Burke-White: Crimea and the International Legal Order

William W. Burke-White (Univ. of Pennsylvania - Law) has posted Crimea and the International Legal Order. Here's the abstract:

A key balance between two of the most fundamental principles of the post-World War II international legal and political order is at stake today in Ukraine. Particularly in its annexation of Crimea, Russia has exploited the tension between a fundamental principle that prohibits the acquisition of territory through the use of force and an equally fundamental right of self-determination. Russia’s reinterpretation of these two principles could well destabilize the tenuous balance between the protection of individual rights and the preservation of states’ territorial integrity that undergirds the post World War II order. In determining the precedent that will be remembered from the events in Crimea, the US must work to build legal and diplomatic coalitions that narrow exceptions and reaffirm the principles of the modern international order.

Grossman: Shattering the Glass Ceiling in International Adjudication

Nienke Grossman (Univ. of Baltimore - Law) has posted Shattering the Glass Ceiling in International Adjudication. Here's the abstract:

This is the first article to examine the relationship between selection procedures and sex representativeness on various international court benches. It provides statistics on women judges on international courts, analyzes why women remain a distinct minority on the bench on most courts, and proposes and evaluates potential reforms for achieving greater balance on the bench. These reforms include more transparent and open selection procedures at the national level, the use of commissions to identify and vet candidates at the national and international levels, and aspirational and mandatory representativeness targets. Although each court operates within its own specific institutional context, comparing their procedures and outcomes provides insights into best and worst practices for achieving fair representation on the bench. Not only does this article expose flaws in and propose enhanced selection procedures to provide greater representativeness on the bench, but also the suggested reforms may enhance the legitimacy credentials of these increasingly important institutions.

Crawford: Terrorism and Targeted Killings in International Law

Emily Crawford (Univ. of Sydney - Law) has posted Terrorism and Targeted Killings in International Law (in Research Handbook on International Law and Terrorism, Ben Saul ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Targeted killing has become part of the conventional military and security strategy of a number of states in their operations against terrorist suspects, with Israel, the US and Russia among the most notable that have openly employed such tactics. Controversy has arisen regarding whether, as the perpetrator states have asserted, such killings should be considered as part of an ongoing ‘war’ against terrorist organizations, thus judged according to the law on the use of force (jus ad bellum) and the law of armed conflict (jus in bello or international humanitarian law (IHL), or whether the struggle against terrorist groups should be considered within a law enforcement framework, thus engaging international human rights law (IHRL). This chapter examines these issues.

Conference: Twenty-Third Investment Treaty Forum Public Conference

The British Institute of International and Comparative Law will host the Twenty-Third Investment Treaty Forum Public Conference on September 12, 2014. The theme is: "Can International Investment Law be Restated? Or is Jurisprudence Constante the El Dorado of Investment Treaty Lawyers?" Here's the idea:

It has sometimes been suggested that while the international legal system admits no formal principle of stare decisis, there might nevertheless develop in the field of international investment treaties, a jurisprudence constante - a "persisting jurisprudence" that secures unification and stability of judicial activity. This 23rd Meeting of the Investment Treaty Forum investigates that claim, combining reports on where the investment treaty "case law" stands in the field with a theoretical and practical inquiry as to the utility of this "precedent" in light of the increasing heterogeneity among international investment treaty arrangements and the structural limitations of the regime. Among the issues to be addressed directly will be the principles applicable to claims for indirect expropriation, the evolving meaning of "fair and equitable treatment," the operation of umbrella clauses, and the definition of "investment."

Call for Papers: International Symposium on the Legacy of the ICTR

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has issued a call for papers for a symposium on the legacy of the tribunal. Here's the call:

Call for Papers: International Symposium on the Legacy of the ICTR

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (“ICTR”) is organising an International Symposium on the Legacy of the ICTR to be held in Arusha, Tanzania on 6-7 November 2014 (the “Symposium”).

With the ICTR’s closure scheduled for 2015, the Symposium aims to provide an opportunity for experts in the field of international justice to reflect on the ICTR’s contributions to the development of international humanitarian law, administration of justice, and promotion of the rule of law, particularly in the Great Lakes Region. We invite experts in the field to submit proposals for papers to be presented during the Symposium. Papers should focus on the topics indicated in the draft programme, which can be found here.

Those interested in presenting a paper at the Symposium should submit an application including a 300 word abstract summarising the proposed paper via email to the ICTR Legacy Committee at ictrlegacy@un.org. Applications must include:

1) A 300 word abstract of the proposed paper;

2) The author’s name, title, and affiliation (if any);

3) The author’s Curriculum Vitae/Résumé; and

4) The author’s contact details including phone number and email address.

All applications must be received no later than 15 August 2014.

Successful applicants will receive an invitation to submit a paper by 5 September 2014 and a first draft of papers will be expected to be submitted by 17 October 2014. Submission of an application will be considered as acknowledgement that the author is available to be in Arusha from 5-8 November 2014 to participate in the Symposium. The ICTR will endeavour to cover travel and accommodation for successful applicants.

De Brabandere & Gazzini: Foreign Investment in the Energy Sector: Balancing Private and Public Interests

Eric De Brabandere (Leiden Univ. - Law) & Tarcisio Gazzini (VU University Amsterdam - Law) have published Foreign Investment in the Energy Sector: Balancing Private and Public Interests (Brill | Nijhoff 2014). Contents include:

• Eric De Brabandere & Tarcisio Gazzini, Preface
• Graham Coop, Introduction
• Joachim Karl, FDI in the Energy Sector: Recent Trends and Policy Issues
• Andrey Konoplyanik, Multiple Investment Regimes for Russian Subsoil Resources: Work in Progress or Utopia?
• Attila Tanzi, International Law and Foreign Investment in Hydroelectric Industry: A Multidimensional Analysis
• Eric De Brabandere, The Settlement of Investment Disputes in the Energy Sector
• Tarcisio Gazzini, Energy Charter Treaty: Achievements, Challenges and Perspectives
• Yannick Radi, The Tripartite Dimension of Conflicts of Interests Workers, Foreign Investors and Host States in the Energy Sector
• Makane Moïse Mbengue & Deepak Raju, Energy, Environment and Foreign Investment
• Federico Lenzerini, Foreign Investment in the Energy Sector and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights
• Valentina Vadi, Foreign Investment in the Energy Sector and Public Health
• Stephan W. Schill, Foreign Investment in the Energy Sector: Lessons for International Investment Law

New Issue: Schweizerische Zeitschrift für internationales und europäisches Recht

The latest issue of the Schweizerische Zeitschrift für internationales und europäisches Recht (Vol. 24, no. 1, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Aktuell
• Christa Tobler, «Die Geister, die ich rief ...» Zum Ja der Schweiz zur Masseneinwanderungsinitiative und zum umgekehrten «Drei-Kreise-Modell» der EU
• Aufsätze
• Astrid Epiney, Abfallrecht in der EU: Ausgewählte Aspekte unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Verwirklichung des Verursacherprinzips im Abfallrecht
• Minh Son Nguyen, La gestion des déchets en droit administratif international
• Tilmann Altwicker & Oliver Diggelmann, What Should Remain of the Critical Approaches to International Law? International Legal Theory as Critique

Yen: The Interpretation of Investment Treaties

Trinh Hai Yen (Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam) has published The Interpretation of Investment Treaties (Brill | Nijhoff 2014). Here's the abstract:

Within the context of an exponential proliferation of investment treaties with virtually uniform language and structure, The Interpretation of Investment Treaties by Trinh Hai Yen reveals the neglect or misapplication of international rules on treaty interpretation by tribunals in arbitral cases. Such practice has raised the question of the legitimacy of the interpretative process and the engendered inconsistent interpretations of investment treaties.

The book proposes three interpretative approaches aimed at ensuring that adjudicators find legitimate meaning in the challenging generality and vagueness of investment treaty language. It also provides a comprehensive analysis of legislative solutions for states through a case study of the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement, as well as a comparative analysis of modern and traditional investment treaties.

Pauwelyn: Minority Rules: Precedent and Participation Before the WTO Appellate Body

Joost Pauwelyn (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies) has posted Minority Rules: Precedent and Participation Before the WTO Appellate Body (in Judicial Authority in International Economic Law, Joanna Jemielniak, Laura Nielsen & Henrik Palmer Olsen eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This contribution makes an empirical assessment of the role of precedent in WTO dispute settlement. As an imperfect proxy it counts cross-references between the 108 Appellate Body reports issued between 1996 and 2013. Using basic tools of network analysis it attempts to answer the following questions. Has the Appellate Body developed a practice of de facto rule of precedent? If so, as of when? Over time, is it influenced more or less by earlier reports? Have some Appellate Body reports been more influential than others? Conversely, are some Appellate Body reports relying on earlier decisions more extensively than others? Results confirm how important previous Appellate Body reports are for future WTO litigation. No one can successfully engage in WTO dispute settlement without knowing previous Appellate Body case law.

This naturally leads to a second set of questions. If the Appellate Body is effectively engaged in rule refinement, if not rulemaking, with legal effects on all WTO members (not just the disputing parties), which WTO members are shaping this rule development? Are some WTO members more active in Appellate Body litigation than others? Are other WTO members completely outside of this norm-development process? Whereas the network of cross-references between Appellate Body reports is both large and dense (35.4%), with multiple cross-references between many of the 108 reports to date, the network of participants before the Appellate Body, in contrast, is small and sparse (0.8%), with literally two WTO members acting as central hubs or feeders of WTO Appellate Body jurisprudence, leaving all other WTO members well behind.

Combining these two phenomena one can, indeed, speak of rule development steered by a (small) minority of WTO members: minority rules.

New Issue: International Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the International Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 18, nos. 4-5, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Azadeh Chalabi, The nature and scope of states' obligation to adopt a national human rights action plan
• Douglas Hamilton Spence, Foreign aid and human rights treaty ratification: moving beyond the rewards thesis
• Masoud Rajabi-Ardeshiri, Childhood and modernity: a social constructionist reflection onto the dilemma of ‘child execution’ within the Islamic context
• Alana Tiemessen, The International Criminal Court and the politics of prosecutions
• Jennifer Dabbs Sciubba, Explaining campaign timing and support for a UN Convention on the Rights of Older People
• Tristan G. Creek, Starving for freedom: an exploration of Australian government policies, human rights obligations and righting the wrong for those seeking asylum
• Mariya Ali, Child sexual abuse: can the doctrines of al-maqasid al-shariah and maslahah assist in challenging the honour ideology?
• Valentina Azarov, An international legal demarche for human rights? Perils and prospects of the Palestinian UN bid
• James Rochlin, A golden opportunity lost: Canada's human rights impact assessment and the free trade agreement with Colombia
• Simin Fadaee, Civil society organisations in India and construction of multiplicity of human rights

Ohlin: The Combatant's Privilege in Asymmetric & Covert Conflicts

Jens David Ohlin (Cornell Univ. - Law) has posted The Combatant's Privilege in Asymmetric & Covert Conflicts. Here's the abstract:

In armed conflicts against extraterritorial non-state actors, covert action has quickly moved from the exception to the rule. U.S. military and paramilitary forces are engaged in global drone and infantry deployments that remain officially unacknowledged by the government. However, the literature has lagged behind in not questioning how basic principles of the law of war — whose architecture depends on the link between individual combatants and the political entities they fight for — apply in covert action, which obscures and denies this link. This Article provides a deeper analysis of covert action by concentrating on the basic building block of the law of war: the combatant's privilege — the right of lawful belligerents to kill in wartime free from criminal liability. In order to analyze this question, this article first interrogates a deeper orthodoxy of the field: that the combatant's privilege never applies in non-international armed conflicts. Drawing on historical and conceptual analysis, this Article concludes that the orthodox view is both simplistic and exaggerated; the more subtle answer is that government forces and rebels can qualify for the privilege in some situations, though governments retain the right to prosecute vanquished rebels for treason (but not murder). Applying this insight to asymmetric conflicts against terrorist networks, the privilege attaches to any side that meets the classical requirements for lawful belligerency: wearing a fixed emblem, carrying arms openly, a responsible command, and respect for basic customs of warfare — a standard that terrorists inevitably fail. However, government forces also fail the standard when they participate in covert action, regardless of whether the force is exercised by CIA operatives or uniformed soldiers of the Armed Forces. Individual soldiers become legitimate combatants only when they carry their arms openly and their state asserts the privilege on their behalf — a logical impossibility when the state refuses to acknowledge the use of force in the first place.

New Issue: Journal of Conflict & Security Law

The latest issue of the Journal of Conflict & Security Law (Vol. 19, no. 2, Summer 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Pierre-Emmanuel Dupont, Compliance with Treaties in the Context of Nuclear Non-proliferation: Assessing Claims in the Case of Iran
• Anders Henriksen, Jus ad bellum and American Targeted Use of Force to Fight Terrorism Around the World
• Monika Hlavkova, Reconstructing the Civilian/Combatant Divide: A Fresh Look at Targeting in Non-international Armed Conflict
• Anton O. Petrov, Non-State Actors and Law of Armed Conflict Revisited: Enforcing International Law through Domestic Engagement
• Francis Grimal, Missile Defence Shields: Automated and Anticipatory Self-Defence?
• Susan Power, The 2003–2004 Occupation of Iraq: Between Social Transformation and Transformative Belligerent Occupation

New Issue: European Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the European Journal of International Law (Vol. 25, no. 2, May 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Editorial
  • JHHW, Fateful Elections? Investing in the Future of Europe; Masthead Changes; In this Issue
• EJIL: Keynote!
• Anne Orford, Scientific Reason and the Discipline of International Law
• Articles
• Sergio Puig, Social Capital in the Arbitration Market
• Tilmann Altwicker & Oliver Diggelmann, How is Progress Constructed in International Legal Scholarship?
• Grégoire Mallard, Crafting the Nuclear Regime Complex (1950–1975): Dynamics of Harmonization of Opaque Treaty Rules
• New Voices: A Selection from the Second Annual Junior Faculty Forum for International Law
• Moria Paz, The Tower of Babel: Human Rights and the Paradox of Language
• Arnulf Becker Lorca, Petitioning the International: A ‘Pre-history’ of Self-determination
• Roaming Charges: Places of Social and Financial Crisis: Dublin 2014
• EJIL: Debate!
• László Blutman, Conceptual Confusion and Methodological Deficiencies: Some Ways that Theories on Customary International Law Fail
• Andrew T. Guzman & Jerome Hsiang, Some Ways that Theories on Customary International Law Fail: A Reply to László Blutman
• Critical Review of International Jurisprudence
• Loveday Hodson, Women’s Rights and the Periphery: CEDAW’s Optional Protocol
• Critical Review of International Governance
• Wolfgang Hoffmann-Riem, The Venice Commission of the European Council – Standards and Impact

Turner: Accountability of International Prosecutors

Jenia Iontcheva Turner (Southern Methodist Univ. - Law) has posted Accountability of International Prosecutors (in The Law and Practice of the International Criminal Court, Carsten Stahn ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The dilemma of holding prosecutors accountable while ensuring their independence was at the center of the debates surrounding the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The drafters of the Rome Statute for the ICC understood that the Court would be handling cases with significant political implications and yet working with limited resources and no independent enforcement capacity. To enhance prosecutors’ ability to operate successfully in this environment, the drafters enshrined prosecutorial independence into the Statute and gave prosecutors significant discretion over charging and investigation decisions. At the same time, drafters worried that ICC prosecutors were not sufficiently accountable to anyone. This led to the decision to give judges and the Assembly of States Parties limited authority to oversee prosecutorial actions.

This chapter reviews how the ICC has addressed prosecutorial mistakes and misconduct in the first ten years of its existence. It evaluates how existing sanctions and remedies for prosecutorial wrongdoing respond to the challenge of preserving the independence of international prosecutors while ensuring their accountability. Finally, the chapter examines whether stricter internal oversight, discipline by external professional bodies, or informal sanctions can usefully supplement existing judicial and administrative sanctions for prosecutorial misconduct at the ICC.

New Issue: Questions of International Law

The latest issue of Questions of International Law / Questioni di Diritto Internazionale (no. 6, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Shifting from Article 103 to ‘equivalent protection’. The Al-Dulimi case before the European Court of Human Rights
• Introduced by Antonello Tancredi
• Maura Marchegiani, Le principe de la protection équivalente dans l’articulation des rapports entre ordre juridique des NU et CEDH après l’arrêt Al-Dulimi
• Gianluigi Palombella, The principled, and winding, road to Al-Dulimi. Interpreting the interpreters

Jinks, Maogoto, & Solomon: Applying International Humanitarian Law to Judicial and Quasi Judicial Bodies - International and Domestic Aspects

Derek Jinks (Univ. of Texas - Law), Jackson Nyamuya Maogoto (Univ. of Manchester - Law), & Solon Solomon (King's College London - Law) have published Applying International Humanitarian Law to Judicial and Quasi Judicial Bodies - International and Domestic Aspects (Asser Press 2014). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

International humanitarian law has been perceived till now as encompassing only judicial cases concerning refugee protection or war crimes prosecutions, particularly in domestic fora. Yet, the last decade has witnessed a revolution in the way judicial bodies—international and domestic alike—are ready to tackle complex security aspects pertaining to the laws of war. The present volume follows the international and domestic courts’ jurisprudential evolution as they deal with issues like the classification of armed conflicts, direct participation in hostilities and the nexus between international humanitarian law and human rights law. Projecting the field’s jurisprudential development, the volume examines the role of international humanitarian law also in the realms of quasi-judicial bodies.

New Volume: Recueil des Cours

Volume 364 of the Recueil des Cours, Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law is out. Contents include:

• Volume 364
• Giorgio Gaja, The Protection of General Interests in the International Community. General Course on Public International Law
• H.P. Glenn, La conciliation des lois. Cours général de droit international privé

Call for Submissions: ICLR Special Issue on the World Trade Organisation

The International Community Law Review has issued a call for submissions for a special issue on the World Trade Organization. Here's the call:

Call for Submissions: The World Trade Organisation

The editors of the International Community Law Review are pleased to announce a call for papers for a special issue of the journal on ‘The World Trade Organisation’.

The International Community Law Review is a peer-reviewed academic journal, published quarterly by Brill/Nijhoff. The journal addresses all aspects of international law and the international community, and aims to explore the implications of various traditions of international law and how the international community uses and adapts international law to deal with new and emerging challenges.

Submissions are invited for the special issue on all aspects of the topic. Areas of interest may include (but are not restricted to):

• The World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the protection of natural resources;
• Standard of review in the context of the International Court of Justice case Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening);
• The input of the WTO in the development of the law of treaties, especially in relation to:
• the object and purpose of a treaty;
• systemic integration;
• evolutionary or dynamic interpretation.

All those with an interest in the subject are invited to contribute articles for publication in the special issue. Proposals for papers should be should be no more than 10000 words, and be submitted to the editors by 31st January 2015. Publication is expected in the second quarter of 2016. For further information please contact Dr Sarah Singer at iclr.managing.editor@gmail.com

Call for Papers: The (Comparative) Constitutional Law of Private-Public Arbitration

The Lex Mercatoria Publica Project has issued a call for papers for a workshop to take place at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg on November 21-22, 2014. The topic is: "The (Comparative) Constitutional Law of Private-Public Arbitration ." Here's the call:

Call for Papers

Lex Mercatoria Publica - Workshop

The (Comparative) Constitutional Law of Private‐Public Arbitration

Heidelberg, November 21‐22, 2014

Arbitrations between private economic actors and public law bodies are on the rise, both under international investment treaties and contracts between private and public actors, such as concession agreements or public‐private‐partnerships. Arbitrators, instead of domestic courts, now settle a wide variety of private‐public disputes, ranging from the simple non‐fulfillment of contractual obligations to complex disputes about the limits of states’ regulatory powers. Yet, in doing so, they not only settle disputes, but also review the legality of government acts and incrementally develop the applicable law. Arbitrators thereby become important law‐makers that generate the law governing public‐private relations rather independently of specific domestic legal systems and their democratic processes. The body of law thus developed, designated for present purposes as lex mercatoria publica, may then prospectively steer and restrict government conduct.

Relegating the resolution of private‐public disputes to arbitration raises questions of legitimacy and concerns for principles of constitutional law, such as democracy, the rule of law, and the protection of fundamental rights, because governments are controlled, and the concrete delineation of private rights and public interests is drawn, not by democratically legitimized domestic courts, but by party‐appointed one‐off arbitral tribunals. Concerns of a constitutional nature are all the more significant as arbitration proceedings in private‐public disputes do not conform to safeguards that are usually in place in public law adjudication in domestic courts, such as transparency of the proceedings, possibilities for third‐party participation, limitations on damages as public law remedies, or the need for public law expertise of adjudicators. Instead, arbitration generally follows private law rationales, such as party autonomy and confidentiality of the proceedings. All of this may endanger how states regulate in the public interest. It raises questions, such as: how are arbitrators in such proceedings legitimized? What powers do they, or should they have? What is their proper role when reviewing government acts? What is the appropriate normative framework governing their activity? Is the consent of the disputing parties sufficient to legitimize private‐public arbitrations, or are farther‐reaching public law strictures necessary?

The ERC‐funded Lex Mercatoria Publica Project under the direction of Dr. Stephan Schill (a brief description is here) aims at developing a solid framework for assessing legitimacy concerns relating to private‐public arbitration. However, rather than discussing in the abstract how constitutional ideals may impact private‐public arbitration, it aims at developing criteria to assess the legitimacy of private‐public arbitrations through comparative analysis of concrete constitutional regimes. It wants to explore the conditions under which different domestic legal systems, as well as supranational regional regimes, permit private‐public arbitrations, and distil, if possible, common principles, or develop different models, from such a comparative exercise. How does, for example, Columbian, Brazilian, Chinese, Indian, French, Russian, South‐African, or US (constitutional) law and practice look at the involvement of its and other government entities in arbitration? Does it treat it differently from commercial arbitration between private parties? To which extent does it permit it? How does it regulate private‐arbitration? What control mechanisms does it establish in order to ensure that the public interest is safeguarded when public entities agree to have disputes resolved through arbitration rather than in domestic courts? Similarly, what is the position, for example, of ASEAN, the EU, the Council of Europe, the Inter‐American Convention on Human Rights, OHADA, or COMESA on these issues?

Against this background, a workshop is convened at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg on November 21‐22, 2014, which focuses on the constitutional law of private‐public arbitration in a comparative perspective. It aims to receive contributions from participants that will address, in the form of national reports or (regional) comparative analyses, how a specific jurisdiction (e.g., Spain, Egypt, or Russia), a group of countries (e.g., West‐Africa, Central‐Asia, Central Europe), or a regional organization (e.g., OHADA, ASEAN) approach and regulate private‐public arbitration and how they ensure that the public interest is safeguarded when public entities agree to arbitrate disputes. Contract‐based as well as investment treaty‐based, domestic and international arbitration should be considered.

We hope to receive contributions reporting on jurisdictions that are representative of as many of the world’s legal systems as possible and particularly encourage contributions from jurisdictions that are usually under‐represented in comparative law research, including from Latin‐America, Africa, and Asia. Possible contributors can be specialists in arbitration with expertise in constitutional and administrative law or vice‐versa specialists in constitutional or administrative law with knowledge of arbitration. 

Submission of Proposals and Timeline

Original and non‐published submissions from both junior and senior academics and practitioners are invited on the themes outlined above. An abstract of max. 800 words and the applicant’s CV should be sent (in .pdf or .doc format) to lex‐mp@mpil.de by 15 September 2014. Abstracts must include the legal order(s) considered, the approach taken by the author, and the major arguments to be made.

A selection panel will consider all abstracts and notify applicants of acceptance by 30 September 2014. Applicants must be prepared to circulate a draft of their paper by 10 November 2014. Following the Workshop, papers must be prepared for publication in an edited monograph with a leading international publisher. Costs for travel and accommodation will be covered by the organizers.

If you are unable to attend the workshop, but are interested in contributing to the edited volume, we are equally happy to receive your statement of interest. Please direct inquiries to lex‐mp@mpil.de.

New Issue: European Journal of Legal Studies

The latest issue of the European Journal of Legal Studies (Vol. 7, no. 1, Spring/Summer 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Raphael Bitton, Intelligence Agents, Autonomous Slaves and the U.S. Supreme Court’s Wrong (and Right) Concept of Personal Autonomy
• Sergii Shcherbak, How Should Bitcoin Be Regulated?
• Zygimantas Juska, Obstacles in European Competition Law Enforcement: A Potential Solution from Collective Redress
• Jaime Rodriguez Medal, Transparency in the Staff Selection Procedure of the EU Institutions: Comments on the Pachtitits Case
• Mandana Niknejad, European Union Towards the Banking Union, Single Supervisory Mechanism and Challenges on the Road Ahead

Call for Papers: The Transnational in International Law

The Working Group of Young Scholars in Public International Law has issued a call for papers for a conference on "The Transnational in International Law," to take place at the University of Bremen on March 25-27, 2015. Here's the call:

Call for Papers

International Interdisciplinary Conference

Working Group of Young Scholars in Public International Law

The Transnational in International Law

University of Bremen

25 ‒ 27 March 2015

International legal scholarship has since long tried to comprehend the diversifica-tion of actors, rules, and authorities in international law. Almost 60 years ago, Philip Jessup, who was later appointed as a judge at the International Court of Justice, developed the idea of a “transnational law”, including “all law which regulates actions or events that transcend national frontiers”. His approach aimed at substitut-ing and expanding the traditional notion of international law which used to be confined to inter-state relations. Recently, similar approaches have regained significance in analyzing the impact of what is commonly called globalization on the law. It still remains unclear, however, how such approaches affect the conventional concepts, instruments, and methods of international law.

To grasp the alleged transformation of international law is all the more difficult since the notion of transnationalism, or transnationalization, is employed in various meanings with regard to the law. At the outset, two conceptions may be dis-tinguished. According to a more comprehensive understanding, transnationalization of law denotes the intertwinement and interaction of different legal actors or orders (state, sub-state, inter-state, supra-state, non-state). Pursuant to narrower conception, by contrast, transnationalization of law only points to the inclusion of non-state actors in regulating cross-border issues. Both notions are not mutually exclusive. They depart from the shared observation that the law regulating cross-border issues has become more complex than ever before. Law-making authority is no longer solely claimed by states, but also by international and supranational organizations as well as non-state actors. In the resulting plurality of actors, fora, norms, and implementation procedures, the relationship of the different constituencies is not always clearly defined.

Against this background, the conference seeks to explore the significance of the concept of transnationalism within and beyond international law. On the one hand, it intends to define and demarcate the potential and limits of the concept of transnationalism in law. On the other hand, it strives to inquire into the conse-quences of a possible transnationalization for international law. From an empirical perspective, it calls upon to ascertain the remaining role of the state in cross-border regulation. From a normative perspective, it invites to argue whether the state deserves any preponderance as a resource of legitimacy in global governance.

The general subject allows for various topics and approaches. Empirical, normative, and legal-dogmatic contributions are equally welcome. Interdisciplinary studies would be particularly helpful, especially from the fields of history, sociology, philosophy, and economics. Possible subjects may include:

Concepts

What does transnationalism, or transnationalization, mean with regard to inter-national law? How does the transnationalization of law affect the concepts, in-struments, and methods of international law?

Legality

Against which rules and principles of law is the action of transnational corpora-tions and arbitration panels to be scrutinized? Are non-state actors bound by human rights?

Legitimacy

Under what conditions may the practice of international institutions which inter-pret their competencies and legal instruments dynamically be deemed legitimate? Does the participation of non-governmental institutions enhance or impair the le-gitimacy of law-making processes across borders?

Coordination

In which way may the interaction of different legal orders and actors be regulat-ed? How can conflicts of norms be solved?

The two-day conference will take place at the Center for Transnational Studies of the University of Bremen from 25 until 27 March 2015. It is supposed to provide a forum of dialogue between junior and senior researchers. Therefore, established professors will comment on the contributions of younger scholars (advanced doc-toral and post-doctoral stages). Proposals for papers of no more than 500 words and a short CV should be submitted to Transnational_Law@gmx.com by 31 October 2014. Selected participants will be notified by 30 November 2014. Elaborated papers of no more than 10.000 words (including footnotes) are expected by 28 February 2015. Expenses for travel and accommodation will be covered to a certain extent.

Organizing committee: Dr. Anuscheh Farahat, LL.M. (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law Heidelberg), Dr. Birgit Peters, LL.M. (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster), Dr. Lars Viellechner, LL.M. (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin).

Submission of abstracts: 31 October 2014 (max. 500 words, to: Transnational_Law@gmx.com)

Notification of participants: 30 November 2014

Submission of papers: 28 February 2015 (max. 10.000 words)

New Issue: Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 13, no. 2, 2014) is out. Contents include:

• David P. Forsythe, The UN Security Council and Human Rights: Promising Developments, Persistent Problems
• Janine Natalya Clark, A Crime of Identity: Rape and Its Neglected Victims
• Jelena Subotić, Legitimacy, Scope, and Conflicting Claims on the ICTY: In the Aftermath of Gotovina, Haradinaj and Perišić
• Reed M. Wood, Aiding Labor: Foreign Aid and the Promotion of Labor Rights in LDCs
• Daniel B. Braaten, What Rights and Which Countries?: US Human Rights Policy in the Multilateral Development Banks
• Jesse Kirkpatrick, A Modest Proposal: A Global Court of Human Rights

New Issue: Humanity

The latest issue of Humanity (Vol. 5, no. 2, July 2014) is out. Contents include:

• Keith David Watenpaugh, Between Communal Survival and National Aspiration: Armenian Genocide Refugees, the League of Nations, and the Practices of Interwar Humanitarianism
• G. Daniel Cohen, Elusive Neutrality: Christian Humanitarianism and the Question of Palestine, 1948–1967
• Vanessa Ogle, State Rights Against Private Capital: The "New International Economic Order" and the Struggle Over Aid, Trade, and Foreign Investment, 1962–1981
• David Shneer, Ghostly Landscapes: Soviet Liberators Photograph the Holocaust
• The Editors, From Anti-Politics to Post-Neoliberalism: A Conversation with James Ferguson
• Bronwyn Leebaw, Justice, Charity, or Alibi? Humanitarianism, Human Rights, and "Humanity Law"
• Umut Özsu, International Legal Fields
• Bradley R. Simpson, "Democratic Development" in Neoliberal Drag

Talmon: Determining Customary International Law: The ICJ's Methodology between Induction, Deduction and Assertion

Stefan A.G. Talmon (Univ. of Bonn - Law) has posted Determining Customary International Law: The ICJ's Methodology between Induction, Deduction and Assertion (European Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Methodology is probably not the strong point of the International Court of Justice (the Court) or indeed of international law in general. Unlike its approach to methods of treaty interpretation, the Court has hardly ever stated its methodology for determining the existence, content and scope of the rules of customary international law which it applies. There are only isolated references in the Court’s jurisprudence to the inductive and deductive method of law determination. It is not only the Court itself that has largely remained silent on its methodology for the determination of customary international law. The legal literature also has little to say on this subject. In view of the fact that determining the law always also means developing and, ultimately, creating the law, it is surprising that the question of the Court’s methodology has attracted such little interest. This article aims to refocus attention on the methodology used by the Court when determining the rules of customary international law which it applies, and to highlight the role played by methodology in the development of customary international law. It starts by defining the terms ‘induction’ and ‘deduction’ and examining their use by the Court. It then explores the situations in which the Court uses inductive and deductive reasoning, the different forms and functions of deduction, and the relationship between the two methods. The article challenges the various theories distinguishing between inductive and deductive custom, and demonstrates that the main method employed by the Court is neither induction nor deduction but assertion.

Roscini: International Law, Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones and the Proposed Zone Free of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East

Marco Roscini (Univ. of Westminster - Law) has posted International Law, Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones and the Proposed Zone Free of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East (in Nuclear Weapons Under International Law, Grø Nystuen, Stuart Casey-Maslen & Annie Golden Bersagel eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The chapter discusses the international law issues arising from the treaties establishing nuclear weapon-free zones in inhabited regions of the world. In particular, it focuses on the proposed zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, identifying the potential legal problems and making suggestions for possible solutions.