Thursday, March 14, 2019

New Issue: Journal of Territorial and Maritime Studies

The latest issue of the Journal of Territorial and Maritime Studies (Vol. 5, no. 2, 2018) is out. Contents include:
  • Valentin J. Schatz, The Contribution of Fisheries Access Agreements to the Emergence of the Exclusive Economic Zone: A Historical Perspective
  • Brian McGarry, The Settlement of Maritime Boundary Disputes in Southeast Asia and Oceania: A Synthesis in light of Indonesian Practice
  • Diego Mejía-Lemos, The Principle of Res Judicata, Determination by “Necessary Implication,” and the Settlement of Maritime Delimitation Disputes by the International Court of Justice
  • Edgardo Sobenes Obregon, Res Judicata and the Test of Finality
  • Joshua Nash, Inside(r)-Outside(r): linguistics, Sociology and the Microterritoriality of Maritime Space on Pitcairn Island

Seminar: Expert Dialogue on the EU Blocking Regulation and Extraterritorial US Sanctions

On April 19, 2019, Utrecht University’s Law School’s research programme on Regulation and Enforcement in Europe will hold an "Expert Dialogue on the EU Blocking Regulation and Extraterritorial US Sanctions." The program is here.

"Live from L": International Economic Law

On April 4, 2019, the ABA Section of International Law, together with the American Society of International Law, will present the 9th Annual "Live from L" at George Washington University Law School, featuring Jennifer G. Newstead, Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State. The topic is: "International Economic Law." You may register to attend in-person or for the webcast.

Werther-Pietsch: Inclusive Peace - Frauen als Akteurinnen in Friedensprozessen

Ursula Werther-Pietsch has published Inclusive Peace - Frauen als Akteurinnen in Friedensprozessen (2019). Here's the abstract:
2020 jährt sich die Annahme der UNSCR 1325 zur Rolle von Frauen in Konflikten zum 20. Mal. Zum Jubiläumsjahr ist Österreich international aufgefordert, sowohl eine erfolgreiche Implementierung des Nationalen Aktionsplans vorzuweisen als auch kritisch zu prüfen, wie eine Refokussierung auf neue Schwerpunkte der "Women, Peace and Security" (WPS) Agenda aussehen kann. Die Studie zeigt aktuelle Frauen-relevante Trends in Friedensabkommen und Voraussetzungen für erfolgreiche weibliche Friedensvermittlung auf. Daraus werden konkrete Empfehlungen auf nationaler und internationaler Ebene abgeleitet. Das Projekt verfolgt mit Blick auf BMEIA und BMLV eine gesamtstaatliche Perspektive.

Marxsen: Bündnissolidarität und Auslandseinsätze der Bundeswehr – Verfassungs- und völkerrechtliche Grundlagen

Christian Marxsen (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) has posted Bündnissolidarität und Auslandseinsätze der Bundeswehr – Verfassungs- und völkerrechtliche Grundlagen (Alliance Solidarity and the Deployment of German Military Troops Abroad – Legal Requirements under German Constitutional Law and International Law). Here's the abstract:

Dieser Aufsatz analysiert die rechtlichen Voraussetzungen für Auslandseinsätze der Bundeswehr. In einem ersten Schritt werden dabei die völkerrechtlichen Anforderungen rekapituliert. Alsdann werden die Voraussetzungen des Grundgesetzes in den Blick genommen, wobei insbesondere die Regeln über die Beteiligung an Bündniseinsätzen eingehend analysiert werden. Die These des Aufsatzes ist, dass wir international gegenwärtig einen problematischen Trend erleben, demzufolge Militäreinsätze weniger in vom U.N. Sicherheitsrat autorisierten Missionen, sondern zunehmend in nur partikularen Bündnissen erfolgen. Diese Entwicklung kann für die Bundesrepublik zu Konflikten mit den völkerrechtlichen, aber auch verfassungsrechtlichen Anforderungen für Auslandseinsätze der Bundeswehr führen.

The article analyses the legal requirements for the deployment of German military troops abroad. First, it provides an overview on the relevant international legal rules, especially of the prohibition on the use of force and its exceptions that Germany is obliged to observe. It then discusses the legal framework and practice under the German Grundgesetz under which military operations in alliance with other countries are the standard case. The article then argues that we are currently witnessing a problematic turn from military operations conducted based on an authorization of the U.N. Security Council to such operations carried out in smaller, partial alliances outside the universalist framework of the U.N. It is shown that this trend can conflict with German obligations under international as well as German constitutional law.

Scoville & Berlin: Who Studies International Law? Explaining Cross-National Variation in Compulsory International Legal Education

Ryan Scoville (Marquette Univ. - Law) & Mark S. Berlin (Marquette Univ.) have posted Who Studies International Law? Explaining Cross-National Variation in Compulsory International Legal Education (European Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
The compulsory study of international law is a universal component of legal education in some states, but extremely uncommon or nonexistent in others. This article uses global data and statistical methods to test a number of conceivable explanations for this puzzling feature of international society. In contrast to much of the empirical literature on state behavior in relation to international law, we find that functionalist and sociopolitical variables carry little explanatory power, and that historical variables — specifically, legal tradition and regional geography — instead account for the overwhelming majority of the global pattern. We explore potential explanations for these findings and discuss implications for scholars, legal educators, and policymakers.

New Issue: Journal of World Intellectual Property

The latest issue of the Journal of World Intellectual Property (Vol. 22, nos. 1-2, March 2019) is out. Contents include:
  • Viola Prifti, The limits of “ordre public” and “morality” for the patentability of human embryonic stem cell inventions
  • Gouri Gargate, Qutbuddin Siddiquee, & Chaitanya Wingkar, Intellectual property audit of an organization
  • Titilayo Adebola, Examining plant variety protection in Nigeria: Realities, obligations and prospects
  • Sunimal Mendis, Public open collaborative creation (POCC): A new archetype of authorship? ections

Krieger: Populist Governments and International Law

Heike Krieger (Freie Universitaet Berlin - Law) has posted Populist Governments and International Law (European Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
The worldwide populist wave has contributed to a perception that international law is currently in a state of crisis. This article examines in how far populist governments have challenged prevailing interpretations of international law. The article links structural features of populism with an analysis of populist governmental strategies and argumentative practices. It demonstrates that, in their rhetoric, populist governments promote an understanding of international law as a mere law of coordination. This is, however, not entirely reflected in their legal practices where an instrumental, cherry-picking approach prevails. The article concludes that policies of populist governments affect the current state of international law on two different levels: In the political sphere their practices alter the general environment in which legal rules are interpreted. In the legal sphere populist governments push for changes in the interpretation of established international legal rules. The article substantiates these propositions by focusing on the principle of non-intervention and foreign funding for NGOs.

Tzanakopoulos: La Russie et le Conseil de sécurité : les trois époques de la pratique (Russia and the Security Council: Three Epochs of Practice)

Antonios Tzanakopoulos (Univ. of Oxford - Law) has posted La Russie et le Conseil de sécurité : les trois époques de la pratique (Russia and the Security Council: Three Epochs of Practice) (Revue générale de droit international public, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Cette contribution concerne la pratique de la Russie dans sa qualité comme membre permanente du Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies. Elle tracerait la participation soviétique/russe au Conseil de sécurité en discernant approximativement trois époques de cette participation : l’époque soviétique du « deadlock », de l’impasse, pendant la guerre froide ; l’époque de retrait russe, de consensus entre les membres permanents et, par conséquence, de l’hégémonie américaine ; et l’époque actuelle paradoxale de réengagement, quand la Russie utilise les arguments occidentaux contre l’Occident.

This paper discusses the three different epochs of Soviet/Russian practice in the Security Council. After recounting the 'switch' from the Soviet Union to the Russian Federation as a permanent member of the Security Council, the paper traces the three epochs it identifies: from the Soviet era of the deadlock during the Cold War, to the era of Russian retreat during the New World Order and US hegemony, to the current paradoxical era of Russian re-engagement, where Russia invokes Western arguments against the West.

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

van Dijk: “The Great Humanitarian”: The Soviet Union, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Geneva Conventions of 1949

Boyd van Dijk (Univ. of Amsterdam - History) has published “The Great Humanitarian”: The Soviet Union, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (Law and History Review, Vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 209-235, February 2019). Here's an excerpt:

The Geneva Conventions of 1949 are often seen by both scholars and practitioners as the product of liberal humanitarianism in general and particularly of the International Committee of the Red Cross's (ICRC) attempts to protect victims of war more strongly. They are primarily viewed as a major response to the experiences of World War II, in order to prevent the repetition of its most horrific atrocities, against especially civilians. Unlike the Nuremberg Trials, or the human rights revolutions of the 1940s, the Conventions are not usually regarded as an “Anglo-American tale of triumph.” Traditionally, they are viewed as a similar sort of product made possible by a cohort of predominantly Western European drafters, thereby limiting the important Soviet role to a relatively minor although uncomfortable episode in a larger story of humanist triumphalism. This classic account mostly fails to address, let alone acknowledge, the significant contributions of illiberal states, such as the Soviet Union and the socialist states of the Eastern Bloc, in developing humanitarian law. This liberal humanitarian narrative was more or less unchallenged by the Soviets and the ICRC in the years after 1949. Both felt little need during this period of continuing tensions to remind others about their brief but important strategic cooperation in 1949 to strengthen the Geneva Conventions.

The history of the Conventions was, first and foremost, written by many of the former Western protagonists, particularly the ICRC, largely adopting and reifying their views. Since then, many influential scholars analyzing the historical evolution of the laws of war have, regardless of different turns in legal-historical historiographies, accepted these claims largely at face value. For example, the American political scientist David Forsythe, who wrote an authoritative and pioneering study of the ICRC's history, argued that “the Soviets never cooperated with the ICRC in meaningful ways on humanitarian protection during the Cold War proper.” Surprisingly, the recent opening up of Soviet archives has failed to yield a growing interest among Soviet experts in this specific matter. As a consequence of this, a liberal-historical amnesia has occurred, minimizing the remarkable role played by the Soviets before, and at Geneva, in revising humanitarian law.

Paradoxically echoing the Western orthodoxy on this matter, Francine Hirsch, an expert on Soviet international legal contributions after World War II, has also suggested that following Nuremberg, the Soviets “concluded that international legal institutions were of limited use to them, and refocused their efforts on shaping the postwar order through other means.” Others who have looked more in depth at the matter have stressed the importance of the Soviet Union's wartime declarations rather than its postwar legal contributions, or have looked at only certain dimensions of the Soviet contributions, instead of using a more multilayered historical approach as this article seeks to do.

This article, based on a collection of different Western and Soviet archival materials, certainly does not try to provide a comprehensive, let alone definitive, Soviet-focused account. Instead, it unpacks some of the existing misconceptions within the existing historiography regarding the Soviet impact on the ICRC's efforts to promote the law's revision, especially after World War II. Whereas most of the literature claims that Soviet contributions were either minimal or highly biased, this article reveals the Soviet delegation's mixed but critical legacy in developing the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, including Common Article 3, in particular.

In general, the Soviet position was evolving in nature, less unitary, and far more sophisticated than what is commonly assumed. On the one hand, its delegation(s), acting in surprisingly close cooperation with the ICRC, was critical in introducing powerful proposals and in creating sufficient support for plans to end “inhumane” measures in war. On the other hand, the Soviet delegation tried and eventually succeeded in making some of these protections potentially vulnerable because of its enduring opposition to accepting stronger enforcement mechanisms, such as allowing Protecting Powers to visit its camps.

Focusing on the Western perceptions of the Soviet Union's actions and its contributions to the law's historical evolution, the article also unravels how the Western objective of obtaining Soviet participation was seen by many of the major drafting parties, particularly the French Foreign Ministry, as a critical precondition for making the law's revision process a success. In pursuit of this goal, the parties seriously and extensively discussed the options of replacing or even eliminating the ICRC as a drafting party, with the aim of eventually obtaining Soviet participation. In so doing, the article raises the possibility of alternative paths, and that of contingency, of a variety of routes that need to be reinserted into a larger story about the law's historical development. This element is either missing or downplayed in most existing accounts, as they tend to take the ICRC's continued participation largely for granted.

The argument is presented across two different sections focusing on Soviet–ICRC relations and the Soviet impact on the discussions leading to the acceptance of the Geneva Conventions in August 1949. The first section explores the interwar and wartime origins of the hostile relations between Switzerland and Moscow, which led to the latter's rejection of participating in the early phases of the postwar drafting debates. The following section focuses on the attempts made by mainly French diplomats to obtain Soviet participation through questioning the ICRC's leading drafting role. Filling certain gaps in the existing literature on the Soviet contributions to developing international law after World War II, the final section of this article addresses a few key elements regarding the Soviet impact on the last stage of these negotiations.

New Issue: Criminal Law Forum

The latest issue of Criminal Law Forum (Vol. 30, no. 1, March 2019) is out. Contents include:
  • Monika Simmler & Nora Markwalder, Guilty Robots? – Rethinking the Nature of Culpability and Legal Personhood in an Age of Artificial Intelligence
  • Geert-Jan Alexander Knoops, The Proliferation of Forensic Sciences and Evidence before International Criminal Tribunals from a Defence Perspective
  • Héctor Olasolo & Jannluck Canosa, The Treatment of Superior Responsibility in Colombia: Interpreting the Agreement Between the Colombian Government and the FARC†
  • Alexander Heinze, The 20th Anniversary of the Rome Statute

New Issue: Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d'histoire du droit international

The latest issue of the Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d'histoire du droit international (Vol. 20, no. 4, 2018) is out. Contents include:
  • Moshe Hirsch, The Role of International Tribunals in the Development of Historical Narratives
  • Louis Sicking, The Pirate and the Admiral: Europeanisation and Globalisation of Maritime Conflict Management
  • Marc de Wilde, Seeking Refuge: Grotius on Exile, Expulsion and Asylum
  • Raphael Schäfer, The 150th Anniversary of the St Petersburg Declaration: Introductory Reflections on a Janus-Faced Document
  • Robert Kolb & Momchil Milanov, The 1868 St Petersburg Declaration on Explosive Projectiles: A Reappraisal
  • Emily Crawford, The Enduring Legacy of the St Petersburg Declaration: Distinction, Military Necessity, and the Prohibition of Causing Unnecessary Suffering and Superfluous Injury in IHL

Ferrero: L’interprétation évolutive des conventions internationales de protection des droits de l’homme

Julie Ferrero has published L’interprétation évolutive des conventions internationales de protection des droits de l’homme : Contribution à l'étude de la fonction interprétative du juge international (Pedone 2019). Here's the abstract:

Les conventions internationales de protection des droits de l’Homme ont été élaborées au début de la seconde moitié du XXe siècle. Or, le champ matériel de ces traités est étroitement connecté aux réalités humaines, elles-mêmes en constante évolution. Les développements technologiques, sociaux, économiques ou scientifiques peuvent en conséquence avoir des implications directes sur l’exercice des droits et libertés fondamentaux. L’interprétation évolutive de ces instruments, consistant à les envisager « à la lumière des conditions actuelles », est alors devenue courante dans la pratique des juridictions spécialisées, bien qu’elle soit parfois envisagée avec méfiance. Absente des règles d’interprétation du droit international formulées dans la Convention de Vienne sur le droit des traités, cette modalité interprétative intrigue dans la mesure où elle conduit le juge à s’écarter parfois explicitement du texte de l’accord et donc de la volonté des parties. Pour autant, face à l’enjeu que représente le maintien de l’effectivité du droit dans le temps, force est de constater que l’application de ces conventions impose leur actualisation. L’interprétation évolutive invite par conséquent à une réévaluation de la fonction interprétative du juge international, entre son encadrement théorique traditionnellement strict et les exigences empiriques du droit international contemporain.

À partir de cette méthode particulière, cette thèse vise à démontrer que le juge international de protection des droits de l’Homme bénéficie d’une ample marge de manœuvre dans le processus interprétatif qui, sans impliquer une quelconque exclusivité de la méthode aux droits de l’Homme, tient essentiellement aux conditions dans lesquelles il exerce son office. Cette latitude est en réalité indispensable et lui permet de contribuer à une adaptation quotidienne du droit international devenue vitale. La mise au jour de la véritable nature de ses fonctions atteste de la part de créativité inhérente à l’activité interprétative et participe à la remise en question de la fiction classique de l’application mécanique du droit au fait, strictement encadrée par les limites du consensualisme. Plus encore, les implications de l’interprétation évolutive conduisent à lever le voile qui masquait jusqu’alors les fondements et la légitimité du pouvoir du juge et permettent d’en proposer des perspectives d’amélioration.

Call for Papers: Socially Responsible Foreign Investment under International Law

A call for papers has been issued for a conference on "Socially Responsible Foreign Investment under International Law," to be held at Católica Global School of Law, Lisbon, on October 24-25, 2019. The call is here.

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

New Issue: International Affairs

The latest issue of International Affairs (Vol. 95, no. 2, March 2019) is out. Contents include:
  • Mikael Wigell, Hybrid interference as a wedge strategy: a theory of external interference in liberal democracy
  • Trevor McCrisken & Maxwell Downman, ‘Peace through strength’: Europe and NATO deterrence beyond the US Nuclear Posture Review
  • Simon Cottee, The calypso caliphate: how Trinidad became a recruiting ground for ISIS
  • Erika Weinthal & Jeannie Sowers, Targeting infrastructure and livelihoods in the West Bank and Gaza
  • Hassan Ahmadian & Payam Mohseni, Iran's Syria strategy: the evolution of deterrence
  • Roland Vogt, Reputations and the fight against tax evasion: EU pressure and Asian financial centres
  • Richard G. Whitman, The UK's European diplomatic strategy for Brexit and beyond
  • Denis M. Tull, Rebuilding Mali's army: the dissonant relationship between Mali and its international partners
  • Andoni Maiza-Larrarte & Gloria Claudio-Quiroga, The impact of Sicomines on development in the Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Andreas E. Feldmann, Federico Merke, & Oliver Stuenkel, Argentina, Brazil and Chile and democracy defence in Latin America: principled calculation

Call for Papers: International law’s invisible frames – social cognition and knowledge production in international legal processes

A call for papers has been issued for a workshop on "International law’s invisible frames – social cognition and knowledge production in international legal processes," to be held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, December 4-5, 2019. The call is here.

Workshop: Art and International Courts

On April 25-26, 2019, the Art and International Justice Initiative and iCourts at the University of Copenhagen will hold a workshop on "Art and International Courts," in Copenhagen. The program is here.

New Issue: Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Institutions

The latest issue of Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Institutions (Vol. 25, no. 1, January-March 2019) is out. Contents include:
  • The Global Forum
    • Federico Soda, Migration from Africa to Europe: Mobility that Needs to Be Better Managed
    • Bertrand Ramcharan, António Guterres’s Strategy for Modernizing the UN
  • Articles
    • Caroline Fehl & Johannes Thimm, Dispensing With the Indispensable Nation? Multilateralism minus One in the Trump Era
    • Kate Seaman, Networking Responsibility: Regional Agents and Changing International Norms
    • Oldrich Bures & Jeremy Meyer, The Anti-Mercenary Norm and United Nations’ Use of Private Military and Security Companies
    • Gary Winslett, Choosing among Options for Regulatory Cooperation
    • Jungbae An & In Tae Yoo, Internet Governance Regimes by Epistemic Community: Formation and Diffusion in Asia
    • Matthias Dembinski & Dirk Peters, The Power of Justice: How Procedural Justice Concerns Affect the Legitimacy of International Institutions
    • Eduard Jordaan, South Africa and Civil and Political Rights

Hoffmann: Crimes Against The People – A Sui Generis Socialist International Crime?

Tamás Hoffmann (Corvinus Univ. of Budapest) has posted Crimes Against The People – A Sui Generis Socialist International Crime? (Journal of the History of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
Crimes against humanity is one of the core crimes in international criminal law, whose existence is treated as a natural reaction to mass atrocities. This idea of linear progress is challenged by this article, which demonstrates that in Post-Second World War Hungary an alternative approach was developed to prosecute human rights violation committed against civilian populations. Even though this concept was eventually used as a political weapon by the communist party, it had long-lasting effects on the prosecution of international crimes in Hungary.

Heath: National Security and Economic Globalization: Toward Collision or Reconciliation?

J. Benton Heath (New York Univ. - Law) has posted National Security and Economic Globalization: Toward Collision or Reconciliation? (Fordham International Law Journal, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
In this contribution to a symposium on "International Trade: Isolationism, Trade Wars, and Trump," I argue that the present challenge to the economic order is both broader and more intractable than the symposium title suggests. Many observers are rightly concerned about the Trump administration's broad invocations of national security, and about rising economic and strategic tensions with China. Without diminishing either of these challenges, I argue that Trump’s actions on trade reflect the increasing entanglement between national security policy and “ordinary” economic regulation—an entanglement that both predates and will outlast his administration, and extends farther than just the United States. This entanglement stems from a dramatic series of shifts in national security policy since the 1990s, such that security measures overlap with trade and investment rules in an ever-widening range of circumstances. Moreover, not all of these new security policies bear the hallmarks of abuse and overreach that characterize the Trump administration. It is unclear whether our international economic institutions have the legal tools, the capacity, or the legitimacy to address this growing body of novel—but not necessarily abusive—national security aims. This short piece introduces these critical claims and potential responses, both of which are developed further in forthcoming work.

Grange & Norodom: Cyberattaques et droit international : Problèmes choisis

Maryline Grange & Anne-Thida Norodom have published Cyberattaques et droit international : Problèmes choisis (Pedone 2019). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Un nord-coréen accusé d’avoir piraté le studio Sony ou orchestré l’attaque Wannacry pour le compte du régime, des interventions via les réseaux sociaux dans les campagnes électorales américaine, lettone ou française, un programme malveillant paralysant la cérémonie d’ouverture des derniers Jeux Olympiques, une tentative de perturbation de missions d’avion de chasse, une attaque de sociétés gérant le fonctionnement de centrales nucléaires américaines… la liste pourrait être longue pour recenser les cyberattaques entreprises seulement depuis 2017.

Pourtant, la réponse à apporter n’est toujours pas évidente : qui peut agir ? contre qui ? à quelles conditions et dans quel but ? Autant de questions qui se posent et auxquelles il faut apporter une réponse à la suite de l’identification de tels actes. S’il a été reconnu que le droit international existant doit s’appliquer en cas de cyberattaques, il reste encore à en identifier les modalités.

C’est à cet ambitieux objectif que la Journée d’études organisée à l’université de Rouen le 2 juin 2017 entendait contribuer en confrontant les besoins des praticiens aux réflexions d’universitaires. Le présent ouvrage rassemble les contributions des intervenants qui ont accepté de proposer des analyses, souvent prospectives, des questions posées quant à la définition des cyberattaques, l’identification de leurs auteurs et des réactions envisageables.

New Issue: Trade, Law and Development

The latest issue of Trade, Law and Development (Vol. 10, no. 2, Winter 2018) is out. Contents include:
  • Articles
    • Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann, The 2018 Trade Wars as a Threat to the World Trading System and Constitutional Democracies
    • Steve Charnovitz, How American Rejectionism Undermines International Economic Law
    • Daniel Magraw & Radhika Venkataraman, Virtual Water, Embodied Carbon and Trade Law: Conflict or Coexistence?
    • Jayant Raghu Ram, Cracks in the 'Crown Jewel'—Whither 'Prompt Settlement' of WTO Disputes?
    • Abhishek Rana, Renascence of the Red Dragon: A Critique on the US and EU Response to China's Transition to a Market Economy Under the WTO
    • Bhumika Billa, Strategising Protectionism: An Analysis of India's Regulation of Anti-Dumping Duty Circumvention
  • Notes and Comments
    • Nicolaj Kuplewatzky, Defining Anti-Dumping Duties Under European Union Law
    • Akhil Raina, What Is a Safeguard Under WTO Law?

Conference: The Legal Roles of Cities in a (De)Globalising World

On March 13-15, 2019, the Asser Institute will hold a conference on "The Legal Roles of Cities in a (De)Globalising World," in The Hague. The program is here. Here's the idea:

We live in an age in which urbanisation, globalisation and decentralisation are reshaping our local, national and international communities, and the way we govern them. Global governance mechanisms and international legal norms affect cities, and in turn, cities have become relevant actors in international law and global governance. Sustainable Development Goal 11 – the pledge to ‘make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’ – is a case in point. This Sustainable Development Goal on cities testifies to both the globalisation of urban governance and the urbanisation of global governance.

United Cities and Local Governments, the largest intercity organisation, for example, plays an important role in sustainable development processes led by the United Nations. And C40, another prominent intercity organisation, is a vocal promotor of global climate change policies. In addition to being active in the international arena, these intercity organisations are, in cooperation with international institutions, localising international norms and thus developing novel - ‘glocal’ - governance mechanisms.

The Cities and international law in the Urban Age conference hosted by the Asser Institute will bring together a very diverse group of internationally renowned researchers working on the changing relationship between cities, international law and governance. The authors will bring a variety of perspectives (historical, theoretical, constitutional, and regional among others) and come from different academic fields (such as climate change, health, security, sports, migration and human rights) and disciplines (international law, international relations, political science, sociology). Presentations will not necessarily be in their final stages, leaving plenty of opportunity for discussions and feedback.

The aim of the conference is to examine a wide range of practical developments and theoretical dimensions of the changing position and role of cities in international law and governance. With that, we hope to enhance the visibility of this development in wider academic circles, and to stimulate a debate that will bring new insights to this developing field.

Conference: 113th ASIL Annual Meeting

On March 27-30, 2019, the American Society of International Law will hold its 113th Annual Meeting, in Washington, DC. The theme is: "International Law as an Instrument." The program is here.

Monday, March 11, 2019

Strauss: Hostile Business and the Sovereign State: Privatized Governance, State Security and International Law

Michael J. Strauss (Centre d’Etudes Diplomatiques et Stratégiques) has published Hostile Business and the Sovereign State: Privatized Governance, State Security and International Law (Routledge 2018). Here's the abstract:
This book describes and assesses an emerging threat to states’ territorial control and sovereignty: the hostile control of companies that carry out privatized aspects of sovereign authority. The threat arises from the massive worldwide shift of state activities to the private sector since the late 1970s in conjunction with two other modern trends – the globalization of business and the liberalization of international capital flows. The work introduces three new concepts: firstly, the rise of companies that handle privatized activities, and the associated advent of "post-government companies" that make such activities their core business. Control of them may reside with individual investors, other companies or investment funds, or it may reside with other states through state-owned enterprises or sovereign wealth funds. Secondly, "imperfect privatizations:" when a state privatizes an activity to another state’s public sector. The book identifies cases where this is happening. It also elaborates on how ownership and influence of companies that perform privatized functions may not be transparent, and can pass to inherently hostile actors, including criminal or terrorist organizations. Thirdly, "belligerent companies," whose conduct is hostile to those of states where they are active. The book concludes by assessing the adequacy of existing legal and regulatory regimes and how relevant norms may evolve.

New Issue: Transnational Dispute Management

The latest issue of Transnational Dispute Management (2019, no. 1) is out. This is a special issue on: "Modernisation of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT)." The table of contents is here.

Call for Papers: Globalization of Environmental Law and the Role of Emerging Economies

A call for papers has been issued for a workshop on "Globalization of Environmental Law and the Role of Emerging Economies," which will take place on April 6, 2019, at the University of Cologne. The workshop is jointly organized by the University of Cologne, gLAWcal – Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development, the European Society of International Law Interest Group on International Environmental Law, and the American Society of International Law Interest Group on Intellectual Property Law. The deadline is March 15, 2019. The call is here.

Gozzi: Rights and Civilizations: A History and Philosophy of International Law

Gustavo Gozzi (Università di Bologna) has published Rights and Civilizations: A History and Philosophy of International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2019). Here's the abstract:
Rights and Civilizations, translated from the Italian original, traces a history of international law to illustrate the origins of the Western colonial project and its attempts to civilize the non-European world. The book, ranging from the sixteenth century to the twenty-first, explains how the West sought to justify its own colonial conquests through an ideology that revolved around the idea of its own assumed superiority, variously attributed to Christian peoples (in the early modern age), Western 'civil' peoples (in the nineteenth century), and 'developed' peoples (at the beginning of the twentieth century), and now to democratic Western peoples. In outlining this history and discourse, the book shows that, while the Western conception may style itself as universal, it is in fact relative. This comes out by bringing the Western civilization into comparison with others, mainly the Islamic one, suggesting the need for an 'intercivilizational' approach to international law.

Kappler & Vogt: Gender im Völkerrecht: Konfliktlagen und Errungenschaften

Katrin Kappler & Vinzent Vogt have published Gender im Völkerrecht: Konfliktlagen und Errungenschaften (Nomos 2019). Here's the abstract:

Der Sammelband liefert Geschlechteranalysen in verschiedenen Bereichen des internationalen Rechts. Er richtet sich an Interessierte der Legal Gender Studies, der feministischen Rechtswissenschaft und des internationalen Rechts. Dabei werden durch interdisziplinär offene Beiträge auch Interessierte ohne juristischen Hintergrund angesprochen. Im internationalen Menschenrechtsschutz stehen die Themen Sexualität, Vaterschaftsrechte und Menschenhandel im Fokus. Danach wird das (Frauen-)Menschenrechtssystem in Afrika rechtlich und am Beispiel Südafrikas aus einer ethnologischen Perspektive untersucht. Im Völkerstrafrecht werden zwei Thematiken in den Blick genommen: die Frage der Kategorialität zum einen, zum anderen eine mögliche Verfolgung der Jesid*innen durch den „Islamischen Staat“. Abschließend führt der Band ins Arbeitsvölkerrecht und analysiert das Rückkehrrecht nach dem Mutterschutz- und Elternurlaub sowie die Erbringung von Pflegearbeit in deutschen Privathaushalten.

This volume provides a wide range of gender analyses in various areas of international law. It is aimed at those interested in legal gender studies, feminist jurisprudence and international law, but through its interdisciplinary open contributions it will also appeal to other readers without a legal background who are interested in this subject. Its section on international human rights protection focuses on sexuality, paternity rights and human trafficking. Afterwards, the (women’s) human rights system in Africa is examined from both a legal and, with South Africa taken as an example, an ethnological perspective. In the section on international criminal law, two topics are examined: the question of essentialism and the possible persecution of the Yazidis by the ‘Islamic State’. Finally, the volume addresses international labour law and analyses the right to return to work after maternity and paternity leave as well as the provision of care work in private households in Germany.

Sunday, March 10, 2019

New Addition to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law

The Codification Division of the UN Office of Legal Affairs recently added a lecture to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law. It was given by Hélène Tigroudja on “Elimination of discrimination against women.”

New Issue: Trade, Law and Development

The latest issue of Trade, Law and Development (Vol. 10, no. 1, Summer 2018) is out. This is a special issue on "Revisiting WTO's Role in Global Governance." Contents include:
  • Articles
    • Marike R.P. Paulsson, Conflict Resolution in a Changing World Order
    • Rohinton P. Medhora & Maria Panezi, Will The Price Ever Be Right? Carbon Pricing and the WTO
    • Elke Hellinx, Regionalism in a Multilateral Trading System: Legal Interplays Between the Eurasian Economic Union & the WTO
    • Marieke Koekkoek, In Search of the Final Frontier – An Analysis of the Extraterritorial Effect of International Trade Measures from a Jurisdictional Perspective
  • Notes and Comments
    • Zachary Harper, The Old Sheriff and the Vigilante: World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement and Section 301 Investigations Into Intellectual Property Disputes
    • Soo-Hyun Lee, The Role of WTO In Sustainable Development Governance, Revisited

New Issue: Journal of International Dispute Settlement

The latest issue of the Journal of International Dispute Settlement (Vol. 10, no. 1, March 2019) is out. Contents include:
  • Articles
    • Paweł Marcisz & Aleksandra Orzeł-Jakubowska, The Right to Be Unheard: Recognition and Enforcement of Anti-Suit Injunctions Issued by Arbitrators in the EU
    • Nelson Goh, The Assignment of Investment Treaty Claims: Mapping the Principles
    • Relja Radović, Between Rights and Remedies: The Access to Investment Treaty Arbitration as a Substantive Right of Foreign Investors
    • Yuka Fukunaga, Margin of Appreciation as an Indicator of Judicial Deference: Is It Applicable to Investment Arbitration?
    • Ori Pomson, Does the Monetary Gold Principle Apply to International Courts and Tribunals Generally?
  • Current Developments
    • Anais Kedgley Laidlaw & Hao Duy Phan, Inter-State Compulsory Conciliation Procedures and the Maritime Boundary Dispute Between Timor-Leste and Australia
    • Joseph Onele, Revisiting Unilateral Exploitation of Mineral Resources in Disputed Water under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: Any New Matter Arising?

New Issue: International Legal Materials

The latest issue of International Legal Materials (Vol. 58, no. 1, February 2019) is out. Contents include:
  • Immunities and Criminal Jurisdiction (Equatorial Guinea v. France): Preliminary Objections (I.C.J.), with introductory note by Martins Paparinskis
  • Alleged Violations of the 1955 Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights (Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America): Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures (I.C.J.), with introductory note by Elena Chachko
  • Decision on the “Prosecution's Request for a Ruling on Jurisdiction Under Article 19(3) of the Statute” (Int'l Crim. Ct.), with introductory note by Sarah Freuden
  • Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, with introductory note by Jane McAdam
  • Views Adopted by the Committee under Article 5 (4) of the Optional Protocol, Concerning Communication Nos. 2747/2016 & 2807/2016 (H.R. Comm.), with introductory note by Sital Kalantry
  • Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship between Eritrea and Ethiopia, with introductory note by Scott W. Lyons