Aircraft: An On-Going Quest for Value-Added in the Computation of Countermeasures at the WTO
• Ben Czapnik & Bryan Mercurio, The Use of Trade Coercion and China’s Model of ‘Passive-Aggressive Legalism’
• Chad P. Bown, The WTO and Vaccine Supply Chain Resilience during a Pandemic
• Finance
• Ross P. Buckley, Anton N. Didenko and Mia Trzecinski, Blockchain and its Applications: A Conceptual Legal Primer

New Volume: Japanese Yearbook of International Law

The latest volume of the Japanese Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 65, 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Challenges to the "Law of Treaties" in Diversifying Treaty Relations
• Koji Nishimoto, Introductory Note
• Aurélie Tardieu, Lex Specialis Derogat Lei Generali and Diversification of Treaty Relations
• Maria Xiouri, Challenges to Article 60 VCLT on the Termination or Suspension of the Operation of a Treaty in Response to Its Material Breach: The Relationship with Countermeasures
• Keun-Gwan Lee, Reconceptualising the Law of State Succession in Respect of Treaties —Checking the ILC’s “Codification” Efforts Against Subsequent State Practice—
• Jure Zrilič, Armed Conflicts and the Law of Treaties: Recent Developments and Reappraisal of the Doctrine in Light of the Wars in Syria and Ukraine
• Okano Masataka, Changing Roles of Treaties in Foreign Policy
• Globalization of Society and International Family Law in Japan
• Takami Hayashi, Introductory Note
• Ryoko Yamaguchi, Interests of the Child in Child Abduction and Visitation Cases —Differences Between Japan’s Domestic and International Criteria—
• Takami Hayashi, Transboundary Child Protection in Japan
• Hayakawa Shinichiro, Japanese Perspective on Legal Issues of International Surrogacy
• Moonsook Kim, International Adoption in Korea
• Manabu Iwamoto, International Recovery of Maintenance in Japan
• Changes and Evolution in Legal Doctrines Based upon State Sovereignty
• Jean-Marc Thouvenin, On Different Res: Res Judicata, Res Interpretata, Res Praescripta (or Indicata), Res Deliberata
• Tomonori Mizushima, Lex Lata and Lex Ferenda of Sovereign Immunity
• Japanese Digest of International Law
• Atsuko Kanehara, The Impact on Japan’s Coast Guard and Maritime Security Caused by China’s Coast Guard Law of 2021