Dense struggle (I): violence and the otherworldly
21.09.2015
This post appeared first on Critical Legal Thinking. How can we make sense of popular struggles in this period of late capitalist modernity? What do the experiences, voices, and visions...
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Von sichtbarer und unsichtbarer Gewalt.
18.09.2015
Am 2. September 2015 ertrank Aylan Kurdi bei dem Versuch, in Europa Schutz zu finden, nachdem er mit seiner Familie aus Kobane, Syrien, geflohen war. Sein Bruder und seine Mutter...
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AjV-Workshop: International Law and Domestic Law-Making Processes
04.09.2015
Conference Report When do domestic legislators legislate because of international law? When do national parliaments act as opposition in international law? More generally, how can the complex interplay between domestic...
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The pandemic dilemma
31.08.2015
A reply to Pedro Villarreal Pedro Villareal wonders whether and how global health security can be enhanced through international law. He raises two interrelated questions: First, should an expert body...
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Reforms of the World Health Organization in light of the Ebola crisis in West Africa
26.08.2015
The 68th World Health Assembly took place from 18 to 26 May, 2015. The Assembly is the maximum decision-making organ of the World Health Organization (WHO). In this forum, there...
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Practitioner’s Corner: MONUSCO – an inside view into a peacekeeping mission
24.08.2015
The “Practitioner’s Corner” gives the floor to practicing international lawyers. Their accounts illustrate the diversity of work within the field of international law and offer personal insights into the practice of...
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The proportionality critique still stands
12.08.2015
A Rejoinder to Johann Ruben Leiss Johann Ruben Leiss critically remarks that the perception underlying my original post “overburdens proportionality balancing with assumptions and expectations that do not reflect its...
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Towards an integrated, predictable and coherent international legal system
10.08.2015
A response to Sué González Hauck In her post Sué González Hauck provides a thoughtful and critical perspective on proportionality balancing as a means to overcome fragmentation in international law. In...
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A critique of proportionality balancing as a harmonization technique in international law
05.08.2015
Since the publication of the Fragmentation Report by the International Law Commission, international legal scholars and practitioners alike seem to be less concerned about the theoretical questions raised by the...
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Respect and protection of international law beyond the borders (of human rights)
24.06.2015
A response to Heta Heiskanen & Juka Viljanen Heta-Elena Heiskanen and Jukka Viljanen kindly invited me to comment on their blog note discussing certain points stemming from their recent paper...
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Extraterritoriality and lowering the exceptional circumstances threshold
22.06.2015
Heta Heiskanen
Jukka Viljanen
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) provides in Article 1 that “the High Contracting Parties shall secure to everyone within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in Section...
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Die schwierige Aufgabe der Humanisierung des humanitären Völkerrechts:
17.06.2015
Der Europäische Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte (EGMR) steht vor schwierigen Entscheidungen hinsichtlich der Anwendung der Konventionsrechte im bewaffneten Konflikt (vgl. Georgien gg. Russland (II) und Ukraine gg. Russland (I-III)). Für die...
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Why proportionality struggles when it comes to power
10.06.2015
Testing proportionality appears to be a thoroughly theorized method for legal problems of all kinds. It pervades domestic, European and international law, and the Treaty of the EU even extended...
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The struggle for legislative powers
04.06.2015
A power struggle is ongoing in the East African Community – a struggle for legislative power. In the most recent edition of “Law and Politics in Asia, Africa, and Latin...
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Identifying even more common ground:
01.06.2015
Felix Boor
Karsten Nowrot
A response to Sebastian Wuschka and Rebecca Crootof In order to avoid the undesirable consequence of becoming outmoded by newly invented methods and means of combat, the normative regime of the ius in...
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Autonomous weapon systems and proportionality
27.05.2015
A response to Sebastian Wuschka and Rebecca Crootof Recently, two statements on autonomous weapon systems have been published on this blog. In his post, Sebastian Wuschka argues that, because they...
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‘Who may now speak’?
20.05.2015
A response to Ioana Cismas What is and what should be the role of faith-based actors in transitional justice (TJ)? Ioana Cismas enquires whether the engagement of TJ with religious...
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Religious actors and transitional justice
13.05.2015
A teary-eyed Desmond Tutu during a public hearing of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is emblematic for the South African transitional justice (TJ) process to the extent that examining the...
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Owada and the whale: a Rejoinder
08.05.2015
The arguments provided by James Harrison as to why the ICJ conducted an inversion of the burden of proof in the Whaling Case appear sound and conclusive; but they are...
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Onus probandi in the Whaling Case – a comment
06.05.2015
It is perhaps no surprise that Japan has decided to resume its scientific whaling following the judgment of the International Court of Justice in March 2014. After all, the Court...
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Owada and the whale
04.05.2015
Japan is out whaling again. One year after the ICJ decision that found that Japan’s whaling program in the Antarctic was not in accordance with the International Convention for the...
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Individual compensation reloaded
30.04.2015
On 30 April, the Appeals Court of Cologne will rule on whether Germany has to pay compensation to victims of an airstrike in Afghanistan. Its judgment is likely to consolidate...
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“And now for something completely different” – Greece vs. Germany
29.04.2015
A response to Ioannis Kalpouzos After sticking fingers – fake, real or fake fake – the latest chapter in the story between Germany and Greece recently has seen Greece requesting the...
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The law and politics of Greece’s claims for German war reparations
27.04.2015
“The historical roots of the European Union lie in the Second World War”, according to the EU’s official website. It is then perhaps not surprising that in the current tumult...
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Autonomous weapon systems and proportionality
15.04.2015
A response to Sebastian Wuschka An autonomous weapon system is “a weapon system that, based on conclusions derived from gathered information and preprogrammed constraints, is capable of independently selecting and engaging targets.”...
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Proportionality assessments under IHL – A human thing?
13.04.2015
The employment of drones for targeted killings has triggered a debate on the use of lethal force without direct human presence at the battlefield. Regarding the legal framework for today's...
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May it please the Court – A danced pleading
11.03.2015
A response to the posts by Miriam Aziz and Mareike Riedel In her latest piece, Miriam Aziz elaborates on the similarities between (international) law and dance, drawing attention to the “perfect...
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Palestine’s statehood and its accession to the Rome Statute
09.03.2015
A response to Robin Caballero Daniel Ventura Robin Caballero’s post highlighted the will of many national parliaments to see their state’s executive proceed to the legal recognition of Palestine. To...
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The magic effect of UN resolutions
06.03.2015
Last week, the Court of Justice of the EU delivered its judgment on an unusual asylum case. It had to decide whether and under what conditions non-combat military personnel fearing...
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Why bury CBDRRC alive?
04.03.2015
A response to Katrin Kohoutek Although there is a need for a new dynamic, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities remains the cornerstone of the on-going climate...
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Palestine: do the recognitions of its statehood by European national parliaments matter?
02.03.2015
On 17th December 2014, the European Parliament passed a resolution in favour of the recognition of Palestinian statehood. Since the beginning of Autumn 2014, many national Parliaments of the European...
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Many presumptions and no guarantees
27.02.2015
Yesterday, several (German) newspapers reported that the ECJ empowered the Bavarian Administrative Court in Shepherd v. Germany C-472/13 to examine whether or not the United States committed war crimes in...
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In Search of a Shared Grammar
23.02.2015
A response to the post by Miriam Aziz. In her insightful and inspiring piece ”Law as Ballet: A Global Pas de Deux“ Miriam Aziz invites us to explore the commonalities...
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Die „rules of the game“ der Rule of Law-Förderung
20.02.2015
Eine Replik auf Matthias Kötter Ein Durchbruch: Nach über 60 Jahren des juristischen Engagements in der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (EZ) verspricht die „zweite Generation“ internationaler Rule of Law-Förderung, die Defizite der bisherigen...
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Law as Ballet: a global pas de deux
18.02.2015
The modern dancer and choreographer Martha Graham once said, "Nothing is more revealing than movement". The reception of global law into domestic legal orders is first and foremost a cognitive...
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Rule of Law-Förderung jenseits des Staatsaufbaus?
16.02.2015
Dieser Beitrag setzt die Kooperation des Völkerrechtsblogs mit der „Verfassung und Recht in Übersee" fort, deren aktuelle Ausgabe mit einem frei zugänglichen Beitrag vom selben Autor soeben erschienen ist. Die internationale...
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The funeral of CBDR in the climate change regime
11.02.2015
Despite some progress, the draft elements of the future agreement on climate change may serve as the gravestone to the common but differentiated responsibility principle when it comes to climate....
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„Vor săvoteze, lăsați-i săvoteze!“*
02.02.2015
(*“Sie wollen wählen, lasst Ihnen ihre Stimme!“ So der Aufruf zu solidarischen Protesten innerhalb Rumäniens mit den Auslandsrumänen) Kilometerlange Schlangen, verstopfte Straßenzüge und zunehmend empörte rumänische Staatsbürger*innen – die Bilder,...
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Hirsi Jamaa und Andere
28.01.2015
Eine Replik zum Beitrag von Mareike Gebhardt In ihrem Beitrag weißt Mareike Gebhardt auf zahlreiche Fehlentwicklungen, Widersprüche und Abgründe im gegenwärtigen Menschenrechtsdiskurs und allgemeiner im gegenwärtigen Diskurs zur Legitimität des...
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Alterität und Menschenrechte
26.01.2015
Wie kann eine Demokratie in den Zeiten globalisierter Märkte ihre staatliche Integrität und politische Souveränität wahren ohne die Anderen zu missachten? Strengere Gesetzgebungen zu Migrations- und Flüchtlingspolitiken sind sicherlich eine...
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Re: European patients and African remedies
21.01.2015
A response to Stefan Salomon The main question, presented by Stefan Salomon is this – “what might African customary laws have to do with the politics of international law and...
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European patients and African remedies
19.01.2015
At the core is the question, what African customary laws might have to do with the politics of international law and international law itself? At the outset, I admit that...
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Is civilian harm tracking a sensible idea?
14.01.2015
A response to Ellen Policinski Ellen Policinski makes a persuasive case for the more widespread and systematic employment of civilian harm tracking. Let me tackle the matter from a different...
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Civilian harm tracking: an important tool during armed conflict
12.01.2015
Civilian harm is a tragic consequence of armed conflict. Incidental civilian harm - or collateral damage – is prevalent in modern conflicts, which often involve armed groups operating from within...
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“If you want a future, … why not get a past?” (Cole Porter, “Let’s Misbehave”)
07.12.2014
A response to the post by Alexandra Kemmerer As Nietzsche argues in one of his Untimely Meditations, the turn to history is always rooted in the needs of the present...
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Wie lässt sich die Einhaltung des humanitären Völkerrechts durch bewaffnete Gruppen verbessern?
03.12.2014
Eine Replik zum Beitrag von Marco Sassoli. Dass das in bewaffneten Konflikten anwendbare humanitäre Völkerrecht alle Konfliktparteien bindet, einschließlich nicht-staatlicher Akteure, wird nicht bestritten. Allerdings bestehen unterschiedliche Ansätze, diese Bindung...
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Völkerrecht von und für nicht-staatliche Handelnde
01.12.2014
Trotz aller modernen Theorien bleibt Völkerrecht besessen vom Phänomen des Staates. Die internationale Wirklichkeit ist hingegen immer mehr (auch) von nicht-staatlichen Handelnden geprägt. (more…)
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Mehr Bürokratie wagen!
26.11.2014
Das kommende Jahr soll ein großes werden für die Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), denn die erste von drei Säulen einer südostasiatischen Gemeinschaft soll vollendet werden. 2003 beschlossen die...
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The course of true law never did run smooth
24.11.2014
Martti Koskenniemi’s “From Apology to Utopia” remains an enigma. Since it appeared 25 years ago, generations of lawyers have come to adore it. The fan group even comprises a considerable...
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Legal blogs follow tradition, too
20.11.2014
A reply to Katharina Isabel Schmidt In her insightful and very pertinent blog post on legal formats, Katharina Isabel Schmidt takes a comparative look at law journals and legal formats...
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On American “dilettantism” and German “pedantry”
17.11.2014
Almost by necessity, the cultural and institutional features of legal knowledge production differ from one system to the next. Like law itself, they are a product of history, borne out...
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Resolution 2178 und ihre Auswirkungen auf die Bundesrepublik
10.11.2014
Am 25. September 2014 hat der Sicherheitsrat der vereinten Nationen die Resolution 2178 verabschiedet. Die Resolution enthält ein Maßnahmenpaket gegen die Gefahren, die von international zugereisten Milizionären in bewaffneten Konflikten...
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Regulatory decision-making in the context of uncertain standards
07.11.2014
A response to the post by Machiko Kanetake Machiko Kanetake's post highlights the difficulties faced by transnational scientific bodies such as ICNIRP and IPCC, which have to manoeuvre between political,...
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PR-Problem oder Clash of Cultures?
05.11.2014
Eine Replik auf Alexander Tischbirek Angesichts der zurückhaltenden Rezeption internationaler Menschenrechtspakte in der deutschen Rechtswissenschaft und Rechtspraxis bescheinigt Alexander Tischbirek den internationalen Menschenrechtsabkommen ein gleich doppeltes PR-Problem. Zum einen würden...
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Haben die internationalen Menschenrechte ein PR-Problem?
03.11.2014
Die internationalen Menschenrechtsübereinkommen tragen wie keine anderen Rechtsakte das Versprechen einer Weltgesellschaft, einer Selbstentfaltung als Weltbürgerin und eines aufgeklärten, toleranten und friedlichen Neben- und Miteinanders in sich. In den internationalen...
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Justa piratica – or rather Hobbes State of Nature on the High Seas?
30.10.2014
A response to the post by James Pattison James Pattison’s argument points at the heart of the debate of the international fight against Somali piracy: Have Somali pirates acted on...
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On the Ethics of Piracy
28.10.2014
The use of force against pirates is politically uncontroversial. As I outline in more detail in my recently published article in the Review of International Studies (on which this blog...
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Transnational Science-Based Standards on Radiation: A Japanese Experience
22.10.2014
The readers of this blog might have heard of “millisieverts” or “becquerel”. These are the units of radiation dose and emission. While these notions are primarily the commodities of scientific...
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International organizations soon blocked by EU’s external powers?
21.10.2014
A comment on ECJ Grand chamber judgment of 7 October 2014, C-399/12, Germany v. Council On October 7th, in a Grand Chamber judgment, the European Court of Justice has dramatically...
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Pebble in the shoe or elephant in the room?
17.10.2014
A Response to the post by Adrian Di Giovanni In his post, Adrian Di Giovanni drew our attention to the notion of Do No Harm, focusing on the context of...
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A Pebble in the shoe
15.10.2014
My paper published in the last edition of ‘Law and Politics in Asia, Africa and Latin America’ (VRU) is the product of bureaucratic wanderings. Over a number of years, in...
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Practitioner’s Corner: Working for Peace in Afghanistan
06.10.2014
Magdalena G. Aguilar Pulido
The "Practitioner's Corner" gives the floor to practicing international lawyers. Their accounts illustrate the diversity of work within the field of international law and offer personal insights into the practice of...
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Whom to Obey?
01.10.2014
A reply to Theresa Züger Theresa Züger argues compellingly for using political philosophy to understand civil disobedience in the context of international law. She identifies two key types of civil...
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Civil disobedience
29.09.2014
Even though this is a blog for international law, I was invited to provide my perspective from political philosophy and media studies on the issue of civil disobedience. My article...
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Defining and identifying threats
24.09.2014
A reply to Jens Kremer Jens Kremer raises a problem that is well known in the theory of security and emergency law. Since issues of security are so complex, and...
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Security mindsets and international law
22.09.2014
Security is a curious term and it comes in many different forms and shapes, and each field of research, every security institution and even more, every security professional has an...
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The limits of emergency mechanisms
01.09.2014
A Response to Tine Hanrieder and Christian Kreuder-Sonnen Emergency mechanisms are essential in addressing and containing crisis situations such as the recent Ebola outbreak. Tine and Christian have drawn our...
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The WHO’s new emergency powers
22.08.2014
Tine Hanrieder
Christian Kreuder-Sonnen
The Ebola outbreak is only the third Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) ever declared by the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO’s emergency authority is based on the...
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Wer hat Angst vor dem Völkerrecht?
11.08.2014
Eine Replik auf Evelyne Schmid Evelyne Schmid plädiert in ihrem Beitrag dafür, dass sich Völkerrechtler*innen stärker mit den Unterlassungen durch nationale Gesetzgeber befassen sollten. Sie weist dabei zu Recht auf...
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Völkerrecht und die Legislative
06.08.2014
In diesem Beitrag plädiere ich dafür, dass sich Völkerrechtler*innen mit Unterlassungen von nationalen Gesetzgebern befassen sollten. Zweck des kurzen Textes ist die Begründung für eine rechtsdogmatische, -theoretische und -soziologische Auseinandersetzung...
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Judicial appointments and the right kind of politics
21.07.2014
A response to Bilyana Petkova Judicial appointments matter, but it is difficult to pinpoint why exactly. One possibility – mentioned by Bilyana – is that there is a connection between representation...
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Selecting Europe’s Judges: on the Evolving Legitimacy of Appointments in Luxembourg and Strasbourg
16.07.2014
The concept of legitimacy is a favorite debate among many political philosophers and lawyers. Since our perceptions of what is legitimate change over time, we look at legitimacy not as...
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Will the BRICS Bank really change the development world?
04.07.2014
A response to Mariana Mota Prado Mariana Prado makes an excellent contribution to the growing debate about the BRICS Development Bank, which is expected to start operating in 2016. What...
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Will the BRICS Bank change the development world as we know it?
02.07.2014
This post inaugurates a new cooperation of Völkerrechtsblog with the journal “Verfassung und Recht in Übersee”/ “Law and Politics in Asia, Africa and Latin America”, the only law journal based...
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Letting Go of Territorial Integrity
16.06.2014
In my previous two posts (here and here), I looked at the problems of declaring Russia’s actions in Ukraine illegal – the dark side of law’s polycentrism. In this post,...
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International law’s rule of five
06.06.2014
In my previous post, I looked at the obvious illegality of Russia’s actions in Ukraine – and the problems with that obviousness in the pluralistic cacophony of international law. In...
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Polycentrism’s Playground
03.06.2014
In this post, the first in a series on the Ukrainian crisis, I look at the obvious illegality of Russia’s actions in Ukraine – and the problems with that obviousness...
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