New Blog: Tålking Rights

The Human Rights Institute of the Åbo Akademi University Law School has announced the launch of Tålking Rights, an academic blog dedicated to human rights. The blog offers a platform for insights, analysis, and dialogue on international human rights law issues. Those interested in contributing should review the blog's contributor guidelines and style guide.

Call for Chapter Proposals: Handbook on Decolonising Human Rights

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim (Emory Univ. - Law) has issued a call for chapter proposals for his forthcoming edited volume Handbook on Decolonising Human Rights, to be published by Edward Elgar Publishing. The call is here.

New Issue: Virginia Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Virginia Journal of International Law (Vol. 65, no. 1, Fall 2024) is out. Contents include:

• Christopher R. Drahozal, Donald Earl Childress III, Jack J. Coe, Jr., & Catherine A. Rogers, Challenging and Enforcing International Arbitral Awards in U.S. Federal Courts: An Empirical Study
• Nick Robinson, The Regulation of Foreign Funding of Nonprofits in a Democracy
• George Rutherglen, Territoriality and Admiralty

New Issue: Archiv des Völkerrechts

The latest issue of Archiv des Völkerrechts (Vol. 62, no. 2, 2024) is out. Contents include:

• Abhandlungen
• Julia Weitensteiner, Das organisations- und situationsbezogene Begründungsmodell korporativer Rechte des EGMR in Croatian Radio-Television/Kroatien
• Otto Luchterhandt, Arzachs Untergang – historische Tragödie und Alarmzeichen für die Republik Armenien
• Matthias Lutz-Bachmann, Die Transformation des Konzepts des »gerechten Kriegs« (»bellum iustum«) in der Geschichte der Philosophie: Von Thomas von Aquin bis zur Schule von Salamanca

Call for Papers: The International Court of Justice at 80

The Glasgow Centre for International Law and Security at the University of Glasgow has issued a call for papers for the Sixth Scottish Conference on International Law, to take place September 8-9, 2025. The theme is: "The International Court of Justice at 80." The call is here.

Call for Submissions: International Law & Emerging Technologies

The Georgetown Journal of International Law has issued a call for submissions for a symposium issue on "International Law & Emerging Technologies." The call is here.

Zidar & Cotič Zidar: Amended WHO International Health Regulations for Better Global Pandemic Governance?

Andraž Zidar (MFEA of Slovenia – Diplomatic Academy) & Živa Cotič Zidar (Ombudsman of Slovenia & Univ. of Ljubljana – Social Sciences) have posted Amended WHO International Health Regulations for Better Global Pandemic Governance? (Medical Law International, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Recent amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), adopted at the 77 th World Health Assembly in May 2024 represent an important conceptual development in the field of global pandemic governance. The Regulations now include the notion of a pandemic emergency, a heightened subcategory of the public health emergency of international concern, which necessitates rapid, equitable and enhanced coordinated international action to counteract global pandemics. In addition, changes to the guiding principles expressly require that the implementation process 'shall promote equity and solidarity'. This is further crystallised in concrete commitments to enable equitable access to health products and provide for the mobilisation of financial resources for developing countries. Taking lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, these changes make the IHR a more effective tool against global pandemics and represent significant steps towards achieving global health justice.

Becker: Crisis in Gaza: South Africa v Israel at the International Court of Justice (or the Unbearable Lightness of Provisional Measures)

Michael A. Becker (Trinity College Dublin - Law) has posted Crisis in Gaza: South Africa v Israel at the International Court of Justice (or the Unbearable Lightness of Provisional Measures) (Melbourne Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

In the early hours of 7 October 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip launched a set of attacks across southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and abducting 252 people to be held as hostages. Israel unleashed an overwhelming military response, with grave humanitarian consequences for the Palestinian population of Gaza. On 29 December 2023, South Africa initiated proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging violations of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide based on Israel's response to the 7 October attacks. This article examines South Africa's litigation of the Gaza conflict through its use of the provisional measures procedure at the ICJ. Part I provides an overview of the humanitarian crisis and the polarizing effect of Israel's military operation in Gaza. Part II examines South Africa's four attempts to obtain provisional measures and the Court's decision to indicate such measures on three occasions within a four-month period. Part III considers the relative ineffectiveness of the provisional measures-their 'unbearable lightness' in a situation of extreme gravity and examines doctrinal issues that emerged along the way, including the nature of the Court's 'plausibility' test at the provisional measure stage and the procedure for seeking additional or modified measures. Part IV concludes by considering challenges that lay ahead in the ICJ case-for the parties, for the Court, and for the Palestinians of Gaza.

Khalil & Lavaud: Empowering the UN Security Council: Reforms to Address Modern Threats

Mona Ali Khalil & Floriane Lavaud have published Empowering the UN Security Council: Reforms to Address Modern Threats (Oxford Univ. Press 2024). Here's the abstract:

Empowering the UN Security Council: Reforms to Address Modern Threats provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges and opportunities associated with empowering the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to fulfil its primary responsibility: to maintain international peace and security.

Across ten chapters, this timely book addresses several areas of possible reform, without amending the UN Charter, to improve the representative character of the UNSC, empower its elected members, restrain the use of the veto, and enhance the UNSC's ability to respond to modern threats including aggression and mass atrocity crimes. It explores the UNSC's relations with internal and external partners, including tapping the potential of the UN General Assembly, reinforcing the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, as well as strengthening cooperation with regional arrangements.

Now, more than ever, there is a realistic possibility borne out of the imperative of necessity to reform the UN Security Council to better ensure international peace and security for future generations. Bringing together an international cast of experts from multiple disciplines and all five regions of the world, Empowering the UN Security Council offers a roadmap toward a more legitimate and effective UNSC.