The latest issue of the Journal of International Arbitration (Vol. 24, no. 4, August 2007) is out. Contents include:
This commentary considers a number of potential threats to security originating from the global commons. While direct attacks on a state from vessels and aircraft passing through the global commons constitute such threats, this paper focuses upon challenges posed by possible action against maritime activity occurring outside the territorial sea and national airspace. In this context, there are vulnerabilities surrounding a variety of activities in the global commons. These include threats to international maritime trade and fisheries, possible attacks on offshore oil and gas installations, and interference with pipelines and submarine cables. There are significant limitations on the ability of a coastal state to respond within international law. This commentary considers the nature of jurisdiction beyond the territorial sea, and investigates what protective and responsive actions are available to states. It concludes by considering current international developments which provide for cooperation in intelligence, surveillance and interdiction, and greater use of port state control to circumvent these jurisdictional limitations.
William J. Aceves (California Western School of Law) has published The Anatomy of Torture: A Documentary History of Filartiga v. Pena-Irala (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2007). Here's the abstract:In recent years, victims of human rights abuses have filed civil lawsuits in U.S. courts to seek redress for their injuries. This litigation provides a voice to victims of human rights abuses and a court to hear their claims. More broadly, it seeks to promote accountability for violations of international law.
This book tells the story of Filartiga v. Pena-Irala, one of the most significant examples of human rights litigation in the United States. It presents Filartiga as a documentary history - an approach to legal scholarship that has become increasingly popular in recent years. Unlike traditional casebooks and academic studies, this book emphasizes the dynamic and iterative nature of law. From the initial complaint to the final judgment, the actual pleadings and related legal documents appear with minimal editing. These documents are supplemented through commentary by various participants in the litigation - parties, attorneys, government officials, and judges. Other documents, including declassified government telegrams and correspondence are provided.
Through a mixture of archival research and personal interviews, The Anatomy of Torture brings human rights law to life and provides new insights on a celebrated case. It also recognizes the importance of studying law in context and emphasizes the value of law in the search for justice and accountability.
Nikolas Stürchler (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland) has published The Threat of Force in International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2007). Here's the abstract:Threats of force are a common feature of international politics, advocated by some as an economical guarantee against the outbreak of war and condemned by others as a recipe for war. Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter forbids states to use threats of force, yet the meaning of the prohibition is unclear. This book provides the first comprehensive appraisal of the no-threat principle: its origin, underlying rationale, theoretical implications, relevant jurisprudence, and how it has withstood the test of time from 1945 to the present. Based on a systematic evaluation of state and United Nations practices, the book identifies what constitutes a threat of force and when its use is justified under the United Nations Charter. In so doing, it relates the no-threat principle to important concepts of the twentieth century, such as deterrence, escalation, crisis management, and what has been aptly described as the ‘diplomacy of violence’.
Gillian Triggs (British Institute of International and Comparative Law & Univ. of Melbourne - Law) & Anna Riddell (British Institute of International and Comparative Law) have published Antarctica: Legal and Environmental Challenges for the Future (British Institute of International and Comparative Law 2007). Contents include:
The latest issue of the Rivista di Diritto Internazionale (Vol. 90, no. 2, 2007) is out. Contents include:
Hans-Heiner Kühne (Universität Trier - Law), Robert Esser (Universität Passau - Law), & Marc Gerding have published Völkerstrafrecht: 12 Beiträge zum internationalen Strafrecht und Völkerstrafrecht (Julius Jonscher Verlag 2007). Contents include:
Paul Wilkinson (Univ. of St. Andrews - Int'l Relations) has published International Relations: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford Univ. Press 2007). Here's the abstract:In the post-September 11th arena of growing political tension and unease, it is more important than ever that we understand the changing world of modern international relations. With this comprehensive and accessible book, Paul Wilkinson covers the topics that are essential to our knowledge of this complex subject. He explains the theories and the practices that underlie international relations, and investigates issues ranging from foreign policy, arms control, and terrorism, to the environment and world poverty. Wilkinson examines key questions such as how the international state system might be improved to facilitate better relations between states, explores the roles of international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union, and discusses the influences that ethnic, and religious movements, and terrorist groups have had on shaping the way states and governments interact.
The latest issue of Mealey's International Arbitration Report (Vol. 22, no. 7, July 2007) is out.
The latest issue of the Schweizerische Zeitschrift für internationales und europäisches Recht (Vol. 17, no. 1, 2007) is out. Contents include:
The latest issue of the International Community Law Review (Vol. 9, no. 2, September 2007) is out. Contents include:
According to the ICTR, Emmanuel Bagambiki is an innocent man. The Trial Chamber and the Appeals Chamber have each acquitted - unanimously - the former Prefect of Cyangugu of crimes relating to Rwanda's horrific 1994 genocide. And on July 19, Bagambiki was reunited with his wife in children in Belgium, having been granted asylum just days earlier.
It is tempting to conclude that justice has been done in Bagambiki's case. That conclusion, however, would be too facile: Bagambiki was acquitted in February, 2006, nearly 18 months before his family reunion. In the interim he lived in a safe-house in Arusha paid for by the United Nations, wanted by Rwanda for trial on related charges and unable to convince Belgium that he posed no danger to its peace and security. Bagambiki, moreover, is one of the lucky ones: the nightmare of being "free" but having nowhere to go continues for two of his acquitted roommates in the safe-house, Andre Ntagerura and Andre Rwamakuba, Rwanda's minister of transportation and former minister of education respectively.
Rwamakuba and Ntagerura's ongoing plight illustrates one of the basic problems facing international criminal tribunals: what to do with the acquitted. An acquitted defendant normally has two options: return to his country of origin, or find a third country that will grant him asylum. Both options, however, have been problematic for defendants acquitted by the ICTR - and are likely to prove equally problematic for defendants who may be acquitted in the future by the ICC. This short essay explains why - and identifies what the international community should do about it.
The latest issue of the Archiv des Völkerrechts (Vol. 45, no. 2, June 2007) is out. Contents include:
The latest issue of the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law (Vol. 22, no. 2, 2007) is out. Contents include:
The latest issue of the Revue Générale de Droit International Public (Vol. 111, no. 2, 2007) is out. Contents include:
The latest issue of the International & Comparative Law Quarterly (Vol. 56, no. 3, July 2007) is out. Contents include:
The latest issue of the Stockholm International Arbitration Review (Vol. 2007, no. 1) is out. Contents include:
The Research Forum’s main aim is to promote the exchange of fresh ideas between both junior and more established scholars. As this is the first event organised by ESIL in Central and Eastern Europe, its concentration is on issues currently affecting the region. Two fundamental questions are addressed:
1. What is the role of classical international law in the region, when the expectations and aspirations of both politicians and the society at large are dominated by the European Union?
2. Have countries of the region realised that by joining the developed world’s organisations they should also share in the developed world’s global responsibilities?
Lawrence S. Kaplan (Kent State Univ. & Georgetown Univ.) has published NATO 1948: The Birth of the Transatlantic Alliance (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 2007). Here's the abstract:This compelling history brings to life the watershed year of 1948, when the United States reversed its long-standing position of political and military isolation from Europe and agreed to an "entangling alliance" with ten European nations. Not since 1800, when the United States ended its alliance with France, had the nation made such a commitment. The historic North Atlantic Treaty was signed on April 4, 1949, but the often-contentious negotiations stretched throughout the preceding year.
Lawrence S. Kaplan, the leading historian of NATO, traces the tortuous and dramatic process, which struggled to reconcile the conflicting concerns on the part of the future partners. Although the allies could agree on the need to cope with the threat of Soviet-led Communism and on the vital importance of an American association with a unified Europe, they differed over the means of achieving these ends. The United States had to contend with domestic isolationist suspicions of Old World intentions, the military's worries about over extension of the nation's resources, and the apparent incompatibility of the projected treaty with the UN charter. For their part, Europeans had to be convinced that American demands to abandon their traditions would provide the sense of security that economic and political recovery from World War II required.
Kaplan brings to life the colorful diplomats and politicians arrayed on both sides of the debate. The end result was a remarkably durable treaty and alliance that has linked the fortunes of America and Europe for over fifty years. Despite differences that have persisted and occasionally flared over the past fifty years, NATO continues to bind America and Europe in the twenty-first century. Kaplan's detailed and lively account draws on a wealth of primary sources - newspapers, memoirs, and diplomatic documents - to illuminate how the United States came to assume international obligations it had scrupulously avoided for the previous 150 years.
The latest issue of the Netherlands International Law Review (Vol. 54, no. 2, August 2007) is out. Contents include:
