BOOK: Leonard Francis TAYLOR, Catholic Cosmopolitanism and Human Rights (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020). ISBN 9781108486125, £ 85.00

(Source: CUP)

Cambridge University Press is publishing a new book on catholic cosmopolitanism and human rights. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

It is because Catholicism played such a formative role in the construction of Western legal culture that it is the focal point of this enquiry. The account of international law from its origin in the treaties of Westphalia, and located in the writing of the Grotian tradition, had lost contact with another cosmopolitan history of international law that reappeared with the growth of the early twentieth century human rights movement. The beginnings of the human rights movement, grounded in democratic sovereign power, returned to that moral vocabulary to promote the further growth of international order in the twentieth century. In recognising this technique of periodically returning to Western cosmopolitan legal culture, this book endeavours to provide a more complete account of the human rights project that factors in the contribution that cosmopolitan Catholicism made to a general theory of sovereignty, international law and human rights.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Leonard Francis Taylor, National University of Ireland, Galway
Leonard Taylor is a graduate of the Irish Centre for Human Rights in National University of Ireland, Galway, where he lectures in human rights law. He is also an assistant lecturer at the Institute of Technology, Sligo.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
1. Catholic cosmopolitan and the birth of human rights
2. Catholic cosmopolitanism from the centre to the periphery
3. Catholic cosmopolitanism from the periphery to international concern
4. Locating a modern Christian cosmopolitanism
5. An imperfect cosmopolitan project
Conclusion.

More info here

(source: ESCLH Blog)

CALL FOR PAPERS: The Institutional Foundations of pre-modern long-distance trade (Oldenburg, 24-25 July 2020) (DEADLINE: 1 May 2020)

(Source: Hsozkult)

Via H-Soz-Kult, we learned of a call for papers for a conference on the institutional foundations of pre-modern long distance trade.

“In pre-industrial societies, long-distance trade constituted the most dynamic sector of the economy. Trade expansion increased the demand for goods, incentivizing growth of the manufacturing and service sectors. It facilitated social mobility and brought prosperity in its wake. For trade to expand, institutions need to develop that enforce contracts and secure property rights. In order to understand why trade flourished in some places, during some periods, and not in others, we need to understand how institutions develop and work” […]

The full call can be found here

(source: ESCLH Blog)

BOOK: Patrick O. HEINEMANN, Rechtsgeschichte Der Reichswehr 1918–1933 (Brill, 2018). ISBN 978-3-506-78785-9

(Source: Brill)

Brill published a legal history of the Reichswehr during the Weimar Republic back in 2018.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Der Autor zeigt mit der Rechtsgeschichte der Reichswehr 1918–1933 das Spannungsverhältnis auf, in dem die Weimarer Republik zum Militär als Ganzem wie auch dem einzelnen Soldaten stand.
Wie und warum die Integration der Streitkräfte in die erste deutsche Republik aus juristischer Perspektive misslang, belegt diese archivalisch fundierte Rechtsgeschichte der Reichswehr erstmals anhand verschiedenster Themenfelder wie der Militärstrafjustiz, dem Ehren- sowie dem Disziplinar- und Beschwerderecht. Das überlieferte Bild vom »Staat im Staate« bildete sich rechtlich gesehen in einer Tendenz der Reichswehr zur »Paralegalität« ab. Sie hatte ihre Wurzeln vor allem im überkommenen preußisch-deutschen Sonderstatus des Militärs im Staatsaufbau, in exzessiven ausnahmerechtlichen Einsätzen im Innern sowie im fortgesetzten Völkerrechtsbruch der Geheimrüstung. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Patrick Oliver Heinemann hat in Berlin und Freiburg Rechtswissenschaft studiert. Heute ist er Rechtsanwalt in Freiburg.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preliminary Material

Pages: 1–7

Vorwort zur Reihe

By: Stig Förster, Bernhard R. Kroener, Bernd Wegner and Michael Werner

Pages: 9–10

Zum Geleit

By: Manfred Messerschmidt

Pages: 11

Dank

By: Patrick O. Heinemann

Pages: 13

Einleitung

Pages: 15–27

Entstehung der Weimarer Wehrverfassung

Pages: 28–112

Grundlagen des Soldatischen Dienstverhältnisses

Pages: 113–173

Politische und Bürgerliche Grundrechte

Pages: 174–234

Militärstrafrecht

Pages: 235–285

Das Disziplinarstrafrecht als Prothese

Pages: 286–309

Ehrenschutz

Pages: 310–336

Rechtsschutz

Pages: 337–352

Spätphase und Untergang der Republik

Pages: 353–388

Fazit

Pages: 389–397

Abkürzungen

Pages: 398–400

Literatur und Veröffentlichte Quellen

Pages: 401–417

Archivalische Quellen

Pages: 418

Personenregister

Pages: 419–424

More info here

(source: ESCLH Blog)

BOOK: Clément OURY, La Guerre de Succession d'Espagne. La fin tragique du Grand Siècle (Paris: Tallandier, 2020), 528 p. ISBN 9791021033719, € 25,9

(image source: Tallandier)

Book abstract:

Le 1er novembre 1700 s’éteint le roi Charles II d’Espagne, souverain d’un empire sur lequel le soleil ne se couche jamais. À la surprise générale, il désigne comme héritier le jeune Philippe, duc d’Anjou, petit-fils du Roi-Soleil. Cette décision arrime le royaume d’Espagne, immense mais à bout de souuffle, à celui de France, première puissance du continent. Pour les autres États d’Europe, cette alliance est inacceptable. Le conflit qui s’ensuit représente la plus longue et la plus difficile épreuve du règne de Louis XIV. La guerre de Succession d’Espagne oppose, de 1701 à 1714, les deux rois de la Maison de Bourbon à une vaste coalition dirigée par l’Angleterre, la Hollande et l’Empereur. La France dispose alors de la plus forte armée d’Europe, invaincue depuis plus d’un demi-siècle, et d’une direction stratégique unifiée. Elle va pourtant subir une série de désastres sans précédent face aux troupes alliées commandées par le duc de Marlborough et le prince Eugène de Savoie. La ceinture de fer érigée par Vauban est entamée, les frontières du royaume occupées. C’est à l’étude de cette catastrophe que se consacre Clément Oury. Dans la lignée d’une histoire militaire renouvelée, il étudie la conduite des opérations depuis Versailles ou La Haye, dans les cabinets des ministres ou sur le champ de bataille. Il s’intéresse au quotidien du soldat comme à son expérience du combat aux souffrances des populations dans les zones de conflit aux réactions des opinions publiques qui, sidérées ou enthousiastes, voient s’effondrer l’image d’un Roi-Soleil invincible et menaçant. Il analyse enfin les ressorts de la résilience du royaume. Alors que le désastre paraît consommé, les dissensions entre Alliés permettent d’obtenir une paix de compromis. Celle-ci bouleverse l’agencement des pouvoirs en Europe, avec l’affirmation de la Grande-Bretagne et de la Maison d’Autriche. On ne craint plus que le royaume de Louis XIV ne prétende à l’hégémonie. Des décombres du conflit s’impose un principe diplomatique nouveau : l’équilibre des puissances.

On the author:

Clément Oury est diplômé de l’École des Chartes et docteur de l’université de Paris- Sorbonne. Avec cet ouvrage, il propose la première synthèse en français sur ce conflit majeur de l’histoire européenne. 

(source: Tallandier)

FREE ACCES: Taylor & Francis E-Books

(image souce: Wikimedia Commons)

Taylor&Francis/Routledge offers free access to its e-books for the duration of the COVID19-crisis.

A selection for legal history can be found here.
A selection for international law can be found here.
A selection for comparative law can be found here.
A selection for legal theory can be found here.

BLOG: Mireille DELMAS-MARTY on the Coronavirus and its challenges for national and global normativity (Le Grand Continent, 18 MAR 2020)

(image source: Le Grand Continent)

First paragraph:

Gouverner la mondialisation par le droit implique de construire un état de droit sans État mondial, donc de repenser l’outil que représente le droit, traditionnellement identifié à l’État, face aux interdépendances nées de la mondialisation et aux défis qu’elles engendrent. Crises économiques et financières ; crises sociales ; terrorisme global ; désastre humanitaire des migrations ; crise climatique et, pour couronner le tout, si l’on ose dire, la crise sanitaire du « coronavirus ». Il serait temps de les prendre au sérieux, à mesure que s’accélère la cacophonie née de cette polycrise. Comme si l’indignation citoyenne face aux dérives sécuritaires, la colère des gilets jaunes face aux inégalités sociales, la révolte des jeunes générations et l’appel des scientifiques face au changement climatique n’avaient pas suffi, il aura fallu un simple virus, plus petit qu’une aile de papillon, pour faire trembler le monde, au point d’ébranler enfin les certitudes de nos dirigeants. Les grandes puissances, ou qui se croient telles, fières de leurs nouvelles technologies et convaincues de leur pouvoir politique et/ou économique, se révèlent incapables de se coordonner à l’échelle de la planète. Comme si ce minuscule être vivant était venu en messager pour défier notre humanité mondialisée et révéler son impuissance, lui offrant une dernière chance pour prendre conscience de sa communauté de destin.

On the author (source: Collège de France):

After studying law in Paris, Mireille Delmas-Marty received her PhD (1969), then became a Professor of private law and criminal sciences (in 1970).
Her teaching career, after a brief assistantship at the Law Faculty of Paris (1967-1970), has led her to teach in the universities of Lille-II (1970-1977), Paris-XI (1977-1990) and Paris-I (1990-2002). Member of the Institut Universitaire de France (1992-2002), she was elected to the Collège de France, where she occupied the Chair in Comparative Legal Studies and Internationalization of Law. In 2007, she was elected member of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. Mireille Delmas-Marty has been a visiting professor in most major European universities, and, notably, the United States, Latin America, China, Japan and Canada.
In addition to her teaching, Mireille Delmas-Marty has devoted to research in the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and the Association de Recherches Pénales Internationales she has created, then the UMR de droit comparé de Paris (University of Paris-I/CNRS) she directed from 1997 to 2002. She manages, since 1984, the Revue de science criminelle et de droit pénal comparé and participates in the editorial boards of various legal journals both national (Archives de Politique Criminelle, Revue trimestrielle des droits de l’homme) and international (European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, LSN International, Transnational & Comparative Criminal Law Abstracts and Journal of International Criminal Justice).
Finally, Mireille Delmas-Marty has held numerous expert missions including: nearby the President of the Republic, for example, the revision of the Constitution in 1992, with the Minister of Justice for the reform of the Penal Code in 1981 and the reform of criminal procedure in 1988, and with the European Union, under the Penal Project said Corpus Juris (1996-1999) and the Supervisory Committee of European Anti-Fraud Office (1999-2005).

Read more on Le Grand Continent.

BOOK: Florent GARNIER (dir.), Sur le front du droit. Juristes en guerre et guerre des juristes [Etudes d'Histoire du Droit et des Idées Politiques; 26] (Toulouse: Editions de l'Université Toulouse 1-Capitole, 2020), 140 p. ISBN 978-2-3617-0203-8, € 15

(image source: univ-droit)

Book abstract:

Cet ouvrage rassemble sept contributions d'un cycle de conférences organisé à l'occasion de la commémoration du centenaire de la Première Guerre mondiale par le Centre Toulousain d'Histoire du Droit et des Idées Politiques en collaboration avec le Collège supérieur de droit et l'École Européenne de droit de l'Université Toulouse Capitole. Trois temporalités sont présentées et analysées, elles intéressent les juristes en guerre et la guerre des juristes. Tout d'abord l'action, la réflexion et la pratique au quotidien de juristes plongés dans ce conflit sont mises à jour. La Grande Guerre a aussi été un temps particulier d'adaptation et d'application du droit pour répondre aux circonstances exceptionnelles. Enfin, la guerre prend place dans un mouvement long de renforcement du rôle de l'État.

Table of contents:

Florent Garnier, Des juristes en action.
Michaël Amara, Le combat du Président Wellens ou le difficile exercice de la Justice militaire belge durant la Première Guerre mondiale.
Aurélien Antoine, L'influence de la Première Guerre mondiale dans l'affirmation de la discipline du droit public au Royaume-Uni.
Aurore Gaillet, Le droit public allemand et la Première Guerre mondiale.
Gerd Hankel, L'impact de la Première Guerre mondiale sur le concept de droit international public en Allemagne.
Annamaria Monti, Les juristes italiens et la guerre : pistes de recherche.
Antoine Sené, De la propagande internationale à la diplomatie culturelle. Professeurs et facultés de droit, agents de la politique extérieure française pendant la Grande Guerre.
Wanda Mastor, La Cour suprême des États-Unis et la Première Guerre mondiale. Histoire du miroir d'un désamour. 

(source: univ-droit)

BOOK: Giulio BARTOLINI (ed.), A History of International Law in Italy [History and Theory of International Law] (Oxford: OUP, 2020), 512 p. ISBN 9780198842934, 95 GBP

(image source: OUP)

Book abstract:

This edited volume critically reassesses the history of international law studies in the Italian context. It addresses certain basic issues, including: How such studies have been impacted by global dynamics, in terms of theories, methodologies, or professional networks, and by context-dependent solutions based on local features, through a constant process of attrition and cross-fertilization; The extent to which historical and political turning points have influenced such studies, when scholars have been part of broader academic and public debates or even active participants as legal advisers or politicians; Whether international law has been used - or misused - by relevant actors in such contexts. Bringing together scholars specialized in international law and legal history, this volume first provides a historical examination of the theoretical legal analysis produced in the Italian context, exploring its main features and dissident voices. The second section assesses the impact on international law studies of key historical and political events involving Italy, both international and domestic, and, conversely, how such events have been influenced by international law evaluations. Finally, a concluding section places the preceding analysis within a broader and contemporary perspective. This volume thus intervenes in the growing debate on the need to explore international law from comparative and situated viewpoints, in the light of the perpetual pendulum between the center and periphery of the international legal system.

Table of contents:

• Giulio Bartolini, What is a History of International Law in Italy for? International Law through the Prism of National Perspectives 
• Claudia Storti, Early “Italian” Scholars of Ius Gentium 
• Walter Rech, International Law as a Political Language, 1600– 1859 
• Edoardo Greppi, The Risorgimento and the “Birth” of International Law in Italy 
• Eloisa Mura, The Construction of the International Law Discipline in Italy between the Mancinian and Positive Schools 
• Giulio Bartolini, Italian Legal Scholarship of International Law in the Early Decades of the Twentieth Century
• Antonello Tancredi, The (Immediate) Post- World War II Period 
• Ivan Ingravallo, The Formation of International Law Journals in Italy: Their Role in the Discipline 
• Mirko Sossai, Catholicism and the Evolution of International Law Studies in Italy 
• Lorenzo Gradoni, Burn Out and Fade Away: Marxism in Italian International Legal Scholarship
• Pietro Franzina, The Integrated Approach to Private and Public International Law— A Distinctive Feature of Italian Legal Thinking
• Sergio Marchisio, The Unification of Italy and International Law 
• Tommaso Di Ruzza, The “Roman Question”: The Dissolution of the Papal State, the Creation of the Vatican City State, and the Debate on the International Legal Personality of the Holy See 
• Tullio Scovazzi, The Italian Approach to Colonialism: The First Experiences in Eritrea and Somalia 
• Giulio Bartolini, Italy between the Two World Wars: International Law Issues
• Roberto Virzo, The Influence of Italian International Law Scholars on the Crafting of the 1948 Constitution 
• Enrico Milano, The Main International Law Issues Arising in the Aftermath of World War II 
• Giovanni Distefano & Robert Kolb, Some Contributions from and Influence of the Italian Doctrine of International Law 
• Paolo Palchetti, The Italian Doctrine over Recent Decades

On the contributors:

Edited by Giulio Bartolini, Associate Professor of International Law, University of Roma Tre
Giulio Bartolini is associate professor of International Law at the Department of Law, Roma Tre University. He is editor-in-chief of the 'Yearbook of International Disaster Law' (Brill) and managing editor of the bilingual e-journal 'Questions of International Law/Questions de droit international'.
Contributors:
List of Contributors
Giulio Bartolini, Associate Professor of International Law, University of Roma Tre
Giovanni DiStefano, Professor of International Law, University of Neuchâtel
Tommaso Di Ruzza, Director of the Financial Intelligence Authority, Holy See
Pietro Franzina, Associate Professor of International Law, University of Ferrara
Lorenzo Gradoni, Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law
Edoardo Greppi, Professor of International Law, University of Turin
Ivan Ingravallo, Associate Professor of International Law, University of Bari
Robert Kolb, Professor of International Law, University of Geneva
Sergio Marchisio, Professor of International Law, Sapienza University of Rome
Enrico Milano, Professor of International Law, University of Verona
Eloisa Mura, Lecturer of Legal History, University of Cagliari
Paolo Palchetti, Professor of International Law, Universities of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Macerata
Walter Rech, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Helsinki
Tullio Scovazzi, Professor of International Law, University of Milano-Bicocca
Mirko Sossai, Associate Professor of International Law, University of Roma Tre
Claudia Storti, Professor of Legal History, University of Milan
Antonello Tancredi, Professor of International Law at the Universities of Cote d'Azur and Palermo
Roberto Virzo, Associate Professor of International Law, University of Sannio 

More information with OUP.

(source: ESILHIL Blog)

BOOK: Robert ANTONY, Stuart CAROLL & Caroline DODDS PENNOCK (eds.), The Cambridge World History of Violence, 1500-1800 (Cambridge: CUP, 2020), ISBN 9781316340592

(image source: CUP)

Book abstract:

In the period from 1500 to 1800 the problem of violence necessitated asking fundamental questions and formulating answers about the most basic forms of human organisation and interactions. Violence spoke to critical issues such as the problem of civility in society, the nature of political sovereignty and the power of the state, the legitimacy of conquest and subjugation, the possibilities of popular resistance, and the manifestations of ethnic and racial unrest. It also provided the raw material for profound meditations on humanity and for examining our relationship to the divine and natural worlds. The third volume of The Cambridge World History of Violence examines a world in which global empires were consolidated and expanded, and in which civilisations for the first time linked to each other by trans-oceanic contacts and a sophisticated world trade system.

Read more here.

FREE ACCESS: Cambridge University Press Textbooks (until end of MAY 2020)

(image source: Cambridge UP)

Cambridge University press published the following announcement:

Cambridge University Press is making higher education textbooks in HTML format free to access online during the coronavirus outbreak. Over 700 textbooks, published and currently available, on Cambridge Core are available regardless of whether textbooks were previously purchased. Free access is available until the end of May 2020.

More information here.

BOOK: Mira L. SIEGELBERG, Statelessness. A Modern History (Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press, 2020), 336 p. ISBN 9780674976313, 28,95 GBP

(image source: Worldcat)

Book abstract:

Two world wars left millions stranded in Europe. The collapse of empires and the rise of independent states in the twentieth century produced an unprecedented number of people without national belonging and with nowhere to go. Mira Siegelberg's innovative history weaves together ideas about law and politics, rights and citizenship, with the intimate plight of stateless persons, to explore how and why statelessness compelled a new understanding of the international order in the twentieth century and beyond. In the years following the First World War, the legal category of statelessness generated novel visions of cosmopolitan political and legal organization and challenged efforts to limit the boundaries of national membership and international authority. By linking the emergence of mass statelessness to a revolution in legal consciousness, Siegelberg shows how the rights regime created after the Second World War ultimately empowered the territorial state as the source of protection and rights, against alternative political configurations. Today, more than twelve million people are stateless and millions more belong to categories of recent invention, including refugees and asylum seekers. As Statelessness makes clear, understanding the ideological origins of the international agreements that define approaches to citizenship and non-citizenship can better equip us to confront the dilemmas of political structure and authority at a global scale.

More information with amazon.

ADVANCE ARTICLE: Manuel Galvis MARTINEZ, 'The Historical Evolution of Allegiance During Occupation' (American Journal of Legal History)

(image source: Wikimedia Commons)

Abstract:

The article traces the historical evolution of an understudied area of International Humanitarian Law (IHL): the rules on allegiance during occupation. By mapping state practice and scholarly opinions, the article shows the abandonment of the automatic transfer of the population’s allegiance to the occupant in favour of other theories. Nonetheless, the discussions surrounding this topic show a general struggle to label the relation between inhabitants and occupiers, and a general rejection of any theory that directly or indirectly presumes sovereignty of the occupier over the inhabitants. The article presents an element that is rarely included in debates on allegiance and occupation, i.e. the efforts of states to reinforce their sovereignty over occupied population through criminal prosecution of those who collaborated with the occupant. Finally, contemporary practice aimed at bypassing the regulations is presented as incongruent with the rules regarding occupation in the Geneva Conventions. Despite the landmarks achieved in regulating the matter, the article shows that many aspects remain under discussion and formation. Furthermore, many current rules, practices and discussions only serve the interests of states and are oblivious of the hardships faced by individuals under occupation.

Read more with Oxford Journals.

CANCELLATION: ESIL Research Forum Catania (Postponed, 29-30 OCT 2020)

(image source: Wikimedia Commons)

The ESIL Executive Committee has met and decided to postpone the ESIL Research Forum in Catania to 29-30 October 2020.

It is our regret to inform our readers of this decision. Yet, the COVID19-crisis imposed itself in all its rigour on all activities.

SYMPOSIUM: AJIL Ubound on Prosper Weil's Analysis of Normativity (OPEN ACCESS)

(image: Prosper Weil; Source: Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques)

The American Journal of International Law has published a symposium on Prosper Weil's famous article 'Towards Relative Normativity in International Law' ? (1983).

The introduction by Karen Knop can be found here.
The contribution of Pierre-Marie Dupuy is here.
The contribution of José E. Alvarez is here.
The contribution of Paola Gaeta is here.
The contribution of Monica Garcia Salmones-Rovira is here.
The contribution of John Tasioulas is here.
The contribution of Sienhoo Yee is here.

WEBSITE: Kelsen Online (Digitale Akademie, Mainz)

(image source: Wikimedia Commons)

Project abstract:

Hans Kelsen (1881–1973), im k.u.k.-Österreich-Ungarn geborener und 1933 von den Nationalsozialisten aus Deutschland vertriebener Wissenschaftler jüdischer Herkunft, der im US-amerikanischen Exil seine neue Heimat fand, gehört im globalen Maßstab auch mehr als 40 Jahre nach seinem Tod zu den meistdiskutierten Rechtstheoretikern. Er zählt zu den ganz wenigen Rechtswissenschaftlern, die außerhalb ihres muttersprachlichen, nämlich deutschsprachigen Kreises weltweit Anerkennung gefunden haben und den rechtswissenschaftlichen Diskurs sowohl in Ost- als auch Südeuropa, sowohl in Ostasien als auch in Lateinamerika nachhaltig und selbst in der Anglosphere mehr als nur vernachlässigbar beeinflusst haben.

See project website.

SEMINARS: Prof. David Armitage on 18th and 19th century Law of Nations

(image: George III; source: Wikimedia Commons)

Two events have been announced involving Prof. David Armitage and British conceptions of international law in the 18th and 19th centuries.

First among equals? Rethinking global royal encounters in the 18th and 19th centuries (King's College London, 17 March, 11:15-13:30)

On 17 March 2020 David Armitage will deliver the annual Sons of the American Revolution Georgian Papers Programme Lecture at King’s College London. His topic will be George III and the Law of Nations. He will examine how George III was educated in constitutionalism and the law of nations, how he gathered and processed information about imperial and international affairs, and how this constitutional and juridical knowledge shaped his understanding of international relations. To accompany the lecture, Professor Armitage will lead a workshop earlier in the day which will explore the encounter between the British crown and extra-European polities. The diplomatic history of European monarchies is a familiar topic, but their global encounters have largely been approached within frames of exploration, conquest, or expropriation. This workshop will tilt that framework, probing the interpersonal and reciprocal aspects of three different British royal encounters – with India, America, and China. Priya Atwal, Charles Prior, and Henrietta Harrison will each deliver short papers, Professor Armitage will respond, and we will then open up the discussion to everyone. We hope to engage a variety of perspectives – from political and cultural history, to the history of political thought, global history, and the history of empires and colonialism -- in what should be an ideal preparation for the evening’s lecture, which all are also invited to attend. The workshop should be of interest to MA and PhD students working in all these fields.

(see here for more information)

First among equals? Rethinking global royal encounters in the 18th and 19th centuries (King's College Londen, 17 March, 18:30-21:00)

This lecture examines how George III, from his early years as Prince of Wales in the 1750s through to the twilight of his active rulership in the early nineteenth century, was educated in constitutionalism and the law of nations, how he gathered and processed information about imperial and international affairs, and how this constitutional and juridical knowledge shaped his understanding of international relations, the American Revolution, and the abolition of slavery, among other pressing contemporary questions. From an examination of the Georgian Papers at Windsor Castle and the King’s Library at the British Library, a new picture emerges of George III as an unusually thoughtful, engaged, and at times surprisingly radical student of Montesquieu and Blackstone, and hence as a modernising monarch uniquely well equipped to reflect on the changing nature of sovereignty in an age of revolutions.  

(see here for more information)

On Prof. Armitage:

David Armitage is the Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History at Harvard University and an Affiliated Faculty Member at Harvard Law School. He is also an Honorary Professor of History at both the University of Sydney and Queen’s University Belfast and an Honorary Fellow of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. He is the author or editor of eighteen books, among them The Ideological Origins of the British Empire (2000), The Declaration of Independence: A Global History (2007), Foundations of Modern International Thought (2013), The History Manifesto (2014, co-auth.), and Civil Wars: A History in Ideas (2017). He has held fellowships and visiting positions in Australia, Britain, China, France, Germany, South Korea, and the United States, and this academic year he is the Sons of the American Revolution Visiting Professor at King’s College London in association with the Georgian Papers Programme and the Royal Archives.

BOOK: Edgar BONJOUR, Swiss Neutrality. Its History and Meaning (transl. Mary HOTTINGER) [Routledge Revivals] (London: Routledge, 2018), ISBN 9781138552159, 120 GBP

(image source: Routledge)

Abstract:

Up to a generation ago, the Swiss citizen lived with a feeling of security in foreign relations which we can hardly credit today. Neutrality has come to be taken so much for granted as the fundamental principle of the Federal constitution, and had been so generally recognized in Europe, that it seemed unthreatened and even inviolable. It blended with the republican and democratic ideal to form a national myth of almost religious sanctity. As the axiom of Swiss foreign policy, it had certainly suffered attack both in theory and in fact, but since such crises had always been successfully overcome, Switzerland’s faith in the inviolability of her neutrality had merely been confirmed. It was as if the country were girdled with high, protecting ramparts, behind which its people could go about their lawful occasions unmolested. It was in this period of calm in Switzerland’s foreign relations that international law assiduously sought a formula for the theory of neutrality.

(source: Routledge)

BOOK: Mark SWATEK-EVENSTEIN, A History of Humanitarian Intervention (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2020), 286 p. ISBN 9781107061927, 85 GBP

(image source: CUP)

Abstract:

The question of 'humanitarian intervention' has been a staple of international law for around 200 years, with a renewed interest in the history of the subject emerging in the last twenty years. This book provides a chronological account of the evolution of the discussion and uncovers the fictional narrative provided by international lawyers to support their conclusions on the subject, from justifications and arguments for 'humanitarian intervention', the misrepresentation of great power involvement in the Greek War of Independence in 1827, to the 'humanitarian intervention that never was', India's war with Pakistan in 1971. Relying on a variety of sources, some of them made available in English for the first time, the book provides an undogmatic, alternative history of the fight for the protection of human rights in international law.

On the author:

Mark Swatek-Evenstein is a scholar and lawyer specializing in criminal law, immigration and refugee law. He is a member of the International Network of Genocide Scholars and has taught courses on The Holocaust and The Law. His current research focuses on the minority experience in international law. 

(source: CUP)

VACANCY: Historian for the Research Project DIGICOLJUST: Colonial Violence, Subaltern Agency and Shared Archival Heritage: A Digital Platform of Colonial Judiciary Sources, 2 Years (Brussels: State Archives/VUB-ULB, DEADLINE 1 APR 2020)

(image: Leopold II, King of the Belgians; souce: Wikimedia Commons)

Project abstract:
DIGICOLJUST – Colonial Violence, Subaltern Agency and Shared Archival Heritage: A Digital Platform of Colonial Judiciary Sources Funded by the BELSPO program BRAIN-be2.0 and based on a partnership between AGR/ARA, ULB and VUB, DIGICOLJUST is a two-year digitizing and scientific project starting from a poorly-known archival collection of strategic importance for the history of Belgian colonialism in Central Africa and for the Belgian State Archives collections: the archives of the trial records of the court martials of the Congo Free State (1885-1908) and of the Belgian Congo (1908-1960). This project aims to make these records accessible and to explore new research agendas related to controversial issues of colonial violence and repression as well as to African agency and its modes of expression in colonial courtrooms. DIGICOLJUST will work on three levels: (1) identification and inventory of sources; (2) digitization and preservation; (3) digital dissemination and scientific valorization.

(more information here)

PRE-CONFERENCE EVENT: The Founding of Solidarity in the International Community (ESIL Research Forum, Catania, 23 APR 2020)

(image source: Wikimedia Commons)

2020 ESIL RESEARCH FORUM

RECTORATE BUILDING, PIAZZA UNIVERSITÀ, CATANIA

09.30-11.00 – Session One

‘Interdisciplinary Research Between History and Law’, Markus Beham (Passau)

‘Views in the Literature on Interdisciplinary Research Between History and Law’, Jaanika Erne (Tartu)

‘Louis Bara (1821-1857) and the Liberal-scientific Restatement of International Law in the Nineteenth Century Peace Movement’, Wouter De Rycke (Brussels)

Comments


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11.00-11.30 – Coffee break


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11.30-13.00 – Session Two

‘The Role of the Brazilian Academic Elite in the “Civilization Project” during the XIX Century: An Analysis from the Example of the Whitening of the Population’, Luisa Cortat Simonetti Goncalves-Renato Coutinho (Maastricht)

‘Utopian Prohibition: Elihu Root, James Brown Scott and the Roots of the First International Drug Laws’, Kojo Koram (UCL)

Comments

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13.00 – Conclusion

Discussion of Future IG Events


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The European Society of International Law Interest Group on the History of International Law Steering Committee:

Markus Beham – Frederik Dhont – Jaanika Erne – Jan Lemnitzer – John Mors