Alter: Contracting v. Multilateralism in Global Economic Governance: Before, during and after the WTO

Karen J. Alter (Northwestern Univ. - Political Science; Univ. of Copenhagen - iCourts) has posted Contracting v. Multilateralism in Global Economic Governance: Before, during and after the WTO (in International Economic Dispute Settlement: Demise or Transformation?, Manfred Elsig, Rodrigo Polanco & Peter van den Bossche eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This chapter, for a book focused on the future of the World Trade Organization, discusses three ways that global economic law and corresponding transnational dispute settlement systems have been constructed across time: via private contracting, inter-state contracting, or through principled multilateralism. Offering a global capitalism and law perspective, the chapter compares the ideal type of each model to the historical practice, identifying what multilateralism provides that contracting does not. The larger argument is that all three modes of law-making should and will co-exist. We should therefore be thinking about which mode of law-making is best for a particular issue or context, and how we might use the other modes to address problems that arise in each approach. The chapter then considers how contracting can supplant the WTO, and the tradeoffs associated with such an outcome.

Ninth Annual Junior Faculty Forum for International Law

The Ninth Annual Junior Faculty Forum for International Law will be held in virtual format starting today. The Forum will take place over five closed sessions on September 10, October 1, October 2, October 8, and October 9, 2020, and is convened by J.H.H. Weiler (New York Univ. - Law), Sarah M.H. Nouwen (European Univ. Institute - Law) and Dino Kritsiotis (Univ. of Nottingham - Law), with guest convenors HAN Lyu and ZHU Jingwen (both of Renmin Law School, Beijing). Thirteen junior scholars have been selected to present their work. The program is here.

Conference: 49th Annual Conference of the Canadian Council on International Law

The Canadian Council on International Law will hold its 49th Annual Conference virtually on October 29-30, 2020. The theme is "International Law in 2020: Fit for Purpose?" In addition, two webinars will precede the conference, on October 1 and October 15, and two will follow, on November 12 and November 26. The full program will be available here.

New Issue: Diritti umani e diritto internazionale

The latest issue of Diritti umani e diritto internazionale (Vol. 14, no. 2, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Studi
• Eduardo Savarese, ‘What Is Done, Is Done’: come non espugnare la filiazione internazionalprivatistica, ma armonizzarla con i diritti umani
• Gabriele Della Morte, Quanto Immuni? Luci, ombre e penombre dell’app selezionata dal Governo italiano
• Francesca Maoli, Giovanni Sciaccaluga, Sara Lembrechts, Tine Van Hof, Laura Carpaneto, Thalia Kruger, & Wouter Vandenhole, Understanding the Best Interests of the Child in EU Child Abduction Proceedings: Perspectives from the Case Law
• CRC and Its Friends: 30 Years of Outsourcing Interpretation of Children’s Rights
• Giacomo Biagioni, The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the EU Judicial Cooperation in Civil Matters
• Brigida Varesano, The Controversial Condition of Child-Soldiers: The Quest For Consistency Through the Lens of the Child’s Best Interests in the Light of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
• La riforma della prescrizione: diritto costituzionale, diritto penale e Convenzione europea dei diritti umani
• Margherita Cassano, Introduzione
• Marcello Cecchetti, Simone Pajno, Il problema della prescrizione penale alla prova del costituzionalismo ‘per principi’
• Gian Luigi Gatta, Prescrizione del reato, ragionevole durata del processo e tutela dei beni giuridici
• Maria Luisa Padelletti, La riforma della prescrizione tra diritti dell’imputato e della persona offesa: riflessioni dal punto di vista della Convenzione europea dei diritti dell’uomo
• Interventi
• Marcello Di Filippo, Walking the (Barbed) Wire of the Prohibition of Collective Expulsion: An Assessment of the Strasbourg Case Law
• Maria Ferrara, L’ordinanza cautelare della Corte internazionale di giustizia nel caso Gambia c. Myanmar: la prova dell’intento genocidario tra giurisdizione prima facie e test di plausibilità della pretesa
• Pasquale Pirrone, I primi pareri pregiudiziali della Corte europea dei diritti umani: aspetti procedurali
• Gianpaolo Maria Ruotolo, A Little Hate, Worldwide! Di libertà d’opinione e discorsi politici d’odio on-line nel diritto internazionale ed europeo
• Giovanni Zarra, Sulla compatibilità di misure restrittive, adottate in Italia e nella Regione Campania per contenere l’epidemia di COVID-19, con gli articoli 5 e 2 del Protocollo n. 4 CEDU

Stahn & Iverson: Just Peace After Conflict: Jus Post Bellum and the Justice of Peace

Carsten Stahn (Leiden Univ. - Law) & Jens Iverson (Leiden Univ. - Law) have published Just Peace After Conflict: Jus Post Bellum and the Justice of Peace (Oxford Univ. Press 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

The interplay between peace and justice plays an important role in any contemporary conflict. Peace can be described in a variety ways, as being 'negative' or 'positive', 'liberal' or 'democratic'. But what is it that makes a peace just? This book draws together leading scholars to study this concept of a 'just peace', analysing different elements of the transition from conflict to peace.

The volume covers six core themes: conceptual approaches towards just peace, macro-principles, the nexus to security and stability, protection of persons and public goods, rule of law, and economic reform and accountability. Contributions engage with understudied issues, such as the pros and cons of robust UN mandates, the link between environmental protection and indigenous peoples, the treatment of illegal settlements, the feasibility of vetting practices, and the protection of labour rights in post-conflict economies. Overall, the book puts forward a case that just peace requires not only negotiation, agreement, and compromise, but contextual understandings of law, multiple dimensions of justice, and strategies of prevention.

New Volume: Recueil des Cours

Volume 407 of the Recueil des Cours, Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law is out. Contents include:

• Volume 407
• Jan Wouters, Le statut juridique des standards publics et privés dans les relations économiques internationales
• Sandrine Maljean-Dubois, Le droit international de la biodiversité

Fikfak: War, International Law and the Rise of Parliament - The Influence of International Law on UK Parliamentary Practice with Respect to the Use of Force

Veronika Fikfak (Univ. of Copenhagen - Law) has posted War, International Law and the Rise of Parliament - The Influence of International Law on UK Parliamentary Practice with Respect to the Use of Force. Here's the abstract:

In foreign relations law, the power to wage war is inherently an executive power. It is the government that declares war or sends the military forces into battle. Yet, increasingly, the prerogative to engage in military action has been open to scrutiny by domestic parliaments. These are more and more frequently asked to provide support for the Government in its decisions and to the military personnel on the ground. The votes in national parliaments provide legitimacy to the decision made and give the impression of the Government having been held to account by the people’s representatives. In some cases, ie when national parliaments had effectively vetoed the Government’s plans for military actions, there is even talk of a quasi-sharing of powers between the Executive and the Legislature. The paper tracks the decline of ‘government’ and the rise of the ‘house’ in the language used in the debates in the UK Parliament. It reveals how the terminology used in the debates has shifted from the power of the Government to the responsibility of the House. It maps out how this shift is mirrored in the increased relevance of international law and specifically the legality of the military intervention. It is this question – and particularly the experience of Iraq – that has reshaped the position of the UK Parliament vis-à-vis the Government. The investigation also reveals that as more and more MPs become involved and informed on issues of war, the deference shown to international institutions and their evaluation of the situation declines. MPs become more confident and more competent to make these decisions themselves.

ESIL Interest Group Workshops This Week

Though the European Society of International Law's annual conference that was to occur this week has been postponed, some of the Society's Interest Groups will be holding workshops in the coming days, as they would have had the conference been taking place. Here's the schedule:

• September 9, 2020
• Interest Group on International Economic Law
• Interest Group on International Business & Human Rights
• Interest Group on International Law of Culture
• September 10, 2020
• Interest Group on International Courts and Tribunals

Call for Papers: Practising Reflexivity in International Law

The Law Department of the European University Institute, with the support of the European Society of International Law, has issued a call for papers for a Doctoral Forum on International Law, to be held in Florence, on November 23–24, 2020. The topic is "Practising Reflexivity in International Law." The call is here. The deadline is September 13, 2020.

Event: Covid-19 and international law: science and disinformation, exceptions and emergencies

On September 10, 2020, the European Society of International Law and the Stockholm Center for International Law and Justice will hold a joint event, consisting of two panels: "Covid-19 and International Law: Science, Tech, Trolls and the Role of Information" and "Covid-19 and International Law: Emergencies, Exceptions and Regime Contestation." Details, including registration information, can be found here.

Call for Submissions: Migration and Culture: Implementation of Cultural Rights of Migrants

A call for submissions has been issued for a volume on "Migration and Culture: Implementation of Cultural Rights of Migrants," to be edited by Giovanni Carlo Bruno (National Research Council of Italy), Fulvio Maria Palombino (Univ. of Naples “Federico II”), Adriana Di Stefano (Univ. of Catania), and Gianpaolo Maria Ruotolo (Univ. of Foggia). The call is here.

Longobardo: State Immunity and Judicial Countermeasures

Marco Longobardo (Univ. of Westminster - Law) has posted State Immunity and Judicial Countermeasures (European Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This article explores whether domestic courts can deny jurisdictional immunity of a state as a countermeasure. The article offers a survey of state practice that, according to some scholars, would support this argument, demonstrating that the corresponding practice is scarce, and that relevant domestic legislation denying jurisdictional immunity is not adopted as a countermeasure. Typically, countermeasures are adopted by political organs, which are responsible for the state’s international relations and which can assess what is a lawful response to a violation of international law. Domestic courts are not entitled to adopt countermeasures without the involvement of the executive organs that are competent for the international relations of the state. This article demonstrates that a domestic court’s denial of sovereign immunity as a countermeasure is unlawful without a prior determination of the government, and it is highly impractical when that determination is provided.

Webinars: International Disaster Law

The Yearbook of International Disaster Law and the American Society of International Law's Disaster Law Interest Group have organized a series of webinars. Participation is free of charge. The schedule is here.

Conference: 2020 ASIL Midyear Meeting

On October 29-30, 2020, the American Society of International Law will hold its Midyear Meeting in a fully virtual format. Registration is now open. The program is here.

Celermajer & Lefebvre: The Subject of Human Rights

Danielle Celermajer (Univ. of Sydney - Sociology and Social Policy) & Alexandre Lefebvre (Univ. of Sydney - Government and International Relations & Philosophy) have published The Subject of Human Rights (Stanford Univ. Press 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

The Subject of Human Rights is the first book to systematically address the "human" part of "human rights." Drawing on the finest thinking in political theory, cultural studies, history, law, anthropology, and literary studies, this volume examines how human rights—as discourse, law, and practice—shape how we understand humanity and human beings. It asks how the humanness that the human rights idea seeks to protect and promote is experienced.

The essays in this volume consider how human rights norms and practices affect the way we relate to ourselves, to other people, and to the nonhuman world. They investigate what kinds of institutions and actors are subjected to human rights and are charged with respecting their demands and realizing their aspirations. And they explore how human rights shape and even create the very subjects they seek to protect. Through critical reflection on these issues, The Subject of Human Rights suggests ways in which we might reimagine the relationship between human rights and subjectivity with a view to benefiting human rights and subjects alike.

Cormier: The Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over Nationals of Non-States Parties

Monique Cormier (Univ. of New England, Australia - Law) has published The Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over Nationals of Non-States Parties (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:

This book provides a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the ICC's jurisdiction over nationals of non-States Parties. It is within the context of developments at the Court in recent years that this work addresses the overarching question: On what legal basis is the ICC authorised to exercise jurisdiction over nationals of non-States Parties? Engaging with ICC jurisprudence and building upon arguments developed in legal scholarship, this book explores the theory of delegated jurisdiction and critically examines the idea that the Court might alternatively be exercising jurisdiction inherent to the international community. It argues that delegation of territorial jurisdiction and implied consent by virtue of UN membership provide a legal basis to allow the ICC to exercise jurisdiction over nationals of non-States Parties in almost all situations envisaged by the Rome Statute.

New Issue: Review of International Studies

The latest issue of the Review of International Studies (Vol. 46, no. 4, October 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Catherine Owen, Participatory authoritarianism: From bureaucratic transformation to civic participation in Russia and China
• Merisa S. Thompson, Alasdair Cochrane, & Justa Hopma, Democratising food: The case for a deliberative approach
• Yong Wook Lee, Performing civilisational narratives in East Asia: Asian values, multiple modernities, and the politics of economic development
• Sarah von Billerbeck, No action without talk? UN peacekeeping, discourse, and institutional self-legitimation
• Catherine Van Offelen & M. L. R. Smith, Agonising choices: Tragedy and International Relations – a tragic vision of humanitarian intervention in the Bosnian War
• Patrick Quinton-Brown, The South, the West, and the meanings of humanitarian intervention in history
• Alexander Beresford & Daniel Wand, Understanding bricolage in norm development: South Africa, the International Criminal Court, and the contested politics of transitional justice
• Tracy Adams & Zohar Kampf, ‘Solemn and just demands’: Seeking apologies in the international arena

New Issue: Humanity

The latest issue of Humanity (Vol. 11, no. 2, Summer 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Leslie Barnes, Live-Tweeting And Distant Suffering: Nicholas Kristof As Global Savior
• Kavita Ramakrishnan & Ludĕk Stavinoha, Beyond Humanitarian Logics: Volunteer-Refugee Encounters In Chios And Paris
• Dossier: Moral Economy
• Jeremy Adelman, Introduction: The Moral Economy, The Careers Of A Concept
• Francesca Trivellato, The Moral Economies Of Early Modern Europe
• Tim Rogan, R. H. Tawney
• Marion Fourcade, The Imperfect Promise Of The Gift
• Didier Fassin, Are The Two Approaches To Moral Economy Irreconcilable?
• Emilio Kourì, On The Mexican Ejido
• Margaret R. Somers, The Moral Economy Of The Capitalist Crowd: Utopianism, The Reality Of Society, And The Market As A Morally Instituted Process In Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation
• Samuel Moyn, T. H. Marshall, The Moral Economy, And Social Rights
• Timothy Shenk, “I Am No Longer Answerable For Its Actions”: E. P. Thompson After Moral Economy
• Joel Isaac, Moral Economy In Its Place: The Contribution Of James C. Scott

Atchabahian: Transterritorialidade: Uma Teoria de Responsabilização de Empresas por Violações aos Direitos Humanos

Ana Cláudia Ruy Cardia Atchabahian (Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie - Law) has published Transterritorialidade: Uma Teoria de Responsabilização de Empresas por Violações aos Direitos Humanos (Editora Lumen Juris 2020). Here's the abstract:

Segurança. A humanidade sempre empregou seus instintos e esforços na busca de circunstâncias que a colocasse em segurança. A garantia de conforto foi igualmente o ideal que permitiu o avanço social. Neste momento, a sociedade se depara com a promessa de garantir para si maior conforto e segurança por meio da aquisição de bens. Prosperidade econômica, investimentos, consumo de mercadorias, garantia de conforto e comodidade. Fortuna aparente de uma sociedade que condicionou sua identidade e felicidade à aquisição de produtos, esquecendo-se de avaliar os esforços humanos empregados para a construção desse imaginário. O resultado dessa equação é verificado na mesma proporção em que as mercadorias são produzidas: violações aos direitos humanos e ao meio ambiente, em uma sociedade que sobrevive às mazelas da natureza e aos seus semelhantes, mas continua a acreditar em um aparente conforto trazido pela atividade corporativa. É neste cenário que se situa a presente obra: diante da conivência estatal para com as empresas e da estrutura do Direito Internacional que ainda prioriza os Estados como os principais sujeitos de sua disciplina, a teoria da Transterritorialidade busca responsabilizar empresas e proteger as vítimas destas violações.

Safety. Humanity has always used its instincts and efforts in the search for circumstances that would make it safe. The guarantee of comfort was also the ideal that allowed social progress. At this moment, society is faced with the promise of guaranteeing greater comfort and security for itself through the acquisition of goods. Economic prosperity, investments, consumption of goods, guarantee of comfort and convenience. Apparent fortune of a society that conditioned its identity and happiness to the acquisition of products, forgetting to evaluate the human efforts used to build this imaginary. The result of this equation is verified in the same proportion in which the goods are produced: violations of human rights and the environment, in a society that survives the ailments of nature and its neighbors but continues to believe in an apparent comfort brought by the corporate activity. It is in this scenario that this book is published: in view of the state collusion with companies and the structure of international law that still prioritizes States as the main subjects of its discipline, the theory of Transterritoriality seeks to hold corporations accountable and protect the victims of the abovementioned violations . Based on multidisciplinary literature, deriving from Sociology, International Relations, International Law, International Law of Human Rights, Sociology of Law and from International Constitutional Law, it was built a theory with the objective of confirming the applicability of the rules of Private International Law, Public International Law and International Human Rights Law by the States and the national judges in a heterarchical and transversal manner, resulting in a true dialogue between the national jurisdictions and International Courts in holding corporations accountable for human rights violations.

Symposium: The Law and Logics of Attribution: Constructing the Identity and Responsibility of States and Firms

On September 11 and 18, 2020, the American Society of International Law's International Legal Theory Interest Group and the University of Georgia School of Law's Dean Rusk International Law Center will hold an online symposium on "The Law and Logics of Attribution: Constructing the Identity and Responsibility of States and Firms." The program is here.

Call for Submissions: Cambridge International Law Journal

The Cambridge International Law Journal invites submissions for the first issue of its tenth volume (June 2021). Here's the call:

The Cambridge International Law Journal (CILJ) publishes two issues per year: one open-call issue published in June and one Annual Conference issue published in December.

The Editorial Board of the Cambridge International Law Journal is pleased to invite submissions for its tenth anniversary volume (issues to be published in June and December 2021.)

The Board welcomes long articles, short articles and case notes that engage with current themes in international law.

To celebrate the journal’s tenth anniversary, Issue 1 will include a special section that reflects on seminal changes and developments in international law over the last decade.

The Board is particularly interested in contributions on this theme, which will be published as part of the special section. Other contributions will be published as part of the general section of Issue 1.

Submissions are to be made by 11:59 pm (BST) on Sunday, 25 October 2020 via our online platform accessible here. For full submission instructions for authors, please visit www.elgaronline.com/cilj. Further information can be obtained from the Editors-in-Chief at editors@cilj.co.uk.

All submissions are subject to double-blind peer review by the Journal’s Editorial Board. In addition, long articles are sent to the Academic Review Board, which consists of distinguished international law scholars and practitioners. Submissions can be made at any time. Articles submitted by 25 October 2020 will be considered for Volume 10 Issue 1.

Zhou: New WTO Ruling on National Security in Qatar-Saudi Arabia Case and its Impact on South Korea-Japan Dispute

Jinguyan Zhou has posted an ASIL Insight on New WTO Ruling on National Security in Qatar-Saudi Arabia Case and its Impact on South Korea-Japan Dispute.

New Issue: Global Environmental Politics

The latest issue of Global Environmental Politics (Vol. 20, no. 3, August 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: New Technologies and Global Environmental Politics
• Simon Nicholson & Jesse L. Reynolds, Taking Technology Seriously: Introduction to the Special Issue on New Technologies and Global Environmental Politics
• Leslie Paul Thiele, Nature 4.0: Assisted Evolution, De-extinction, and Ecological Restoration Technologies
• Jesse L. Reynolds, Governing New Biotechnologies for Biodiversity Conservation: Gene Drives, International Law, and Emerging Politics
• Jennifer Clapp & Sarah-Louise Ruder, Precision Technologies for Agriculture: Digital Farming, Gene-Edited Crops, and the Politics of Sustainability
• Edward A. Parson & Holly J. Buck, Large-Scale Carbon Dioxide Removal: The Problem of Phasedown
• Joshua B. Horton & Barbara Koremenos, Steering and Influence in Transnational Climate Governance: Nonstate Engagement in Solar Geoengineering Research

Shereshevsky: Are All Soldiers Created Equal? – On the Equal Application of the Law to Enhanced Soldiers

Yahli Shereshevsky (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem - Law) has posted Are All Soldiers Created Equal? – On the Equal Application of the Law to Enhanced Soldiers (Virginia Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Enhanced soldiers will soon become an integral part of armed conflicts. The deployment of soldiers with superior battlefield abilities raises important legal questions that are only now emerging as we begin to understand the implications of such technological advancements. One of the most pressing issues regarding enhanced soldiers is whether the existing legal framework, designed to regulate and safeguard the needs of conventional soldiers, can — and should — be applied differently when the subjects have qualitatively different capabilities than previously understood or considered. In this comprehensive analysis of the ability to treat enhanced soldiers differently, various international law issues are considered, such as the use of weapons in armed conflict, the treatment of detainees, and the prohibition against torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. This paper argues that, in most cases, enhanced soldiers should not be treated differently than unenhanced soldiers, even if their capabilities are significantly advanced when compared to conventional soldiers. More broadly, the case of enhanced soldiers brings new insights to the notions of formal and substantive equality in international law. This paper offers a one-directional approach to the subjective application of international law, especially in the context of the prohibition against torture. Under this approach, subjective factors may not be used to treat individuals and groups with better capabilities more harshly but can be used to improve the protection of vulnerable individuals and groups. Applying a one-directional approach is an important tool to prevent the abuse of legal rules by states and other international actors while enabling the protection of those who need it the most. This is a critical point in time where legal scholarship has a unique opportunity to shape the legal regulation of a transformative technological change as it occurs.

New Issue: Michigan Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Michigan Journal of International Law (Vol. 41, no. 3, 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Ndjodi Ndeunyema, Unmuddying the Waters: Evaluating the Legal Basis of the Human Right to Water under Treaty Law, Customary International Law, and the General Principles of Law
• Donna Minha, The Possibility of Prosecuting Corporations for Climate Crimes before the International Criminal Court: All Roads Lead to the Rome Statute?