The Ecological Atlas of International Law
A Chinese Reading of Three Celebrated Works in the Comparative International Law Discourse
In an effort to “identify, analyze, and explain similarities and differencesin how international law is understood, interpreted, applied, and approached by different national and international actors”, comparative international law as a research area has recently received more scholarly attention, at a time when faith in international law’s universality seems to be declining. In light of the dynamics of international power, especially the rise of China, “multiperspectivism” is expected to facilitate …
The ‘Standard of Civilization’ in international law
Intellectual perspectives fom pre-war Japan
Any history of international law in Japan and the discourse on Japan’s semi-civilized status begin with nineteenth-century European encounters. Although there is thick literature on the ‘pre-modern’ international order in the Far East, the normative connection between Japan’s various responses to this order, on the one hand, and its engagement with the nineteenth-century European notion of the standard of civilization, on the other, is not adequately spelled out. I argue …
Brexit means Brexit!?
Zum möglichen Fortgang der Brexit-Odyssee nach der Absage der Abstimmung im britischen Unterhaus
“Brexit means Brexit!“ So lautete das Mantra, das von der britischen Premierministerin im Nachklang zur Brexitentscheidung immer wieder vorgetragen wurde. Das offenbarte nicht nur eine gewisse Hilflosigkeit, sondern zeigte zugleich, dass die noch von David Cameron vornehmlich aus innenpolitischen Gründen initiierte (unverbindliche) Volksbefragung auch aus demokratietheoretischer Sicht keine Meisterleistung war: Nicht weil das Ergebnis „falsch“ gewesen wäre, sondern weil keine Ja-/Nein-Frage gestellt worden war. Formal stand zwar die Entscheidung zwischen …
Are We Living in the “Eastphalian” Moment?
South and East Asian Perspectives on International Law
Diverging views and perspectives on international law are unavoidable. The global span of this body of law and the different geographical, cultural, religious and educational backgrounds of those who work with it contribute importantly to the understanding of its normative frameworks. Multiperspectivism and situatedness thus somewhat seem to be inherent to the DNA of international law (see e.g. here; see also this recent book). The fact that scholars from different countries and continents …
Funding Völkerrechtsblog
The German national research funding organization DFG will support Völkerrechtsblog in the coming years
Since its inception in 2014, Völkerrechtsblog has been run by dedicated volunteers who spent countless hours of their spare time, and sometimes even their own money, on the blog. As workload and expectations have been growing, the time has come to secure more sustainable funding and to further professionalize the blog. We are thus happy to announce that Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), the German national research funding organization, has awarded funding to …
Voting down international law?
Lessons from Switzerland for compensatory constitutionalism
There was quite some relief in Switzerland when it became clear on Sunday 25thNovember that the so called “initiative on democratic self-determination” had been rejected by the voters (the end result with 66 percent no-votes was much clearer than expected). While it is nothing new in Switzerland that popular initiatives are launched which lead to conflicts with international law (just remember the popular initiatives on the ban of minarets, on the …
A power struggle or something more?
The current disqualification saga at the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals
The past six months at the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, the successor organisation of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda (in the following: the Mechanism), have witnessed an unprecedented series of disqualification motions in both the Mladić and Karadžić appeals trials. While the events have been largely claimed to be the result of an internal power struggle between two senior judges at …
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Der Globale Migrationspakt: Zwischen Mythen und Sorgen
Die österreichische Bundesregierung hat bekanntgegeben, dem globalen Migrationspakt fernzubleiben. Ein Schritt, der in Deutschland von der AfD bejubelt wurde. Woher kommt die Skepsis? Fest steht: Um den Text ranken sich zahlreiche Mythen, aber auch Missverständnisse. Grund genug, einige davon aufzuklären.
Why International Investment Law is not violated by the GDPR
In her recent blog article, Vishaka Ramesh claims that International Investment Law is violated by Data Protection Principles around the world, supporting her thesis in particular with rules set out by the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union (GDPR). In her opinion, principles like Data Minimization and Localization are likely to infringe generally accepted principles of investment law, such as the fair and equitable standard of treatment of …
Die neue WSK-Rechtsprechung des IAGMR
Impulse für Arbeitnehmerrechte in Lateinamerika
In einem früheren Post auf diesem Blog hat Lucas Sánchez eine bedeutende Rechtsprechungsänderung des Interamerikanischen Gerichtshofs für Menschenrechte (IAGMR) im Bereich der wirtschaftlichen, sozialen und kulturellen Rechte (WSK-Rechte) thematisiert. Zentral hierfür ist die Entscheidung Lagos del Campo vs. Peru vom August 2017, in welcher der Gerichtshof erstmals die direkte Justiziabilität der WSK-Rechte unter Artikel 26 der Amerikanischen Konvention für Menschenrechte (AMRK) bestätigt. In seiner Reaktion darauf beleuchtete Pedro Villarreal die Auswirkungen dieser Rechtsprechungsänderung für das …
Between Narratives and Borders
Analyzing Ethiopia’s Domestic Labor Migration to the Gulf Countries
A significant number of Ethiopians are migrating to the Gulf countries to work in the domestic labor market. In late 2013, the Ethiopian government passed a temporary ban on labor migration, which was subsequently lifted five years later in January 2018. How have these legal developments shaped the current situation, and what are the major push factors influencing Ethiopian labor migration? Two factors are particularly noteworthy: first, a state monopoly …
Cyber-War oder Cyber-Wahn?
Wenn Ungenauigkeiten im allgemeinen Sprachgebrauch juristische Unterscheidungen gefährden
Der Cyberkrieg ist in aller Munde. Ein aktueller, in den Medien als „Cyberkrieg“ bezeichnete Vorfall vom 4. Oktober betraf die Spionageaffäre in den Niederlanden. Vier Agenten des russischen Geheimdienstes hatten versucht, in das Computernetzwerk der Organisation für ein Chemiewaffenverbot (OPCW) einzudringen, mit dem mutmaßlichen Ziel, die Ermittlungen zum Giftgasangriff auf den abtrünnigen russischen Agenten Skripal und seine Tochter zu sabotieren. Prompt nachdem die niederländischen Behörden über die Spionageaktion informiert hatten, war …
The Direct Justiciability of the Right to Health at the IACtHR
What is the Added Value?
In a previous post, Lucas Sánchez discussed how the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) recently found, for the first time, a direct violation of the right to health in the case of Poblete Vilches vs. Chile. His post examines the shift from an indirect towards a direct justiciability regarding the violation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESC Rights) established in Article 26 of the American Convention on Human …
Im „Handelskrieg“ schweigen die Gesetze
Im gegenwärtigen Disput zwischen den USA auf der einen und einer Reihe von anderen WTO-Mitgliedern auf der anderen Seite stößt das Welthandelsrecht an seine Grenzen. Die US-Zölle verstoßen jedenfalls gegen WTO-Recht, auch eine Berufung auf mögliche Ausnahmen erscheint höchst fragwürdig. Allerdings steht auch die Reaktion der EU auf rechtlich wackeligen Beinen. Die US-Zölle und das WTO-Recht Trumps größte Sorge gilt China, forderte er doch bereits im Zuge seines Wahlkampfs die …
Plausibility and the ICJ
A response to Somos and Sparks
Since the ICJ’s 2001 decision in LaGrand (Germany v US), the Court’s jurisprudence on provisional measures indicated under Article 41 of its Statute has expanded dramatically. This is for two reasons—both, in my mind, connected to LaGrand. In the first place, with the Court having declared its provisional measures binding, it was incumbent upon it to ensure their requirements were clear and predictable. In the second (and in view of …
Taking Trump Seriously
Why international lawyers are at loss in dealing with Trump
In her recent contribution “Trump’s latest attack on international law”, Lena Riemer very accurately points out the threat to international customs and institutions posed by Trump and – currently – by his candidate for the US Supreme Court: Brett Kavanaugh. She demonstrates how Kavanaugh has repeatedly shown disrespect for humanitarian law and human rights in his career as a judge for the Federal Court of Appeals for the District of …
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