The School of International Law has launched a series of research seminars called the 'HSE Research Seminar on International Law'. Each seminar, which is held virtually, features an invited leading international researcher or practicing professional

‘THE REGULATION OF GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS’

Petros C. Mavroidis (Columbia Law School)

December 19, 2022 at 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. (Moscow time)

Format: online

About the speaker:

Petros C. Mavroidis is the Edwin B. Parker Professor of Foreign and Comparative Law at Columbia Law School. He teaches the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO). He also co-teaches a course on corruption and sports, and a seminar on a trade issue.

Prof. Mavroidis served as a member of the WTO legal affairs division from 1992 to 1995 and has been a legal adviser to the WTO since 1996. He was the chief co-rapporteur for the American Law Institute study “Principles of International Trade: The WTO” (2013).

His book ‘The Regulation of International Trade’ won the 2017 Certificate of Merit in International Law for a distinguished contribution to the field from the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law.

At Columbia Law School, Mavroidis is a member of the Center on Global Governance and serves on the boards of advisers for the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law and the Columbia Journal of European Law.

‘MILITARY INTERVENTION UPON REQUEST IN JUS AD BELLUM AND JUS IN BELLO’

Dr. Chiara Redaelli (Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights)

November 1, 2022 at 4:00 pm (Moscow time)

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89251016080?pwd=VDdSWDFlQlo3WVZBRkloY2dWWXZZQT09

Meeting ID: 892 5101 6080                                                            Passcode: 457285

Over the past decades, foreign interventions in internal conflicts upon request of the government have turned into a common practice. These instances have proved to be particularly challenging both from a jus ad bellum and a jus in bello point of view. On the one hand, it is often unclear whether the intervention is lawful; on the other hand, the classification of these armed conflicts is equally problematic. In both cases, key to answer these questions is the identification of the organ capable to speak on behalf of the state: who is the government?  In light of the pivotal relevance of the identification of the government both in jus ad bellum and jus in bello, it is crucial to determine the criteria to identify the authority capable to issue a valid invitation. This presentation seeks to clarify these criteria. Ultimately, it will demonstrate that jus ad bellum and jus in bello reach different conclusions on the matter and will argue that this should not be the case. With regard to the jus ad bellum framework, the presentation will draw upon Dr Redaelli’s recently published book “Intervention in Civil Wars: Effectiveness, Legitimacy, and Human Rights” (https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/intervention-in-civil-wars-9781509940561/).

About the speaker

Dr Chiara Redaelli is Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. Her areas of expertise include international humanitarian law, use of force, and international criminal law. She is also a member of the International Law Association Committee on the Use of Force. In 2019, she was Visiting Research Fellow at Harvard Law School. She also formerly worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh) and Beijing (China).

‘THE INTERNATIONAL RULE OF LAW’

February, 15 at 6:00 p.m. (Moscow time)

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85695885561?pwd=MnI2d3RNck00TmdaTVpNeHllTTViQT09

Meeting ID: 856 9588 5561     Passcode: 060689

Representing his recently published book 'Philosophy and International Law. A Critical Introduction' (https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/philosophy-and-international-law/FF2DDE7D52EE089E8C0E193482EB9CC1#fndtn-information), Prof. Lefkowitz will focus on the extent to which the (so-called) international legal order provides an example of government in accordance with the rule of law. He will discuss the elements that comprise that ideal, consider competing accounts of its value; that is, explanations of what makes government in accordance with the rule of law (morally) superior to other forms of rule. The presentation will conclude with an assessment of the degree to which the international legal order exhibits fidelity to the ideal of the rule of law.

About the speaker:

Dr. David Lefkowitz (https://philosophy.richmond.edu/faculty/dlefkowi/) is Professor of Philosophy and Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Law (PPEL) at the University of Richmond, where he chairs the Department of Philosophy. From Fall 2009 through Spring 2015 Dr. Lefkowitz served as the founding coordinator of the Program in Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law (PPEL), an interdisciplinary major with a focus on normative questions of law and public policy. During the 2016-2017 academic year Dr. Lefkowitz was a visiting research fellow at the U.S. Naval Academy’s Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership and an Isaac Manasseh Meyer Visiting Fellow at the National University of Singapore.

'MODERNIZING AND REFORMING INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW: LATEST TRENDS IN UNCITRAL'.

Anna Jourbin-Bret (Secretary, UNCITRAL) 

September, 23 at 6:10 p.m. (Moscow time)

Offline: Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Pokrovsky bul. 11, F 301

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88163857929?pwd=RHlHRWhpaGRiQ3V0dCtHT21HSWxDdz09

ID: 881 6385 7929    Code: 914137   Youtube: https://youtu.be/dosHhLPLt68

Abstract: 

In her presentation Mrs. Anna Joubin-Bret will focus on the various legislative texts UNCITRAL is currently working on, including dispute resolution, the legal issues arising from the digital economy and the way trade has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and how UNCITRAL texts can be used in the States’ response and recovery efforts.

About the speaker:

Mrs. Anna Joubin-Bret is the Secretary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and Director of the Division on International Trade Law in the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations.

Prior to her appointment, Mrs. Joubin-Bret was Attorney-at-law and practiced in Paris. She specialized in International Investment Law and Investment Dispute Resolution. She focused on serving as counsel, arbitrator, mediator and conciliator in international investment disputes. She served as arbitrator in several ICSID, UNCITRAL and ICC disputes. Prior to 2011 and for 15 years, Anna was the Senior Legal Adviser for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). In this capacity, she managed the research and advisory work on international investment law issues as well as the technical assistance program on international investment agreements (IIAs). During her tenure, Anna assisted countries and governments in the formulation of investment policies and frameworks and the management of investor-State disputes. Anna has edited and authored seminal research and publications on international investment law, notably the Sequels to UNCTAD IIA Series. She co-edited with Jean Kalicki a book on Reform of Investor-State Dispute Settlement in 2015. She lectures on international investment law in various universities and institutes all over the world. She holds a post-graduate degree (DEA) in Private International Law from the University of Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, a Masters Degree in International Economic Law from University Paris I and in Political Science from Institut d'Etudes Politiques. She has been Legal Counsel in the legal department of the Schneider Group, General Counsel of the KIS Group and Director-Export of Pomagalski S.A. She has been appointed judge at the Commercial Court in Grenoble (France) and was elected Regional Counsellor of the Rhône-Alpes Region in 1998.

‘A WEAPON OUT OF CONTROL? THE LEGALITY UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW OF (US) SECONDARY SANCTIONS’

March, 16 at 4:20 p.m. (Moscow time)

Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/99380760656?pwd=SXdXUnVlcW0wMHFiemhDbjZDZ25OZz09

Meeting ID: 993 8076 0656                               Passcode: 433185

Abstract: 

Over the past decade, the United States has increasingly weaponized economic sanctions to push through its foreign policy agenda. Making use of the centrality of the US in the global economy, it has imposed ‘secondary sanctions’ or ‘third country measures’ on foreign firms, which are forced to choose between trading with US sanctions targets or forfeiting access to the US market. In addition, the US has penalized foreign firms for breaching US sanctions legislation. Against this background, the presentation will look into the compatibility of secondary sanctions with international law, including, in particular, the customary law restrictions on the exercise of jurisdiction, as well as bilateral and multilateral treaty instruments, such as the IMF Articles of Agreement, the WTO Agreements or bilateral investment treaties. The presentation will draw on relevant litigation – recent and pending – before international and regional judicial bodies (ICJ, WTO, EU) as well as national courts, and explore potential judicial remedies for countries and companies impacted by secondary sanctions.

About the speaker:

Tom Ruys is a professor of international law at Ghent University (Belgium), where he heads the Ghent Rolin-Jaequemyns International Law Institute (GRILI). Tom’s research covers a variety of fields within the domain of public international law, including the law on the use of force, the law of armed conflict, international dispute settlement, State responsibility, immunities, jurisdiction, and sanctions law. Recent publications include ‘Secondary Sanctions: a weapon out of control’? (with C. Ryngaert, British Yearbook of International Law 2020 – open access), the Cambridge Handbook of Immunities and International Law (ed., with N. Angelet, CUP, 2019) and International Law: a European Perspective (with J. Wouters, C. Ryngaert and G. De Baere, Hart Publishing, 2018). Tom is a co-rapporteur of the International Law Association’s Committee on the Use of Force (Military Assistance on Request) and a member of the International Law Association’s Study Group on Sanctions. He is co-editor-in-chief of the Journal on the Use of Force and International Law (Routledge) and the Military Law and Law of War Review (Edward Elgar). He is vice-president of the Belgian Society of International Law. Tom is also a member of the Brussels Bar and works as of counsel with the Brussels office of Stibbe law firm (PG EU Law, Competition and Regulation).

‘The Principle of Subsidiarity in the Work of the European Court of Human Rights’

Professor Geir Ulfstein (University of Oslo)

December, 8 at 4:20 p.m. (Moscow time)

https://zoom.us/j/93498155457?pwd=SENlUGNsMHZTazdvV3VrV2FGanJ0Zz09

Meeting ID: 934 9815 5457          Passcode: 816981

Abstract:
International courts and tribunals have been criticized for possessing too much power at the expense of domestic decision-making, i.e. that they represent too much internationalization. In addition, it has been claimed that they undermine political decision-making, through excessive judicialization. The European Court of Human Rights is among the courts that have been subject to such criticism. However, the increased power of this Court has been balanced by allowing member states some discretion in the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights through the ‘margin of appreciation’, and to some extent also by emphasizing that it is not a ‘fourth instance’. This deference by the Court has been seen as an aspect of subsidiarity, i.e. to restrict internationalization. Moreover, the Court has distinguished between the review of decisions by different domestic constitutional organs, arguably as an aspect of the separation of powers, i.e. to restrict judicialization. On the other hand, the Court must ensure that the rights envisaged in the Convention are effectively protected and the rule of law respected.

In his presentation, Professor Ulfstein will discuss the Court’s use of subsidiarity and the separation of powers with the deference applied by domestic constitutional courts and ask, whether there is a sound basis for similarities and differences between the two forms of review.

About the speaker:

Geir Ulfstein is Professor of international law at the Department of Public and International Law, University of Oslo and Co-director of PluriCourts – Centre for the Study of the Legitimate Roles of the Judiciary in the Global Order at University of Oslo. He has been Director of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo in 2004-2008. Professor Ulfstein has published in different areas of International Law, including the law of the sea, international environmental law, international human rights and international institutional law. He is General Editor (with Andreas Føllesdal) of two book series Studies on Human Rights Conventions and Studies in International Courts and Tribunals (Cambridge University Press). Professor Ulfstein is President of the Norwegian Branch of the International Law Association, Co-chair of the International Law Association’s Study Group on the ‘Content and Evolution of the Rules of Interpretation’ and is Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board, Max Planck Institute for Procedural Law in Luxembourg. He  has been member of the Executive Board of the European Society of International Law in 2010-2016. Professor Ulfstein is also a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

Abstract:
On 17 July 2018, the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression was activated. The guest lecture will sketch out the key elements of the so-called Kampala amendments of the Statute of the International Criminal Court. It will also offer a few reflections on the almost century long historic journey that has allowed the first permanent international criminal court in history to prosecute State leaders responsible for aggression, on the values that underlie the criminalization of aggression and on the contemporary significance of the consensus reached by the States Parties to the Statute of the International Criminal Court on the subject-matter. 

About the speaker:

Claus Kress is a Professor of International Law and Criminal Law. He holds the Chair for German and International Criminal Law and is the Director of the Institute of International Peace and Security Law at the University of Cologne. His prior practice was in the German Federal Ministry of Justice on matters of criminal law and international law. In addition to his scholarly work, comprising more than 150 publications on the law on the use of force, the law of armed conflicts and international criminal law, he has been a member of Germany’s delegations in the negotiations regarding the International Criminal Court since 1998. He is a Life Member of Clare Hall College at the University of Cambridge, a Member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Northrhine-Westfalia, and the recipient of the 2014 M.C. Bassiouni Justice Award as well as of honorary doctorates from the State University Tbilisi of and the University of Huánuco. He was a Guest Professor at Columbia Law School, Melbourne Law School, University of Kyoto and Fernand BraudelSenior Scholar at the European University Institute (Fiesole). In 2019 he was appointed ad hoc judge to the International Court of Justice in the case on ‘Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar)’.

During the first seminar, which is scheduled for October 6, Professor Mary Ellen O'Connell will give a talk entitled, 'Beauty in Legal Theory Will Save the World: Revitalizing the Theory of International Law Compliance’. As part of her talk, she will present the concept outlined in her recently published monograph 'Art of Law in the International Community' (CUP, 2019).

Abstract: 

International law evolved to end and prevent armed conflict as much as for any other reason. Yet, the law against war appears weaker today than ever in its long history, evidenced by raging armed conflicts in which people are killed, injured, and forcibly displaced. The environment is devastated, and the planet impoverished. These consequences can be traced to the dominant ideology of realism. In 1946, Hersch Lauterpacht challenged that ideology by contrasting it with the idea of international law, composed of natural law, positive law, and process theory. The approach suggested in the recent monograph of Mary Ellen O'Connell 'Art of Law in the International Community' revives his vision, rebuilding the understanding of why international law binds, what its norms require, and how courts are the ideal substitutes for war. The secret to the renewal of international law lies in revitalizing the moral foundation of natural law through drawing on aesthetic philosophy and the arts. The presentation at the HSE Research Seminar on International Law will dwell on these issues with a focus on the Theory of International Law Compliance.

About the speaker:

Mary Ellen O'Connell is the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law and is Research Professor of International Dispute Resolution—Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame. She is the author or editor of numerous books and articles on international law on the use of force, weapons technology, dispute resolution, and international legal theory, including The Art of Law in the International Community (CUP, 2019), Self-Defense against Non-State Actors (with C. Tams and D. Tladi, CUP, 2019) and The Power and Purpose of International Law: Insights from the Theory and Practice of Enforcement (OUP, 2008, 2011). O’Connell has served as a vice president of the American Society of International Law from 2010-2012 and chaired the Use of Force Committee of the International Law Association from 2005-2010. Professor O’Connell was a Fulbright Fellow at the Norwegian Nobel Institute, the Center for Theological Inquiry, Princeton, in a project organized jointly with Princeton’s Program on Law and Public Affairs. Previously, she was a professional military educator for the U.S. Department of Defense in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. She also practiced law with the Washington, D.C.-based international law firm, Covington & Burling.