New Issue: Rivista di Diritto Internazionale

The latest issue of the Rivista di Diritto Internazionale (Vol. 98, no. 2, 2015) is out. Contents include:

• Articoli
• Massimo Starita, L'interpretazione dei trattati che determinano frontiere
• Olivia Lopes Pegna, Collegamenti fittizi o fraudolenti di comptetenza giuridiszionale nello Spazio giudiziario europeo
• Roberta Greco, The impact of the human right to water on investment disputes
• Note e Commenti
• Deborah Russo, Sull'uso della ragionevolezza da parte della corte internazionale di giustizia nel controllo sull'esercizio dei poteri discrezionali degli Stati
• Anna Liguori, Shared responsability per violazioni di diritti umani nel corso di peacekeeping operations delle Nazioni Unite:: quale ruolo per la Corte europea dei diritti umani?
• Necrologio
• Riccardo Luzzatto, Ricordo di Piero Ziccardi
• Panorama
• Benedetto Conforti, Il legislatore torna indietro di circa novant'anni:: la nuova norma sull'esecuzione sui conti correnti di Stati stranieri

Mégret: The Anxieties of International Criminal Justice

Frédéric Mégret (McGill Univ. - Law) has posted The Anxieties of International Criminal Justice. Here's the abstract:

This article argues that international criminal justice as a field and project is chronically afflicted by forms of anxiety. In particular, the article is interested in what might be described as a form of existential disciplinary anxiety linked to a constant search for meaning. The field's anxieties are described as those of dependence, politics, method, legitimacy, authenticity, fairness, moral clarity, identity, status and responsibility. Anxieties are deeply woven into the rhetorical and practical structures of international criminal justice. To escape them would be to escape the field's condition, a difficult proposition that might well be the project's downfall.

Inaugural Issue: Global Summitry

The inaugural issue of Global Summitry (Vol. 1, no. 1, June 2015) is out. Contents include:

• Alan S. Alexandroff & Donald Brean, Global Summitry: Its Meaning and Scope Part One
• Mike Callaghan, G20 Growth Targets: Help or Hubris?
• Susan Harris Rimmer, A Critique of Australia’s G20 Presidency and the Brisbane Summit 2014
• Susan F. Martin, International Migration and Global Governance
• Anya Loukianova, Improving Nuclear Security—One Summit at a Time
• Andrew F. Cooper, MIKTA and the Global Projection of Middle Powers: Toward a Summit of Their Own?

New Issue: Revue Générale de Droit International Public

The latest issue of the Revue Générale de Droit International Public (Vol. 119, no. 2, 2015) is out. Contents include:

• Ouverture
• Benedetto Conforti, La Cour constitutionnelle italienne et les droits de l'homme méconnus sur le plan international
• Articles
• Tarek Majzoub & Fabienne Quilleré Majzoub, La future Cour arabe des droits de l'homme : des espoirs à la déconvenue
• Krystyna Kowalik-Bańczyk, Les aspects transfrontaliers des infractions à la vie privée par la surveillance de masse de la part des agences étatiques
• Note
• Pascale Martin-Bidou, L'affaire de la chasse à la baleine dans l'Antarctique: droit des traités ou protection des espèces ?

New Issue: World Politics

The latest issue of World Politics (Vol. 67, no. 3, July 2015) is out. Contents include:

• Research Articles
• Thomas B. Pepinsky, Trade Competition and American Decolonization
• Deniz Aksoy, David B. Carter & Joseph Wright, Terrorism and the Fate of Dictators
• Christian Houle, Ethnic Inequality and the Dismantling of Democracy: A Global Analysis
• Prerna Singh, Subnationalism and Social Development: A Comparative Analysis of Indian States
• Review Article
• Thandika Mkandawire, Neopatrimonialism and the Political Economy of Economic Performance in Africa: Critical Reflections

Jalloh & Elias: Essays in International Law in Honour of Judge Abdul G. Koroma

Charles Chernor Jalloh (Florida International Univ. - Law) & Olufemi Elias (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) have published Shielding Humanity: Essays in International Law in Honour of Judge Abdul G. Koroma (Brill | Nijhoff 2015). Contents include:

• P.S. Rao, Judge Abdul Koroma in the Service of Universal International Law
• Tommy Koh, A Tribute to Abdul Koroma
• Kenneth Keith, Abdul Koroma: Good Neighbor, Friend and Colleague
• Kenneth Keith, The Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes: The Rainbow Warrior Affair – Experiences of a Small State
• Bernado Sepúlveda Amor, The International Court of Justice and the Latin American Experience
• Abdul Koroma, Territorial Integrity and the Kosovo Opinion John Dugard
• Karin Oellers-Frahm, Provisional Measures in Interpretation Proceedings – A New Way to Extend the Court’s Jurisdiction? The Practice of the Court in the Avena and Temple of Preah Vihear Cases
• Obiora Chinedu Okafor & Chikeziri Igwe, Twailing the Bakassi Case: Colonialist Logic, Self-Determining Agents and the Concept of Legitimate Statehood in our Time
• Phoebe Okowa, The International Court and the Legacy of the Barcelona Traction Case in the Field of Diplomatic Protection
• Sienhoo Yee, The Competition between and among Intrinsic and Instrumental Values in Selected Competing Visions of the World
• Babafemi Akinrinade, Democratizing International Law-Making
• Surya P. Subedi, An Innovative Solution to an Ambitious Project: Dispute Resolution in the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea
• Osman Keh Kamara, An Analysis of the Adequacy of the Dispute Settlement Mechanism Under Unclos: Maritime Boundary Delimitation Disputes
• Laurence Boisson de Chazournes & Brian Mcgarry, Constitutional Law and the Settlement of Investor-State Disputes: Some Interplays
• Konstantinos D Magliveras, Legal Aspects of Competition between International Organizations
• Christopher Greenwood, The International Court of Justice and International Humanitarian Law
• Manuel J. Ventura, The Prevention of Genocide as A Jus Cogens Norm? A Formula for Lawful Humanitarian Intervention
• Avitus A. Agbor, A Reflection on the Phrase “Widespread or Systematic” As Part of the Definition of Crimes Against Humanity
• Tamara Cummings-John, Justice and Gender: Prosecuting Gender-Based and Sexual Violence Crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Special Court for Sierra Leone
• Adejoké Babington-Ashaye, International Crimes, Immunities and the Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol of the Merged African Court: Some Observations
• Abdul Tejan-Cole, Africa and the International Criminal Court: Legitimacy and Credibility Challenges
• Charles Chernor Jalloh & Andrew Morgan, International Criminal Justice Processes in Rwanda and Sierra Leone: Lessons for Liberia
• Abdulqawi A. Yusuf, The Public Law of Africa and International Law: Broadening the Scope of Application of International Rules and Enriching Them for Intra- Africa Purposes
• Tiyanjana Maluwa, The Development and Enforcement of Community Law in the African Regional Economic Communities: Conceptual Issues, Architecture and Institutions
• Olajumoke O. Oduwole, Africa’s Contribution to the Advancement of the Right to Development in International Law
• Adeotola Onayemi & Olufemi Elias, Aspects of Africa’s Contribution to the Development of International Law
• Vincent O. Nmehielle, The African Union and Questions Arising from Efforts to Resolve the Ivorian and Libyan Conflicts
• Lydia A. Nkansah, Democratic Succession in Africa: The Quest for an Orderly Transition
• Gino J. Naldi, Secession: The African Experience
• Mia Swart, Can Regional and Sub-Regional African Courts Strengthen the Rule of Law in Africa? Questions of Impact and Enforcement
• Charles Manga Fombad & Madeleine Choe-Amusimo Fombad, Rethinking Anti-Corruption Strategies in Africa: Constitutional Entrenchment as Basis for Credible and Effective Anti-Corruption Clean-Ups

Dam-de Jong: International Law and Governance of Natural Resources in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations

Daniëlla Dam-de Jong (Leiden Univ. - Law) has published International Law and Governance of Natural Resources in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations (Cambridge Univ. Press 2015). Here's the abstract:

Natural resource wealth is conducive to a country's development. Nevertheless, the last few decades have shown a harsher reality, where natural resources have also triggered, financed or fuelled a number of internal armed conflicts. Examples include the armed conflicts in Cambodia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which have been financed with the exploitation of a variety of valuable natural resources, including diamonds, gold, timber, oil and cocoa. The aim of this book is to assess the contribution of international law in ensuring that natural resources are used to promote development and to achieve sustainable peace instead of financing armed conflict. For this purpose, the author discusses the international legal framework for the governance of natural resources in States in general, in situations of armed conflict and as part of conflict resolution and post-conflict peacebuilding efforts.

New Issue: Journal du Droit International

The latest issue of the Journal du Droit International ("Clunet") (Vol. 142, no. 3, Juillet-Août-Septembre 2015) is out. Contents include:

• Doctrine
• Marie-Claude Najm Kobeh, La Cour de cassation française et la répudiation musulmane, une décennie après l’entrée en vigueur des réformes du droit de la famille au Maroc et en Algérie
• Delphine Porcheron, La jurisprudence des deux Cours européennes (CEDH et CJUE) sur le déplacement illicite d’enfant : vers une relation de complémentarité ?
• Variétés
• Habib Gherari, L’accord de l’OMC sur la facilitation des échanges

Colloquium: Current Issues of Agricultural Law in a Global Perspective

On September 17-18, 2015, the DIRPOLIS Institute at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna will host a colloquium on "Current Issues of Agricultural Law in a Global Perspective." The program is here.

Call for Papers: Settlement of Tax Disputes under International Law (Junior Scholars)

The Research Unit in Law of the University of Luxembourg has issued a call for papers for junior scholars for a roundtable at a conference on the settlement of tax disputes under international law. Here's the call:

On 12-13 November 2015, the Research Unit in Law of the University of Luxembourg, with the support of the Fonds National de la Recherche Luxembourg, will be holding a conference on the settlement of tax disputes under international law, with the aim of analysing taxation issues through the lens of international law and its dispute settlement procedures, and bringing together international lawyers and tax lawyers to do so. Confirmed speakers already include Prof. Mads Andenas (University of Oslo), Prof. Ilias Bantekas (Brunel University), Dr N. Jansen Calamita (BIICL), Dr Abba Kolo (CEPMLP Dundee), Dr Sébastien Manciaux (Université de Bourgogne), Dr Luca Pantaleo (TMC Asser Instituut), Prof. Alexander Rust (Vienna University of Economics and Business) and Epaminontas Triantafilou (Quinn Emanuel).

Part of the conference will be a roundtable discussion for junior scholars; giving them an opportunity to present their research on issues covered by the conference and to receive feedback from the conference speakers. Those selected will receive a bursary to fund their travel and accommodation expenses, and may also have the opportunity to contribute to the conference proceedings, which will be published. We are now calling for applications to present a paper at the roundtable, and invite junior scholars (PhD candidates, post-docs and fellows) with research interests in the field to apply by submitting an abstract (not exceeding 800 words) of their proposed paper, together with a copy of their CV, to Prof. Matthew Happold (Matthew.Happold@uni.lu). The deadline for submissions is 5 September 2015.

Call for Applications: Workshop on the European Court of Human Rights for Doctoral Students

The University of Tampere Public Law Research Group has issued a call for applications for a workshop on the European Court of Human Rights for doctoral students. The deadline is September 11, 2015. The call is here.

Viñuales: The Sources of International Investment Law

Jorge E. Viñuales (Univ. of Cambridge - Law) has posted The Sources of International Investment Law (in The Oxford Handbook on the Sources of International Law, S. Besson & J. d’Aspremont eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This chapter addresses the challenges posed by the practice of international investment law to the conventional theory of the sources of international law. After a brief overview of what is generally understood as the main ‘sources’ of ‘international investment law’ (II), I examine in turn three challenges to this basic understanding, which arise from the need to account for the domestic laws governing different aspects of foreign investment transactions (III), the detailed jurisprudential norms generated by investment tribunals to specify broadly formulated norms, particularly investment treaty provisions (IV), and the norms of general international law expressing the sovereignty of the State (V). For each category of norms I select a number of problems that put the most widely accepted understanding of the sources of international law to test, and I explain why the problems examined, far from mere academic points, have potentially important practical implications. I conclude with some observations on the interactions between practice and the theory of the sources of international law (VI).

Special Issue: International Criminal Justice Issues in Africa

A recent issue of the African Journal of Legal Studies (Vol. 7, no. 3, 2014) focuses on "International Criminal Justice Issues in Africa." Contents include:

• Special Issue: International Criminal Justice Issues in Africa
• Kamari Maxine Clarke & Sarah-Jane Koulen, The Legal Politics of the Article 16 Decision: The International Criminal Court, the UN Security Council and Ontologies of a Contemporary Compromise
• Ronald C. Jennings, Cosmopolitan Subjects: Critical Reflections on Dualism, International Criminal Law and Sovereignty
• Benson Chinedu Olugbuo, The African Union, the United Nations Security Council and the Politicisation of International Justice in Africa
• Dire Tladi, When Elephants Collide it is the Grass that Suffers: Cooperation and the Security Council in the Context of the AU/ICC Dynamic
• Sara Kendall, ‘UhuRuto’ and Other Leviathans: The International Criminal Court and the Kenyan Political Order

New Issue: International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law

The latest issue of the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law (Vol. 30, no. 3, 2015) is out. Contents include:

• David Langlet, Exporting co2 for Sub-Seabed Storage: The Non-Effective Amendment to the London Dumping Protocol and Its Implications
• Maria Adelaide Ferreira, Carlos Pereira da Silva, Holly V. Campbell, Flaxen Conway, Francisco Andrade & David Johnson, Gold Rush or Pandora’s Box? Toward a Transparent and Measured Approach to Marine Spatial Planning in Portugal
• Jan-Stefan Fritz, Deep Sea Anarchy: Mining at the Frontiers of International Law
• Michel Morin, “Creeping Jurisdiction” by the Small Islands of the Pacific Ocean in the Context of Management of the Tuna Fisheries
• Sebastian tho Pesch, Coastal State Jurisdiction around Installations: Safety Zones in the Law of the Sea
• Zou Keyuan & Liu Xinchang, New Trends in China’s Practice in Antarctic Expedition Management
• Marta Bo, Hassan and Others v. France; Ali Samatar and Others v. France

Nouwen: International Criminal Law: Theory All Over the Place

Sarah Nouwen (Univ. of Cambridge - Law) has posted International Criminal Law: Theory All Over the Place (in Oxford Handbook of the Theory of International Law, Anne Orford & Florian Hoffmann eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Written for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of the Theory of International Law, this chapter analyses the role of ‘theory’ in the field of international criminal law. It finds theory in international criminal law all over the place: theory is almost irrelevant whilst also highly influential; it is both explicated and covered up; it is developed but also immature. However, it is not just that the state of theory is all over the place; there is no shared understanding of what ‘theory’ in, or of, international criminal law refers to. Theorising the concept of theory itself, the chapter identifies at least four types of ‘theories’ in international criminal law: (1) ‘factual theories’ (theories of a case); (2) ‘operational theories’ (mental schemes that the field employs in its operations, for instance to organise modes of liability, systematise crimes, or classify sentences); (3) ‘foundational theories’ (systems of ideas about the origins, essence and rationales of the field); and (4) ‘external theories’ (theories that try to make sense of international criminal law as a phenomenon, and study the meaning and effects of the field as a whole beyond its stated objectives, usually from a perspective external to international criminal law).

Theorising international criminal law is not exclusive to scholars or practitioners: international criminal law is also ‘theorised’ by millions of people who, without considering themselves to be ‘theorists’ or ever using the word ‘theory’, try to make sense of international criminal law as they encounter it in their daily lives. As a result, in addition to the axis along which we find factual, operational, foundational and external theories, we can also identify a further axis, with ‘official’ and ‘popular’ theories at its ends.

It is usually when the different types of theories in international criminal law are considered in light of each other that theoretical weaknesses are revealed and, on that ground, the field is labelled as ‘under-theorised’. Perhaps the greatest disconnect is between the official and the popular theories. Tribunals increasingly pay attention to ensuring that the official theories (in particular, the foundational theories) inform the general public’s views, especially in countries where international criminal tribunals intervene. Far less attention, however, is being given to ensuring that popular theories are fed back into the official theories, which in fact have much to gain from connecting with the day-to-day experience of international criminal law. However, for that to happen, official theories of international criminal law must first recognise popular theories as valuable.

New Issue: International Review of the Red Cross

The latest issue of the International Review of the Red Cross (Vol. 96, no. 893, Spring 2014) is out. The theme is "Scope of the Law in Armed Conflict." Contents include:

• Vincent Bernard, Editorial: Delineating the Boundaries of Violence
• Interview with Brigadier General Richard C. Gross
• Claus Kreβ & Frédéric Mégret, Debate: The regulation of non-international armed conflicts: Can a privilege of belligerency be envisioned in the law of non-international armed conflicts?
• Jelena Pejic, Extraterritorial targeting by means of armed drones: Some legal implications
• Kirby Abbott, A brief overview of legal interoperability challenges for NATO arising from the interrelationship between IHL and IHRL in light of the European Convention on Human Rights
• Julia Grignon, The beginning of application of international humanitarian law: A discussion of a few challenges
• Marko Milanovic, The end of application of international humanitarian law
• Michael N. Schmitt, Rewired warfare: rethinking the law of cyber attack
• Françoise Bouchet-Saulnier, Consent to humanitarian access: An obligation triggered by territorial control, not States' rights
• Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert, John Karlsrud, & Mareile Kaufmann, Humanitarian technology: a critical research agenda
• Shane Darcy, Assistance, direction and control: Untangling international judicial opinion on individual and State responsibility for war crimes by non-State actors
• The International Committee of the Red Cross's (ICRC's) role in situations of violence below the threshold of armed conflict - Policy document, February 2014
• Marie-Louise Tougas, Commentary on Part I of the Montreux Document on Pertinent International Legal Obligations and Good Practices for States Related to Operations of Private Military and Security Companies During Armed Conflict

New Issue: Human Rights Review

The latest issue of the Human Rights Review (Vol. 16, no. 3, September 2015) is out. Contents include:

• Sune Lægaard, Burqa Ban, Freedom of Religion and ‘Living Together’
• Janne Mende, The Imperative of Indigeneity: Indigenous Human Rights and their Limits
• Gustavo Arosemena, Retrieving the Differences: the Distinctiveness of the Welfare Aspect of Human Rights from the Perspective of Judicial Protection
• Claudio Corradetti, The Priority of Conflict Deterrence and the Role of the International Criminal Court in Kenya’s Post-Electoral Violence 2007–2008 and 2013
• Augustine S. J. Park, Settler Colonialism and the Politics of Grief: Theorising a Decolonising Transitional Justice for Indian Residential Schools
• Daniela Nascimento, Statebuilding and the Search for Peace

Job Opening: Albany (SUNY) (Assistant/Associate Professor)

The Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany (SUNY) is seeking to hire an Assistant or Associate Professor with expertise in the management of international organizations (IOs) and/or international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) to teach in a new professional international affairs Master's degree program. The advertisement is here.

Jalloh & Marong: Essays in Honour of Prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow

Charles Chernor Jalloh (Florida International Univ. - Law) & Alhagi B.M. Marong (United Nations Mission in South Sudan) have published Promoting Accountability under International Law for Gross Human Rights Violations in Africa: Essays in Honour of Prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow (Brill | Nijhoff 2015). Contents include:

• Dawda Jawara, Foreword
• Navi Pillay, Foreword
• Chernor S. Jallow, Hassan Bubacar Jallow: The Man on a Journey for Justice
• Murtaza Jaffer, Hassan Bubacar Jallow: The Man behind the Action
• Ousman A.S. Jammeh, Justice Hassan Bubacar Jallow’s Contribution to the Development of Law in The Gambia:The Supreme Court Years
• Aboubacar Abdullah Senghore, Towards Reviving Legal Professionalism and the Need for Ethical Leadership
• Bankole Thompson, The Role of the International Prosecutor as a Custodian of Global Morality
• William A. Schabas, Selecting Cases at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
• Phakiso Mochochoko, The Experience of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Concerning Arrest Strategies and Lessons Learnt for the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
• M. Cherif Bassiouni, The ICC’s Twelfth Anniversary Crisis: Growing Pains or Institutional Deficiency?
• Adama Dieng, Protection of Civilians against Atrocity Crimes: The Role of Regional Organizations
• Leila N. Sadat, The Legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
• David Tolbert & Laura A. Smith, The Legacy of International and Hybrid Courts - Are Human Rights More Respected? A Tribute to Justice Hassan B. Jallow
• Karim A. A. Khan, Dato’ Shyamala Alagendra & Anand A. Shah, An Unbreakable Thread? The Presumption of Innocence in International Law
• Bongani Majola, Cumulative Charges under International Criminal Law: Issues and Perspectives
• Roman Boed, Permissibility of Convictions for Genocide and Conspiracy to Commit Genocide in Respect of the Same Events
• Frédéric Mégret & Siena Anstis, The Taylor Case: Aiding and Abetting, “Special Direction” and the Possibility of Strict Liability for Remote Offenders
• Charles Chernor Jalloh, The Law and Politics of the Charles Taylor Case
• Fatou Bensouda, The Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes Policy Paper of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
• Linda Bianchi, Challenging Impunity for Crimes of Sexual Violence: The Efforts of Prosecutor Jallow to set the Record Straight
• George Mugwanya, Justice Hassan Bubacar Jallow and Gender Justice in International Criminal Prosecutions
• Alhagi Marong & Charles Chernor Jalloh, Transfer of Cases under the Jurisprudence of the ICTR and Lessons Learnt for the ICC
• Alex Obote-Odora, Justice Hassan Jallow’s Contribution to International Criminal Justice: An OTP Perspective
• Joanna Harrington, Monitoring and the Referral of Criminal Cases between Jurisdictions: An ICTR Contribution to Best Practice
• Geoffrey Robertson, Justice for the United Nations: A Quiet Revolution?
• Rachel Murray, Borrowing International Human Rights Law: Some Examples from the Doctrine of the Margin of Appreciation in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
• Christopher Waters, From Coup Reaction to Coup Prevention
• Joseph Rikhof, International Criminal Law and Refugee Law: Lessons Learned
• Leigh Swigart, African Languages in International Criminal Justice: The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and Beyond

Kastner: Legal Normativity in the Resolution of Internal Armed Conflict

Philipp Kastner (Univ. of Western Australia - Law) has published Legal Normativity in the Resolution of Internal Armed Conflict (Cambridge Univ. Press 2015). Here's the abstract:

With an estimated ninety-five percent of the world's armed conflicts occurring within individual states, resolution and prevention of internal conflicts represent a main driver of global peace. Peace negotiations stand outside the traditional formalism of lawmaking and represent a uniquely privileged moment to observe the rise or adjustment of the legal framework of a given state. Based in a socio-legal and pluralistic understanding of law, this book explores the normative dynamics of peace negotiations. It argues that the role of law in the peaceful resolution of internal armed conflicts has been greatly underestimated and that legal theory can and should contribute to a better comprehension of these processes. Including thematic case studies from Darfur, North-South Sudan, Uganda, Côte d'Ivoire, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Bosnia and Israel-Palestine, this volume will be of use to scholars, students and affiliates of international organizations and non-governmental organizations.

Inaugural Issue: African Journal of International Criminal Justice

The inaugural issue of the African Journal of International Criminal Justice (2014, no. 1) is out. Contents include:

• Lydia A. Nkansah, International Criminal Court in the Trenches of Africa
• Mia Swart & Karin Krisch, Irreconcilable Differences? An Analysis of the Standoff between the African Union and the International Criminal Court
• Nsongurua J. Udombana, “Can These Dry Bones Live?” In Search of a Lasting Therapy for AU and ICC Toxic Relationship

New Issue: Journal of Conflict Resolution

The latest issue of the Journal of Conflict Resolution (Vol. 59, no. 6, September 2015) is out. Contents include:

• Andrew Cheon & Johannes Urpelainen, Escaping Oil’s Stranglehold: When Do States Invest in Energy Security?
• Håvard Hegre & Håvard Mokleiv Nygård, Governance and Conflict Relapse
• HeeMin Kim, Jenifer Whitten-Woodring, & Patrick James, The Role of Media in the Repression–Protest Nexus: A Game-theoretic Model
• Joseph M. Brown & Johannes Urpelainen, Picking Treaties, Picking Winners: International Treaty Negotiations and the Strategic Mobilization of Domestic Interests
• Patrick Bayer, Christopher Marcoux, & Johannes Urpelainen, When International Organizations Bargain: Evidence from the Global Environment Facility
• Sebastian Schutte, Geography, Outcome, and Casualties: A Unified Model of Insurgency
• Nils B. Weidmann, On the Accuracy of Media-based Conflict Event Data

Conference: A Jurisprudence of Complexity? Rethinking the Relationship between Law and Society

On September 24-25, 2015, Lancaster University Law School will host a conference on "A Jurisprudence of Complexity? Rethinking the Relationship between Law and Society." Here's the idea:

On 24-25 September 2015, the Law School at Lancaster University will be hosting a conference on the possibilities of developing “A Jurisprudence of Complexity”. The keynote speaker will be JB Ruhl (Vanderbilt Law School, USA), who has written widely on the subject of complexity theory and law. Other participants will include Sionaidh Douglas-Scott (Oxford); Lucy Finchett-Maddock (Sussex); Neville Harris (Manchester); and Paul Cairney (Stirling) as well as Jamie Murray, Tom Webb, and Steven Wheatley (all Lancaster) The conference will also hear from experts in complexity theory in other disciplines including Sylvia Walby (Sociology) and, Robert Geyer (Politics).

The conference will be of particular interest to international law and human rights scholars examining the significance of systems theory in general and complexity theory in particular to the discipline. Relevant papers include:

• ‘Complexity theory and human rights’
• ‘The ‘Consensus Approach’ of the ECtHR as a Rational Response to Complexity: Taming Uncertainty through Collective Intelligence’
• ‘Human Rights Outcomes in Complexity and the Problem of Causation’
• ‘Using Critical Mass in Collective Decision Making to Better Understand the Formation of Customary International Law’
• ‘Prosecuting Transnational Terrorist Groups before the International Criminal Court: How Complexity Theory Can Explain the Accountability Gap’

Hale: Between Interests and Law: The Politics of Transnational Commercial Disputes

Thomas Hale (Univ. of Oxford - Government) has published Between Interests and Law: The Politics of Transnational Commercial Disputes (Cambridge Univ. Press 2015). Here's the abstract:

We could not have a global economy without a system to resolve commercial disputes across borders, but the international regime that performs this key role bears little resemblance to other institutions underpinning the global economy. A hybrid of private arbitral institutions, international treaties, and domestic laws and courts, the regime for commercial dispute resolution shows that effective transborder institutions can take a variety of forms. This book offers the first comprehensive social scientific account of this surprisingly effective regime. It maps and explains its evolution since the Industrial Revolution, both at the global level and in the United States, Argentina, and China. The book shows how both political economy approaches and socio-legal theories have shaped institutional outcomes. While economic interests have been the chief determinants, legal processes have played a key role in shaping the form institutions take. The regime for commercial dispute resolution therefore remains between interests and law.

Hamamoto, Sakai, & Shibata: Essays in Honour of Professor Ryuichi Ida

Shotaro Hamamoto (Kyoto Univ. - Law), Hironobu Sakai (Kyoto Univ. - Law), & Akiho Shibata (Kobe Univ. - Law) have published "L’être situé", Effectiveness and Purposes of International Law: Essays in Honour of Professor Ryuichi Ida (Brill | Nijhoff 2015). Contents include:

• Shotaro Hamamoto, L’État situé dans le droit international de l’investissement
• Tomonori Mizushima, “L’État situé” in the Context of the Accession of Developing Countries to the WTO
• Zhian Wang, The Functional Approach in le droit international de développement: A Theoretical Appraisal
• Sakda Thanitcul, Emerging Economies and International Economic Law: A Case Study on Thailand
• Mari Takeuchi, Universal Jurisdiction in a Context: From Dialectic to Dialogue
• Tomohiko Kobayashi, Running Many FTAs is Like Balancing between Many Bicycles: A Multidimensional Comparison of Institutional Provisions in Japan’s FTAs
• Dai Tamada, Provisional Measures in Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Reappearance of Community of Investment Interests?
• Hironobu Sakai, New Relationship between the United Nations and Regional Organizations in Peace Security: A Case of the African Union
• Akiho Shibata, International and Domestic Laws in Collaboration: An Effective Means of Environmental Liability Regime-Making
• Tatsuya Abe, New Perspectives on Soft Law: Towards More Effective Regime Governance
• Takuhei Yamada, The Defence of Necessity as Customary International Law: The Fisheries Jurisdiction Case (Spain v. Canada) Re-examined
• Machiko Kanetake, Catching Up with Society – What, How, and Why: The Regulation of the UN Security Council’s Targeted Sanctions