Search: Symposium on the Functional Approach to the Law of Occupation
12 Feb A Parsimonious Approach to (How) International Law (Works)
and functions of “international law.” Traditional positivist accounts are rule based. But there are competing process-based views, including the New Haven School’s vision of law as a process of authoritative and controlling decision making, and recent accounts that understand law in terms of a transnational legal process. Other approaches would include liberal accounts, which focus on the compliance as resulting from particular constellations of domestic political forces, and competing constructivist accounts. The point is that any particular conception of compliance presupposes a contested and controversial understanding of international law. So...
26 Jan Much Ado About Nothing
[Enrico Benedetto Cossidente is an Italian Army officer and legal advisor specialized in international law and security issues. He is a PhD candidate at Ghent University. He writes in his personal capacity. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the Italian Army, the Ministry of Defense or the Italian Government. Twitter: @falleninlaw.] The recent cyber-operation against a US company named SolarWinds brings us again at the forefront of international cyber law and the importance of words. I will analyze what politicians and...08 Nov The Oxford Guide to Treaties Symposium: Treaty Reservations and ‘Objections-to-Reservations’
[David P. Stewart is a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center] Duncan Hollis deserves hearty congratulations on the publication of the Oxford Guide to Treaties. There’s no doubt that it will quickly become the essential reference for lawyers and other treaty specialists in foreign ministries and international organizations everywhere, to say nothing of judges, professors and private practitioners. Its 25 substantive chapters cover the full range of issues raised by contemporary treaty practice, both bilateral and multilateral, so it’s definitely not a volume you’ll try to read...16 Sep IL/IR Book Discussion: Beyond the “Isms War”?
[Jeffrey L. Dunoff is the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Law at Temple University Beasley School of Law and Mark A. Pollack is professor of Political Science and Jean Monnet Chair ad personam at Temple University] One of the most difficult choices in our book, and one of the most contentious discussions at two book workshops, was about how to approach the question of “theory.” Our approach was to identify four research traditions in IR that had been invoked productively by IL/IR scholars – namely, realism, institutionalism, liberalism, and constructivism...
13 Mar Getting in Formation: WHO Constitutional Heads of Power and the Pandemic Agreement
While the pandemic roared, the world was keen to see a new and bold approach to collaboration between countries, with accountability laying at the highest levels of government, and pandemic prevention and financing as critical as outbreak response. While ongoing negotiations may see debate about form as simply a matter of legal interpretation, Member States must be cautious in ensuring that their chosen approach does not undo their work to date in negotiating a comprehensive Pandemic Agreement or undermine the scope of law-making powers available for future global health law-making....
30 Jun The Early Stages of ICC Proceedings: Why the Court Must Ensure Access to Justice for Victims and Suspects (Part I: Victims and ICC Investigations: Rhetoric v. Reality)
...interests when deciding whether to initiate a prosecution. And beyond those victims whom the Prosecution approaches, there will be many, many other victims interacting with the Court and with each other. Where an investigation is initiated under Art. 15, or where admissibility proceedings occur under Art. 18(2), Judges ask victims about their views. Once the investigation is open, victims (and their lawyers) are invariably active, and regardless of the Prosecution’s activities, they will be documenting crimes and advocating for their interests. At this stage, victims’ lawyers advise their clients on...
06 Jan Cat Bonds on the Nile: A Risk-Sharing Approach to the Nile Waters Dispute
[Junius O. Williams is a third-year J.D. candidate at NYU School of Law, where he is an Institute for International Law and Justice (IILJ) Scholar and a Salzburg Lloyd N. Cutler Fellow] On 9 September 2025, Ethiopia inaugurated the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam (“the GERD”), Africa’s largest hydropower project and the culmination of over a decade of planning and construction. At a cost of over five billion dollars, this dam is expected to generate roughly six gigawatts of electricity at capacity. Situated on the Blue Nile, it could double Ethiopia’s...14 Jun What do Appropriate Due Diligence Measures for Nonstate and Substate Partners Look Like? Part II: A Sample of US Practice in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan
of Iraqi forces – a three-star general based in Baghdad overall, and the nearest Iraqi Security Forces or Federal Police command at a local level. They were subject to all the regular rules and disciplinary procedures of other Iraqi forces. In some cases, TMF who broke the law (mostly infighting among themselves, theft) were prosecuted and punished via regular Iraqi law enforcement processes. On the US side, the TMF were subject to Leahy Law human rights vetting, and follow-on monitoring. US personnel at US embassies, consulates, and bases regularly tracked...20 Sep Haiti Cholera Update
article in the Chicago Journal of International Law here. The first signs of a change in the UN’s approach came about in August, when Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said in an email quoted in the New York Times that “over the past year, the U.N. has become convinced that it needs to do much more regarding its own involvement in the initial outbreak and the suffering of those affected by cholera.” The Times reported he also stated that a “new response will be presented publicly within the next two months,...