Saturday, March 21, 2020

He & Sun: A Chinese Theory of International Law

Zhipeng He (Jilin Univ. - Law) & Lu Sun (Jilin Academy of Social Sciences) have published A Chinese Theory of International Law (Springer 2020). Here's the abstract:
This book analyzes China’s attitude to international law based on historical experiences and documents, and provides an explanation of China’s approaches to international legal issues. It also establishes several elements for a possible framework of Chinese theory on international law.

Haskell & Rasulov: New Voices and New Perspectives in International Economic Law

John D. Haskell (Univ. of Manchester - Law) & Akbar Rasulov (Univ. of Glasgow - Law) have published New Voices and New Perspectives in International Economic Law (Springer 2020). Contents include:
  • Akbar Rasulov, Introduction: The Discipline of International Economic Law at a Crossroads
  • Ntina Tzouvala, The Ordo-Liberal Origins of Modern International Investment Law: Constructing Competition on a Global Scale
  • Michael Fakhri, A History of Food Security and Agriculture in International Trade Law, 1945–2017
  • Athene Richford, The Authority of Language in International Law: From Sovereignty to Economic Certainty
  • Nicolás M. Perrone, Taking Local Expectations Seriously: A Fresh Start for Foreign Investment Governance?
  • Mavluda Sattorova, Mustafa Erkan, & Ohiocheoya Omiunu, How Do Host States Respond to Investment Treaty Law? Some Empirical Observations
  • Alexandre Belle, Mamatas and Others v. Greece: How the European Court of Human Rights Could Change Sovereign Debt Restructuration
  • John D. Haskell, Doing Things with Political Economy (as a Public International Law Academic)
  • Maria Tzanakopoulou, Social Consensus in the EMU: The Constitutional Tenets of a Currency Union

Jeßberger & Geneuss: Why Punish Perpetrators of Mass Atrocities? Purposes of Punishment in International Criminal Law

Florian Jeßberger (Universität Hamburg - Law) & Julia Geneuss (Universität Hamburg - Law) have published Why Punish Perpetrators of Mass Atrocities? Purposes of Punishment in International Criminal Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:
This edited volume provides, for the first time, a comprehensive account of theoretical approaches to international punishment. Its main objective is to contribute to the development of a consistent and robust theory of international criminal punishment. For this purpose, the authors - renowned scholars in the fields of criminal law, international criminal law, and philosophy of law, as well as practitioners working at different international criminal courts and tribunals - address the question of meaning and purpose of punishment in international law from various perspectives. The volume fleshes out the predominant dimensions of a theory of international punishment and highlights the differences between 'ordinary' (domestic) crime and international crimes and their respective enforcement. At the same time, throughout the volume a major focus is on the practical consequences of the different theoretical approaches, in particular for the activities of the International Criminal Court.

Dothan: International Judicial Review: When Should International Courts Intervene?

Shai Dothan (Univ. of Copenhagen - Law) has published International Judicial Review: When Should International Courts Intervene? (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:
This book is motivated by a question: when should international courts intervene in domestic affairs? To answer this question thoroughly, the book is broken down into a series of separate inquiries: when is intervention legitimate? When can international courts identify good legal solutions? When will intervention initiate useful processes? When will it lead to good outcomes? These inquiries are answered based on reviewing judgments of international courts, strategic analysis, and empirical findings. The book outlines under which conditions intervention by international courts is recommended and evaluates the implications that international courts have on society.

New Issue: Business and Human Rights Journal

The latest issue of the Business and Human Rights Journal (Vol. 5, no. 1, January 2020) is out. Contents include:
  • Scholarly Articles
    • Kristian Høyer Toft, Climate Change as a Business and Human Rights Issue: A Proposal for a Moral Typology
    • Judith Schrempf-Stirling & Harry J. Van Buren, Business and Human Rights Scholarship in Social Issues in Management: An Analytical Review
    • Andrés Felipe López Latorre, In Defence of Direct Obligations for Businesses Under International Human Rights Law
    • Alexander Kriebitz & Christoph Lütge, Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights: A Business Ethical Assessment
    • Markus Krajewski, A Nightmare or a Noble Dream? Establishing Investor Obligations Through Treaty-Making and Treaty-Application
  • Developments in the Field
    • Marilyn Croser, Martyn Day, Mariëtte Van Huijstee, & Channa Samkalden, Vedanta v Lungowe and Kiobel v Shell: The Implications for Parent Company Accountability
    • Karyn Keenan, Canada’s New Corporate Responsibility Ombudsperson Falls Far Short of its Promise
    • Maddalena Neglia, Striking the Right(s) Balance: Conflicts between Human Rights and Freedom to Conduct a Business in the ILVA Case in Italy
    • Claire Methven O’Brien, Confronting the Constraints of the Medium: The Fifth Session of the UN Intergovernmental Working Group on a Business and Human Rights Treaty
    • Rajiv Maher, De-contextualized Corporate Human Rights Benchmarks: Whose Perspective Counts? See Disclaimer
    • Amy Sinclair & Justine Nolan, Modern Slavery Laws in Australia: Steps in the Right Direction?

Friday, March 20, 2020

Call for Submissions: Cambridge International Law Journal

The Cambridge International Law Journal invites submissions for the second issue of its ninth volume (December 2020). Here's the call:

The Editorial Board of the Cambridge International Law Journal (CILJ) is pleased to invite submissions for Volume 9(2), to be published in December 2020. The Board welcomes long articles that engage with the timely theme of the Ninth Annual Cambridge International Law Conference, ‘International Law and Global Risks: Current Challenges in Theory and Practice’. Further information about the theme is available here. All submissions are subject to double-blind peer review by the Journal's Editorial Board. In addition, long articles are sent to the Academic Review Board, which consists of distinguished international law scholars and practitioners. Articles must be submitted by 11:59 pm on 11 May 2020 (BST).

For full submission instructions, please visit this link.

Long articles for Volume 9(2) can be submitted here.

Blog articles can be submitted here.

Further information can be obtained from the Editors-in-Chief at editors@cilj.co.uk.

New Issue: Criminal Law Forum

The latest issue of Criminal Law Forum (Vol. 31, no. 1, March 2020) is out. Contents include:
  • Jamil Ddamulira Mujuzi, The Prosecution in Seychelles of Piracy Committed on the High Seas and the Right to a Fair Trial
  • Tommaso Trinchera, Confiscation And Asset Recovery: Better Tools To Fight Bribery And Corruption Crime
  • ’Mampolokeng ’Mathuso Mary-Elizabeth Monyakane, The Danger for an Underestimation of Necessary Precautions for the Admissibility of Admissions in Section 219A of the South African Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Barrett & Beckman: Handbook on Good Treaty Practice

Jill Barrett (Queen Mary Univ. of London) & Robert Beckman (National Univ. of Singapore) have published Handbook on Good Treaty Practice (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:
This Handbook aims to provide practical guidance on good treaty practice. It presents a range of examples from the practice of several States and international organisations and explains the actions that need to be taken to create a new treaty, bring it into force, operate it, amend it and wind it up, on both the international and the domestic plane. It also explores what constitutes good treaty practice, and develops generic principles or criteria against which to evaluate these examples. It provides a useful analytical tool to enable each government and international organisation to identify and develop the best treaty practice for their circumstances, recognising that one size does not necessarily fit all. It will be of interest to those working with treaties and treaty procedures in governments, international organisations and legal practice, as well as legal academics and students wishing to gain insight into the realities of treaty practice.

Delerue: Cyber Operations and International Law

François Delerue (Institut de Recherche stratégique de l’École militaire) has published Cyber Operations and International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:
This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the international law applicable to cyber operations, including a systematic examination of attribution, lawfulness and remedies. It demonstrates the importance of countermeasures as a form of remedies and also shows the limits of international law, highlighting its limits in resolving issues related to cyber operations. There are several situations in which international law leaves the victim State of cyber operations helpless. Two main streams of limits are identified. First, in the case of cyber operations conducted by non-state actors on the behalf of a State, new technologies offer various ways to coordinate cyber operations without a high level of organization. Second, the law of State responsibility offers a range of solutions to respond to cyber operations and seek reparation, but it does not provide an answer in every case and it cannot solve the problem related to technical capabilities of the victim.

New Volume: Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law

The latest volume of the Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law (Vol. 7, 2019) is out. The table of contents is here. This volume includes a thematic chapter on "The Role of Legal Sciences and Jurisprudence in Responding to Climate Change and Environmental Challenges."

Taschenbrecker: Die völkerrechtliche Bewertung der NATO-Einsätze seit dem Ende der Sowjetunion aus dem Blickwinkel des NATO-Vertrages

Lennart Taschenbrecker has published Die völkerrechtliche Bewertung der NATO-Einsätze seit dem Ende der Sowjetunion aus dem Blickwinkel des NATO-Vertrages (Duncker & Humblot 2020). Here's the abstract:
Bosnien-Herzegowina, Kosovo, Afghanistan und Libyen sind der Öffentlichkeit maßgeblich als (Bürger-)Kriegsländer in Erinnerung. Untrennbar verbunden sind damit aber auch jene militärischen Interventionen des Nordatlantikbündnisses, die für eine Entwicklung der NATO vom Verteidigungsbündnis hin zur transatlantischen Interventionsstreitmacht stehen. Gleichermaßen markieren sie prototypisch die Fortentwicklung eines völkerrechtlichen Vertrages in seiner Handhabung fernab des Vertragstextes. Losgelöst vom Gründungsvertrag ist die NATO neuen Zwecken dienstbar gemacht worden, ohne dass sich diese »Umwidmung« in einer förmlichen Vertragsänderung niedergeschlagen hätte. Ausgehend von diesem Befund widmet sich die Arbeit der zentralen Fragestellung, in welchem Rahmen und unter welchen Voraussetzungen militärische Maßnahmen eines Verteidigungsbündnisses wie der NATO als rechtmäßig i.S.d. Völkerrechts anzusehen sind und wie weit der NATO-Vertrag als ein völkerrechtlicher Vertrag ausgelegt bzw. »fortgebildet« werden darf.

Swatek-Evenstein: A History of Humanitarian Intervention

Mark Swatek-Evenstein has published A History of Humanitarian Intervention (Cambridge Univ. Press 2020). Here's the abstract:
The question of 'humanitarian intervention' has been a staple of international law for around 200 years, with a renewed interest in the history of the subject emerging in the last twenty years. This book provides a chronological account of the evolution of the discussion and uncovers the fictional narrative provided by international lawyers to support their conclusions on the subject, from justifications and arguments for 'humanitarian intervention', the misrepresentation of great power involvement in the Greek War of Independence in 1827, to the 'humanitarian intervention that never was', India's war with Pakistan in 1971. Relying on a variety of sources, some of them made available in English for the first time, the book provides an undogmatic, alternative history of the fight for the protection of human rights in international law.

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Borlini: When the Leviathan goes to the market: A critical evaluation of the rules governing state-owned enterprises in trade agreements

Leonardo Borlini (Univ. Bocconi) has posted When the Leviathan goes to the market: A critical evaluation of the rules governing state-owned enterprises in trade agreements (Leiden Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) have long constituted, and are likely to remain, an important instrument in any government’s toolbox for a variety of economic and societal goals. However, the significant extent of state ownership among the world’s top companies, and the quantitative and qualitative transformation and hybrid nature of SOEs, raises the issue of their impact on international trade flows and the competitive process. This article addresses the question of how international trade agreements regulate SOEs, with a view to furthering the international contestability of markets, while, at the same time, allowing governments to provide support to SOEs as a means of dealing with market failures and the pursuit of public goals. After a brief introduction to contemporary state capitalism, the argument is developed in three main parts. The first part situates SOEs within the GATT and WTO frameworks and elaborates on the findings of previous literature with a view to highlighting the main shortcomings of such discipline. The second part re-examines the notion of ‘competitive neutrality’ by locating contemporary trade agreements within the larger contextual relationships between the state, the market, and the social, and thus reconstructs the normative rationales and general policy implications of the disciplines under examination. Against this background, the third part critically assesses the new disciplines on SOEs in recent preferential trading areas (PTAs). The main conclusion is that the search for binding rules has not led to balanced regimes and, despite the wider scope of the new rules, notable problems that have emerged within the WTO context remain unsolved.

New Issue: Georgetown Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Georgetown Journal of International Law (Vol. 51, no. 1, Fall 2019) is out. Contents include:
  • Ross Brown, Conflict on the Final Frontier: Deficiencies in the Law of Space Conflict Below Armed Attack, and How to Remedy Them
  • Jason Rotstein, Before Ending the Case: Disassembling Jurisdiction and Admissibility in BG v. Argentina
  • Shin-Shin Hua, Machine Learning Weapons and International Humanitarian Law: Rethinking Meaningful Human Control

New Issue: Global Environmental Politics

The latest issue of Global Environmental Politics (Vol. 20, no. 20th Anniversary Issue, March 2020) is out. This issue reprints selected pieces from the journal's first twenty years. Contents include:
  • Michael F. Maniates, Individualization: Plant a Tree, Buy a Bike, Save the World?
  • Paul Wapner, Horizontal Politics: Transnational Environmental Activism and Global Cultural Change
  • Robert Falkner, Private Environmental Governance and International Relations: Exploring the Links
  • Karin Bäckstrand, Civic Science for Sustainability: Reframing the Role of Experts, Policy-Makers and Citizens in Environmental Governance
  • Emily McAteer & Simone Pulver, The Corporate Boomerang: Shareholder Transnational Advocacy Networks Targeting Oil Companies in the Ecuadorian Amazon
  • Liliana B. Andonova, Michele M. Betsill, & Harriet Bulkeley, Transnational Climate Governance
  • Andrew K. Jorgenson, Brett Clark, & Jeffrey Kentor, Militarization and the Environment: A Panel Study of Carbon Dioxide Emissions and the Ecological Footprints of Nations, 1970–2000
  • Kemi Fuentes-George, Neoliberalism, Environmental Justice, and the Convention on Biological Diversity: How Problematizing the Commodification of Nature Affects Regime Effectiveness
  • Craig M. Kauffman & Pamela L. Martin, Constructing Rights of Nature Norms in the US, Ecuador, and New Zealand
  • Cristina Yumie Aoki Inoue, Worlding the Study of Global Environmental Politics in the Anthropocene: Indigenous Voices from the Amazon

New Issue: Global Constitutionalism

The latest issue of Global Constitutionalism (Vol. 9, no. 1, March 2020) is out. Contents include:
  • Articles
    • Petra Gümplová, Sovereignty over natural resources – A normative reinterpretation
    • Ruth Houghton, Aoife O’Donoghue, ‘Ourworld’: A feminist approach to global constitutionalism
    • Lucrecia García Iommi, Norm internalisation revisited: Norm contestation and the life of norms at the extreme of the norm cascade
    • Lucas Brang, Carl Schmitt and the evolution of Chinese constitutional theory: Conceptual transfer and the unexpected paths of legal globalisation
  • Agora on Silviya Lechner and Mervyn Frost’s Practice Theory and International Relations
    • Gunther Hellmann, Theorising praxis and practice(s). Notes on Silviya Lechner’s and Mervyn Frost’s Practice Theory and International Relations
    • Maren Hofius, Towards a ‘theory of the gap’: Addressing the relationship between practice and theory
    • Nora Stappert, The art of aiming at a moving target: A critique of Lechner and Frost’s Practice Theory and International Relations
    • Jorg Kustermans, On the ethical significance of social practices
    • Amy Skonieczny, Stepping out of the social world: A lonely call for more philosophy in the practice turn
    • Silviya Lechner & Mervyn Frost, Practice Theory and International Relations: A reply to our critics

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Kalpouzos: Double Elevation: Autonomous Weapons and the Search for an Irreducible Law of War

Ioannis Kalpouzos (City, Univ. of London - Law) has posted Double Elevation: Autonomous Weapons and the Search for an Irreducible Law of War (Leiden Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here’s the abstract:
What should be the role of law in response to the spread of artificial intelligence in war? Fuelled by both public and private investment, military technology is accelerating towards increasingly autonomous weapons, as well as the merging of humans and machines. Contrary to much of the contemporary debate, this is not a paradigm change; it is the intensification of a central feature in the relationship between technology and war: double elevation, above one’s enemy and above oneself. Elevation above one’s enemy aspires to spatial, moral, and civilizational distance. Elevation above oneself reflects a belief in rational improvement that sees humanity as the cause of inhumanity and de-humanization as our best chance for humanization. The distance of double elevation is served by the mechanization of judgement. To the extent that judgement is seen as reducible to algorithm, law becomes the handmaiden of mechanization. In response, neither a focus on questions of compatibility nor a call for a ‘ban on killer robots’ help in articulating a meaningful role for law. Instead, I argue that we should turn to a long-standing philosophical critique of artificial intelligence, which highlights not the threat of omniscience, but that of impoverished intelligence. Therefore, if there is to be a meaningful role for law in resisting double elevation, it should be law encompassing subjectivity, emotion and imagination, law irreducible to algorithm, a law of war that appreciates situated judgement in the wielding of violence for the collective.

Postponed: ILA British Branch Spring Conference 2020

The International Law Association British Branch's Spring Conference, which was to take place April 17-18, 2020, at Queen Mary, University of London, has been postponed and will be rescheduled.

Monday, March 16, 2020

Oates: Constituent Power and the Legitimacy of International Organizations: The Constitution of Supranationalism

John G. Oates
(Florida International Univ.) has published Constituent Power and the Legitimacy of International Organizations: The Constitution of Supranationalism (Routledge 2020). Here's the abstract:
This book develops a constitutional theory of international organization to explain the legitimation of supranational organizations. Supranational organizations play a key role in contemporary global governance, but recent events like Brexit and the threat by South Africa to withdraw from the International Criminal Court suggest that their legitimacy continues to generate contentious debates in many countries. Rethinking international organization as a constitutional problem, Oates argues that it is the representation of the constituent power of a constitutional order, that is, the collective subject in whose name authority is wielded, which explains the legitimation of supranational authority. Comparing the cases of the European Union, the World Trade Organization, and the International Criminal Court, Oates shows that the constitution of supranationalism is far from a functional response to the pressures of interdependence but a value-laden struggle to define the proper subject of global governance.

New Issue: International Journal of Transitional Justice

The latest issue of the International Journal of Transitional Justice (Vol. 14, no. 1, March 2020) is out. Contents include:
  • Special Issue: Creative Approaches to Transitional Justice: Contributions of Arts and Culture
  • Editorial Note
    • Cynthia E Cohen, Reimagining Transitional Justice
  • Articles
    • Catherine Renshaw, Poetry, Irrevocable Time and Myanmar’s Political Transition
    • Freddy A Guerrero & Liza López Aristizabal, Images and Memory: Religiosity and Sacrifice – The Cases of Tierralta, Trujillo and Arenillo in Colombia
    • Angela Santamaría, Dunen Muelas, Paula Caceres, Wendi Kuetguaje, & Julian Villegas, Decolonial Sketches and Intercultural Approaches to Truth: Corporeal Experiences and Testimonies of Indigenous Women in Colombia
    • Virginie Ladisch & Christalla Yakinthou, Cultivated Collaboration in Transitional Justice Practice and Research: Reflections on Tunisia’s Voices of Memory Project
    • Robyn Gill-Leslie, The Body Inside the Art and the Law of Marikana: A Case for Corporeality
    • Anne Dirnstorfer & Nar Bahadur Saud, A Stage for the Unknown? Reconciling Postwar Communities through Theatre-Facilitated Dialogue
    • Tiffany Fairey & Rachel Kerr, What Works? Creative Approaches to Transitional Justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina
    • Robin Adèle Greeley, Michael R Orwicz, José Luis Falconi, Ana María Reyes, & Fernando J Rosenberg, Repairing Symbolic Reparations: Assessing the Effectiveness of Memorialization in the Inter-American System of Human Rights
  • Notes from the Field
    • Claudia Bernardi, The Disappeared Are Appearing: Murals that Recover Communal Memory
    • Toni Shapiro-Phim, Embodying the Pain and Cruelty of Others
    • Luis Carlos Sotelo Castro, Not Being Able to Speak Is Torture: Performing Listening to Painful Narratives
    • Salomón Lerner Febres, Memory of Violence and Drama in Peru: The Experience of the Truth Commission and Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani – Violence and Dehumanization
  • Review Essay
    • Clara Ramírez-Barat, The Path to Social Reconstruction: Between Culture and Transitional Justice

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Special Section: What's in a Name? The Psagot Judgment and Questions of Labelling of Settlement Products

The latest issue of European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration (Vol. 4, no. 3, 2019) contains a special section on "What's in a Name? The Psagot Judgment and Questions of Labelling of Settlement Products." Contents include:
  • Eva Kassoti & Stefano Saluzzo, The CJEU’s Judgment in Organisation juive européenne and Vignoble Psagot: Some Introductory Remarks
  • Olia Kanevskaia, Misinterpreting Mislabelling: The Psagot Ruling
  • Sandra Hummelbrunner, Contextualisation of Psagot in Light of Other CJEU Case Law on Occupied Territories
  • Cedric Ryngaert, Indications of Settlement Provenance and the Duty of Non-recognition Under International Law

Conference: Élévation du niveau de la mer et droit international : De l’adaptation à l’action

A conference on "Élévation du niveau de la mer et droit international : De l’adaptation à l’action" will take place on June 16, 2020, at the Université de Nantes. The program is here.

Akinkugbe: Reverse Contributors? African State Parties, ICSID and the Development of International Investment Law

Olabisi D Akinkugbe (Dalhousie Univ. - Law) has posted Reverse Contributors? African State Parties, ICSID and the Development of International Investment Law (ICSID Review - Foreign Investment Law Journal, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
International investment disputes involving African States before the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) have generated significant critical inquiry. Yet, not enough academic literature has been devoted to accounting for the implications that arise from the disputes involving African States to the development of the ICSID case law and international investment law in general. This article addresses this gap by conceptualizing African States parties before ICSID tribunals as reverse contributors. While the article acknowledges the critiques of ICSID vis-à-vis African State parties, it contends that, over time, the involvement of African States in ICSID disputes has generated opportunities for the clarification, confirmation and development of ICSID jurisprudence. Although the article is not a case for African exceptionalism, it contributes to the dearth of materials that revisit the participation of African States before ICSID, while simultaneously acknowledging the need for reforms.

Etone: The Human Rights Council: The Impact of the Universal Periodic Review in Africa

Damian Etone
(Univ. of Stirling) has published The Human Rights Council: The Impact of the Universal Periodic Review in Africa (Routledge 2020). Here's the abstract:
This book examines the engagement of African states with the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism. This human rights mechanism is known for its pacific and non-confrontational approach to monitoring state human rights implementation. Coming at the end of the first three cycles of the UPR, the work offers a detailed analysis of the effectiveness of African states’ engagement and its potential impact. It develops a framework which comprehensively evaluates aspects of states’ UPR engagement, such as the pre-review national consultation process and implementation of UPR recommendations which, until recently, have received little attention. The book considers the potential for acculturation in engagement with the UPR and unpacks the impact of politics, regionalism, cultural relativism, rights ritualism and civil society.