Call for Submissions: Urban Politics of Human Rights

The T.M.C. Asser Instituut project "The Global City" and the University College Roosevelt project "Cities of Refuge" have issued a call for submissions for an edited volume on the "Urban Politics of Human Rights." The call is here.

Schill & Vidigal: Designing Investment Dispute Settlement À La Carte: Insights from Comparative Institutional Design Analysis

Stephan W. Schill (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law) & Geraldo Vidigal (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law) have posted Designing Investment Dispute Settlement À La Carte: Insights from Comparative Institutional Design Analysis (Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The multilateral expression of the desire to reform investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) obscures the diverging preferences states have in respect of which future dispute settlement model to adopt. In order to garner broad acceptability, this article proposes that the reformed system could be designed as ‘dispute settlement à la carte’, with a Multilateral Investment Court coexisting with other forms of dispute resolution under the umbrella of one multilateral institution. With a view to showing that such a system is feasible, this article draws on comparative institutional design analysis, that is, a comparative assessment of dispute settlement design features across different international dispute settlement systems. This approach helps to explore what institutional design features are a useful source of inspiration for a future investment dispute settlement system that preserves flexibility for states in the choice of their preferred means of adjudication, while safeguarding legal certainty and promoting coherence in investment dispute settlement.

Call for Papers: Partnered Operations and International Law

The ESIL Interest Group on Peace and Security, the ASIL Lieber Society on the Law of Armed Conflict, and the Department of Legal and Economic Studies - Law School - of Sapienza University of Rome have issued a call for papers for a conference on "Partnered Operations and International Law," which will take place at Sapienza University of Rome, Law School, on October 23, 2020. The deadline is March 31, 2020. The call is here.

New Issue: International & Comparative Law Quarterly

The latest issue of the International & Comparative Law Quarterly (Vol. 69, no. 1, January 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Guy S. Goodwin-Gill, The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Sources of International Refugee Law
• David McKeever, International Humanitarian Law and Counter-Terrorism: Fundamental Values, Conflicting Obligations
• Lewis Graham, Strategic Admissibility Decisions in the European Court of Human Rights
• John Ip, Reconceptualising the Legal Response to Foreign Fighters
• Kelvin F. K. Low & Eliza Mik, Pause the Blockchain Legal Revolution
• Martijn Van Den Brink, A Qualified Defence of the Primacy of Nationality over European Union Citizenship
• Shorter Articles
• Stephen Allen, Self-Determination, the Chagos Advisory Opinion and the Chagossians
• Robert McCorquodale, Jennifer Robinson, & Nicola Peart, Territorial Integrity and Consent in the Chagos Advisory Opinion
• Neil Craik, The Duty to Cooperate in the Customary Law of Environmental Impact Assessment

Gray & Potter: Diplomacy and the Settlement of International Trade Disputes

Julia Gray (Univ. of Pennsylvania - Political Science) & Philip B.K. Potter (Univ of Virginia - Politics) have posted Diplomacy and the Settlement of International Trade Disputes (Journal of Conflict Resolution, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

How do countries settle disputes in the shadow of the law? Even in the presence of legalized dispute settlement, countries still rely on diplomatic channels to resolve conflicts. But it can be difficult to assess diplomacy's impact on dispute resolution, because those channels tend to be opaque. We present both an original theory of the impact of diplomacy on dispute resolution as well as a novel measure of diplomacy. If countries with close or, conversely, distant relationships use legal channels for dispute resolution, diplomacy will have little impact on dispute settlement; resorting to legal recourse among friends or adversaries likely means that the dispute is intractable. However, diplomacy can increase the chances of settlement between countries with moderate levels of affinity. We test this argument using a protocol-based proxy for diplomatic interactions -- gifts given at the occasion of meetings between diplomatic counterparts -- that would otherwise be difficult to observe. Using the case of the United States and its disputes in the World Trade Organization, we find support for our argument. This suggests that even when countries resort to legalized methods of dispute settlement, bilateral dealmaking still plays an important role.

Call for Papers/IG Panel Proposals: 16th Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law (Reminder)

The European Society of International Law has issued a call for papers and interest groups panel proposals for its 16th Annual Conference, which will take place September 10-12, 2020, in Stockholm. The theme is: "Changes in International Lawmaking: Actors, Processes, Impact." The call is here. The deadline is January 31, 2020.

Call for Papers: The European Union’s External Action and International Law: A View From the Outside

The City Law School's International Law and Affairs Group and the ESIL Interest Group on the EU as a Global Actor have issued a call for papers for a workshop on "The European Union’s External Action and International Law: A View From the Outside," which will take place at the City Law School, City, University of London, on June 12, 2020. The call is here.

Call for Papers and Panels: Reshaping Global Economic Governance for the 21st Century (Reminder)

A call for papers and panels has been issued for the Seventh Biennial Global Conference of the Society of International Economic Law (SIEL), which will take place at Bocconi University, Milan, on July 9-11, 2020. The theme is: "Reshaping Global Economic Governance for the 21st Century." The call is here. The deadline has been extended to January 24, 2020.

New Issue: Journal of International Economic Law

The latest issue of the Journal of International Economic Law (Vol. 22, no. 4, December 2019) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: Trade Wars
• Anne van Aaken, Chad P Bown, & Andrew Lang, Introduction to the Special Issue on ‘Trade Wars’
• Simon J Evenett, The Smoot–Hawley Fixation: Putting the Sino-US Trade War in Contemporary and Historical Perspective
• Chad P Bown & Jennifer A Hillman, WTO’ing a Resolution to the China Subsidy Problem
• Cindy Whang, Undermining the Consensus-Building and List-Based Standards in Export Controls: What the US Export Controls Act Means to the Global Export Control Regime
• Anne van Aaken & Jürgen Kurtz, Beyond Rational Choice: International Trade Law and The Behavioral Political Economy of Protectionism
• Jonathan Bonnitcha, Investment Wars: Contestation and Confusion in Debate About Investment Liberalization
• Anthea Roberts, Henrique Choer Moraes, & Victor Ferguson, Toward a Geoeconomic Order in International Trade and Investment
• Andrew Lang, Heterodox markets and ‘market distortions’ in the global trading system
• Nicolas Lamp, At the Vanishing Point of Law: Rebalancing, Non-Violation Claims, and the Role of the Multilateral Trade Regime in the Trade Wars
• Julia Ya Qin, Forced Technology Transfer and the US–China Trade War: Implications for International Economic Law

Conference: The Political Economy of International Organizations

The 13th Annual Conference on "The Political Economy of International Organizations" will take place February 20-22, 2020, in Vancouver. The program is here. Here's the idea:

The PEIO conference brings together economists, political scientists and other scholars to address political-economy issues related to any international organization, including the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Union, and also other international organizations that have as yet received less attention in the academic literature. Questions we seek to address include how IOs are organized and governed, what are the incentives of governments dealing with IOs as well as the incentives of the bureaucrats who staff them, and what are the effects of IOs on policy outcomes. We also consider the interaction of IOs with transnational actors such as commercial lobbies and NGOs and have a particular interest in the interaction of the international political economy with the domestic political economy of IO members. Submissions on topics more broadly related to international organization—such as foreign aid, international agreements and international law—are welcome.

Hakimi: Why Should We Care About International Law?

Monica Hakimi (Univ. of Michigan - Law) has posted Why Should We Care About International Law? (Michigan Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

In "The Trump Administration and International Law," Harold Hongju Koh advances two descriptive claims about the efficacy of international law in the age of President Trump. First, international law has been effective in curtailing U.S. disobedience, despite Trump's antics. Second, it could also empower President Trump; the president would be more effective at achieving concrete policy goals if instead of dismissing international law, he harnessed it to get things done. The book's upshot is that international law can have real operational value, including, perhaps especially, for the United States.

Yet Koh did not write the book just to reiterate that point. He clearly is worried that Trump is doing damage both to the enterprise of international law and to the U.S. relationship with it. Thus, he intends for the book to be a "call to action," imploring people to uphold international law and contest the Trump administration's antagonistic policies. This is where the book falls short. It does not give readers compelling reasons to fight not just against the Trump administration but for international law. What about international law is both worthwhile and at serious risk under President Trump?

I argue in this Review Essay that, because the book focuses so intently on the material outcomes that international law might produce, it misses what's uniquely at stake in the current moment. A lot of law's value, both domestically and at the international level, lies in fostering a particular kind of argumentative practice. International law's argumentative practice is not, as some suggest, just cheap talk, a means for achieving concrete ends, or a smokescreen for reinforcing positions of dominance. It is worthwhile for reasons that are independent of its material outcomes. And it is deteriorating under President Trump.

Choudhury: Investor Obligations for Human Rights

Barnali Choudhury (Univ. College London - Law) has posted Investor Obligations for Human Rights (ICSID Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Despite progress being made in the business and human rights field in defining corporate responsibility for human rights, defining foreign investors’ roles vis-a-vis human rights remains mainly stagnant. The idea that businesses have responsibility for human rights is well ensconced in global norms and is based on society's expectations of business in the 21st century. Yet despite this widespread recognition, international investment law is silent on the matter. This leaves a disconnect between the norms dictating the corporate responsibility for human rights in public international law and those found in international investment law.

One way to better align progress in the business and human rights movement with international investment law is to introduce investor obligations for human rights. These obligations can be located both in investment treaties as well as in non-treaty sources. Moreover, investment arbitration provides multiple entrypoints for tribunals to consider such obligations, for example through counterclaims, jurisdictional claims, or admissibility claims, among others.

Two primary benefits arise from introducing investor obligations for human rights. First, it can act as vehicle by which business and human rights norms, generally, can be enforced. Second, and more importantly, introducing investor obligations for human rights can help to better contextualize the interpretation of IIAs. Introducing such obligations can be used to remind tribunals that international investment law operates in a system that includes non-investment concerns such as human rights.

Considering such obligations, in and of themselves, however, are unlikely to prompt wider changes in international investment law. Nevertheless, including investor obligations in international investment law may prompt tribunals to give more balanced interpretations to international investment agreements. This can work towards ensuring that international investment law serves its ultimate aim of promoting a state’s development.

Conference: Teaching International Law III (Reminder)

On January 14-16, 2020, the University of Innsbruck will host the conference "Teaching International Law III." The program is here. Here's the idea:

In January 2020 a further edition of the conference “Teaching International Law” will take place. Organized by Professor Peter Hilpold (University of Innsbruck) and by Professor Giuseppe Nesi (University of Trento) these conferences aim at elucidating the particularities and special challenges associated with teaching this discipline of law. Leading international lawyers and philosophers of international law will portray their vision of teaching. The third day of this conference is dedicated to “Teaching in Practice” with model lectures given by students, young academics and Ph.D students. This project makes part of the “Euregio Mobility”-Initiative involving the University of Innsbruck, of Trento and of Bozen-Bolzano.

AJIL Unbound Symposium: The GDPR and International Law

AJIL Unbound has posted a symposium on "The GDPR and International Law." The symposium includes an introduction by Gráinne de Búrca and contributions by Cedric Ryngaert and Mistale Taylor, Svetlana Yakovleva and Kristina Irion, Christopher Kuner, Shannon Togawa Mercer, Vivek Krishnamurthy, and Nani Jansen Reventlow.

Tanaka: Predictability and Flexibility in the Law of Maritime Delimitation

Yoshifumi Tanaka (Univ. of Copenhagen - Law) has published Predictability and Flexibility in the Law of Maritime Delimitation (2d ed.; Hart Publishing 2019). Here's the abstract:

This fully revised new edition offers a comprehensive picture of the law of maritime delimitation, incorporating all new cases and State practice in this field. As with all types of law, the law of maritime delimitation should possess a degree of predictability. On the other hand, as maritime delimitation cases differ, flexible considerations of geographical and non-geographical factors are also required in order to achieve equitable results. How, then, is it possible to ensure predictability while taking into account a number of diverse factors in order to achieve an equitable result? This is the question at the heart of the law of maritime delimitation. This book explores a well-balanced legal framework that reconciles predictability and flexibility in the law of maritime delimitation by looking at three aspects of the question: first it reviews the evolution of the law of maritime delimitation; second, it undertakes a comparative study of the case law and State practice; and third, it critically assesses the law of maritime delimitation in its current form.

Peters: Direct Rights of Individuals in the International Law of Armed Conflict

Anne Peters (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) has posted Direct Rights of Individuals in the International Law of Armed Conflict. Here's the abstract:

This contribution examines whether, under which conditions the international law of armed conflict (international humanitarian law, IHL) generates individual rights, and against whom. These primary rights are distinct from secondary rights which may accrue from a relationship of responsibility between violator and victim in the event of a breach of a primary norm of IHL, and from procedural rights to a remedy in the sense of access to institutions deciding on individual claims to reparation.

Various provisions of IHL speak of “rights” of individuals on the primary level. Although some observers favour duties as the appropriate regulatory technique for achieving effective protection of humans, a reading of IHL which encompasses direct rights can be well explained and justified. The acknowledgment of rights has symbolic and practical consequences, notably for remedies, reparation, and waiver. A follow-up question is then against whom the IHL-based rights are opposable, who are the duty bearers. Overall, the recognition of IHL-based rights is helpful for steering IHL between the two evils of an overreach of human rights on the one side and a paternalist fixation on states on the other side.

Bartels: Balancing Prejudice: Fair Trial Rights and International Procedural Decisions Relating to Evidence

Rogier Bartels (Univ. of Amsterdam - Amsterdam Center for International Law) has posted Balancing Prejudice: Fair Trial Rights and International Procedural Decisions Relating to Evidence (in Defendants and Victims in International Criminal Justice: Ensuring and Balancing Their Rights, Juan Pablo Perez-Leon-Acevedo & Joanna Nicholson eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This paper, which will feature in an edited volume addressing the balancing of the rights of accused persons and of victims of crimes allegedly committed by these persons, discusses the concept of prejudice as concerns procedural matters relating to evidence in international criminal law, and before the International Criminal Court (ICC) specifically. When a (trial) chamber assesses the potential prejudice an action of a party to the proceedings or a procedural decision of the chamber will cause, it is effectively carrying out a balancing exercise, as it looks at the interest of the accused on one side and those of the Prosecution and/or victims on the other. The question is therefore when a matter, such as the admission of an item into evidence, is so prejudicial that is must be considered as is undue prejudice and thereby militating against admission. The present paper further discusses whether prejudice can only be suffered by the accused, or also by others, such as the Prosecution or – through their legal representatives – victims, by analyzing to whom fair trial rights extend.

New Volume: Baltic Yearbook of International Law

The latest volume of the Baltic Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 17, 2017/2018) is out. Contents include:

• Hent Kalmo, Principles and Pragmatism in State Succession: Bargaining in the Economic Affairs Commission of the Tartu Peace Conference
• Jaanika Erne, On the Borders of Law, History and Politics: Estonian Statesman Jüri Jaakson’s Views and Life in Context
• Rytis Satkauskas, One Hundred Years of Faith: The Baltic States’ Contribution to International Justice
• Gabriela Belova & Nikolay Marin, A Century of the Baltic States’ Independence: Some Similarities and Differences with Bulgaria
• Lauri Hannikainen, Finland’s Continuation War (1941–1944): War of Aggression or Defence? War of Alliance or Separate War? Analyzed from the International – Especially Legal – Perspective
• Andres Parmas, Application of Domestic Criminal Statutes in regard to International Crimes
• Ineta Ziemele, Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights as a Source of Human Rights Law
• Ozlem Ulgen, Human Dignity in an Age of Autonomous Weapons: Are We in Danger of Losing an ‘Elementary Consideration of Humanity’?
• Marion Blondel, Vulnerability as a Virtue: An Attempt to Transpose the Care Ethic in International Law

New Volume: Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy

The latest volume of the Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy (2018) is out. The table of contents is here.

Conference: 114th ASIL Annual Meeting

On April 1-4, 2020, the American Society of International Law will hold its 114th Annual Meeting, in Washington, DC. The theme is: "The Promise of International Law." Early bird registration closes on January 13. The draft program is here. Here's the idea:

In a world of increasing polarization and threats to individual and collective security, many turn to international law for guidance and protection, while others consider this body of law and the institutions that apply it ill-equipped to address evolving needs. Has international law lived up to its full potential and is it equipped to safeguard the peaceful coexistence of its subjects, to protect human rights and the environment, and to contribute to the attainment of shared prosperity?

The year 2020 will give us much to reflect upon and to reaffirm. Even as states have withdrawn or sought to withdraw from agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the Treaty on European Union, the international community will commemorate other enduring institutions and commitments in 2020. For example, the United Nations will mark its 75th anniversary amidst calls for significant reforms to global governance. The year 2020 also will see the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty of Versailles and of the Covenant of the League of Nations, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States, and the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. At the same time, the year 2020 will serve as a reminder that we have but ten years left to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which envisage "a world of universal respect for human rights and human dignity, the rule of law, justice, equality and non-discrimination."

At its 114th Annual Meeting in 2020, the American Society of International Law (ASIL) invites policymakers, practitioners, academics, and students of international law to reflect upon the successes and failures of international law. Has international law held states, military forces, multinational corporations, and other actors – both public and private – to account for their international obligations? What role do regulatory bodies, international institutions, and non-governmental organizations play in actualizing the objectives of international law? Can and should international law be expected to produce just outcomes in all circumstances? The Annual Meeting presents an opportunity for the Society to take stock of the past successes and failures of international law while reaffirming the promise it holds for the future.

New Issue: Humanitäres Völkerrecht

The latest issue of Humanitäres Völkerrecht (nos. 3–4, 2019) is out. Contents include:

• Artikel
• Alexander Schwarz, Sexualisierte Kriegsgewalt an Männern und Jungen und deren Verfolgung durch internationale Strafgerichtshöfe
• Helena Krüger, „Famine Crimes and Forced Starvation“ – Aushungern als Methode der Kriegführung – ein Plädoyer für die Verfolgung von Verbrechen nach § 11 I S. 1 Nr. 5 VStGB
• Marjorie Andrea González Ramírez, Immaterial Damage Suffered by Internally Displaced Persons in Colombia
• Benedikt Behlert, The Obligation to Conduct Individual Refugee Status Determination Procedures under the ICCPR – Constructing a Convincing Legal Basis
• Ozlem Ulgen, Technological Innovations and the Changing Character of Warfare: the Significance of the 1949 Geneva Conventions Seventy Years On
• Panorama
• Konferenzvortrag
• Knut Ipsen, Das IFHV in den vergangenen drei Dekaden von Friedenssicherungsrecht und humanitärem Völkerrecht
• Globale Herausforderungen und das Völkerrecht
• Theresa Bosl, Das Friedenssicherungsrecht der UN – Defizite und Reformoptionen
• Timeela Manandhar, Menschenrechtsverantwortung von Unternehmen – zu den Grenzen von Soft Law und der Notwendigkeit eines Vertrages
• Marcel Pfefferkuch, Die Welthandelsorganisation – Defizite und Reformoptionen
• Christina Soldanski, Völkerrechtliche Antworten auf den Klimawandel – Die Schwächen des Übereinkommens von Paris und die daraus resultierenden Umsetzungsprobleme

Broude: Belt, Road and (Legal) Suspenders: Entangled Legalities on the 'New Silk Road'

Tomer Broude (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem - Law) has posted Belt, Road and (Legal) Suspenders: Entangled Legalities on the 'New Silk Road' (in Entangled Legalities, Nico Krisch ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The Belt and Road Initiative, formerly known as the "New Silk Road" is a central part of the People's Republic of China (PRC)'s 13th 5-year plan, an ambitious program of infrastructure project finance in 65 countries, to the tune of 1 Trillion USD invested over 20 years. Geo-politically, this might be the most important global governance initiative since the end of the first cold war. But what does it mean for law? Surely it is an exemplar of entangled legalities. It means very different things to the investment protection lawyer at MOFCOM in Beijing, the public procurement regulator in Greece, the (insert big-law firm name) Associate or Partner in Kazakhstan, or insurgents in Balochistan (Pakistan), and Judges in constitutional courts and indeed the European Court of Human Rights. This paper argues that structures of practice as well as cognitive limitations and sociological factors keep law's engagement with complexity enmeshed but separate, along the lines of (most obviously) national law, but more so along the lines of policy-issues and the object-oriented nature of distinct legal fields. This short paper will narrate – hypothetically, though firmly based in reality – different views of actors engaging with the Belt and Road Initiative, to demonstrate the parallel phenomena of separateness and entangledness, and also demonstrate the inevitable interdependence of entangled legal strands, looking at the case of the Belgrade-Budapest rail modernization project. In addition, it will emphasize the close connection between legal entanglement and empire.

New Issue: Cooperation and Conflict

The latest issue of Cooperation and Conflict (Vol. 55, no. 1, March 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Timothy Edmunds & Ana E Juncos, Constructing the capable state: Contested discourses and practices in EU capacity building
• Gisela Hirschmann, Cooperating with evil? Accountability in peace operations and the evolution of the United Nations Human Rights Due Diligence Policy
• Jelena Obradovic-Wochnik & Gemma Bird, The everyday at the border: Examining visual, material and spatial intersections of international politics along the ‘Balkan Route’
• Yf Reykers & Daan Fonck, No wings attached? Civil–military relations and agent intrusion in the procurement of fighter jets
• Sarai B Aharoni & Élise Féron, National populism and gendered vigilantism: The case of the Soldiers of Odin in Finland
• Baris Kesgin, Features of foreign policy birds: Israeli prime ministers as hawks and doves
• Katja Lindskov Jacobsen, Biometric voter registration: A new modality of democracy assistance?

New Issue: Review of International Organizations

The latest issue of the Review of International Organizations (Vol. 15, no. 1, January 2020) is out. Contents include:

• Michael W. Manulak, A bird in the hand: Temporal focal points and change in international institutions
• Thomas Stubbs, Bernhard Reinsberg, Alexander Kentikelenis, & Lawrence King, How to evaluate the effects of IMF conditionality
• Jean-Frédéric Morin, Concentration despite competition: The organizational ecology of technical assistance providers
• Michael A. Gavin, Independent central banks and banking crisis liquidity
• Niklas Potrafke & Felix Roesel, Opening hours of polling stations and voter turnout: Evidence from a natural experiment
• Brian Greenhill, How can international organizations shape public opinion? analysis of a pair of survey-based experiments
• Daniel Finke, EU enlargement and foreign policy coordination: more powerful, but less cohesive?
• Ishac Diwan, Philip Keefer, & Marc Schiffbauer, Pyramid capitalism: Cronyism, regulation, and firm productivity in Egypt
• Matteo Fiorini & Bernard Hoekman, EU services trade liberalization and economic regulation: Complements or substitutes?
• Asif Efrat & Abraham L. Newman, Intolerant justice: ethnocentrism and transnational-litigation frameworks

Call for Papers: International Law and Violence

A call for papers has been issued for the fourth conference “Dialogues on International Law,” which will take place at Di Tella Law School in Buenos Aires on August 11, 2020. The theme is: “International Law and Violence.” The call is here.