The UNHCR in 2021: Refugee Resettlement as a Challenge of Underfunding, Power Imbalance and Impartiality

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

The UNHCR in 2021: Refugee Resettlement as a Challenge of Underfunding, Power Imbalance and Impartiality

20.07.2021

Janine Prantl

In 2021 and beyond, refugee resettlement remains an indispensable protection tool for refugees facing particular vulnerability in countries of (first) refuge. Alarmingly, the resettlement numbers have reached the lowest levels...

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

Oldie but Goodie: Resilience of the 1951 Refugee Convention 70 Years On

13.07.2021

Alma Stankovic

While many question the relevance of the 1951 Refugee Convention today, refugee protection in the EU has actually expanded in the past 30 years. In just one generation, doctrinal shifts...

Symposium
Media
Defining Ecocide

Defining Ecocide – An Interview with Christina Voigt

09.07.2021

Justine Batura Philipp Eschenhagen Raphael Oidtmann Christina Voigt

Wrapping up our Symposium ‘Defining Ecocide’, Christina Voigt, member of the Independent Expert Panel, explains her views on the definition of ecocide. In a conversation with Justine Batura, Philipp Eschenhagen...

Symposium
Defining Ecocide

A Missed Opportunity for Accountability?

09.07.2021

Jelena Aparac

In June 2021 the Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide issued its proposal of the legal definition of ecocide along with its accompanying commentary. With its proposal,...

Symposium
Defining Ecocide

Repairing Ecocide

08.07.2021

Fin-Jasper Langmack

Given the justified rhetoric of urgency surrounding ecocide, this post thinks ridiculously far into the future: it thinks about a time when the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) will have enacted...

Symposium
Defining Ecocide

On Symbolism and Beyond

08.07.2021

Natascha Kersting

On 22 June 2021, more than 300 curious minds joined the Stop Ecocide Foundation for a video conference in which the long-awaited definition of ‘ecocide’ was to be unveiled. It...

Symposium
Defining Ecocide

Mens Rea and the Proposed Legal Definition of Ecocide

07.07.2021

Anastacia Greene

This June, a panel of international experts revealed a proposed legal definition for “ecocide,” with the hopes that this crime eventually can be included in the Rome Statute and heard...

Symposium
Defining Ecocide

Introducing the Symposium on the Draft Definition of Ecocide

07.07.2021

Justine Batura Philipp Eschenhagen Raphael Oidtmann

The proposed definition of a novel international crime of ecocide - unveiled on 22 June by the StopEcocide initiative - has been discussed widely across the international law blogosphere and beyond....

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

Ungarn 1989, oder: Wie die Genfer Flüchtlingskonvention half, die Berliner Mauer einzureißen

06.07.2021

Frank Wolff

2021 ist aus migrationshistorischer und völkerrechtlicher Sicht ein ambivalentes Gedenkjahr. Neben der in dieser Blogreihe erinnerten Gründung des UNHCR und der Unterzeichnung der Genfer Flüchtlingskonvention (GFK) vor 70 Jahren sollte...

Symposium
Contingency in International Law

How Could International Law Have Been Otherwise? A Rejoinder

18.06.2021

Ingo Venzke

Our edited volume has asked a question that is deceptive in its simplicity: Could international law have been otherwise? One could expect the answer to be a resounding ‘yes’, given...

Symposium
Contingency in International Law

Revisiting the Impossible

18.06.2021

Doreen Lustig

Ingo Venzke and Kevin Jon Heller’s edited volume "Contingency in International Law: On the Possibility of Different Legal Histories" (Oxford University Press, 2021) (hereinafter: Contingency) is a rare editorial accomplishment....

Symposium
Contingency in International Law

Planned Obsolescence of International Law

17.06.2021

Marina Veličković

‘Contingency in International Law: On the Possibility of Different Legal Histories’, an ambitious volume edited by Ingo Venzke and Kevin Jon Heller which was published in April 2021, puts international...

Symposium
Contingency in International Law

Contingency “Between” and “Beyond”

17.06.2021

Vidya Kumar

Between you and me, Professors Ingo Venzke and Kevin Jon Heller’s edited collection reads like a classic expositional text on the ways to think about contingency in international law –...

Symposium
Contingency in International Law

Thinking Like ‘Fools’: Recovering the Radical Potential of Contingency in International Law

16.06.2021

Kanad Bagchi

Edited collections often tend to surface within the hegemonic voice of the editors – they introduce the concept, set the frame, determine the contours, and also illustrate the specific set...

Symposium
Contingency in International Law

Are What-Ifs a Virtual Experiment or a Parlour Game?

16.06.2021

Hirofumi Oguri

In his famous series of lectures delivered at Cambridge University, E. H. Carr displayed a cynical attitude towards those who tend to ask what if an event had happened otherwise....

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

Afrikas vergessene Flüchtlingskonvention

15.06.2021

Marcia C. Schenck

1969 entwickelte die OAU (Organisation für Afrikanische Einheit, heute die Afrikanische Union, AU) ihre eigene Flüchtlingskonvention, welche afrikanische Werte widerspiegeln sollte. Sie wurde am 10. September 1969 in Addis Abeba...

Symposium
Contingency in International Law

Contingency in the History of International Law?

15.06.2021

Ntina Tzouvala

At a time when overseas travel, in-person academic events, and mediocre conference food were still commonplace, I attended the conference in Amsterdam that forms the backdrop for this impressive volume....

Symposium
Contingency in International Law

New Music for Old Ears

14.06.2021

Adeel Hussain

Ingo Venzke and Kevin Jon Heller’s Contingency in International Law: On the Possibility of Different Legal Histories, an edited volume with thirty distinct contributions just published by Oxford University Press,...

Symposium
Contingency in International Law

Book Review Symposium: Contingency in International Law

14.06.2021

Raffaela Kunz Raphael Oidtmann Anna-Julia Saiger

Could international law have turned out differently? What were contingent crossings at which international law could have taken different avenues? And why might it be worth thinking counter-factually? Over the...

Media
Symposium
Rewarding in International Law

On Rewarding in International Law

11.06.2021

Veronika Fikfak Anne van Aaken Betül Simsek

Engaging with the contributions of the Symposium 'Rewarding in International Law', Veronika Fikfak discusses the new approach proposed in 'Rewarding in International Law' (AJIL) with the two authors, Anne van...

Symposium
Rewarding in International Law

Designing Rewards

11.06.2021

Cristiane Lucena Carneiro

This essay engages with the literature on regime design and problem structure in order to propose a set of questions to frame our thinking about rewarding in international law. I...

Symposium
Rewarding in International Law

Rewarding in EU Law

10.06.2021

Matej Avbelj

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), as a principle voice of the EU legal order, has long ago severed the link between EU law and international law...

Symposium
Rewarding in International Law

Reparation and Judicial Discretion

09.06.2021

Luis F. Viveros-Montoya

In Rewarding in International Law, Professor Anne van Aaken and Betül Simsek argue that rewards are an effective means to induce State compliance with treaty law. Rewarding is inscribed in the analytical framework of ‘compliance...

Symposium
Rewarding in International Law

Beyond Shaming

09.06.2021

Silvia Steininger

In human rights law, shame is ubiquitous. ‘Naming and shaming’ has become the core tactic of human rights advocacy and the modus operandi of international NGOs such as Amnesty International....

Symposium
Rewarding in International Law

Rewarding Compliance

08.06.2021

Daniel Peat

In their recent article, Rewarding in International Law, Anne van Aaken and Betül Simsek provide a novel typology of incentives that exist to promote compliance with international law, arguing that...

Symposium
Rewarding in International Law

From Sticks to Carrots?

07.06.2021

Justine Batura Veronika Fikfak Christian Pogies

A new article on how States could be encouraged to comply with international law promises to revolutionize how we think about incentives in international relations. In ‘Rewarding in International Law’,...

Book Review
Symposium
The Justification of War and International Order

Discourses of Power and Normativity

04.06.2021

Lothar Brock Hendrik Simon

We would like to thank the contributors as well as the editorial team at Völkerrechtsblog, and particularly Sué González Hauck, for putting together this thought-provoking symposium on “The Justification of...

Book Review
Symposium
The Justification of War and International Order

Rethinking the Justification of War

03.06.2021

Wouter Werner

A good book makes you rethink. It alerts you to things you didn’t know. It offers new ways of looking at what you already knew – or thought you knew....

Book Review
Symposium
The Justification of War and International Order

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

02.06.2021

Wouter De Rycke

Few legal disciplines seem to manifest such a consistently discouraging discrepancy between the law in the books and the law in action as the international laws regulating the use of...

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

From State Petitions to Protection Space

02.06.2021

Maja Janmyr

Although UNHCR has a mandatory duty to promote accession to the 1951 Refugee Convention, UNHCR appears to increasingly take the back seat when it comes to petitioning for state accession....

Book Review
Symposium
The Justification of War and International Order

We’re (Not) Talkin’ bout a Revolution

01.06.2021

Parvathi Menon

In a stupendous effort, Lothar Brock and Hendrik Simon have put together a volume that ranges widely in perspectives and ‘traditions of justification’ (p. 8). Their book, ‘The Justification of...

Book Review
Symposium
The Justification of War and International Order

War and International Order: The Old and the New

31.05.2021

Claire Vergerio

Lothar Brock and Hendrik Simon’s edited book on The Justification of War and International Order (2021) is a rich volume that brings together scholars from across international law, political theory, history, and international...

Book Review
Symposium
The Justification of War and International Order

War! What Is It Good For?

31.05.2021

Sué González Hauck Sebastian Spitra Nesa Zimmermann

‘The history of war is also a history of its justification’ (p. 3) – this is the momentous starting point of the volume on The Justification of War and International...

Symposium
Dialing Into Jessup

How to Become a Team

29.05.2021

Clara Schott Tizita Gelaye Lasse Lindloff Ada Klenner

The Philip C. Jessup Moot Court Competition is as much about public international law as it is about the personal experiences made over months of hard work and constant companionship....

Symposium
Dialing Into Jessup

Nudging from the Distance

28.05.2021

Aleksandr Popov

Ever since I first took part in a moot court competition, I secretly hoped that one day I will be able to help and encourage others to take part in...

Symposium
Dialing Into Jessup

Jessup 2021: A Door Opener for Chinese Teams

27.05.2021

Chen Liang

This year ought to have its place in the history of moot court competitions – when the pandemic sets us apart, the internet unites us all. ILSA took this chance...

Symposium
Dialing Into Jessup

The Best of Both Worlds

27.05.2021

Valentin von Stosch

Those familiar with the structure of the Jessup competition know that the chances of advancing from the national level to the international rounds not only depend on your performance, but...

Symposium
Dialing Into Jessup

A Virtual Steppingstone: Jessup 2021 in Mexico

26.05.2021

Liliana Oliva Bernal

The relationship between Mexico and the Jessup dates back to 1976, when a Mexican team took part to the International Rounds for the first time. Since 1987, Mexico has had...

Symposium
Dialing Into Jessup

Of Techliffs, the JessApp and Franconian Care Packages

26.05.2021

Martin Gronemann Rachel Hoepfner

The German National Rounds (GNR) are usually a highlight for all German teams competing in the Philip C. Jessup Moot Court Competition. Every year, a different university volunteers to host...

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

Making the Convention “Universal”: Other Views of the Additional Protocol

26.05.2021

Itty Abraham

This blogpost complicates the received wisdom on the origins of the Additional Protocol of 1967. Following B.S. Chimni, I argue that the need for the Protocol was heightened by the...

Symposium
Dialing Into Jessup

The Pandemic Moot Court

25.05.2021

Diego Mejía-Lemos

The adoption of a virtual format for the Jessup in 2021 was borne out of the necessity of striking a balance between the mobility restrictions imposed to control the pandemic...

Symposium
Dialing Into Jessup

Expect the Unexpected

25.05.2021

Lena Riemer Sabrina Schäfer

Comparing the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and Jessup is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. The ICJ’s mandate is to adjudicate contentious questions of international law, while one...

Symposium
Dialing Into Jessup

To Rule or Not to Rule

24.05.2021

Andrew Holmes

I was both honoured and daunted by Lesley Benn’s invitation to be a member of the Contingency Planning Task Force (not a name that stuck) in April 2020. The pandemic...

Symposium
Interview
Dialing Into Jessup

‘The students bring it to life’

24.05.2021

Peter Tzeng Jens Kaiser

After authoring his first Jessup Problem in 2018, Peter Tzeng returned this year with the ‘Case Concerning the J-VID-18 Pandemic’. In an unusual competition year, the case – somewhat unsurprisingly –...

Symposium
Dialing Into Jessup

Dialing Into Jessup

24.05.2021

Jens Kaiser Alicia Köppen

On 11 March 2020, right after the completion of most National Rounds, the International Law Students Association (ILSA) issued an unprecedented announcement: The cancellation of the 2020 Jessup International Rounds due to...

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

Nothing to Celebrate?

11.05.2021

Antje Missbach

Although Indonesia has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention and is deemed unlikely to do so in the near future for a number of reasons, Indonesia has been hosting thousands...

Interview
Symposium
Völkerrechtslunch

Fünf Fragen an Stephan Marquardt

10.05.2021

Lukas Kleinert Matthias C. Kettemann

Am 17. Mai 2021 (12 bis 13 Uhr) ist Herr Stephan Marquardt der zwölfte Gast in unserer Gesprächsreihe “Völkerrechtslunches“. Herr Marquardt leitet die Rechtsabteilung des Europäischen Auswärtigen Dienstes (EAD) in...

Symposium
Inter-State Cases under the ECHR

Of Foxes Guarding Chickens, and Their Fellow Foxes

30.04.2021

Isabella Risini Geir Ulfstein Andreas Zimmermann

Ever since the adoption of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the system of inter-State applications has constituted an inherent and indeed important part of its enforcement mechanism, as...

Symposium
Inter-State Cases under the ECHR

A Promising Avenue to Explore from a Remedial Perspective

30.04.2021

Laurence Burgorgue-Larsen

Inter-State conflicts that reach the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) today are all, with rare exceptions, highly political. They constitute conflicts that are rooted in a long history: the...

Symposium
Inter-State Cases under the ECHR

Could the Collective Guarantee Mechanism be Detrimental to Individuals’ International Litigation Capacity?

30.04.2021

Hélène Tigroudja

International Human Rights Bodies are familiar with the issue of coexistence of multiple adjudication proceedings. However, the issues currently raised by the increasing number of inter-State applications brought before the...

Symposium
Inter-State Cases under the ECHR

Enhancing Fact-finding in Inter-State Cases

29.04.2021

Philip Leach

At the April 2021 online conference, European Court of Human Rights President Robert Spano averred that inter-State cases present exceptional challenges for the Court, not least complex issues of jurisdiction...

Symposium
Inter-State Cases under the ECHR

Less is More

29.04.2021

Thilo Marauhn

Inter-state cases under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) are important but challenging. Ensuring a meaningful role for the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) means to address the...

Symposium
Inter-State Cases under the ECHR

Fact-Finding or Just Evidence Assessment?

29.04.2021

Alina Miron

The international adjudicatory system has developed few compulsory rules concerning the production, admissibility and weight of evidence. This is particularly true for judicial institutions like the International Tribunal for the...

Symposium
Inter-State Cases under the ECHR

Rethinking Friendly Settlements under the European Convention on Human Rights

28.04.2021

Nicola Wenzel

The issue of friendly settlements has been remarkably absent from most discussions on inter-State cases under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It is true that friendly settlements in...

Symposium
Inter-State Cases under the ECHR

Friendly Settlements as the Sleeping Beauty in Inter-State Cases

28.04.2021

Helen Keller Réka Piskóty

With their flexible legal framework, friendly settlements (‘FS’) before the European Court of Human Rights (‘ECtHR’) have proved helpful in managing the Court’s ever-growing caseload of individual applications (Keller et...

Symposium
Inter-State Cases under the ECHR

Towards an ‘Amicable Solution’ in the Universal Human Rights System

28.04.2021

David Keane

The 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is the first of the core UN human rights treaties. It has 182 States parties and...

Symposium
Inter-State Cases under the ECHR

Inter-State Cases in Disguise under Inter-American Human Rights Law

27.04.2021

Jorge Contesse

Unlike the European human rights system, where the amount of inter-State disputes is significant – and growing— the inter-State disputes mechanism under the inter-American human rights regime has had virtually...

Symposium
Inter-State Cases under the ECHR

A Procedure Likely to Remain Rare in the African System

27.04.2021

Frans Viljoen

In the African regional human rights system, very little use has been made of inter-State communications. In this blogpost, I outline this particular kind of communications and analyse the most...

Symposium
Inter-State Cases under the ECHR

Interim Measures in Inter-State Proceedings

26.04.2021

Peter Tzeng

The views in this contribution are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of any institution with which the author is or has been affiliated....

Symposium
Inter-State Cases under the ECHR

The Way Forward

26.04.2021

Angelika Nußberger

In armed conflicts human righs violations are omnipresent. The victims are not counted one by one, but by the hundreds or thousands. For a court such as the European Court...

Symposium
Inter-State Cases under the ECHR

On Current Developments and Reforms

26.04.2021

Justine Batura Isabella Risini

What is the significance of inter-State cases within the European System of Human Rights? And what does their constant increase over the last decade mean for the European Court of...

Symposium
Interview
Völkerrechtslunch

Five Questions to Álvaro Nistal

26.04.2021

Lukas Kleinert Matthias C. Kettemann

PLEASE NOTE: there has been a change of date. The event will exceptionally take place on Tuesday (4th of May) instead of Monday, 3rd of May. On the 4th of...

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

‘Populate or Perish’

20.04.2021

Sebastian Huhn

Die politische Aushandlung, Formulierung und Verabschiedung der Genfer Flüchtlingskonvention vor siebzig Jahren ging mit einer rassistisch gefärbten Modernisierungspolitik in Staaten des Globalen Südens einher, die es mitzuberücksichtigen gilt, wenn nach...

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

Eurozentrismus und strategische Interessen in der Wissensproduktion über Migration in den 1940er und 1950er Jahren

13.04.2021

Sebastian Huhn

Die politische Aushandlung, Formulierung und Verabschiedung der Genfer Flüchtlingskonvention von siebzig Jahren ging mit einem Wissen über Migration als einem global zu lösenden Problem einher, das es kritisch zu hinterfragen...

Symposium
Interview
Völkerrechtslunch

Fünf Fragen an PD Dr. Roman Schmidt-Radefeldt

12.04.2021

Lukas Kleinert Matthias C. Kettemann

Am 19. April 2021 (12 bis 13 Uhr) ist Herr PD Dr. Roman Schmidt-Radefeldt der zehnte Gast in unserer Gesprächsreihe “Völkerrechtslunches“. Er ist Regierungsdirektor bei den Wissenschaftlichen Diensten des Deutschen Bundestages....

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

Before 1951, Outside Europe

06.04.2021

Jochen Lingelbach

The 1951 Refugee Convention and the UNHCR had a longer pre-history drawing on experiences influencing its further developments. A critical predecessor in this regard was the UN’s International Refugee Organization...

Symposium
Covid-19 and “New” Human Rights

The Case for the Right to Defend Human Rights in Colombia

01.04.2021

Natalia Urzola Gutiérrez

The work of environmental and human rights defenders (EHRD) is pivotal in promoting human rights protection and strengthening democracies. It has been particularly important during the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, EHRD...

Symposium
Covid-19 and “New” Human Rights

When Two Wrongs Make a “Right”

31.03.2021

Achinthi Vithanage Robert Habermann

History has shown us that global crises have prompted strong human rights responses. The atrocities of the world wars led to a re-evaluation of the human condition that demanded the...

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

Colonial Effects on the Founding of the 1951 Refugee Convention

30.03.2021

Ulrike Krause

Whether internationally or nationally, law does not simply exist but is made by political actors; those involved thus have the power to set standards. Exactly this politicization of international refugee...

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

Koloniale Einflüsse auf die Gründung der Genfer Flüchtlingskonvention

30.03.2021

Ulrike Krause

Ob international oder national, Recht existiert nicht einfach, sondern wird stets von politischen Akteur*innen geschaffen. Die Beteiligten haben also die Macht, Standards zu setzen. Genau diese Politisierung des internationalen Flüchtlingsrechts...

Symposium
Covid-19 and “New” Human Rights

The COVID-19 Response and the Right to a Healthy Environment in India

30.03.2021

Sathiabama. S Vedavalli. S

With the plight of the worldwide pandemic the need for humanity to protect the environment and maintain ecological balance became more apparent. While India’s lockdown led to reduced anthropogenic interference...

Symposium
Interview
Völkerrechtslunch

Fünf Fragen an Prof. Dr. Jörg Polakiewicz

29.03.2021

Lukas Kleinert Matthias C. Kettemann

Am 5. April 2021 (12 bis 13 Uhr) ist Herr Prof. Dr. Jörg Polakiewicz der neunte Gast in unserer Gesprächsreihe “Völkerrechtslunches“. Er ist Direktor der Rechts- und Völkerrechtsabteilung des Europarates....

Symposium
Covid-19 and “New” Human Rights

Awakening from “Sleeping Beauty’s” Slumber

29.03.2021

Monika Plozza

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the already fragile situation of vulnerable groups is in a downward spiral. The infringements of the human rights of vulnerable groups stirred by the current crisis are...

Symposium
Covid-19 and “New” Human Rights

A Glimmer of Hope for All?

26.03.2021

Miguel Calmon Dantas

The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic causes serious risks for human beings and, therefore, challenges the human rights system and the capacity of governments to adopt quick and adequate measures....

Symposium
Covid-19 and “New” Human Rights

Time to Counter “Vaccine Nationalism”?

26.03.2021

Claire-Marie Richter

To this date, states with access to vaccines against the new coronavirus are focusing exclusively on inoculating people under their jurisdiction. This process has been accurately described as “vaccine nationalism”....

Symposium
Covid-19 and “New” Human Rights

Grow Together or Perish Alone

25.03.2021

Daniel Noroña

The COVID-19 health crisis has shown that public institutions can tackle major crises with a collaborative approach. During the Aspen Security Forum in 2020, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) stated:...

Symposium
Covid-19 and “New” Human Rights

Using Human Security to Harness Human Rights in the Post-COVID World

24.03.2021

Alexander Gilder

In a global pandemic, it is commonplace to look toward global solutions for global issues. But the pandemic has highlighted how states cannot unilaterally counter complex threats that cross borders...

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

“Nowhere to be found”: Three Decades of UNHCR in South Africa

23.03.2021

Franzisca Zanker

Though the UNHCR in South Africa go to great efforts to be neutral and provide the best possible assistance to those seeking refuge, by design they have to work together...

Symposium
Covid-19 and “New” Human Rights

Queer(ing) Vulnerabilities and Human Rights

23.03.2021

Bérénice K. Schramm

When asked about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their community, Deniz Deniz, the owner of a famous LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*, Queer, Intersex and Asexual) bar in...

Symposium
Covid-19 and “New” Human Rights

COVID-19 and “New” Human Rights Symposium

22.03.2021

Maria Antonia Tigre Anna-Julia Saiger Nesa Zimmermann

Legal debates on the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, the urgently needed containment measures, the distribution of vaccines, and the protection of human rights are flourishing. A year after the WHO declared...

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

Parallel Lives: The Geneva Refugee Convention and the Federal Expellee Law

17.03.2021

Jannis Panagiotidis

The Geneva Refugee Convention is not the only piece of postwar refugee law to survive into the present. The 1953 West German Federal Expellee Law is in many ways a...

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

Parallele Leben

17.03.2021

Jannis Panagiotidis

Die Genfer Flüchtlingskonvention (GFK) ist nicht das einzige Dokument des Flüchtlingsrechts der Nachkriegszeit, das bis in die Gegenwart überdauert hat. Das 1953 erlassene westdeutsche Bundesvertriebenengesetz (BVFG) ist ein in vielerlei...

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

Globale Entwicklungen, Errungenschaften und Herausforderungen

16.03.2021

Ulrike Krause Dana Schmalz

*** for the English version, see below *** Das UN-Flüchtlingshilfswerk (UNHCR) und die Genfer Flüchtlingskonvention stellen die wichtigsten Säulen des internationalen Flüchtlingsschutzregimes dar. Beide gehen auf das Jahr 1951 zurück,...

Symposium
70 Years of UNHCR and Refugee Convention

70 Jahre UNHCR und Genfer Flüchtlingskonvention: Globale Entwicklungen

16.03.2021

Ulrike Krause Dana Schmalz

*** for the English version, see below *** Für das globale Flüchtlingsregime stellte 1951 ein wegweisendes Jahr dar. UNHCR nahm die Arbeit im Januar 1951 auf und das Abkommen über...

Interview
Symposium
Völkerrechtslunch

Fünf Fragen an Dr. Katja Göcke

15.03.2021

Lukas Kleinert Matthias C. Kettemann

Am 22. März 2021 (12 bis 13 Uhr) ist Frau Dr. Katja Göcke der achte Gast in unserer Gesprächsreihe “Völkerrechtslunches“. Frau Dr. Katja Göcke ist Rechtsanwältin bei GvW – Graf...

Symposium
Investment Law and Human Rights

The space between human rights and the right to regulate

13.03.2021

Tomer Broude Caroline Henckels

We are thankful for the opportunity provided by Völkerrechtsblog and the Leiden Journal of International Law (LJIL) to discuss our recent article on the loss-gain frame of investor rights and human rights...

Symposium
Investment Law and Human Rights

Human rights in the hyphen: reframing investor-state arbitration through the duty to regulate

12.03.2021

Oliver Hailes

International investment law is commonly associated with the priority of the global over the local, the private over the public, the economic over the social. A leitmotif of the Leiden...

Symposium
Investment Law and Human Rights

Reply: Looking for a saviour in international investment law?

11.03.2021

Moshe Hirsch

I am grateful to Silvia Steininger for her thought-provoking comments ('From the Margins to the Center - Can Social Movements Save International Investment Law?'). From the first time I encountered...

Symposium
Investment Law and Human Rights

From the margins to the center – can social movements save international investment law?

10.03.2021

Silvia Steininger

Can social movements save international investment law? There have been few works in international law, which have been as decisive for my research interests than Moshe Hirsch’s rich and interdisciplinary...

Symposium
Investment Law and Human Rights

Symposium on international investment law and human rights

09.03.2021

Isabel Daum Fabian Simon Eichberger

International investment law and human rights law share an uneasy relationship. Ever since the problematic interaction between the two areas of law entered mainstream discourse over a decade ago, the...

Symposium
Interview
Völkerrechtslunch

Fünf Fragen an Dr. Christiane Höhn

08.03.2021

Lukas Kleinert Matthias C. Kettemann

Am 15. März 2021 (12 bis 13 Uhr) ist Frau Dr. Christiane Höhn der siebte Gast in unserer Gesprächsreihe “Völkerrechtslunches“. Frau Dr. Christiane Höhn, LL.M. (Harvard) ist die führende Beraterin...

Symposium
Dialing Into Jessup

Call for Contributions: Dialing Into Jessup

04.03.2021

Alicia Köppen

The 2021 Jessup season is in full swing with national competitions being carried out these weeks and the International Rounds just around the corner. This year differs significantly from past...

Interview
Symposium
Völkerrechtslunch

Fünf Fragen an Dr. Nicola Wenzel

01.03.2021

Lukas Kleinert Matthias C. Kettemann

Am 8. März 2021 (12 bis 13 Uhr) ist Frau Dr. Nicola Wenzel der sechste Gast in unserer Gesprächsreihe “Völkerrechtslunches“. Frau Dr. Wenzel ist Leiterin des Referats IV C 1...

Symposium
The role of the ILC

Experts’ interpretations of treaties

26.02.2021

Richard Gardiner

Danae Azaria’s article makes a very valuable contribution to the understanding of interpretation in international law and of the significant role of the ILC. It prompts further thoughts regarding experts’...

Symposium
The role of the ILC

Counsel to sovereign states

25.02.2021

Alejandro Celorio Alcántara

The International Law Commission’s (ILC) invaluable work has been the first stepping-stone for the creation of many treaties. However, its work must not be considered as a source for States’...

Symposium
The role of the ILC

The International Law Commission as a sui generis organ?

24.02.2021

Lorenzo Gasbarri

Danae Azaria’s article is set to be an essential reference for the study of the International Law Commission’s (ILC) mandate concerning the codification and progressive development of international law. In...

Symposium
The role of the ILC

The outside keeps creeping in: On the impossibility of engaging in purely doctrinal scholarship

23.02.2021

Sué González Hauck

Danae Azaria’s article is a perfect example of a specific genre of international law scholarship: an ‘orthodox’ account that wishes to stay neatly within the lines that legal doctrine draws...

Symposium
The role of the ILC

Multiple actors, one task: the joint responsibility of international law making

22.02.2021

Marja Lehto

The 70th anniversary of the International Law Commission (ILC), celebrated in 2018, has provided an opportunity to reflect on the Commission’s role in international law-making and its continued relevance at...

Symposium
The role of the ILC

The International Law Commission as an interpreter of international law?

22.02.2021

Justine Batura Sué González Hauck Sophie Schuberth

The role of the International Law Commission (ILC), as the subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly charged with the promotion and codification of progressive development of international law, has...