Iovane, Palombino, Amoroso, & Zarra: The Protection of General Interests in Contemporary International Law: A Theoretical and Empirical Inquiry

Massimo Iovane (Federico II Univ. of Naples - Law), Fulvio M. Palombino (Federico II Univ. of Naples - Law), Daniele Amoroso (Univ. of Cagliari - Law), & Giovanni Zarra (Federico II Univ. of Naples - Law) have published The Protection of General Interests in Contemporary International Law: A Theoretical and Empirical Inquiry (Oxford Univ. Press 2021). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This book analyses three key concepts, global public goods, global commons, and fundamental values, as tools geared towards the protection of the general interests of the international community. After providing an overview of these concepts, the book examines how international law has responded to them in a wide range of fields, and investigates how global governance has improved, or worsened, this response. Contributions from a group of experts explore the legal foundations of general interests, and discuss which interests have or have not been deemed to deserve the protection of international law. Other chapters focus on whether, and to what extent, it is appropriate that international law intervenes to regulate such interests, considering the interplay between multiple actors including states, international and regional organisations, and non-state actors. The book explores how states and other actors have used international law to protect general interests, what lessons can be learned from these efforts, and what significant challenges still need to be addressed.

Melbourne Law's Institute for International Law and the Humanities "Festival of Conversations, Ideas and Performances"

Melbourne Law School's Institute for International Law and the Humanities will host a "Festival of Conversations, Ideas and Performances" from August to October 2021 to celebrate its fifteenth anniversary. The schedule is here.

Viterbo: Problematizing Law, Rights, and Childhood in Israel/Palestine

Hedi Viterbo (Queen Mary Univ. of London - Law) has published Problematizing Law, Rights, and Childhood in Israel/Palestine (Cambridge Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

In this book, Hedi Viterbo radically challenges our picture of law, human rights, and childhood, both in and beyond the Israel/Palestine context. He reveals how Israel, rather than disregarding international law and children’s rights, has used them to hone and legitimize its violence against Palestinians. He exposes the human rights community’s complicity in this situation, due to its problematic assumptions about childhood, its uncritical embrace of international law, and its recurring emulation of Israel’s security discourse. He examines how, and to what effect, both the state and its critics manufacture, shape, and weaponize the categories “child” and “adult.” Bridging disciplinary divides, Viterbo analyzes hundreds of previously unexamined sources, many of which are not publicly available. Bold, sophisticated, and informative, Problematizing Law, Rights, and Childhood in Israel/Palestine provides unique insights into the ever-tightening relationship between law, children’s rights, and state violence, at both the local and global levels.

Rudall: Altruism in International Law

Jason Rudall (Leiden Univ. - Law) has published Altruism in International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

Much emphasis has been placed on the role that individualism, self-interest and reciprocity have in the formation and function of international legal rules. Rarely has attention been given to the presence of altruism in legal systems, let alone the international legal system. In a study that is the first of its kind in international legal scholarship, Altruism in International Law explores and analyses the emergence of altruistic legal relationships between states and people in other countries. The book also argues that the impulse for the emergence of these relationships is a cosmopolitan ideology, which co-exists with a persisting statist ideology, among the major actors in international law-making processes. Further still, the book reveals that individualistic legal norms are more often manifested as strict rules while altruistic legal norms find expression in flexible standards. This suggests that there is a connection between substance and form in international law.

New Issue: Security Studies

The latest issue of Security Studies (Vol. 30, no. 2, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Hye Ryeon Jang & Benjamin Smith, Pax Petrolica? Rethinking the Oil–Interstate War Linkage
• Jeffrey Ding & Allan Dafoe, The Logic of Strategic Assets: From Oil to AI
• Jack S. Levy & William Mulligan, Why 1914 but Not Before? A Comparative Study of the July Crisis and Its Precursors
• Ron Gurantz, Was Airpower “Misapplied” in the Vietnam War? Reassessing Signaling in Operation Rolling Thunder
• Derek Bolton, Balancing Identity: The Sino-Soviet Split, Ontological Security, and North Korean Foreign Policy
• The Obama Administration’s Response to the Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria: An Exchange

Ireland-Piper: Extraterritoriality in East Asia: Extraterritorial Criminal Jurisdiction in China, Japan, and South Korea

Danielle Ireland-Piper (Bond Univ. - Law) has published Extraterritoriality in East Asia: Extraterritorial Criminal Jurisdiction in China, Japan, and South Korea (Edward Elgar Publishing 2021). Here's the abstract:

Extraterritoriality in East Asia examines the approaches of China, Japan, and South Korea to exercising legal authority over crimes committed outside their borders. It considers examples of legislation and judicial decision-making and offers a deeper understanding of the topic from the perspective of this legally, politically, and economically significant region. Beginning with a foundational overview of the principles of jurisdiction in international law, as well as identifying current challenges to those principles, subsequent chapters analyse the ways in which extraterritorial jurisdiction operates and is regulated in China, Japan, and South Korea. Danielle Ireland-Piper contextualizes contemporary issues within a historical narrative of each country and concludes by exploring areas of convergence and divergence between them.

New Issue: Chicago Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Chicago Journal of International Law (Vol. 22, no. 1, Summer 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Daniel Abebe, Adam Chilton, & Tom Ginsburg, The Social Science Approach to International Law
• Olabisi D. Akinkugbe, Reflections on the Value of Socio-Legal Approaches to International Economic Law in Africa
• Yifeng Chen, On Relating Social Sciences to International Law: Three Perspectives
• Simon Chesterman, Herding Schrödinger’s Cats: The Limits of the Social Science Approach to International Law
• Matthew S. Erie, China and Comparative International Law: Between Social Science and Critique
• James Thuo Gathii, Studying Race in International Law Scholarship Using a Social Science Approach
• Jack Goldsmith & Eric A. Posner, The Limits of International Law Fifteen Years Later
• Bing Bing Jia, A Matter of Personal Choice
• Mary Ellen O’Connell, Measuring the Art of International Law
• Emilia Justyna Powell, Comparative International Law and the Social Science Approach
• Weijia Rao, Social Science Research and Reforms of International Institutions
• Gregory Shaffer & Terence C. Halliday, International Law and Transnational Legal Orders: Permeating Boundaries and Extending Social Science Encounters

Call for Papers: The Intentional Destruction of the Cultural Heritage of Mankind (IDCHM): What Are the Remedies under International Law?

A call for papers has been issued for a conference on “The Intentional Destruction of the Cultural Heritage of Mankind (IDCHM): What Are the Remedies under International Law?,” which will take place December 2-3, 2021, at Sapienza Università di Roma. The call is here.

Heller: In Defense of Pure Sovereignty in Cyberspace

Kevin Jon Heller (Univ. of Copenhagen; Australian National Univ.) has posted In Defense of Pure Sovereignty in Cyberspace (International Law Studies, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

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The final report of the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG), adopted by consensus in March 2021, affirms that international law applies to cyberspace and calls upon states “to avoid and refrain from taking any measures not in accordance with international law.” Significant differences nevertheless remain concerning how international law applies to cyberspace, because states have been unable to agree on what kinds of cyber-operations international law prohibits. Instead, the OEWG’s final report simply – and rather tepidly – articulates 11 “voluntary, non-binding norms of responsible State behaviour.”

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States are particularly divided over the international wrongfulness of cyber-operations that penetrate computer systems located on the territory of another state but do not rise to the level of a use of force or prohibited intervention – what are often referred to as “low intensity” cyber-operations. Low-intensity cyber-operations, which include most acts of extraterritorial law-enforcement (including counterterrorism) and espionage, are the most common form of cyber-operation and are likely to become even more common over time, given their relative lack of expense and their significant utility for states.

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States have adopted three very different positions concerning whether low-intensity cyber-operations are internationally wrongful, all of which turn on whether such operations violate the sovereignty of the territorial state. The first position, endorsed by the UK and the US, is that low-intensity cyber-operations are never wrongful, because sovereignty is a principle of international law, not a primary rule that can be independently violated. The second position, defended most vigorously by France, is that low-intensity cyber-operations are always wrongful, because sovereignty is a primary rule of international law that is violated by any non-consensual penetration of a computer system located on the territory of another state – what has been called the “pure sovereigntist” approach. And the third position, adopted by states such as the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, is that although sovereignty is a primary rule of international law, only low-intensity cyber-operations that cause some kind of physical damage to the territorial state or render its cyber-infrastructure inoperable are wrongful – what has been called the “relative sovereigntist” approach.

This article has two purposes: to explain the different positions that states have taken on whether low-intensity cyber-operations violate sovereignty, and to provide a comprehensive analysis of which position is the strongest both legally and in terms of cyber policy. The article is divided into five sections. Section I briefly explains why sovereignty is a primary rule of international law, not simply a principle from which specific primary rules can be derived. Section II asks whether sovereignty applies in cyberspace as a rule, agreeing with the vast majority of states that it does. Section III explains and assesses the two positions that states have taken concerning how sovereignty applies in cyberspace as a rule: pure sovereignty and relative sovereignty. It concludes that the pure-sovereigntist position has a much stronger foundation in general international law than the relative-sovereigntist position. Section IV then analyses and rejects the most common legal objection to that conclusion: the supposed permissibility of espionage. Finally, Section V argues that a variety of policy considerations also favour pure sovereignty over relative sovereignty.

Howse: Official Business: International Trade Law and the Resurgence (or Resilience) of the State as an Economic Actor

Robert L. Howse (New York Univ. - Law) has posted Official Business: International Trade Law and the Resurgence (or Resilience) of the State as an Economic Actor (University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The end of the 20th century was a time of privatization; so far, the new millennium has heralded a resurgence of state capitalism. China is doubtless Exhibit A. The notion that state enterprises engage in unfair competition is now a common refrain. It is conventional wisdom that the World Trade Organization has not held up on this front, and that the WTO needs new rules to reign in state enterprises. This Article challenges that point of view. Governments should not be able to circumvent existing WTO rules through state enterprises but putting the state sector under new special constraints is unjustified. State enterprise can be a legitimate tool of public policy. Focusing complaints about anti-competitive behavior on the state sector is unwarranted: private firms may also engage in unfair competition and abuse market power. Carefully examining the case law in the WTO, this Article argues that there is a strong basis in existing jurisprudence for holding governments accountable for the conduct of state firms, despite one often-cited decision anomalous tribunal decision. The Article advocates greater transparency & dialogue in the WTO about how ownership structure affects competition and trade-but applied equally to both public & private entities.

New Issue: International Criminal Law Review

The latest issue of the International Criminal Law Review (Vol. 21, no. 4, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: Italy’s Legal Obligations to Criminalise
• Francesca Capone & Marco Longobardo, Introduction
• Marco Longobardo, The Italian Legislature and International and EU Obligations of Domestic Criminalisation
• Daniele Amoroso, The Duties of Criminalization under International Law in the Practice of Italian Judges: An Overview
• Beatrice I. Bonafè, Constitutional Judicial Review and International Obligations of Criminalization
• Giulio Bartolini, The Criminalization of War Crimes in Italy and the Shortcomings of the Domestic Legal Framework
• Luigi Prosperi, ‘With or Without You’: Why Italy Should Incorporate Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide Into Its National Legal System
• Alessandra Gianelli, Has Italy Finally Implemented its International Obligations Concerning the Punishment of Torture?
• Francesca Capone, Criminalising Terrorist Offences and the Phenomenon of Foreign Terrorist Fighters at the Municipal Level without Defining Terrorism in International Law: Does the Trick Really Work?
• Francesca Ippolito, The Pitfalls of the Italian Response to the International Obligations of Criminalisation of Gender Violence
• Deborah Russo & Monica Parodi, The Protection of Children against Cybercrimes and Cyberbullying: International and European Obligations to Criminalize and the Uncertain Prospects of their Implementation in the Italian Legal System
• Leonardo Borlini, Not such a Retrospective: On the Implementation of the International Anti-Corruption Obligations in Italy

New Issue: International & Comparative Law Quarterly

The latest issue of the International & Comparative Law Quarterly (Vol. 70, no. 3, July 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Tim Clark, The Teleological Turn in the Law of International Organisations
• Millicent McCreath, Community Interests and the Protection of the Marine Environment Within National Jurisdiction
• Sofia Galani, Port Closures and Persons at Sea in International Law
• Arthur Poon, Determining the Place of Performance Under Article 7(1) of the Brussels I Recast
• Alison Xu, A New Solution Concerning Choice-of-Law for the Assignment of Debts
• Joshua Paine, Autonomy to Set the Level of Regulatory Protection in International Investment Law
• Salvatore Caserta & Pola Cebulak, Resilience Techniques of International Courts in Times of Resistance to International Law
• Arman Sarvarian, The Ossified Debate on A UN Convention on State Responsibility
• Shorter Articles
• Rossana Deplano, The Artemis Accords: Evolution or Revolution in International Space Law?

Conference: Partnered Operations and International Law

On September 24, 2021, Sapienza Università di Roma, in coooperation with the Lieber Society on the Law of Armed Conflict of the American Society of International Law and the Interest Group on Peace and Security of the European Society of Internatonal Law, will hold a conference on "Partnered Operations and International Law" in Rome. Program and registration information are here.

Barkin: The Sovereignty Cartel

J. Samuel Barkin (Univ. of Massachusetts, Boston) has published The Sovereignty Cartel (Cambridge Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

Sovereignty is the subject of many debates in international relations. Is it the source of state authority or a description of it? What is its history? Is it strengthening or weakening? Is it changing, and how? This book addresses these questions, but focuses on one less frequently addressed: what makes state sovereignty possible? The Sovereignty Cartel argues that sovereignty is built on state collusion – states work together to privilege sovereignty in global politics, because they benefit from sovereignty's exclusivity. This book explores this collusive behavior in international law, international political economy, international security, and migration and citizenship. In all these areas, states accord rights to other states, regardless of relative power, relative wealth, or relative position. Sovereignty, as a (changing) set of property rights for which states collude, accounts for this behavior not as anomaly (as other theories would) but instead as fundamental to the sovereign states system.

New Issue: Die Friedens-Warte

The latest issue of Die Friedens-Warte (Vol. 94, nos. 1-2, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Pionier*innen der Friedensforschung – neu betrachtet | Pioneers of Peace Research – Reconsidered
• Sabine Jaberg, Johan Galtungs weites Verständnis von Frieden und Gewalt – eine Grundsteinlegung für die Friedensforschung
• Michael Berndt, Der polit-ökonomische Ansatz der Kritischen Friedensforschung von Ekkehart Krippendorff
• Lukas Mengelkamp, Organisierte Friedlosigkeit – Dieter Senghaas’ Abschreckungskritik
• Gert Krell, „Abnehmende Gewalt und zunehmende Verteilungsgerechtigkeit“ Ernst-Otto Czempiels liberale Friedenstheorie
• Klaus Dicke, „Die Konstitution des Friedens als Rechtsordnung“ – Jost Delbrück als Friedensforscher
• Eva Senghaas-Knobloch, Elise Boulding: Die „Saatbeete“ für Friedenskulturen pflegen
• Werner Wintersteiner, Betty Reardon – Pionierin der feministischen Friedensforschung und der Friedenspädagogik
• Wilfried Graf & Werner Wintersteiner, Herbert C. Kelman: Von der sozialpsychologischen Friedensforschung zur Theorie und Praxis internationaler Friedensmediation
• Pete Hämmerle, Hildegard Goss-Mayr – eine Pionierin der Gewaltfreiheit und ihre Bedeutung für die Friedensforschung
• Vorläufer*innen der Friedensforschung | Precursors of Peace Research
• Hendrik W. Ohnesorge, „Man kann hier nicht halbieren“ – Immanuel Kants Zum ewigen Frieden und das Synergismus-Gebot
• Romy Klimke, „An Stelle der Gewalt das Recht“ – Der Frieden im Leben und Werk Bertha von Suttners aus völkerrechtlicher Perspektive

Dorn: Die Durchbrechung der Staatenimmunität im Falle des staatlich geförderten Terrorismus

Pia Dorn has published Die Durchbrechung der Staatenimmunität im Falle des staatlich geförderten Terrorismus (Duncker & Humblot 2021). Here's the abstract:

Der Grundsatz der Staatenimmunität ist ein politisch sensibles und umstrittenes Thema im Völkerrecht. Befeuert werden das Ringen um Reichweite und Entwicklung des Grundsatzes der Staatenimmunität durch die USA und Kanada, die mit dem Erlass einer Terrorismusausnahme zur Staatenimmunität einen neuen Weg beschreiten. Zuletzt erweiterten die USA ihre Gesetzgebung um den »Justice Against State Sponsors of Terrorism Act«, der in der Staatenwelt auf erhebliche Kritik stieß. Die Arbeit nimmt dies zum Anlass und untersucht Rechtsprechungs- und Gesetzgebungspraxis beider Staaten. Die Autorin legt dar, dass es sich bei der Terrorismusausnahme zur Staatenimmunität um eine Ausnahme »sui generis« handelt, die als effektives Instrument zur Terrorismusbekämpfung dienen kann. Die Durchbrechung der Staatenimmunität in Fällen des staatlich geförderten Terrorismus stellt gegenwärtig einen Bruch des Völkerrechts dar, der jedoch als Gegenmaßnahme nach den Grundsätzen der Staatenverantwortlichkeit gerechtfertigt sein kann.

New Issue: Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy

The latest issue of the Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy (Vol. 24, no. 2, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Cameron S. G. Jefferies, David Adie, Zach Bliss & Sarah Kent, Legal Options (and Obligations?) for Enhanced Canada–United States Cooperative Southern Resident Killer Whale Conservation
• Caroline Cox, The Elephant in the Courtroom: An Analysis of the United Kingdom’s Ivory Act 2018, Its Path to Enactment, and Its Potential Impact on the Illegal Trade in Ivory
• Ahmed Adham Abdulla & Erika J. Techera, Environmental Crimes: A Framework for Detection, Monitoring, and Enforcement in The Maldives

Marhold: Energy in International Trade Law: Concepts, Regulation and Changing Markets

Anna-Alexandra Marhold (Leiden Univ. - Law) has published Energy in International Trade Law: Concepts, Regulation and Changing Markets (Cambridge Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

Against the backdrop of energy markets that have radically changed in recent decades, this book offers an in-depth study of energy regulation in international trade law. The author seeks to clarify what we define as 'energy' in the context of the applicable international trade rules, and gives the reader a thorough analysis of the concepts, history and law of the various legal frameworks underpinning international energy trade. In addition, several case studies address the ongoing quest for energy security and show how the existing rules relate to some of the vast challenges that energy markets face today, notably the decentralisation and decarbonisation of energy markets.

Cohen & Zlotogorski: Proportionality in International Humanitarian Law: Consequences, Precautions, and Procedures

Amichai Cohen (Ono Academic College) & David Zlotogorski (College of Management, Israel) have published Proportionality in International Humanitarian Law: Consequences, Precautions, and Procedures (Oxford Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

The principle of proportionality is one of the corner-stones of international humanitarian law. Almost all states involved in armed conflicts recognize that launching an attack which may cause incidental harm to civilians that exceeds the direct military advantage anticipated from the attack is prohibited. This prohibition is included in military manuals, taught in professional courses, and accepted as almost axiomatic. And yet, the exact meaning of the principle is vague. Almost every issue, from the most elementary question of how to compare civilian harm and military advantage, to the obligation to employ accurate but expensive weapons, is disputed. Controversy is especially rife regarding asymmetrical conflicts, in which many modern democracies are involved. How exactly should proportionality be implemented when the enemy is not an army, but a non-state-actor embedded within a civilian population? What does it mean to use precautions in attack, when almost every attack is directed at objects that are used for both military and civilian purposes?

In Proportionality in International Humanitarian Law, Amichai Cohen and David Zlotogorski discuss the philosophical and political background of the principle of proportionality. Offering a fresh and comprehensive look at this key doctrine, they comprehensively discuss the different components of the proportionality “equation” - the meaning of “incidental harm” to civilians; the “military advantage” and the term “excessive”. The book proposes the debates over the principle of proportionality be reframed to focus on the precautions taken before the attack along with the course States should follow in investigations of the violations of the principle.

New Issue: Humanitäres Völkerrecht

The latest issue of Humanitäres Völkerrecht (nos. 1–2, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Artikel
• Alena Douhan, COVID-19 as a Challenge to International Solidarity: Legal Regime and Application of Unilateral Sanctions in the Course of the Pandemic
• Teresa Mörth & Gerd Oberleitner, COVID-19 as a ‘Threat to the Life of the Nation’ in International Human Rights Law: Diverging State Practice
• Kimberley J. Graham, Elizabeth B. Hessami, & Masa Nagai, Towards Enhanced Protection of the Marine Environment and Vulnerable Populations in Relation to Armed Conflicts Rouven Diekjobst, Sea-Level Rise and Public International Law: The Case of ‘Lost’ States
• Aktuelle Entwicklungen im humanitären Völkerrecht
• Valentina Azarova, ‘Zone of Non-Responsibility’: The Arms Trade Treaty and the Licensing of Violence
• Zia Akhtar, Loya Jirga and the Pashtun Tribes: Can a Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission Restore the Trust of the Tribal Communities of the Khyber Pass?
• Marishet M. Hamza, Fragmented Armed Groups in International Humanitarian Law

New Issue: Vereinte Nationen

The latest issue of Vereinte Nationen (Vol. 69, no. 3, 2021). Contents include:

• Schwerpunkt: Blick über den Tellerrand
• Francisco Mari & Stig Tanzmann, Das globale Ernährungssystem nachhaltig transformieren
• Ulrich Seidenberger, Erwartungen an den ›UN Food Systems Summit‹
• Drei Fragen an Agnes Kalibata
• Regine Rehaag & Frank Waskow, Ernährungswandel zwischen Hunger und Übergewicht
• Im Diskurs
• Laura Kirkpatrick, Standpunkt | Der letzte Mann
• Daniela Heerdt, Keine Fouls an den Menschenrechten
• Michael Böcher & Ulrike Zeigermann, COVID-19 und die internationale Bewältigung multipler Krisen

Reynolds: Instruments of Peacemaking 1870-1914

Michael Reynolds (London School of Economics - International History) has published Instruments of Peacemaking 1870-1914 (Hart Publishing 2021). Here's the abstract:

This book focuses on Anglo-American disputes arising out of the civil war in the United States and British interests in the American continent: the Geneva Arbitration, the Venezuela-Guiana Arbitration and the Bhering Sea Arbitration. It draws on those cases as model proceedings which laid the foundations and inspiration for a promotion of international law through the Hague Conferences and by the work of English and American jurists. It considers the encouragement these cases gave to the promotion of public international law and how that contributed to the resolution of inter-state disputes.

New Issue: Climate Law

The latest issue of Climate Law (Vol. 11, no. 2, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Baine P. Kerr, Bridging the Climate and Maritime Legal Regimes: The IMO’s 2018 Climate Strategy as an Erga Omnes Obligation
• Christoph Schwarte, EU Climate Policy under the Paris Agreement
• Louisa Raitbaur, The New German Coal Laws: A Difficult Balancing Act
• Andreas Hösli, Milieudefensie et al. v. Shell: A Tipping Point in Climate Change Litigation against Corporations?

Maisley: Better to see international law this other way: the case against international normative positivism

Nahuel Maisley (Universidad de Buenos Aires - Law) has published Better to see international law this other way: the case against international normative positivism (Jurisprudence, Vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 151-174, 2021). Here's the abstract:

In this paper, I argue against international normative positivism, i.e., against the idea that the separation of international legal judgement from moral reasoning is not only possible, but also a good thing. First, I claim that the space for the separation of legal and moral reasoning is minimal in this legal realm, given the peculiar characteristics of the international legal system. And then, I try to show that nonpositivism in international law (i) does not lead to quietism regarding the rules, (ii) or regarding the system as a whole, (iii) that it does not give too much power to international judges, or (iv) work against democratic values, (v) that it does not lead to anarchy, and that it (vi) may not be an instrument of imperialism, but rather a tool against it.

New Issue: Questions of International Law

The latest issue of Questions of International Law / Questioni di Diritto Internazionale (no. 83, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• How can a treaty on business and human rights fit with international law? Assessing the development of international rules on corporate accountability and their relationship with other international legal regimes
• Introduced by Angelica Bonfanti and Marco Pertile
• Roberta Greco, The Draft Treaty on Business and Human Rights: What way forward for greater consistency between human rights and investment agreements?
• Jacques Hartmann and Annalisa Savaresi, Corporate actors, environmental harms and the Draft UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights: History in the making?
• Mara Tignino, Corporate human rights due diligence and liability in armed conflicts: The role of the ILC Draft Principles on the Protection of the Environment and the Draft UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights

New Issue: International Journal of Transitional Justice

The latest issue of the International Journal of Transitional Justice (Vol. 15, no. 1, March 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: Housing, Land and Property Rights in Transitional Justice
• Jon D Unruh & Musa Adam Abdul-Jalil, Housing, Land and Property Rights in Transitional Justice
• Ginevra Le Moli, Intruders in a Balancing Act: Black Economic Empowerment, Transitional Justice and Investment Arbitration Tribunals
• Luis Enrique Ruiz González, Rocío Del Pilar Peña-Huertas, María Mónica Parada-Hernández, Alfonso Javier Lozano Valcárcel, Bryan Triana Ancínez, & Milton Alberto Valencia-Herrera, Who Owns What in Macondo? The Flexibilization of the Rules of Evidence in Land Restitution in Colombia
• Jamie Rowen & Arta Snipe, The Promise and Perils of Urban Land Restitution in Latvia
• Theodore Mbazumutima, Land Restitution in Postconflict Burundi
• Lejandrina Pastor & Angela Santamaria, Experiences of Spiritual Advocacy for Land and Territorial Itineraries for the Defense of Wiwa Women’s Rights in Postconflict Colombia
• Niall Gilmartin, ‘Ending the Silence’: Addressing the Legacy of Displacement in Northern Ireland’s ‘Troubles’
• Bernardo Almeida, The Law and Its Limits: Land Grievances, Wicked Problems, and Transitional Justice in Timor-Leste
• Daniel Aguirre & Irene Pietropaoli, Institutional Reform in Myanmar: Preventing Corporate Land Rights Abuses
• Mijke de Waardt, Dora Georgiou, & Evren Celal, Attempts at Redress Through the Lens of Social Identity: Housing, Land and Property of the Displaced in Cyprus
• Fabricio Teló, Alessandra Gasparotto, Leonilde Servolo de Medeiros, & Regina Coelly Fernandes Saraiva, Land and Transitional Justice in Brazil
• Pablo Rueda Sáiz & Alexandra Huneeus, Territory as a Victim of Armed Conflict
• Rocío Del Pilar Peña-Huertas, María Mónica Parada-Hernández, Natalia Abril-Bonilla, Luisa Fda Uribe-Larrota, María Camila Jiménez-Nicholls, & Ana Valentina Nieto-Cruz, Collective Ownership and Land Restitution: A New Opportunity for Afro-Colombian Communities
• Review Essay
• Nelson Camilo Sánchez, The Promised Land of Transitional Justice

Ponta: Responsible State Behavior in Cyberspace: Two New Reports from Parallel UN Processes

Adina Ponta (Babeș-Bolyai Univ.) has posted an ASIL Insight on Responsible State Behavior in Cyberspace: Two New Reports from Parallel UN Processes.

New Issue: Chinese Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Chinese Journal of International Law (Vol. 20, no. 1, March 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Foreword
• Sienho Yee, The Twentieth Anniversary of the Chinese Journal of International Law
• Articles
• Joel Slawotsky, The Fusion of Ideology, Technology and Economic Power: Implications of the Emerging New United States National Security Conceptualization
• Jaemin Lee, The “Indirect Support” Loophole in the New SOE Norms: An Intentional Choice or Inadvertent Mistake?
• Wenliang Zhang & Guangjian Tu, The Hague Judgments Convention and Mainland China-Hong Kong SAR Judgments Arrangement: Comparison and Prospects for Implementation
• David Pavot & Lolita Laperle-Forget, The Emergence of Objective Guidelines for Granting Immunity to International Non-Governmental Organizations
• Letter to the Journal
• Alexander N Vylegzhanin, Ekaterina A Torkunova, Sergey A Lobanov, & Kirill V Kritskiy, Forcible Discharge of Ukrainian President Yanukovich from Power: Complicity of the Obama Administration

New Issue: International Organization

The latest issue of International Organization (Vol. 76, no. 3, Summer 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Nils-Christian Bormann, Yannick I. Pengl, Lars-Erik Cederman, & Nils B. Weidmann, Globalization, Institutions, and Ethnic Inequality
• Jacque Gao, Democratization in the Shadow of Globalization
• Omer Solodoch, Regaining Control? The Political Impact of Policy Responses to Refugee Crises
• Jakana L. Thomas, Wolves in Sheep's Clothing: Assessing the Effect of Gender Norms on the Lethality of Female Suicide Terrorism
• Calvin Thrall, Public-Private Governance Initiatives and Corporate Responses to Stakeholder Complaints
• Research Notes
• Jessica Edry, Jesse C. Johnson, & Brett Ashley Leeds, Threats at Home and Abroad: Interstate War, Civil War, and Alliance Formation
• Connor Huff & Robert Schub, Segregation, Integration, and Death: Evidence from the Korean War
• Ryan Brutger & Brian Rathbun, Fair Share? Equality and Equity in American Attitudes Toward Trade
• Kosuke Imai & James Lo, Robustness of Empirical Evidence for the Democratic Peace: A Nonparametric Sensitivity Analysis

New Issue: International Legal Materials

The latest issue of International Legal Materials (Vol. 60, no. 4, August 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Germany v. Philipp (U.S. Sup. Ct.), with introductory note by Marie Greenman
• Immunities and Criminal Proceedings (Equatorial Guinea v. France) (I.C.J.), with introductory note by Péter Kovács
• Supreme Site Services v. Shape (C.J.E.U.), with introductory note by Salim S. Sleiman
• Telenor Magyarország Zrt. v. Nemzeti Média- És Hírközlési Hatóság Elnöke (C.J.E.U.), with introductory note by Jason A. Biros
• Case C-66/18 Comm'n v. Hungary (C.J.E.U.), with introductory note by Tamás Kende & Gábor Puskás

Call for Submissions: Managing Mixed Migration (Yale Journal of International Law)

The Yale Journal of International Law has issued a call for submissions for its volume 47 symposium on “Managing Mixed Migration.” The call is here.

New Issue: Nordic Journal of Human Rights

The latest issue of the Nordic Journal of Human Rights (Vol. 39, no. 1, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Juan-Pablo Perez-Leon-Acevedo, Victims at the Central African Republic's Special Criminal Court
• Katja Creutz, Nordic Experiences in the UN Human Rights Council: A Tour d’Horizon of 2019 with Iceland and Denmark
• Marius Pieterse, Balancing Socio-economic Rights: Confronting COVID-19 in South Africa’s Informal Urban Settlements
• Kamrul Hossain & Rosa Maria Ballardini, Protecting Indigenous Traditional Knowledge Through a Holistic Principle-Based Approach
• Veljko Turanjanin, The Principle of Immediacy Versus the Efficiency of Criminal Proceedings: Do Changes in the Composition of the Trial Panel Violate the Right to a Fair Trial?

Call for Submissions: NLIU International Trade Law Journal

The NLIU International Trade Law Journal has issued a call for submissions for its inaugural issue. The call is here.

Socher: Russia and the Right to Self-Determination in the Post-Soviet Space

Johannes Socher (Freie Universität Berlin) has published Russia and the Right to Self-Determination in the Post-Soviet Space (Oxford Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

The right to self-determination is renowned for its lack of clear interpretation. Broadly speaking, one can differentiate between a 'classic' and a 'romantic' tradition. In modern international law, the balance between these two opposing traditions is sought in an attempt to contain or 'domesticate' the romantic version by limiting it to 'abnormal' situations, that is cases of 'alien subjugation, domination and exploitation'.

This book situates Russia's engagement with the right to self-determination in this debate. It shows that Russia follows a distinct approach to self-determination that diverges significantly from the consensus view in international state practice and scholarship, partly due to a lasting legacy of the former Soviet doctrine of international law. Against the background of the Soviet Union's role in the evolution of the right to self-determination, the bulk of the study analyses Russia's relevant state practice in the post-Soviet space through the prisms of sovereignty, secession, and annexation. Drawing on analysis of all seven major secessionist conflicts in the former Soviet space and a detailed study of Russian sources and scholarship, it traces how Russian engagement with self-determination has changed over the past three decades. Ultimately, the book argues that Russia's approach to the right of peoples to self-determination should not only be understood in terms of power politics disguised as legal rhetoric but in terms of a continuously assumed regional hegemony and exceptionalism, based on balance-of-power considerations.

Sekalala et al.: Decolonising human rights: how intellectual property laws result in unequal access to the COVID-19 vaccine

Sharifah Sekalala, Lisa Forman, Timothy Hodgson, Moses Mulumba, Hadijah Namyalo-Ganafa, & Benjamin Mason Meier have published Decolonising human rights: how intellectual property laws result in unequal access to the COVID-19 vaccine (BMJ Global Health, Vol. 6, no. 7, 2021). Here's the abstract:

The recent rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines offers hope in addressing the worst pandemic in a hundred years. However, many countries in the Global South face great difficulties in accessing vaccines, partly because of restrictive intellectual property law. These laws exacerbate both global and domestic inequalities and prevent countries from fully realising the right to health for all their people. Commodification of essential medicines, such as vaccines, pushes poorer countries into extreme debt and reproduces national inequalities that discriminate against marginalised groups. This article explains how a decolonial framing of human rights and public health could contribute to addressing this systemic injustice. We envisage a human rights and global health law framework based on solidarity and international cooperation that focuses funding on long-term goals and frees access to medicines from the restrictions of intellectual property law. This would increase domestic vaccine production, acquisition and distribution capabilities in the Global South.

Conference: Nuremberg Forum 2021

The Nuremberg Forum 2021 will be held October 15-16, 2021 online. The theme is: "The Fight against Impunity since 1950: Living up to the Nuremberg Principles?" Program and registration are here.

Call for Papers: Conference on the United Nations War Crimes Commission

The Maynooth University Law Department and the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS have issued a call for papers for an online conference on the United Nations War Crimes Commission, to be held November 19, 2021. The call is here.

Ho & Sattorova: Investors’ International Law

Jean Ho (National Univ. of Singapore - Law) & Mavluda Sattorova (Univ. of Liverpool - Law) have published Investors’ International Law (Hart Publishing 2021). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This book is the first book-length analysis of investor accountability under general and customary international law, international human rights law, international environmental law, international humanitarian law, as well as international investment law.

International investment law is currently facing growing criticisms for its failure to address corruption, abuse, environmental damage, and other forms of investor misconduct. Reform initiatives range from the rejection of international law as a governing regime for investors, to the dramatic overhaul of investment treaties that supposedly enable investor overprotection, to the creation of a multilateral international instrument that would enable the litigation of claims against errant businesses before an international tribunal. Whether these initiatives succeed in disciplining investors remains to be seen. What these initiatives undeniably show however, is that change is warranted to counteract this lopsided investors' international law.

Each chapter in the book addresses a different and underexplored dimension of investor accountability, thus offering a novel and consolidated study of international law.

New Issue: Jus Gentium: Journal of International Legal History

The latest issue of Jus Gentium: Journal of International Legal History (Vol. 6, no. 2, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Olga Butkevych, Theory of the History of International Law: Methodology, Grounds, and Developments
• W. E. Butler, The English Translators and Publishers of Grotius on War and Peace: 1654–1928
• Zenghua Zhuo, China and the Unequal Treaties: Localization, Variation, and Response
• Notes and Comments
• W. E. Butler, Ruminations on DNA and the History of International Law
• P. Macalister-Smith, Georg von Gretschaninow (1892–1973): Émigré Jurist Stateless at Berlin and Heidelberg. A Concise Bio-Bibliography
• Documents and Other Evidence of State Practice
• W. E. Butler, Royal Naval Instructions Implementing the 1817 Anglo-Spanish Treaty on Illicit Trafficking of Slaves
• P. Macalister-Smith & J. Schweitzke, A Brief Calendar of State Practice for Shandong: 1897–1914. Part Four (1914): Into World War

New Issue: American Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the American Journal of International Law (Vol. 115, no. 3, July 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Articles
• Jorge Contesse, The Rule of Advice in International Human Rights Law
• Benoit Mayer, Climate Change Mitigation as an Obligation Under Human Rights Treaties?
• Frédéric Mégret, Are There “Inherently Sovereign Functions” in International Law?
• Current Developments
• Dapo Akande, Payam Akhavan, Eirik Bjorge, Economic Sanctions, International Law, and Crimes Against Humanity: Venezuela's ICC Referral
• International Decisions
• James G. Devaney & Christian J. Tams, In re Arbitration Between the Italian Republic and the Republic of India Concerning the “Enrica Lexie” Incident
• Craig D. Gaver, Dispute Concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary Between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius/Maldives)
• Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law
• Kristen Eichensehr, Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law
• Recent Books on International Law
• Peter J. Spiro, reviewing Nationals Abroad: Globalization, Individual Rights, and the Making of Modern International Law, by Christopher A. Casey

New Issue: International Community Law Review

The latest issue of the International Community Law Review (Vol. 23, nos. 2-3, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: The Impact of Climate Change on International Law and European Union Law
• Łukasz Kułaga, The Impact of Climate Change on States: The Territorial Aspect
• Vladyslav Lanovoy & Sally O’Donnell, Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise. Is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea up to the Task?
• Agata Bator & Agnieszka Borek, Adaptation to Climate Change under Climate Change Treaties
• Karolina Mordasewicz & Marcin Kowalczyk, Legal Aspects of Adaptation Finance under the UNFCCC Regime with Special Reference to the Adaptation Fund
• Jason Rudall, The Obligation to Cooperate in the Fight against Climate Change
• Przemysław Siwior, The Potential of Application of the ECHR in Climate Change Related Cases
• Piotr Szwedo, Climate Change and the Human Right to Water
• Stefania Negri, Climate Change and Global Health: Exploring Regime Interaction and the Role of the Right to Health Argument in International Climate Litigation
• Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Biodiversity and Climate Change
• Dorota Pyć, Ship Energy Efficiency Measures and Climate Protection
• Bartłomiej Krzan, Protecting the Environment from the Perspective of the Law of Armed Conflict: Trying to Fit in Climate Change
• Joanna Bukowska, Piotr Świat, & Anna Sosnowska, The Participation of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission in the Process of Concluding International Agreements on Climate Protection
• Marek Jaśkowski, External Aspects of the EU ETS in Aviation in Light of CORSIA
• Monika Adamczak-Retecka & Olga Śniadach, Towards a Redefinition of the Food Security Concept in the Light of Climate Change: The European Union Law Perspective
• Sarah Mead & Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, Pacific Island Countries’ Contributions

Conference: Fourth "Silent leges inter arma?" Conference

On September 28-October 1, 2021, the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War will hold the fourth "Silent leges inter arma?" conference in Bruges. The program is here. The invitation is here. The application form is here.

New Issue: Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht

The latest issue of the Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (Vol. 81, no. 2, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Comment
• Achilles Skordas, Authoritarian Global Governance? The Russian-Chinese Joint Statement of March 2021
• Abhandlungen
• Csongor István Nagy, Ein Vorschlag zur Lösung der europäischen Rechtsstaatlichkeitskrise: die Lehre der Diagonalität
• Lisa Mardikian, In-Between an Economic Freedom and a Human Right: A Hybrid Right to Private Property
• Diego Zannoni, Something or Somebody? The Human Embryo Between Protection of Life and Interest in Scientific Research
• Jean Mohamed, Aspects of European Legal Harmonisation: When European Politicised Law Meets Freedom of Establishment and Vice Versa
• Tobias Mast, Gute Öffentlichkeitsarbeit und die Europäische Union
• Mark Somos, Edward Jones Corredera, & George Gallwey, Sir Daniel Dun’s Mare liberum and the 1613 Anglo-Dutch Conference
• Caroline Omari Lichuma, (Laws) Made in the ‘First World’: A TWAIL Critique of the Use of Domestic Legislation to Extraterritorially Regulate Global Value Chains
• Silvia Steininger, With or Without You: Suspension, Expulsion, and the Limits of Membership Sanctions in Regional Human Rights Regimes

New Issue: Michigan Journal of International Law

The latest issue of the Michigan Journal of International Law (Vol. 42, no. 3, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Cochav Elkayam-Levy, A Path to Transformation: Asking “The Woman Question” in International Law
• Juliette McIntyre, Revisiting the International Court of Justice Procedure for the Revision of Judgments
• Mark Nevitt, Is Climate Change a Threat to International Peace and Security?
• Sara L. Ochs, Propaganda Warfare on the International Criminal Court

Leiter: Protecting Concessionary Rights: General Principles and the Making of International Investment Law

Andrea Leiter (Univ. of Amsterdam - Amsterdam Center for International Law) has posted Protecting Concessionary Rights: General Principles and the Making of International Investment Law (Leiden Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

This article engages with the history of international investment law in the first half of the 20th century. It traces how British international lawyers and economists inscribed their vision of an international legal order protecting private property of Western companies against attempts at nationalisation in the wake of socialist revolutions and the decolonisation of large parts of the world. The article focuses on the role of ‘general principles of law as recognized by civilized nations’ as building blocks for an international legal order today called international investment law. Based on the analysis of arbitrations over disputes resulting from concession agreements and scholarly writings in the interwar period, this contribution draws out the modes of authorisation upon which these invocations rested. At the heart of the vision were ideas of ‘modernity’ ‘civilisation’ ‘equity’ and ‘justice’ that enabled a temporalization of difference, locating Western claims to legality above rivalling claims of socialist and ‘newly independent’ states. These ideas ultimately constituted the paradox of a ‘modern law of nature’ that claimed timeless universality while authorising the ordering of foreign property in line with Western conceptions of modernity.

New Issue: Jus Cogens

The latest issue of Jus Cogens (Vol. 3, no. 1, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Special Issue: Debating A. Buchanan's 'Our Moral Fate. Evolution and the Escape from Tribalism'
• Claudio Corradetti, What Makes Us Human? Evolution, Intentionality and Moral Progress
• Andrew Buchwalter, Human Dignity and the Intercultural Theory of Universal Human Rights
• John Tasioulas, “Fantasy Upon Fantasy”: Some Reflections on Dworkin’s Philosophy of International Law
• Kim Sterelny, On Our Moral Fate
• Simona Tiribelli, Debating Buchanan’s Our Moral Fate: Why Exercising Moral Reasoning Cannot Be a Luxury Good
• Colleen Murphy, Transitional Justice and Our Moral Fate
• Claudio Corradetti, Morality and Tribalism
• Allen Buchanan, Replies to Commentators

Burri: Big Data and Global Trade Law

Mira Burri (Univ. of Lucerne) has published Big Data and Global Trade Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2021). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This collection explores the relevance of global trade law for data, big data and cross-border data flows. Contributing authors from different disciplines including law, economics and political science analyze developments at the World Trade Organization and in preferential trade venues by asking what future-oriented models for data governance are available and viable in the area of trade law and policy. The collection paints the broad picture of the interaction between digital technologies and trade regulation as well as provides in-depth analyses of critical to the data-driven economy issues, such as privacy and AI, and different countries' perspectives.

Burci & Perron-Welch: International Sharing of Human Pathogens to Promote Global Health Security—Still a Work in Progress

Gian Luca Burci (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies) & Frederic Perron-Welch (Leiden Univ. - Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies) have posted an ASIL Insight on International Sharing of Human Pathogens to Promote Global Health Security—Still a Work in Progress.

Green & McKenzie: Looking Without and Looking Within: Nestlé v. Doe and the Legacy of the Alien Tort Statute

Kayla Winarsky Green (Danish Institute for Human Rights) & Timothy McKenzie (Internatonal Court of Justice) have posted an ASIL Insight on Looking Without and Looking Within: Nestlé v. Doe and the Legacy of the Alien Tort Statute.

Call for Papers: Method, methodology and critique in international law

The Asser Institute has issued a call for papers for a workshop on "Method, methodology and critique in international law." The call is here. The deadline is July 31, 2021.

Pappa: Non-State Actors' Rights in Maritime Delimitation: Lessons from Land

Marianthi Pappa (Univ. of Nottingham - Law) has published Non-State Actors' Rights in Maritime Delimitation: Lessons from Land (Cambridge Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

Most of the world's maritime boundary disputes involve privately held rights - relating to such matters as fishing, petroleum exploration and scientific research - that states have unilaterally granted to non-state actors in areas of overlapping national claims. An international lawyer would typically investigate the legality of a state's decision to create such rights without notifying or consulting its neighbour, and the legal consequences this action would have for the interests of the states concerned. Departing from this approach, Dr Marianthi Pappa examines such situations from the perspective of the non-state actors: what will happen to private rights in a disputed maritime area if it changes hands from state A to state B due to a subsequent delimitation treaty or judgment? Does the legal framework of maritime delimitation protect those rights effectively against a potential reallocation? To address these questions, the book considers the place that private rights have in land boundary-making.

AJIL Unbound Symposium: The Limitations of the Behavioral Turn in International Law

AJIL Unbound has posted a symposium on "The Limitations of the Behavioral Turn in International Law." The symposium includes an introduction by Eva van der Zee, Veronika Fikfak, and Daniel Peat and contributions by Emilie M. Hafner-Burton, Sungjoon Cho, Lauge Poulsen and Michael Waibel, Anne van Aaken, and Doron Teichman and Eyal Zamir.

Spain Bradley: Human Choice in International Law

Anna Spain Bradley (Univ. of California, Los Angeles) has published Human Choice in International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

Human Choice in International Law is an exploration of human choice in international legal and political decision making. This book investigates the neurobiology of how people choose and the history of how personal choice has affected decisions about international peace and security. It charts important decision moments in international law about genocide, intervention into armed conflict and nuclear weapons at the central institutions of the international legal order. Professor Spain Bradley analyzes the role that particular individuals, serving as international judges or Security Council representatives, play in shaping decision outcomes and then applies insights from neuroscience to assert the importance of analyzing how cognitive processes such as empathy, emotion and bias can influence such decisionmakers. Drawing upon historical accounts and personal interviews, this book reveals the beauty and struggle of human influences that shape the creation and practice of international law.

Conference: 2021 ILA-ASIL Asia-Pacific Research Forum

On August 5-6, 2021, the 2021 ILA-ASIL Asia-Pacific Research Forum will be held online. The theme is: "International Law and Post-Pandemic Asia: New Economic Challenges and Opportunities." The program is here, and registration is here.

Shaffer: Emerging Powers and the World Trading System: The Past and Future of International Economic Law

Gregory Shaffer (Univ. of California, Irvine - Law) has published Emerging Powers and the World Trading System: The Past and Future of International Economic Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

Victorious after World War II and the Cold War, the United States and its allies largely wrote the rules for international trade and investment. Yet, by 2020, it was the United States that became the great disrupter – disenchanted with the rules' constraints. Paradoxically, China, India, Brazil, and other emerging economies became stakeholders in and, at times, defenders of economic globalization and the rules regulating it. Emerging Powers and the World Trading System explains how this came to be and addresses the micropolitics of trade law – what has been developing under the surface of the business of trade through the practice of law, which has broad macro implications. This book provides a necessary complement to political and economic accounts for understanding why, at a time of hegemonic transition where economic security and geopolitics assume greater roles, the United States challenged, and emerging powers became defenders, of the legal order that the United States created.

Deplano & Tsagourias: Research Methods in International Law: A Handbook

Rossana Deplano (Univ. of Leicester - Law) & Nicholas Tsagourias (Univ. of Sheffield - Law) have published Research Methods in International Law: A Handbook (Edward Elgar Publishing 2021). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This timely Handbook contains a wide-ranging overview of the diverse research methods used within international law. Providing an insightful examination of how international legal knowledge is analysed and adopted, this Handbook offers the reader a deeper understanding on the role and place of research methods in international legal theory, reasoning and practice.

Split into five parts, the chapters cover key topics across doctrinal, empirical, socio-legal, interdisciplinary research methods and methodology. The contributors also apply their knowledge and insight to explore the relationship between different research methods and their role in international legal theory, reasoning and practice. Covering a range of diverse subjects yet written

Webinar: New Developments in the Extraterritorial Application of Human Rights

On July 26, 2021, the Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem will host a webinar on "New Developments in the Extraterritorial Application of Human Rights" It will address recent developments in the extraterritorial application of human rights, question the transformative nature of recent cases on the outer limits of control-based extra-territorial jurisdiction, and shed light on the concept of special obligations with regard to specific rights and relations (such as duties to investigate, repatriate and rescue at sea). Participants will include: Dapo Akande, Helen Duffy, Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Marko Milanovic, Fionnuala Ni Aolain, Dalia Palombo, Paulo Sérgio Pinto de Albuquerque, Yaël Ronen, Yuval Shany and Maria Varaki. Registration is here.

Call for Papers: International Law Without International Courts

The International Courts and Tribunals Interest Group of the American Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for a conference on "International Law Without International Courts," to take place December 16-17, 2021. The call is here.

McGrogan: Critical theory and human rights: From compassion to coercion

David McGrogan (Northumbria Univ. - Law) has published Critical theory and human rights: From compassion to coercion (Manchester Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

This book describes how human rights have given rise to a vision of benevolent governance that, if fully realised, would be antithetical to individual freedom. It describes human rights' evolution into a grand but nebulous project, rooted in compassion, with the overarching aim of improving universal welfare by defining the conditions of human well-being and imposing obligations on the state and other actors to realise them. This gives rise to a form of managerialism, preoccupied with measuring and improving the 'human rights performance' of the state, businesses and so on. The ultimate result is the 'governmentalisation' of a pastoral form of global human rights governance, in which power is exercised for the general good, moulded by a complex regulatory sphere which shapes the field of action for the individual at every turn. This, unsurprisingly, does not appeal to rights-holders themselves.

New Volume: Australian International Law Journal

The latest volume of the Australian International Law Journal (Vol. 26, 2019) is out. Contents include:

• Daniel O'Neil, Not So Innocent Abroad: Eliminating the Facilitation Payments Exception in Australia and the United States' Foreign Bribery Provisions
• Adaena Sinclair-Blakemore, Indigenous Women's Rights in International Law: A Comparative Analysis of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Umair Ghori, Are Export Controls under the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism (ADGSM) Challenge Proof?
• Sarah Waring, The Territorial Scope of Investment Treaties: Applicability of International Investment Law to Space Mining Activities
• Manuel Gruber, Time for a Reappraisal? The Intertemporal Principle of International Law Examined
• Laura Hamblin, When TWAIL Met Civilian Protection: Analysing the Impact of the Kigali Principles in African Civil Conflict
• Sophie Li, When Do Medical Personnel Providing Biomedical Enhancements Participate Directly in Hostilities?
• Caitlyn McKenzie, Proposing a Model of Immunity for Peacekeepers: The Sovereignty/Justice Balance - What Sort of Immunity Should Peacekeepers Have If Justice Is to Be Achieved for Victims of War Crimes?
• Amanda Murphy, International Law Principles and the Protection of Private Rights under the Transitional Arrangements of the Maritime Boundaries Treaty between Australia and Timor-Leste

Call for Papers: Global Food Governance Conference

The Food Governance Node at the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney and the George Institute for Global Health, together with the Global Center for Legal Innovation on Food Environments at Georgetown University Law Center, have issued a call for papers for the 2021 Global Food Governance Conference, to be held online on December 13-15 2021. The conference will bring together lawyers, policymakers, nutritionists, and health scientists to explore how law, policy, and regulation can help address food system challenges at the local, national, regional, and global levels. The call is here.

McGuinness: Human Rights Reporting as Human Rights Governance

Margaret E. McGuinness (St. John's Univ. - Law) has posted Human Rights Reporting as Human Rights Governance (Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Contrary to the view that the rejection of human rights treaty membership has left the United States outside the formal international human rights system, the United States has played a key role in international human rights governance through congressionally mandated human rights monitoring and reporting. Since the mid- 1970s, congressional oversight of human rights diplomacy, which requires reporting on global human rights practices, has integrated international human rights law and norms into the execution of U.S. foreign policy. While the congressional human rights mandates have drifted from their original purpose to condition allocation of foreign aid, they have effectively embedded international human rights norms and law into congressional decision-making and the operations of executive branch agencies. Over the years, the reports issued pursuant to the mandates have also become an important international source of human rights fact-finding, influencing the ways in which courts, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and international human rights institutions themselves interpret and apply human rights law. In this respect, congressional human rights reporting mandates—not congressional human rights treaty policy—have evolved as a driver of U.S. engagement with and interpretation of the protections of international human rights law.

This Article draws on a variety of sources, including diplomatic correspondence, interviews with government officials, caselaw in domestic courts, and reporting by international human rights NGOs, to explore the effects of the congressional human rights reporting mandates. It demonstrates that what was designed as unilateral policy to enforce human rights has affected the construction of the U.S. human rights identity within the international system and the international human rights system itself. Operating separately and in parallel to targeted human rights sanctions legislation, the human rights reporting mandates demonstrate the active and effective participation of the United States in international human rights governance.

Benvenisti: The International Law of Prolonged Sieges and Blockades: Gaza as a Case Study

Eyal Benvenisti (Univ. of Cambridge - Law) has posted The International Law of Prolonged Sieges and Blockades: Gaza as a Case Study (International Law Studies, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

In 2007, after Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip, the area was subjected to an Israeli land siege, complemented in 2009 by a sea blockade. Since then, the already-dire living conditions in the Strip have declined consistently and the area’s dependence on external aid has grown. This essay examines the duties of a military power in imposing what is effectively a years-long confinement of people and outlines a general argument for expanding the obligations of a party that imposes a prolonged siege or blockade. I consider these obligations in light of three potentially relevant legal frameworks: the law of occupation; international humanitarian law; and human rights law. In this essay, I argue that, although Gaza is no longer occupied, Israel, in exercising prolonged siege and blockade, must respect a set of obligations that encompass much more than simply not starving the besieged population or not cutting off their water supply. Paying attention only to the basic, biological needs of the besieged population ignores their human dignity because it reduces – in the eyes of the blockader – human existence to the intake of food and water. The essay concludes that the law should be interpreted as demanding that the besieger respect a wider scope of rights – including, among others, the right to enter and exit the besieged area – and, while it may limit such rights, such limitations must be compatible with the requirements of proportionality, taking into account the human toll caused by the extraordinary yet long-term situation.

New Issue: Humanity

The latest issue of Humanity (Vol. 12, no. 1, Spring 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Ria Kapoor, Removing the International from the Refugee: India in the 1940s
• Katharine White, Germany and Colonia Dignidad: Colonial Entanglement, Medical Humanitarianism, and Human Rights Abuses in Chile
• Valeska Huber & Jan C. Jansen, Dealing with Difference: Cosmopolitanism in the Nineteenth-Century World Of Empires
• Claude Markovits, Cosmopolitanism and Imperialism in Nineteenth-Century British India
• Francisco A. Ortega, Postcolonial Cosmopolitan Republicanism: A Conceptual Approach to Nineteenth-Century New Granada/Colombia
• Martin Rempe, Respect!: Edward Wilmot Blyden and the Cosmopolitan Challenge
• Alison Bashford, The Family of Man: Cosmopolitanism and the Huxleys, 1850–1950
• Jürgen Osterhammel, Concluding Essay: Cosmopolitanism as Doctrine, Attitude, and Practice

Conference: 16th Conference of the European Society of International Law (Reminder)

The 16th Conference of the European Society of International Law will take place September 9-11, 2021, in Stockholm. The format will be hybrid, with panelists present onsite at the conference venue, while other participants can follow onsite or online. The program is here. Registration is now open here.

Blokker, Dam-de Jong, & Prislan: Furthering the Frontiers of International Law: Sovereignty, Human Rights, Sustainable Development - Liber Amicorum Nico Schrijver

Niels M. Blokker (Leiden Univ. - Law), Daniëlla Dam-de Jong (Leiden Univ. - Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies), & Vid Prislan (Univ. of Amsterdam - Amsterdam Center for International Law) have published Furthering the Frontiers of International Law: Sovereignty, Human Rights, Sustainable Development - Liber Amicorum Nico Schrijver (Brill | Nijhoff 2021). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This rich collection focuses on the broad research interests of Professor Nico Schrijver, in whose honour it was created. Written by a wide range of international scholars affiliated with Leiden University's Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, the essays reflect Professor Schrijver's important contribution to academia and practice, particularly in the fields of sovereignty, human rights and sustainable development. The authors aim to reflect on changes in international law and on new developments in the diverse fields they explore. "Furthering frontiers" is the research theme of the Grotius Centre. Its exploration in this thought-provoking volume is a fitting homage to Nico Schrijver's achievements on the occasion of his retirement as Chair of Public International Law of Leiden University.

Freedman, Lemay-Hébert, & Wills: The Law and Practice of Peacekeeping: Foregrounding Human Rights

Rosa Freedman (Univ. of Reading), Nicolas Lemay-Hébert (Australian National Univ.), & Siobhán Wills (Ulster Univ.) have published The Law and Practice of Peacekeeping: Foregrounding Human Rights (Cambridge Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

In an increasingly complex world, it is more crucial than ever to have a full picture of how international peacekeeping can be a force for good, but can also have potentially negative impacts on host communities. After thirteen years of presence in Haiti, the highly controversial United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti has now withdrawn. The UN's legacy in Haiti is not all negative, but it does include sexual scandals, the divisive use of force to 'clean up' difficult neighbourhoods as well as a cholera epidemic, brought inadvertently by Nepalese peacekeepers that killed more than 8,000 Haitians and infected more than 600,000. This book presents a unique multi-disciplinary analysis of the legacy of the mission for Haiti. It presents an innovative account of contemporary international peacekeeping law and practice, arguing for a new model of accountability, going beyond the outdated immunity mechanisms to foreground human rights.

New Issue: International Peacekeeping

The latest issue of International Peacekeeping (Vol. 28, no. 4, 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Lara Klossek & Elisabeth Johansson-Nogués, The Female ‘Boot on the Ground’: Indian Ambivalence Over Gender Mainstreaming in UN Peacekeeping Operations
• Timothy Donais & Eric Tanguay, Protection of Civilians and Peacekeeping’s Accountability Deficit
• Oldrich Bures & Eugenio Cusumano, The Anti-Mercenary Norm and United Nations’ Use of Private Military and Security Companies: From Norm Entrepreneurship to Organized Hypocrisy
• Karin Dyrstad, Kristin M. Bakke & Helga M. Binningsbø, Perceptions of Peace Agreements and Political Trust in Post-War Guatemala, Nepal, and Northern Ireland
• Edward Newman, Exploring the UK's Doctrine of Humanitarian Intervention
• Janosch Neil Kullenberg, Overlapping Agendas and Peacekeepers’ Ability to Protect