Call for Papers: Advancing the Frontiers: Early-Career Research on Law of the Sea

A call for papers has been issued for a postgraduate research conference on "Advancing the Frontiers: Early-Career Research on Law of the Sea," to take place September 30, 2026, at the Geneva Graduate Institute. The call is here. The deadline is June 10, 2026.

Stoyanova & McGrogan: The Limits of Positive Obligations in Human Rights Law: From Protection to Coercion

Vladislava Stoyanova (Lund Univ. - Law) & David McGrogan (Northumbria Univ. - Law) have published The Limits of Positive Obligations in Human Rights Law: From Protection to Coercion (Hart Publishing 2026). Here's the abstract:

There is nowadays no dispute in human rights doctrine over whether rights entail positive duties on the part of the state at the level of principle. But there has been surprisingly little academic commentary devoted to the question of whether there are, or should be, limits placed on how far those obligations extend. Similarly, there has been little scholarly attention paid to the question of how causation can be reasonably attributed in the context of violations of positive obligations. And there are very few sociological explanations provided as to why positive human rights obligations appear to be expanding without principled limits in the first place.

This volume assembles the work of a range of leading scholars in international human rights law to fill these gaps in the literature. Each of its 11 substantive chapters addresses an aspect of positive obligations with a particular focus on issues concerning limits. Taken together, they provide the first serious attempt to grapple critically with the subject of the limits, causality and scope of positive obligations theoretically and doctrinally. This makes the book essential reading for scholars of human rights law.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access.

Call for Papers: The Impact of Neutrality on Research and Knowledge Production in Legal Scholarship

A call for papers has been issued for early career researchers for a workshop on "The Impact of Neutrality on Research and Knowledge Production in Legal Scholarship," to take place December 9-10, 2026, at Ruhr University Bochum. The call is here.

Conference: Securitisation and International Law in Asia

On June 28, 2026, the Japan Chapter of the Asian Society of International Law will host its 17th Annual Conference, in Osaka (Umeda) and online (hybrid). The theme is: "Securitisation and International Law in Asia." Details are here.

Saliternik & Shlomo-Agon: Different Frontier, Same Legal Script? On the Course of Replicating Earth's Patterns in Space

Michal Saliternik (Netanya Academic College - Law) & Sivan Shlomo-Agon (Bar-Ilan Univ. - Law) have posted Different Frontier, Same Legal Script? On the Course of Replicating Earth's Patterns in Space (Modern Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

As states and private actors expand their activities in outer space, the international legal framework governing this domain risks extending longstanding structures of global inequality beyond Earth. This article examines how international space law, shaped by a broader disciplinary pattern of reactive legal development, is poised to reproduce terrestrial disparities in the extraterrestrial realm. Drawing on parallels across international legal regimes, it demonstrates how reactive governance often disadvantages less powerful actors through various interlocking mechanisms: transforming early movers' advantages into legal prescriptions; enabling unilateral norm-setting amid international legal voids; shifting environmental burdens onto latecomers; sidelining equity concerns during crisis-driven lawmaking; and discounting foreseeable-yet-distant risks disproportionately borne by vulnerable populations. By tracing these distributive dynamics, the article underscores the need and possibility for more proactive alternatives in space governance. Though the window for action is narrowing, space law still retains enough plasticity to be reoriented before current inequalities become legally entrenched.

Kawai: Enabling Constraints in International Legal Discourse on the ICC’s Jurisdiction: The Case of the ‘Oslo Argument’ in the State of Palestine Situation

Keiichiro Kawai (Okayama Univ. - Law) has posted Enabling Constraints in International Legal Discourse on the ICC’s Jurisdiction: The Case of the ‘Oslo Argument’ in the State of Palestine Situation (International Criminal Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The ICC’s arrest warrants against Netanyahu/Gallant reignited debates over the nature of the Court’s jurisdiction with the focal point called the ‘Oslo Argument’, which contended that the Hague lacked jurisdiction over Israelis because Palestine lacked it under the Oslo Accords. The resulting submissions by amici curiae and parties before the Court, unprecedented in number, constitute a microcosm of contemporary international legal discourse over the ICC’s jurisdiction and therefore warrant close discourse analysis. The analysis offers an internal understanding of the argumentative structure therein and illuminates two systematized discursive regularities. One is the ‘delegation-based approach’, marked by assemblage of reifying and state-centric jurisdictional thinking with atomistic conceptions of the Court and the international order. Another is the ‘non-delegation-based approach’, grounded in a relational and autonomous conception of international jurisdiction with cosmopolitanism. Building on these findings, the concluding section explores possible strategies for lawyers, ranging from either/or choice to interstitial modes of argumentation.

Webinar: The Future of the United Nations Organisation, If Any

On June 24, 2026, a fourth webinar will be held in the ESIL Conversations series “Multilateralism in Times of Unilateralism.” The topic is: “The Future of the United Nations Organisation, If Any.” Details are here.

Webinar: Diversity and Teaching International Law

On June 17, 2026, the European Society of International Law will host a webinar on "Diversity and Teaching International Law." This event, part of the ESIL Teaching Corner Webinar Series, will address a wide range of perspectives on teaching and classroom practice, including cultural diversity, decolonisation, gender, the geographical diversity of international legal practice, student inclusivity, multilingualism, and the diverse backgrounds of educators. Details are here.

Call for Papers: ASIL/ESIL Works-in-Progress Workshop on the Law or Practice of International Organizations

The International Organizations Interest Group of the American Society of International Law and the European Society of International Law have issued a call for papers for their biannual virtual academic workshop on the law or practice of international organizations. Here's the call:

The International Organizations Interest Group (IOIG) of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) and the European Society of International Law (ESIL) are delighted to announce a call for proposals for their biannual virtual workshop of academic works in progress addressing the law or practice of international organizations.

The workshop will provide an opportunity for scholars to receive feedback from their peers and experts in international organizations law. The tentative date to hold the workshop is 15 February 2027, at a time convenient for the largest number of selected authors.

To be considered, please send an abstract of around 400 to 800 words to fionamangan@gmail.com and igioesil@gmail.com by 30 June 2026. Selected authors will be expected to submit article- or chapter-length papers by 1 December 2026. Co-authorship is permitted. We also welcome expressions of interest from potential reviewers.

Don't hesitate to get in touch with fionamangan@gmail.com or igioesil@gmail.com with any questions.

Webinar Series: Board of Peace: Might Makes Right, Again? – Inquiries on the Current Shaping of Global Governance

The journal Athena - Critical Inquiries in Law, Philosophy and Globalization will hold a webinar series, beginning on June 5, 2026, on "Board of Peace: Might Makes Right, Again? – Inquiries on the Current Shaping of Global Governance." The schedule is here.

New Issue: Europa Ethnica

The latest issue of Europa Ethnica (Vol. 83, nos. 1/2, 2026). Contents include:

• Beiträge
• Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark, Human Rights Challenged and Defended – A Survey of Recent Legal Developments around Europe. Too Much or Too Little Human Rights Protection?
• Giuseppe Cataldi, The Common European Asylum System (CEAS) and the externalisation of migration control and management – a challenge to basic international refugee protection standards
• Harald Christian Scheu, 30 Years of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities – Reconsidering the Advisory Committee’s Monitoring Practice
• János Fiala-Butora, Potential and limitations of the Advisory Committee’s monitoring process
• Stefan Oeter, Implementing the FCNM and the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages – A Comparison
• Gudmundur Alfredsson, Greenland’s Choices: Independence, Free Association or Integration

Kulick: International Courts and World Disorder

Andreas Kulick (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz - Law) has posted International Courts and World Disorder. Here's the abstract:

What do international courts have to offer when faced with raw power? In a state of international disorder, respect for international law erodes and so does the respect for international courts and tribunals (ICs) and their decisions. An IC decision constitutes an international legal obligation. It binds the disputing party states as any other rule of international law does. Regardless, whether international affairs are in a relative state of order or disorder, international actors, above all States, must observe international law. Yet, what if a State does not play along – and is powerful enough to also withstand any international legal or political measures seeking to enforce the IC decision in question? Russia, for example, flatly ignored that the International Court of Justice (ICJ), on 16 March 2022, ordered it to halt its invasion of Ukraine and, as of May 2026, continues its aggression on Ukrainian territory. This piece investigates the effects of IC decisions when pushed to the margins by powerful States that can do so – and can, at least in first instance, get away with it. Such disregard for international judicial decisions occurring in higher frequencies indicates, at least from the prespective of international law, a state of international disorder. However, even in these situations, when pushed to the side, IC decisions are not pointless. They may have at least four effects that are interconnected and potentially reinforce each other, thereby providing a minimal contribution to the integrity of the international legal system.

Aust & Rodiles: Carving Out the City from the State: Charter Cities and the Quest for New Urban Futures

Helmut Aust (Free Univ. of Berlin - Law; Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) & Alejandro Rodiles (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México) have posted Carving Out the City from the State: Charter Cities and the Quest for New Urban Futures (University of Toronto Law Journal, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The idea of building new cities from scratch is gaining new popularity. A particular form of these endeavors relates to the construction of so-called "charter cities" which would be built on the territory of a given state, but would find themselves in more or less complete independence from the legal framework of the host state. Going back to ideas propagated by former World Bank Chief Economist and Nobel laureate Paul Romer, the idea behind charter cities is a decoupling of cities from the state.

Ideally, these cities would be carved out of state jurisdiction almost entirely. This article discusses this phenomenon both in the light of a now apparently failed attempt at implementing this plan in the case of Prospéra in Honduras, but also in the light of its broader historical, conceptual and political implications. As the article demonstrates, charter cities demonstrate a considerable overlap with concepts like special economic zones. Also other attempts at decoupling territories from states like seasteading projects are based on similar ideological underpinnings.These shared conceptual undercurrents relate to techno-libertarian concepts and their growing international influence finds resonance in recent attempts of post-conflict peace-building propagated by the US administration. The article critically assesses these developments and points to the dangers that such new urban futures present.

Oyarzabal: International Law for Diplomats

Mario J.A. Oyarzabal (Legal Adviser, Argentine Foreign Ministry; Member, International Law Commission) has published International Law for Diplomats (Brill | Nijhoff 2026). Here's the abstract:

The purpose of this book is to provide diplomats worldwide - both lawyers and non-lawyers - with basic tools to address the main international legal issues they may encounter both bilaterally and in multilateral negotiations and forums. It features chapter from current or former legal advisers to the ministries of foreign affairs of a representative group of countries alongside the legal advisers of international organizations and institutions with extensive experience in their respective fields. The book offers a practical perspective, without delving into abstract theoretical discussions or issues which, despite being relevant in other contexts, are less so in the diplomatic field.

Criddle & Fox-Decent: Mandatory Cooperation Under International Law

Evan J. Criddle (College of William and Mary - Law) & Evan Fox-Decent (McGill Univ. - Law) have published Mandatory Cooperation Under International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2026). Here's the abstract:

Humanity in the twenty-first century faces serious global challenges and crises, including pandemics, nuclear proliferation, violent extremism, refugee migration, and climate change. None of these calamities can be averted without robust international cooperation. Yet, national leaders often assume that because their states are sovereign under international law, they are free to opt in or out of international cooperation as they see fit. This book challenges conventional wisdom by showing that international law requires states to cooperate with one another to address matters of international concern-even in the absence of treaty-based obligations. Within the past several decades, requirements to cooperate have become firmly embedded in the international legal regimes governing oceans, transboundary rivers, disputed territories, pollution, international security, and human rights, among other topics. Whenever states address matters of common concern, international law requires that they work together as good neighbors for their mutual benefit. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Webinar: Second World Approaches to International Law (SWAIL)

On June 9, 2026, a webinar will be held on "Second World Approaches to International Law (SWAIL)." Details are here.

Research Platform: EGSTradeHub.org

Nicolette Butler (Univ. of Manchester - Law) and Jasem Tarawneh (Queen Mary Univ. of London - Law) have launched a new online repository for information related to international trade in environmental goods and services (EGS): EGSTradeHub.org. Here's a description:

EGSTradeHub.org is a new one-stop resource bringing together academic research, legal materials, policy documents, institutional resources, events, reports, and commentary relating broadly to Environmental Goods and Services (EGS), trade and environment, and climate-aligned trade governance. Developed by Dr Nicolette Butler (University of Manchester) and Dr Jasem Tarawneh (Queen Mary University of London), the platform is designed to help users navigate what is often a fragmented and difficult-to-access landscape by consolidating a wide range of materials into a single, searchable, and regularly updated resource.

The Hub serves as a key resource for academics, students, policymakers, negotiators, practitioners, NGOs, and others working across international trade, environmental governance, and sustainable development. The project team also warmly welcomes suggestions and contributions of relevant publications, reports, events, databases, and other materials to help ensure the resource remains comprehensive and up to date. The website is available here.

al Attar & Smith: Emancipating International Law: Confronting the Violence of Racialized Boundaries

Mohsen al Attar (Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool Univ.) & Claire Smith have published Emancipating International Law: Confronting the Violence of Racialized Boundaries (Oxford Univ. Press 2026). Here's the abstract:

While mainstream international legal scholarship has long treated race as a peripheral concern-or a historic injustice to be remembered but not redressed-this volume argues that racialisation is foundational to the discipline, underpinning its doctrines, epistemes, and interlocutors. Emancipating International Law explores the many ways racial hierarchy, systemic oppression, and global white supremacy shape international law. Bringing together leading and emerging scholars, the collection moves beyond qualifying whether international law is racist to explore how racial hierarchies are embedded in its structures and continue to evolve through legal and institutional practice.

Divided into five sections, the book begins by situating international law's racialised boundaries within its colonial, capitalist, and chauvinist afterlives, exposing how white ignorance and race-thinking underpin legal norms, from sovereignty to jus cogens. It then examines racial stratification across legal institutions, including investment law, refugee law, and the Genocide Convention. The third section extends this critique to human rights, revealing the ways in which even an emancipatory paradigm can bolster racial injustices. The penultimate section unpacks racial hierarchies in disparate societies, including Brazil, India, and Japan, as well as the frontiers of nation-states. The volume concludes with a powerful discussion of the role of activism and alternative epistemologies in racial justice struggles, and the limits of international law's capacity for anti-racist transformation.

New Issue: Journal of Global Health Law

The latest issue of the Journal of Global Health Law (Vol. 2, no. 2, 2025) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: One Health and Global Health Law
• Carmen Bullón Caro, One Health as an emerging legal principle: foundations, normative content, and regulatory implications
• Adam Strobeyko & Daniela Morich, One Health, many laws: the promise and limits of mutually supportive lawmaking in a fragmented legal landscape
• Alexandra Finch & Benjamin Mason Meier, One Health as a foundation for addressing AMR under global health law
• Gabriel Armas-Cardona & Antje Risius, Understanding barriers to One Health implementation: systematic review of One Health governance beyond the Quadripartite coalition
• Katherine Ginsbach, Stefania Negri, Kashish Aneja, Emanuele Cesta, Sandro Bonfigli, & Sam Halabi, Legal preparedness for One Health: evolving legal and institutional frameworks for improved global health security
• Voices from the field: interview with Carlos Gonçalo das Neves

New Issue: International Community Law Review

The latest issue of the International Community Law Review (Vol. 28, nos. 2-3, 2026) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: Second World Approaches to International Law
• Marek J. Wasiński & Patryk I. Labuda, Special Issue Editorial: Second World Approaches to International Law
• Eric Loefflad, Steppe and Forest between World Orders: Locating the Political Geography of Eastern Europe in the Deep Time of International Law
• Daniel R. Quiroga-Villamarín, Cuba Libre? Pan-Americanism, the 1962 Missiles Crisis, and the Geopolitical Boundaries of the “Second World”
• Tomasz Lachowski, Imperialism, Genocide and International Law in the Bloodlands in the Past and Present
• Tamás Hoffmann, A Region without Agency? Finding the Absent Eastern European Voice in the History of International Law
• Polina Kulish & Ciarán Burke, Reviving the ‘Second World’? Rethinking the Eurasian Economic Union through the SWAIL Lens
• Gor Samvel, The Soviets, Colonialism, and Legal Consciousness: Rethinking Armenia’s Relationship with International Law

Call for Submissions: International Humanitarian Law and Courts (Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law)

The Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law has issued a call for submissions for its Volume 29 (2026) on the theme "International Humanitarian Law and Courts." The call is here. The deadline for abstracts is June 19, 2026.

Grant: Sovereignty disputes and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: A public order perspective

Thomas D. Grant (Univ. of Cambridge - Lauterpacht Centre for International Law) has published Sovereignty disputes and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: A public order perspective (Manchester Univ. Press 2026). Here's the abstract:

Because maritime questions are often admixed with territorial sovereignty questions, parties sometimes seek to settle them together. Jurisdiction under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea-UNCLOS-according to the received view does not encompass disputes concerning territorial sovereignty. In this book, international law scholar and practitioner Thomas D. Grant argues that the received view overstates the exclusion of sovereignty disputes. In Coastal State Rights, UNCLOS Annex VII arbitrators overstated the scope of the term 'sovereignty dispute' as well, an error of definition compounded when they ignored evidence probative as to whether a sovereignty dispute exists. Examining UNCLOS, its drafting history, and decades of decided cases, Sovereignty Disputes and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea relates an important problem of international dispute settlement to the public order of which UNCLOS forms part.

Citeroni: Systemic Economic Offences as International Crimes: Theorising a New Paradigm of Mass Criminality

Nicole Citeroni has published Systemic Economic Offences as International Crimes: Theorising a New Paradigm of Mass Criminality (Hart Publishing 2026). Here's the abstract:

This open access book asks whether international economic crime can qualify as an international crime and be prosecuted as such.

Taking a four-part approach to the question, it traces the origins of the concept of international economic crime, and draws the line between ordinary economic crimes and economic offences of international significance. To this end, it examines six cases involving the commissions of serious economic crimes in different regions of the world, including Europe, the Americas and Africa: the crime of grand corruption in the Petrobras case; the theft of natural resources in the Niger Delta region and Liberia; the international money-laundering scheme in the Bolichicos case; the crime of financing terrorism in the Chiquita case; the Volkswagen conspiracy case in the US and the Haarde case related to gross-negligence in preventing serious economic damage. It then goes on to discuss a potential sui generis category of international economic crimes, before considering the advantages and the challenges of the multilevel enforcement system of international criminal justice in prosecuting such crimes.

New Issue: Ocean Development & International Law

The latest issue of Ocean Development & International Law (Vol. 57, no. 1, 2026) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Constantinos Yiallourides, Lennart Westmark & Alexander Proelss, Cross-Border CO2 Transport and Storage Networks in Europe through “Arrangements” under the London Protocol
• Yoshifumi Tanaka, Three Functions of Due Diligence Obligations in the Prevention of Vessel-Source Marine Pollution from Arctic Shipping
• Krittika Singh, Environmental Impact Assessment for Deep-Sea Mining: From Exploration to Exploitation and Relevance of the BBNJ Agreement
• Special Section: Protection of Fishers in Southeast Asia under International Law
• Natalie Klein, Andrew Blackie & Dita Liliansa, Abuses in the Southeast Asian Fishing Industry as Violations of International Law
• Andrea Longo, Flag State Jurisdiction and the Protection of Human Rights in Southeast Asia
• Dita Liliansa, Home State Jurisdiction over Corporate Harms at Sea in Fisheries in Southeast Asia
• Natalie Klein, The Potential Role of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations in Addressing International Human Rights Violations in Fisheries in Southeast Asia
• Arron N. Honniball, Combating Forced Labour in Fisheries Through Trade Restrictions: First Steps and Their Consistency with International Law

Conference: 21st Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law

On September 3-5, 2026, the European Society of International Law will hold its 21st Annual Conference in Málaga. The theme is: "International Law and Conflict: An Enduring Tension?" The program is here. Registration is here.