ESIL ELECTIONS: New Steering Committee ESIL IGHIL

(image source: ESIL2018conference)

The ESIL Secretariat sent out the following message on 29 Oct 2019:

Following the call for candidates, we are pleased to inform you that the five following members will form the new CC of the Interest Group on the History of International Law.

• Markus P. Beham: 4 years
• Frederik Dhondt: 2 years
• Jaanika Erne: 2 years
• Jan Lemnitzer: 2 years
• John R Morss: 4 years

The new team will be announced on this blog soon.

BOOK: George ULRICH & Ineta ZIEMELE, How International Law Works in Times of Crisis [European Society of International Law] (Oxford: OUP, 2019),

(image source: OUP)

Book description:

For some time, the word 'crisis' has been dominating international political discourse. But this is nothing new. Crisis has always been part of the discipline of international law. History indeed shows that international law has developed through reacting to previous experiences of crisis, reflecting an agreement on what it takes to avoid their repetition. However, human society evolves and challenges existing rules, structures, and agreements. International law is confronted with questions as to the suitability of the existing legal framework for new stages of development. Ulrich and Ziemele here bring together an expert group of scholars to address the question of how international law confronts crises today in terms of legal thought, rule-making, and rule-application. The editors have characterized international law and crisis discourse as one of a dialectical nature, and have grouped the articles contained in the volume under four main themes: security, immunities, sustainable development, and philosophical perspectives. Each theme pertains to an area of international law which at the present moment in time is subject to notable challenges and confrontations from developments in human society. The surprising general conclusion which emerges is that, by and large, the international legal system contains concepts, principles, rules, mechanisms and formats for addressing the various developments that may prima facie seem to challenge these very same elements of the system. Their use, however, requires informed policy decisions.

On the editors:

Edited by George Ulrich, Professor at the Riga Graduate School of Law; Director of the European Master's Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation, Venice, Italy, and Ineta Ziemele, Professor at the Riga Graduate School of Law; President of the Constitutional Court of Latvia George Ulrich is currently Professor of Human Rights at the Riga Graduate School of Law and Programme Director of the European Master's Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation (EMA). He served as Rector at the Riga Graduate School of Law from 2009-2016 and as Secretary General of the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) from 2003-2009. With a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Toronto, he has published extensively on topics related to the philosophy and practical implementation of human rights in an interdisciplinary perspective as well as on issues related to medical ethics, professional ethics, and the ethics of human rights. Ineta Ziemele is Professor at the Riga Graduate School of Law. She has been Judge at the Constitutional Court of Latvia since January 8, 2015, and President of the Constitutional Court of Latvia since May 8, 2017. Professor Ziemele is a former Judge of the European Court of Human Rights (2005-2014) and President of the Court Chamber (2012-2014). She is Editor-in-Chief of the Yearbook of Baltic International Law and Corresponding Member of the Latvian Academy of Science. She was awarded a doctoral degree in law from Cambridge University in 1999.

On the contributors:

Carlos Espaliú Berdud, Dr., Associate Professor of Public International Law and European Law, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona Stephen Bouwhuis, Assistant Secretary, Attorney General's Department, Commonwealth of Australia James Crawford, Judge of the International Court of Justice Stefano Dominelli, Junior Researcher in International Law, University of Genoa Ilze Dubava, Lawyer, State Chancellery of the Republic of Latvia Patrycja Grzebyk, PhD, Professor at the University of Warsaw, vice-director of the Network on Humanitarian Action at the University of Warsaw Kushtrim Istrefi, Assistant Professor of Public International Law and Human Rights at Utrechct University Zeynep Kivilcim, Associate Professor, Einstein Fellow, faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin David Kosař, Director of the Judicial Studies Institute (JUSTIN) at the Law Faculty of Masaryk University, Brno Sandra Krähenmann, Thematic Legal Adviser, Gebeva Call Irena Nesterova, Researcher at the Institute of Legal Science, Faculty of Law. University of Latvia Jan Petrov, Researcher at the Judicial Studies Institute (JUSTIN) at the Law Faculty of Masaryk University Ignacio de la Rasilla, 'Han Depei Chair Professor of International Law and One Thousand talents Plan Professor, Wuhan University Institute of International Law Ilze Ruse, Associate Professor, Riga Graduate School of Law Jean-Marc Sauvé, Vice-president of the French Conseil d'État Annalisa Savaresi, Lecturer in Environmental Law, University of Stirling Fernando Dias Simões, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Pavel Šturma, Professor of International Law, Charles University Faculty of Law (Prague), Member of the UN international Law Commission (Geneva) Ozlem Ulgen, Senior Lecturer in Law, School of Law, Birmingham City University George Ulrich, Professor of Human Rights at the Riga Graduate School of Law Ineta Ziemele, Professor of International Law and Human Rights at the Riga Graduate School of Law

(source: OUP)

BOOK: Jean-Marie PALAYRET, Isabelle RICHEFORT, and Dieter SCHLENKER, eds., Histoire de La Construction Européenne (1957-2015) Sources et Itinéraires de Recherche Croisés (Paris: Editions du Comité des Travaux historiques et scientifiques, 2019). ISBN 978-2-7355-0908-9, 24.00 EUR

(Source: CTHS)

Editions du Comité des Travaux historiques et scientifiques has published a new book on the history of the European Union.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Initiée par Robert Schuman et Jean Monnet, la Communauté européenne du charbon et de l’acier (CECA) précurseur de la construction européenne – a comme premier objectif de « créer une solidarité de fait » (Déclaration Schuman, 9 mai 1950) entre les Européens pour éviter une nouvelle guerre. Le plan Schuman marque le point de départ de la construction européenne.

La présente conférence, qui s’est tenue au centre des Archives diplomatiques les 30 juin et 1er juillet 2016, se propose de faire un état des lieux de la recherche historique sur la construction européenne et des dernières tendances de l’historiographie, de présenter divers fonds d’archives (publiques et privées) récemment ouverts au public en la matière et de découvrir quelques-uns des réseaux associatifs ou professionnels qui la sous-tendent.

En collaboration avec la direction des Archives du ministère français des Affaires étrangères, la Conférence « Sources et itinéraires de recherche croisés de l’histoire de la construction européenne – 1957-2015 » a été organisée par l’Association des « Amis des Archives historiques de l’Union européenne ». Celle-ci est une association qui regroupe tous ceux qui souhaitent apporter leur concours à l’enrichissement et à la connaissance des Archives historiques de l’Union européenne.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Remarques introductives
Jean-Marie Palayret


Historiographie du processus de construction européenne

The History of the European construction: development and current trends
Antonio Varsory

Alan S. Milward’s legacy: deconstructing the history of the construction of Europe
Frances MB Lynch

European Integration and the Cold War
Maria Eleonora Guasconi

Les états membres


« Les négociations d’adhésion de l’Espagne à la CEE et les relations hispano-communautaires : sources, parcours et perspectives de recherche »
Mathieu Trouvé

La poursuite et la demande d’adhésion de la Grèce aux Communautés européennes à travers les Archives grecques
Giorgios Polydorakis

Les archives du ministère des Affaires étrangères sur la Construction européenne : état des fonds et présentation de documents
Isabelle Nathan

La construction européenne vue à travers les archives hongroises
Gergely Fejérdy

A History of European Law: The ‘Constitutional Practice’ and the ‘Veto Politics’
Philip Bajon

Le Cedefop, 40 ans au service de la formation professionnelle en Europe : collecte et exploitation des archives d’une agence européenne
Marc Willem


L’apport des archives privées à l’historiographie de la construction européenne

Les archives de la présidence de Jacques Delors à la Commission européenne
Catherine Allaire-Previti

Sources et historiographie de l’Agence spatiale européenne
Nathalie Tinjod

Les sources privées dans la reconstruction biographique des responsables communautaires, années 1950-1970
Mauve Carbonell


Le rôle des fondations

Le Groupe de Liaison des Professeurs d’histoire auprès de la Commission européenne
Wilfried Loth

Le projet d’histoire de la Commission européenne
Éric Bussière

Towards an European Research infrastructure on Integration Policy?
Marc Dierikx

La Maison de l’histoire européenne au défi d’un récit sur l’unité de l’Europe : une histoire de papier(s) ?
Étienne Deschamps


L’Europe a-t-elle tenu toutes ses promesses ?
Jean-Marie Palayret

More info here

(source: ESCLH Blog)

BOOK REVIEW: Christophe LOSFELD reviews Stephan MEDER, Der unbekannte Leibniz. Die Entdeckung von Recht und Politik durch Philosophie (Francia Recensio 2019/3)

(image source: Perspectivia)

First paragraph:

Si, ces dernières années, Leibniz a beaucoup retenu l’attention, ce qui s’est traduit tant par la poursuite de l’édition de sa correspondance, la publication de textes consacrés à certains pans de son œuvre – qu’il s’agisse, par exemple, de ses textes consacrés à l’histoire ou à la diplomatie – ou de recueils ou de monographies étudiant telle ou telle facette de son activité polyvalente, la pensée juridique de cet auteur, Stephan Meder le constate avec raison, est un peu demeurée dans l’ombre. C’est en particulier chez les juristes que Meder note un manque d’intérêt pour le polygraphe des Lumières, ce qu’il explique par plusieurs facteurs: outre le caractère interdisciplinaire de Leibniz et les liens qu’il n’a cessé de tisser entre le droit et de la philosophie, Meder voit l’une des raisons de ce manque d’intérêt dans la difficulté d’accéder aux textes originaux, que ce soit parce que tous n’ont pas été édités ou parce que maints d’entre eux sont rédigés en latin, une langue que seule une minorité maîtrise aujourd’hui.

Read the full review on Francia Recensio's website.
More information on the book here.

BOOK: Jochen VON BERNSTORFF and Philipp DANN, eds., The Battle for International Law South-North Perspectives on the Decolonization Era (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019). ISBN 9780198849636, £80.00

(Source: OUP)

Oxford University Press is publishing a new edited collection on South-North perspectives to the decolonisation era.

ABOUT THE BOOK

This volume provides the first comprehensive analysis of international legal debates between 1955 and 1975 related to the formal decolonization process. It is during this era, couched between classic European imperialism and a new form of US-led Western hegemony, that fundamental legal debates took place over a new international legal order for a decolonised world. The book argues that this era presents in essence a battle, a battle that was fought out in particular over the premises and principles of international law by diplomats, lawyers, and scholars. In a moment of relative weakness of European powers, 'newly independent states' and international lawyers from the South fundamentally challenged traditional Western perceptions of international legal structures engaging in fundamental controversies over a new international law. The legal outcomes of this battle have shaped the world we live in today.

Contributions from a global set of authors cover contemporary debates on concepts central to the time, such as self-determination, sources and concessions, non-intervention, wars of national liberation, multinational corporations, and the law of the sea. They also discuss influential institutions, such as the United Nations, International Court of Justice, and World Bank. The volume also incorporates contemporary regional approaches to international law in the 'decolonization era' and portraits of important scholars from the Global South.

ABOUT THE EDITORS

Edited by Jochen von Bernstorff, Chair of International Law and Human Rights, Law Faculty, University of Tübingen, and Philipp Dann, Chair of Public and Comparative Law, Faculty of Law, Humboldt University Berlin

Jochen von Bernstorff is currently the Dean of the Tübingen Law Faculty (since 2018), holds the Chair for Constitutional law, International Law and Human Rights (since 2011), and has taught international law as a visiting professor at the German Federal Foreign Office Academy Berlin, Université Panthéon-Assas (institut des hautes études internationales), Université Aix-Marseille and National Taiwan University Taipei. He has acted as a consultant for the German Government and various UN-institutions on human rights, development and international environmental law issues.

Philipp Dann holds the Chair of Public and Comparative Law at Humboldt University Berlin (since 2014) and is principal investigator in the Cluster of Excellence 'Contestations of the Liberal Script' (since 2019). He holds degrees from Frankfurt University (PhD and post-doctoral Habilitation) and Harvard Law School (LL.M.) and has taught German, European and public international law in Germany, France, India, Kenya, the Sudan and the US.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

The Battle for International Law: A Sketch, Jochen von Bernstorff and Philipp Dann

Part I: Sites of Battle

A. Concepts - Kampfbegriffe

1: The Common Heritage of Mankind: Annotations on a Battle, Surabhi Ranganathan

2: The Battle for the Recognition of Wars of National Liberation, Jochen von Bernstorff

3: The Developmental State: Independence, Dependency and the History of the South, Luis Eslava

4: Colonial Fragments: Decolonisation, Concessions and Acquired Rights, Matthew Craven

5: Acquired Rights and State Succession - The Rise and Fall of the Third World in the International Law Commission, Anna Brunner

6: Rival Worlds and the Place of the Corporation in International law, Sundhya Pahuja and Anna Saunders

7: The Battle Continues: Rebuilding Empire through Internationalization of State Contracts, Muthucumaraswamy Sornarajah

8: (De)colonizing Human Rights, Florian Hoffmann and Bethania Assy

9: Picking Battles: Race, Decolonization, and Apartheid, Rotem Giladi

B. Institutions

10: The International Court of Justice During the Battle for International Law (1955-1975)-Colonial Imprints and Possibilities for Change, Ingo Venzke

11: The Battle and the United Nations, Guy Sinclair

12: The World Bank in the Battles of the 'Decolonization Era', Philipp Dann

Part II Individual Protagonists and Regional Perspectives

A. Individual Protagonists

13: Reading R.P. Anand in the Postcolony: Between Resistance and Appropriation, Prabhakar Singh

14: Taslim Olawale Elias: From British Colonial Law to Modern International Law, Carl Landauer

15: Determining New Selves: Mohammed Bedjaoui on Algeria, Western Sahara, and Post-Classical International Law, Umut Özsu

16: Charles Chaumont's Third World International Legal Theory, Emamanuelle Tourme Jouannet

B. Regional Perspectives

17: Literal 'Decolonisation': Re-reading African International Legal Scholarship through the African Novel, Christopher Gevers

18: The Soviets and the Right to Self-Determination of the Colonized: Contradictions of Soviet Diplomacy and Foreign Policy in the Era of Decolonization, Bill Bowring

19: The Failed Battle for Self-Determination: The United States and the Postwar Illusion of Enlightened Colonialism, 1945-1975, Olivier Barsalou

Epilogue

What's Law Got to Do with it? Recollections, Impressions, Martti Koskenniemi

More info here

(source: ESCLH Blog)

BOOK: Lisa BECKENBAUGH, The Treaty of Versailles. A Primary-Document Analysis (Santa Barbara: ABC Clio, 2018) ISBN 978-1-4408-5909-0, 83 USD

(image source: ABC Clio)

Book abstract:

An indispensable resource on the Treaty of Versailles, one of the most influential and controversial documents in history, this book explains how the treaty tried to solve the complex issues that emerged from the destruction of World War I. This carefully curated primary source collection includes roughly 60 documents related to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. By collecting all of the most significant documents in one volume, it allows readers to hear the original arguments surrounding the treaty and to explore the voices of the people involved at the Paris Peace Conference. Moreover, it allows readers to engage with the documents so as to better understand the complex motivations and issues coming out of World War I and highlights the differences between the victors and identifies the problems many countries had with the treaty before it was even signed. The documents are organized in chronological order, providing a blueprint to help students to understand all of the significant events that led to the treaty, as well as the vast repercussions of the treaty itself. In addition to the Treaty of Versailles itself, documents include such significant primary sources as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the Balfour Declaration, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, and Germany's response to the treaty.

On the author:

Lisa L. Beckenbaugh, PhD, is assistant professor of military and security studies at Air University's Air Command and Staff College. She received her MA from St. Cloud State University and her PhD from the University of Arkansas. Dr. Beckenbaugh has taught at a variety of undergraduate and graduate civilian institutions. She also served as the interim project lead and military analyst II for the Operational Leadership Experiences Project under the aegis of the Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth and was a Post-Graduate Historical Research Fellow at the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office. 

More information with the publisher. 

VIDEO: The life and work of Jean Barbeyrac (Groningen, 2014)

The University of Groningen celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2014. Prof. em. Arno Vanderjagt (History of Ideas) comments in this video on Professor of Public and Private Law Jean Barbeyrac's life and work. Barbeyrac translated numerous authors from Latin into French, including Grotius, Pufendorf and Bynkershoek. His elaborate introductions and glossae achived the highest recognition by later scholars. Moreover, he published the volume on Greek and Roman treaties in the Supplément au Corps Universel Diplomatique du Droit des Gens in 1739.

(source: ESCLH Blog)