Call for Papers: 20th Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law

The European Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its 20th Annual Conference, which will take place September 10-13, 2025, at the Freie Universität Berlin. The theme is: "Reconstructing International Law." The call is here. The deadline is January 31, 2025.

Carballo Piñeiro & Mejia: The Elgar Companion to the Law and Practice of the International Maritime Organization

Laura Carballo Piñeiro (Universidade de Vigo - Law), & Maximo Q. Mejia Jr (World Maritime Univ.) have published The Elgar Companion to the Law and Practice of the International Maritime Organization (Edward Elgar Publishing 2024). Here's the abstract:

This Companion sheds light on the law and practice of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which plays a key role in securing safe, secure, and efficient shipping on clean oceans.

Considering core elements of IMO history, this insightful Companion delineates how the Organization has revitalized its law-making powers, encompassing an increasing number and range of maritime-related activities. Taking into account the perspectives of flag, port, seafaring, and ship-owning states, the chapters focus on areas of increasing concern such as compliance and enforcement, and ocean governance. Expert contributors critically examine the efforts made and limitations encountered by the IMO in contributing towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, exploring the potential for building a sustainable and inclusive maritime governance. Ultimately, this Companion showcases how the IMO evolved from an ostensibly consultative inter-governmental forum into an active global standards-setting organization.

Bradley: Historical Gloss and Foreign Affairs: Constitutional Authority in Practice

Curtis A. Bradley (Univ. of Chicago - Law) has Historical Gloss and Foreign Affairs: Constitutional Authority in Practice (Harvard Univ. Press 2024). Here's the abstract:

In the more than 230 years since the Constitution took effect, the constitutional law governing the conduct of foreign affairs has evolved significantly. But that evolution did not come through formal amendments or Supreme Court rulings. Rather, the law has been defined by the practices of Congress and the executive branch, also known as “historical gloss.”

Curtis A. Bradley documents this process in action. He shows that expansions in presidential power over foreign affairs have often been justified by reference to historical gloss, but that Congress has not merely stepped aside. Belying conventional accounts of the “imperial presidency” in foreign affairs, Congress has also benefited from gloss, claiming powers for itself in the international arena not clearly addressed in the constitutional text and disrupting claims of exclusive presidential authority.

Historical Gloss and Foreign Affairs proposes a constitutional theory that can make sense of these legal changes. In contrast, originalist theories of constitutional interpretation often ignore influential post-Founding developments, while nonoriginalist theories tend to focus on judicial decisions rather than the actions and reasoning of Congress and the executive branch. Moreover, the constitutional theories that do focus on practice have typically emphasized changes at particular moments in time. What we see in the constitutional law of foreign affairs, however, is the long-term accumulation of nonjudicial precedents that is characteristic of historical gloss. With gloss confirmed as a prime mover in the development of foreign affairs law, we can begin to recognize its broader status as an important and longstanding form of constitutional reasoning.