ESIL Interest Group History of International Law

ESIL Interest Group History of International Law

Thursday 21 April 2016

CONFERENCE: Experts et expertises en diplomatie. La mobilisation des compétences dans les relations internationales, du congrès de Westphalie à la naissance de l'ONU


(image source: CRHIA)




The University of Nantes, Centre for International and Atlantic History, organizes a two-day conference on "experts in diplomacy".

Conference abstract:
Depuis le XVIIe siècle, le champ de la diplomatie s’est considérablement élargi à mesure du développement et de la diversification des relations internationales. Les agents diplomatiques se trouvent dès lors confrontés à une grande diversité de sujets et de missions ce qui les amène à faire appel à des compétences et des savoirs extérieurs. Les ambassades, les congrès diplomatiques ou les grandes conférences internationales mobilisent des spécialistes chargés d’aider à la négociation sur des points particuliers. Dès le XIXe siècle, la mise en place de grandes organisations internationales impose la création d’organes d’expertise, permanents ou temporaires, chargés de travailler en amont sur les questions internationales....
Entrée libre et gratuite.
 Programme:

Jeudi 12 mai

Expertise et action diplomatique

9h15 : accueil des participants
9h30 : Introduction : Stanislas Jeannesson, Fabrice Jesné, Éric Schnakenbourg
Présidence de séance : Yann Lignereux, Université de Nantes

1. Qu’est-ce qu’un expert en diplomatie ? Une approche diachronique

  • 9h45 : Indravati Félicité (Université Paris-Sorbonne), « La préparation des "grandes ambassades" par les acteurs de second rang dans l'Europe des traités de Westphalie (mi XVIIe - début du XVIIIe siècle) ».
  • 10h10 : Virginie Martin (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - IHMC / IHRF), « De "l’art de négocier" à la  "science diplomatique" : essor et institutionnalisation de l’expertise sous la Révolution française ».
10h35 : questions et discussion
11h : pause
  • 11h15 : Gérald Sim (Université de Nantes, CRHIA), « Les diplomates et consuls français aux États-Unis au XIXe siècle : des experts à part entière ».
  • 11h40 : Frédéric Dessberg (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CREC Saint-Cyr), « Les attachés militaires français dans l'Union soviétique des années 1930 : renseignement et expertise ».
12h05 : questions et discussion
12h30 : déjeuner
Après midi
Présidence de séance : Eric Bussière, Université Paris-Sorbonne

2. Les experts au service des diplomates

  • 14h15 : Ferenc Tóth (Centre de recherches en sciences humaines, Académie hongroise des sciences, Budapest), « Les drogmans et autres experts au service des ambassades à Constantinople au XVIIIe siècle ».
  • 14h40 : François Brizay (Université de Poitiers, CRIHAM), « Des experts au service de l’ambassadeur de France à Rome au début du XVIIIe siècle : l’exemple des consuls en poste à Naples et en Sicile ».
15h05 : questions et discussion
15h30 : pause

3. Les experts dans les conférences internationales

  • 15h45 : Guido Braun (Université de Bonn), « Le rôle des experts dans les négociations franco-impériales sur la cession de l’Alsace à la France, 1646-1648 ».
  • 16h10 : Stanislas Jeannesson (Université de Nantes, CRHIA), « Experts et diplomates aux conférences de La Haye (1899 et 1907) ».
  • 16h35 : Vincent Laniol (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), « Être expert à la Conférence de la Paix de 1919 : tentative de comparaisons internationales ».
17h : questions et discussions

Vendredi 13 mai

Les champs de l’expertise diplomatique

9h15 : accueil des participants
Présidence de séance : Dominique Gaurier, Université de Nantes

4. L’expertise juridique

  • 9h30 : Jörg Ulbert (Université de Bretagne-Sud, UMR CNRS CERHIO), « Le recrutement du premier jurisconsulte du ministère des Affaires étrangères au début du XVIIIe siècle ».
  • 9h55 : Éric Schnakenbourg (Université de Nantes, CRHIA), « De la théorie du droit à l’action diplomatique : Martin Hübner et la défense de la navigation neutre pendant la guerre de Sept Ans ».
10h20 : questions et discussion
10h45 : pause
  • 11h : Philippe Rygiel (Université Paris-Ouest Nanterre La Défense), « Les conseillers juridiques au Quai d’Orsay, des années 1880 aux années 1920 ».
  • 11h25 : Louis Clerc (Université de Turku), « Le serviteur de deux maîtres ? Albert Geouffre de la Pradelle, expert juridique auprès du ministère des Affaires étrangères et défenseur de la cause des petites nations ».
11h50 : questions et discussion
12h15 : déjeuner
Après midi
Présidence de séance : Robert Frank, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

5. L’expertise économique et financière

  • 13h45 : Antonella Alimento (Université de Pise), « Entre considérations dynastiques et développement  économique, le rôle de l’expertise économique dans la ratification des traités de commerce au XVIIIe siècle : le cas français ».
  • 14h10 : Fabrice Jesné (École française de Rome - Université de Nantes, CRHIA), « Les délégués italiens à la commission internationale de contrôle des finances grecques, 1897 - 1914 ».
  • 14h35 : Olivier Feiertag (Université de Rouen), « Le signe des temps : l'invention de l'expert financier international dans l'entre-deux-guerres ».
15h : questions et discussion
15h30 : pause

6. La diversification des champs de l’expertise dans la première moitié du XXe siècle

  • 15h45 : Michel Catala (Université de Nantes, CRHIA), « De nouveaux experts au service de la France ? Quelques exemples dans l'organisation de la propagande extérieure durant les deux guerres mondiales ».
  • 16h10 : Guillaume Tronchet (IHMC, École normale supérieure - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), « L'expertise universitaire en diplomatie : entre valorisation sociale et assignation à résidence (1900-1940) ».
16h35 : questions et discussion
 (source: Calenda.org)

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: (Dis)continuities in the Legal Protection of Refugees: comparing refuge for religious minorities in the 17th and 18th century with the Common European Asylum System (Amsterdam, 30 Sep 2016); DEADLINE 30 APR 2016


(image source: Wikimedia Commons)

VENUE: Paul Scholten Centre for Jurisprudence, University of Amsterdam, NL
DATE: Friday 30 September 2016
DEADLINE: Submission proposal 30 April 2016
ORGANIZERS:
- Maarten den Heijer (Amsterdam Center for International Law, University of Amsterdam)
- Geert Janssen (Amsterdam School of Historical Studies, University of Amsterdam)
- Gregor Noll (International Law, Lund University)
- Thomas Spijkerboer (Migration Law, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
- Bas Schotel (Paul Scholten Centre for Jurisprudence, University of Amsterdam)

Theme
This workshop explores historical legal arrangements providing protection to refugees in order to better understand the structure of legal protection of refugees in Europe today. The workshop concentrates on how the protection of religious refugees in 17th and 18th century was legally structured. The historical legal mechanisms will be contrasted with the current European refugee regime, in particular the Common European Asylum System (CEAS).

Target audience and aim of the workshop
The workshop is aimed at scholars of early modern history, legal history and refugee law, with an interest in identifying (dis)continuities between historical and current legal mechanisms offering protection to refugees. Contributors are asked to consider afresh their existing research and knowledge of the sources with a view to identifying relevant (dis)continuities. The aim is to produce an edited volume or special issue with an expert journal of refugee law or refugee policy. This workshop is a first step in this process as the first draft papers should identify the (dis)continuities that can be fruitfully pursued.

Novelty
The novelty of the workshop is threefold. Firstly, while there is extensive scholarship on religious refugees in 17th and 18th century, it does not focus explicitly on the legal mechanisms offering protection to refugees directly or obliquely. Secondly, (dis)continuities between the historical and current refugee regimes will help legal experts of the CEAS better understand the conditions that foster or hamper legal protection of refugees today. Thirdly, the historical legal regimes may inspire legal experts to explore alternative routes for structuring and conceptualizing legal protection of refugees under the CEAS.

Relevance
The institutional framework that is supposed to deal with the current refugee crisis facing Europe is the CEAS. The central logic of the CEAS is one of unity: it aims to be a homogenous system that presents itself vis-à-vis refugees as a single jurisdiction. Furthermore, the official ideology underlying the current protective mechanism relies on human rights and equality. Yet, when it comes to refugees precisely in times of crises when protection is most needed unity, human rights and equality often fail to deliver. This workshop may help explore alternative routes of legal protection of refugees.

Deadlines
Paper proposals of no more than 500 words can be sent to Bas Schotel (b.schotel1@uva.nl) by 30 April. Decisions will be communicated by 15 May. First draft paper should be submitted by 16 September to be circulated in advance among participants.

Fees and catering
There will be no participation fee charged for the workshop. One lunch and one dinner will be offered to presenters and discussants. Participants should make their own travel and accommodation arrangements.

(source: Dutch-Flemish Association for Early Modern Historyà)

Monday 18 April 2016

BOOK and CD-ROM: Dominique GAURIER, Commentary on the Peace of Konstanz (1183) by Baldus (Limoges: Presses universitaires de Limoges, 2016), 251 p. ISBN 9782842876814, € 22


 (image source: ESCLH blog)


Dominique Gaurier (Nantes), author of an elaborate Histoire du droit international (PURennes, second edition, 2014), published a commentary on an edition of the great Baldus' Commentary on the Peace of Konstanz (1183) (Limoges: Presses Universitaires de Limoges). This is the first translation into any European (living) language from the original Latin, available for only € 22.

Book presentation:
Traduit pour la première fois dans une langue européenne, le Commentaire de Balde sur la Paix de Constance (1183) arrive à un moment où les querelles de préséance entre le pape et l'empereur continuent et où l'empereur, qui possède une bonne partie du territoire de l'Italie, doit affronter la révolte des cités lombardes. Ces dernières demandent que leur soient accordés certains privilèges que cette Paix de 1183 va leur accorder. Balde en propose alors un commentaire fait de façon très classique, qui présente un aspect de l'enseignement qui pouvait être donné dans les universités médiévales. L'intérêt essentiel de cette traduction est de proposer au lecteur et à l'historien médiéviste la lecture intégrale de ce commentaire sur un texte important de l'histoire de l'Italie médiévale.
 Table of contents:
Introduction
Préface
Traité, ou Commentaire de Maître Balde degli Baldeschi de Pérouse, très illustre docteur dans les deux droits, sur la Paix de Constance (1183)
Table des matières
More information here.
 

Wednesday 13 April 2016

REMINDER: Robert Kolb on Changes and continuity in the peaceful settlement of disputes by the League of Nations and the United Nations (Ghent, 3 May 2016)

(image source: Wikimedia Commons)

On Tuesday 3 May, the Lecture Series International Order and Justice (Ghent University, Faculty of Law) has the honour to welcome Prof. Robert Kolb (Genève) for a lecture and doctoral seminar. Professor Koskenniemi will address the audience in the Academic Council Room on “Changes and continuity in the peaceful settlement of disputes by the League of Nations and the United Nations” (09:00). 

Afterwards (11:00-12:00) prof. Kolb will attend a doctoral seminar (Faculty Council Room) and comment on presentations by PhD-researchers. 

The International Order and Justice Lecture Series is supported by the Vrije Universiteit Brusssel (VUB), the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) and was made possible thanks to the financial support of  the UGent Doctoral School of Arts, Humanities and Law, the Belgian Branch of the International Law Association as well as the Belgian Society for International Law. 

Practical information and registration with Kristien.Ballegeer@UGent.be or on the Website of the Gustave Rolin Jaequemyns Institute of International Law.

Monday 11 April 2016

CALL FOR PAPERS AND SESSIONS: Historicising International (Humanitarian) Law ? Could we ? Should we ? (Uppsala, 6-8 Oct 2016); DEADLINE 30 May 2016


(image source: Uppsala University)

The Hugo Valentin Centre at Uppsala University announced the following call for papers and sessions:

During the last couple of decades, law has broken its conceptual isolation. Through interventions by authors such as Martti Koskenniemi and David Kennedy, a new critical way of looking at law has brought the field closer to the social sciences. Critical geographers such as Arnulf Becker Lorca show how to broaden the geographical understanding of law. Much, though not all, of this discussion is about the laws of war, and it is also through this subject that professional historians enter this field of study.
So: should we historicise law? Could we, in a workable way?
The Hugo Valentin Centre at the Uppsala University together with Stockholm Center for International Law and Justice invite scholars within both law, history, and the other humanities and social sciences to take part in an international conference on 6-8 October 2016. The conference is open for professional scholars and doctoral students (or comparable).

The call for papers and sessions is open until May 30th, 2016.
There will be no fee, but on the other hand, no subsidies are available. Hotel rooms and food will be available for reasonable prices (see below).
Key speakers are  Alexander Gillespie (NZ), Mark Klamberg (Sweden), Arnulf Becker Lorca (UK/USA), Marc Neocleous (UK), Daniel Segesser (Switzerland) (more names are forthcoming).
If you want to present a paper, or organise a session, please contact Mats Deland: mats.deland@valentin.uu.se

The event is organized in cooperation with the Stockholm Center for International Law and Justice, and receives financial support from Vetenskapsrådet (Swedish research council).

More information here.
 

Thursday 7 April 2016

CONFERENCE: Harvard Law School SJD Association: "International Legal History Day"(14 Apr 2016)

The Harvard Law School SJD Association invites you to a day-long event on international legal history featuring book talks, paper presentations and a discussion on methodology. The event is co-sponsored by the Institute for Global Law and Policy, the Harvard Law School Graduate Program, and the Law and History Program.

  10am   “Exporting Freedom: Religious Liberty and American Power"
Book talk: Anna Su, University of Toronto
Commentator: Mark Tushnet, Harvard University  

11am   “The Illusion of Territorial Jurisdiction
                       
Paper presentation: Péter Szigeti, European University Institute 
Commentator: Charles Maier, Harvard University 

12pm   Lunch 

1pm     “Writing International Legal History: Approaches, Methods, Prospects
 Chair: David Armitage, Harvard University
 Panelists: Arnulf Becker Lorca, Brown University; Anna Su, University of Toronto; Péter Szigeti, European University Institute 

2.30pm     “Mestizo International Law: A Global Intellectual History, 1842-1933
Book talk: Arnulf Becker Lorca, Brown University 
Commentators: David Kennedy, Harvard University; Erez Manela, Harvard University 

See poster here.

Tuesday 5 April 2016

ESIL Conference 2016 (Riga): Interest Group Workshop: "Writing Crisis in the History of International Law" Line-up (7 Sep 2016)

 (image: M.C. Escher, "Writing Hands"; source: MC Escher)

The ESIL Interest Group History of International Law is delighted to announce the line-up for its workshop "Writing Crisis in the History of International Law" at the upcoming ESIL Annual Conference, held at the Riga Law School (8-10 Sep 2016).

This event will take place ahead of the Conference, on 7 September 2016.

The Interest Group expresses its thanks to the 19 submitters of abstracts (cf. call for papers). Unfortunately, it was not possible to include all interesting paper proposals we received. After a process of double blind peer review by independent assessors, the following five papers have been retained:
"The Economic Crisis in the 1970s"
Dr. Ingo Venzke
Associate Professor at the Department of International and European Law of the University of Amsterdam

"The Stunted 'Science' of Statehood"
Eric Loefflad
Phd candidate at the University of Kent at the Centre for Critical International Law.

"Diverging Reconstructions"
Paolo Amorosa

Phd candidate at the Erik Castrèn Institute, University of Helsinki.

"The Emergence of the 'Indifference'-Narrative"
Agathe Verdebout
Phd candidate at ULB Belgium at the Centre for International Law

"Universal Solutions for Exceptional Times"
Dr. Monica Garcia-Salmones
Postdoctoral researcher at the Erik Castrèn Institute, University of Helsinki.
 We welcome all persons interested at the Workshop in Riga !

JOURNAL: Journal of the History of International Law/Revue d'histoire du droit international XVIII (2016), No. 2

 (image source: Brill)

The new issue of the Journal of the History of International Law/Revue d'histoire du droit international has just been published.

Contents:
L’institutionnalisation du droit international comme phénomène transnational (1869–1873). Les réseaux européens de Gustave Rolin-Jaequemyns (Vincent Genin)

Human Rights for and against Empire – Legal and Public Discourses in the Age of Decolonisation (Fabian Klose)

The Waitangi Tribunal in the Context of New Zealand’s Political Culture and Historiography (Richard P. Boast)

Colonial Laws: Sources, Strategies and Lessons? (Martti Koskenniemi)

In the General Interest of Peace? British International Lawyers and the Spanish Civil War (Ignacio de la Rasilla y del Moral)

The Family of Nations as an Element of the Ideology of Colonialism (Harald Kleinschmidt)

Book reviews:
Le droit international et la Chine impériale dans ses dernières années. Textes, événements et politique* , written by Lai Junnan (Mingzhe Zhu)

Sovereignty, Property and Empire, 1500–2000* , written by A. Fitzmaurice (Mieke Van der Linden)

Freedom of the Seas* , written by J.M.G. de Rayneval (Jean Allain)

More information on Brill's Books and Journals Online website.