International Law Prof Blog

Comparative Law "Dance Card" for the 2023 AALS Annual Meeting

We're pleased to share a 4-page, printable "Dance Card" for the Comparative Law Sessions at the upcoming Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools.

Click here to download the Dance Card. Download AALS AM2023 Comparative Law

See you in San Diego!

Mark E. Wojcik (mew)

International Law Programs at at the AALS Annual Meeting in January 2023

For those of you attending the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS), the International Law Section is sponsoring and co-sponsoring several events that may be of interest.  We hope to see you there!

AALS Discussion Group: Russia and Ukraine in the New Global Order

Thursday, January 5, 2023, 8:00 am - 9:40 am

Join professors in international law for a discussion of a variety of legal developments with respect to the situation in Ukraine and its aftermath.

 

International Law – Award Ceremony

Thursday, January 5, 2023, 12 – 1pm

 

Conflict in Ukraine: Can Prosecuting Atrocity Crimes Make a Difference?

Friday, January 6, 2023, 10:00 – 11:40 am 

Cosponsors: Section on Comparative Law, Section on International Human Rights, Section on Global Engagement

This program will focus on the atrocities committed during the conflict in Ukraine, from 2013 to the present time, as well as state responses to those actions. We will explore the actions of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other justice mechanisms, including national systems, and the steps needed to investigate and prosecute atrocity crimes, as well as the political and diplomatic challenges to those prosecutions. We will also explore the reluctance of the United States to embrace the ICC as a global institution and the implications of that hesitancy for the legal academy and the Court. Finally, the panel will ask whether and how prosecuting atrocity crimes can make a difference either in Ukraine or elsewhere.

 

How Can Students and Faculty Make a Difference via Teaching and Clinical Work in Times of Crisis?

Friday, January 6, 2023, 3:00 – 4:40 pm

Co-Sponsored by Comparative Law, Global Engagement, and International Human Rights 

When international crises occur, law school community members are impacted emotionally and often want to use their training and skills to respond in positive and constructive ways. Some topics and crises may overwhelm or trigger students. Some crises may require an immediate response; others require longer-term attention. This program is designed to explore these issues and suggest beneficial ways law school communities can assist persons most affected by these crises. The discussion leaders will begin the conversation and will invite audience participation to share innovative ideas and best practices for how law school communities can constructively respond to international crises.

 

Global War and Conflict in Ukraine and Beyond: An Effective and Balanced Response?

Saturday, January 7,  8:30 am – 10:10 am

Co-Sponsored by Comparative Law, Global Engagement, International Human Rights, and Litigation

The conflict in Ukraine, almost more than any other, has brought a host of international institutions and mechanisms to the fore and sparked litigation all over the globe. The United Nations Security Council, General Assembly, International Court of Justice, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Human Rights Council, European Court of Human Rights, World Trade Organization, and International Criminal Court are among the institutions that have acted or been engaged in addition to national courts.  Have national and international institutions been effective?  And why has the response in Ukraine seemingly been so different than the response in Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Israel/Palestine and a host of other “hot spots” around the world? This panel will take a look back at the events of 2022 and take stock of how well our international institutions have handled (or weathered) the events that unfolded.

 

International Law’s Co-sponsorships:

Friday, January 6, 1:00 pm – 2:40 pm

International Human Rights

 

Saturday Jan 7,  1:00 pm -2:40 pm

Global Engagement

(cgb)

ICJ: Thirty Nations Intervene in Ukraine's Genocide Case Against Russia

The Principality of Liechtenstein, invoking Article 63 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, is the latest country to file a declaration of intervention in the case concerning Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation).

Pursuant to Article 63 of the ICJ Statute, whenever the construction of a convention to which States other than those concerned in the case are parties is in question, each of these States has the right to intervene in the proceedings. In this case, the construction given by the judgment of the ICJ will be equally binding upon them.

To avail itself of the right of intervention conferred by Article 63 of the Statute, Liechtenstein relies on its status as a party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Liechtenstein states in its declaration that it “considers that the proper interpretation of the provisions of the Genocide Convention is necessary in order to ensure strict compliance with the Convention, which is an imperative for protecting human rights law, ensuring the respect for international law and upholding the rule of law at the international level, both core tasks of the United Nations and foreign policy priorities for the Government of Liechtenstein.”

If we're counting correctly, this latest intervention brings to 30 the number of countries that have intervened in the Genocide case against Russia:

1. Australia
2. Austria
3. Belgium
4. Bulgaria
5. Canada
6. Croatia
7. Cyprus
8. Denmark
9. Estonia
10. Finland
11. France
12. Greece
13. Ireland
14. Italy
15. Latvia
16. Liechtenstein
17. Lithuania
18. Luxembourg
19. Malta
20. New Zealand
21. Norway
22. Poland
23. Portugal
24. Romania
25. Slovakia
26. Slovenia
27. Spain
28. Sweden
29. United Kingdom
30. United States of America

The history of the proceedings in Ukraine v. Russian Federation can be found in press releases Nos. 2022/4, 2022/6, 2022/7, 2022/11, 2022/25, 2022/26, 2022/27, 2022/28, 2022/29, 2022/31, 2022/33, 2022/34, 2022/35, 2022/36, 2022/37, 2022/38, 2022/39, 2022/41, 2022/42, 2022/43, 2022/45, 2022/46, 2022/48, 2022/50, 2022/51, 2022/52, 2022/54, 2022/60, 2022/64, 2022/66, 2022/67, 2022/69, 2022/70, 2022/71, 2022/72 and 2022/74, available on the ICJ’s website.

(mew)

AALS Global Engagement Award Winner Announced

The Association of American Law Schools' Section on Global Engagement has announced that the 2023 Winner of its Outstanding Achievement Award is Professor David Austin of the California Western School of Law.

The Award will be presented to Professor Austin next month during the AALS Annual Meeting in San Diego.

(mew)

AALS East Asian Law and Society Award Announced

The Association of American Law Schools Section on East Asian Law and Society has announced that the winner of the 2023 Jerome A. Cohen Award for Lifetime Achievement in East Asian Law and Society is John Haley of the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.

(mew)

AALS Comparative Law Section Tushnet Prize

The Association of American Law Schools' Section on Comparative Law has announced that the winner of the 2023 Tushnet Prize is Professor Anna Conley of the University of Montana Alexander Blewett III School of Law. She was recognized for her article, "Comparing Essential Components of Transnational Jurisdiction: A Proposed Comparative Methodology," which was published in the Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law. Professor Conley's article is an updated and condensed version of her dissertation for her Doctor of Laws in Comparative Law from the McGill University Faculty of Law.

Professor Conley is an Assistant Professor at the University of Montana, where her areas of expertise include civil litigation, comparative law, international law, and human rights. She has a J.D. from the George Washington Law School, and an LL.M. and Doctor of Civil Laws (D.C.L.) from the McGill University Faculty of Law. She has litigated many large-scale complex cases, participated in several rule of law initiatives, and published extensively in international and comparative law. She was an adjunct professor at the University of Montana Department of Political Science teaching Constitutional Law, International Law and Comparative Law from 2017 to 2021. She also was an adjunct professor at the Alexander Blewett III School of Law teaching Global Perspectives on Law and Public International Law from 2007 to 2016.

The Tushnet Prize recognizes scholarly excellence in any subject of comparative law by an untenured scholar at an AALS Member School. The Prize is given to the author or authors of a scholarly article judged to have made an important contribution in the field of comparative law. For the 2023 award, this article must have been published in an academic journal between July 2021 and November 2022.

The Prize was awarded for the first time at the 2020 AALS Annual Meeting. All untenured scholars—including but not limited to tenure-track professors, visiting assistant professors, lecturers, academic fellows, doctoral candidates—are eligible.

The Tushnet Prize is named for Mark Tushnet, a former president of the Association of American Law Schools and the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. A former law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall, Professor Tushnet is an authoritative voice in constitutional law and theory. His scholarship spans all areas of public law, including comparative constitutional law, a field in which he has co-authored a leading casebook. A respected teacher, a devoted mentor, and an influential scholar, he retired from the Harvard faculty in June 2020.

Professor Conley joins this list of previous winners of the Tushnet Prize:

• Mark Jia (Harvard Law School) (2022)
• Pamela Bookman (Fordham University School of Law) (2021)
• Jorge Farinacci (Inter-American University of Puerto Rico School of Law) (2020)

The AALS Comparative Law Section Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. in the Marriott Grand Ballroom 12, Lobby Level, North Tower, Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina Hotel.

(mew)

 

AALS International Human Rights Award

The Association of American Law Schools' Section on International Human Rights Law announced that the winner of its Nelson Mandela Award is Gay McDougall of the Fordham University School of Law.

Gay McDougall previously received a MacArthur Genius Award for her work in pursuit of global human rights. In 2015 the Government of South Africa bestowed on her their national medal of honor for non-citizens, the Order of O.R. Tambo Medal for her extraordinary contributions to ending apartheid.

She currently serves as a member of the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. She was the first U.N. Independent Expert on Minority Issues and for 14 years she was executive director of Global Rights, which worked with human rights advocates in 10 countries around the world to develop their strategies for justice. Prior to that she played a special role in securing the release of thousands of political prisoners in South Africa and Namibia. She was then appointed to the electoral commission that in 1994 ran the first democratic elections in South Africa that ended apartheid and installed Nelson Mandela as president.

McDougall is a distinguished scholar in residence at Leitner Center for International Law and Justice, Fordham University School of Law. She earned a J.D. at Yale Law School, an LL.M. in public international law at the London School of Economics and Politics, and a B.A. in social science at Bennington College.  She has honorary Doctor of Law degrees from six universities including the University to Witwatersrand (South Africa).

The AALS Award will be presented to her next month at the AALS Annual Meeting in San Diego.

(mew)

Egyptian Expats Can Import Personal Cars Without Customs Duties

The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress informs us that Egyptian President Abu al-Fatah al-Sisi ratified Law No. 161 of 2022 regulating the import of personal vehicles by Egyptian expats. The new law, which the Law Library of Congress tells us is the first of its kind in Egypt and will remain in effect for only four months, will allow Egyptian expats to bring their personal vehicles back to Egypt upon their return from abroad without paying any customs duties and taxes.

The new law provides that Egyptian expats who wish to import their personal vehicles may, in lieu of paying tax and customs duties, deposit a cash amount in foreign currency (U.S. dollars or euros) in a certificate of deposit in an Egyptian bank for five years, after which the expats can recover their cash deposit in Egyptian domestic currency. This foreign currency cash deposit will be equivalent to the value of all taxes and fees that had to be paid to import a car into Egypt.

Click here to read more from the Law Library of Congress.

(mew)