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Begin New Search Topic International Law Content Type Journal Article

391. Healing the Enlightenment Rift: Rationality, Spirituality and Shared Waters

Author:
Aaron T. Wolf
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
Water management, by definition, is conflict management. Water, unlike other scarce, consumable resources, is used to fuel all facets of society, from biologies to economies to aesthetics to spiritual practice. Moreover, it fluctuates wildly in space and time, its management is usually fragmented and it is often subject to vague, arcane and/or contradictory legal principles. As such, there is no such thing as managing water for a single purpose—all water management is multi-objective and based on navigating competing interests. Within a nation, these interests include domestic users, agriculturalists, hydropower generators, recreators and environmentalists. Any two of the interests are regularly at odds, and the complexity of finding mutually acceptable solutions increases exponentially as more stakeholders are involved. Add international boundaries, and the difficulty grows substantially yet again.
Topic:
Health and International Law
Political Geography:
Pakistan, India, and Israel

392. The Changing Fortunes of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Genesis and Symbolic Dimensions of the Turn to Rights in International Law

Author:
Jochen von Bernstorff
Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The article explores the genesis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the turn to rights in international law. To this end, it focuses on how international lawyers have received the Declaration in their contemporary doctrinal and political contexts. The fact that the political and moral importance of the Declaration from the very beginning outweighed its concrete legal significance invited intriguing scholarly reflections on the symbolic dimension of the document. Despite early sceptical voices about its legal and moral value, international lawyers welcomed and reaffirmed its significance during the 1960s and 1970s. While attention turned to human rights treaty law in the 1980s, the Declaration embodied the hope for a new era of human rights protection after the end of the Cold War. Throughout the 1990s a new scholarly defence of the universal character of the Declaration could be observed, later being accompanied by new insecurity and soul-searching in the face of institutional limitations. In general, the Declaration became synonymous with the turn to individual rights in international law, and whenever there was a sense of crisis because of institutional blockades or challenged foundations, the Declaration received new and increased attention. It symbolized unity in an increasingly fragmented and contentious institutional and political environment for international human rights protection. The story of its scholarly reception is therefore also a story of the failed and perhaps unattainable attempt fully to institutionalize international human rights in a cosmopolitan legal order.
Topic:
Cold War, Environment, Human Rights, and International Law

393. Softness in International Law: A Self-Serving Quest for New Legal Materials

Author:
Jean d'Aspremont
Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The concept of soft law which rests on the idea that the binary nature of law is ill suited to accommodate the growing complexity of contemporary international relations has been endorsed by a large number of scholars. It has however remained under the attack of those who are commonly portrayed as positivists. Although it does not seek to rehabilitate positivism as a whole, this article will try to offer a refreshed and modernized account of the positivist objection to soft law. It will accordingly distinguish several types of softness. Such a dichotomy will help to unravel the underlying agenda of some of the staunchest supporters of the concept of soft law. The article will ultimately expound on the proneness of international legal scholars to stretch the limit of their object of study by constantly seizing materials outside the realm of international law in order to alleviate the strain inherent in the contemporary proliferation of international legal thinking.
Topic:
International Law

394. Immunità e crimini internazionali. L'esercizio della giurisdizione penale e civile nei confronti degli organi statali sospettati di gravi crimini internazionali

Author:
Chiara Ragni
Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This book offers a thorough and detailed analysis of the doctrinal debate on the controversial question whether state organs are entitled to invoke any kind of immunity, before either international or national tribunals, when accused of committing or ordering the commission of international crimes, such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The problem is not merely a theoretical one, given that, since the end of the Second World War and in particular since the Pinochet Affair 1 (decided in 1999 by the British House of Lords), national judges from all over the world have been required to determine whether all state organs can benefit from immunity from jurisdiction and, if so, whether this can cover all the possible violations of international law, including the most serious ones. Initially, and as long as the courts could properly cope with the question of the immunity of former military officers, no problem seemed to emerge with regard to the possibility of judging the latter for crimes committed during a war; however, the choice seemed to be more controversial when the accused were high-ranking representatives of the state and the acts in question were performed in times of peace. The leading case in this regard was the above-mentioned Pinochet case, since it made clear the differing attitudes of judges according to the accused's rank in the state hierarchy and, as the author notes, according to whether or not the person in question was still in office. The debate which ensued with regard to those issues and to the controversial practice which had developed on the subject makes the book reviewed here particularly interesting. First, it has the merit of taking into account the different points of view expressed by scholars dealing with the topic and comparing them with the practice – described in a historical perspective – of international and especially of national courts and tribunals. Secondly, even though the literature on the subject of immunities is quite broad, this work stands out thanks to the author's original approach to the subject and to the accuracy of the analysis conducted.
Topic:
Crime and International Law

395. List of Books Available for Review

Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal of Legal Studies
Institution:
The Africa Law Institute
Abstract:
The African Journal of Legal Studies is pleased to present the following books relating to human rights in Africa received from two major publishers:. Antje du Bois-Pedain, Transitional Amnesty in South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) 418 pages, hardback. . Obiora Chinedu Okafor, The African Human Rights System, Activist Forces and International Institutions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) 350 pages, hardback . John Hagan and Wenona Rymond-Richmond, Darfur and the Crime of Genocide (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008) 296 pages, paperback.. Frans Viljoen, International Human Rights Law in Africa (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) 673 pages, hardback.
Topic:
Human Rights and International Law
Political Geography:
Africa

396. Review: Falk and Friel: Israel Palestine on Record and Dunsky: Pens and Swords

Author:
Cheryl Rubenberg
Publication Date:
06-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
Israel-Palestine on Record: How the New York Times Misreports Conflict in the Middle East and Pens and Swords: How the American Mainstream Media Report the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict are two tour-de-force works devoted to an analysis of the U.S. media as it reports on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both present devastating critiques of the media in its pro-Israel bias, and both are extensively documented, reflecting analytical scholarship in the finest tradition.
Topic:
Human Rights and International Law
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

397. A Case Study in Declining American Hegemony: Flawed Policy Concerning the ICC

Author:
Eric K. Leonard
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
The primary question that this article engages is whether the Bush administration’s opposition to the Rome Statute is in the national interest of the United States. More broadly speaking, does the Bush administration’s opposition to the ICC serve as an example of how a hegemon, founded upon a particular ideology, may undermine its own hegemonic status? The international community established the ICC to prosecute individuals accused of committing the most heinous international crimes—genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.6 Given the fact that traditional American allies and every member state of the European Union, with the exception of the Czech Republic, support this Court, is active opposition to the ICC’s existence a prudent position, or will such a position simply ostracize the United States from the rest of the international community and undermine its ability to maintain America’s hegemonic position? In order to address these questions, this article begins with an examination of the concept of hegemony, along with its contested definition. It then proceeds to an analysis of American hegemony, including the basis for its continued preeminence. This article then returns to the ICC and examines this institution within the framework of the hegemonic discourse. Finally, it provides policy recommendations concerning the United States’ position towards the ICC and draws upon this case as a starting point for policy recommendations concerning other liberal international institutions.
Topic:
International Law, Hegemony, International Criminal Court (ICC), Rome Statute, and International Institutions
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

398. Crime and Punishment: Holding States Accountable

Author:
Anthony F. Lang, Jr.
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Should states be held responsible and punished for violations of international law? The recent ruling by the International Court of Justice that Serbia cannot be held responsible for genocide in Bosnia reflects the predominant international legal position. But, such a position leaves open the possibility that states or non-state agents can never be held responsible for international crimes. This article argues that they can and should be. While most international ethicists and legal theorists reject the punishment of corporate entities such as states, this article argues that certain types of international violations can only be undertaken by states, and, as a result, states must be bear the responsibility for them. Drawing on some neglected strands in international law and political theory, the article sketches a potential institutional framework for the punishment of state crimes, particularly genocide and aggression.
Topic:
International Law
Political Geography:
Bosnia and Serbia

399. People without Borders for Borders without People: Land, Demography, and Peacemaking under Security Council Resolution 242

Author:
Jamil Dakwar
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
UN Security Council Resolution 242, drafted to deal with the consequences of the 1967 war, left the outstanding issues of 1948 unresolved. For the first time, new Israeli conflict-resolution proposals that are in principle based on 242 directly involve Palestinian citizens of Israel. This essay explores these proposals, which reflect Israel's preoccupation with maintaining a significant Jewish majority and center on population and territorial exchanges between Israeli settlements in the West Bank and heavily populated Arab areas inside the green line. After tracing the genesis of the proposals, the essay assesses them from the standpoint of international law.
Topic:
Security and International Law
Political Geography:
New York, America, Middle East, and Israel

400. Germany's Involvement in Extraordinary Renditions and Its Responsibility under International Law

Author:
Laura Tate Kagel
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
German Politics and Society
Institution:
German Politics and Society Journal
Abstract:
As investigative journalists and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) increasingly uncover the nature and scope of a U.S. government program known for transferring terrorist suspects outside of normal legal and administrative channels, the role of European states has come under scrutiny. To a large degree, these states have erected a “wall of fog,” as a report from the German Institute of Human Rights describes it, blocking access to information that would allow for independent assessments of the human rights implications of the counterterrorism practice known as “extraordinary rendition.”
Topic:
International Law and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Germany, and Egypt