Workshop: The Potential of Public Interest Litigation in International Law

On November 11-12, 2021, the University of Exeter and the University of Geneva will hold a workshop on "The Potential of Public Interest Litigation in International Law." Makane Mbengue (Univ. of Geneva - Law) will deliver a keynote speech on "Public interest litigation before international courts and tribunals: Past, present and future." Details, including a Zoom link for the keynote, are available here.

Fikfak: Compliance and Compensation: Money as a Currency of Human Rights

Veronika Fikfak (Univ. of Copenhagen - iCourts) has posted Compliance and Compensation: Money as a Currency of Human Rights (in Handbook of implementation of Human Rights, Rachel Murray & Debra Long eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This Chapter explores the tight link between money and compliance in the European human rights system. On one side, I reveal how important compensation is as a remedy in ECtHR case law and how the desire to facilitate implementation influences the European Court to set damages at values that appear realistic and payable. The ECtHR’s decision to offer a discount on quantity to repetitive violators is examined further and I assess whether in practice it actually leads to faster compliance. On the other side, the Chapter investigates how compensation awarded by the European Court of Human Rights is implemented in member states of the Council of Europe. By focusing exclusively on damages, I show how often and how quickly states pay damage awards and how the ECtHR enjoys much better compliance rates than other international courts. I also show that if our focus is on securing the fastest implementation possible, then friendly settlements offer an even better option than judgments with monetary awards. But speed is not always the solution. The article shows that when individual states have to introduce large compensation schemes to comply with ECtHR judgments, these require concrete changes in domestic legal system and take time and effort. Especially when structural changes are sought, monetary incentives need to operate on multiple levels, including in relation to officials and public servants, to facilitate them to enable systemic changes in domestic law and thus bring about successful implementation of an ECtHR judgment.

Conference: Power and Brokerage in International Criminal Justice

On November 4-5, 2021, iCourts will host a conference on "Power and Brokerage in International Criminal Justice," in Copenhagen. The program is here. Registration (due by November 3) is here.

Call for Submissions: Trade, Law and Development Special Issue on "Looking Ahead: Addressing the Challenges Faced by the International Trade Regime"

The journal Trade, Law and Development has issued a call for submissions for its Summer 2022 issue (Vol. 14, no. 1), which will focus on "Looking Ahead: Addressing the Challenges Faced by the International Trade Regime." The call is here. The deadline is March 15, 2022.

New Issue: Questions of International Law

The latest issue of Questions of International Law / Questioni di Diritto Internazionale (no. 85, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Litigating global crises: What role for international courts and tribunals in the management of climate change, mass migration and pandemics?
• Introduced by Alessandro Bufalini, Martina Buscemi, and Loris Marotti
• Tullio Treves, Litigating global crises. Setting the Scene: Legal and political hurdles for State-to-State disputes
• Sandrine Maljean-Dubois, A quand un contentieux intetétatique sur les changements climatiques ?
• Pedro A. Villarreal, The role of interstate adjudication in public health emergencies: Incompatible at the core
• Marie-Bénédicte Dembour & Marie Rota, Le rôle des Cours européenne et interaméricaine des droits de l’homme face à l’enjeu migratoire

Falkner: Environmentalism and Global International Society

Robert Falkner (London School of Economics and Political Science - International Relations) has published Environmentalism and Global International Society (Cambridge Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

Environmentalism and Global International Society reveals how environmental values and ideas have transformed the normative structure of international relations. Falkner argues that environmental stewardship has become a universally accepted fundamental norm, or primary institution, of global international society. He traces the history of environmentalism's rise from a loose set of ideas originating in the nineteenth century to a globally applicable norm in the twentieth century, which has come to redefine international legitimacy and states' global responsibilities. He shows how this deep norm change came about as a result of the interplay between non-state and state actors, and how the new environmental norm has interacted with the existing primary institutions of global international society, most notably sovereignty and territoriality, diplomacy, international law, and the market. This book shifts the attention from the presentist focus in the study of global environmental politics to the longue durée of global norm change in the greening of international relations.

New Issue: Trade, Law and Development

The latest issue of Trade, Law and Development (Vol. 13, no. 1, Summer 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Editorial
• Gautami Govindrajan & Ayushi Singh, Curb Your Enthusiasm: The WTO E-Commerce Negotiations and the Developing World
• Special Issue: Trade and Technology: Rebooting Global Trade for the Digital Millennium
• Mira Burri, Digital Transformation: Heralding in a New Era for International Trade Law
• James J. Nedumpara, Skirmishes over Digital Service Taxes: The Perils and Systemic Costs of Section 301 Actions
• Craig Atkinson & Nicholás Schubert, Augmenting MSME Participation in Trade with Policy Digitalisation Efforts: Chile’s Contribution to ‘An Internet of Rules’
• Gabriele Gagliani, Techno-Economic Governance in the 21st Century: Converging Models for WIPO and the WTO?
• Marta Soprana, The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA): Assessing the Significance of the New Trade Agreement on the Block

New Issue: International Journal of Refugee Law

The latest issue of the International Journal of Refugee Law (Vol. 33, no. 1, March 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Adel-Naim Reyhani & Gloria Golmohammadi, The Limits of Static Interests: Appreciating Asylum Seekers’ Contributions to a Country’s Economy in Article 8 ECHR Adjudication on Expulsion
• Daniel Wilsher, Between Martyrdom and Silence: Dissent, Duress, and Persecution as the Suppression of Human Rights under the Refugee Convention
• Molly Joeck, Canadian Exclusion Jurisprudence post-Febles
• Lina Jasmontaite-Zaniewicz & Júlia Zomignani Barboza, Disproportionate Surveillance: Technology-Assisted and Automated Decisions in Asylum Applications in the EU?
• Mansha Mohee, State Responsibility for Protracted Displacement: An International Legal Approach to Durable Solutions

Melikov: Die Interpretation des völkerrechtlichen Gewaltverbots und möglicher Ausnahmen – Russische Doktrin und Praxis

Anna Melikov has published Die Interpretation des völkerrechtlichen Gewaltverbots und möglicher Ausnahmen – Russische Doktrin und Praxis (Duncker & Humblot 2021). Here's the abstract:

Das Thema der Untersuchung ist in mehrfacher Hinsicht von zentraler Bedeutung. Die Interpretation des Gewaltverbots ist eine – wenn nicht »die« – Kernfrage des Völkerrechts. Das Thema wird aus der Sicht der Russischen Föderation und damit eines »dominant players« der internationalen Politik beleuchtet. Die Analyse beruht auf der Auswertung der russischen wissenschaftlichen Literatur, offizieller russischer Dokumente und Materialen sowie der relevanten russischen Gesetzgebung und Rechtsprechung und erfolgt damit gewissermaßen aus der Innenperspektive. Die russischen Positionen zu aktuellen Konflikten werden zudem in den historischen Kontext eingebettet; zugleich werden Spannungslagen zwischen Theorie und Praxis herausgearbeitet. Die Arbeit ist in drei große Teile untergliedert und umfasst die Vorgeschichte des sowjetischen Völkerrechts, das Völkerrecht in der Perestrojka-Zeit und das Völkerrecht der Gegenwart.

New Issue: Global Constitutionalism

The latest issue of Global Constitutionalism (Vol. 10, no. 3, November 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Janne Mende, The contestation and construction of global governance authorities: A study from the global business and human rights regime
• Cédric M Koch, Varieties of populism and the challenges to Global Constitutionalism: Dangers, promises and implications
• Wayne Sandholtz, Human rights courts and global constitutionalism: Coordination through judicial dialogue
• Ben L. Murphy, Situating the accountability of the UN Security Council: Between liberal-legal and political ‘styles’ of global constitutionalism?
• Zsolt Körtvélyesi & Balázs Majtényi, Justifying supranational responses to the anti-constitutionalist challenge: Applying liberal multiculturalism as a background theory
• Alain Zysset & Antoinette Scherz, Proportionality as procedure: Strengthening the legitimate authority of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Christensen: The Professional Market of International Criminal Justice: Divisions of Labour and Patterns of Elite Reproduction

Mikkel Jarle Christensen (Univ. of Copenhagen - iCourts) has posted The Professional Market of International Criminal Justice: Divisions of Labour and Patterns of Elite Reproduction (Journal of International Criminal Justice, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This article analyzes the division of labor that characterizes international criminal justice as a market of services. Using a sociological framework and building on empirical data on 996 professional agents, the analysis outlines how the market around the international criminal courts is structured by three different social groups that dominate the formal roles of judges, prosecutors and defense counsel. The article analyzes the relative positionality of these groups highlighting the low degree of mobility between them and the continued dominance of global north professionals in certain groups. On the basis of these findings, the article investigates the distinct patterns of expertise of the three groups and how it links them to the wider market of international criminal justice. The relations between the three social groups structure the market of international criminal justice and formats the social fault lines of its normative debates.

New Issue: ICSID Review: Foreign Investment Law Journal

The latest issue of the ICSID Review: Foreign Investment Law Journal (Vol. 35, no. 3, Fall 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Lecture
• Brigitte Stern, 2019 Freshfields Lecture: Investment Arbitration and State Sovereignty
• Case Comments
• Hiroko Yamamoto, Shreya Ramesh, & Sebastian Seelmann-Eggebert, Perenco Ecuador v Republic of Ecuador: Lessons from Perenco: Tribunal-Appointed Experts and Avoiding Double Recovery
• Ndanga Kamau, OI European Group BV v Venezuela: Developments and Divergences in the Interpretation of Articles 52(1)(a) and (d) of the ICSID Convention
• Filip Balcerzak & Jarrod Hepburn, Manchester Securities v Poland: Denial of Justice in the European Union
• Jean-Christophe Honlet & Nandakumar Srivatsa, Canepa v Spain: Some Observations Regarding the Relationship between ICSID Arbitrators and Third-Party Funders
• Dimitrij Euler, Rand and Sembi v Serbia: Transparency between  Memory and Prophecy
• Notes
• Andrea K Bjorklund, Lukas Vanhonnaeker, & Jean-Michel Marcoux, State Immunity as a Defense to Resist the Enforcement of ICSID Awards
• Jean Ho, Passive Investments
• Articles
• Emmanuel Gaillard & Ilija Mitrev Penushliski, State Compliance with Investment Awards
• Andrea Marco Steingruber, Counterclaims: a Critical Analysis of Article 6 of the 2019 The Hague Resolution of the Institut de Droit International on the ‘Equality of Parties before International Investment Tribunals’

New Volume: Asia-Pacific Journal of International Humanitarian Law

The latest volume of the Asia-Pacific Journal of International Humanitarian Law (Vol. 2, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Interview with Judge O-Gon Kwon
• Ali Masoudi Lamraski, International Committee of the Red Cross Preliminary Remarks on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems from an IHL Perspective
• Leandro Anton M. Castro, The Humanitarian Exemption Challenge: Securing the Philippine Humanitarian Space in the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020
• Bingling Wei, The Red Cross Society of China in the Beiyang Government Period (1912-1928): A Civil Society Organization Amidst Political Unrest
• Yoshinori Kodama, The Use of Military Units and Personnel for International Rescue and Relief Operations: Pertinent Issues Related to the 2011 East Japan Earthquake
• Lucas Alcici & Saba Papia, Displacement of the Rohingya Before the ICJ and the ICC: Same Conduct, Different Crimes in International Law?
• Mary Flanagan, Prosecution of war crimes in Australia: prospects for victim participation

New Issue: Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The latest issue of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law (Vol. 54, no. 3, May 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Jeffrey Kucik & Sergio Puig, Extending Trade Law Precedent
• Timothy Meyer, How to Treat the WTO's Problem with Precedent
• M. P. Ram Mohan & Els Reynaers Kini, Compensation for Environmental Damage: Progressively Casting a Wider Net, but What's the Catch?
• Lior Zemer & Sharon Pardo, European Union Law as Foreign Law

Traven: Law and Sentiment in International Politics: Ethics, Emotions, and the Evolution of the Laws of War

David Traven (California State Univ., Fullerton - Political Science) has published Law and Sentiment in International Politics: Ethics, Emotions, and the Evolution of the Laws of War (Cambridge Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

Drawing on recent research in moral psychology and neuroscience, this book argues that universal moral beliefs and emotions shaped the evolution of the laws of war, and in particular laws that protect civilians. It argues that civilian protection norms are not just a figment of the modern West, but that these norms were embryonic in earlier societies and civilizations, including Ancient China, early Islam, and medieval Europe. However, despite their ubiquity, this book argues that civilian protection rules are inherently fragile, and that their fragility lies not just in failures of compliance, but also in how moral emotions shaped the design of the law. The same beliefs and emotions that lead people to judge that it is wrong to intentionally target civilians can paradoxically constitute the basis for excusing states for incidental civilian casualties, or collateral damage. To make the laws of war work better for civilians, this book argues that we need to change how we think about the ethics of killing in war.

Roundtable: Dispute Settlement under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreements: Perspectives from North America and Europe

On November 5, 2021, the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University will hold online the first Viscount Bennett Roundtable on International Economic Law. The topic is: "Dispute Settlement under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreements: Perspectives from North America and Europe." Details are here.

Lecture: Sellers on "Unlocking Slavery Crimes"

On November 1, 2021, Patricia Viseur Sellers (Special Advisor for Slavery Crimes, Office of the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court) will deliver the second lecture of the 2021-2022 Essex Public International Law Lecture Series. The topic is: "Unlocking Slavery Crimes." Registration is here. Further details are here.

Book Launch: Research Handbook on International Law and Cities

On November 17, 2021, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut will host a book launch for the Research Handbook on International Law and Cities. Details are here.

Longobardo & Wallace: The 2021 ECtHR’s Decision on Georgia v Russia (II) Case and the Application of Human Rights Law to Extraterritorial Hostilities

Marco Longobardo (Univ. of Westminster - Law) & Stuart Wallace (Univ. of Leeds - Law) have posted The 2021 ECtHR’s Decision on Georgia v Russia (II) Case and the Application of Human Rights Law to Extraterritorial Hostilities (Israel Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This article discusses the findings of the European Court of Human Rights in the 2021 Georgia v Russia (II) case in relation to the applicability of the European Convention on Human Rights to the conduct of hostilities. The article describes the arguments advanced by the Court to support the idea that the Convention does not apply to extraterritorial hostilities in an international armed conflict. In light of past decisions, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and the law of the treaties, it is argued that the Court’s conclusion is unconvincing and the arguments seem to be based on extra-legal considerations, rather than on a sound interpretation of the notion of state jurisdiction under the Convention.

Seminar: Chinese SOEs in global trade

On November 19, 2021, Collegio Carlo Alberto will host an online seminar on "Chinese SOEs in global trade." Details are here.

Sałkiewicz-Munnerlyn: Jurisprudence of the PCIJ and of the ICJ on Interim Measures of Protection

Ewa Sałkiewicz-Munnerlyn has published Jurisprudence of the PCIJ and of the ICJ on Interim Measures of Protection (Asser Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

This book deals with all the cases that came before the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) from 1922 to 1946, as well as those that were heard by its successor, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) from 1946 to 2020 in which interim measures of protection were either indicated or refused. The monograph shows how cases in which injunctive relief was sought were handled and how the PCIJ and the ICJ have undergone certain reforms over the years. The new approach taken by the author is to present all the matters brought before both the PCIJ and ICJ in full and to present the new requirements on the part of the ICJ that have been formulated in recent years.

New Issue: Journal of International Economic Law

The latest issue of the Journal of International Economic Law (Vol. 24, no. 3, September 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Thomas Cottier, Recalibrating the WTO Dispute Settlement System: Towards New Standards of Appellate Review
• Henry Gao, Finding a Rule-Based Solution to the Appellate Body Crisis: Looking Beyond the Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement
• Vineet Hegde & Jan Wouters, Special and Differential Treatment Under the World Trade Organization: A Legal Typology
• Weihuan Zhou, Rethinking the (CP)TPP as a Model for Regulation of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises
• Johanna Aleria P Lorenzo, A Path Toward Sustainable Development Along the Belt and Road
• Mark McLaughlin, Investor–State Mediation and the Belt and Road Initiative: Examining the Conditions for Settlement
• Kishanthi Parella, Leveling the Field Through Transnational Regulation
• Stephen Connelly, The Tuna Bond Scandal: The Continued Lack of Transparency in Bank-to-State Credit Facilities Agreements

Hague Academy of International Law 2022 Summer Courses

The program for the Hague Academy of International Law's 2022 Summer Courses is now available. Registration opens on November 1, 2021. The program is here.

New Issue: Journal of International Criminal Justice

The latest issue of the Journal of International Criminal Justice (Vol. 19, no. 2, May 2021) is out. Contents include:

• In Memoriam: Robert Cryer
• Neil Boister, Darryl Robinson, Sergey Vasiliev, Martins Paparinskis, Meagan Wong, & Ioannis Kalpouzos, In Memoriam: Robert Cryer, b. 2 August 1974 -- d. 3 January 2021
• Articles
• Matthew Seet, ‘Cosmopolitan Citizenship’, Territorial Borders, and Bringing Denationalized Terrorists to Justice
• Marta Bo, Autonomous Weapons and the Responsibility Gap in light of the Mens Rea of the War Crime of Attacking Civilians in the ICC Statute
• Ady Niv, Transparent Uniforms: The Legal Status of Reservists in International Law
• Kathleen M Maloney, Ending Impunity for Forced Marriage in Conflict Zones: The Need for Greater Judicial Emphasis on the Human Rights of Girls
• Symposium: Torture by Non-state Actors
• Ginevra Le Moli, Foreword
• Ginevra Le Moli, Torture by Non-state Actors: Four Inquiries
• Tatyana Eatwell & Steven Powles, ‘Quasi-governors’ and Questions Relating to Impunity and Legal Certainty
• Émilie Pottle, What is Torture? Making the Case for Expanding the Definition to Include Private Individuals as Perpetrators
• Manfred Nowak, Can Private Actors Torture?
• Paola Gaeta, ‘Another Step in What it Means to Be Human’ — Prohibition v. Criminalization of Torture as a Private Act
• Thinking Beyond the Offence of Torture: An Interview with Andrew Clapham
• W.L. Cheah, Some Views on Torture from Asia

New Additions to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law

The Codification Division of the UN Office of Legal Affairs recently added new materials to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law website. They include a lecture given by Jennifer Trahan on “War Crimes Prosecutions”; a lecture by Bogdan Aurescu on “Sea-Level Rise in relation to International Law - A Concrete Contribution by the International Law Commission to Solving a Problem of Pressing Concern for the International Community”; and an introductory note by Donald M. McRae on General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 1947.

The Audiovisual Library of International Law is also available as a podcast on SoundCloud and can also be accessed through the relevant preinstalled applications on Apple or Google devices, or through the podcast application of your preference by searching “Audiovisual Library of International Law.”