Saturday, December 4, 2010

Call for Submissions: Journal of International Law and International Relations

The Journal of International Law and International Relations, a peer-reviewed journal at the University of Toronto, has issued a call for submissions for its forthcoming issue 2 of volume 7. Here's the call:

jilir journal of international law & international relations

Call for Submissions

Volume 7, Issue 2

Deadline for Submissions: January 24th, 2010

The Journal of International Law and International Relations (JILIR) invites submissions from scholars of both International Law and International Relations for its Winter 2011 issue. The Journal is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal that seeks to develop interdisciplinary discourse at the nexus of two dynamic disciplines.

JILIR is welcoming submissions on the wide variety of topics located in the intellectual space jointly occupied by International Law and International Relations.

A joint venture of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and the Munk School of Global Affairs, the Journal's advisory board is comprised of scholars from both International Law and International Relations, including Martti Koskenniemi, Robert Keohane, Benedict Kingsbury, Janice Gross Stein, Michael Byers, Kenneth Abbott, Jose Alvarez, Upendra Baxi, Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Jutta Brunnée, Martha Finnemore, Karen Knop, Stephen Krasner, Friedrich Kratochwil, Oona Hathaway, Réné Provost, Philippe Sands, Shirley Scott, Gerry Simpson, Stephen Toope, and Rob Walker.

Please send submissions via e-mail to submissions@jilir.org, as attachments in Microsoft Word. Please include the author's full contact information (name, institutional affiliation, mailing address, telephone number(s), and e-mail address) in the body of the e-mail. JILIR will consider submissions of all lengths, but prefers works in the range of 20-50 pages.The deadline for submissions is January 24th, 2011.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Yarwood: State Accountability under International Law: Holding States Accountable for a Breach of Jus Cogens Norms

Lisa Yarwood (Univ. of Exeter - Law) has published State Accountability under International Law: Holding States Accountable for a Breach of Jus Cogens Norms (Routledge 2010). Here's the abstract:

This book considers the extent to which States are held accountable for breaches of jus cogens norms under international law. The concept of State accountability is distinguished from the doctrine of State responsibility and refers to an ad hoc practice in international relations that seeks to ensure States do not escape with impunity when they violate norms that are considered fundamental to the interests of the international community as a whole.

State Accountability under International Law sets forth a definition of State accountability and establishes a threshold against which the existence, or not, of State accountability can be determined. Using a Foucauldian influenced interpretive methodology, this book adopts a novel construction of State accountability as having legal, political and even moral characteristics. It argues that the international community seeks to hold States accountable utilising a variety of traditional and non-traditional responses that cumulatively recognise that the institutions that comprise and legitimise the State were instrumental in the particular breach. Using case studies taken from State practice from throughout the twentieth century and covering a range of geographic contexts, the conclusion is that there is evidence that State accountability, as it is conceptualised here, is evolving into a legal principle.

The book draws together the many academic theories relating to accountability that have arisen in various areas of international law including environmental law, human rights and trade law before going on to examine an emerging practice of State accountability. A variety of ad hoc attempts and informal mechanisms are assessed against the threshold of State accountability established, with emphasis being given to practical examples ranging from the accountability of Germany and Japan after World War Two to the current attempts to seek accountability from Russia for former crimes of the USSR.

Vincent: L'OMC et les pays en développement

Philippe Vincent has published L'OMC et les pays en développement (Larcier 2010). Here's the abstract:

Longtemps considérés comme les parents pauvres de la société internationale et quémandeurs de traitements préférentiels, les pays en développement représentent à l'heure actuelle 80% de la population mondiale, et peuvent être perçus à la fois comme de gigantesques marchés potentiels pour les entreprises des pays du Nord et comme des concurrents sans merci sur la scène commerciale internationale.

L'objectif de cet ouvrage est de décrire la façon dont le système commercial multilatéral prend en compte les caractéristiques et les besoins particuliers des pays en développement.

La première partie est consacrée à la description de l'évolution du traitement que ces pays ont reçu tout au long de l'existence de l'Accord général sur les tarifs douaniers et le commerce (de 1947 à 1994).

La seconde partie est consacrée, quant à elle, à une étude exhaustive de leur statut actuel au sein de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce. Les différentes dispositions relatives au traitement spécial et différencié en leur faveur sont mises en évidence, ainsi que leur efficacité parfois toute relative.

L'ouvrage met également l'accent sur le formidable effort de mobilisation dont certains pays du Sud ont fait preuve ces dernières années pour faire entendre leur voix au sein des forums de négociations de l'OMC, ainsi que sur les réformes institutionnelles qui ont permis la prise en compte de la situation particulière de ces pays et l'application effective des dispositions prises en leur faveur.

Eriksen & Emberland: The New International Law: An Anthology

Christoffer C. Eriksen & Marius Emberland have published The New International Law: An Anthology (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2010). Contents include:
  • Ivar Alvik, Marius Emberland, &Christoffer C. Eriksen, Polycentric Decision-making Structures and Fragmented Spheres of Law: A New Generation of International Legal Discourse?
  • Stéphane Beaulac, Thinking Outside the “Westphalian Box”: Dualism, Legal Interpretation and the Contextual Argument
  • Nikolaos Lavranos, Jurisdictional Competition between International Courts and Tribunals: How to Square the Circle?
  • Antoine Buyse, Piercing the Tattered Veil: Housing Restitution in Bosnia as a Case Study of Researching Human Rights with the Help of International Relations Theory
  • Ole Jacob Sending, The Power of Administration: Law and Politics in Global Governance
  • Ivar Alvik, The Hybrid Nature of Investment Treaty Arbitration – Straddling the National/International Divide
  • Ingunn Ikdahl, Competing Notions of Property Rights: Land Rights Reform at the Intersection of the International and the Local
  • Natasha Balendra, International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law: Alternative Frameworks for Interaction
  • Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, Rapprochement and Misrecognition: Humanitarianism as Human Rights Practice
  • Moria Paz, A Non-territorial Ethnic Network and the Making of Human Rights Law: The Case of the Alliance Israélite Universelle
  • Jo Stigen, What’s in the ICC for States?
  • Aristotle Constantinides, ‘Securitizing’ Development: Advantages and Pitfalls of the Security Council’s Involvement in Development Issues
  • Cecilia M. Bailliet, Constitutional Underpinnings for Conscientious Objection in Allegiance to International Public Law Norms pertaining to War
  • Christina Voigt, Sustainable Development in Practice: The Flexibility Mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol
  • Nicolai Nyland, What may be the New International Environmental Law?

New Issue: L'Observateur des Nations Unies

The latest issue of L'Observateur des Nations Unies (# 28, 2010-1) is out. The theme is "Quelle place pour la victime en droit international ?" Contents include:
  • Première Partie – La Victime Entendue Par Le Droit International
    • Hélène Hurpy, L'élargissement de la notion de victime dans la jurisprudence de la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme : développements récents
    • Kornelis Kasper, Victim Status before the European Court of Human Rights – A Practical Overview
    • Huma Haider & Tim Welch, The Use of Protective Measures for Victims and Witnesses and the Balance of Competing Interests under International Law: the Special Case of War Crimes Trials
    • Mark E. Wojcik, False Hope: the Rights of Victims before International Criminal Tribunals
    • Silvestro Stazzone, Victims' Participation in International Criminal Proceeding: the Early Jurisprudence of the International Criminal Court
    • Laurène Graziani, La place de l'enfant victime dans les procédures contentieuses internationales
  • Deuxième Partie – La Victime Écoutée Par Le Droit International
    • Nada Youssef, Le droit à réparation pour les victimes de violations des droits fondamentaux dans le cadre de la transition démocratique
    • Lisa J. Laplante, Evaluating Truth Commissions and Reparations through the Eyes of Victims
    • Isabell Verdier-Büschel, Quelle protection pour la victime en droit de l’Union européenne ? – Un bref état des lieux
    • Caroline Si Bouazza, La montée en puissance de la victime de pratiques anticoncurrentielles dans le droit de l'Union européenne
    • Hana K. Missaoui, Le Léviathan désacralisé : l'État et la notion de victime de pillage de ses ressources naturelles
  • Point D'Appui
    • Anaïd Panossian, L'action du Conseil de sécurité en Somalie : entre lutte contre la piraterie et restauration de l'État
  • Actualité des Juridictions Internationales
    • Thomas Margueritte, L'avis consultatif de la Cour internationale de Justice sur le Kosovo : une occasion manquée

Workshops: Simmons, Wood & Crawford

Beth Simmons (Harvard Univ. - Government) will give a talk today at the New York University School of Law Hauser Globalization Colloquium on "Inter-subjective Frames and Rational Choice: Transnational Crime and the Case of Human Trafficking."

Sir Michael Wood (20 Essex St; formerly, Legal Adviser, Foreign & Commonwealth Office) and James Crawford (Univ. of Cambridge - Law) will give a talk today at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law's Friday Lunchtime Lecture Series on "The ICJ's Kosovo Opinion."

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Doumbe-Bille: Défis énergétiques et droit international

Stéphane Doumbe-Bille has published Défis énergétiques et droit international (Larcier 2010). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Le Centre de droit international de l’université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 coordonne, depuis deux ans, un projet de recherche inter-universitaire sur le thème des défis énergétiques au XXIe siècle à la lumière du droit international. Cette problématique est au cœur des préoccupations de la société internationale actuelle. Elle interpelle donc son droit. Les acteurs du projet, soutenu par la Région Rhône-Alpes et l’université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, ont pu étudier l’impact du défi énergétique sur les mécanismes, notions et aspects essentiels du droit international public, à savoir la souveraineté, les investissements, le droit des organisations internationales, la construction européenne, l’environnement ou encore les droits de l’homme.

Le présent ouvrage collectif, réalisé par les membres des différentes unités de recherche associées au projet (Chaire de droit européen de l’université de Varsovie, Chaire de droit international de l’université d’État de Chisinau, Chaire de droit international de l’université Al Farabi à Almaty, Chaire de droit international de l’université de Bucarest et Centre de droit international de l’université Jean Moulin Lyon 3), en est l’aboutissement scientifique. Publié sous la direction scientifique du Professeur Stéphane Doumbé-Billé, Directeur du Centre de droit international et Coordonnateur de la recherche, il regroupe 18 études en langues française et anglaise autour de trois grands axes : les défis de la souveraineté, notamment la problématique des investissements; les défis de la coopération internationale et régionale, notamment européenne ; les enjeux environnementaux.

Newton: Evolving U.S. Efforts to Support Domestic Accountability

Michael A. Newton (Vanderbilt Univ. - Law) has posted Evolving U.S. Efforts to Support Domestic Accountability (American Society of International Law Discussion Paper Series, November 2010). Here's the abstract:
During the review conference of the International Criminal Court in Kampala, Uganda, the large and well prepared United States delegation announced a new policy of "principled engagement" with the Court. The American Society of International Law commissioned eight expert papers on the direction that engagement should take, with particular focus on four topics: fostering state cooperation with the Court, developing complementarity between national and ICC jurisdiction, strengthening the impact of the Court on victims and witnesses, and shaping the Court’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression. This essay was written as part of the ASIL report and proposes a series of specific recommendations designed to strengthen the principle of complementarity, which in practice may be the fulcrum supporting the long term legitimacy and effectiveness of the ICC as an apolitical arbiter of justice. The Rome Statute established a treaty-based framework for a permanent supranational prosecutorial authority built on the principle that state sovereignty can be subordinated on occasion to the goal of achieving accountability for egregious international crimes. Properly understood and implemented, the jurisdictional relationship between the ICC and sovereign states is conceived as a tiered allocation of authority to adjudicate. The creation of a vertical level of prosecutorial authority that operates as a permanent backdrop to the horizontal relations between sovereign states in large part depended on a delineated mechanism for prioritizing jurisdiction to serve the ends of authentic justice while simultaneously preserving sovereign rights. The balance of adjudicative authority between the ICC and states is therefore the bridge that carries the weight of the entire Court structure. In fact, the complementarity structure was an integral component of the overarching multilateral agreement without which the ICC would arguably not have been created. The unambiguous reaffirmation of the complementarity principle by the Assembly of States Parties at the 2010 Kampala Conference means that the U.S. policy preference for assisting states in strengthening domestic prosecutorial systems should move ahead reflecting a principled harmony of values rather than being misbranded as a manifestation of institutional hostility. In the wake of the Kampala Conference, U.S. policymakers and legislators have a clear window of opportunity to augment the efforts of the Assembly of States Parties by reinvigorating aid to domestic systems seeking to develop or enhance domestic capacity to address the enforcement gap that remains an unfortunate reality.

Roach: Suppressing Somali Piracy – Next Steps

J. Ashley Roach (formerly, U.S. Department of State) has posted an ASIL Insight on Suppressing Somali Piracy – Next Steps.

New Issue: Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht

The latest issue of the Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (Vol. 70, no. 2, 2010) is out. Contents include:
  • Christian Tomuschat, Lisbon - Terminal of the European Integration Process? The Judgement of the German Constitutional Court of 30 June 2009
  • Giacinto della Cananea, Is European Constitutionalism Really "Multilevel"?
  • Jure Vidmar, Confining New International Borders in the Practice of Post-1990 State Creations
  • Robert Muharremi, The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) from the Perspective of Kosovo Constitutional Law

Workshop: Haslan

Emily Haslan (Univ. of Kent - Law) will give a talk today at the Oxford Public International Law Discussion Group on "The Trials of Samo and Tufft and the Development of International Criminal Law."

UPDATE: This workshop has been cancelled due to inclement weather.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

New Volume: Yearbook of Polar Law

The latest volume of the Yearbook of Polar Law (Vol. 2, 2010) is out. Contents include:
  • Gudmundur Alfredsson & Timo Koivurova, Introduction
  • Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, The North: A New Academic Frontier - An Opening Address by the President of Iceland at the Second Akureyri Polar Law Symposium, University of Akureyri 10 September 2009
  • R. Douglas Brubaker, The Arctic – Navigational Issues under International Law of the Sea
  • Timo Koivurova, Governing Arctic Shipping: Finding a Role for the Arctic Council
  • Kamrul Hossain, International Governance in the Arctic: The Law of the Sea Convention with Special Focus on Offshore Oil and Gas
  • Ron Macnab, Nationalizing the Arctic Maritime Commons: UNCLOS Article 76 and the Polar Sea
  • Louis W. Pauly, The Increasing Complexity of Global and Regional Governance: New Context for Polar Law
  • Alyson JK Bailes, Potential Roles of NATO and the EU in High Northern Security
  • Mark Nuttall, Resource Frontier or Extractive Periphery?: The Political Ecology of Oil and Gas in the North
  • Ron Macnab, The Southern and Arctic Oceans: Polar Opposites in Many Respects
  • Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Indigenous Whaling, Protection of the Environment, Intergenerational Rights and Environmental Ethics
  • Md. Waliul Hasanat, Cooperation in the Barents Euro-Arctic Region in the Light of International Law

New Volume: Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law

The latest volume of the Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law (Vol. 14, 2010) is out. Contents include:
  • Ulrich Sieber, Legal Order in a Global World – The Development of a Fragmented System of National, International, and Private Norms
  • Giulia Bigi, Joint Criminal Enterprise in the Jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the Prosecution of Senior Political and Military Leaders: The Krajišnik Case
  • Marco Roscini, World Wide Warfare – Jus ad bellum and the Use of Cyber Force
  • Suzette V. Suarez, Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf
  • Maximilian Spohr, United Nations Human Rights Council
  • Carlos Fernández de Casadevante Romani, International Law of Victims
  • Eugenia López-Jacoiste, The UN Collective Security System and its Relationship with Economic Sanctions and Human Rights
  • Katya Göcke, The Case of Ángela Poma Poma v. Peru before the Human Rights Committee
  • Katrin Tiroch, Violence against Women by Private Actors: The Inter-American Court’s Judgment in the Case of Gonzalez et al. (“Cotton Field”) v. Mexico
  • Sonja Neudorfer & Claudia Wernig, Implementation of International Treaties into National Legal Orders: The Protection of the Rights of the Child within the Austrian Legal System
  • Katarina Weilert, Taming the Untamable? Transnational Corporations in United Nations Law and Practice
  • Michael Ioannidis, Naming a State – Disputing over Symbols of Statehood at the Example of “Macedonia”

Carmody: Is Our House in Order? Canada's Implementation of International Law

Chios Carmody (Univ. of Western Ontario - Law) has posted Is Our House in Order? Canada's Implementation of International Law (McGill-Queen's Univ. Press 2010). Contents include:
  • Chios Carmody, Introduction: Is Our House in Order? Canada’s Implementation of International Law
  • Michael Byers, Canada’s Implementation of International Law: Why It Matters
  • Armand de Mestral, The Relationship of International and Domestic Law as Understood in Canada
  • Stéphane Paquin, Federalism and Multi-Level Governance in Foreign Affairs:A Comparison of Canada and Belgium
  • Jaye Ellis, On the Nature and Meaning of International Legal Obligation: Canada’s Responses to Kyoto
  • Lucie Lamarche, Economic and Social Rights in an Era of Governance and Governance Arrangements in Canada: The Need to Re-visit the Issue of the Implementation of International Human Rights Law
  • Chios Carmody, Canada’s Implementation of the WTO Agreement
  • Anthony R. Daimsis, Canada’s Indoor Arbitration Management: Making Good on Promises to the Outside World
  • Robert J. Currie, Libman at Twenty-five; or, Canada and Qualified Territoriality: Do We Understand Jurisdiction Yet?
  • Christopher K. Penny, Domestic Reception and Application of International Humanitarian Law: Coming Challenges forCanadian Courts in the “Campaign against Terror”
  • Dwight G. Newman, Letting the Elephants Watch the Mice: The Surrender of Canadian Anti-Bribery Legislation to American Jurisdiction
  • Margaret Ann Wilkinson, Confidential Information and Privacy-Related Law in Canada and in International Instruments

Workshop: Davis & Kingsbury

Kevin Davis (New York Univ. - Law) & Benedict Kingsbury (New York Univ. - Law) will give a talk today at the New York University School of Law Hauser Globalization Colloquium on "Obligation Overload: Adjusting the Obligations of Fragile or Failed States."

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Conference: 2011 ILA British Branch Spring Conference (Update)

Due to the royal wedding, the International Law Association British Branch's spring 2011 conference, which will be hosted by the Sheffield Centre for International and European Law, will now take place on April 27-28, 2011 (not April 28-29). The pre-conference PhD workshop will now take place on April 26 (not April 27). The deadline for the call for papers is still tomorrow, December 1.

Romano: A Taxonomy of International Rule of Law Institutions

Cesare P.R. Romano (Loyola Law School Los Angeles) has posted A Taxonomy of International Rule of Law Institutions (Journal of International Dispute Settlement, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

It has often been said that one of the most remarkable features of international law and relations since the end of the Cold War has been the rapid multiplication of international institutions controlling implementation of international law and/or settling disputes arising out of its interpretation and implementation. Yet, the sheer dimensions of the phenomenon, with well over 142 bodies and procedures, has defied many attempts to comprehensively map this fast growing sector of international relations.

This article has three aims. The first is limited. First, it updates previous classifications of international courts and tribunals and dispute settlement bodies. The second aim is a bit more ambitious. It is time to revise some of the categories and criteria of classification commonly employed in the field. More than a decade of scholarship in the field by legal scholars and political scientists has made it possible to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon. The abundance of data over a sufficiently long time-span is making it possible to start moving away from a mere “folk taxonomy” towards a more rigorous scientific classification.

The hallmark of truly scientific classifications is that classifying is only the final step of a process, and a classification only the means to communicate the end results. Besides making it possible to discover and describe, scientific classifications crucially enable prediction of new entities and categories. Thus, the third aim of this article is to attempt to discern some trends and make some predictions about future developments in this increasingly relevant field of international law and relations.

Hurd: By the Book: Bush's Memoirs and the Rule of Law

Ian Hurd (Northwestern Univ. - Political Science) has posted By the Book: Bush's Memoirs and the Rule of Law. Here's the abstract:
The publication of President Bush’s memoirs has put the American government in a sensitive legal position. By admitting that he personally approved waterboarding, Mr. Bush may have made a formal declaration of state-sponsored torture. This has significant consequences for him and for the United States: for the U.S. it activates elements of the Convention Against Torture which require an investigation, and for Mr. Bush it opens the possibility of personal criminal liability under the U.S. Criminal Code on torture and similar laws in other countries. This paper examines the legal liability that follows from his admission, and compares several recent cases of heads of state who found themselves in similar situations.

Armstrong, et al.: Civil Society and International Governance: The Role of Non-State Actors in the EU, Africa, Asia and Middle East

David Armstrong, Valeria Bello, Julie Gilson, & Debora Spini have published Civil Society and International Governance: The Role of Non-State Actors in the EU, Africa, Asia and Middle East (Routledge 2010). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Structures and processes occurring within and between states are no longer the only – or even the most important - determinants of those political, economic and social developments and dynamics that shape the modern world. Many issues, including the environment, health, crime, drugs, migration and terrorism, can no longer be contained within national boundaries. As a result, it is not always possible to identify the loci for authority and legitimacy, and the role of governments has been called into question.

Civil Society and International Governance critically analyses the increasing impact of nongovernmental organisations and civil society on global and regional governance. Written from the standpoint of advocates of civil society and addressing the role of civil society in relation to the UN, the IMF, the G8 and the WTO, this volume assess the role of various non-state actors from three perspectives: theoretical aspects, civil society interaction with the European Union and civil society and regional governance outside Europe, specifically Africa, East Asia and the Middle East. It demonstrates that civil society’s role has been more complex than one defined in terms, essentially, of resistance and includes actual participation in governance as well as multi-facetted contributions to legitimising and democratising global and regional governance.

Muldoon, et al.: The New Dynamics of Multilateralism: Diplomacy, International Organizations, and Global Governance

James P. Muldoon, Jr., JoAnn Fagot Aviel, Richard Reitano, & Earl Sullivan have published The New Dynamics of Multilateralism: Diplomacy, International Organizations, and Global Governance (Westview Press 2010). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:
This timely new book focuses on the various dynamics of contemporary multilateralism as it relates to global issues, global governance, and global institutions. Invited authorities, including academics, business people, and members of international groups, contribute original essays on how multilateralism as an institution has been affected by globalization, the rise of civil society and global business, emerging economic and political conditions, and new threats to peace and security in the world. Emphasizing practical applications over theoretical foundations, The New Dynamics of Multilateralism helps students understand how the practice of multilateral diplomacy has been influenced by the changes in the processes and procedures of international organizations and the role of multilateralism in the transformation of the international system of governance and the transition to an emerging new global order.

New Issue: Human Rights Quarterly

The latest issue of the Human Rights Quarterly (Vol. 32, no. 4, November 2010) is out. Contents include:
  • Charles G. Ngwena, Inscribing Abortion as a Human Right: Significance of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa
  • Jeroen Temperman, State Neutrality in Public School Education: An Analysis of the Interplay Between the Neutrality Principle, the Right to Adequate Education, Children's Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief, Parental Liberties, and the Position of Teachers
  • Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann, Mugabe's Zimbabwe, 2000-2009: Massive Human Rights Violations and the Failure to Protect
  • Adam Rosenblatt, International Forensic Investigations and the Human Rights of the Dead
  • Mauro Barelli, The Interplay Between Global and Regional Human Rights Systems in the Construction of the Indigenous Rights Regime
  • Tricia D. Olsen, Leigh A. Payne, & Andrew G. Reiter, The Justice Balance: When Transitional Justice Improves Human Rights and Democracy
  • Jeffrey H. Toney, Hank Kaplowitz, Rongsun Pu, Feng Qi, & George Chang, Science and Human Rights: A Bridge Towards Benefiting Humanity

Monday, November 29, 2010

Schneiderman: Investing in Democracy? Political Process and International Investment Law

David Schneiderman (Univ. of Toronto - Law) has published Investing in Democracy? Political Process and International Investment Law (Univ. of Toronto Law Journal, Vol. 60, no. 4, Fall 2010). Here's the abstract:
International investment law is rushing to stake out the high ground of democratic theory. It has been claimed that the interests of foreign investors ordinarily will not be represented within a host state's political processes and so investors deserve heightened protection from policy decisions that adversely affect investment interests. I argue in the present article that this smuggling of democratic theory and constitutional postulates into international investment law is inapt and, as an empirical matter, inaccurate. By looking to the us origins of political process doctrine, I argue that its invocation by international investment tribunals is inapposite given the doctrine's concern with relegating ordinary economic regulation to relaxed scrutiny. Nor is reference to the European experience all that helpful – representation reinforcement review has not been a hallmark of European jurisprudence. I claim that this worry over democratic processes masks an attempt at legitimating controversial review by investment tribunals of high public-policy matters. Moreover, as empirical studies suggest, this solicitude offered to investors by political process review is mostly unwarranted as foreign corporate actors can and do shape host domestic policy.

New Issue: Die Friedens-Warte

The latest issue of Die Friedens-Warte (2010, no. 3) is out. The theme is "Friedenspädagogik." Contents include:
  • Werner Wintersteiner, Friedenspädagogik als transformative Bildung
  • Norbert Frieters-Reermann, Frieden lernen aus systemisch-konstruktivistischer Perspektive. Ein Beitrag zur überfälligen Theoriediskussion innerhalb der Friedenspädagogik
  • Volker Lenhart, Alamara Karimi, & Tobias Schäfer, Peace Education Does Matter! Zwischenergebnisse eines Forschungsvorhabens zur Friedenspädagogik in Konfliktgebieten
  • Qamar-ul Huda, Peace Education in Muslim Societies and in Islamic Institutions
  • Uli Jäger, Nadine Ritzi, & Anne Romund, „Peace Counts on Tour“ – Friedenspädagogik in Konfliktregionen
  • Bettina Gruber & Daniela Rippitsch, Über die Grenzen lernen. Die Alpen-Adria-Sommer-Friedensuniversität. Von einer Kriegskultur zu einer Friedenskultur im Alpen-Adria-Raum

Trondal et al.: Unpacking International Organisations: The dynamics of compound bureaucracies

Jarle Trondal, Martin Marcussen, Torbjörn Larsson, & Frode Veggeland have published Unpacking International Organisations: The dynamics of compound bureaucracies (Manchester Univ. Press 2010). Here's the abstract:

This book introduces international bureaucracy as a key field of study for public administration and also rediscovers it as an essential ingredient in the study of international organisations. To what extent, how and why do international bureaucracies challenge and supplement the inherent Westphalian intergovernmental order based on territorial sovereignty? To what extent, how and why do international bureaucracies supplement the existing international intergovernmental order with a multi-dimensional international order subjugated by a compound set of decision-making dynamics?

International bureaucracies constitute a distinct and increasingly important feature of public administration studies. However, the role of international bureaucracies has been largely neglected in most social science sub-disciplines. This book takes a first step into a third generation of international organisation (IO) studies.

Inaugural Issue: Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies

The inaugural issue of the Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies (Vol. 1, no. 1, October 2010) is out. Contents include:
  • Marco Sassòli, Taking Armed Groups Seriously: Ways to Improve their Compliance with International Humanitarian Law
  • Geoffrey Corn, Mixing Apples and Hand Grenades: The Logical Limit of Applying Human Rights Norms to Armed Conflict
  • Roberta Cohen & Megan Bradley, Disasters and Displacement: Gaps in Protection
  • William H. Boothby, Direct Participation in Hostilities - A Discussion of the ICRC Interpretive Guidance
  • Sven Peterke, Urban Insurgency, ‘Drug War’ and International Humanitarian Law: The Case of Rio de Janeiro
  • Gus Waschefort, Justice for Child Soldiers? The RUF Trial of the Special Court for Sierra Leone

Call for Papers: Global Governance as Public Authority: Structures, Contestation, and Normative Change

The Hertie School of Governance has issued a call for papers for a workshop on "Global Governance as Public Authority: Structures, Contestation, and Normative Change," to be held on April 15-16, 2010, in Berlin. Here's the call:

Call for Papers

Global Governance as Public Authority: Structures, Contestation, and Normative Change

Berlin, 15 & 16 April 2011

Global governance has gained increasing importance in politics, law, and other realms of public order. This is reflected in the growing contestation over global issues among governments, NGOs, and other domestic and trans-national institutions. Much of this contestation draws its force from conceptual analogies with ‘traditional rule’: it assumes that institutions of global governance exercise public authority in a similar way as domestic government and reclaims central norms of domestic political tradition, such as democracy and the rule of law, in the global context. Scrutinising this assumption, the workshop aims to shed light on the processes that underpin change in global governance. What is the content of new normative claims? Which continuities and discontinuities with domestic traditions characterise global governance? How responsive are domestic structures to global governance? How is global governance anchored in societies? And which challenges arise from the autonomy demands of national (and sometimes other) communities?

We invite contributions on the broader theme of public authority in global governance and encourage in particular submissions on the three sub-topics outlined below. The workshop will gather 20-25 scholars from different disciplines for an in-depth debate on the proposed topics. We will be happy to receive proposals from scholars at any level – PhD students at an advanced stage, postdoctoral and more senior researchers alike. Travel and accommodation allowances of €200-400 will be provided (depending on travel distance and actual expenses).

Keynote speaker: Andrew Hurrell (University of Oxford)

Chairs and Discussants include: Markus Jachtenfuchs, Nico Krisch & Eva G. Heidbreder (HSoG, Berlin), Sabine Saurugger (IEP Grenoble), Michael Zürn (WZB Berlin).

Organisers: Nico Krisch, Eva Heidbreder, Markus Jachtenfuchs

Panels

1. The Normative Framework of Global Public Authority: Continuities and Discontinuities

Normative claims about international institutions classically took a form quite distinct from domestic political traditions. They focused on sovereign equality, the limits of delegatory relationships, and protection from overreach. With the intensification of global governance, the two-level image underlying these claims has been eroded, and realisation of the more independent and direct force of many processes of global governance has grown. In response, normative claims have shifted, and they often have recourse to domestic concepts of legitimate government. In this panel, we ask: how far has this shift gone? How similar and dissimilar are conceptions of legitimate government in the domestic and global contexts? Which paradigms are emerging, which are being buried? To what extent have they found a legal form? What are the main lines of contestation?

2. Autonomy-preserving Global Governance: Tensions between National Sovereignty and International Problem-Solving

The debate on global governance usually depicts the creation of strong international institutions as progress because they promise to increase the problem-solving capacity of national governments. However, global governance institutions face increasing legitimacy problems as they also trigger growing politicisation and resistance; they are are increasingly seen as interfering too much into domestic policy choices. This reveals a fundamental dilemma: strengthening or even ‘constitutionalising’ international institutions may increase their problem-solving capacity but exacerbate legitimacy concerns and protest. At the same time, defending national sovereignty reduces national problem-solving capacity, which is at odds with the normative goal of effective (and not merely formal) self-determination. Against this backdrop, the guiding question is how global or regional governance arrangements cope with the tension between international problem-solving and national policy autonomy. Which rules are used to maximize one or the other? Which balance is struck between both goals? Which conflicts emerge, and what are their consequences?

3. The Public Administration of Global Governance: National Bureaucracies and International Rule

Public administrations are the backbone of democratic governance. Bureaucracies are central players both in the formulation and implementation of policies. Despite the raising awareness of global policy challenges and global governance responses, bureaucracies themselves remain deeply rooted in state structures. The session invites work that focuses on how public administrations adapt to and function under conditions of global governance. Relevant questions include the internal organisation of public administrations, the networks by which bureaucracies feed into policy decisions outside their narrower national context and innovations in policy instruments to implement policies that have been designed outside the legal realm of the state, as well as questions about normative and accountability issues implied by a trend toward increasing global governance.

Paper Application

Abstracts (max 300 words) to heidbreder@hertie-school.org till 15 December 2010

Final Paper submission due by 1 April 2011

Workshop Date and Venue

15 & 16 April 2011

Hertie School of Governance, Berlin

Organisers

Global Governance Group

Hertie School of Governance

Friedrichstr. 18010117 Berlin

Germany

Tel.: +49 (0)30 - 259 219 - 334

Fax: +49 (0)30 - 259 219 -111

New Issue: International Organizations Law Review

The latest issue of the International Organizations Law Review (Vol. 7, no. 1, 2010) is out. Contents include:
  • Richard Collins & Nigel D. White, Moving Beyond the Autonomy-Accountability Dichotomy: Reflections on Institutional Independence in the International Legal Order
  • Symposium: Responsibility of International Organizations and of (Member) States: Attributed or Direct Responsibility or Both?
    • Pieter Jan Kuijper, Introduction
    • Niels Blokker, Abuse of the Members: Questions concerning Draft Article 16 of the Draft Articles on Responsibility of International Organizations
    • Esa Paasivirta, Responsibility of a Member state of an International Organization: Where Will It End? Comments on Article 60 of the ILC Draft on the Responsibility of International Organizations
    • August Reinisch, Aid or Assistance and Direction and Control between States and International Organizations in the Commission of Internationally Wrongful Acts
  • Eric De Brabandere, Immunity of International Organizations in Post-conflict International Administrations
  • Cedric Ryngaert, The Immunity of International Organizations Before Domestic Courts: Recent Rrends
  • Edith Drieskens, Beyond Chapter VIII: Limits and Opportunities for Regional Representation at the UN Security Council
  • Cristián Gimenez Corte, The Forms of International Institutional Law: An Historical Analysis of the scheduling Decisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Taken by the United Nations' Commission on Narcotics Drugs

Sunday, November 28, 2010

New Issue: Arbitration International

The latest issue of Arbitration International (Vol. 26, no. 4, 2010) is out. Contents include:
  • Veijo Heiskane, And/Or: The Problem of Qualification in International Arbitration
  • S.I. Strong, From Class to Collective: The De-Americanization of Class Arbitration
  • Wei Shen, Leaning Towards a More Liberal Stance? – An Evaluation of Substantive Protection Provisions under the New ASEAN–China Investment Agreement in Light of Chinese BIT Jurisprudence
  • Jeff Waincymer, Reconciling Conflicting Rights in International Arbitration: The Right to Choice of Counsel and the Right to an Independent and Impartial Tribunal
  • Sam Luttrell, Australia Adopts the ‘Real Danger’ Test for Arbitrator Bias
  • Jean Ho, The Meaning of ‘Investment’ in ICSID Arbitrations