International Law Prof Blog

Comparative Law Works-in-Progress Roundtable in Texas

The Constitutional Studies Program

at The University of Texas at Austin

 

and the

 

Institute for Transnational Law

at The University of Texas at Austin

 

in cooperation with the

 

Section on Comparative Law

Association of American Law Schools

 

invite submissions for

 

WORKS-IN-PROGRESS ROUNDTABLE IN COMPARATIVE LAW

 

Convened by

 

Richard Albert (Texas)

Lauren Fielder (Texas)

 

Submissions are invited from comparative law scholars around the world for a works-in-progress roundtable on all subjects of comparative law. Preference will be given to early-career scholars as well scholars working on book projects. The purpose of this roundtable is to offer scholars the opportunity to develop their ideas as they work toward submitting a draft for publication.

 

Convened by Richard Albert and Lauren Fielder, this roundtable will be held in the School of Law at the University of Texas at Austin on Tuesday, May 21, 2019. The roundtable may be extended to a second day (Wednesday, May 22, 2019) depending on the number of submissions accepted.

 

Subject-Matter

 

Submissions are welcome on any subject of comparative law—public or private—taking any perspective and using any methodological approach.

 

Structure

 

The roundtable will feature a small number of accepted submissions. The roundtable will devote up to one hour to each accepted submission. Participants must have read all submissions prior to the program in order to facilitate a robust and constructive discussion on each submission.

 

Eligibility

 

Submissions are invited from comparative law scholars around the world at any level of seniority, including students enrolled in graduate programs in law or related disciplines that engage the study of comparative law.

 

Submission Instructions

 

Interested scholars should email PFD versions of their work-in-progress and CV by 5pm Austin (Texas) time on Thursday, March 14, 2019 to tdo@law.utexas.edu on the understanding that the work-in-progress will be shared with all accepted roundtable participants. Scholars should identify their submission with the following subject line: “Work-in-Progress Roundtable on Comparative Law.”

 

Notification

 

Accepted applicants will be notified no later than Monday, April 4, 2019. If you do not receive a notification by this date, we regret that we were unable to accommodate your application.

 

Costs

 

There is no cost to participate in this roundtable. Group meals will be generously sponsored by the Constitutional Studies Program at The University of Texas at Austin. The Constitutional Studies Program will moreover provide a travel stipend of $250 USD to each accepted applicant. The Institute for Transnational Studies at The University of Texas at Austin will offer an additional stipend of $250 USD for accommodation. Accepted applicants are responsible for securing their own funding for all other expenses.

 

Questions

 

Please direct inquiries in connection with this roundtable to:

 

Richard Albert

William Stamps Farish Professor of Law

The University of Texas at Austin

richard.albert@law.utexas.edu

 

(mew)

ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965.

The International Court of Justice issued an Advisory Opinion today in respect of the Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965. Click here for the Advisory Opinion.

Vice President Xue Hanqin of China and Judges Peter Tomka of Slovakia and Ronny Abraham of France added declarations to the Advisory Opinion, as did Judges Kirill Gevorgian of the Russian Federation, Nawaf Salam of Lebanon, and Yuji Iwasawa of Japan. Judges Giorgio Gaja of Italy, Julia Sebutinde of Uganda, and Patrick Lipton Robinson of Jamaica appended separate opinions.  Judge Augusto Cançado Trindade of Brzail also added a separate opinion and additionally joined a joint declaration with Judge Patrick Lipton Robinson of Jamaica. Judge Joan E. Donoghue of the United States appended a dissenting opinion.

(mew)

International Court of Justice Allows Part of Iran's Case to Proceed Against the United States

The International Court of Justice delivered its judgment on the U.S. preliminary objections in Certain Iranian Assets (Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America) on February 13, 2019. The ICJ found that it has jurisdiction to entertain part of the Application of the Islamic Republic of Iran and that its Application is admissible.

Iran had brought the action against the United States in 2016, alleging various violations of the Iran-U.S. Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights. In 2017, the United States raised preliminary objections to the admissibility of Iran's Application and to the exercise of jurisdiction by the ICJ. 

Iran argued that Iran and Iranian State-owned companies are entitled to immunity from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts and in respect of enforcement proceedings in the United States. Iran argued that the failure of the United States to recognize the separate juridical status and separate legal personality of Iranian companies violated its obligations under the Treaty of Amity and international law.

The United States asked the ICJ to dismiss all of Iran's claims as inadmissible.

Among its findings, the ICJ held that the Treaty of Amity was still in force and that none of its provisions excluded certain matters from the jurisdiction of the ICJ. However the ICJ found that Iran's claims based on the alleged violation of sovereign immunities guaranteed by customary international law did not relate to the interpretation or application of the Treaty of Amity.

More information about the case can be found by clicking here. Judges Peter Tomka of Slovakia and Jame Richard Crawford of Australia issued a joint separate opinion. Judges Patrick Lipton Robinson of Jamaica and Kirill Gevorgian of the Russian Federation issued individual separate opinions, as did ad hoc judges Charles Brower (United States) and Djamchid Montaz (Islamic Repbulic of Iran). (The United States appointed an ad hoc judge because Judge Joan Donoghue recused herself from the case.) Judge Giorgio Gaja of Italy issued a declaration. The judgment and the separate opinions and declaration can be found at www.icj-cij.org/en/case/164/judgments.  The pdf of the Court's February 13 judgment can be found at www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/164/....

(mew)

ABA President Expresses Concern Over the Suspension of Walter Onnoghen, the Chief Justice of Nigeria

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 22, 2019 – The American Bar Association expresses its hope that Nigeria’s 2019 elections on Saturday will be credible, fair, free and transparent. The ABA is concerned about recent events that could undermine the country’s rule of law and calls for calm as Nigerians prepare to go to the polls.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s suspension during this election period of Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen, the official responsible for overseeing the election, is troubling. The independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers are essential to ensuring Nigeria’s adherence to the rule of law. The basic precept of checks and balances requires that an action with such monumental consequences be accomplished strictly and unambiguously in accordance with the processes and procedures of the governing law. Failure to observe the basic precepts of checks and balances could raise questions about the legitimacy of the outcome of the forthcoming election.

The U.N. Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary assign all governments the duty to ensure the independence of the judiciary and to guard against inappropriate or unwarranted interference with the judicial process. The ambiguous circumstances of Chief Justice Onnoghen’s suspension appear to be in breach of the provisions of the U.N. Basic Principles governing the grounds and process for the removal of a judge.

On the eve of the largest election in Africa’s history, the ABA calls upon President Buhari, the Nigerian government, and all stakeholders to respect the rule of law, commit to violence-free, fair elections, and exercise restraint throughout the entire process.

(ABA Press Release)

A New U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations

President Trump has announced that he will nominate Ambassador Kelly Craft to be the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.  She is currently the U.S. Ambassador to Canada.

(mew)

Last Call for Nominating Books for the Scribes Book Award

Since 1961, Scribes--The American Society of Legal Writers--has presented an annual award for the best work of legal scholarship published during the previous year. The Scribes Book-Award Committee receives between 30 and 40 nominees each year. The Scribes Book Award is presented at a CLE program held in conjunction with the Scribes' annual meeting, which this year will be held in Washington, D.C. on Friday, April 12, 2019.

International law experts may remember that the 2018 winner of the Scribes Book Award was The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World by Oona A. Hathaway and Scott J. Shapiro. Honorable mentions went to The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein, and to Miles Lord: The Maverick Judge Who Brought Corporate America to Justice by Roberta Walburn.

Nominations for the 2019 Scribes Book Award will be accepted until February 15, 2019. To nominate a book for this year's book award, all a publisher needs to do is send a copy to each of our book award committee members.  For more information, please contact the Executive Director of Scribes, Philip Johnson, at scribesleglwriters@gmail.com.

(mew)

John Marshall Chicago is Hiring Podium Visitors

The John Marshall Law School in Chicago seeks two or more experienced faculty members to serve as full-time visiting professors for the 2019-2020 academic year (one or both semesters). We need coverage in the areas of Civil Procedure, Corporations, Employee Benefits, Estates & Trusts, Income Taxation, Legal Research and Writing, and Property. Candidates must have law school teaching experience. It is contemplated that the successful candidates will be current full-time faculty members at ABA-approved law schools, although others with extraordinary credentials may be considered.

 

To apply, submit a current CV, cover letter, and three professional references to Associate Dean David Sorkin at 7sorkin@jmls.edu. The Committee will begin reviewing applications as they are received and will continue on a rolling basis until the positions are filled. We may conduct an interview via Skype or a similar platform or in person, and may request submission of teaching evaluations or other materials.

 

The John Marshall Law School is committed to diversity, access, and opportunity. Subject to the approval of our accreditors, John Marshall is in the process of being acquired by the University of Illinois at Chicago, with an anticipated closing date in August 2019. For more information, visit www.jmls.edu and jmls.uic.edu.

 

The John Marshall Law School, finding any invidious discrimination inconsistent with the mission of free academic inquiry, does not discriminate in admission, services, or employment on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic characteristics, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

 

(mew)

Santa Clara is Hiring

Santa Clara University School of Law is hiring both full-time and adjunct faculty for its Office of Academic and Bar Success, and for the Legal Writing Department. The position advertised may lead to successive long-term contracts of five or more years.

The professor hired will not be permitted to vote in faculty meetings, although the issue of voting for renewable term faculty is under discussion and set for a vote this spring semester.

The law school anticipates paying an annual academic year base salary of $90,000 to $119,999.  (A base salary does not include stipends for coaching moot court teams, teaching other courses, or teaching in summer school; a base salary does not include conference travel or other professional development funds.) Renewable term faculty members are entitled to a $3,000 faculty support budget.  Other teaching and coaching opportunities are available for additional stipends.

The number of students enrolled in each semester will be 30 or fewer for the legal writing course. The number of students taught overall will depend on teaching assignments other than the first-year legal writing course.

Hat tip to Associate Dean Michael W. Flynn at Santa Clara University School of Law

(mew)

Jessup National Rounds Underway Around the World

National rounds of the 2019 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition are underway around the world. We wish the best of luck to all of the competitors and extend special thanks to the oral round judges, memorial judges, law student bailiffs, and other volunteers who make this global competition possible. And we don't mind asking Jessup alumni to visit www.ilsa.org and donate a couple of (hundred?) dollars to the International Law Students Association, which organizes the competition. They need and deserve our support.

(mew, judging the national rounds in Italy)