ASIL: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting

The Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law (2013) is now in print. The table of contents is here.

Call for Papers: 2014 ASIL Research Forum

The American Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its 2014 Research Forum, to be held November 6-8, in Chicago. Here's the call:

The American Society of International Law calls for submissions of scholarly paper proposals for the ASIL Research Forum to be held during the Society's Midyear Meeting in Chicago November 6-8, 2014.

The Research Forum, a Society initiative introduced in 2011, aims to provide a setting for the presentation and focused discussion of works-in-progress. All ASIL members are invited to attend the Forum, whether presenting a paper or not.

Papers can be on any topic related to international and transnational law and should be unpublished (for purposes of the call, publication to an electronic database such as SSRN is not considered publication). Interdisciplinary projects, empirical studies, and jointly authored papers are welcome.

Proposals should be submitted online by June 8, 2014. Interested paper-givers should submit an abstract (no more than 1000 words in length) summarizing the scholarly paper to be presented at the Forum.

Review of the abstracts will be blind. Notifications of acceptance will go out in mid-July.

Papers will be assembled into panels. The organizers welcome volunteers to serve as discussants who will comment on the papers. Please e-mail submissions@asil.org if you are interested in serving as a discussant. All authors of accepted papers will be required to submit a draft paper four weeks before the Research Forum. Drafts will be posted on a web page accessible exclusively to Forum participants.

Karen Alter, Northwestern University

Katerina Linos, ASIL Academic Partner University of California - Berkeley School of Law

2014 Research Forum Co-Chairs

New Volume: Czech Yearbook of Public & Private International Law

The latest volume of the Czech Yearbook of Public & Private International Law (Vol. 4, 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Studies in International Law and Organizations
• Čestmír Čepelka, The ILC Articles on State Responsibility: A Reflection Years Later
• Max Hilaire, The Attitude of the United States Toward International Law
• Jan Ondřej, Sovereignty and Ownership in Relation to Outer Space and Activities of Private Persons
• Jakub Handrlica, The Protocol of 1997 to Amend the Vienna Convention on Nuclear Liability and the European Union
• Michaela Rišová, Addressing the Relationship between State Immunity and Jus Cogens
• International Law and European Law
• Emil Ruffer, When the Suit doesn't Suit Them: Jurisdictional Immunities of States in the context of EU Law
• David Petrlík, Mutual Respect and Residual Tensions between the Systems of Protection of Fundamental Rights in Europe
• Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law
• Harald Christian Scheu, The Burden of Proof in European Anti-Discrimination Law
• Ludovica Poli, Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis under the European Court of Human Rights' Review: An Opening toward a Wider Acceptance of the Technique in Europe?
• Alla Tymofeyeva, Some Guarantees Regarding Criminal Proceedings Applicable to Non-Governmental Organizations: Protocol No.7 to the European Convention on Human Rights
• International Criminal Law
• Pavel Caban, Universal Jurisdiction under Customary International Law, International Conventions and Criminal Law of the Czech Republic: Comments
• Petra Baumruk, Universal Jurisdiction: a Tool against Impunity
• Agata Foksa, The Issue of Reparations Before the International Criminal Court: Case Study Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo
• Views on Investment and Trade Law
• Bregt Natens & Jan Wouters, The State of Play and Future of Services Negotiations in the WTO
• Annelies Vrbova, Markéta Nováková, & Martin Bulánek, The Czech Republic in the WCIT-12
• Vojtěch Trapl, Thinking Big - Bifurcation of Arbitration Proceedings - to Bifurcate or not to Bifurcate

New Issue: Archiv des Völkerrechts

The latest issue of Archiv des Völkerrechts (Vol. 51, no. 4, December 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Abhandlungen
• Jerzy Kranz, Gibt es ein Demokratiedefizit in der Europäischen Union?
• Dieter Dörr & Juliane Stephan, Die völkerrechtliche Einordnung der Nichtanerkennung der autorisierten Zahlungsmitteleigenschaft ausländischer Münzen
• Beitrag
• Andreas Kulick, Zwischen Dogmatik und Rechtspolitik – Die Interpretationsentscheidung des Internationalen Gerichtshofs im Fall Temple of Preah Vihear
• Claudia Hofmann, Internationale Arbeitsorganisation, quo vadis? Einige Gedanken zur Debatte um das Streikrecht und das Mandat des Sachverständigenausschusses

New Volume: Slovak Yearbook of International Law

The latest volume of the Slovak Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 3, 2010-2011) is out. Contents include:

• Richard Bednárik & Kristína Šimuláková, IAEA and its response to Fukushima disaster
• Michal Davala, Should the “margin of appreciation” be abandoned without delay?
• Peter Dudič, What are the implications in international law of Turkey’s damming of international rivers?
• Peter Klanduch, International criminal tribunals and the development of the law of genocide
• Michaela Mackuliaková, International Obligations in the European Asylum System in the context of the M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece Case Law
• Josef Mrázek, Armed Conflicts and Self-Defence in International Law
• Jan Ondřej, Mixed Instruments in International Disarmament and Humanitarian Law
• Denisa Šrameková, Russia and the WTO
• Veronika Trstenská, Åland Islands and their status in the European Union
• Jozef Valuch, View on International Legal Personality with respect to the Position of an Individual in Contemporary International Law
• Viera Strážnická, Human dignity in the European legal space
• Kristína Potomová, Succession of states in international law
• Matúš Huťka, Universal jurisdiction in the Slovak legal order
• Tomáš Buchta, Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union as an instrument and manifestation of closer intergovernmental cooperation between the EU Member States
• Igor Barna, Genuine link principle in granting diplomatic protection
• Daniel Arbet, Analysis of the International Court of Justice advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory

New Issue: International & Comparative Law Quarterly

The latest issue of the International & Comparative Law Quarterly (Vol. 63, no. 2, April 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Mary Crock, Shadow Plays, Shifting Sands and International Refugee Law: Convergences in the Asia-Pacific
• Anca D. Chiriţă, A Legal-Historical Review of the EU Competition Rules
• John Tobin, To Prohibit or Permit: What Is the (Human) Rights Response to the Practice of International Commercial Surrogacy?
• Alison Slade, Good Faith and the TRIPS Agreement: Putting Flesh on the Bones of the TRIPS ‘Objectives’
• Anashri Pillay, Revisiting the Indian Experience of Economic and Social Rights Adjudication: The Need for a Principled Approach to Judicial Activism and Restraint
• Ming Du, China's State Capitalism and World Trade Law
• Jan Kleinheisterkamp, Financial Responsibility in European International Investment Policy
• Shorter Articles and Notes
• Ben Juratowitch, Fora Non Conveniens for Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Against States
• Antoine Buyse, Dangerous Expressions: The ECHR, Violence and Free Speech

New Issue: Leiden Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Leiden Journal of International Law (Vol. 27, no. 2, June 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Editorial
• Yannick Radi, In Defence of ‘Generalism’ in International Legal Scholarship and Practice
• International Legal Theory
• Geoffrey Gordon, Innate Cosmopolitan Dialectics at the ICJ: Changing Perceptions of International Community, the Role of the Court, and the Legacy of Judge Álvarez
• Nikolas M. Rajkovic, Rules, Lawyering, and the Politics of Legality: Critical Sociology and International Law's Rule
• International Law and Practice
• Erika de Wet, The Evolving Role of ECOWAS and the SADC in Peace Operations: A Challenge to the Primacy of the United Nations Security Council in Matters of Peace and Security?
• Steven Wheatley, Conceptualizing the Authority of the Sovereign State over Indigenous Peoples
• Lisa Toohey, Accession as Dialogue: Epistemic Communities and the World Trade Organization
• Pietro Sullo, Lois Mémorielles in Post-Genocide Societies: The Rwandan Law on Genocide Ideology under International Human Rights Law Scrutiny
• Hague International Tribunals: International Court of Justice
  • Eleni Polymenopoulou, Cultural Rights in the Case Law of the International Court of Justice
• Hague International Tribunals: International Criminal Courts and Tribunals
• Ignaz Stegmiller, Legal Developments in Civil Party Participation at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
• Emma Irving, The Relationship between the International Criminal Court and its Host State: The Impact on Human Rights
• Alexia Solomou, Comparing the Impact of the Interpretation of Peace Agreements by International Courts and Tribunals on Legal Accountability and Legal Certainty in Post-Conflict Societies

New Issue: Netherlands International Law Review

The latest issue of the Netherlands International Law Review (Vol. 61, no. 1, May 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Ömer Faruk Direk, Responsibility in Peace Support Operations: Revisiting the Proper Test for Attribution Conduct and the Meaning of the ‘Effective Control’ Standard
• Joris Larik, The Kadi Saga as a Tale of ’Strict Observance’ of International Law: Obligations Under the UN Charter, Targeted Sanctions and Judicial Review in the European Union
• Zhu Dan, China, the International Criminal Court, and International Adjudication
• André J. Berends, Why Overriding Mandatory Provisions that Protect Financial Stability Deserve Special Treatment

New Issue: International Organization

The latest issue of International Organization (Vol. 68, no. 2, Spring 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Judith Goldstein & Robert Gulotty, America and Trade Liberalization: The Limits of Institutional Reform
• Stephen C. Nelson, Playing Favorites: How Shared Beliefs Shape the IMF's Lending Decisions
• Susan D. Hyde & Nikolay Marinov, Information and Self-Enforcing Democracy: The Role of International Election Observation
• Stephen C. Nelson & Peter J. Katzenstein, Uncertainty, Risk, and the Financial Crisis of 2008
• J. Lawrence Broz & Seth H. Werfel, Exchange Rates and Industry Demands for Trade Protection
• Hun Joon Kim & J.C. Sharman, Accounts and Accountability: Corruption, Human Rights, and Individual Accountability Norms
• Research Notes
• Charli Carpenter, Sirin Duygulu, Alexander H. Montgomery & Anna Rapp, Explaining the Advocacy Agenda: Insights from the Human Security Network
• Mark S. Copelovitch & Tonya L. Putnam, Design in Context: Existing International Agreements and New Cooperation

New Issue: Ocean Development & International Law

The latest issue of Ocean Development & International Law (Vol. 45, no. 2, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Marcin Kałduński & Taduesz Wasilewski, The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on Maritime Delimitation: The Bangladesh v. Myanmar Case
• Øystein Jensen, The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf: An Administrative, Scientific, or Judicial Institution?
• Geir Hønneland, Compliance and Postagreement Bargaining in the Barents Sea Fisheries
• Yoshifumi Tanaka, A Note on the M/V “Louisa” Case
• Montserrat Abad Castelos, Marine Renewable Energies: Opportunities, Law, and Management

Fawn: International Organizations and Internal Conditionality: Making Norms Matter

Rick Fawn (Univ. of St. Andrews - International Relations) has published International Organizations and Internal Conditionality: Making Norms Matter (Palgrave Macmillan 2014). Here's the abstract:

In retrospect, NATO and EU enlargements can be viewed as easy; they admitted states that wanted to be involved and were lavishly rewarded. In contrast, this study explores the harder politics waged by the much larger regional organizations, the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). These organizations lack material incentives or instruments of coercion, instead having to work on the basis of shared values. They also face a variety of threats from recalcitrant members. In this book, Fawn uniquely uses internal conditionality to explain how these organizations have cleverly and subtly responded to such difficulties.

Drawing on interviews in a range of post-communist countries and with practitioners inside and outside the organizations, the diverse case studies in this book examine issues of conflict, democratization, the death penalty, rewarding high office and retaining institutional membership. Fawn explores how international organizations which lack powers of compulsion can respond to threatening member-states and offers practical lessons for the international promotion of norms.

Conference: International Law Association British Branch Spring Conference

On May 23-24, 2014, the British Branch of the International Law Association will host its annual spring conference at the Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London. The theme is "Foundations and Futures of International Law." Registration is available here. The draft program is here. Here's the idea:

The time is ripe both to revisit the foundations of international law and to imagine its possible futures. Once the preserve of a small community of specialised academics and practitioners, international law increasingly plays an important role in cases decided by national courts; it is at the centre of renewed interest by political and legal theorists; and in many countries (Britain among them) it even shapes public argument on foreign policy, national security and the resort to armed force. Amidst these developments one finds different methodological approaches seeking to explain the role of international law, as well as different instrumental camps using international law to advocate particular priorities.

New Issue: Internationales Handelsrecht

The latest issue of Internationales Handelsrecht (2014, no. 2) is out. Contents include:

• Olivier Delgrange & Martin Riedel, Die „rupture brutale“ gefestigter Geschäftsbeziehungen mit einem französischen Geschäftspartner
• Karl-Heinz Thume, Zur Anwendbarkeit des § 92c HGB im Vertriebsrecht

Call for Papers: Conference on 21st Century Borders: Territorial Conflict and Dispute Resolution

A further call for papers has been issued for a conference on "21st Century Borders: Territorial Conflict and Dispute Resolution," to be held June 13, 2014, at Lancaster University. Here's the call:

21st Century borders are coming under increasing strain with shifting balances of international power. This was seen most dramatically in the recent Russian annexation of the Crimea, but also in continuing tensions in East Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere. This conference, organised by the Centre for International Law and Human Rights at Lancaster University Law School will explore the causes and dynamics of contemporary territorial disputes as well as mechanisms to resolve them.

Building on our initial call for papers, we welcome abstracts for papers of no more than one page from both established researchers and early career academics on the themes of: critical perspectives on uti possidetis; the concept of the “border” in light of new technologies and transnational structures; historical and cultural perspectives on international borders; borders and international economic and environmental law; institutional mechanisms for territorial dispute settlement; and secession and borders.

Please send your proposals to Dr. James Summers j.summers@lancaster.ac.uk. The deadline for abstracts is Wednesday 7th May 2014.

New Issue: Transnational Legal Theory

The latest issue of Transnational Legal Theory (Vol. 4, no. 4, 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Symposium: William Twining's Montesquieu Lecture on "Globalisation and Legal Scholarship"
• Peer Zumbansen, Why Global Law is Transnational: Remarks on the Symposium around William Twining's Montesquieu Lecture
• Phillip Paiement & Willem Witteveen, Global Situation Sense
• Ming-Sung Kuo, A Dubious Montesquieuian Moment in Constitutional Scholarship: Reading the Empirical Turn in Comparative Constitutional Law in the Light of William Twining and his Hero
• Jessica Eisen, Perspectives on the Global: A Reflection on Twining's Globalisation and Legal Scholarship
• Dan Priel, Two Models of General Jurisprudence
• Eve Darian-Smith, Locating a Global Perspective
• Ali Hammoudi, Re-Constituting the Hegemony of Western Law in the Third World: A Postcolonial Critique of Twining's 'General Jurisprudence'
• Basil Ugochukwu, From Reaction to Agency: A 'Subaltern' Response to William Twining's Globalisation and Legal Scholarship
• Terrine Friday, Reorienting the 'Global' in Legal Theory: Reading Temporal Methods into Twining's Proximal Analysis
• Maria Panezi, Mapping the Territory: Contextual Jurisprudence, Legal Pluralism and WTO Law and Development
• Derek McKee, Globalisation, Legal Ideas, and the Creation of Canada's Access to Medicines Regime
• Marco A. Velásquez-Ruiz, Globalisation and Legal Scholarship in Colombia: Petit commentaire on William Twining's 2009 Montesquieu Lecture
• Vanisha H. Sukdeo, Global Legal Scholarship and Interdisciplinarity
• Brendan Jowett, Turbulent Transitions: Implementing Global Perspectives in Legal Education
• Sas Ansari, Globalisation and Legal Scholarship: William Twining's Call for Revolutionary Jurisprudence
• Morag Goodwin, Embracing the Challenge: Legal Scholarship in a Global Era
• Keith Culver & Michael Giudice, Complementing Comparison: Renewing Analytical Legal Theory to Meet the Explanatory Challenge of Globalisation
• William Twining, Globalisation and Legal Scholarship: A Response

Symposium on Alter's "The New Terrain of International Law: Courts, Politics, Rights"

This week, EJIL Talk! and Opinio Juris are hosting a joint symposium on Karen J. Alter's The New Terrain of International Law: Courts, Politics, Rights (Princeton Univ. Press 2014). Karen's introductory post is here. Nico Krisch's comment is here; Tonya Putnam's comment is here; Roger Alford's comment is here. My contribution is now posted here.

Call for Papers: TWAIL Conference on Praxis and the Intellectual

A call for papers has been issued for the Third World Approaches to International Law Conference on Praxis and the Intellectual, to take place February 22-24, 2015, in Cairo. Here's the call:

Third World Approaches to International Law Conference

On Praxis and the Intellectual

The American University in Cairo

Egypt, 22 - 24 February 2015

CALL FOR PAPERS AND PANEL PROPOSALS

The first TWAIL conference in the global South will be held in Cairo from 22 to 24 February 2015. In the context of the ongoing revolutionary processes across the Middle East and North Africa, the thematic focus of the conference is that of the intellectual as a political actor: the animation of praxis, broadly conceived as reflection, agitation, and transformative action.

The theme necessitates self-reflection as TWAIL has sought to distinguish itself from other critical legal approaches through its political and transformative commitments. We invite presentations and panels that seek to engage with these issues. For instance, how do we understand and interrogate our roles as intellectuals in political life? What is the relationship between our scholarly endeavors and societal structures; whether preserving the status quo, shaping reform, or advocating for radical change? What are the various conduits that link our work as intellectuals with politicians, activists, advocates, revolutionaries, civil servants, soldiers, artists, writers, union representatives, civil society leaders, peasant movements, and so on? How does the idea of TWAIL as praxis relate to TWAIL as theory and/or method? How does it differ from other notions of praxis?

As with previous TWAIL conferences, this is an opportunity for us to take stock and look to the future. It provides a forum for the TWAIL community to reconnect – this time in the global South. At the same time, the conference seeks to deepen and re-imagine engagement with underexplored alliances such as with indigenous movements, environmental issues, and transnational intellectual and political actors in the Middle East and North Africa. To this end, the conference also seeks to pursue relationships with potential interdisciplinary allies, whether scholars or practitioners, in cognate fields.

We welcome submissions of proposed presentations or panels (composed of three speakers) relating to the above themes. Applications should include:

• An abstract of your proposed presentation (300 words maximum) or panel (900 words maximum).
• Your name(s), institutional affiliation(s), and contact information.

Applications should be emailed to twailcairo@gmail.com by 15 July 2014.

The conference will be hosted by the Department of Law at the American University in Cairo, with the support of the National University of Ireland Maynooth, the University of Windsor, and Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. Limited ground transportation and all conference catering, materials, and activities will be covered by the host organizations. A limited amount of funding for travel costs and accommodation will be available to assist presenters based in the global South on the basis of financial need. Please indicate at the time of submission if you will need such assistance.

We look forward to seeing you in Cairo.

Conference: Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law Third Annual Conference (Update)

The Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law will hold its third annual conference, May 10-11, 2014, at the University of Cambridge. The theme is "Stepping Away from the State: Universality and Cosmopolitanism in International and Comparative Law." Registration is open here. The provisional program is now available here.

Call for Papers: The Changing Practices of International Law: Sovereignty, Law and Politics in a Globalising World

A call for papers has been issued for a conference on "The Changing Practices of International Law: Sovereignty, Law and Politics in a Globalising World," to take place in Reykjavik, August 27-29, 2014. Here's the call:

– Call for Papers –

The Changing Practices of International Law:

Sovereignty, Law and Politics in a Globalising World

Reykjavik, 27-29 August 2014

workshop co-organised by

COST Action IS1003 ’International Law between Constitutionalisation and Fragmentation’

in cooperation with Bifrost University and the Centre for the Politics of Transnational Law

This interdisciplinary workshop explores this paradox of international legalisation increasing the room for political manoeuvre in international relations by examining how the proliferation of legal regimes and its various mechanisms are utilized by sovereign states to bolster political positions and barter off responsibilities under international law. We invite papers that analyse how the increasing legalisation of international politics both changes the obligations of states under international law, yet at the same time, and through its own proliferation, provides the backdrop for governmental strategies to instrumentalise legal discourse and/or elude legal obligations.

In particular we are interested in papers that focus on a particular issue area (such as bilateral investment treaties/global financing, international environmental law, international criminal law, international humanitarian law, law of the sea) to analyse the legal strategies states use to instrumentalise or escape international law within these particular areas. These include, but are not limited to:

• judicial jurisdiction shopping
• territorial jurisdiction shopping
• regime shopping
• offshore law enforcement
• privatisation and outsourcing
• strategic influencing legal interpretation

A collection of the papers presented at the workshop will be published as an edited volume. Presenters that do not wish to submit their paper for this publication should clearly indicate so.

Fees

This research workshop is generously funded by COST Action IS1003. This means that there is no conference fee. For COST Action IS1003 members the usual reimbursement rules apply.

Submission

Please send your abstract of about 300 words to Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen (tgh@humanrights.dk) and Tanja Aalberts (t.e.aalberts@vu.nl). Deadline 19 May 2014. The selection of papers will be announced by 30 May 2014.

Qin: The Conundrum of WTO Accession Protocols: In Search of Legality and Legitimacy

Julia Ya Qin (Wayne State Univ. - Law) has posted The Conundrum of WTO Accession Protocols: In Search of Legality and Legitimacy (Virginia Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The World Trade Organization, unlike other international organizations, may require its acceded members to accept more stringent rules of conduct than those binding upon its original members. The scope and content of such rules are country-specific, depending on the result of accession negotiations. The country-specific rules are set out in the protocol of accession concluded between the acceding country and the WTO. Cumulatively, accession rules have formed a significant part of WTO law, and some have given rise to major disputes, generating WTO case law on accession.

Despite the general acceptance of WTO accession practice, important questions concerning its legality and legitimacy remain unanswered. Substantively, the accession protocols modify the rules of conduct contained in the WTO multilateral trade agreements when applied to the acceded members. Yet, it is unclear on what legal basis the accession protocols have acquired this authority and what the proper relation should be between accession protocols and the WTO agreements. Normatively, the more stringent rules of conduct result in less favorable treatment of the acceded members, in derogation of the WTO principle of nondiscrimination. But it is unclear how such derogation may be justified. Confusions over the status of accession protocols and the absence of clear rationale for the country-specific rules have led to problematic jurisprudence, creating uncertainty in the rights and obligations of acceded members vis-à-vis other members of the WTO.

This article seeks to resolve this conundrum of WTO accession protocols, building on insights from existing scholarship. On the question of legality, the author takes a comparative and historical approach, and proposes that WTO accession protocols can be most aptly characterized as subsequent practice of an international organization modifying its underlying treaties. On the question of legitimacy, the article identifies the lack of reason and transparency in the accession rules as the main problem, and critiques the “entry fee” theory offered by a WTO panel as the justification for all accession rules. The article then makes suggestions on what should and can be done to mitigate the problems caused by WTO accession protocols.

Hsieh: The Discipline of International Law in Republican China and Contemporary Taiwan

Pasha L. Hsieh (Singapore Management Univ. - Law) has posted The Discipline of International Law in Republican China and Contemporary Taiwan (Washington University Global Studies Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This article examines the evolution of international law as a professional and intellectual discipline in the Republic of China (ROC), which has governed Mainland China (1912-1949) and post-1949 Taiwan. The ROC’s centennial development fundamentally shaped modern China’s course of foreign relations and postwar global governance. The article argues that statism, pragmatism and idealism define the major features of the ROC’s approach to international law. These characteristics transformed the law of nations into universally valid normative claims and prompted modern China’s intellectual focus on the civilized nation concept. First, the article analyzes the professionalization of the discipline of international law. It offers insight into the cultivation of China’s first-generation international lawyers in the Foreign Ministry, international law societies and the Shanghai Mixed Court. Second, it explores the ROC’s approach of assertive legalism in applying international law to advance diplomatic objectives. The nation’s strategic engagement with unequal treaties, the League of Nations, and the United Nations contributed to its Grotian moment. The assertion of legal claims in judicial proceedings and Taiwan’s international standing further reinforced the dynamic dimension of the discipline. Therefore, this article provides a valuable case study of twentieth century international lawmaking in East Asia.

New Issue: Revue belge de droit international

The latest issue of the Revue belge de droit international (Vol. 46, no. 1, 2013) is out. Contents include:

• Dossier spécial : La responsabilité des organisations internationales : un état des lieux à l'issue des travaux de la commission du droit international des Nations Unies
• Y. Kerbrat, P. Klein, & V. Michel, Présentation
• G. Gaja, Note introductive de l’ancien rapporteur spécial
• P. Jacob, Les définitions des notions d’« organe » et d’« agent » retenues par la CDI sont-elles opérationnelles ?
• P. Palchetti, Les autorités provisoires de gouvernement (PIS G) du Kosovo, EULEX et ONU : les principes d’attribution à l’épreuve
• P.J. Kuijper, Attribution — Responsibility — Remedy. Some comments on the EU in different international regimes
• A. Tzanakopoulos, L’invocation de la théorie des contre-mesures en tant que justification de la désobéissance au Conseil de sécurité
• Y. Kerbrat, Sanctions et contre-mesures : risques de confusion dans les articles de la CDI sur la responsabilité des organisations internationales
• M. Aznar, La distinction entre sanctions et contre-mesures
• P. Bodeau-Livinec, Les faux-semblants de la lex specialis — L’exemple de la résolution 52/247 de l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies sur les limitations temporelles et financières de la responsabilité de l’ONU
• G. Marhic, Le régime de responsabilité des opérations de paix de l’Union européenne : quelles règles applicables ?
• M. Forteau, Régime général de responsabilité ou lex specialis ?
• F. Mégret, La responsabilité des Nations Unies au temps du choléra
• V. Richard, Les organisations internationales entre responsibility et accountability : le régime de responsabilité esquissé par la CDI est-il adapté aux organisations internationales ?
• Études
• C. Espaliu Berdud, De la vie et de la mort des normes impératives du droit international
• N. Hajjami, Que signifie l’expression « prendre toutes les mesures nécessaires » dans la pratique du Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies ?

Vidmar: Judicial Interpretations of Democracy in Human Rights Treaties

Jure Vidmar (Univ. of Oxford - Law) has posted Judicial Interpretations of Democracy in Human Rights Treaties (Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Human rights treaties contain provisions for the so-called democratic rights. These provisions are textually almost identical in various regional and universal human rights treaties, yet courts and other judicial bodies have constructed diverse understandings of democracy through interpretation. The main questions that arise are whether human rights treaties require a multiparty political setting and how they accommodate limitations on the will of the people. This article analyses developments in the context of the ICCPR and the three regional systems. It demonstrates that human rights courts have clearly established a requirement for multiparty elections and have even attempted a more robust, substantive definition of democracy. However, a new problem has arisen in recent case law. The electoral process has become dominated by political parties and electoral systems have often proven to be unable to accommodate independent candidates. The result is that candidates wishing to run at elections may be forced to associate with others. The contemporary interpretation of human rights treaties does not necessarily provide for suitable avenues to take part in elections outside of the framework of party politics. If it was once questionable whether human rights treaties guarantee the right to associate in political parties, it now seems that parties have become too central in the exercise of the so-called democratic rights.

Titi: The Right to Regulate in International Investment Law

Aikaterini Titi has published The Right to Regulate in International Investment Law (Nomos 2014). Here's the abstract:

Since the inception of the international investment law system, investment promotion and protection have been the raison d’être of investment treaties and states have confined their policy space in order to attract foreign investment and protect their investors abroad. Languishing in relative obscurity until recently, the right to regulate has gradually come to the spotlight as a key component of negotiations on new generation investment agreements around the globe. States and regional organisations, including, notably, the European Union and the United States, have started to examine ways in which to safeguard their regulatory power and guide – and delimit – the interpretive power of arbitral tribunals, by reserving their right to pursue specific public policy objectives. The monograph explores the status quo of the right to regulate, in order to offer an appraisal and a reference tool for treatymakers, thus contributing to a better understanding of the concept and the broader discourse on how to enhance the investment law system’s legitimacy.

New Issue: Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law

The latest issue of the Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law (Vol. 23, no. 1, April 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: International Water Law
• Stephen C. McCaffrey, International Water Cooperation in the 21st Century: Recent Developments in the Law of International Watercourses
• Alistair Rieu-Clarke & Rémy Kinna, Can Two Global UN Water Conventions Effectively Co-exist? Making the Case for a ‘Package Approach’ to Support Institutional Coordination
• Gabriel Eckstein & Francesco Sindico, The Law of Transboundary Aquifers: Many Ways of Going Forward, but Only One Way of Standing Still
• Ruby Moynihan & Bjørn-Oliver Magsig, The Rising Role of Regional Approaches in International Water Law: Lessons from the UNECE Water Regime and Himalayan Asia for Strengthening Transboundary Water Cooperation
• Makane Moïse Mbengue, A Model for African Shared Water Resources: The Senegal River Legal System
• Patricia Wouters, The Yin and Yang of International Water Law: China's Transboundary Water Practice and the Changing Contours of State Sovereignty
• A. Dan Tarlock, Mexico and the United States Assume a Legal Duty to Provide Colorado River Delta Restoration Flows: An Important International Environmental and Water Law Precedent
• Owen McIntyre, The Protection of Freshwater Ecosystems Revisited: Towards a Common Understanding of the ‘Ecosystems Approach’ to the Protection of Transboundary Water Resources
• Michelle Lim, Is Water Different from Biodiversity? Governance Criteria for the Effective Management of Transboundary Resources
• Regular Articles
• Arie Trouwborst, Exploring the Legal Status of Wolf-Dog Hybrids and Other Dubious Animals: International and EU Law and the Wildlife Conservation Problem of Hybridization with Domestic and Alien Species
• Leonie Reins, In Search of the Legal Basis for Environmental and Energy Regulation at the EU Level: The Case of Unconventional Gas Extraction
• Róisín Áine Costello, Reviving Rylands: How the Doctrine Could Be Used to Claim Compensation for Environmental Damages Caused by Fracking
• Case Note
• Lorenzo Squintani & Hans H.B. Vedder, Towards Inverse Direct Effect? A Silent Development of a Core European Law Doctrine