2015

International criminal tribunals have failed to live up to many of the optimistic expectations that were imposed upon them. An international conference will focus on the numerous challenges which international criminal tribunals face.

The conference will take place in Oslo on 29-30 August 2016. The deadline for submitting paper proposals is 29 February 2016. Read the full call for papers.

PluriCourts coordinator Christina Voigt is part of the Norwegian team at the climate negotiations in Paris. In the Norwegian TV programme Dagsnytt 18, she talked about the binding climate agreement which was concluded on 12 December 2015.

In August 2015, Associate Professor Gus Van Harten (Osgoode Law School) visited PluriCourts. The paper he worked on and presented during his visit is now published under the title "Investment Treaties and the Internal Vetting of Regulatory Proposals: A Case Study from Canada". Read the paper (SSRN).

PluriCourts director Geir Ulfstein and Norwegian Minister of Defence Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide discussed in the Norwegian TV programme Aktuelt a possible Norwegian participation in the coalition against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Ulfstein emphasized that there was no straightforward answer to the question whether such an intervention would be in line with public international law. Therefore, the full Norwegian Parliament should decide on all future activities.

Submit an abstract for the workshop  on "Global Constitutionalism without Global Democracy" (Florence, 14-15 January 2016). The submission deadline is 15 December 2015. Read the full call here.

In an article published by the Norwegian broadcasting agency NRK, PluriCourts coordinator Cecilia Bailliet criticizes the new practice relating to the border control at the Norwegian-Russian border. Read the article (in Norwegian).

The Executive Council of the International Law Association (ILA) has appointed PluriCourts Director Geir Ulfstein as co-chair (with Professor Photini Pazartzis) of the "Study Group on Content and Evolution of the Rules of Interpretation of International Law". The group will identify the most important questions for further research and discussion by the ILA, and come to some preliminary conclusions.

In this opt-ed, PluriCourts Director, Geir Ulfstein, discusses whether it would be legal to bomb IS in Syria after the terrorist attack in Paris. Read the full article (in Norwegian). 

The International Criminal Law group at PluriCourts regularly provides updates on news related to international criminal tribunals which will be presented here. Here is the first update.

Students from the Law Faculty at the University of Oslo have won a prize for “Best Damages Aspect” at an international Moot Court Competition in London.

PluriCourts coordinator Cecilia Bailliet features in the Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen. She claims that the requirement for refugees to have a police certificate from their country of origin in order to get a work permit leads to a discrimination. Read the full article (pdf, in Norwegian).

On 29 October – 1 November 2015, a team of students will take part in a moot court at King’s College in London. They will compete with over 50 other teams from all over the world to solve a case on foreign investments in solar energy in Europe – and their work may impact the solution of ongoing  real-life investment disputes.

PluriCourts coordinator Christina Voigt has been nominated by the government of Norway to serve as a member of a specialized environmental panel, established as part of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague.

Postdoctoral Fellow Michelle Q. Zang is on a three-months research stay at the Lauterpacht Centre at the University of Cambridge. She hopes to benefit of the specialized research community and receive valuable input for her ongoing work in the field of trade law.

PluriCourts supports the GQUAL campaign, which promotes gender parity in international courts and tribunals. A recent survey reveals that 32,5% of all members of international tribunals and monitoring bodies are women. Taking only into account courts, the proportion of women decreases to 17,6%.

After the panel debate on The Refugee Crisis: The European Response at the ESIL Conference, international lawyers initiated an open letter. They condemn the failure to offer protection to people seeking refuge in Europe, and the lack of respect for the human rights of those seeking refuge.

PluriCourts Director Geir Ulfstein published a response to a current debate about the lessons learned from the military intervention in Libya in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. He states that the public and political discussions lack focus on the international law aspects of the use of force. This weakens the authority of international law and the UN Security Council. Read the op-ed (in Norwegian).

Research Assistant Tori Loven Kirkebø published an op-ed in the Norwegian newspaper Bergens Tidende. She argues that the Norwegian government should abandon its plans to conclude bilateral investment treaties. Read the entire article (in Norwegian).

From 21 September - 2 October, Professor Tania Voon (University of Melbourne) will strengthen the trade team at PluriCourts.

400 international law scholars and practitioners gathered in Oslo on 10-12 September to discuss the judicialization of international law. The webcasts and photos from the 11th ESIL Annual Conference are available online.

Three guests will contribute to our larger projects this week: Oran Young (University of California), Jeffrey Dunoff (Temple University) and Erik Voeten (Georgetown University).

PhD Candidate Rosa Manzo cautions against too high hopes for the climate  negotiations in Paris in December. The world community struggles to reach an agreement on how to tackle climate change. It is yet unclear how strong the commitments will be, and whether it will be possible to sanction those who do not fulfil their climate goals?

Two new researchers will bolster the international criminal law research at PluriCourts. Joanna Nicholson and Kjersti Lohne will both contribute to the edited book The Legitimacy and Effectiveness of International Criminal Tribunals.

Professor Alec Stone Sweet (Yale Law School) will be at PluriCourts this week to participate in several seminars and workshops.

Svalbard has been a part of the Kingdom of Norway for 90 years. On this occasion, Thor Bjørn Arlov and PluriCourts director Geir Ulfstein published an op-ed in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. Read the full article (in Norwegian).