Hettihewa: Jugend im Völkerrecht

Julian Hettihewa has published Jugend im Völkerrecht (Duncker & Humblot 2026). Here's the abstract:

Die Jugend bildete bisher eine Randerscheinung in der völkerrechtswissenschaftlichen Literatur. Indes kommt ihr eine beachtliche normative und institutionelle Aufmerksamkeit in der Praxis des Völkerrechts zu. Mit dieser Arbeit werden die Begriffe der Jugend und der jungen Menschen als völkerrechtswissenschaftliche Analysekategorien eingeordnet und geformt. Sie bilden das Herzstück eines »Jugendansatzes im Völkerrecht«, der sich existierenden rechtskritischen Ansätzen zuordnet. Dieser Jugendansatz wird erstmals systematisch vorgestellt und angewendet. Es wird gezeigt, wie mit den Kategorien der Jugend und der jungen Menschen versteckte Annahmen, Interessen, Geschichten und Stimmen zum Vorschein gebracht werden können. Dabei werden völkerrechtliche Institutionen, Normen und Konzepte einer Untersuchung und Kritik zugeführt. Dies bereitet die Grundlage für einen distinkten Forschungsbereich, der sich der Jugend und jungen Menschen im Völkerrecht widmet.

New Issue: Michigan Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Michigan Journal of International Law (Vol. 47, no. 1, 2026) is out. Contents include:

• Harlan Grant Cohen, The International Order, International Law, and the Definition of Security
• Julian Arato, The Institution of Exceptions: Justification in Trade and Investment Treaties
• Pearle M. Lipinski, Escape Probability: Rethinking Wartime Protection of Nuclear Facilities

Schneiderman: A Sociology of International Investment Law: Themes from Max Weber

David Schneiderman (Univ. of Toronto - Law) has published A Sociology of International Investment Law: Themes from Max Weber (Oxford Univ. Press 2026). This is an open access title. Here's the abstract:

A Sociology of International Investment Law applies methods associated with the sociologist Max Weber to illuminate aspects of international investment law - a regime made up of thousands of treaties that protect foreign investors from state action diminishing the value of their investments. By applying many of Weber's key themes associated with legal modernity - legitimacy, rationality, domination, bureaucracy, and charisma - the book conscripts tools of analysis that enable the testing of many of investment law's operating assumptions.

A Sociology of International Investment Law Law is premised on the belief that theory informs practice and that enlisting aspects of Weber's work illuminates the contemporary practice of, and debates over, international investment law. Utilizing Weber's themes and methods, results in a deeper appreciation of the connections of international investment law has with classical social theory. The book also reveals how the field fails to measure up to many of the analytical challenges that Weber's sociological interventions provoke. This book offers an exploration of the commonalities, differences, and blind spots shared by this relatively new international legal field with one of the most influential theorists of modernity.

Call for Papers: 2027 ESIL Research Forum

A call for papers has been issued for the 2027 ESIL Research Forum, which will take place April 22–23, 2027, and hosted by the Faculty of Law, University of Maribor, Slovenia. The topic is: “The European Union, the Council of Europe, and Other Regional Organisations in a Changing World.” The Forum promotes engagement with research in progress by members of the Society in the early stages of their careers. The call is here. The deadline is September 30, 2026.

Hakimi: International Law and Power Politics: On Koskenniemi's Perceptions of Justice

Monica Hakimi (Columbia Univ. - Law) has posted International Law and Power Politics: On Koskenniemi's Perceptions of Justice. Here's the abstract:

Martti Koskenniemi wrote "Perceptions of Justice" against the backdrop of the 2003 Iraq War. The piece draws a stark distinction between American and European conceptions of justice--and approaches to international law. Over twenty years later, his distinction might still (or again) resonate. This retrospective analyzes it in light of his other work and more contemporary events, arguing that it is a mix of misguided and confused. The United States and Europe have for decades, if not centuries, been profoundly entwined; each has significantly shaped and been shaped by its relationship with the other. The urgent question now is not what our distinct, essential characteristics might be but how we will redefine ourselves going forward, given the enormous challenges that we both, and the world more generally, confront. We are unlikely to make much progress on this question so long as we imagine, as Koskenniemi and the U.S. Trump Administration both seem to do, that if law does not constrain power, it must just be the sieve through which power runs.

Benvenisti: Trustees of Humanity: From Juridical Metaphor to Legal Concept

Eyal Benvenisti (Tel Aviv Univ. - Law) has posted Trustees of Humanity: From Juridical Metaphor to Legal Concept. Here's the abstract:

The International Court of Justice's 2025 Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change deploys the phrase 'trustees of humanity' in the context of intergenerational equity, offering a striking convergence with the theory of sovereignty advanced in my Sovereigns as Trustees of Humanity (2013). This essay examines the relationship between the two. It argues that the Opinion supports the earlier theory in several important respectsrejecting purely domestic conceptions of sovereign responsibility, affirming sovereignty's embedment in a broader normative order, and requiring other-regarding conduct-while also developing it in ways unforeseen by the earlier account. The essay also argues that the trusteeship framework resolves a question the Opinion leaves open: when do States' obligations with respect to greenhouse gas emissions arise? Finally, the essay reflects on the Opinion's possible significance for the evolving grammar of sovereignty in light of contemporary geopolitical challenges.

Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lectures 2026

On June 8-10, 2026, Dapo Akande (Univ. of Oxford - Law) will deliver the 2026 Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lectures. The topic is: "Immunities of State Officials and Prosecutions for International Crimes - Where does the Law Stand?" Details are here.

Jones: The Invention of the Continental Shelf: Foreshores and Minerals under the Sea around Cornwall [1854] – an Arbitration between The Crown and The Duchy of Cornwall

Henry Jones (Univ. of Durham - Law) has posted The Invention of the Continental Shelf: Foreshores and Minerals under the Sea around Cornwall [1854] – an Arbitration between The Crown and The Duchy of Cornwall (British Yearbook of International Law, forthcoming) Here's the abstract:

The extension of coastal state sovereign rights over the sea and seabed up to 200 nautical miles was a seismic change in global order. It nearly doubled the amount of the globe subject to state sovereignty, an equivalent change in geopolitics to that of European colonialism. This article searches for the origin of this fundamental change, going back to the first international lawyers to write about the continental shelf, and following where they found historical precedent. I find the origin of the continental shelf in a mid-19th century dispute between the British Crown and the Duchy of Cornwall, over tin mines in that county. In this dispute the legal arguments and conceptual innovations needed for the continental shelf are invented. These innovations allowed for the extension of territory and sovereignty out to sea for the first time in a way which is familiar today. The invention of the continental shelf required nothing less than to fundamentally change how territory and sovereignty are understood.

Perez-Leon-Acevedo & Yepez: The Institutional Pillars of the Latin American Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Human Rights-Based Approach to Health

Juan-Pablo Perez-Leon-Acevedo & Jose Yepez have published The Institutional Pillars of the Latin American Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Human Rights-Based Approach to Health (UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs, Vol. 29, no. 2, 2026). Here's the abstract:

Latin America has arguably been the most affected region by the COVID-19 pandemic, yet there is no academic article or academic publication on institutional regional responses to the pandemic concerning the right to health. Hence, this article aims to fill that scholarship gap by answering the following question: how have regional bodies responded to COVID-19 concerning the right to health in Latin America? It is overall argued and found herein that: (1) there is a regional system on the right to health in pandemics such as COVID-19, about which a human rights-based approach provides a unifying standard; and (2) this system is embedded within the Organization of American States’ three-pillar framework, consisting of the Pan-American Health Organization, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. A human rights-based approach to health, which relies on international human rights law on the right to health, is considered a key component of the conceptual general framework herein. The Article analyzes the COVID-19 related practices of the three above-mentioned bodies. A central part of this Article’s methodology utilizes findings of convergences, synergies, and divergences between those bodies regarding the right to health during pandemics like COVID-19.

Call for Papers: Mapping International Law’s Second Worlds: Middle Powers, Semi-Peripheries and Shifting Hierarchies in the Global Legal Order

A call for papers has been issued for the second Second World Approaches to International Law conference, to take place November 16-17, 2026, at the Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University. The theme is: "Mapping International Law’s Second Worlds: Middle Powers, Semi-Peripheries and Shifting Hierarchies in the Global Legal Order." The call is here.

Conference: A Commitment to Global Multilateralism? Canada in the International Arena during the Trudeau Era (2015–2025)

On May 18–19, 2026, a conference on "A Commitment to Global Multilateralism? Canada in the International Arena during the Trudeau Era (2015–2025)" will be held at the University of Messina. Details are here.

Call for Papers: 2026 ASIL Research Forum

The American Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its 2026 Research Forum, a part of the Society's Midyear Meeting, which will be held November 5-7, at Santa Clara University School of Law. The deadline is June 5, 2026, at 5:00pm EDT. The call is here.

Dothan: The Way to Hell: When International Law Violations Spiral Out of Control

Shai Dothan (Univ. of Copenhagen - Law) has posted The Way to Hell: When International Law Violations Spiral Out of Control (Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Severe violations of international law tend to spread from one country to another. No country would like to be left behind while its enemies or neighbors gain an advantage through violating international law. This paper investigates three case studies of extreme cascades into blatant international law violations: the growing practice of bombing cities during the Second World War, the spreading of the practice of torture after the terrorist attack on 9/11, and the expansion of the practice of targeted killings in recent years. The goal of these case studies is to illustrate the mechanisms that make a cascade towards increasing violations of international law likely to happen. By understanding these mechanisms, it is possible to think about how such harmful cascades can be slowed down, stopped, or even reversed.

New Issue: Chinese Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Chinese Journal of International Law (Vol. 25, no. 1, March 2026) is out. Contents include:

• Editorial Comments in Honor of the United Nations at 80 and the Bandung Conference at 70 (Part I)
• Zhenmin LIU, United Nations to Be Reformed, Not Replaced: Toward a Better Shared Future for Humanity
• Xinxiang Shi & Zhengqian Li, The Role of the United Nations in the Maintenance of International Peace and Security
• Yang Liu, United Nations and Human Rights: A Brief Reflection
• Wei Shen, United Nations and Development
• Jinyuan Su, United Nations and Global Commons Governance
• Articles
• Lingjie Kong & Yanling Liu, Australia’s Obligations for the Acquisition and Operation of Nuclear Submarines under AUKUS: What Can Article 14 of its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA Tell us?
• Dennis J Baker, From Regulation to Crime Control: Preventive Justice in the Governance of Global Markets
• Letters to the Journal
• Marco Longobardo, The Extraterritorial Application of Human Rights in Armed Conflict in the DRC v. Rwanda Case in the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
• Xiaolin LI & Guangjian TU, Agudas Chasidei Chabad of U.S. v. Russian Federation: Reaffirming the Narrow Reach of the FSIA Expropriation Exception against Foreign States

New Issue: Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d'histoire du droit international

The latest issue of the Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d'histoire du droit international (Vol. 28, no. 1, 2026) is out. Contents include:

• Rémi Fuhrmann, Localising Civil Wars: International Law, the Spanish Civil War, and the Institutionalisation of ‘Non-Intervention’
• Eleni Ilia, On Creating a Space Power: The United States, International Law, and the Shaping of Outer Space in the 1950s and 1960s
• Julian Lubini, The Beginnings of International Nature Conservation Law with the Svalbard (Spitsbergen) Treaty of 1920: A Transnational Initiative of European Natural and Legal Scientists