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17 Apr

[Craig H. Allen is the Judson Falknor Professor of Law and of Marine and Environmental Affairs at the University of Washington.] On April 14, 2014, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) issued its ruling in the M/V Virginia G case (Panama/Guinea-Bissau), Case No. 19.  The dispute arose out of  Guinea-Bissau’s 2009 arrest of the Panama-flag coastal tanker M/V Virginia G after it was detected bunkering (i.e., delivering fuel to) several Mauritanian-flag vessels fishing in the Guinea-Bissau exclusive economic zone (EEZ) without having obtained a bunkering permit.  The case presented a number of issues, including whether the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which both states are party, grants a coastal state competency to control bunkering activities by foreign vessels in its EEZ. After disposing of objections raised over jurisdiction and admissibility (notwithstanding the parties’ special agreement transferring the case to ITLOS), the decision adds a substantial gloss to several articles of the UNCLOS, particularly with respect to Article 73 on enforcement of coastal state laws regarding the conservation and management of living resources in the EEZ. Among other things, Panama alleged that Guinea-Bissau violated each of the four operative paragraphs of Article 73 in its boarding, arrest and confiscation of the Virginia G and by seizing and withholding the passports of its crew for more than 4 months. The tribunal’s holding can be summarized as follows: 
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17 Apr

I would like to continue the theme of the emerging convergence of investment arbitration and international trade. In my previous posts (discussed here and here) I discussed the prospect of using trade remedies to enforce investment arbitration awards. Another key example of convergence addresses the emerging trend of relying on investment arbitration to enforce international trade rights. ...

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16 Apr

Last Spring, Temple Law School was pleased to host a two day workshop on the scholarship of one of international law's true giants -- Martti Koskenniemi (simply put, I'm a big fan). Organized by my colleague, Jeff Dunoff, it was a great event with a wide-ranging conversation launching off Martti's works in international legal theory, international legal history, fragmentation, interdisciplinary scholarship,...

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15 Apr

There is an interesting interview with Professor Walter Kahlin, former Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, on disaster displacement over at the IPI’s Global Observatory. He discusses why the current international law regime on refugees is incomplete when it comes to displacement.  He explains: Back in 2010, Haiti was hit by one of the most...

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15 Apr

Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 60 people in an attack on a village in northeast Nigeria, while a separate attack killed eight people at a teacher training college.  Nigeria will mount a massive security operation to protect a World Economic Forum on Africa planned in Abuja next...

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14 Apr

Just a quick note to flag for interested readers that Oxford has released a paperback version of my book, The Oxford Guide to Treaties.  Happily, it is significantly cheaper than the hardback version -- it's listed for under $60 on Amazon right now.  I hope that this edition will interest non-institutional buyers for whom the earlier price tag was a bit steep....

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12 Apr

I fully concur with Julian's recent post about the United Nations Headquarters Agreement. There is no question that the US decision to deny Aboutalebi a visa violates the Agreement itself. But I've seen suggestions, most notably by my friend John Bellinger, that the US is not violating domestic US law because the 1947 United Nations Headquarters Agreement Act (scroll down) contains a "security...

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09 Apr

Back in 2007, Messrs David Rivkin and Lee Casey's Wall Street Journal op-ed helped popularize the term "lawfare" among U.S. conservatives, who have used the term to decry legal tactics that challenged US policy in the war on terrorism.   As they defined it then: The term "lawfare" describes the growing use of international law claims, usually factually or legally meritless, as a tool...

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07 Apr

Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa French and African soldiers serving in Central African Republic are "overwhelmed" by the "state of anarchy" in the country, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said a day after Chadian troops began withdrawing from the peacekeeping mission.  Nigeria has overtaken South Africa as Africa's largest economy after a rebasing calculation...

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06 Apr

Event The United Nations Law Committee of the International Law Association, American Branch, along with The George Washington University Law School, invite you to a brownbag lunch panel on Treaty Survival on Wednesday, April 9, 2014, 1:00 – 2:15 PM in the Moot Court Room, The George Washington University Law School, 2000 H St. NW, Washington DC, 20052. This panel will address the effectiveness of treaties over time, with...

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