Sunday, October 1, 2023

New Volume: The Global Community: Yearbook of International Law and Jurisprudence

The latest volume of The Global Community: Yearbook of International Law and Jurisprudence (Vol. 2022) is out. Contents include:
  • Overview Essays: Grand Challenges of Our Time - Nuclear Weapons Threat
    • Louis René Beres, Endgame- Obligations to Transform "Westphalian" International Law
    • Richard Falk, Deconstructing the Struggle Against Nuclearism
  • Articles
    • Shane Darcy, The Contribution of the UN Treaty Bodies to Business and Human Rights
    • Luis A. López Zamora, Algunos Comentarios Al Estudio De La Comisión De Derecho Internacional, Sobre Los Principios Generales Del Derecho
  • Notes and Comments
    • Paul Schiff Berman, Global Legal Pluralism and the Making of International Climate Change Law
    • Sonja C. Grover, The Court's Role in Upholding Inter- Generational Obligations Respecting the Child's Right to Truth: Juliana v. United States as a Case in Point
    • Lando Kirchmair, Information Interventions in the Twenty- First Century: Fighting Disinformation Across National Boundaries with International Information Campaigns
    • Geert-Jan Alexander Knoops & Sara Pedroso, The Evidentiary Value of NGO and IO Reports in International Criminal Proceedings
    • Juan-Pablo Pérez-León-Acevedo, Non- compensatory Reparation Modalities in UN Legal Sources: Focus on Gross Violations of Human Rights
  • In Focus: Global Policies and Law
    • Thomas G. Weiss, Protecting Heritage: Weighing Politics and Law
  • Forum - Jurisprudential Cross-Fertilization: An Annual Overview
    • Ravindra Pratap, Geography and Legal Culture of ICJ Judges and Their Consideration of Erga Omnes Obligations
    • Yoshifumi Tanaka, Alleged Violations of Sovereign Rights and Maritime Spaces in the Caribbean Sea (Nicaragua v. Colombia): Reflections on the ICJ Judgment of 21 April 2022

Saturday, September 30, 2023

Chaisse & Stefan: Advancing the Method and Practice of Transnational Law: Building Bridges Across Disciplines

Julien Chaisse
(City Univ. of Hong Kong - Law) & Oana Stefan (King's College London - Law) have published Advancing the Method and Practice of Transnational Law: Building Bridges Across Disciplines (Hart Publishing 2023). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This book adopts a transnational methodology to reflect on the legalisation of international economic relations. A Liber Amicorum for Professor Francis Snyder, it outlines the ways in which legal scholarship has taken his legacy further in relation to the concept of transnational law, the 'law in context' method, and the evolution of sustainability law. The lens is both theoretical and practical, delving into international investment law, financial/monetary law, free trade agreements, indigenous rights, and food law, and covering case studies from EU law, WTO law, American law, Chinese law, and Indonesian law.

The chapters explore how Snyder's ideas have advanced legal research and determined change in regulation, impacting trade relationships worldwide. Part I of the book gives an overview of the actors, the norms, and the processes of transnational economic law, discussing sites of governance, legal pluralism, and soft law. Part II takes stock of the 'law in context' research method, looking not only at the way in which it can be refined and used by academics, but also at the practical implications of such a method to improve regulatory settings and promote social and policy goals (including the emerging generation of FTAs, such as TPP, TTIP, and RCEP). Part III focuses on sustainability law, assessing Francis Snyder's contribution to systemic changes and reforms in China and the Asia Pacific region.

New Issue: Chicago Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Chicago Journal of International Law (Vol. 24, no. 1, Summer 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Evelyn Aswad, Propaganda for War & International Human Rights Standards
  • Pegah Banihashemi, International Law and the Right to Global Internet Access: Exploring Internet Access as a Human Right Through the Lens of Iran’s Women-Life-Freedom Movement
  • Luís Roberto Barrosoa & Luna van Brussel Barroso, Democracy, Social Media, and Freedom of Expression: Hate, Lies, and the Search for the Possible Truth
  • Edward L. Carter, The Future of International Law Freedom of Journalism: A Transitional Justice Framework
  • Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer & Fabrício Bertini Pasquot Polido, International Law, Constitutions, and Electoral Content Moderation: Overcoming Supranational Failures Through Domestic Solutions
  • Dawn Carla Nunziato, The Digital Services Act and the Brussels Effect on Platform Content Moderation
  • Ioanna Tourkochoriti, The Digital Services Act and the EU as the Global Regulator of the Internet
  • Arthur Traldi, The Recent Free Expression Jurisprudence of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
  • Kyu Ho Youm & Ahran Parkb, The Right to Be Forgotten: Google Spain as a Benchmark for Free Speech versus Privacy?

New Issue: Journal of World Investment & Trade

The latest issue of the Journal of World Investment & Trade (Vol. 24, nos. 4-5, 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Special Issue: Reform and Retrenchment in International Investment Law
    • James Thuo Gathii & Harrison Otieno Mbori, Reform and Retrenchment in International Investment Law: Introduction to a Special Issue
    • J. Benton Heath, The Anti-Reformist Stance in Investment Law
    • Dominic Npoanlari Dagbanja, Constitutional Acquisition and Regulation of Property, Investment Treaties and Expropriation in Africa
    • Harrison Otieno Mbori, Benign and Radical Africanization in International Investment Law and Investor-State Dispute Settlement in Africa
    • Sannoy Das, Fine Balance: Empire, Neoliberalism, and the Fair and Equitable Treatment Standard in International Investment Law
    • Ksenia Polonskaya, Indigenous Peoples in International Investment Law: Time for a New Dispute Resolution Procedure
    • Caroline Lichuma, International Investment Law Reforms and the Draft Business and Human Rights Treaty: The More Things Change, the More They Remain the Same?
    • Nitish Monebhurrun, Incorporating the Social License to Operate into International Investment Law: Taking Stock from the Brazilian Experience
    • Lorenzo Cotula, International Investment Law and Climate Change: Reframing the ISDS Reform Agenda
    • Ibironke T. Odumosu-Ayanu, Local Communities, Indigenous Peoples, and Reform/Redefinition of International Investment Law

New Issue: International Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the International Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 27, no. 8, 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Kasey McCall-Smith, Entrenching children's participation through UNCRC Incorporation in Scotland
  • James L. Nuzzo, ‘Male circumcision’ and ‘female genital mutilation’: why parents choose the procedures and the case for gender bias in medical nomenclature
  • Jorge Salinas Mengual, Should a register be kept of conscientious objectors to euthanasia in Spain?
  • Maria A. Sanchez, Admitting (to) the past: transitional justice in the European and Inter-American courts of human rights
  • Rebecka Villanueva Ulfgard, López Obrador’s hyper-presidentialism: populism and autocratic legalism defying the Supreme Court and the National Electoral Institute
  • Wanli Wang, From liberal to conservative? The role of Hong Kong Court of final appeal in safeguarding fundamental rights under China's One Country Two Systems policy

Pijpers: Influence Operations in Cyberspace and the Applicability of International Law

Peter B.M.J. Pijpers
(Netherlands Defence Academy) has published Influence Operations in Cyberspace and the Applicability of International Law (Edward Elgar Publishing 2023). Here's the abstract:

This enlightening book examines the use of online influence operations by foreign actors, and the extent to which these violate international law. It looks at key recent examples such as the 2016 UK EU Referendum, the 2016 American Presidential Election, and the 2017 French Presidential Election.

Applying existing international law to the new cyberspace domain fuels the discourse on how states interpret international law, which increases legal ambiguity. This book contributes to this discourse by analysing the core elements of interventions and sovereignty, including territorial integrity and political independence, and the extent to which these elements were violated in the three central case studies. It concludes by reflecting on the future of influence operations in cyberspace and providing instruments and tools to better define when and how international law has been violated.

Baistrocchi: Global Tax Hubs

Eduardo A. Baistrocchi (London School of Economics - Law) has posted Global Tax Hubs (Florida Tax Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
Global tax hubs are the black boxes of the international tax regime (ITR). The driving forces of their strategic interaction with other building blocks of the ITR remain undertheorized. This paper offers the first theory of tax hubs as a two-sided global marketplace. It argues that tax hubs are the matchmakers of the ITR. Indeed, international investors, tax hubs and endpoint jurisdictions play different yet interrelated roles within the same ecosystem, i.e., the two-sided platform. The theory is positive rather than normative. It aims to explain how the creeping marketization of the ITR, as part of international law, has been frequently instrumented worldwide over the last century. The paper provides a stress test to the theory’s explanatory power and its limitations. The conceptual framework of this piece rests on antitrust law and economic concepts.

New Issue: Questions of International Law

The latest issue of Questions of International Law / Questioni di Diritto Internazionale (no. 101, 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Is democracy a challenge to inter-legality?
    • Introduced by Antonello Tancredi
    • Gianluigi Palombella, The quest for equilibrium: Democracy, International Law and Metamodernism
    • Jan Klabbers, Inter-legality and the challenge of democracy

New Issue: Journal of International Criminal Justice

The latest issue of the Journal of International Criminal Justice (Vol. 21, no. 2, May 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Current Events
    • Denys Azarov, Dmytro Koval, Gaiane Nuridzhanian, & Volodymyr Venher, Understanding Russia’s Actions in Ukraine as the Crime of Genocide
  • Articles
    • Neil Boister, Conscription to Fight a War of Aggression under International Criminal Law
    • Jeremy Pizzi, Profiteers of Misery: Aggression, the Leadership Clause, and Private Military and Security Companies
  • Cases Before International Courts and Tribunals
    • Jamie Fellows & Mark David Chong, ‘He Offered a Prayer for the Flier He Had Just Killed’: Superior Orders at the US Army Trials in Manila, 1945–1947
    • Diletta Marchesi, Criminalizing Acts of Rebel Governance as War Crimes: An Assessment Focused on the War Crime of Sentencing or Execution without Due Process
    • Ciara Laverty, What is Sexual about Sexual Violence? Narratives from International Criminal Law
  • National Prosecution of International Crimes: Legislation and Cases
    • Gerhard Kemp & Windell Nortje, Prosecuting the Crime against Humanity of Apartheid: The Historic First Indictment in South Africa and the Application of Customary International Law

Friday, September 29, 2023

Ishii: Japanese Legal Challenges in Rescuing Nationals Abroad

Yurika Ishii (National Defense Academy of Japan) has posted Japanese Legal Challenges in Rescuing Nationals Abroad (International Law Studies, 2023). Here's the abstract:

This article explains Japanese legal challenges in rescuing its nationals abroad and analyzes the mechanisms that limit Japanese Self-Defense Force responses to potential crises. The scope of analysis encompasses Japan’s national security laws, defense policies, and engagement in bilateral and multilateral cooperation. It provides noncombatant evacuation operation case studies to explore collaboration between the rescuing State, the host State, and third parties.

The article outlines Japanese laws and policies regarding the Self-Defense Force’s mandate to rescue Japanese nationals abroad. It focuses on details of current legislation that provide authority and limitations for the operation. It will also track the historical developments regarding this policy in Japan. It focuses on key players in the East Asian region in this context—Japan and the United States—to discuss the legal and operational challenges and the way forward to build international cooperation mechanisms. The article also discusses hypothetical scenarios involving crises in the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait.

Forji Amin: International Law and the History of Resource Extraction in Africa

George Forji Amin
(Univ. of Bolton - Law) has published International Law and the History of Resource Extraction in Africa (Routledge 2023). Here's the abstract:

This book investigates the historical economic and legal regimes that legitimated the resource extraction and exploitation of Africa between the 15th and 19th centuries and led to the continent’s trajectory of underdevelopment in the world system.

The book interrogates the economic and legal structures that supported European intervention in Africa. It explores the trade and private property rights which were to shape the economic future of the continent, most notably the trade in human beings as legitimate private property by European powers. The book then looks at the techniques used to submerge African sovereignty under European sovereignty during the scramble for territorial control in the 19th century, concluding with the validation of occupation in international law following the 1884-85 Berlin Conference. The book argues that the doctrines of trade and property rights sanctioned by international law led to a trend of African dispossession that set the continent on a path to underdevelopment, with long-reaching consequences.

Lecture: Orakhelashvili on "From 'dualism' towards isolationism? Or why the Government keeps losing cases"

On November 21, 2023, Alexander Orakhelashvili (Univ. of Birmingham - Law) will deliver his inaugural lecture. The topic is: "From 'dualism' towards isolationism? Or why the Government keeps losing cases." Details are here.

Thursday, September 28, 2023

Aust & Nijman: The Urbanisation of International Law – A Post-Cold War History

Helmut Aust (Freie Universität Berlin - Law) & Janne Elisabeth Nijman (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies; Univ. of Amsterdam - Law) have posted The Urbanisation of International Law – A Post-Cold War History (in Cambridge History of International Law, Volume XII: International Law since the Cold War, Eyal Benvenisti & Dino Kritsiotis eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This is a chapter written for the Post-Cold War volume of the Cambridge History of International Law Series. Interest in cities as part of international law’s historiography is a sign of the times, we argue. It is a next step in the ‘turn to the city’ that unfolded in international legal scholarship in the post-Cold War era. While generally invisible in traditional international legal scholarship, the city has moved into the periphery of the discipline’s historiography and is now recognised as a relevant entry point of international legal histories, for example, to claim the relation between imperialism and international law or to approach international law as a global development project.

We will show how the emergence of the ‘turn to the city’ in international law is met by a ‘turn to international institutions and law’ by cities. These processes are mutually constitutive, non-linear, and rather complex. They unfold in both international life and international law scholarship and they are very much post-Cold War phenomena. As such, they warrant contextualisation and discussion in this volume. Building on work by Curtis and Ikenberry, we argue that the global city is the historically specific urban form produced by the specific political configuration of the post-Cold War liberal world order, and also note that the rapidly changing geo-political and geo-economic situation we are witnessing at the time of writing in late 2022 may affect the future of (global) cities profoundly.

The chapter first examines and explains the ascent of cities in both international law practice and scholarship. Subsequently, we discuss some implications for international law and institutions as well as for international legal scholarship, and for international legal historiography in particular.

It shows how the interest in the city has caused a certain ‘urban consciousness’ in international law and governance, and how the normative developments testify to a broadening of the categories of international law and to an entanglement of the various normative webs from the local to the global. Looking back at the period since the end of the Cold War, we can hence speak of an urbanisation of international law – a development which has not radically transformed the international legal system, but has enriched it with another level at which important developments in practice as well as in the accompanying scholarship can be observed.

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

International Organizations Law Review 20th Anniversary Conference

The International Organizations Law Review will hold its twentieth anniversary conference on November 17, 2023, at the University of Vienna. The topic is: "The Love for International Organizations." Details are here.

Call for Proposals: The Hague Academy: A Centenary of Scholarship

The European Journal of International Law has issued a call for proposals on the topic "The Hague Academy: A Centenary of Scholarship." The call is here.

Conference: Western Sahara in the International Legal Order

The Second Conference of the Western Sahara Research Group will take place October 16, 2023, at the University of Bologna. The theme is: "Western Sahara in the International Legal Order." The program is here here.

Monday, September 25, 2023

Conference: War and Peace in International Law – The Fate of Human Rights

On September 29-30, 2023, the Department of International Law at the Faculty of Public Governance and International Studies at Ludovika – University of Public Service will host a conference on "War and Peace in International Law – The Fate of Human Rights," in Budapest. Details are here.

Conference: Chemical and Biological Weapons: The Interconnectivity of Norms

On October 23-24, 2023, the Faculty of Law of the Justus-Liebig University Gieβen will host a conference on "Chemical and Biological Weapons: The Interconnectivity of Norms." Details are here.

Sunday, September 24, 2023

Oksamytna: Advocacy and Change in International Organizations: Communication, Protection, and Reconstruction in UN Peacekeeping

Kseniya Oksamytna
(City, Univ. of London - International Politics) has published Advocacy and Change in International Organizations: Communication, Protection, and Reconstruction in UN Peacekeeping (Oxford Univ. Press 2023). Here's the abstract:

How do international organizations change? Many organizations expand into new areas or abandon programmes of work. Advocacy and Change in International Organizations argues that they do so not only at the collective direction of member states. Advocacy is a crucial but overlooked source of change in international organizations. Different actors can advocate for change: national diplomats, international bureaucrats, external experts, or civil society activists. They can use one of three advocacy strategies: social pressure, persuasion, and 'authority talk'. The success of each strategy depends on the presence of favourable conditions related to characteristics of advocates, targets, issues, and context. Institutionalization of new issues in international organizations as a multi-stage process, often accompanied by contestation.

This book demonstrates how the advocacy-focused framework explains the origins of three workstreams of contemporary UN peacekeeping operations: communication, protection, and reconstruction. The issue of strategic communications was promoted by UN officials through the strategy of persuasion. Protection of civilians emerged due to a partially successful social influence campaign by a coalition of elected Security Council members and a subsequent (and successful) persuasion efforts by Canada. Quick impact projects entered peacekeepers' practice as the result of 'authority talk' by an expert panel. The three issues illustrate the diversity of pathways to change in international organizations, representing the top-down, bottom-up, and outside-in pathways. Moreover, they have achieved different degrees of institutionalization in UN's policies, structures, and frameworks: protection of civilians is the most institutionalized, as evidenced by measures to hold peacekeepers accountable for non-implementation, while quick impact projects are the least institutionalized.

Galbraith: Derivative Foreign Relations Law

Jean Galbraith (Univ. of Pennsylvania - Law) has posted Derivative Foreign Relations Law (George Washington Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
We treat U.S. foreign relations law as a discrete body of law—and it is. But it is not independent. To the contrary, it relies on the same institutional actors that govern more generally: the President, Congress, the federal judiciary, administrative agencies, and sub-national governments. And far from being static, these institutions change radically over time in how they are constituted, in what internal rules they apply, and in what legal outputs they produce. The Trump Administration is a recent and painful example whose legacy continues to loom large, including on the Supreme Court. This symposium contribution considers what these broader institutional changes mean for foreign relations law.

Saturday, September 23, 2023

New Issue: Climate Law

The latest issue of Climate Law (Vol. 13, no. 2, 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Adebayo Majekolagbe, Sara L. Seck, & David V. Wright, Exploring the Application of the Social Cost of Carbon in Loss-and-Damage and Impact Assessment
  • Alexander Zahar & Laely Nurhidayah, Legal Constraints on Policymaking for the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture in Indonesia

Geneva Graduate Institute's International Law Colloquium for Autumn 2023

The schedule for the Geneva Graduate Institute's International Law Colloquium for Autumn 2023 is here.

Roundtable: Gaetano Arangio-Ruiz and the Future of International Law

On September 29, 2023, Westminster Law School will hold a roundtable, in-person and online, on "Gaetano Arangio-Ruiz and the Future of International Law." Details are here.

New Issue: Global Trade and Customs Journal

The latest issue of Global Trade and Customs Journal (Vol. 18, no. 10, 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Karl Stas & Benjamin Geisel, The Foreign Subsidies Regulation of the European Union: A New Instrument Levelling the Playing Field?
  • Dan Cannistra, Expanding Trade Remedy Scope: Cross-Border and Public Policy Subsidies
  • Jochen Beck, Laurent Ruessmann, Kristiyana Drandarova, & Pieter Van Vaerenbergh, Tackling Cross-Border Subsidies in the EU: The Need to Build on a Promising Start Part 1
  • Vassilis Akritidis & Jean Baptiste Blancardi, Analysis Of The Foreign Subsidies Regulation From An International Trade Law Perspective On Trade In Goods
  • Jincheol Lee, Robotics Process Automation (RPA) And The Import/Export Customs Declaration Process
  • Rahmonov Jaloliddin, Digitalization in Global Trade: Opportunities and Challenges for Investment

Fortin & Heffes: Armed Groups and International Law: In the Shadowland of Legality and Illegality

Katharine Fortin
(Univ. of Utrecht - Netherlands Institute of Human Rights) & Ezequiel Heffes (Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict) have published Armed Groups and International Law: In the Shadowland of Legality and Illegality (Edward Elgar Publishing 2023). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Through its careful consideration of the status of armed groups within a complex legal landscape, this insightful book identifies and examines the tensions that arise due to their actions existing across a spectrum of legality and illegality. Considering the number of armed groups currently exercising governance functions and controlling territory and population in the world, its analysis is especially topical.

Armed Groups and International Law provides essential peer-reviewed analyses of the place of armed groups in the legal framework. A collaborative effort between eminent scholars from different disciplines, it summarises various points of contention within the study of these armed actors, detailing examples that are highly relevant to the contemporary world, such as Afghanistan and Syria.

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Launch of the Maynooth University Research Centre in International Justice

On October 6, 2023, the Research Centre on International Justice will be launched at Maynooth University. Two keynote speakers will mark the launch: Caoilfhionn Gallagher and Kristian Lasslett (Ulster Univ.). Details are here.

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Dunoff & Pollack: Separate Opinions in International Courts and Tribunals

Jeffrey L. Dunoff (Temple Univ. - Law) & Mark A. Pollack (Temple Univ. - Political Science & Law) have posted Separate Opinions in International Courts and Tribunals. Here's the abstract:
Separate opinions are common across many international courts and tribunals, yet their great variety and their impacts on judicial independence, judicial legitimacy, and the development of law are poorly understood. This paper provides a synoptic overview of separate opinions in international adjudication and arbitration by analyzing more than a century of debates over, and practice regarding, these judicial writings. To do so, it examines enduring normative debates over the desirability and impact of separate opinions and leading theories regarding the motivations for and frequency of separate opinions. It then explores the use and impact of separate opinions at the International Court of Justice, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, regional human rights courts, WTO dispute settlement, regional integration courts, international criminal courts, arbitration tribunals, and human rights treaty bodies.

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Badache, Kimber, & Maertens: International Organizations and Research Methods: An Introduction

Fanny Badache
, Leah R Kimber, & Lucile Maertens have published International Organizations and Research Methods: An Introduction (Univ. of Michigan Press 2023). Here's the abstract:
Scholars have studied international organizations (IOs) in many disciplines, thus generating important theoretical developments. Yet a proper assessment and a broad discussion of the methods used to research these organizations are lacking. Which methods are being used to study IOs and in what ways? Do we need a specific methodology applied to the case of IOs? What are the concrete methodological challenges when doing research on IOs? International Organizations and Research Methods: An Introduction compiles an inventory of the methods developed in the study of IOs under the five headings of Observing, Interviewing, Documenting, Measuring, and Combining. It does not reconcile diverging views on the purpose and meaning of IO scholarship, but creates a space for scholars and students embedded in different academic traditions to reflect on methodological choices and the way they impact knowledge production on IOs.

Monday, September 18, 2023

Popovski & Malhotra: Reimagining the International Legal Order

Vesselin Popovski
(Jindal Global Law School) & Ankit Malhotra have published Reimagining the International Legal Order (Routledge 2023). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:
International law is usually conservative, with lawyers and judges emphasizing consistency, stability and predictability as the major advantages of the law. Legal scholars often prefer not to challenge the status quo, to suggest amendments, or to reform institutions, advocating simply to focus on the implementation of the laws that already exist. This collection stands different. It shares the authors’ discomfort with the present legal order and some of its institutions and courts, and dives into either a corrective or a profound reimagination of these, so that they can better address rising global challenges. Leading experts in their areas present their new and cutting-edge perspectives. Divided into six parts, the volume paints a vast yet solid thematic landscape of unique and critical approaches. The book invites and allows for a deep engagement with a wide range of opinions from across the world. It enables a free and courageous reimagining of the international legal order, detached from the endless feasibility skepticism.

Gruszczynski & Scott: The WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures: A Commentary

Lukasz Gruszczynski
(Kozminski Univ. - Law) & Joanne Scott have published the second edition of The WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures: A Commentary (Oxford Univ. Press 2023). Here's the abstract:

The 1995 WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) is concerned with trade and food safety regulation, and with the regulation of pests and diseases in agriculture. It establishes legal standards while affirming the right of each member to choose its own level of SPS protection. However, the question of whether the balance has been properly struck remains a matter of ongoing debate.

The Commentary provides a detailed update of the first edition authored by Joanne Scott in 2007. It reflects 15 years of change in SPS case law and practice. It critically examines current issues such as use of experts in the dispute settlement process, applicable standard of review, or legal treatment of private standards in food safety. Moreover, the Commentary assesses the suitability of the current regime to address the existing needs of developing countries

The commentary also examines how science-based criteria and the traditional GATT standards (non-discrimination and least-trade-restrictive means) are used to discipline national SPS measures. It explores the transparency obligations and procedural rules that govern control, inspection, and approval processes in importing countries. A separate section is dedicated to the operation of the SPS Committee as an arena for transnational governance in the SPS field. The book also investigates the agreement's attempt to establish a framework to draw together the diverse institutions and regulatory regimes already populating the food safety arena. Two new chapters are also included: one reviewing Article 5.7 SPS in greater detail, and one dealing with the SPS rules in selected regional trade agreements (the CETA, EU-Japan EPA, USMCA, RCEP, and CPTPP).

Sunday, September 17, 2023

Conference: Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence: From Law to Practice

On September 26, 2023, the Third Annual Conference of the NOVA BHRE will take place in Lisbon on the topic: "Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence: From Law to Practice." Details are here. The conference will be live-streamed.

Saturday, September 16, 2023

New Issue: International Organizations Law Review

The latest issue of the International Organizations Law Review (Vol. 20, no. 2, 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Paolo Palchetti, Is It Time to Take a Decision on the Final Form of ario?
  • Jean d’Aspremont, The Love for International Organizations
  • Tomasz Milej, East African Community (EAC) – Inspiring Constitutional Change by Promoting Constitutionalism?
  • Konstantinos D. Magliveras & Gino J. Naldi, The East Mediterranean Gas Forum: A Regional Institution Struggling in the Mire of Energy Insecurities

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. 25, no. 2, 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Lys Kulamadayil, Petro-States’ Shaping of International Law
  • Jacob Giltaij, Planning for the Aftermath. Longue Durée Histories for a New International Legal Order in Kelsen, Lauterpacht and De Visscher
  • Neil Boister, A History of Double Criminality in Extradition
  • James Hickling, The Alaskan Fur-Seal Crisis: Science, Capital, and Multilateralism in the Settlement of International Biodiversity Disputes

Moran: The Authority of International Criminal Law: A Controversial Concept

Clare Frances Moran
(Univ. of Aberdeen - Law) has published The Authority of International Criminal Law: A Controversial Concept (Cambridge Univ. Press 2023). Here's the abstract:
Despite a wealth of literature exploring the issues surrounding it, the legitimacy and authority of international criminal law remain in question. Adopting a perspective informed by legal and political philosophy, Clare Frances Moran considers the authority of international criminal law, why it can be conceived of as more than simply an exercise of power and how that power may be exercised legitimately. Advancing existing scholarship on the subject, Moran explores the roots of the authority of law at the domestic level and tests these ideas in an international context. She examines sovereignty, complementarity and postcolonial issues, and how each impact international criminal law. By developing a theory on the authority of international law, Moran considers how it might be possible to adjudicate more effectively at the international level.

Kjeksrud: Using Force to Protect Civilians: Successes and Failures of United Nations Peace Operations in Africa

Stian Kjeksrud
(Norwegian Defence Univ.) has published Using Force to Protect Civilians: Successes and Failures of United Nations Peace Operations in Africa (Oxford Univ. Press 2023). Here's the abstract:
Using Force to Protect Civilians offers the first comprehensive analysis of United Nations military protection operations across time and UN missions, drawing on a novel dataset that covers 200 operations from ten UN peacekeeping missions in Africa from 1999 to 2017. Employing a mixed-methods research design, the book finds that Blue Helmets succeed as often as they fail when they employ force to protect, indicating that they can wield force effectively - under the right conditions - to achieve this priority task. Stian Kjeksrud shows that effective UN military protection operations must rest on a deep understanding of perpetrators' motivation and modus operandi for attacking civilians, facilitating tailored military responses to stop or reduce physical threats in a timely manner. Adding to existing knowledge about the conflict-reducing effect of the presence of uniformed UN personnel, he also finds that specific actions matter more than the simple presence of Blue Helmets in large numbers. While protecting civilians is a priority task for military peacekeepers, we have limited knowledge about how they fare across time and in different UN missions when they use force to protect. We also remain largely ignorant of the conditions leading to successful outcomes when they intervene militarily to protect civilians from violence. Using Force to Protect Civilians addresses both of these knowledge gaps, and provides the building blocks for a theory of the utility of force to protect civilians in UN peace operations.

New Issue: Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy

The latest issue of the Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy (Vol. 26, no. 2, 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Veerle Platvoet, Wild Things: Animal Rights in EU Conservation Law
  • V. Boilevin, A. Crosta & S.J. Hennige, Addressing Illegal Transnational Trade of Totoaba and Its Role in the Possible Extinction of the Vaquita
  • Carina Bury, Lost in Translation? Why Outdated Notions of Normativity in International Law Explain Germany’s Failure to Give Effect to the Ramsar Convention of 1971

Gao, Raess, & Zeng: China and the WTO: A Twenty-Year Assessment

Henry Gao
(Singapore Management Univ.), Damian Raess (Universität Bern), & Ka Zeng (Univ. of Arkansas) have published China and the WTO: A Twenty-Year Assessment (Cambridge Univ. Press 2023). The volume is available open access. Here's the abstract:
Examining the twenty years since China acceded to the World Trade Organization, this collection provides an original, systematic assessment of the opportunities and challenges that China has presented to the WTO. Offering in-depth analyses of the 'two-way' relationship between China and the WTO, the contributions explore a range of key issues from the varied effects of WTO membership for China and the global economy to the responses of the WTO members to China's rapid economic growth. It presents diverse perspectives of leading scholars from multiple disciplines, including law, economics, political science, and international relations, as well as practical insights from senior policymakers from both China and the United States. This is an invaluable contribution to ongoing debates about the implications of the rise of China for global economic governance and enriches discussions of the wide-ranging implications of China's growing integration into the multilateral trading system, both now and in the future.

New Issue: Yale Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Yale Journal of International Law (Vol. 48, no. 2, 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Noam Noked & Zachary Marcone, The International Response to the U.S. Tax Haven
  • Gershon Hasin, Ocean Governance in the 21st Century: A "New Package-Deal"
  • Shana Tabak, Refugee Detention as Constructive Refoulement

Friday, September 15, 2023

Peters: Human Rights and Corruption: Problems and Potential of Individualising a Systemic Problem

Anne Peters (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) has posted Human Rights and Corruption: Problems and Potential of Individualising a Systemic Problem (International Journal of Constitutional Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
This article examines the pitfalls and potentials of the recent deliberate legal-political strategy of individualising the systemic problem of corruption. Correlations between the quantity and quality of corruption on the one side and the level of enjoyment of human rights on the other side have been shown. In response to these observations, the policy agendas of anti-corruption and human rights have been converging on the international and regional levels. Nevertheless, it is not easy to conceptualise corruption as a human rights violation that triggers international state responsibility. Moreover, risks and opportunities of the convergence of the policy agendas need to be assessed. This leads to the conclusion that the human rights approach does convey an added value that outweighs its drawbacks. The question remains whether human rights are the proper normative framework to denounce and combat corruption. It is submitted that, by opening up new options for monitoring and litigation, the human rights perspective can usefully complement the criminal law approach. Therefore, the currently one-sided integration of corruption concerns into the human rights machinery should be supplemented by a full attention to human rights in all monitoring schemes in the various anti-corruption regimes. Then, the relevant policies will likely create a positive feedback loop in which anti-corruption is instrumental to improving the human rights situation while a range of human rights will work as enablers for fighting corruption.

Thursday, September 14, 2023

Conference: 52nd Annual Conference of the Canadian Council on International Law

The Canadian Council on International Law will hold its 52nd Annual Conference on November 2-3, 2023, in Ottawa. The theme is: "Inside the Venn: International Law at its Intersections." Program and registration are here.

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

New Issue: International Affairs

The latest issue of International Affairs (Vol. 99, no. 5, September 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Special Section: Knowledge production on peace: actors, hierarchies and policy relevance
    • Kanti Bajpai & Evan A. Laksmana, Asian conceptions of international order: what Asia wants
    • Sara Hellmüller, Laurent Goetschel & Kristoffer Lidén, Knowledge production on peace: actors, hierarchies and policy relevance
    • Sara Hellmüller, Knowledge production on mediation: practice-oriented, but not practicerelevant?
    • Ulrike Lühe, The politics of methods in transitional justice knowledge production
    • Elisabeth Prügl, Gender as a cause of violent conflict
    • Navnita Chadha Behera, The ‘subaltern speak’: can we, the experts, listen?
    • Luisa Cruz Lobato & Victoria Santos, Digital tools as experts in international peace and security
    • Isabel Bramsen & Anine Hagemann, How research travels to policy: the case of Nordic peace research
    • Laurie Nathan, The customer is always right: the policy research arena in international mediation
    • Jamie Pring, Analysing the divide between technocrats and diplomats in international organizations
  • Articles
    • Elisabeth Johansson-Nogués & Elena Şimanschi, Fabricating a war? Russian (dis)information on Ukraine
    • Ryuta Ito, Hubris balancing: classical realism, self-deception and Putin’s war against Ukraine
    • Jess Gifkins & Dean Cooper-Cunningham, Queering the Responsibility to Protect
    • William A. Callahan, Chinese visions of self and Other: the international politics of noses
    • Kacie Miura, Strongman politics and China’s foreign policy actors: maritime assertiveness under Xi Jinping
    • Jennifer D. Sciubba, Population ageing and national security in Asia
    • Richard J. Aldrich, Huda Mukbil, Dan Lomas, Elizabeth Van Wie Davis, Gill Bennett & David Omand, Review forum: How to survive a crisis

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Stoyanova: Positive Obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights: Within and Beyond Boundaries

Vladislava Stoyanova
(Lund Univ. - Law) has published Positive Obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights: Within and Beyond Boundaries (Oxford Univ. Press 2023). This book is available open access. Here's the abstract:

It is beyond question that States have positive obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to prevent and address harm and risks of harm. However, given the difficulties of determining and delimiting the role of the State, the conditions under which positive obligations may apply can be unclear. The search for balance between intrusion and restraint by the State—between protection and freedom from interference—further complicates the question of state responsibility for breach of positive obligations.

Vladislava Stoyanova directly addresses these challenges in Positive Obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. By systematising the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, the book provides key insights into the elements crucial for ascertaining state responsibility for omissions - state knowledge, causation, and reasonableness. It outlines different kinds of positive human rights obligations and identifies the circumstances under which they can be breached.

Stoyanova reflects upon what is at stake for political communities when the triggering, content, and scope of positive obligations has been determined. She offers serious evaluation of the dangers of ECHR obligations whose scope might be too expansive or intrusive, as well as the conceptual hurdles of applying positive human rights obligations extraterritorially.

Schabas: The International Legal Order's Colour Line: Racism, Racial Discrimination, and the Making of International Law

William A. Schabas
(Middlesex Univ. London - Law) has published The International Legal Order's Colour Line: Racism, Racial Discrimination, and the Making of International Law (Oxford Univ. Press 2023). Here's the abstract:

Prior to the twentieth century, international law was predominantly written by and for the 'civilised nations' of the white Global North. It justified doctrines of racial inequality and effectively drew a colour line that excluded citizens of the Global South and persons of African descent from participating in international law-making while subjecting them to colonialism and the slave trade.

The International Legal Order's Colour Line narrates this divide and charts the development of regulation on racism and racial discrimination at the international level, principally within the United Nations. Most notably, it outlines how these themes gained traction once the Global South gained more participation in international law-making after the First World War. It challenges the narrative that human rights are a creation of the Global North by focussing on the decisive contributions that countries of the Global South and people of colour made to anchor anti-racism in international law.

After assessing early historical developments, chapters are devoted to The League of Nations, the adoption and implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the debates within UNESCO on the notion of race itself, expansion of crimes against humanity to cover peacetime violations, as well as challenges to apartheid in South Africa. At all stages, the focus lies on the role played by those who have been the victims of racial discrimination, primarily the countries of the Global South, in advancing the debate and promoting the development of new legal rules and institutions for their implementation. The International Legal Order's Colour Line provides a comprehensive history and compelling new approach to the history of human rights law.

Conference: The African Renaissance in the Age of Globalization: What Role for International Investment Law?

On November 10-11, 2023, the Department of Political Science of the University of Padua will host a conference on "The African Renaissance in the Age of Globalization: What Role for International Investment Law?" Details are here.

New Issue: Human Rights Law Review

The latest issue of the Human Rights Law Review (Vol. 23, no. 3, September 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Vladislava Stoyanova, Framing Positive Obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights Law: Mediating between the Abstract and the Concrete
  • Antonio Di Marco, Minimum Wages Directive and Beyond: Workers’ Dignity Taken (Almost) Seriously
  • Jan Essink, Alberto Quintavalla, & Jeroen Temperman, The Indivisibility of Human Rights: An Empirical Analysis
  • Jeremy Letwin, Proportionality, Stringency and Utility in the Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights
  • Marko Bošnjak & Kacper Zajac, Judicial Activism and Judge-Made Law at the ECtHR
  • Jayson S Lamchek, Ensuring Data Science and Its Applications Benefit Humanity: Data Monetization and the Right to Science
  • Julie Ada Tchoukou, The Silences of International Human Rights Law: The Need for a UN Treaty on Violence Against Women
  • Ulrike Davy, Decolonizing Equality—The Legacies of Anti-Colonial Struggles at International Labour Conferences, 1920–1940
  • Tetyana (Tanya) Krupiy & Martin Scheinin, Disability Discrimination in the Digital Realm: How the ICRPD Applies to Artificial Intelligence Decision-Making Processes and Helps in Determining the State of International Human Rights Law
  • Lisa Mardikian & Sofia Galani, Protecting the Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ Livelihoods in the Face of Climate Change: The Potential of Regional Human Rights Law and the Law of the Sea
  • Winona Kang, Whose Voice?: Female Genital Cutting and the Obscuring Effects of Top-Down Criminalisation

Monday, September 11, 2023

AJIL Unbound Symposium: 150 Years of the Institut de Droit International and the International Law Association

AJIL Unbound has posted a symposium on “150 Years of the Institut de Droit International and the International Law Association.” The symposium includes an introduction by Jeffrey L. Dunoff and contributions by Xiaohang Chen, Sara Dezalay, Georges Abi-Saab, Julia Emtseva, Juan Pablo Scarfi, and Dire Tladi.

Symposium: The Statutory Foreign Affairs Presidency

On October 13, 2023, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review will hold symposium on "The Statutory Foreign Affairs Presidency." Details are here.

New Issue: Journal of Conflict Resolution

The latest issue of the Journal of Conflict Resolution (Vol. 67, no. 9, October 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Articles
    • Glen Biglaiser, Lance Y Hunter, & Ronald J McGauvran, The Double-Edged Sword of Foreign Direct Investment on Domestic Terrorism
    • Ana Carolina Garriga & Brian J. Phillipsm, Organized Crime and Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence From Criminal Groups in Mexico
    • Meixi Zhuang, Zhengxu Wang, & Xiaoyuan Li, Social Embeddedness and Protest Avoidance: Evidence from China
    • Samson Yuen, Tolerant Solidarity With Violent Protesters: Evidence From a Survey Experiment
    • Julian Paffrath & Bernd Simon, Dis-Embedded Identity of Majority Members: The Case of Catholics in Poland
    • Andreas Juon, Inclusion, Recognition, and Inter-Group Comparisons: The Effects of Power-Sharing Institutions on Grievances
  • Data Set Feature
    • Michael J. Soules, Recruiting Rebels: Introducing the Rebel Appeals and Incentives Dataset

New Issue: International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law

The latest issue of the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law (Vol. 38, no. 3, 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Special Issue: Ocean-based Climate Action and Human Rights
    • Elisa Morgera & Mitchell Lennan, Introduction: Applying a Human Rights Lens to the Ocean-Climate Nexus
    • Elisa Morgera, Mitchell Lennan, Kati Kulovesi, Giulia La Bianca, Holly J. Niner, Ellycia Harrould-Kolieb, Eugenia Recio Piva, Jeremy Hills, Mara Ntona, Alana Malinde SN Lancaster, Mia Strand, Bernadette Snow, Kira Erwin, Lynne Shannon, Sian Rees, Kieran Hyder, Georg Engelhard, & Kerry Howell, Ocean-based Climate Action and Human Rights Implications under the International Climate Change Regime
    • Elisa Morgera, Kirsty McQuaid, Giulia La Bianca, Holly Niner, Lynne Shannon, Mia Strand, Sian Rees, Kerry Howell, Bernadette Snow, Alana Malinde SN Lancaster, & Warwick Sauer, Addressing the Ocean-Climate Nexus in the BBNJ Agreement: Strategic Environmental Assessments, Human Rights and Equity in Ocean Science
    • Noreen O’Meara, Human Rights and the Global Plastics Treaty to Protect Health, Ocean Ecosystems and Our Climate
    • Julia Nakamura, Julia Cirne Lima Weston, and Mitchell Lennan, International Legal Responses for Protecting Fishers’ Fundamental Rights Impacted by a Changing Ocean
    • Sophie Shields, Andrea Longo, Mia Strand, & Elisa Morgera, Children’s Human Right to Be Heard at the Ocean-climate Nexus
    • Lianne P. Baars, The Salience of Salt Water: An ITLOS Advisory Opinion at the Ocean-Climate Nexus

Sunday, September 10, 2023

Gandhi Research Seminar Series 2023/24

Global Law at Reading has announced the speakers for the Gandhi Research Seminar Series 2023/24. The schedule is here. Two of the seminars in the Autumn term will take place in-person, and one will take place online (there will be no hybrid option). Here's the autumn schedule:
  • October 10, 2023: Pål Wrange (Univ. of Stockholm), "Why we need sovereignty in ‘cyberspace’, and what is problematic about it"
  • November 9, 2023: Christine Schwobel-Patel (Univ. of Warwick), "Legal Pipelines of the Green Transition: Frontiers of Extractivism"
  • November 29, 2023: Aoife O’Donoghue (Queen’s Univ. Belfast), "Tyrannicide: What's Love got to do with it?" (link to join)

Call for Papers: Workshop on Race and International Relations

The International Race and Rights Lab at the University of Notre Dame has issued a call for papers for its second workshop on "Race and International Relations," to take place May 24, 2024. The call is here.

New Issue: World Trade Review

The latest issue of the World Trade Review (Vol. 22, nos. 3-4, October 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Special Issue: Trade Policy, Openness, and Development in Honour of L. Alan Winters
    • Ingo Borchert & Bernard Hoekman, Trade Policy, Openness, and Development: Essays in Honour of L. Alan Winters
    • Richard Baldwin & Rikard Forslid, Globotics and Development: When Manufacturing Is Jobless and Services Are Tradeable
    • Adrian Wood, Land Abundance, Openness, and Industrialization
    • Alasdair Smith & Adrian Wood, Theoretical Underpinnings of ‘Land Abundance, Openness, and Industrialization’: How Openness Affects Output Elasticities in a 2 × 2 HOS Model with Product Differentiation
    • Xavier Cirera, Diego Comin, Marcio Cruz, Kyung Min Lee, & Antonio Martins-Neto, Exporting and Technology Adoption in Brazil
    • Maurice Schiff & Yanling Wang, North–South Trade-Related Technology Diffusion and the East Asia–Latin America Productivity Gap
    • Pierre Jacquet, Revisiting Knowledge-for-Development
    • Douglas A. Irwin, The Bank, the Fund, and the GATT: Which Institution Most Supported Developing-Country Trade Reform?
    • Kym Anderson, Erwin Corong, Anna Strutt, & Ernesto Valenzuela, The Relative Importance of Global Agricultural Subsidies and Tariffs, Revisited
    • Will Martin, Border Carbon Adjustments: Should Production or Consumption be Taxed?
    • Ilona Elzbieta Serwicka, Geoffrey Chapman, & Bradley Tyler, The Economic Interest Test in UK Trade Remedy Investigations
    • Julien Gourdon, Karin Gourdon, & Jaime de Melo, A (More) Systematic Exploration of the Trade Effect of Product-Specific Rules of Origin
    • Yohannes Ayele, Michael Gasiorek, & Manuel Tong Koecklin, Trade Preference Utilization Post-Brexit: The Role of Rules of Origin
    • Pierluigi Montalbano, Silvia Nenci, & Ilaria Fusacchia, The Indirect Effects of Brexit on African, Caribbean, and Pacific Trade with the UK and EU
    • Joseph F. François, Bernard Hoekman, & Douglas R. Nelson, Trade and Sustainable Development: Non-Economic Objectives in the Theory of Economic Policy
    • Robert Wolfe, Is Using Trade Policy for Foreign Policy a ‘SNO Job’? On Linkage, Friend-Shoring, and the Challenges for Multilateralism
    • Emily Lydgate, Climate Equivalence and International Trade
    • Jacques Pelkmans, Lowering Regulatory Trade Costs

Conference: Resort to international advisory proceedings

On October 20, 2023, the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law will hold a conference on "Resort to international advisory proceedings." Details are here.

Special Issue: Transboundary Waters: The Río Silala & the International Court of Justice

The current issue of the Wyoming Law Review (Vol. 23, no. 2, 2023) is a special issue on "Transboundary Waters: The Río Silala & the International Court of Justice." The table of contents is here. All contributions are open access.

Call for Papers: Common Interests and Common Spaces: Institutional Approaches to Dispute Settlement

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies has issued a call for papers for a workshop on "Common Interests and Common Spaces: Institutional Approaches to Dispute Settlement," to take place December 13, 2023, in The Hague. The call is here.

van den Boogaard: Proportionality in International Humanitarian Law: Refocusing the Balance in Practice

Jeroen van den Boogaard
has published Proportionality in International Humanitarian Law: Refocusing the Balance in Practice (Cambridge Univ. Press 2023). Here's the abstract:
This book seeks to clarify the legal concept of proportionality in international humanitarian law, as it applies during armed conflict. It is argued in the book that a refocus of the interpretation of the proportionality rule is warranted to enhance the protection of civilians. More precisely, this book seeks to dissect the origins of the rule, determine how its components must be interpreted and how it is to be applied in practice. The book considers practical situations that may arise in the conduct of military operations and searches for the limits international humanitarian law sets to commanders' assessments of proportionality during armed conflict. The book concludes that proportionality is an inherently subjective and imprecise yardstick that nonetheless serves to protect civilians during armed conflict.

Meyer: Copernican Revolution or Green Protectionism?

Timothy Meyer (Duke Univ. - Law) has posted Copernican Revolution or Green Protectionism? (in The Sustainability Revolution in International Trade Agreements, Kathleen Claussen & Geraldo Vidigal eds, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Contemporary trade agreements include an ever-expanding set of environmental and sustainability commitments which, if violated, can lead to the imposition of trade barriers. Likewise, the world’s leading developed economies have begun rolling out green trade barriers in the form of product bans, border adjustments, and discriminatory subsidies. This chapter argues that the growth of sustainable trade policies reflects two phenomenon. First, it reflects the ordinary historical ebb and flow of unilateralism and multilateralism. While at some points in history multilateral institutions have taken the lead in shaping trade policy, at other times unilateralism has played a more important role. We are in the latter moment, but that does not mean that the former’s time has passed. Second, like all policies, green trade policies usually pursue multiple objectives. The fact that green trade policies often have mixed motives means that assessing their effects through a Puritan lens is a fool’s errand. The quest nations are on today is not for trade policies that promote sustainability in the least trade restrictive way possible. Instead, they are looking for policies that can generate the political support to address urgent environmental crises while still promoting economic growth.

Part I describes the growth of environmental provisions within trade agreements themselves, and compares that trend to the growth of domestic trade measures designed to address environmental problems in ways that arguably violate international trade agreements. Part II argues that, at least in the short term, this second kind of measures is likely to be more influential than trade and sustainability (TSD) provisions in trade agreements. This influence occurs in large part by shaping subsequent multilateral negotiations, as well as the implementation and interpretation of existing multilateral provisions. Part III argues that trade agreements and unilateral measures that raise (or authorize raising) trade barriers to tackle environmental problems are a key ingredient of addressing environmental problems and ultimately of preserving the system of liberalized trade.

Conference: Development of the Law of the Sea and the Emerging Challenges: A Tribute to Harry N. Scheiber

On Sepember 13-14, 2023, the University of California Berkeley School of Law will host a conference, with Zoom availability, on "Development of the Law of the Sea and the Emerging Challenges: A Tribute to Harry N. Scheiber." Details are here.

Saturday, September 9, 2023

Bradlow: The Law of International Financial Institutions

Daniel D. Bradlow
(Pretoria Univ.) has published The Law of International Financial Institutions (Oxford Univ. Press 2023). Here's the abstract:

In this new volume in the Elements series, Daniel D. Bradlow traces the history and development of international law and international financial institutions from 1918 to today, providing a detailed overview of the legal frameworks within which such institutions were established and operate, and which structure their relationships with their member states and their citizens.

The book opens with the inter-war years, the Bretton Woods Conference, and background on the treaties establishing the IMF and the World Bank. It then discusses the Articles of Agreement of the IMF and the IBRD, providing information on their governance arrangements, mandates, and operating principles. The international legal status of these two international financial institutions, their international legal rights, responsibilities and obligations, and their privileges and immunities are also examined. In later chapters, the book explores how the structure, functions, and operations of the World Bank and IMF have evolved since their establishment and examines the regional development banks and the regional financial arrangements that were created after them. The book concludes by exploring the challenges that international financial institutions are currently facing, and the contributions that international law can make to help them successfully meet these challenges.

Friday, September 8, 2023

Gascoigne: Causation in the Law of the World Trade Organization: An Econometric Approach

Catherine Gascoigne
(Macquarie Univ. - Law) has published Causation in the Law of the World Trade Organization: An Econometric Approach (Cambridge Univ. Press 2023). Here's the abstract:
Causation in the Law of the World Trade Organization: An Econometric Approach is for both scholars and practitioners of WTO law with an interest in the causal questions that WTO law raises. Assuming no prior knowledge of causal philosophy or statistical analysis, Dr Gascoigne discusses the problems in the current approach to causation in the WTO jurisprudence and proposes an alternative methodology that draws on causal philosophy and econometric analysis. The book demonstrates how this methodology could be harnessed to make causal determinations for the purpose of implementing trade remedies and to make out claims of serious prejudice. It also argues that the methodology could be helpful for assessing the impact of domestic legislation on policy objectives under the General Exceptions and the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement as well as for calculating the amount of retaliation permissible under the Dispute Settlement Understanding.

Thursday, September 7, 2023

Call for Papers: Current Research on the Human Right to Science

The Chair for Public International and European Law at the University of Fribourg has issued a call for papers for a doctoral colloquium on “Current Research on the Human Right to Science,” to be held September 6-7, 2024, in Fribourg. The call is here.

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

New Issue: Journal of International Dispute Settlement

The latest issue of the Journal of International Dispute Settlement (Vol. 14, no. 3, September 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Editorial
    • Jean d’Aspremont, Affects, Emotions, and the Cartesian Epistemology of International Law
  • Articles
    • Fuad Zarbiyev, Cutting off the King’s Head: Rethinking Authority in International Law
    • Kyra Wigard, Ori Pomson, & Juliette McIntyre, Keeping score: an empirical analysis of the interventions in Ukraine v Russia
    • Georgia Antonopoulou, The ‘Arbitralization’ of Courts: The Role of International Commercial Arbitration in the Establishment and the Procedural Design of International Commercial Courts
    • Tensin Studer, Environmental accountability: a case for international conciliation?
  • Current Developments
    • Pranav Ganesan & Laia Roxane Guardiola, The ICJ judgment on Nicaragua v Colombia (2022): applying an established jurisdictional test or a problematic invention?
    • Monica Feria-Tinta, On the request for an advisory opinion on climate change under UNCLOS before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
    • Julia Richter, The two problem pillars of multiple proceedings in investment arbitration: why the abuse of process doctrine is a necessary remedy and requires focus in UNCITRAL’s ISDS reform

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Call for Papers: The Borderlands of Criminal Law Conference

The Transnational Criminal Law Review and the University of Windsor Faculty of Law have issued a call for papers for the first Transnational Criminal Law Review Conference, to take place June 20-21, 2024. The topic is: "The Borderlands of Criminal Law Conference." The call is here.

Monday, September 4, 2023

Call for Submissions: The evolving role of international judicial advisory opinions

The International Community Law Review has issued a call for submissions for a special issue on "The evolving role of international judicial advisory opinions." The call is here.

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Besson: Due Diligence in International Law

Samantha Besson
(Collège de France) has published Due Diligence in International Law (Brill | Nijhoff 2023). Here's the abstract:
Since the concept of due diligence first appeared in arbitral decisions at the end of the nineteenth century, its success in international law has been growing steadily. Yet its nature, sources and regime remain indeterminate in many ways. In response to the objections currently raised against it, this book provides a critical analysis of the practice of due diligence in international law. Its aim is to determine whether a principle, standard and/or obligation of due diligence does indeed exist under general international law; to identify what could constitute its normative structure, foundation and general regime; to establish the conditions, content and modalities of implementation of international responsibility for negligence; and, finally, to examine the specificities of due diligence in special regimes of international law, such as international environmental law, international cybersecurity law and international human rights law. More generally, the book also examines the reasons for due diligence’s “renaissance” in international law’s recent history and explains what this revival says about the state of the international legal and institutional order and the possibilities for its reform.

Conference: Indo-Pacific Strategies and International Law

The 2023 ILA-ASIL Asia-Pacific Research Forum will be held December 3-4 in Taipei and hosted by the Research Center for International Legal Studies of National Chengchi University and the Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law. The theme is: "Indo-Pacific Strategies and International Law." The program is here. Registration is here.

Saturday, September 2, 2023

New Issue: Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 22, no. 4, 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Shanshan Lian & Amanda Murdie, How closing civil society space affects NGO-Government interactions
  • Yuan Zhou, Ghashia Kiyani & Charles Crabtree, New evidence that naming and shaming influences state human rights practices
  • Hans Morten Haugen, A decade of revitalizing UN work concerning freedom of religion or belief (2010–2020)
  • Demet Yalcin Mousseau & Michael Mousseau, The economic origins of democratic civil liberties: A cross-country analysis
  • Gina R. Rosich & Elba Caraballo, Perceptions of a human rights lens in relation to the training of social work field educators
  • Douaa Sheet, On conceptions of time in human rights studies: The afterlife, Islam, and reparative justice in post-uprising Tunisia
  • Marie Claire Van Hout & Jakkie Wessels, #ForeignersMustGo versus “in favorem libertatis”: Human rights violations and procedural irregularities in South African immigration detention law
  • Elizabeth J. Kolbe, The right to work? For whom? Exploring international migration for tourism employment and its effects on local workers through phenomenology

Parrish & Ryngaert: Research Handbook on Extraterritoriality in International Law

Austen Parrish
(Univ. of California, Irvine - Law) & Cedric Ryngaert (Utrecht Univ. - Law) have published Research Handbook on Extraterritoriality in International Law (Edward Elgar Publishing 2023). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

By engaging with ongoing discussions surrounding the scope of cross-border regulation, this expansive Research Handbook provides the reader with key insights into the concept of extraterritoriality. It offers an incisive overview and analysis of one of the most critical components of global governance.

Authored by central voices in the global extraterritoriality debate, the Research Handbook on Extraterritoriality in International Law offers legal, interdisciplinary, and regional perspectives on this evolving field. It covers a variety of issues, such as the economics of extraterritorial crime, judicial extraterritoriality, and extraterritorial human rights obligations.

Freeman & Taylor: Research Handbook on International Child Abduction: The 1980 Hague Convention

Marilyn Freeman
(Univ. of Westminster - Law) & Nicola Taylor (Univ. of Otago - Law) have published Research Handbook on International Child Abduction: The 1980 Hague Convention (Edward Elgar Publishing 2023). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

With a focus on the 1980 Hague Convention, this cutting-edge Research Handbook provides a holistic overview of the law on international child abduction from prevention, through voluntary agreements and Convention proceedings, to post-return and aftercare issues.

Discussing the repercussions of abduction from the perspectives of both abducted children and the therapeutic and family justice professionals engaged in their cases, chapters consider the contributions of the many professionals and key agencies involved in the field. Identifying the 1980 Hague Convention as the principal global instrument for dealing with child abduction, the Research Handbook traces its role, history, development and impact, alongside the mechanisms required for its effective use. Evaluating current trends, areas of concern in legal/judicial practice and various regional initiatives, it also considers alternatives to high-conflict court proceedings in international child abduction cases. The Convention’s strengths, successes, weaknesses and gaps are discussed, and the Research Handbook concludes by addressing how best to tackle the challenges in its future operation.

New Issue: International Community Law Review

The latest issue of the International Community Law Review (Vol. 25, no. 5, 2023) is out. Contents include:
  • Ergün Cakal, Law and Torture: Contemporary Legal Scholarship on Torture, from the Doctrinal to the Critical
  • Ulf Linderfalk, Neither Fish, Nor Fowl: A New Way to a Fuller Understanding of the lex specialis Principle
  • Imad Antoine Ibrahim, Redefining the Principle of Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources from a Geographical Perspective: A Case Study of Transboundary Aquifers
  • Sondra Faccio, The World Health Organization’s Response to the Health Emergency and its Impact on Investment Arbitration and Human Rights Case Law
  • Tarcisio Gazzini, International Community? What International Community?