Call for Submissions: World Trade Review Symposium on "War, Sanctions, and the Future of the Trade Regime"

The World Trade Review has issued a call for submissions for a symposium to be published in the journal on "War, Sanctions, and the Future of the Trade Regime." The call is here.

Yackee: Colonialism, Foreign Investment and Property Rights Reconsidered

Jason W. Yackee (Univ. of Wisconsin - Law) has posted Colonialism, Foreign Investment and Property Rights Reconsidered. Here's the abstract:

In an article in IO, now somewhat old but still regularly cited, Professor Jeffrey Frieden (1994) imaginatively presented European colonialism as resolving what has become known as the “credible commitment” problem in the IPE literature on foreign investment. Frieden claimed that colonialism’s aim or function was to prevent expropriation of metropolitan investment. I revisit Frieden’s provocative interpretation, arguing that it gets things wrong—both about colonialism and investment. The better interpretation highlights themes associated with the school of historical rather than of rational institutionalism: the role of subjective ideas; of path dependence, and of unintended consequences. Through a close examination of French colonialism in Africa I show that the problem of credible commitment was both subjectively and objectively absent, and that patterns of colonial investment are better explained as a function of material factors, then-dominant economic beliefs and ideas, and the French government’s policy interventions and abstentions. The investment story of French colonialism in Africa is about the relative lack of private investment—arguably due, at least in part, to an excess of rights, allocated to the wrong people and of the wrong type—even in those sectors of the economy that Frieden suggests are most sensitive to the colonial resolution of credible commitment problems.

Call for Papers: Nordic Jurists and Legal Internationalism, 1880s-1970s

PluriCourts at the University of Oslo, the Centre for Modern European Studies at the University of Copenhagen, and the Hans Blix Centre for the History of International Relations at Stockholm University are co-organizing two workshops on Nordic jurists and legal internationalism in the 1880s-1970s. The two workshops will take place September 12-14, 2022, in Copenhagen and January 26-28, 2023, in Stockholm. The call is here. The deadline is April 1, 2022.

New Issue: Chicago Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Chicago Journal of International Law (Vol. 22, no. 2, Winter 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Tom Dannenbaum, Siege Starvation: A War Crime of Societal Torture
• Weixia Gu & Jacky Tam, The Global Rise of International Commercial Courts: Typology and Power Dynamics
• Oren Tamir, Political Stare Decisis
• Shelly Aviv Yeini, The Persistent Objector Doctrine: Identifying Contradictions

Call for Papers: 51st Annual Conference of the Canadian Council on International Law

The Canadian Council on International Law has issued a call for papers for its 51st Annual Conference, which will take place October 27-28, 2022, in Ottawa. The theme is "Solidarity and Enlightened Self-Interest in International Law: Relic or Aspiration?" The call is here.

Goodale: Reinventing Human Rights

Mark Goodale (Univ. of Lausanne - Anthropology) has published Reinventing Human Rights (Stanford Univ. Press 2022). Here's the abstract:

A radical vision for the future of human rights as a fundamentally reconfigured framework for global justice.

Reinventing Human Rights offers a bold argument: that only a radically reformulated approach to human rights will prove adequate to confront and overcome the most consequential global problems. Charting a new path—away from either common critiques of the various incapacities of the international human rights system or advocacy for the status quo—Mark Goodale offers a new vision for human rights as a basis for collective action and moral renewal.

Goodale's proposition to reinvent human rights begins with a deep unpacking of human rights institutionalism and political theory in order to give priority to the "practice of human rights." Rather than a priori claims to universality, he calls for a working theory of human rights defined by "translocality," a conceptual and ethical grounding that invites people to form alliances beyond established boundaries of community, nation, race, or religious identity.

This book will serve as both a concrete blueprint and source of inspiration for those who want to preserve human rights as a key framework for confronting our manifold contemporary challenges, yet who agree—for many different reasons—that to do so requires radical reappraisal, imaginative reconceptualization, and a willingness to reinvent human rights as a cross-cultural foundation for both empowerment and social action.

Panepinto: Truth and Transitional Justice: Localising the International Legal Framework in Muslim Majority Legal Systems

Alice Panepinto (Queen’s Univ., Belfast - Law) has published Truth and Transitional Justice: Localising the International Legal Framework in Muslim Majority Legal Systems (Hart Publishing 2022). Here's the abstract:

With a unique transitional justice perspective on the Arab Spring, this book assesses the relocation of transitional justice from the international paradigm to Islamic legal systems.

The Arab uprisings and new and old conflicts in the Middle East, North Africa and other contexts where Islam is a prominent religion have sparked an interest in localising transitional justice in the legal systems of Muslim-majority communities to uncover the truth about past abuse and ensure accountability for widespread human rights violations. This raises pressing questions around how the international paradigm of transitional justice, and in particular its truth-seeking aims, might be implemented and adapted to local settings characterised by Muslim majority populations, and at the same time drawing from relevant norms and principles of Islamic law.

This book offers a critical analysis of the relocation of transitional justice from the international paradigm to the legal systems of Muslim-majority societies in light of the inherently pluralistic realities of these contexts. It also investigates synergies between international law and Islamic law in furthering truth-seeking, the formation of collective memories and the victims' right to know the truth, as key aims of the international paradigm of transitional justice and broadly supported by the shari'ah. This book will be a useful reference for scholars, practitioners and policymakers seeking to better understand the normative underpinnings of (potential) transitional truth-seeking initiatives in the legal systems of Muslim-majority societies. At the same time, it also proposes a more critical and creative way of thinking about the challenges and opportunities of localising transitional justice in contexts where the principles and ideas of Islamic law carry different meanings.

Call for Papers: Lights and Shadows in the Ongwen Case at the International Criminal Court: Inter- and Multi-disciplinary approaches

The research project team Negotiating International Criminal Law, Department of Language and Communication Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, has issued a call for papers for an online seminar on "Lights and Shadows in the Ongwen Case at the International Criminal Court: Inter- and Multi-disciplinary approaches," to be held October 13-14, 2022. The call is here.

Ramcharan: Modernizing the Role of the International Court of Justice

Bertrand Ramcharan has published Modernizing the Role of the International Court of Justice (Asser Press 2022). Here's the abstract:

This book discusses the future role of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a world facing survival challenges. It discusses threats such as climate change, environmental degradation and pandemics, and argues that in the future the ICJ will need to carry out judicial, security and protection functions as it is the only organ of the United Nations (UN) that can discharge such functions in view of its independence and expertise. The author proposes that the ICJ can apply a hitherto unused jurisdictional provision in Article 36 of its statute that allows it to deal with "All Matters Specially Provided for in the UN Charter" and presents three examples of issues that would require the urgent attention of the ICJ: vaccine equity in a global pandemic, climate disaster, and mass movements of people across frontiers due to climate change and environmental degradation.

Call for Submissions: AJIL Symposium on "The War in Ukraine and the Future of the International Legal Order"

The American Journal of International Law has issued a call for submissions for a symposium to be published in an upcoming issue on “The War in Ukraine and the Future of the International Legal Order.” The call is here.

New Issue: Global Trade and Customs Journal

The latest issue of Global Trade and Customs Journal (Vol. 17, no. 3, 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Sandra L. Bell & Amadi Anene, Meeting the Challenges of Customs Compliance in a Post TFTEA and Reinvigorated Trade Enforcement Environment: Go Beyond by Returning to Basics
• Omer Wagner, The COVID-19 Pandemics’ Impact on Customs Valuation and Import Duties: An Israel Perspective, and a Wider Comparison
• Olga Biryukova, ‘Shaken Not Stirred’: WTO as a Ground for Plurilateral Initiatives
• Jöran Gesinn, The Logistics Service Providers’ Pre-tax Deduction of Import VAT Is Still a Pipe Dream and the Recent ECJ Decision Hasn’t Changed That: Or Has It?
• Alessandro Fruscione, Dual Use Items: A Whole New Export Regulation in the European Union
• Laura Fraedrich, Interview: Interview of Brian Murphy, Former Chief of Intelligence, Department of Homeland Security

Conference: Cambridge International Law Journal 11th Annual Conference

The Cambridge International Law Journal will hold its 11th Annual Conference online on March 26-27, 2022. The theme is: "Strengthening Global Governance through International Law: Challenges and Opportunities." Program and registration are here.

Huck: Sustainable Development Goals: Article-by-Article Commentary

Winfried Huck (Brunswick European Law School) has published Sustainable Development Goals: Article-by-Article Commentary (Nomos 2022). Here's the abstract:

The UN Resolution Transforming our world: “the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” set in forth at 1 January 2016 enshrines 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including 169 targets and seems a conceptual, normative answer to the global fluid pattern of economic transformation, shortly: the globalisation. Against this background, the SDGs are embarking to the multileveled legal order, following different horizontal and vertical ways. The significance of the SDGs for the application of the law in the context of regulations of the international level within the UN and autonomous International Organisations appears to be clearly visible. On the vertical level regional cooperation such as the EU, ASEAN, CARICOM, are integrating the SDGs in different legal agreements and similar currently happens on the national level and not to forget the transnational level as well. This new Commentary covers the whole field of SDG law.

Symposium: The Ethics of Indirect Intervention

The latest issue of the Journal of Applied Philosophy (Vol. 39, no. 1, February 2022) contains a symposium on "The Ethics of Indirect Intervention." Contents include:

• Symposium: The Ethics of Indirect Intervention
• Helen Frowe & Benjamin Matheson, Introduction: Symposium on The Ethics of Indirect Intervention
• James Christensen, Selling Arms and Expressing Harm
• Helen Frowe, Liability for Wrongful Assistance: On Causing Unjust Harm in the Course of Suboptimal Rescue
• Christopher J. Finlay, Assisting Rebels Abroad: The Ethics of Violence at the Limits of the Defensive Paradigm

Benvenisti: The Birth and Life of the Definition of Military Objectives

Eyal Benvenisti (Univ. of Cambridge - Law) has posted The Birth and Life of the Definition of Military Objectives (International and Comparative Law Quarterly, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The forgotten story of the birth and life of the definition of ‘military objectives’ is relevant to the ongoing discussion about the need to adapt the law to asymmetric warfare. This definition, authored by a West-German law professor and a former member of the Nazi party, was driven by a Western effort to privilege regular armies while curbing the actions of guerrilla fighters and exposing their civilian supporters to harm. The Non-Aligned Movement turned the tide by burdening regular armies while exempting irregular combatants from the consequences of disregarding the law. It was only through judicial intervention—grounded in an imagined history of the linear progress of humanity—that civilians on both sides of asymmetric conflicts would ultimately become entitled to receive adequate protection.

New Issue: International Legal Materials

The latest issue of International Legal Materials (Vol. 61, no. 2, April 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe (U.S. Sup. Ct.), with introductory note by William S. Dodge
• Directive 2311.01 on the Law of War Program (U.S. Dept. Defense), with introductory note by Rachel E. VanLandingham
• Prosecutor v. Mladić (U.N. Int'l Residual Mechanism Crim. Tribunals App. Chamber), with introductory note by Steven Arrigg Koh

Call for Papers: ‘The Natural’ in International Law

The Asia School of Business, the Amsterdam Center for International Law, and the Graduate Institute Global Governance Centre have issued a call for papers for a workshop on “The ‘Natural’ in International Law,” to be held at the University of Amsterdam on September 8-9, 2022. The call is here.

Grzebyk: Human and Non-Human Targets in Armed Conflicts

Patrycja Grzebyk (Univ. of Warsaw) has published Human and Non-Human Targets in Armed Conflicts (Cambridge Univ. Press 2022). Here's the abstract:

What norms apply to the determination of lawful targets? What persons and objects may be lawfully targeted in armed conflict? What are the reasons, both legal and extra-legal, of civilian losses? What principles must be observed when attacking military objectives? How can the protection of persons who are not participating in hostilities can be strengthened? Is it possible to develop a consistent approach to targeting in armed conflict regardless of the legal qualification of the armed conflict? This monograph answers these questions and many more. Taking into account both military objectives and civilian objects, it considers the extent of their protection in a range of contexts, providing an essential source of reference for scholars dealing with issues across international humanitarian law and armed conflict.

New Issue: Security Studies

The latest issue of Security Studies (Vol. 31, no. 1, 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Janina Dill, Scott D. Sagan & Benjamin A. Valentino, Kettles of Hawks: Public Opinion on the Nuclear Taboo and Noncombatant Immunity in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Israel
• Erica D. Lonergan & Shawn W. Lonergan, Cyber Operations, Accommodative Signaling, and the De-Escalation of International Crises
• Max Smeets, Cyber Arms Transfer: Meaning, Limits, and Implications
• Brian Blankenship & Erik Lin-Greenberg, Trivial Tripwires?: Military Capabilities and Alliance Reassurance
• Risa Brooks & Peter B. White, Oust the Leader, Keep the Regime? Autocratic Civil-Military Relations and Coup Behavior in the Tunisian and Egyptian Militaries during the 2011 Arab Spring
• Ariel Zellman & Davis Brown, Uneasy Lies the Crown: External Threats to Religious Legitimacy and Interstate Dispute Militarization

New Issue: Ocean Development & International Law

The latest issue of Ocean Development & International Law (Vol. 52, no. 4, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Gabriela A. Oanta, European Union–Falkland Islands Fisheries Relations Post Brexit
• Nigel Bankes, The Jurisdiction of the Dispute Settlement Bodies of the Law of the Sea Convention With Respect to Other Treaties
• Clive R. Symmons, Recent Developments Concerning Irish Straight Baselines and Bay Closing Lines
• Jan Jakub Solski, The ‘Due Regard’ of Article 234 of UNCLOS: Lessons From Regulating Innocent Passage in the Territorial Sea
• Lan Ngoc Nguyen, Expanding the Environmental Regulatory Scope of UNCLOS Through the Rule of Reference: Potentials and Limits
• Junghwan Choi & Sangil Lee, Legal Status of the Remote Operator in Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) Under Maritime Law

New Issue: Journal of International Economic Law

The latest issue of the Journal of International Economic Law (Vol. 25, no. 1, March 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Jane Kelsey, The Illegitimacy of Joint Statement Initiatives and Their Systemic Implications for the WTO
• Christian Delev, Straining the Spaghetti Bowl: Re-Evaluating the Regulation of Preferential Rules of Origin
• Bernard Hoekman & Hugo Rojas-Romagosa, EU Trade Sustainability Impact Assessments: Revisiting the Consultation Process
• Eva Johan & Hanna Schebesta, Religious Regulation Meets International Trade Law: Halal Measures, a Trade Obstacle? Evidence from the SPS and TBT Committees
• Ksenia Polonskaya, The Strategies of the International Chamber of Commerce to Eliminate Double Taxation
• Magdalena Słok-Wódkowska & Joanna Mazur, Secrecy by Default: How Regional Trade Agreements Reshape Protection of Source Code
• Julien Chaisse, Manfred Elsig, Sufian Jusoh, & Andrew Lugg, Drafting Investment Law: Patterns of Influence in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
• Yanwen Zhang, The Judicial Function of Investment Tribunals: Taking Foundational Assumptions Seriously
• Oliver Hailes, Lithium in International Law: Trade, Investment, and the Pursuit of Supply Chain Justice
• Juan He, Sustainable Seafood Consumption in Action: Reinvigorating Consumers’ Right to Information in a Borderless Digital World

New Issue: Italian Review of International and Comparative Law

The latest issue of the Italian Review of International and Comparative Law (Vol. 1, no. 2, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Francesco Seatzu & Paolo Vargiu, Three Views of a Secret: Missed Opportunities in the echr’s Recent Case-Law on International Commercial Arbitration
• Angioletta Sperti, Constitutional Courts Speak Their Voice: Their Fight Against Fake News and Disinformation on Constitutional Justice
• Gianpaolo Maria Ruotolo, Abolish the Rules Made of Stone? Contemporary International Law and the models to Internet Regulations
• Oreste Pollicino, The Transatlantic Dimension of the Judicial Protection of Fundamental Rights Online
• Marco Bassini, Social Networks as New Public Forums? Enforcing the Rule of Law in the Digital Environment
• Giovanni De Gregorio, The Transnational Dimension of Data Protection: Comparative Perspectives from Digital Constitutionalism
• Diego Mauri, A New Technique for Implementing ECtHR Judgments: Will It Work? The Corte Costituzionale “Urges” the Houses to Reform the Ergastolo Ostativo Note to: Corte Costituzionale, 15 April 2021, Order No. 97
• Giorgia Berrino, “Plus Ça Change, Plus C’est la Même Chose”: State Immunity and International Crimes in Judgment No. 20442/2020 of the Corte di Cassazione Note to: Corte di Cassazione (Sezioni Unite Civili), P.T. v. Federal Republic of Germany and Republic of Italy, 28 September 2020, No. 20442
• Stefano Dominelli, Unjustified Interruption of the Taking Evidence by the Court of Origin as a Ground to Refuse Cross-Border Enforcement Under the Brussels I Rules Note to: Corte di Cassazione (Sez. I civile), F.L. v. Ministry of the Interior and Attorney General at the Court of Appeal of Naples, 26 February 2021, No. 5327
• Fabrizio Marongiu Buonaiuti, The Law Applicable to Succession, Between Unity and Splitting of the Relevant Legal Regime The Role of Renvoi Note to: Corte di Cassazione (Sezioni Unite Civili), 5 February 2021, No. 2867
• Orlando Scarcello, Opinion of Advocate General Hogan in Randstad Italia: Disarming the Constitutional Bomb Note to: Opinion of Advocate General Hogan, Case C-497/20, Randstad Italia, 2021
• Giuliana Lampo, Italy’s Exercise of Foreign Investment Screening Power against Chinese Takeover: An Assessment under International Law
• Gustavo Minervini, Italian Citizenship Attribution to Patrick Zaki: An International Law Perspective
• Angelo Schillaci, Back at It. Italy’s Struggle for a Law against Homophobia and Transphobia: Freedom of Expression versus Equal Dignity?

New Issue: Journal of Conflict Resolution

The latest issue of the Journal of Conflict Resolution (Vol. 66, no. 3, April 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Michael Denly, Michael G. Findley, Joelean Hall, Andrew Stravers, & James Igoe Walsh, Do Natural Resources Really Cause Civil Conflict? Evidence from the New Global Resources Dataset
• Patrick Gill-Tiney, A Liberal Peace?: The Growth of Liberal Norms and the Decline of Interstate Violence
• Tyler Kustra, Sanctioning the Homeland: Diasporas’ Influence on American Economic Sanctions Policy
• Michelle Benson & Colin Tucker, The Importance of UN Security Council Resolutions in Peacekeeping Operations*
• Maura R. Cremin & Bogdan G. Popescu, Sticks and Stones? Connecting Insurgent Propaganda with Violent Outcomes
• Stephen Stapleton, Andres Uribe, Austin L. Wright, Televising Justice during War
• Data Set Feature
• Christopher J. Fariss, Therese Anders, Jonathan N. Markowitz, & Miriam Barnum, New Estimates of Over 500 Years of Historic GDP and Population Data

Call for Papers: ILA 80th Biennial Conference

The International Law Association has issued a call for papers for its 80th Biennial Conference, June 19-24, 2022, in Lisbon. The theme is: "International Law: Our Common Good." The call is here. The deadline is March 31, 2022.

New Issue: The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals

The latest issue of The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals (Vol. 21, no. 1, 2022) is out. Contents include:

• Alain Pellet, Adieu, James Crawford
• Marco Dimetto, “To Fall, or Not to Fall, That Is the (Preliminary) Question”: Disputes, Compromissory Clauses and Swinging Jurisdictional Tests at the ICJ
• Kit De Vriese, How to?: A Methodological Guide to Identify a Treaty’s Object and Purpose
• Gian Maria Farnelli, Consistency in the ICJ’s Approach to the Standard of Proof: An Appraisal of the Court’s Flexibility
• Brian McGarry & Yusra Suedi, Judicial Reasoning and Non-State Participation before Inter-State Courts and Tribunals
• Thomas-Nektarios Papanastasiou, The Role of Human Rights in International Investment Arbitration: Arguments Raised by the Parties and Procedural Implications
• Kieran Bradley, Appointment and Dis-Appointment at the CJEU: Part II – The Sharpston Litigation
• Nilüfer Oral & Massimo Lando, International Procedure between Past and Future – Procedural Developments in Law of the Sea Dispute Settlement in 2021