For fans of science fiction and for certain investors, the eventuality of space mining is a given, despite recent setbacks. The extraction of resources from the Moon and other celestial bodies —such as mining asteroids for precious metals, harvesting helium-3 from lunar regolith, or using ice on the Moon for a moonbase—is described as having the potential of a “New...
[Somesh Dutta specializes in international dispute resolution. He is currently working with the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European & Regulatory Procedural Law as a Research Fellow and is a member of the International Max Planck Research School for Successful Dispute Resolution (IMPRS-SDR).] In particular, developing economies with a large consumer base may have a crucial role in shaping the future of international investment adjudication, and...
[Dr. Mona Pinchis-Paulsen is a Teaching Fellow in the LLM Program in International Economic Law, Business and Policy at Stanford Law School.] Over a matter of days, governments became reflexively nationalist in responding to COVID-19. Several emergency powers and orders were ignited. Global Trade Alert found that, as of 21 March 2020, 54 governments had introduced export restrictions on medical supplies....
[Ntina Tzouvala is an ARC Laureate Postdoctoral Fellow at Melbourne Law School.] Francisco de Vitoria was obsessed with food. I do not refer here to his private habits, but rather to the importance he assigned to the consumption of raw food and cannibalism (real or imagined) as markers of savagery. Indeed, imaginaries of cannibalism were central to the imperialist imaginary, including that of international lawyers, and were often mobilised...
[Tara Van Ho is a Lecturer at the School of Law at the University of Essex.] In the first part, I set out how ‘business as usual’ with regard to shareholder primacy has exacerbated human rights concerns associated with COVID-19. In this post, I want to set out a path forward for a more sustainable and appropriate approach. Before I do, I want to briefly address the...
[Tara Van Ho is a Lecturer at the School of Law at the University of Essex.] COVID-19 has upended modern capitalist life. States have instituted a variety of measures that have curbed business activity in an effort to limit the pandemic’s spread. Swedish industrialist Jacob Wallenberg has argued for returning to the status quo quickly. Explicitly, the presidents of the United States and Brazil, the Prime Minister of Sweden, and seemingly the...
[Siddharth S. Aatreya is an LLM Candidate in International Law at the University of Cambridge and a General Editor of the Cambridge International Law Journal.] The Canadian Supreme Court’s decision in Nevsun Resources v. Araya has shone new light on the debate around the horizontal application of international law, particularly international human rights norms. With a 5-4 majority, the court held that Nevsun, a Vancouver-based...
I've been meaning to write for a while now about Stefan Talmon's brilliant new article for the Chinese Journal of International Law, which is entitled "The United States under President Trump: Gravedigger of International Law." It's rare you see an international lawyer of Talmon's eminence and care give an article such a provocative title, so you know he must be...
[Prabhash Ranjan is a Senior Assistant Professor, Faculty of Legal Studies, South Asian University, India.] Reportedly, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Cooperation (RCEP) – a free trade and investment agreement comprising of 16 big Asian and Australian economies - will not have an investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism. This is a huge decision and is consistent with the backlash that one has been witnessing against...
[Todd Carney is a student at Harvard Law School. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Public Communications. He has also worked in digital media in New York City and Washington D.C.] Last July, after months of tension, the EU punished Turkey for illegally drilling for gas off the coast of Cyrpus. The penalty had the EU withdraw $164...
[Peter H. Corne is the Managing Partner of Dorsey & Whitney’s Shanghai Office, NYU Global Adjunct Professor of Law, and Mediator of the Shanghai Commercial Mediation Center. Matthew S. Erie is an Associate Professor of Modern Chinese Studies and Associate of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies of the University of Oxford, and Principal Investigator of the “China, Law and Development”...
Carlos Lopez is a Senior Legal Adviser at the International Commission of Jurists The new revised draft of an international treaty on the issue of business and human rights released on 16 July 2019, presents important changes and much needed improvement in relation to the so-called “zero draft” published in 2018. The revised version, elaborated by the chairperson of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group (OEIGWG) which was...