Events and Announcements: 15 May 2022

Announcements

Online Event – “Minimalism vs. Maximalism in the ECHR”: We are pleased to announce an online panel “Minimalism vs. Maximalism? Challenges and Future Directions in the Interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights” on 8 June, 4 pm CET. How does, and how should, the European Court of Human Rights interpret and apply the rights protected under the European Convention on Human Rights? The perceived tension between ‘minimalist’ and ‘maximalist’ approaches has remained a focal point in recent developments and debates on the subject. Building on three recently published books (see the symposium here) which add to, and substantially nuance, these debates, Dr Corina Heri, Dr Natasa Mavronicola and Dr Jens T. Theilen are joined by Professor Eva Brems to reflect on some prominent challenges and potential directions in Strasbourg doctrine in light of and beyond the ‘minimalism-maximalism’ dichotomy. To attend, please register here. 

Global Security Event Announcement: Dr Sophie Duroy and Dr Rishi Gulati, both presently members of the KFG Berlin Potsdam Research Group ‘The International Rule of Law – Rise or Decline?’, will be hosting a virtual half-day webinar titled Global Security and the International Rule of Law: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on 30 May 2022. The event is free to attend. A program and link to registration can be found here.

Online Workshop – ‘Towards an International Academic Career: Doing a Ph.D. in Public Law’: The ICON-S Committee on Community and Engagement is organizing a virtual workshop on ‘Towards an International Academic Career: Doing a Ph.D. in Public Law’ on 2 June 2022 at 2 pm CEST. This workshop aims to help prospective applicants to Ph.D. programs in Public International and Comparative Law understand the Ph.D. landscape. Register here for the workshop. More details regarding the workshop, including the list of speakers, can be found here.

Volterra Fietta Seminar – Maritime boundary delimitation in practice: This event will take place on 18 May 2022 at 2:00 pm BST / 3:00 pm CEST / 9:00 am EST. Maritime boundary delimitation, or the process of dividing maritime areas between sovereign States, is a complex legal and technical process.  It is also one of the most important diplomatic processes relevant in the global economy today.  However, only a handful of coastal States have successfully delimitated all their potential maritime boundaries.  This means that hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars of natural resources sitting in the ocean floor, or swimming in the waters, have no straightforward owner.  This has resulted in several long-standing disputes surrounding maritime boundary delimitation being brought before the ICJ, ITLOS and arbitral tribunals. This seminar will address the practice of maritime boundary delimitation, as compared to its theory.  It will discuss how States and private companies alike can better understand and negotiate, and if necessary, plead maritime boundary delimitation in the most sophisticated and detail-oriented ways.  The speakers will be ITLOS Judge Stanislaw Michal Pawlak, world-renowned hydrographer Dr Robin Cleverly, and seasoned practitioner Mr Gunjan Sharma.  Interested participants can email events[at]volterrafietta[dot]com.  For more information, see here. 

Call for Papers

Call for Papers – Commonwealth Cybercrime Journal (1st Edition): We are pleased to announce a call for papers for the the inaugural edition of  Commonwealth Cybercrime Journal.

In 2018, the Commonwealth Heads of Government endorsed the Commonwealth Cyber Declaration (CCD). The CCD enjoins all Commonwealth countries to achieve a common vision which ensures the internet remains free, open, and inclusive across the Commonwealth. This call is in recognition of the numerous advantages and disadvantages associated with cyberspace’s decentralised nature, which on the one hand, empowers individuals, fosters innovation, development, and collaboration across all facets of life but also exacerbates criminal activities online. 

The CCD is a call to action for all Commonwealth countries to develop robust international, regional, and national strategic plans in addition to effective legislative, policy, institutional and international cooperation frameworks to effectively fight cybercrime. To that end, the Commonwealth Cybercrime Programme was set up in 2018 through the funding of the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to assist member countries build capacity, raise awareness, and undertake relevant research to actualize the vision set out in the CCD. 

Today’s interconnectedness, accelerated by the COVID-19 global pandemic has crystalised the undeniable fact that Commonwealth countries cannot escape the scourge of cybercrime. As the cyberspace continues to develop at a pace unparalleled in our history, so does online criminal activities. It is estimated that the damage caused by cybercrime would grow by 15% per year to reach $10.5 USD trillion by 2025. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), internet users grew from 4.1billion users in 2019 to 4.9 billion users in 2021. It is therefore important to foster an open, free, and safe cyberspace for the benefit of the digital future. It is the ITU’s estimate that by 2030, if supported by appropriate capacity building opportunities, 230 million “digital jobs” in sub-Saharan Africa could generate almost $120 billion USD in revenue. But research findings indicate that many Commonwealth countries despite the advantages of a secure cyberspace against the stark realities of the damage of cybercrime remain vulnerable. Across the Commonwealth, only 36 countries representing 66% of Commonwealth countries have national cybersecurity strategic plans in place. A mere 16% of countries across the region (9 Commonwealth countries) have ratified the CoE Budapest Convention and just 12 countries equivalent to 22% of Commonwealth countries have enacted Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) frameworks to facilitate international cooperation for transnational crimes. 

The Commonwealth Cybercrime journal will be published under the auspice of the Commonwealth Secretariat. The journal aims to produce scholarly articles and commentary by academics, policymakers, practitioners, and experts exploring significant developments and current issues of cybercrime with the goal to understand both the magnitude of the challenges and the opportunities necessary to tackle them. Articles for the journal must specifically focus on the Commonwealth region, or a case study where the victim or perpetuator of the cybercrime is from a Commonwealth country and the author should be from a Commonwealth country. This will be the inaugural edition of the journal.

Thematic areas on cybercrime that will feature in the journal include (but not limited to): 

• State actors and cyber warfare 
• Ransomware and phishing
• Proceeds of Crime 
• Terrorism
• Privacy and security of data
• Intellectual Property Infringement and Counterfeit 
• Online harassment and cyberstalking
• Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
• Tourism
• Climate Change
• Commonwealth Youths 
• Election Cybersecurity
• Cybersecurity and the digital economy 
• Cybersecurity and supply chain 
• Cybersecurity and healthcare
• Virtual courts 
• Electronic evidence 
• Capacity building and awareness creation 
• Digital currencies 
• Child online safety 
• Mutual Legal Assistance (International Cooperation)

Timeline

• Abstract (500 words) due:  16 June 2022
• Abstract Acceptance: 30 June 2022
• Draft papers due: 1 July- 26 August 2022
• Decision: 29 August-2 September 2022
• Review and Revisions Process: 5 September -17 November 2022
• Publication: 25 November 2022

For publication in the first edition of the Commonwealth Cybercrime Journal authors are invited to submit their article of no more than 7000 words with the author’s name, biography or CV and contact details, to Dr Nkechi Amobi at n[dot]amobi[at]commonwealth.int & cybercrime[at]commonwealth[dot]int. 

Podcasts

Hablemos de Derecho Internacional (HDI) – The International Legal Podcast (Spanish). HDI recently added the following episodes in Spanish:

• #76: Dr. Juan Nascimbene – Órgano de Solución de Diferencias de la Organización Mundial del Comercio
• #75: Dr. León Castellanos Jankiewicz – México vs. Smith & Wesson
• #74: Prof. Antonio Remiro Brotóns – Ucrania: Epítome del Desorden Internacional
• #73: Dr. Jorge Francisco Aguirre Sala – La Democracia Electrónica
• #72: Dra. Silvia Gagliardi – Feminismo, Derecho Internacional y las Mujeres Amazigh
• #71: Dr. René Provost- La Administración de Justicia por Insurgentes Armados

The podcast is available on the main platforms: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or through other podcast applications by searching “Hablemos de Derecho Internacional”. Updated information about the guests and episodes can be found on the website www.hablemosdi.com, or on HDI’s social media accounts: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube.

If you would like to post an announcement on Opinio Juris, please contact John Heieck at eventsandannouncements[at]gmail[dot]com with a one-paragraph description of your announcement along with hyperlinks to more information. Thank you!