New Issue: Journal of World Trade

The latest issue of the Journal of World Trade (Vol. 58, no. 1, 2024) is out. Contents include:

• Chad P. Bown, How the United States solved South Korea’s problems with electric vehicle subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act
• Sieglinde Gstöhl & Jonathan Schnock, Towards a Coherent Trade-Environment Nexus? The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Policy
• Olga Hrynkiv & Saskia Lavrijssen, Not Trading With the Enemy: The Case of Computer Chips
• Ho-cheol Kim, Industrial Digital Transformation and A Proposal to Rebuild Digital Trade Agenda
• Anamika Shukla, The Future of Trade and Environment: A Roadmap for Reconciling Two Competing Goals
• Aldo Ligustro & Marco Buccarella, The WTO Condemns Trump’s Tariffs on Steel and Aluminium, but Biden Condemns the WTO
• Yaoyuan Zhang, The Legal Enforceability of CPTPP Anti-corruption Provisions and The Implications to Dispute Settlements

Tan: The Duty to Investigate in Situations of Armed Conflict

Floris Tan (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands) has published The Duty to Investigate in Situations of Armed Conflict: An Examination under International Humanitarian Law, International Human Rights Law, and Their Interplay (Brill | Nijhoff 2023). Here's the abstract:

This book explores the duty to investigate potential violations of the law during armed conflict, and does so under international humanitarian law (IHL), international human rights law (IHRL), and their interplay. Through a meticulous comparative legal analysis, it maps out the scope and contents of investigative obligations. On the basis of general international law, it also develops and applies a novel and more broadly applicable step-by-step methodology for resolving issues of interplay between both legal regimes. In doing so, this study clarifies the scope of application and contents of investigative obligations under both legal regimes, as well as for situations to which both apply. The book finds that the oft-heard narrative that to require States to conduct human rights investigations during armed conflict would be wholly unrealistic in light of the realities of hostilities is unfounded and in need of revision.

Palmer: Reparations in Domestic and International Mass Claims Processes: Justice and Money

Jason Scott Palmer (Stetson Univ. - Law) has published Reparations in Domestic and International Mass Claims Processes: Justice and Money (Edward Elgar Publishing 2023). Here's the abstract:

Mass claims have historically allowed victims of wrongdoing on an extensive scale to be compensated for losses suffered. This insightful book surveys and evaluates both domestic and international mass claims processes, delineating their successes and failures in providing this compensation.

Through an in-depth examination of the efficacy and efficiency of mass claims processes, Jason Scott Palmer analyses the actors involved and their roles, such as those who provide reparations and why these reparations are provided. Palmer carefully considers the utility of potential future mass claims reparations regimes through the use of hypothetical mass claims property losses, based on highly relevant case studies such as the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He emphasizes that, to fully understand mass claims reparations programs, one must inspect the complete process of reparations funding and distribution.

Call for Papers: 19th Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law (Reminder)

The European Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its 19th Annual Conference, which will take place September 5-6, 2024, in Vilnius. The theme is: "Technological Change and International Law." The call is here. The deadline is January 31, 2024.

Chaisse & Rodríguez-Chiffelle: The Elgar Companion to the World Trade Organization

Julien Chaisse (City Univ. of Hong Kong - Law) & Cristián Rodríguez-Chiffelle (Harvard Univ.; Boston Consulting Group) have published The Elgar Companion to the World Trade Organization (Edward Elgar Publishing 2023). Here's the abstract:

This comprehensive Companion provides an extensive guide to understanding the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its impact on the global economy. Addressing the challenges facing the WTO amidst a rapidly evolving landscape, the book delves into the diverse trade policies of countries and regions, providing rare insights into their impact on the global trade governance frameworks.

Featuring insightful contributions from interdisciplinary experts, this essential Companion will aid readers in comprehending the WTO’s functions and its significance in international trade and broader economic policies. Chapters explore the influence of regional trade agreements on countries’ trade agendas, the WTO’s critical role in fostering free and fair trade, and the shifting dynamics of global economic governance. The book further highlights the importance of dispute resolution, regional integration, and coalitions for effective trade policy making.

New Issue: Cambridge International Law Journal

The latest issue of the Cambridge International Law Journal (Vol. 12, no. 2, 2023) is out. Contents include:

• Georg Nolte, Hersch Lauterpacht and language in the international law of treaty interpretation
• Ulf Linderfalk, The concept of an international legal concept
• Jacqueline Mowbray, Multilingualism, translation and international law: four myths
• Rachel Killean & Rosemary Grey, Interpretation and translation in atrocity trials: insights from the Khmer Rouge Tribunal
• Emily Julia Kakoullis, Language in international treaties: linguistic and cultural challenges in translating and implementing international multilingual treaties
• Roman Uliasz, The transplantation of legal concepts by means of language: a private law perspective
• Nina Bries Silva & Esteban Díaz Montenegro, In other words: the strategic use of Nasa Indigenous language in legal settings
• Jack Wright Nelson, Large language models and the treaty interpretation game
• Alexandra Grey, Lawful limits on freedom of expression for private communications ‘in public life’

Allen & Trinidad: The Western Sahara Question and International Law: Recognition Doctrine and Self-Determination

Stephen Allen (Queen Mary, Univ. of London - Law) & Jamie Trinidad (Univ. of Cambridge) have published The Western Sahara Question and International Law: Recognition Doctrine and Self-Determination (Routledge 2024). Here’s the abstract:

This book analyses recent developments concerning the application of the international legal doctrines of recognition and self-determination in relation to the Western Sahara Question. It investigates the emergent shift in favour of Morocco’s sovereignty claim to Western Sahara as apparent from the positions adopted by an increasing number of third States in the United Nations and the recent spate of third States establishing consulates in Western Sahara, with Morocco’s encouragement. It reflects on what the functioning of the doctrines of recognition and self-determination in this situation reveals about contemporary international law in practice more generally. The work will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and postgraduate students as well as practitioners of public international law who have a particular interest in decolonisation, self-determination disputes, and/or conflicts about natural resource entitlements. It will also appeal to readers with an interest in the work of International Organisations, including the United Nations, the European Union, and the African Union, and to specialists in international relations and regional politics.

Mazzuoli: Derecho de los Tratados

Valerio de Oliveira Mazzuoli (Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso - Law) has published Derecho de los Tratados (Derecho Global 2024). Here's the abstract:

Preparé esta edición con gran entusiasmo, con miras a abordar todos los aspectos del Derecho de los Tratados en su forma actual. Además, mi propósito era escribir este libro de la manera más didáctica, sometiéndolo a los análisis profundos y científicamente rigurosos que hubieran sido necesarios. En general, me concentré en examinar la esencia misma de cada tema bajo análisis, siempre vinculando la teoría con la práctica. Además, organicé la totalidad de la teoría de los tratados (especialmente con respecto a la formación, la continuación en la vigencia y la terminación de los actos internacionales) reflejando especialmente la Convención de Viena de 1969 sobre el Derecho de los Tratados. Después de varios años de trabajo en este libro, siento que pude realizar un estudio original sobre la teoría y la práctica de los tratados internacionales, que también es capaz de dar respuestas prácticas a cuestiones recurrentes, especialmente en el contexto histórico actual.

Lecture: Oyarzábal on "The International Law Commission: Progress and Process"

On January 29, 2024, Mario Oyarzábal (Member, International Law Commission; Argentine Ambassador to the Netherlands) will deliver the opening lecture of the 2024 Public International Law Lecture Series. The topic is: "The International Law Commission: Progress and Process." Details are here.

Benvenisti: When Solange I Met Neubauer: National Courts Protecting Global Interests When Reviewing Decisions of International Organizations

Eyal Benvenisti (Univ. of Cambridge - Law) has posted When Solange I Met Neubauer: National Courts Protecting Global Interests When Reviewing Decisions of International Organizations. Here's the abstract:

What is the significance of the Solange I judgment for situations when national constitutional courts (NCCs) are called upon to implement or resist the implementation of an act of an international organisation (IO)? May, or even should these courts follow the German Federal Constitutional Court (GFCC) and indirectly review the compatibility of the measure with the national constitution? What considerations should shape these courts’ approach? In responding to this question, this essay inquires about the positive and negative effects of such an exercise of indirect review on IOs beyond the EU: could such a review undermine the functionality of the IO or its impartiality? I will present an argument in support of the Solange I approach and explain how and why indirect review by NCCs is more likely than not to contribute to an improvement in the functionality and impartiality of IOs. My argument will be partially based on integrating into the Solange I framework the GFCC’s 2021 judgment of Neubauer, in which the Court extended the Basic Law’s protection also to people living abroad. I contend that such an indirect review by an NCC that pays due regard not only to national interests, but also to the rights of foreigners that may be affected by the NCC’s decision to implement or reject the IO measure could improve the functionality of IOs and their adoption of inclusive and accountable outcomes that balance the rights and interests of all affected by the IO.

New Issue: International Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the International Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 28, no. 1, 2024) is out. Contents include:

• Patrick O’Callaghan, Olga Cronin, Brendan D. Kelly, Bethany Shiner, Joel Walmsley & Simon McCarthy-Jones, The right to freedom of thought: an interdisciplinary analysis of the UN special rapporteur’s report on freedom of thought
• Betül Yarar, At-risk scholars in Europe: ‘academic humanitarianism’ in the name of science ‘here’ as opposed to the risk ‘there’
• Heiko Beyer, The prevalence of identity among religious minorities in different human rights environments
• Joel E. Oestreich, Closing the circle of implementation: the sustainable development goals, universal periodic review, and the rights-based approach to development
• Md. Toriqul Islam, Protection of privacy in Bangladesh: issues, challenges and way forward

Sourgens & Sempertegui: Principles of International Energy Transition Law

Frédéric G. Sourgens (Tulane Univ. - Law) & Leonardo Sempertegui (OPEC) have published Principles of International Energy Transition Law (Oxford Univ. Press 2024). Here's the abstract:

Energy transition is a complex global problem, with governance and policies cutting across multiple legal silos including human rights, environment, international economics, finance, energy, law of the sea, and transnational commerce. As of yet, there is no comprehensive treatment of the legal principles governing energy transition as a whole. Furthermore, energy transition must solve a trilemma that pits energy equity (the need to provide access to energy needed to fuel human development) and energy security (the need to provide resilient and reliable energy systems) against environmental sustainability. Without a comprehensive understanding of these issues, law and policy-makers risk exacerbating rather than resolving the underlying problems.

Principles of International Energy Transition Law introduces the energy transition problem by situating the climate emergency in its broader energy and development context, showing how global energy value chains are deeply enmeshed in and drive global economic and human development. It combines the different legal perspectives in one consistent analysis by outlining their interactions and showing how they can be reconciled. The book discusses thirty-two international legal principles governing different aspects of the energy transition trilemma's three parts. It then uses a commons governance perspective to propose a holistic approach to applying and balancing these different parts and their different legal principles.

de la Rasilla & Cai: The Cambridge Handbook of China and International Law

Ignacio de la Rasilla (Wuhan Univ. - Law) & Congyan Cai (Fudan Univ. - Law) have published The Cambridge Handbook of China and International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2024). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This handbook provides a comprehensive road map to China's engagement with international law and an upgraded bridge between Chinese and Western approaches in times of turmoil. Written by a leading group of Chinese and Western specialists, it examines how China is assimilating into, and putting its stamp on, the global legal order. It offers updated analyses of China's relationship with international institutions, human rights law, international trade law, the law of the sea, the laws of peace and war, international criminal law, global health law, international investment law, international environmental law, climate change, international terrorism law, outer-space law, intellectual property law, cyber-space warfare, international financial law, international dispute settlement, territorial disputes, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Community of Shared Future for Mankind, China's constitutional law, the judicial application of international law, state immunity, the international rule of law, China's treaty practices and the extraterritorial application of Chinese laws.