Saturday, October 25, 2014

New Issue: Journal européen des droits de l'homme / European Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the Journal européen des droits de l'homme / European Journal of Human Rights (2014, no. 4) is out. Contents include:
  • Dossier : Human Rights Integration : theorizing the multilayered nature of human rights law / Intégration du droit des droits de l’homme : approches théoriques d’un droit des droits de l’homme à niveaux multiples
    • Eva Brems, Should Pluriform Human Rights Become One ? Exploring the Benefits of Human Rights Integration / Intégrer le droit des droits de l’homme : une exploration
    • Barbara Oomen, The application of socio-legal theories of legal pluralism to understanding the implementation and integration of human rights law / L’application des théories socio-juridiques du pluralisme juridique dans la compréhension de la mise en œuvre et de l’intégration des droits de l’homme
  • Article
    • Johan Callewaert, To accede or not to accede : European protection of fundamental rights at the crossroads / Adhérer ou ne pas adhérer : la protection européenne des droits fondamentaux à la croisée des chemins

Friday, October 24, 2014

Roele: The Vicious Circles of Habermas’ Cosmopolitics

Isobel Roele (Queen Mary Univ. of London – Law) has published The Vicious Circles of Habermas’ Cosmopolitics (Law & Critique, Vol. 25, no. 3, 199-229, 2014). Here’s the abstract:
Habermas’ cosmopolitan project posits that global politics can be transformed into an emancipatory activity in order to compensate for the disempowering effects of globalization. This article reveals the impossibility of achieving this transformation while remaining faithful to his commitment to post-metaphysics and intersubjectivity. To do this, the article identifies three vicious circles in the stages of Habermas’ argument which can only be converted into virtuous circles by transforming a mutually inhibiting relationship into a mutually constitutive one. At the domestic level, the transformative element is the social practice of individual citizens. This being absent at the global level, Habermas is left with two options to act as catalysts for transformation: The imposition of human rights down the barrel of a gun and the pre-discursive concept of human dignity. Relying on these to effect transformation, Habermas produces not a virtuous circle of emancipatory politics but a vicious one of moralized politics.

New Issue: Revue Québécoise de Droit International

The latest issue of the Revue Québécoise de Droit International (Vol. 26, no. 2, 2013) is out. Contents include:
  • Études
    • Virginie Blanchette-Séguin, Élévation du niveau de la mer et frontières maritimes : les États possèdent-ils des droits acquis sur leur territoire submergé?
    • Will Colish, The International Criminal Court in Guinea : A Case Study of Complementarity
    • Jacques B. Mbokani, La CPI : une Cour contre les Africains ou une Cour attentive à la souffrance des victimes africaines?
    • Leticia Sakai, La diversité culturelle est-elle à l'abri de la protection internationale des droits de l'homme? Une analyse de la jurisprudence des cours des droits de l'homme
    • Raphaël van Steenberghe, Responsabilité de protéger et protection des civils dans les conflits armés : un rapprochement au détriment du droit international humanitaire?

Paparinskis: Good Faith and Fair and Equitable Treatment in International Investment Law

Martins Paparinskis (Univ. College London - Law) has posted Good Faith and Fair and Equitable Treatment in International Investment Law (in Good Faith and International Economic Law, A. Mitchell, M. Sornarajah, & T. Voon eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
Fair and equitable treatment is one of the most important rules of international investment law, yet the vagueness of its textual expression causes considerable problems in interpretation and application. In the absence of clear textual guidance, tribunals and legal writers have sometimes turned to more general concepts such as good faith and abuse of rights. Good faith plays various roles in legal reasoning about fair and equitable treatment. Sometimes it informs structures of reasoning and interpretation (as with any other rule of international law); sometimes it provides the broader background and hints at the systemic logic of a particular part of the rule; sometimes it is useful in oiling a particular bit of machinery of fair and equitable treatment; and sometimes it would be distinctly unhelpful, pulling the interpreter away from its own particularisations or even rules built on different premises. Overall, there is nothing more to this than the colloquial point about square pegs and round holes, and the sensible precaution that the systemic importance of a peg does not mean that it should be pushed down every hole.

Delbrück et al.: Aus Kiel in die Welt: Kiel's Contribution to International Law

Jost Delbrück, Ursula Heinz, Kerstin Odendahl, Nele Matz-Lück, & Andreas von Arnauld have published Aus Kiel in die Welt: Kiel's Contribution to International Law Festschrift zum 100-jährigen Bestehen des Walther-Schücking-Instituts für Internationales Recht. Essays in Honour of the 100th Anniversary of the Walther Schücking Institute for International Law (Duncker & Humblot 2014). Contents include:
  • Ursula E. Heinz, 100 Jahre Walther-Schücking-Institut für Internationales Recht
  • Jost Delbrück, Die Grenzen des Rechts – Walther Schücking und die Suche nach der lex ferenda
  • Jasper Finke, Beyond Certainty: Experimentalism as an Answer to the I.C.J.'s Decision in Germany v. Italy
  • Knut Ipsen, »New Approaches to International Law« – eine endliche oder unendliche Geschichte?
  • Kerstin Odendahl, Gibt es eine völkerrechtliche Legitimität von Regierungen?
  • Anne Peters, Konstitutionalismus als globale Errungenschaft
  • Christian J. Tams, The World Court's Role in the International Law-making Process
  • Tobias Thienel, The ›Living Instrument‹ Approach in the ECHR and Elsewhere: Some Remarks on the Evolutive Interpretation of International Treaties
  • Rüdiger Wolfrum, Solidarity from a Structural Principle to an International Agreement: Progress or Rather Regression?
  • Klaus Dicke, Kompromiss und Völkerrecht. Zu einer vernachlässigten Kategorie friedensorientierter Politik
  • Robin Geiß, The Law of Weaponry from 1914 to 2014. Is the Law Keeping Pace with Technological Evolution in the Military Domain?
  • Stephan Hobe, Rechtsprobleme unbemannter Flugobjekte
  • Ingrid Jahn-Koch & Michael Koch Bewaffnete Drohnen – Teufelszeug oder Waffen wie andere? Eine völkerrechtliche Überprüfung
  • Björn Elberling, Protection Against Expulsion Under the European Convention on Human Rights – Beyond Soering and Family Life
  • Thomas Giegerich, Demise of a ›Legal Lohengrin‹? An International Lawyer's Question Mark over Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum
  • Rainer Hofmann, Monitoring the Rights of National Minorities in Europe: 15 Years of Experiences with the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
  • Angela Rapp, Der Schutz des Eigentums nach Art. 1 ZP 1 EMRK – die Rechtsprechung des Europäischen Gerichtshofs für Menschenrechte
  • Eibe Riedel, Rethinking Human Rights – Real Reforms in Procedure and Substance?
  • Angelika Siehr, Das Menschenrecht auf Wasser im Spannungsfeld von staatlichen Souveränitätsansprüchen und Menschenrechtsidee
  • Uwe K. Jenisch, Elisabeth Mann Borgese und das Seerecht
  • Rainer Lagoni, Sicherheitszonen um künstliche Inseln, Anlagen und Bauwerke im Meer
  • Nele Matz-Lück, Die Einführung nationaler CO2-Abgaben für die internationale Schifffahrt: Völkerrechtliche Möglichkeiten und Grenzen
  • Mathias Münchau, Zugang zu Nothäfen und Notliegeplätzen für Schiffe in Notsituationen
  • Andreas von Arnauld, Dekonstitutionalisierung der WTO? Gedanken zum Vorschlag eines »Horizontalen Mechanismus« der Streitbeilegung
  • Christoph Hermes, Public Morals and WTO Law
  • Karsten Nowrot, Standard of Review as a Procedural Issue in WTO Dispute Settlement: Of Balancing Acts and Presumptions of Legality
  • Hans-Joachim Prieß, Die völkerrechtlichen Grenzen der Nutzung natürlicher Ressourcen in Gebieten ohne Selbstregierung: Zum wirtschaftlichen Gehalt des Selbstbestimmungsrechts der Völker
  • Alexander Szodruch-Arnold, Recht der Staateninsolvenzen – Neuausrichtung der Kräfteverhältnisse zwischen Schuldnerstaat und Gläubigern in Folge des »Jahrhundertprozesses« NML v. Argentina?
  • Christian Tietje, Die juristische Person des Privatrechts im allgemeinen Völkerrecht und im internationalen Wirtschaftsrecht – Entwicklungen und rechtliche Herausforderungen
  • Christian Feist, Die UN-Konvention zum Schutz von Menschen mit Behinderungen und ihr Einfluss auf das geltende Betreuungsrecht
  • Christian Johann, Keine Konfusion! Zur Grundrechtsfähigkeit inländischer Unternehmen mit Mehrheitsbeteiligung ausländischer Staaten
  • Alexander Proelß, Internationaler Arten- und Naturschutz im nationalen Recht. Rechtsprobleme beim Vollzug der Zustimmungsgesetze zur CMS und zur Berner Konvention
  • Ondolf Rojahn, Einwirkungen völkerrechtlicher Verträge auf innerstaatliches Verwaltungsrecht. Aus der Entscheidungspraxis des Bundesverwaltungsgerichts
  • Ute Scholz & Carl-Sebastian Zoellner, »Was lange währt, wird endlich gut?« – Die Entschädigungsklage nach § 198 GVG im Lichte von Art. 6 und 13 EMRK
  • Andreas Zimmermann, Vom Feindstaat zum Musterschüler? – 40 Jahre Mitgliedschaft Deutschlands in den Vereinten Nationen
  • Alexander Behnsen, Kommunale Selbstverwaltung im Spannungsfeld des FFH-Rechts
  • Hanna Goeters, Die Auswirkungen europarechtlicher Vorgaben auf die mitgliedstaatliche Verwaltungsorganisation
  • Monika Polzin, Zeitenwende in der Auslegungsmethodik des primären Unionsrechts: Geht der Trend zur subjektiven Auslegung?
  • Sonja Riedinger, Das Kohärenzgebot im europäischen Glücksspielrecht – Vorabentscheidungsersuchen des Bundesgerichtshofs vom 28. März 2013
  • Holger Scheel, Die Einrichtung des öffentlichen Rechts gemäß RL 2004/18/EG
  • Detlev Schuster, Über den Einfluss des Europarechts auf das deutsche Wirtschaftsrecht – Gedanken aus Anlass des Schrempp-Urteils des Gerichtshofes der Europäischen Union
  • Christiane Wandscher & Alexander Wandscher, Aktuelle Einflüsse des EU-Rechts auf das deutsche Zivilrecht am Beispiel des Erbkollisionsrechts und des Arbeitsrechts

Johnson: Organizational Progeny: Why Governments are Losing Control over the Proliferating Structures of Global Governance

Tana Johnson (Duke Univ. - Public Policy and Political Science) has published Organizational Progeny: Why Governments are Losing Control over the Proliferating Structures of Global Governance (Oxford Univ. Press 2014). Here's the abstract:

In life, delegation is fundamental. But it is difficult, especially when attempted internationally, as in the long delegation chains to the United Nations family and other global governance structures. There, much hinges on the design of delegation relationships. What prompts another entity to fall in line - and if it does not, what can be done? For international organizations, the conventional answer is simple: when designing institutions, member-states endow themselves with stringent control mechanisms, such as monopolization of financing or vetoes over decision-making in the new body.

But as Tana Johnson shows, the conventional answer is outdated. States rarely design international organizations alone. Instead, negotiations usually involve international bureaucrats employed in pre-existing organizations. To unveil these overlooked but pivotal players, Organizational Progeny uses new data on nearly 200 intergovernmental organizations and detailed accounts of the origins of prominent and diverse institutions - the World Food Program, United Nations Development Program, International Energy Agency, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Financial Action Task Force, Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS. When international bureaucrats have a say, they often strive to insulate new institutions against the usual control mechanisms by which states steer, monitor, or reverse organizational activities.

This increases control costs for states, is difficult to roll back, and even produces bodies that powerful countries initially opposed. The result is a proliferation of organizational progeny over which national governments are literally losing "control". Johnson explores what this means for the democratic nature of global governance and how practitioners can encourage or staunch this phenomenon.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Sarfaty: Shining Light on Global Supply Chains

Galit A. Sarfaty (Univ. of British Columbia – Law) has posted Shining Light on Global Supply Chains (Harvard International Law Journal, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
This Article analyzes the effectiveness of emerging domestic legislation on global supply chain transparency with respect to human rights and labor practices. It draws from a quantitative and qualitative study of the implementation of recent U.S. conflict minerals legislation, section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act. I argue that the use of domestic law to regulate global supply chains has significant potential to shape corporate behavior, as defined by the extent of due diligence measures that companies have reported in their disclosures. But the existing compliance gap among companies suggests that the shift to domestic governance is not going far enough, raising significant accountability concerns. Given the challenges associated with extraterritorially regulating complex, multi-tiered supply chains, the state needs to play a larger role in implementation to facilitate corporate compliance. In addition, companies need to invest in their internal culture to facilitate organizational learning around responsible supply chain management.

New Issue: Global Environmental Politics

The latest issue of Global Environmental Politics (Vol. 14, no. 4, November 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Joanna I. Lewis, The Rise of Renewable Energy Protectionism: Emerging Trade Conflicts and Implications for Low Carbon Development
  • Paul Wapner, The Changing Nature of Nature: Environmental Politics in the Anthropocene
  • Neda Zawahri & Erika Weinthal, The World Bank and Negotiating the Red Sea and Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project
  • David Ciplet, Contesting Climate Injustice: Transnational Advocacy Network Struggles for Rights in UN Climate Politics
  • Raoni Rajão & Yola Georgiadou, Blame Games in the Amazon: Environmental Crises and the Emergence of a Transparency Regime in Brazil
  • Thomas Bernauer & Tobias Böhmelt, Basins at Risk: Predicting International River Basin Conflict and Cooperation

Bellamy: The Responsibility to Protect: A Defense

Alex J. Bellamy (Griffith Univ. - International Relations) has published The Responsibility to Protect: A Defense (Oxford Univ. Press 2014). Here's the abstract:
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle is the international community's major response to the problem of genocide and mass atrocities - a problem seen in Bosnia, Rwanda and more recently in Syria. This book argues that although it is far from perfect R2P offers the best chance we have of building an international community that works to prevent these crimes and protect vulnerable populations. To make this argument, the book sets out the logic of R2P and its key ambitions, examines some of the critiques of the principle and its implementation in situations such as Libya, and sets out ways of overcoming some of the practical problems associated with moving this principle from words into deeds.

New Issue: Diritti umani e diritto internazionale

The latest issue of Diritti umani e diritto internazionale (Vol. 8, no. 2, 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Studi
    • Riccardo Pisillo Mazzeschi, La protezione internazionale dei diritti dell'uomo e il suo impatto sulle concezioni e metodologie della dottrina giuridica internazionalistica
  • Crisi economico-finanziarie e tutela dei diritti umani
    • Giovanna Adinolfi, Aggiustamento economico e tutela dei diritti umani: un conflitto inesistente per le istituzioni finanziarie internazionali?
    • Annamaria Viterbo, I meccanismi per la risoluzione delle crisi del debito sovrano: alla ricerca di un difficile bilanciamento tra interessi pubblici e privati
    • Francesco Costamagna, Riduzione delle risorse disponibili e abbassamento dei livelli di tutela dei diritti sociali: il rispetto del nucleo minimo quale limite all'adozione di misure regressive
    • Nicola Napoletano, Estensione e limiti della dimensione economica e sociale della Convezione europea dei diritti umani in tempi di crisi economico-finanziaria
    • Marco Fasciglione, La tutela del diritto all'alimentazione in situazioni di crisi economico-finanziaria: alcune riflessioni
  • Interventi
    • Emanuele Cimiotta, Rimozione dall'elenco di sospetti terroristi e interesse a proseguire l'azione di annullamento del provvedimento di "listing": il caso "Abdulrahim" davanti alla Corte di giustizia dell'Unione europea
  • Osservatorio
    • Maurizio Arcari, Violazione del divieto di uso della forza, aggressione o attacco armato in relazione all'intervento militare della Russia in Crimea?
    • Antonello Tancredi, Crisi in Crimea, referendum ed autodeterminazione dei popoli
    • Emanuele Cimiotta, Le reazioni alla 'sottrazione' della Crimea all'Ucraina. Quali garanzie del diritto internazionale di fronte a gravi illeciti imputati a grandi potenze?
    • Enrico Milano, Il nuovo Protocollo di pesca tra Unione europea e Marocco e i diritti del popolo sahrawi sulle risorse naturali

New Issue: Nordic Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the Nordic Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 32, no. 4, 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Special Issue: Human rights-based change and the institutionalisation of economic and social rights
    • Wouter Vandenhole & Paul Gready, Failures and Successes of Human Rights-Based Approaches to Development: Towards a Change Perspective
    • Sandra Liebenberg, Participatory Approaches to Socio-Economic Rights Adjudication: Tentative Lessons from South African Evictions Law
    • Alessandra Sarelin, Modernisation of Maternity Care in Malawi
    • Tiina Saaresranta, Education in Pursuit of the Development Dream? Effects of Schooling on Indigenous Development and Rights in Bolivia
    • Sisay Alemahu Yeshanew, Mainstreaming Human Rights in Development Programmes and Projects: Experience from the Work of a United Nations Agency
    • Hans-Otto Sano, Evidence in Demand: An Overview of Evidence and Methods in Assessing Impact of Economic and Social Rights

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Harvey, Summers, & White: Contemporary Challenges to the Laws of War

Caroline Harvey, James Summers (Lancaster Univ.), & Nigel D. White (Univ. of Nottingham - Law) have published Contemporary Challenges to the Laws of War: Essays in Honour of Professor Peter Rowe (Cambridge Univ. Press 2014). Contents include:
  • Christopher Greenwood, Foreword
  • Caroline Harvey, James Summers & Nigel D. White, Preface
  • James Summers, Introduction
  • A.P.V. Rogers & Gordon Risius, Army legal services and academia
  • Dieter Fleck, Development of new rules or application of more than one legal regime?
  • Lindsay Moir, It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a non-international armed conflict: cross border hostilities between states and non-state actors
  • Nigel D. White, Security Council mandates and the use of lethal force by peacekeepers: what place for the laws of war?
  • Robert Cryer, The relationship of international humanitarian law and war crimes: international criminal tribunals and their statutes
  • Nicholas Mercer, The future of Article 5 tribunals in the light of experiences in the Iraq war, 2003
  • Charles Garraway, Direct participation and the principle of distinction: squaring the circle
  • David Turns, Droning on: some international humanitarian law aspects of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in contemporary armed conflicts
  • William Boothby, Does the law of targeting meet twenty-first-century needs?
  • Maya Brehm, Protecting civilians from the effects of explosive weapons in International Humanitarian Law
  • The International Committee of the Red Cross and the initiative to strengthen legal protection for victims of armed conflicts Michael Meyer
  • Alex Batesmith, Corporate criminal responsibility for war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law: the impact of the business and human rights movement
  • Peter Rowe, The trial of prisoners of war by military courts in modern armed conflicts
  • Caroline Harvey, The right to conduct one's own defence before the ICTY and a fair and expeditious trial: an impossible balancing act

New Issue: Michigan Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Michigan Journal of International Law (Vol. 35, no. 3, Spring 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Anjanette H. Raymond & Scott J. Shackelford, Technology, Ethics, and Access to Justice: Should an Alogrithm be Deciding Your Case?
  • Timothy Webster, Paper Compliance: How China Implements WTO Decisions
  • Meredith Kolsky Lewis & Andrew D. Mitchell, Food Miles: Environmental Protection or Veiled Protectionism?

Cunningham: Inside the Politics of Self-Determination

Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham (Univ. of Maryland - Political Science) has published Inside the Politics of Self-Determination (Oxford Univ. Press 2014). Here's the abstract:

There are currently over 100 stateless nations pressing for greater self-determination around the globe. The vast majority of these groups will never achieve independence. Many groups will receive some accommodation over self-determination, many will engage in civil war over self-determination, and in many cases, internecine violence will plague these groups. This book examines the dynamic internal politics of states and self-determination groups. The internal structure and political dynamics of states and self-determination groups significantly affect information and credibility problems faced by these actors, as well as the incentives and opportunities for states to pursue partial accommodation of these groups.

Using new data on the internal structure of all self-determination groups and their states and on all accommodation in self-determination disputes, this book shows that states with some, but not too many, internal divisions are best able to accommodate self-determination groups and avoid civil war. When groups are more internally divided, they are both much more likely to be accommodated and to get into civil war with the state, and also more likely to have fighting within the group. Detailed comparison of three self-determination disputes in the conflict-torn region of northeast India reveals that internal divisions in states and groups affect when these groups get the accommodation they seek, which groups violently rebel, and whether actors target violence against their own co-ethnics.

The argument and evidence in this book reveal the dynamic effect that internal divisions within SD groups and states have on their ability to bargain over self-determination. Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham demonstrates that understanding the relations between states and SD groups requires looking at the politics inside these actors.

Caron, Kelly, & Telesetsky: The International Law of Disaster Relief

David D. Caron (King's College London - Law), Michael J. Kelly (Creighton Univ. - Law), & Anastasia Telesetsky (Univ. of Idaho - Law) have published The International Law of Disaster Relief (Cambridge Univ. Press 2014). Contents include:
  • Daniel A. Farber, International law and the disaster cycle
  • Toshiya Ueki, Natural disasters and the theory of international law
  • Imogen Saunders, International disaster relief law and article 38(1)(c) of the statute of the international court of justice: the forgotten source of international law
  • Emika Tokunaga, Evolution of international disaster response law: towards codification and progressive development of the law
  • Claire Clement, International disaster response laws, rules, and principles: a pragmatic approach to strengthening international disaster response mechanisms
  • Yukari Takamura, Release of radioactive substances into the sea and international law: the Japanese experience in the course of nuclear disaster
  • Kirsten Nakjavani Bookmiller, The international law of ninety-six hours: urban search and rescue teams and the current state of international disaster response law
  • Catherine Gribbin & Ilario Maiolo, Legal framework applicable to humanitarian actors responding to disasters in weak and fragile states
  • Catherine Shanahan Renshaw, Disasters, despots, and gun-boat diplomacy
  • Katie Sykes, Hunger without frontiers: the right to food and state obligations to migrants
  • Akiko Ito, Disasters, international law, and persons with disabilities
  • Brian R. Israel, Help from above: the role of international law in facilitating the use of outer space for disaster management
  • Paul Govind, Utilizing international climate-change-adaptation funding to reduce risks of natural disasters in the developing world
  • Amelia Telec, Challenges to state sovereignty in the provision of international natural disaster relief
  • Kentaro Nishimoto, The role of international organizations in disaster response: a case study of recent earthquakes in Japan
  • Ibironke T. Odumosu-Ayanu, International investment law and disasters: necessity, peoples, and the burden of (economic) emergencies
  • Dug Cubie, Clarifying the acquis humanitaire: a transnational legal perspective on the internalization of humanitarian norms

Boister & Currie: Routledge Handbook of Transnational Criminal Law

Neil Boister (Univ. of Canterbury - Law) & Robert J. Currie (Dalhousie Univ. - Law) have published Routledge Handbook of Transnational Criminal Law (Routledge 2014). Here's the abstract:

Certain types of crime are increasingly being perpetrated across national borders and require a unified regional or global response to combat them. Transnational criminal law covers both the international treaty obligations which require States to introduce specific substantive measures into their domestic criminal law schemes, and an allied procedural dimension concerned with the articulation of inter-state cooperation in pursuit of the alleged transnational criminal.

The Routledge Handbook of Transnational Criminal Law provides a comprehensive overview of the system which is designed to regulate cross border crime. The book looks at the history and development of the system, asking questions as to the principal purpose and effectiveness of transnational criminal law as it currently stands. The book brings together experts in the field, both scholars and practitioners, in order to offer original and forward-looking analyses of the key elements of the transnational criminal law.

Grover: Interpreting Crimes in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Leena Grover has published Interpreting Crimes in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Cambridge Univ. Press 2014). Here's the abstract:
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines more than ninety crimes that fall within the Court's jurisdiction: genocide, other crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression. How these crimes are interpreted contributes to findings of individual criminal liability, and moreover affects the perceived legitimacy of the Court. And yet, to date, there is no agreed-upon approach to interpreting these definitions. This book offers practitioners and scholars a guiding principle, arguments and aids necessary for the interpretation of international crimes. Leena Grover surveys the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda before presenting a model of interpretive reasoning that integrates the guidance within the Rome Statute into articles 31-33 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969).

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Bonzon: Public Participation and Legitimacy in the WTO

Yves Bonzon has published Public Participation and Legitimacy in the WTO (Cambridge Univ. Press 2014). Here's the abstract:
The legitimacy of the WTO's decision-making process has always been questioned, and many have advocated public participation mechanisms as a remedy. Yves Bonzon considers the limits and potential of these mechanisms by advancing a conceptual framework which distinguishes the four 'implementation parameters' of public participation: the goal, the object, the modalities, and the actors. He addresses the issue of legitimacy by considering to what extent, and by virtue of which legal developments, one can see implementing the democratic principle as a goal for public participation in the context of the WTO. By analysing the institutional structure of the WTO and its different types of decisions, he then outlines how this goal should influence the object and modalities of public participation, which decision-making procedures should be opened to public participation, and how the mechanisms should be implemented in practice. Finally, he suggests specific amendments to existing WTO arrangements on public participation.

New Issue: Ocean Development & International Law

The latest issue of Ocean Development & International Law (Vol. 45, no. 4, 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Jeffrey J. Smith, Evolving to Conservation?: The International Court's Decision in the Australia/Japan Whaling Case
  • Anastasia Telesetsky, Donald K. Anton & Timo Koivurova, ICJ's Decision in Australia v. Japan: Giving up the Spear or Refining the Scientific Design?
  • Lars H. Gulbrandsen & Geir Hønneland, Fisheries Certification in Russia: The Emergence of Nonstate Authority in a Postcommunist Economy
  • Bing Bing Jia, A Preliminary Study of the Title to Huangyan Island (Scarborough Reef/Shoal)
  • Hyun Jung Kim, Natural Prolongation: A Living Myth in the Regime of the Continental Shelf?

New Issue: American Review of International Arbitration

The latest issue of the American Review of International Arbitration (Vol. 24, no. 4, 2013) is out. Contents include:
  • Claudia T. Salomon & Sandra Friedrich, Obtaining and submitting evidence in international arbitration in the United States
  • Armin Steinbach, The treatment of confidential information in WTO dispute settlement proceedings
  • Gabriele Mazzini, The European Union and investor-state arbitration: a work in progress
  • Stefanie Pfisterer, The arbitrator as settlement facilitator

Workshop: International Law as Behavior

On Thursday, November 13, 2014, the University of Georgia School of Law and the International Legal Theory Interest Group of the American Society of International Law will convene a book workshop on “International Law as Behavior,” at ASIL Headquarters (Tillar House) in Washington, DC. Here's the idea:
Organized by Harlan Cohen (University of Georgia School of Law), the workshop will bring together scholars working at the cutting edge in a variety of different fields, including constructivist international relations theory, anthropology, behavioral law and economics, organizations theory, social psychology, and sociology to discuss how these approaches can best be applied to the study of international law, how these approaches can complement both each other and positivist and rationalist accounts, the opportunities and challenges of working across these fields, and the development of a common language and tools to study how international actors actually behave, how their rationality is bounded by psychology, how they operate as members of groups and recipients of culture, and how they write and follow organizational scripts. Participants include Elena Baylis (University of Pittsburgh School of Law), Tomer Broude (Hebrew University Faculty of Law), Adam Chilton (University of Chicago School of Law), Sungjoon Cho (IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law), Martha Finnemore (George Washington University School of Law Elliott School of International Affairs), Jean Galbraith (University of Pennsylvania Law School), Derek Jinks (University of Texas School of Law), Ron Levi (University of Toronto Global Affairs and Sociology), Tim Meyer (University of Georgia School of Law), Galit Sarfaty (University of British Columbia Faculty of Law), and Kathryn Sikkink (Harvard Kennedy School). A book based on presentations at the workshop will follow.

Monday, October 20, 2014

New Issue: Manchester Journal of International Economic Law

The latest issue of the Manchester Journal of International Economic Law (Vol. 11, no. 2, 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Guiguo Wang, Issues of Compensation for Non-Expropriatory Breaches in International Investment Law
  • Chios Carmody, Modes of Reasoning in WTO Law
  • Saloni Khanderia-Yadav, Ramifications of the Bali Ministerial Conference on Food Security and Public Distribution Schemes: Is India Skating on Thin Ice?
  • Nany Hur, Bilateral Treaty Relations between Korea, China and Japan: Precursors of Trilateral Economic Relations in Northeast Asia
  • Minyoung Ko, An Empirical Approach to Treaty Interpretation: International Cases referring to the Vienna Convention Rules on Treaty Interpretation and Interpretative Mechanisms in Regional Trade Agreements

New Issue: Revista Tribuna Internacional

The latest issue of Revista Tribuna Internacional (Vol. 3, Número especial, 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Eduardo Vargas Carreño, La Corte Internacional de Justicia: su organización y competencia
  • Jaime Lagos Erazo, Antecedentes procesales sobre la controversia marítima Perú c. Chile
  • Mario Arnello Romo, La sentencia de la Corte Internacional de Justicia sobre el límite marítimo Perú c. Chile confirma la pérdida de juridicidad que prevalece en la justicia internacional
  • Fallo de la Corte Internacional de Justicia sobre la controversia marítima entre Perú y Chile, de 27 de enero de 2014

Symposium: La dynamique du système des traités de l’ONU en matière de droits de l’homme

On November 10, 2014, the Centre de recherche sur les droits de l’homme et le droit humanitaire at the Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II) will host a symposium on "La dynamique du système des traités de l’ONU en matière de droits de l’homme." The program is here.

Wheatley: Modelling Democratic Secession in International Law

Steven Wheatley (Univ. of Lancaster - Law) has posted Modelling Democratic Secession in International Law (in Nationalism and Globalisation: New Settings, New Challenges, Stephen Tierney ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
The objective of this chapter is to evaluate whether the emergent teleology of the international law system can accommodate a right of democratic secession: the right of a group to a State by virtue of the fact that its political leaders have been able to mobilize majority support around a nationalist case in favour of independence. The work first outlines the way in which international law responds to claims of national self-determination, concluding that the extant incoherence in the doctrine and practice suggests a requirement for a new conceptual model to make sense of this issue. In common with a long tradition in the social sciences (including law), the chapter looks to developments in the natural sciences to make sense of the social world – in this case by reference to a variant of systems theory known as complexity, which is focused on emergent systems that represent the patterned communications of networks of agents, without any central controller or guiding hand. Following the insights from complexity, we can develop an abstract model of State as the observation of the patterned communications of the coevolved and coexistent law and politics systems. The third part of the chapter relies on this abstract model to outline a right of democratic secession in three related steps: the rejection of the sovereign authority of the territorial State by certain subjects; the acceptance of the authority of emergent systems of law and politics of a new political entity; and observation (or ‘recognition’) of the political entity as possessing legitimate political authority. The work concludes by reflecting on the implications of the analysis for the events of 2014 in the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.

New Issue: Revue Générale de Droit International Public

The latest issue of the Revue Générale de Droit International Public (Vol. 118, no. 3, 2014) is out. Contents include:
  • Dossier : L'identité constitutionnelle
    • Le concept d'identité constitutionnelle : origines et contours
    • Laurence Burgorgue-Larsen, Les origines de l'identité constitutionnelle
    • Jean-Denis Mouton, L'identité constitutionnelle, un concept pertinent au regard du droit international ?
    • La construction de l'identité constitutionnelle au regard des engagements internationaux de la France en matière de droits de l'homme
    • Ariane Vidal-Naquet, Comment se forge l'identité constitutionnelle ? Le rôle du législateur et du juge
    • Frédérique Coulée, En quoi les engagements internationaux de la France en matière de droits de l'homme nous renseignent-ils sur son identité constitutionnelle ?
    • Regards croisés sur la substance de l'identité constitutionnelle française
    • Ferdinand Melin-Soucramanien, Le principe d'égalité devant la loi. Regard du constitutionnaliste
    • Sébastien Touzé, Le principe d'égalité devant la loi. Regard de l'Internationaliste
    • Jordane Arlettaz, Indivisibilité de la République et droit international des minorités : de l'identité constitutionnelle à l'identité républicaine
    • Sandra Szurek, La République française et le droit des minorités. Le point de vue de l'internationaliste
    • Frédéric Dieu, La place de la laïcité en droit interne
    • Jean-Manuel Larralde, Le principe de laïcité. Regard de l'internationaliste
    • Conclusions
    • Gilbert Guillaume