Search

Begin New Search Content Type Journal Article Journal The Goettingen Journal of International Law

101. Normative Heterogeneity and International Responsibility: Another View on the World Trade Organization and its System of Countermeasures

Author:
Ranieri Lima Resende
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
As legal subjects, international organizations are seen as apt for both active and passive participation in the international judicial area and, in this regard, are regulated according to a specific responsibility regime, as established by the United Nations International Law Commission, in its latest reports on this matter. The challenge here lies on testing this regime as to its applicability in relation to the World Trade Organization, in view of the fact that this organization's conduct may potentially produce internationally illicit acts. After asserting the WTO's juridical nature, normative parameters to which the entity is submitted are established in the general international law based on the acknowledgement of its horizontal and vertical relations with the so-called WTO Law. From this point onwards, it is possible to assert that international illicitness in the World Trade Organization's practice becomes legally verifiable through an institutional performance capacity analysis of its organs and agents, with special focus on its countermeasures system.
Topic:
International Organization, United Nations, and World Trade Organization

102. A System of Collective Defense of Democracy: the Case of the Inter-American Democratic Charter

Author:
Vasiliki Saranti
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
In the years that followed the end of the Cold War, the international community showed a growing interest in the democratic legitimacy of governments. With regard to the Western Hemisphere, the Organization of American States has been particularly pioneering in this respect, since it initiated a mechanism of intervention by peaceful means, once the democratic stability in a state was threatened, a process which culminated with the approval of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
Topic:
Cold War
Political Geography:
America

103. Refugees on the High Seas: International Refugee Law Solutions to a Law of the Sea Problem

Author:
Killian S. O'Brien
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
Following in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, Europe's southern marine borders have been the showplace of human tragedies previously unseen on this scale and the issue of refugees on the high seas has assumed a newfound importance. This article examines the flawed system provided by the 'Constitution of the Oceans', the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea for the protection of the lives of migrants at sea. It submits that international refugee law is well-equipped to assume a greater responsibility in ensuring the protection of those involved. Although the concept of non-refoulement cannot be stretched ad absurdum, it may still be reasonably interpreted as providing a temporary right to disembark for the purpose of processing possible asylum applications. In the long-term, a system of burden-sharing and permanent, yet flexible, reception agreements remain the only sustainable solution.
Topic:
United Nations and Law
Political Geography:
Europe and Arabia

104. Rights at the Frontier: Border Control and Human Rights Protection of Irregular International Migrants

Author:
Julian M. Lehmann
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
In light of recent events causing people's movement into Europe, continued misuse of the term “migrant” in policy making and public discourse, and at the occasion of events celebrating the international regime of refugee protection, the human rights protection of irregular migrants is explored in relation to irregular migrants' entry/admission and expulsion/deportation. The term “migrant” has, in contrast to the term “refugee”, no bearing on whether or not an international migrant has a need for international protection. While many irregular migrants have no such need, other migrants may be refugees or be in need of international protection “outside” the framework of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. The paper analyses the international human rights law framework applying to individuals with and without need for international protection, when their claims have a socio-economic dimension. The principle of non-refoulement remains the most important source of protection for irregular migrants; it is not concerned with the irregular status of a migrant and also has a bearing on procedural rights in status determination. Socio-economic motivations for flight are not a bar to being a refugee within the meaning of the 1951 Convention, if their underlying cause is persecution, or if motives are mixed. Refugee law can accommodate such claims and overcome a strict dichotomy but is currently only rarely and restrictively applied in this regard. In expulsion cases, virtually only the prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment is relevant. For individuals that have no need for international protection there are mitigating individual circumstances which a state has to take into account. All pertinent norms of international human rights law apply without distinction and irregular migrants may have, just as refugees may have, humanitarian needs that states should meet.
Topic:
Human Rights
Political Geography:
Europe

105. Complementary Protection for Victims of Human Trafficking under the European Convention on Human Rights

Author:
Vladislava Stoyanova
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
The international legal framework regulating the problem of human trafficking contains the presumption that the return of victims of human trafficking to their countries of origin is the standard resolution for their cases. However, victims might have legitimate reasons for not wanting to go back. For those victims, resort to the legal framework of the European Convention on Human Rights could be a solution. I elaborate on the protection capacity of Article 3 when upon return victims face dangers of re-trafficking, retaliation, rejection by family and/or community and when upon return to the country of origin victims could be subjected to degrading treatment due to unavailability of social and medical assistance. In light of the Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia case, I develop an argument under Article 4 that states cannot send victims to those countries which do not meet the positive obligations standard as established in the case. Article 8 could be relevant: first, when the level of feared harm in the country of origin does not reach the severity of Article 3 but is sufficiently grave to be in breach of the right to private life and engage the non-refoulement principle, and second, when the victim has developed social ties within the receiving state and the removal will lead to their disruption.
Topic:
Human Rights
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

106. Editorial

Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
Since our last issue in May 2011 several events with global impact have filled the newspapers and confronted us with the need for new judicial and political solutions. In the meantime, Hosni Mubarak's trial has begun and it raises again important questions on how to handle trials of ex- dictators. The trial may foreshadow the future stance to the rule of law of Egypt's new politic system. The events in Libya and also Syria sparked a new discussion about the concept of responsibility to protect.
Political Geography:
Syria and Egypt

107. Editorial

Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
“Conflicts over resources have been responsible for disputes and even wars both among, and within, many countries. They cause suffering for millions today, and continue to hold back important progress for many, many more. This conference doesn't just accept these terrible facts. It actively considers how the law can help to break the vicious cycle, bringing resolution and sustainable development to those who most need it”.

108. Keynote Speech: Resources of Conflict – Conflicts over Resources

Author:
Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
I am honored, esteemed colleagues and scholars, to assist you in opening this conference. We are gathered here to consider a crucial and timely problem, the linkages between two impossible challenges facing over a billion people in our world today. Conflicts over resources have been responsible for disputes and even wars both among, and within, many countries. They cause suffering for millions today, and continue to hold back important progress for many, many more. This conference doesn't just accept these terrible facts. It actively considers how the law can help to break the vicious cycle, bringing resolution and sustainable development to those who most need it. I congratulate the organizers, and also all of you as speakers and participants, for your fore sight and your intellectual courage.

109. The Redistribution of Resources in Internationalised Intra-State Peace Processes by Comprehensive Peace Agreements and Security Council Resolutions

Author:
Cindy Daase
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
The (illegal) exploitation and (bad) management of high value resources like timber, diamonds, gold, minerals and oil constitute key-factors for the inflammation, continuation and termination of numerous intra-state conflicts. Since the 1990s these conflicts have been increasingly settled by the conclusion of comprehensive peace agreements between the conflicted state and belligerent non-state parties. At the example of the Lomé, Accra and Ouagadougou Agreement, which were negotiated to terminate the conflicts in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire , the paper describes and analyzes whether and how these agreements addressed the redistribution of conflict-resources during the peace process. In the course of this documentation, the paper finds a strong involvement of the UN Security Council when it comes to the redistribution of resources and the implementation of all three agreements that goes beyond addressing an immediate threat to peace and security. Focusing on this involvement of the Security Council to exert a strong pull towards the compliance of the parties with these agreements, the paper will discuss the legal nature of the example peace agreements and of the specific obligations concerning the redistribution of resources. The paper finds that, under certain circumstances, internationalized comprehensive peace agreements, with a strong endorsement and involvement of the Security Council, can create effective legal obligations for the parties with respect to the redistribution and treatment of resources during the transition from conflict to peace.
Political Geography:
Liberia and Sierra Leone

110. The Falkland Islands and the UK v. Argentina Oil Dispute: Which Legal Regime?

Author:
Alice Ruzza
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
Following Argentina's withdrawal from the 1995 Joint Declaration concluded with the UK for the common exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in the Falklands, the sovereignty dispute over the Islands has recently re-emerged as an economic 'struggle' for access to the North Falklands Basin's oil deposits. The pa per analyzes the states' pending sovereignty dispute and their present claims, from the perspective of the exploitation of the Island s' natural resources. The lawfulness of uncoupling the treatment of title to territory and to natural resources, particularly in an area where sovereignty is disputed has been examined in the present paper. By considering the UN practice on the Falklands' case, it is argued that a separate treatment is not per se unlawful, provided that all the parties having a legitimate sovereign claim over the territory are involved. The Joint Declaration is employed as a model to provide evidence in this regard. In addition, the paper discusses the unilateral conduct of the parties as a possible alternative to a cooperative agreement. As the UK is currently acting unilaterally with regard to the access to the oil deposits in the Islands, the implications of its conduct are also reviewed.
Topic:
United Nations
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Argentina, and Falkland Islands