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Recent publications

Entrenching International Values through Positive Law: The (Limited) Effect of Peremptory Norms

Erika de Wet, ‚Entrenching International Values through Positive Law: The (Limited) Effect of Peremptory Norms’, in: Heike Krieger & Andrea Liese, Tracing Value Change in the International Legal Order (OUP, 2023). 

In this Chapter, Erika de Wet addresses the overall theme of value change from a legal perspective by analysing the effect of peremptory norms of international law (ius cogens). These norms are hierarchically superior to other legal norms and protect fundamental values of the international community. Taking a critical approach to the concept, she stresses that substantial legal effects of ius cogens have remained limited because states or courts seldom rely on the concept. She, therefore, doubts that ius cogens can shield norms or the underlying values from erosion and offers an explanation why legal norms may erode.

 

 

The War in Ukraine from a Human Security Perspective

Benedek, Wolfgang (2023) ‘The War in Ukraine from a Human Security Perspective’, Peace Human Rights Governance, 7(1), 9-22.

This contribution enquires into the relevance of the human security perspective in the analysis of the humanitarian situation created by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. For this purpose, it will first characterize the war in Ukraine from an international legal perspective, and then introduce the main elements of the human security approach in order to apply it in a third step to the war in Ukraine. In this context the relevance of fact-finding on violations of International Humanitarian Law and human rights will be highlighted. The focus on vulnerabilities and a victim-oriented approach allows to better identify the threats to the security of people, in particular of vulnerable groups. The use of multilateral tools and the empowerment of civil society can help to provide assistance against the suffering and prepare for accountability for war crimes and human rights violations.

International Law and “Pro-democratic” Interventionism

Christian Pippan, Pro-democratic Interventionism Revisited, in Daniel Erasmus Khan, Evelyne Lagrange, Stefan Oeter, and Christian Walter (eds.), Democracy and Sovereignty: Rethinking the Legitimacy of Public International Law (Leiden: Brill 2023) 35 – 59.

The recently published volume Democracy and Sovereignty: Rethinking the Legitimacy of Public International Law is the result of a joint conference of the Société Française Pour le Droit International (SFDI) and the German Society of International Law (DGIR), which took place in September 2020 in Tutzing (Germany). In his contribution, Christian Pippan revisits the contentious notion of “pro-democratic intervention” (PDI) in contemporary international law. By focusing on relevant post-Cold War international practice, he explores the options for, and limits of, lawful cross-border military action aimed at defending or restoring democratic governance. Specifically, the author is zooming-in on the relevant role of the UN Security Council – both with regard to cases of PDI that are dealt with under the framework of the collective security system of the UN Charter as well as cases that, in legal terms, are situated beyond the confines of the UN Charter system. 

For more information on the volume and the scholarly contributions assembled therein, please visit: https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/61774?language=en

 

 

Volume 25 of the Max Planck Yearbook on United Nations Law

The yearbook has been curated by the editors-in-chief Prof. Dr. Erika de Wet and Dr. Kathrin Maria Scherr and the managing editor-in-chief Sai Sathyanarayanan Venkatesh. The Max Planck Foundation and Brill are the joint editors and producers of the volume. The print version is expected in spring 2023.

The 24 articles in the published volume cover a wide range of scholarly topics related to United Nations law and general international law. They were written by scholars as well as practitioners in the relevant subject areas.

For more information and access, please visit: https://www.mpfpr.de/2022/12/09/unyb-vol25/.

 

 

Research Handbook on International Law and Human Security

Gerd Oberleitner (ed.) Research Handbook on International Law and Human Security (Edward Elgar Publishing 2022)

This comprehensive Research Handbook considers the place of human security, both in practice and as a concept within international law, examining the preconditions for and consequences of applying human security to international legal thinking and practice. It also proposes a future international law in which human security is central to the law’s purpose.

Contributions by leading authors in the field critically engage with 25 years of human security practice in different areas of international law and explore the challenges, successes and setbacks of realising human security in a state-based international legal order whilst re-conceptualizing central elements of international law from a human security perspective. Organised around six core themes, the Research Handbook shows how human security can be used as an overarching framework to preserve peace, protect people and counter vulnerability through international law.

Progressive and engaging, this Research Handbook will be a key resource for scholars and students of public international law, security, and international relations, who wish to further their knowledge of human security as the central purpose of international law.

More information here (as well as possibility to purchase as e-book or paper version).

 

 Framework Convention on National Minorities

Gerhard Hafner, Framework Convention on National Minorities, in: Christina Binder, Manfred Nowak, Jane Hofbauer and Philipp Janig (Editors), Elgar Encyclopedia of Human Rights (publication in September 2022)

This paper presents the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Notwithstanding some weaknesses, the Convention shows ways to a peaceful and mutually beneficial solution.

 

 

 

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982: Reflections after 40 Years

Gerhard Hafner and Helmut Türk, The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982: Reflections after 40 Years, in: Ocean Yearbook 36 (2022), 3 – 47.

Since its adoption 40 years ago, the Law of the Sea Convention has become an essential part of contemporary international law and the constitution of the oceans. Judicial decisions, implementing agreements and international institutions have filled gaps or further developed the Convention.  The dispute settlement system has proven to be very viable, while the regulation of the protection of the marine environment has furthermore been strongly influenced by the general development of environmental law. This paper traces this wider development.

 

 

Protection of the environment: an erga omnes obligation?

Gerhard Hafner, Protection of the environment: an erga omnes obligation? In: Peter Hilpold Walter Steinmair Andreas Raffeiner (Hg.), Österreich und die EU im Umbruch – eine Nachlese zur Festschrift für Heinrich Neisser, Wien  2022,  195 – 201

In recent times, states have increasingly invoked the erga omnes effect of international obligations in cases before international courts, in particular the International Court of Justice. This effect results from whether the subjects of international law entitled to assert the violation of rights are affected by this violation of the obligations. However, the application of this distinction to obligations to protect the environment suffers on the one hand already from the indeterminate concept of the environment, on the other hand from the global impact of environmental damage as well as from the question of a non-anthropocentric approach in environmental law, since this may mean that all states are considered to be affected. Therefore, decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis and it is not surprising that other monitoring instruments have developed, especially in the environmental field, or that attempts are being made to endow flora and fauna with their own rights.

 

 

Violations of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Committed in Ukraine since 24 February 2022: Summary of the Report by a Mission of Experts under the OSCE Moscow Mechanism,

written by Wolfgang Benedek, Veronika Bilkova und Marko Sassoli

On 13 April 2022, the expert mission presented the mission's report on Ukraine at a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council. Based on this presentation, the EJIL:Talk! blog post of 19 April 2022 summarises the establishment and mandate, methodology and findings of the 94-page report

To be found at the Blog of the European Journal of International Law 

 

 

 

Russia’s expulsion from the Council of Europe

Wolfgang Benedek, Der Ausschluss Russlands aus dem Europarat, NLMR, 2/2022, 81-87

The leading article in the May issue of the Newsletter Menschenrechte of the Austrian Institute for Human Rights analyses the circumstances of the expulsion of the Russian Federation from the Council of Europe, which took place on 16 March 2022 in reaction to the military aggression on Ukraine. It ended nearly 30 years of membership of Russia in the Council of Europe, which had already been subjected to sanctions after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. After an overview of the development of the membership of Russia the contribution discusses the consequences of the annexation of Crimea and the armed aggression against Ukraine as well as the legal approach taken by the bodies of the Council of Europe. It also addresses various legal issues like the treatment of future complaints against Russia based on the European Convention on Human Rights. The expulsion is a major rupture for Europe, in particular for the 144 Mio Russian citizens, who will loose their access to the European Court of Human Rights.

 

Humanitarian law: utopia or possibility?

Gerd Oberleitner, Humanitarian law: utopia or possibility?, in: Maximilian Lakitsch/Werner Suppanz (Hrsg), Grazer Forschungsbeiträge zu Frieden und Konflikt (Graz: Universität Graz 2022) 71-91 (open access)

Today’s armed conflicts are characterized by widespread violations of basic human-itarian norms for the protection of civilians, the civilian population and civilian property. More than 120 years after the Hague Regulations on land warfare and 70 years after the adoption of the Geneva Conventions, ensuring respect for interna-tional humanitarian law remains a challenge in law and policy. This chapter con-siders current trends, challenges and insights into the (im)possibility to ensure re-spect for humanitarian law in modern conflicts.

Threat to the Peace

New encyclopaedia article by Univ. Prof. Erika de Wet, LL.M.(Harvard) and Sir Michael Wood on the topic of "Threat to the Peace" in the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law [MPEPIL].

Subjects: Aggression — Weapons, nuclear — Collective security

The article was last updated in January 2022 and is available in the Max Planck Encyclopedias of International Law [MPIL] database.

 

Die Stellung des Vertrags von St. Germain im gegenwärtigen Völkerrecht

Die Stellung des Vertrags von St. Germain im gegenwärtigen Völkerrecht

Christian Pippan, Die Stellung des Vertrags von St. Germain im gegenwärtigen Völkerrecht, in Herbert Kalb/Thomas Olechowski/Anita Ziegerhofer (eds.), Der Vertrag von St. Germain – Kommentar (Wien: Manz 2021) 51 -58.

The Treaty of St. Germain (TSG), which entered into force on 16 July 1920, is generally viewed as one of the defining legal instruments of the early Austrian Republic that has emerged after WW1 and the demise of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. Until Austria’s incorporation (“Anschluss”) into Nazi-Germany in March 1938, the treaty determined the country’s international status and provided the essential basis for its position in the international community as it presented itself at the time. Whether the TSG formally survived WW2 and the formation of the Second Austrian Republic was never formally clarified among States Parties but can arguably be presumed in light of the so-called ‘occupation thesis’ (pertaining to Austria’s legal status between 1938 and 1945), which was consistently advanced by the Austrian government after 1945 and seemingly accepted by the Allied Powers. From the outset, however, it was clear that certain elements of the TSG – eg its entire First Part (containing the Covenant of the League of Nations, which became defunct already during the war and was formally dissolved in April 1946) – had meanwhile lost any legal relevance. Against this backdrop and in view of ensuing developments, including the ratification by Austria of a further major treaty defining its international status (the Austrian State Treaty of 1955), the present contribution examines whether the Treaty of St. Germain still remains (in full or at least in part) a valid legal instrument under international law or whether, from today’s perspective, its international legal relevance is entirely a matter of the past.  

 

Austria's participation in CSP/PESCO: solidarity and/or neutrality

Gerhard Hafner, La participation de l’Autriche à la CSP/PESCO : solidarité et/ou neutralité , In,,: Mihaela Anca Ailincai, Constance Chevallier-Govers, Vérane Edjaharian-Kanaa (ed.s), Les Europes de l’intérieur, vers l’extérieur ; Mélanges en l'honneur de Catherine Schneider, Paris 2021, 549 - 564

The new activity of the European Union (EU) in the field of defense policy intending the enhanced cooperation of Member States led to the creation of a great number of PESCO projects (Permanent Structured Cooperation)  in all fields of military cooperation including  Intelligence Surveillance and ReconnaissanceEnhanced LogisticsGround Combat Capabilities, and Cybersecurity. However, it must be noted that the large number of participating states, including those that are not members of NATO, are leading PESCO more towards inclusion than ambition. Austria's this participation in in several PESCO projects is not incompatible with its neutrality, so that it can continue its neutrality in the EU.

 

 

Austrian Diplomatic and Parliamentary Practice in International Law

Gerhard Hafner, Markus P. Beham, Part II: Austrian Diplomatic and Parliamentary Practice in International Law/Österreichische Diplomatische und Parlamentarische Praxis zum Internationalen Recht, in: ARIEL, vol. 24, 2019 (2021), 359 - 444

This annual report of the Austrian diplomatic and parliamentary practice reproduces the relevant documents such as explanatory memoranda to international treaties, parliamentary questions and official Austrian statements in international fora in English and, if available, together with the original German text.

 

 

International Human Rights Law Beyond State Territorial Control

Antal Berkes, International Human Rights Law Beyond State Territorial Control (Cambridge University Press, ‘Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law’ Series; 2021)

The book conceptualises whether and to what extent international human rights law is applicable and enforced in a part of the State’s territory outside its effective control. It claims that international human rights law can normalise an imperfect, defective situation through pragmatic interpretation, as it imposes obligations both on the territorial State on account of its sovereign title and residual effectiveness, on the one hand, and on any subject of international law exercising territorial control over the area, on account of its effective control, on the other. By considering effectiveness beyond formal normative sources and titles of the subjects implicated in the territorial situation, international human rights law is interpreted and applied in a manner which renders human rights practical and effective. The book provides a comprehensive analysis of State practice regarding various subjects implicated in the territorial situation, applicable legal sources and major geographic areas.

 

International regimes on the protection of national minorities and their erga omnes effect

Gerhard Hafner, International regimes on the protection of national minorities and their erga omnes effect, in: Peter Hilpold, Andreas Raffeiner, Walter Steinmair (Hg.), Rechtsstaatlichkeit, Grundrechte und Solidarität in Österreich und in Europa Festgabe zum 85. Geburtstag von Professor Heinrich Neisser, einem europäischen Humanisten, Wien 2021, 1106 – 1123

The meaning of the erga omnes effect of obligations under international law is not very clear. The obligations under the minority protection regimes of the treaties at the end of the First World War, such as the State Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye in 1919, to which erga omnes effect is attributed, entitled even states that were not parties to these treaties to bring violations of the obligations contained therein before the Permanent Court of International Justice.  The proceedings associated with the post-World War II minority regimes are largely limited to "monitoring", although in the Council of Europe, states not party to the respective minority protection treaties are also involved in the proceedings. Whether a violation of the minority protection treaties can be brought before the ICJ by any party on the basis of an erga omnes partes effect also depends on the role of the kin state. But so far no practice is apparent from which one could conclude a customary universal application of minority protection, according to which a violation could be asserted by any state. Due to the varying extent of the erga omnes effect, its extent can only be discerned ad hoc in a given case.

 

Vorläufige Anwendung von Verträgen

Gerhard Hafner, Provisional Application of Treaties, in: ARIEL, vol. 24, 2019 (2021), 67 – 88.

 

In its first reading, the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC) elaborated more detailed guidelines for the provisional application of international treaties regulated in Article 25 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. However, the system formulated in the ILC's guidelines raises the question of whether this special position is justified at all, since it provides for few differences from the general treaty system in terms of procedure, validity and application. These differences can be provided for in the respective contract itself. However, the ILC regime does not answer the question of the actual difference between provisionally applied and normally applied treaties.

 

A human rights perspective on religious fundamentalism

Wolfgang Benedek, 'A human rights perspective on religious fundamentalism' (2021) 4(1) LIMINA Grazer theologische Perspektiven 41-65 <DOI: 10.25364/17.4:2021.1.3> (open access)

Religious fundamentalism and human rights have always been locked in tension. This article investigates the complex relationship in three steps: First, the term fundamentalism and its different manifestations will be discussed from the position of international law and international relationships. Then follows an analysis of the threat religious fundamentalism poses for human rights and in particular for freedom of religion. Finally, light will be shed on the role human rights play in the face of fundamentalism. On the one hand, fundamentalism threatens human rights, but on the other hand, human rights need to be upheld in the response to fundamentalism. Taking ‘political Islam’ as an example, this article examines the problematic consequences of widening the scope of what is understood as fundamentalism and how this affects the social inclusion of Muslims. The findings of this research also show that any measures to counter fundamentalism have to be aligned with human rights, otherwise they risk reinforcing fundamentalist ideas instead. Read the open access contribution on the official LIMINA Homepage!

 

Moscow Mechanism: Establishing Accountability for Grave Human Rights Violations in Belarus

Wolfgang Benedek, 'Establishing Accountability for Grave Human Rights Violations in Belarus: Case Study on the OSCE Moscow Mechanism' (The Defence Horizon Journal Special Edition, May 2021, No.2) open access. 

The Moscow Mechanism of the human dimension allows for producing a fact-finding report with recommendations on serious human rights and/or democracy problems in one of the OSCE participating states, within a relatively short period. Such problems usually also affect a wider concept of security. This case study of the most recent use of the Moscow meachnism for the alleged election fraud and the very serious human rights violations in Belarus in 2020 first introduces the rules governing the use of this mechanism and then informs about its findings, recommendations and the follow-up to the report. It shows that although the mechanism faces difficulties, due to the short period of implementation and the possible lack of cooperation of the country under investigation, it still is capable of producing a substantive result and serves in a catalytic role for the efforts of interested actors. Read the open access contribution on the official website of the The Defence Horizon Journal!
 

The Effectiveness of the Tools of the Council of Europe against Democratic Backsliding

Wolfgang Benedek, 'The Effectiveness of the Tools of the Council of Europe Against Democratic Backsliding: What Lessons Can be Learned from the “Greek Case”?' (2021) 7(1) Austrian Law Journal 1-21 <https://unipub.uni-graz.at/alj/periodical/titleinfo/5679728> (open access). 

The “Greek Case” which led to the de facto suspension of Greece in 1969 was a very particular part of the history of the Council of Europe in the protection of human rights and democracy. This contribution, based on a keynote given at a pertinent conference in Athens, will ask whether the spirit and political will to confront major human rights violations existing at that time can still be found in the Council of Europe of today. It will investigate the impact on the work of the Council of Europe at the time and draw some conclusions on lessons learned for today. In this context it will highlight the role of personalities acting on behalf of the Council of Europe at the time. It will also analyse the impact of its enlarged membership on the upholding of its values today. The institutions and tools at the disposal of the Council of Europe as the democratic conscience of Europe against democratic backsliding then and today will be compared with a view to the question of their effectiveness. In this context the examples of the Russian Federation and of Turkey regarding the challenges from anti-liberal forces and authoritarianism for democracy and human rights will be addressed as will be the use of the state of emergency. Which factors influence the “socialization” of member states to become guardians of common European values? Is the Council of Europe able to meet its accountability towards the citizens of Europe? This will lead to some conclusions on the legacy of the “Greek Case” for a proper response to the challenges of democratic backsliding and a shrinking space for human rights and the rule of law in the Council of Europe today as well as some recommendations for the future. Read the open access article on the official Austrian Law Journal homepage!
 

The African Union’s Struggle Against ‘Unconstitutional Change of Government’

Erika de Wet, 'The African Union’s Struggle Against ‘Unconstitutional Change of Government’: From a Moral Prescription to a Requirement under International Law?' (2021) EJIL 1-28.

In 1992 Thomas Franck proclaimed an emerging right to democratic governance in international law. With reference to developments in the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, he identified free and fair elections as the core benchmark of this right, possessing significant legitimacy in terms of its pedigree, determinacy, coherence and adherence. The current contribution examines Franck’s understanding of the right to democratic governance within the African context, notably in relation to those institutional developments that have occurred since the adoption of the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU) in 2000. Specifically, the article assesses the benchmarks of the notion of ‘unconstitutional changes of government’ in Article 4(p) of the AU Constitutive Act and their inter-linkage with free and fair elections. In so doing, it critically questions the response of the AU to unconstitutional changes of government and its implications for the normative maturity of the benchmark in question. It places the analysis in a broader context by drawing some parallels with the current back-sliding in democratic governance that is occurring also within the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Union. To read the full open-access article, please visit the European Journal of International Law Homepage!

 

Contribution on military assistance based on ex ante approval

Erika de Wet, 'Militärische Unterstützung aufgrund einer Ex-ante-Zustimmung: Verstoß gegen Artikel 2 (4) der UN Charta?' (2020) 93 Die Friedens-Warte 413-429. 

The current contribution of Univ.-Prof. Dr. Erika de Wet explores one specific legal controversy pertaining to military assistance on request, a construct with significant political and legal implications for collective security. It examines whether general international law requires a temporal proximity between the consent issued by the inviting state and military assistance provided. In particular, it explores whether the prior consent has to be ad hoc to the specific intervention, or whether it may also be given ex ante through a so-called pro-invasion treaty clause. In Africa in particular, requests for military assistance since the end of the Cold War have at times been extended to regional or sub-regional organisations on the basis of their treaty frameworks that facilitate ad hoc as well as ex ante military assistance to member states. In as far as ex ante pro-invasion clauses are concerned, two articles within regional security frameworks merit attention. These respectively include Article 4 (h) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU) of 2000 and Article 25 of the Protocol Relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peace-Keeping and Security of 1999 of Economic Community of West African States.

Contribution on ‘The Minority Protection Regime of the Treaty of St. Germain’

Christian Pippan, St. Germain und der Minderheitenschutz, in Andreas Raffeiner (ed.), 100 Jahre Staatsvertrag von St. Germain – Der Rest ist Österreich! (Vienna: Facultas 2020) 135–150.

On 16 July 1920 the Treaty of St. Germain between Austria and 27 Allied and Associated States finally entered into force. It was one of the Paris Peace Treaties, which formally ended the First Word War. Like all other treaties between the Allied and Associated Powers and the former Central Powers that emerged from the Paris Peace Conference of 1919/20, the Treaty of St. Germain contained important and, at the time, novel provisions on the protection of persons belonging to minorities. A particularly innovative feature of the Treaty’s minority protection regime was the so-called “guarantee clause”, which was to be executed by the League of Nations. As Christian Pippan explains in his contribution to the recently published collection „100 Jahre Staatsvertrag von St. Germain“ (Facultas), adherence to traditional notions of state sovereignty mostly prevented the effective implementation of the clause during the subsequent inter-war period. For more information on the volume (edited by A. Raffeiner), please click here!

 

Contribution on Territorial Referenda in International Law

Christian Pippan, Volksabstimmungen über territoriale Statusfragen im Lichte des Völkerrechts, in: Claudia Fräss-Ehrfeld (ed.), Volksabstimmungen und andere Grenzlösungen nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg (Klagenfurt: Verlag des Geschichtsvereins für Kärnten 2020) 207-223.

In September 2020, a symposium on “Referenda and Other Solutions to Territorial Conflicts after World War I” took place in Klagenfurt to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Carinthian “Volksabstimmung” (Plebiscite) of 10 October 1920. The presentations given during the event by scholars from various parts of Europe have now been published. In his contribution, Christian Pippan sheds light on the historical development of territorial referenda from an international law perspective. He then addresses two pertinent dogmatic questions regarding such referenda: 1. Does international law, as it today stands, legally require the holding of a referendum – at least under certain circumstances? 2. Irrespectively of whether the first question is answered in the positive or in the negative: Does international law require states to comply with certain principles and rules pertaining to the organization of a referendum? For more information please click << here >>

 

Article on 'The Issues of Loss and Damage Within the International Climate Law'

Yvonne Karimi-Schmidt, “The Issues of Loss and Damage Within the International Climate Law” (2020),  Graz Law Working Paper No 06-2020, available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3732980

Climate change has become an important element on the international political agenda and presents the international community with new legal challenges. Some consensus was reached at the 1992 Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Since COP 16 (Cancun 2010) Loss and Damage (L&D) was accepted in international climate negotiations and on COP 19 (Warsaw 2013) the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) for loss and damage related to climate change impacts was established. At COP 21 (Paris 2015) with Article 8 of the Paris Agreement (PA), the topic of loss and damage officially entered a new international legal system. However, in paragraph 51 of Decision 1 / COP 21 to accept the PA any liability or compensation is expressly excluded from Article 8. Nevertheless, the concept of loss and damage has become an independent third pillar of the international climate regime and points to the negative effects of climate change, which cannot be avoided by adaptation and mitigation. The concept of loss and damage is expected to address the inevitable impacts of climate change, particularly affecting the most vulnerable least-developed countries (LDCs), low-lying developing countries and small island developing states (SIDS). The purpose of this article is to give an insight into the L&D discourse.

 

New edition of the Casebook 'Space Law Essentials'

Christian Brünner, Yvonne Karimi-Schmidt, Karolina Klemm, Hannes Mayer and Anite Rinner, 'Space Law Essentials - Volume 2: Casebook' (2nd edn, Austria: NWV Verlag, 2020).

Assoc.-Prof. Dr. Yvonne Karimi-Schmidt and other editiors published the new edition of the Casebook 'Space Law Essentials' on 05.10.2020. For more information please consult the LexisNexis Online Shop!

 

 

New Volume on „Democracy and International Law"

Gregory H. Fox and Brad R. Roth, Democracy and International Law (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020)

With contributions by Professor Erika de Wet and Assistant Professor Christian Pippan

At the end of the Cold War, international law scholars engaged in a furious debate over whether principles of democratic legitimacy had entered international law. Those debates, while still ongoing, have not been comprehensively revisited in almost twenty years. Together with an original introduction, the recently published volume by Gregory H. Fox und Brad R. Roth (editors) collects the leading scholarship of the past two decades on some of the most pertinent questions linked to the overall debate. The volume is published as Issue No. 24 of Edward Elgar’s renowned “International Law Series“ and includes three contributions by members of the Institute of International Law and International Relations at the University of Graz: In an article originally published in 2015, Erika de Wet addresses the potential consequences of the ideal of democratic legitimacy on the public international law institute of recognition of governments. Christian Pippan, for his part, deals – in an article first published in 2012 – with the general issue of the current place of a (purported) democratic legal entitlement in international law. A further contribution by Christian Pippan, originally published in 2015 (together with Kalkidan N. Obse), addresses the attempts at establishing a collective mechanism for the protection of democracy and constitutional order within the regional framework of the African Union.  For more information about the volume, please consult Edward Elgar’s official website: https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/democracy-and-international-law-9781788114745.html

 

Freedom of expression and the internet (Updated and revised 2nd edition)

Wolfgang Benedek and Matthias C. Kettemann (eds.)

(Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2020)

Human rights matter on the internet. Without freedom of expression, people cannot participate in everything that the information society has to offer. Yet online free speech is in danger. Between state laws, private rules and algorithms, full participation in the online communicative space faces many challenges. This publication explores the profound impact of the internet on free expression and how it can be effectively secured online.

The second, updated edition of this introduction into the protection of freedom of expression online answers essential questions regarding the extent and limits of freedom of expression online and the role of social networks, courts, states and organisations in online communication spaces. In clear language, with vivid examples spanning two decades of internet law, the authors answer questions on freedom of expression in cyberspace. Addressing issues from the protection of bloggers to the right to access online information, the publication also shows the importance of the standard-setting, monitoring and promotion activities of international and non-governmental organisations and includes a chapter on relevant national practice. It pays special attention to the role of European human rights law and the Council of Europe as this region’s most important human rights organisation. For more information please consult the Online-Bookshop of the Council of Europe!

 

The Normative Order of the Internet - A Theory of Rule and Regulation Online

Matthias C. Kettemann (ed.)

(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020)

There is order on the internet, but how has this order emerged and what challenges will threaten and shape its future? This study shows how a legitimate order of norms has emerged online, through both national and international legal systems. It establishes the emergence of a normative order of the internet, an order which explains and justifies processes of online rule and regulation. This order integrates norms at three different levels (regional, national, international), of two types (privately and publicly authored), and of different character (from ius cogens to technical standards). Matthias C. Kettemann assesses their internal coherence, their consonance with other order norms and their consistency with the order's finality. The normative order of the internet is based on and produces a liquefied system characterized by self-learning normativity. In light of the importance of the socio-communicative online space, this is a book for anyone interested in understanding the contemporary development of the internet.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

 

Navigating Normative Orders. Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Matthias C. Kettemann (ed.)

(Frankfurt/Main: Campus, 2020) 

Whether with Kant or among conservatives, on the Internet, in environmental discourses or in Zanzibar: this book examines how people set norms for themselves, question them and legitimize them. The contributions make it clear that norms continue to play a central role in all areas of life. Together with values and narratives, they form normative orders that legitimize political authority and the distribution of rights and goods: in criminal law, in child-rearing, in the territorial state, in discourses of progress, in the Anthropocene. For more information on the book please click << here >>.

 

Contribution of Prof. Oberleitner on non-state actors in armed conflict

E. Heffes, M. Kotlik and M. Ventura (eds.), International Humanitarian Law and Non-State Actors – Debates, Law and Practice (Asser/Springer 2020). 

UNESCO Chair Gerd Oberleitner contributes a chapter on the development of international humanitarian law by human rights bodies to a new publication: E. Heffes, M. Kotlik and M. Ventura, International Humanitarian Law and Non-State Actors – Debates, Law and Practice (Asser/Springer 2020), https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789462653382. The 15 contributions by leading scholars on international humanitarian law challenge the traditional approach to international law by placing the focus beyond States and reflect on current legal, policy and practical issues that concern non-State actors in and around situations of armed conflict.

 

The (im)permissibility of military assistance on request during a civil war

Erika de Wet, 'The (im)permissibility of military assistance on request during a civil war' (2020) 7 Journal on the Use of Force and International Law.

This contribution questions the claim often made in scholarship that the right to self-determination would prevent military assistance at the request of the recognised government during a civil war. Specifically, it argues that the absence of any explicit reliance on the right to self-determination in the reactions of states to military assistance on request of the recognised government, suggests that there is no rule in general international law prohibiting such assistance during a civil war. In so doing, the contribution first outlines the implications of such state conduct from the perspective of opinio juris. Thereafter it illuminates why this conduct can also not be convincingly explained by the existence of counter-terrorism and counter-intervention exceptions to a general prohibition of military assistance during a civil war.

For the full article (open access) see: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20531702.2020.1773121

 

Contribution of Univ.-Prof. Gerd Oberleitner in "Menschenrechte 1948/1958"

Katharina Pabel / Markus Vasek (eds.)

(Wien: Verlag Österreich, 2020)

"Menschenrechte 1948/1958 - Die Entwicklung und Bedeutung der Menschenrechte in Österreich", with a contribution by UNESCO Chair Prof. Gerd Oberleitner on 40 Years International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in Austria. The publication highlights the impact of international human rights treaties on the Austrian legal order since 1948.

For more information please visit the homepage of Verlag Österreich!

 

 

 

"The Controversial Role of Litigation in the Struggle to Revive Individual Access to the Tribunal of the Southern African Development Community"

Erika de Wet, 'The Controversial Role of Litigation in the Struggle to Revive Individual Access to the Tribunal of the Southern African Development Community' (2020) 17  International Organizations Law Review 1-33. 

The article examines four categories of litigation that were undertaken in the wake of the suspension of the SADC Tribunal.  The first category of proceedings concerned a claim and request for an advisory opinion under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter); the second related to arbitration proceedings based on the SADC Protocol on Finance and Investment (FIP); the third focussed on proceedings regarding the potential unconstitutionality of a government’s participation in the suspension of the SADC Tribunal; while the fourth concerned conflicts between the SADC and employees before the Botswana High Court. In analysing these proceedings, the article assesses whether litigation thus far undertaken is likely to increase pressure on SADC member states to reinstate some form of individual complaints procedure before the SADC Tribunal.

For more information please click <<here>>! 

 

Implementation of International Human Rights Commitments and the Impact on Ongoing Legal Reforms in Ethiopia

Wolfgang Benedek, Tadesse Kassa Woldetsadik und Tesfaye Abate Abebe (eds.)

(Leiden | Boston: Brill | Nijhoff, 2020)

In February 2020 the book 'Implementation of International Human Rights Commitments and the Impact on Ongoing Legal Reforms in Ethiopia', edited by Univ.-Prof. i.R. Mag. Dr. Wolfgang Benedek,Tadesse Kassa Woldetsadik and Tesfaye Abate Abebe (eds.), was published.

'This edited volume (...) addresses key themes of contemporary interest focused on identifying the gaps between Ethiopia's human rights commitments and the practical problems associated with the realisation of human rights goals. Political and legal challenges affecting implementation at the domestic levels continue in Ethiopia - the nature and complexity of which have been thoroughly expounded in this volume. This edition uncovers the key challenges involving civil and political rights, socio-economic rights and cultural and insitutional dimensions of the implementation of human rights in Ethiopia while the country is absorbed in legal and political reforms.'

More information about this book can be found on the official website of the publication at Brill | Nijhoff.

 

Military Assistance on Request and the Use of Force

Erika de Wet (ed.) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020)

 

'This book examines the extent which the proliferation of military assistance on request is changing the rules governing the use of force. The author explores the authority to make these requests, particularly during civil wars where some territorial control may be lost and there is a risk of systematic violations of international humanitarian law.'

 

 

 

 

European Yearbook on Human Rights 2019

Philip Czech, Lisa Heschl, Karin Lukas, Manfred Nowak and Gerd Oberleitner (eds.)

(Cambridge:Intersentia | Vienna: NWV, 2019)

'The European Yearbook on Human Rights brings together renowned scholars, emerging voices and practitioners. Split into parts devoted to recent developments in the European Union, the Council of Europe and the OSCE as well as through reports from the field, the contributions engage with some of the most important human rights issues and developments in Europe. The Yearbook helps to better understand the rich landscape of the European regional human rights system and is intended to stimulate discussions, critical thinking and further research in this field.'

 

 

Grüne Gentechnik in Europa

Yvonne Karimi-Schmidt (Wien: NWV, 2019)

Green genetic engineering in Europe is the first scientific document with a comprehensive and reader-friendly approach that conveys the most important aspects of international and European law on genetic engineering in the agricultural and food sectors in a global context.The chapters focus on a number of areas of law that this discipline affects, like international, European and national environmental law as well as commercial and intellectual property law. With its systematic approach, this book is a valuable resource for professionals working in the field of agrotechnology and food regulation as well as for anyone who is interested in this topic. It offers an exciting basis for courses and master's programs in the areas of international environmental management, commercial and food law, guidelines and regulation as well as sustainable development in Europe.

 

European Yearbook on Human Rights 2018

Wolfgang Benedek, Philip Czech, Lisa Heschl, Karin Lukas, Manfred Nowak (eds.)

(Cambridge:Intersentia | Vienna: NWV, 2018)

'Both in Europe and around the world, 2017 has been another difficult year for the protection of human rights. Split into its customary four parts, the tenth volume of the European Yearbook on Human Rights brings together renowned scholars to analyse some of the most pressing and topical human rights issues being faced in Europe today.'

 

 

 

International Human Rights Institutions, Tribunals and Courts

Gerd Oberleitner (ed.) 

(Springer: Springer Nature, 2018)

This book introduces readers to the major human rights institutions, courts, and tribunals and critically assesses their legacy as well as the promise they hold for realizing human rights globally, and the challenges they face in doing so. It traces the rationale of setting up international institutions, courts, and tribunals with the aim of ensuring respect for international human rights law and presents their historic development, and critically analyzes their contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights. At the same time, it asks which promises old and new (and envisaged) human rights institutions hold for safeguarding human rights in light of continuing violations and recent global trends in human rights and politics. The first section presents institutions created within the framework of the United Nations. The second part of the volume assesses how international criminal tribunals have reframed human rights violations as individual criminal acts. The third part of the volume is devoted to established and emerging regional human rights bodies and courts around the world.

 

Human Rights in Armed Conflict - Law, Practice, Policy

Gerd Oberleitner (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, paperback 2018)

It is now widely accepted that international human rights law applies in situations of armed conflict alongside international humanitarian law, but the contours and consequences of this development remain unclear. This book revisits, organizes and contextualizes the debate on human rights in armed conflict and explores the legal challenges, operational consequences and policy implications of resorting to human rights in situations of inter- and intra-state violence. It presents the benefits and the drawbacks of using international human rights law alongside humanitarian law and discusses how the idea, law and policy of human rights influence the development of the law of armed conflict. Based on legal theory, policy analysis, state practice and the work of human rights bodies it suggests a human rights-oriented reading of the law of armed conflict as feasible and necessary in response to the changing character of war.

 

Blurring Boundaries: Human Security and Forced Migration

Editors: Stefan Salomon, Lisa Heschl, Gerd Oberleitner and Wolfgang Benedek (eds.) (Leiden: Brill, 2017)

In Blurring Boundaries: Human Security and Forced Migration scholars from law and social sciences offer a fresh view on the major issues of forced migration through the lens of human security. Although much scholarship engages with forced migration and human security independently, they have hardly been weaved together in a comprehensive manner. The contributions cover the issues of refugee law, maritime migration, human smuggling and trafficking and environmental migration. Blurring Boundaries critically engages boundaries produced in the law with the main ideas of human security, thus providing a much-needed novel vocabulary for a critical discourse in forced migration studies.

 

Russia and the European Court of Human Rights: The Strasbourg Effect

Lauri Mälksoo and Wolfgang Benedek (eds.), (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2017)

Why has there been a human rights backlash in Russia despite the country having been part of the European human rights protection system since the late 1990s? To what extent does Russia implement judgments of the Strasbourg Court, and to what extent does it resist the implementation? This fascinating study investigates Russia's turbulent relationship with the European Court of Human Rights and examines whether the Strasbourg court has indeed had the effect of increasing the protection of human rights in Russia. Researchers and scholars of law and political science with a particular interest in human rights and Russia will benefit from this in-depth exploration of the background of this subject.

 

 

Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law

Co-edited by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Erika de Wet, LL.M. (Harvard)

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