Symposium: WTO Litigation: Issues and Reforms

The Sydney Centre for International Law will host a symposium on "WTO Litigation: Issues and Reforms," August 14, 2009. The program is available here. Here's the idea:

Litigation in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) affects issues of paramount importance to Australia, and its trade relations.

To further scholarship and understanding in relation to this emerging system of law, this symposium will consider various issues arising in WTO dispute settlement including treaty interpretation; burden of proof; standard of review; retaliation procedures; and the WTO negotiations reviewing the WTO Understanding on Dispute Settlement.

Conference: Changing Futures? Science and International Law

The American Society of International Law and the European Society of International Law will co-host a conference on "Changing Futures? Science and International Law," October 2-3, 2009, in Helsinki. (I posted the call for papers previously.) The program is now available here; panel details are here.

New Issue: Leiden Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Leiden Journal of International Law (Vol. 22, no. 3, September 2009) is out. Contents include:

• Robert Knox, Marxism, International Law, and Political Strategy
• Sonja Buckel & Andreas Fischer-Lescano, Gramsci Reconsidered: Hegemony in Global Law
• Hague International Tribunals: International Court of Justice
• Gionata Piero Buzzini, Lights and Shadows of Immunities and Inviolability of State Officials in International Law: Some Comments on the Djibouti v. France Case
• Hague International Tribunals: The International Criminal Court and Tribunals
• Håkan Friman, The International Criminal Court and Participation of Victims: A Third Party to the Proceedings?
• Wayne Jordash, The Practice of ‘Witness Proofing’ in International Criminal Tribunals: Why the International Criminal Court Should Prohibit the Practice
• Stefan Kirsch, Two Kinds of Wrong: On the Context Element of Crimes against Humanity
• Leila Sadat, Transjudicial Dialogue and the Rwandan Genocide: Aspects of Antagonism and Complementarity
• Current Legal Developments
• Ilias Bantekas, The Authority of States to Use Names in International Law and the Macedonian Affair: Unilateral Entitlements, Historic Title, and Trademark Analogies
• Hemme Battjes, In Search of a Fair Balance: The Absolute Character of the Prohibition of Refoulement under Article 3 ECHR Reassessed

New Issue: Mealey's International Arbitration Report

The latest issue of Mealey's International Arbitration Report (Vol. 24, no. 7, July 2009) is out.

New Issue: Revue de l'Arbitrage

The latest issue of the Revue de l'Arbitrage (2009, no. 1) is out. Contents include:

• David Chilstein, Arbitrage et droit pénal
• Khalid Zaher, Le nouveau droit marocain de l'arbitrage interne et international

Lecture: Taniguchi

Yasuhei Taniguchi (formerly, WTO Appellate Body) will deliver a lecture today at the Sydney Law School on "Does the WTO really settle international trade disputes? Reflections of a WTO Judge, international arbitrator & civil procedure professor."

New Issue: Journal of International Criminal Justice

The latest issue of the Journal of International Criminal Justice (Vol. 7, no. 3, July 2009) is out. Contents include:

• Tzvetan Todorov, Memory as Remedy for Evil
• Janine Natalya Clark, The Limits of Retributive Justice: Findings of an Empirical Study in Bosnia and Hercegovina
• Sandesh Sivakumaran, Courts of Armed Opposition Groups: Fair Trials or Summary Justice?
• Symposium: Self-defence: Looking at International Law through the Prism of Domestic Criminal Law
• Salvatore Zappalà, Foreword
• Yoram Dinstein, The Hazards of Interdisciplinary Pollination: Some Critical Comments on Defending Humanity
• Richard V. Meyer, A Plea for Defending Humanity
• Harmen G. van der Wilt, Can Romantics and Liberals be Reconciled?: Some Further Reflections on Defending Humanity
• Yuval Shany, The Analogy's Limit: Defending the Rights of Peoples
• Richard V. Meyer & Mark David ‘Max’ Maxwell, The Natural Right to Intervene: The Evolution of the Concepts of Justification and Excuse for Both State and Individual
• National Prosecution of International Crimes: Cases and Legislation
• Nehal C. Bhuta & Volker Nerlich, Foreword
• Alfredo Strippoli, National Courts and Genocide: The Kravica Case at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Annalisa Ciampi, The Italian Court of Cassation Asserts Civil Jurisdiction over Germany in a Criminal Case Relating to the Second World War: The Civitella Case
• Sharon Weill, The Targeted Killing of Salah Shehadeh: From Gaza to Madrid
• Hugh King, Unravelling the Extraterritorial Riddle: An Analysis of R (Hassan) v. Secretary of State for Defence
• Anthology
• Antonio Cassese & Gabriel Bach, Eichmann: Is Evil So Banal?

New Issue: Journal of World Investment & Trade

The latest issue of the Journal of World Investment & Trade (Vol. 10, no. 3, June 2009) is out. Contents include:

• Florian Haugeneder, Corruption in Investor-State Arbitration
• Rahim Moloo & Alex Khachaturian, Foreign Investment in a Post-Conflict Environment
• An Chen & Dong Chen, What Should Be China's Strategic Position in the Establishment of New International Economic Order? With Comments on Neo-Liberalistic Economic Order, Constitutional Order of the WTO and Economic Nationalism's Disturbance of-Globalization
• Hakim Ben Hammouda, Stephen N. Karingi, Angelica E. Njuguna & Mustapha Sadni Jallab, Determinants of Diversification in Africa A Continental Analysis
• William Lawton Kirtley, The Transfer of Treaty Claims and Treaty-Shopping in Investor-State Disputes
• Badar Alam lqbal & Farha Naz Ghauri, Impact of Global Financial Crisis on FDI Inflows
• Georgios I. Zekos, Precedent and Stare Decisis by Arbitrations and Courts in Globalization

Buxbaum: Territory, Territoriality, and the Resolution of Jurisdictional Conflict

Hannah L. Buxbaum (Indiana Univ. - Law) has published Territory, Territoriality, and the Resolution of Jurisdictional Conflict (American Journal of Comparative Law, Vol. 57, no. 3, Summer 2009). Here's the abstract:

Ever-increasing gaps and overlaps in the national regulation of cross-border events challenge territorial sovereignty as the conceptual basis for rules on legislative jurisdiction. At the same time, the work of scholars in a range of disciplines, including international relations and critical geography, has complicated our understanding of the relationship between territory and power in the age of globalization. As a result, emerging models of jurisdictional theory are moving away from territory, and territorially based concepts of regulatory power, as the basis for defining legislative authority. What risks being overlooked in this shift is the critical step between re-thinking the construction of territory and rejecting the salience of territoriality to jurisdictional frameworks. While territorial contacts may function as simple factual inputs in jurisdictional analysis, "territoriality" and "extraterritoriality" are legal constructs—claims made by particular actors, and assessed by particular institutions, within particular legal systems. The meaning of such claims is therefore dependent upon the local practices and understandings of specific regimes. This Article uses a case study of the role of territory in U.S. and German competition law to uncover differences in those systems that affect their respective constructions of territoriality. It argues that local legal and institutional frameworks remain relevant in the transition from traditional conflicts models to newer regulatory strategies, and that the process of integrating critical reconceptualizations of territory into jurisdictional theories must account for differences in those frameworks across regimes.

Call for Papers: Research Conference on ICC and Complementarity: From Theory to Practice

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies (Leiden University, Campus The Hague) has issued a call for papers for a research conference on "The ICC and Complementarity: From Theory to Practice," to take place September 15-16, 2009. (The conference's tentative program is here; a list of speakers who have already committed to giving papers is here.) Here's the call:

Conference Invitation

The Grotius Centre and Campus The Hague are delighted to invite you to our Research Conference on the "ICC and Complementarity: From Theory to Practice" which will take place on September 15th and 16th 2009 at the Peace Palace and Campus Den Haag. Part of the presentations will be selected by a Call for Papers to which you are cordially invited to contribute.

Complementarity is one of the cornerstones of the architecture of the Rome Statute. The purpose of this conference is to provide fresh analysis of core aspects of the context, interpretation and treatment of complementarity and its application in specific situations.

The conference seeks to bring in insights and perspectives from political and social scientists as well as legal scholars. It will be interest to scholars, decisions-makers, policy advisors, NGO’s and practitioners who wish to explore how complementarity shapes various aspects of international practice, ranging from prosecutorial strategy and criminal policy to statutory interpretation, implementation and compliance.

Call for papers

The morning panel of the Conference on September 16 will be open to presentation by researchers and scholars, which will be determined by a Call for Papers. The Grotius Centre seeks submissions on the theme of the Conference/research project.

Scholars from all disciplines are invited to submit a proposal (1 page abstract and CV). A proposal should ideally focus on an article/paper project which makes a novel contribution to research in the field. All submissions will be reviewed by a panel. Up to four proposals can be selected for presentation.

If you would like to participate in this Call for Papers, please send your proposal by August 21 to grotiuscentre@campusdenhaag.nl.

Presented papers will be considered for publication in a Journal or volume.

New Issue: Chicago Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Chicago Journal of International Law (Vol. 10, no. 1, Summer 2009) is out. Contents include:

• Symposium: Great Power Politics
• Christopher J. Borgen, The Language of Law and the Practice of Politics: Great Powers and the Rhetoric of Self-Determination in the Cases of Kosovo and South Ossetia
• Robert J. Delahunty & John Yoo, Great Power Security
• Kenneth Anderson, United Nations Collective Security and the United States Security Guarantee in an Age of Rising Multipolarity: The Security Council as the Talking Shop of the Nations
• Paul B. Stephan, Symmetry and Selectivity: What Happens in International Law When the World Changes
• Daniel Abebe, Great Power Politics and the Structure of Foreign Relations Law
• Symposium: Anti-Competitive Behavior and International Law
• Daniel A. Crane, Substance, Procedure, and Institutions in the International Harmonization of Competition Policy
• David S. Evans, Why Different Jurisdictions Do Not (and Should Not) Adopt the Same Antitrust Rules
• Damien Geradin, The Perils of Antitrust Proliferation: The Globalization of Antitrust and the Risks of Overregulation of Competitive Behavior
• Randal D. Heeb, William E. Kovacic, Robert C. Marshall, & Leslie M. Marx, Cartels as Two-Stage Mechanisms: Implications for the Analysis of Dominant-Firm Conduct
• Cesare P.R. Romano, Can You Hear Me Now? The Case for Extending the International Judicial Network
• Shimon Shetreet, The Normative Cycle of Shaping Judicial Independence in Domestic and International Law: The Mutual Impact of National and International Jurisprudence and Contemporary Practical and Conceptual Challenges
• Carl Baudenbacher, If Not EEA State Liability, Then What? Reflections Ten Years after the EFTA Court's Sveinbjörnsdóttir Ruling

New Issue: Journal of International Maritime Law

The latest issue of the Journal of International Maritime Law (Vol. 15, no. 2, 2009) is out. Contents include:

• M.N. Tsimplis, Liability in respect of passenger claims and its limitation
• Duygu Damar, Compulsory insurance in international maritime conventions
• Iliana Chritodoulou-Varotsi, Demystifying air pollution from ships via trading schemes: how far can we go?

Conference: Ethics, Issue Conflicts and Arbitrator Challenges

The British Institute of International and Comparative Law will host the Thirteenth Investment Treaty Forum Public Conference on Friday, September 11, 2009. The theme is: "Ethics, Issue Conflicts and Arbitrator Challenges." Here's the idea:

In recent times ethical issues have featured prominently in investment treaty arbitration. Parties have challenged arbitrators on numerous occasions, in different forums, national and international (most recently in Hrvatska Elektroprivreda, d.d. v. Slovenia; EDF v Argentina awards and the NAFTA case Grandriver Enterprises v USA) and on a variety of grounds. The conference will review and analyze the emerging practice on relevant matters such as repeat appointments, issue conflicts, duty of disclosure, financial interest, same-chamber barrister participation and others, with a view to discern good practices in this area for both counsel and arbitrators.

A Note to Readers

Blogging will be lighter than usual over the next two weeks as I take some time off.

New Issue: Revue de l'Arbitrage

The latest issue of the Revue de l'Arbitrage (2008, no. 4) is out. Contents include:

• Andrea Pinna, L'annulation d'une sentence arbitrale partielle
• Maximin de Fontmichel, Arbitrage et actions de groupe - les leçons nord-américaines
• Jacques El Hakim, La nouvelle loi sur l'arbitrage en Syrie du 25 mars 2008

Arnardóttir & Quinn: The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Oddný Mjöll Arnardóttir (Reykjavík Univ. - Law) & Gerard Quinn (National Univ. of Ireland, Galway - Law) have published The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: European and Scandinavian Perspectives (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2009). Here's the abstract:

The International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the first human rights treaty adopted by the United Nations in the 21st century. It seeks to secure the equal and effective enjoyment of human rights for the estimated 650 million persons with disabilities in the world. It does so by tailoring general human rights norms to their circumstances. It reflects and advances the shift away from welfare to rights in the context of disability. The Convention itself represents a mix between non-discrimination and other substantive human rights and gives practical effect to the idea that all human rights are indivisible and interdependent. This collection of essays examines these developments from the global, European and Scandinavian perspectives and the challenge of transposing its provisions into national law. It marks the coming of age of disabilty as a core human rights concern.

Call for Papers: Investment Treaty Law and Arbitration - Evolution and Revolution in Substance and Procedure

Sydney Law School has issued a call for papers for its conference on "Investment Treaty Law and Arbitration - Evolution and Revolution in Substance and Procedure," February 19-20, 2010. Here's the call:

Conference Theme

This conference explores some of the most controversial issues in contemporary investment treaty law and arbitration discourse and practice. A global web of investment treaties has emerged, free trade agreements increasingly contain investment protection provisions, and investor–state arbitration is now well-established on the international plane as a significant dispute resolution mechanism. These developments are, however, impacting on a wide range of non-investment areas and politico-legal issues. The conference will explore these impacts, emerging issues in the nature of investment treaties, evolving jurisprudential trends, and potential changes in future direction for investment law and arbitration. Structurally, the conference will have two streams — one addressing the way in which developments in investment agreements and investment treaty arbitration are impacting on the substantive principles of international investment law, and one addressing emerging procedural issues. There will also be two further streams of cross-cutting issues — one addressing the interaction between investment arbitration and ‘commercially-oriented’ areas such as international commercial arbitration, WTO law, or international tax treaty dispute resolution; and one addressing the interaction between foreign investment law and policy with issues relating to the environment, development, human rights, and the Asia-Pacific.

Paper Proposals

Paper proposals are sought from both established and early-career researchers and practitioners, incorporating insights from a variety of disciplines. They must be submitted by 31 August 2009 to Kate Miles, Faculty of Law, University of Sydney, at k.miles@usyd.edu.au. Proposals should include the author’s name, institutional affiliation, full contact information, and an abstract of no more than 400 words. Please also include a short CV of the author.

Decisions on inclusion in the conference programme will be sent by 30 September 2009. Selected speakers will be expected to submit draft papers of 5,000–7,000 words by 1 February 2010. These draft papers will be made available to all conference participants to facilitate discussion. It is expected that post-conference publication will include an edited volume with an international publisher.

Chesterman: Global Administrative Law

Simon Chesterman (New York Univ. - Law, Singapore Program) has posted Global Administrative Law (Working Paper for the S.T. Lee Project on Global Governance). Here's the abstract:

Efforts to address global governance deficits approach the problem at a strategic or tactical level. Strategic efforts would reshape the politics or institutions of global order; tactical efforts focus on the processes of governance, either seeking to utilize informal networks for improved outcomes, or to formalize the processes themselves for greater accountability. This paper considers the last approach and the claims that “global administrative law” could remedy at least some accountability deficits at the global level. Recent challenges to the UN Security Council in the area of targeted financial sanctions are discussed, before sketching out what global administrative law might offer the governance challenges posed in the areas of energy, public health, and finance.

New Issue: Revue de l'Arbitrage

The latest issue of the Revue de l'Arbitrage (2008, no. 3) is out. Contents include:

• Anne Lefebvre-Teillard, Arbiter, arbitrator seu amicabilis compositor
• Horatia Muir Watt, Economie de la justice et arbitrage international (Réflexions sur la gouvernance privée dans la globalisation)
• Mohand Issad, La nouvelle loi algérienne relative à l'arbitrage international

New Issue: Harvard International Law Journal

The latest issue of the Harvard International Law Journal (Vol. 50, no. 2, Summer 2009) is out. Contents include:

• Rachel Brewster, Unpacking the State's Reputation
• Michael D. Ramsey, International Law Limits on Investor Liability in Human Rights Litigation
• Alex Whiting, In International Criminal Prosecutions, Justice Delayed Can Be Justice Delivered
• Sean Watts, Reciprocity and the Law of War
• Susan D. Franck, Development and Outcomes of Investment Treaty Arbitration

New Issue: Columbia Journal of Transnational Law

The latest issue of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law (Vol. 47, no. 3, 2009) is out. Contents include:

• Nuno Garoupa & Tom Ginsburg, Judicial Audiences and Reputation: Perspectives from Comparative Law
• Thierry J. Sénéchal & John Y. Gotanda, Interest as Damages
• José Alvarez, The Internationalization of U.S. Law

New Issue: World Arbitration and Mediation Review

The latest issue of the World Arbitration and Mediation Review (Vol. 2, no. 5, 2008) is out. Contents include:

• Christopher R. Drahozal, Disenchanted? Business Satisfaction With International Arbitration
• Alan Redfern, Stemming the Tide of Judicialisation in International Arbitration
• Christopher Whytock, The Arbitration-Litigation Relationship in Transnational Dispute Resolution: Empirical Insights from the U.S. Federal Courts
• Loukas Mistelis & Crina M. Baltag, Trends and Challenges in International Arbitration: Two Surveys of In-House Counsel of Major Corporations
• Michael Mcilwrath, Ignoring the Elephant in the Room: International Arbitration: Corporate Attitudes and Practices (2008)
• William K. Slate, II, International Arbitration - The Facts in Need of Data and Metrics - Less Reliance on Anecdotes

Klabbers: An Introduction to International Institutional Law (Second Edition)

Jan Klabbers (Univ. of Helsinki - Law) has published the second edition of An Introduction to International Institutional Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2009). Here's the abstract:

International institutions are powerful players on the world stage, and every student of international law requires a clear understanding of the forces that shape them. For example, with increasing global influence comes the need for internal control and accountability. This thought-provoking overview considers these and other forces that govern international institutions such as the UN, EU and WTO, and the complex relationship that exists between international organizations and their member states. Covering recent scholarly developments, such as the rise of constitutionalism and global administrative law, and analysing the impact of important cases, such as the ICJ’s Genocide case (2007) and the Behrami judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (2007), its clarity of explanation and analytical approach allow students to understand and think critically about a complex subject.

Conference: India-United States Nuclear Cooperation Agreement

The University of Reading, in association with Ambedkar Law University, Chennai, will be holding a workshop on September 14, 2009, to examine various issues arising from the India-United States Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (123 Agreement). Here's the announcement:

The 123 Agreement was signed by the United States and India in 2007 to operationalise the Joint Statement by United States President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2005 whereby India agreed to separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities and place the former under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. The purpose of the Agreement is to facilitate the exchange of civil nuclear technology between India and the United States. The Agreement is exceptional in that it goes against the grain of several decades of United States non-proliferation practice and implicitly recognises India’s status as a nuclear weapons state. Despite claims that the Agreement benefits India by ending its nuclear isolation and contributing to its burgeoning energy needs, there has been stinted opposition to the Agreement; the Singh government narrowly survived a no-confidence motion brought by opposition parties in 2008 over the issue.

The University of Reading, in association with Ambedkar Law University, Chennai, is organising a workshop on 14 September 2009 to examine various issues arising from the Agreement. The workshop, which is generously funded by the British Academy, will start at 8.30 and end at 16.45 and will take place at the School of Law, Foxhill House, University of Reading. Panellists from South Asia, Europe, and the United States will address such topics as the Agreement’s legal issues, implications for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and theoretical perspectives.

Those who would like to attend the all-day workshop can register by contacting Mrs. Deborah Edwards (d.edwards@reading.ac.uk), who can advise as to payment. The fee, which includes lunch and coffee breaks in the morning and afternoon, is £20 for non-students and £10 for students. Numbers are limited. Cancellations to bookings made on or before Wednesday, 9 September 2009, will be refunded in full. Cancellations received after 9 September 2009 will be non-refundable.

New Issue: Archiv des Völkerrechts

The latest issue of Archiv des Völkerrechts (Vol. 47, no. 2, June 2009) is out. Contents include:

• Friedrich Germelmann, Heiliger Stuhl und Vatikanstaat in der internationalen Gemeinschaft: Völkerrechtliche Praxis und interne Beziehungen
• Christina Binder, Die Veränderung innerstaatlicher Verhältnisse als Nichterfüllungsgrund von völkerrechtlichen Vertragspflichten:
  Welche Rolle spielen demokratiepolitische und menschenrechtliche Erwägungen?
• Donald Rižnik, Die voraussichtliche Schließung des ICTY im Jahre 2013: Ein Freibrief für flüchtige Kriegsverbrecher?: Die Bewältigungsstrategie und ihre Folgen