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ACIL Newsletter
ACIL Newsletter
Featured research
Law of Armed Conflict and Military Operations
Law of Armed Conflict and Military Operations
The Law of Armed Conflict and Military Operations (LACMO) is an autonomous research group within the Amsterdam Center for International Law that investigates the role of law, in particular public international law, in relation to a wide variety of military operations and security challenges.
Read more.

Looking back on selected ACIL events
International Law, Evangelicals, and the Future of Democracy in Latin America
International Law, Evangelicals, and the Future of Democracy in Latin America
Prof. René Urueña (University of Los Andes, Bogotá) exposed legal strategies of conservative social movements in Latin America during the last ACIL Lecture for 2018. The lecture focused on how Christian Evangelicals use public interest litigation to push back against LGBTI and equal-gender rights in particular. Read more.
The Case for an International Court of Civil Justice
In her guest lecture on 24 January 2019, Maya Steinitz (University of Iowa College of Law) presented a clear, comprehensive and persuasive case for the creation of an an International Court of Civil Justice (ICCJ). Read more.
The Case for an International Court of Civil Justice
A child rights-based approach to climate change
A child rights-based approach to climate change
After her lecture at ACIL on 26 November 2018, Karin Arts (International Institute of Social Studies) shared reflections on her presentation on a child rights-based approach (CRBA) to climate change with us. Read more.
Of note
With their chapter “Philanthropy and Human Rights: Voluntary but not without Obligation” Yvonne Donders and Vincent Vleugel have made an important contribution to the Investigation Philanthropy by the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR). Read more.

Kevin Jon Heller
has been appointed Professor of Law on a fractional basis at the Australian National University. He will be in residence in Canberra twice each year for two weeks. His responsibilities will include giving lectures, conducting master-classes for PhD students, and serving as a professional mentor to the law school’s junior international-law faculty.

The Amsterdam Law School's Annual Legal Research Conference 2019 will take place on 1 February 2019. It will be devoted to topics covered in the Dutch government's sectoral plan for the legal discipline. Topics include Transformative effects of globalization in law,  Conflict-dissolving institutions, Re-evaluating public interests within private partnerships, Digital Legal Studies and others. Read more and register.

On 1 February 2019, Maarten den Heijer will present at an expert meeting of the Dutch Lawyers Association in the Dutch senate.

Stephan Schill and Geraldo Vidigal will contribute to the ISDS Academic Forum to discuss reform in investment arbitration.

The Website of the Vici-Project Rethinking SLIC (Secondary Liability for International Crimes) is online.

Please save the date for Ingo Venzke’s inaugural address (oratie) on Thursday, 16 May 2019 at 16.00 hrs in the Aula of the University.

Follow ACIL on twitter: @ACIL_UvA.


Events
Calender
Feb
6
ACIL-ICL Lecture: Accountability for violations of human rights and humanitarian law
Clive Baldwin, Senior Legal Advisor of Human Rights Watch will speak about the role of Human Rights Watch in the field of accountability for international crimes, violations of human rights and humanitarian law. Read more.

Feb
13
ACIL-ICL Lecture: Accountability for international crimes and the role of the UN Security Council
Shehzad Charania, Legal Counsellor at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, will speak about accountability for international crimes and the role of the UN Security Council and its members. Read more.

Feb
28
ACIL Lecture: Evolution of the role of domestic law in international adjudication: overcoming binary oppositions
Keynote lecture by Helene Ruiz Fabri (Max Planck Institute Luxembourg). Standalone event as part of the two-day workshop 'Engaging with Domestic Law in International Adjudication.'
Read more.

Feb
28
Workshop: Engaging with Domestic Law in International Adjudication: Factfinding or Transnational Law-Making?
This Workshop focuses on the approach(es) adopted by international courts and tribunals in dealing with issues of domestic law. Participation by invitation only, but open to a limited number of researchers and/or practitioners working in the field of the workshop.
Read more.

March
7
Oxio Talk: The International Institutional Lawyer as Scholar and as Practitioner
Talk at the Asser Institute between Gabrielle Marceau (WTO) and Niels Blokker (Leiden University). Moderated by Kiki Brölmann (ACIL).
Read more.

March
8
Frankfurt Investment Law Workshop 2019: International Investment Law in the Age of Digitalisation
The 2019 Frankfurt Investment Law Workshop addresses the challenges investor-state dispute settlement and substantive investment protection face in light of increasing digitalisation. Read more.

March
11
LJXB Lecture: The Widening Use of State of Emergency
In this presentation Mark Klamberg (University of Stockholm) will discuss the underlying theory and politics of emergency situations.
Read more.

March
18
ACIL Lecture: International Law and its Writers
In this session Lianne Boer (VU Amsterdam) will discuss how writers of international law are present in their texts, but how they themselves often remain invisible in analyses of international law. She seeks to show where and how legal writers manifest themselves in and through their writing.
Read more.
May
22
ACIL Annual Research Day 2019 (incl. lecture by Karin J. Alter)
The ACIL Annual Research Day 2019 will take place on 22 May. Location and detailed programme will follow. Karen J. Alter will give a lecture as part of the Research Day. She is Professor of Political Science and Law at Northwestern University and a permanent visiting professor at the iCourts Center for Excellence, University of Copenhagen Faculty of Law. Read more.
Research output
Latest SSRN
Jackson, J.
Pathways to Justice in a Globalised World: An Assessment of the Justiciability of the Extraterritorial Obligations in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Amsterdam Law School Research Paper No. 2018-27, Amsterdam Center for International Law No. 2018-09.

Burgers, L. and Staal, T.
'Climate action as positive human rights obligation: The appeals judgment in Urgenda v the Netherlands' Amsterdam Law School Research Paper No. 2019-01; Centre for the Study of European Contract Law Working Paper No. 2019-01; Amsterdam Center for International Law No. 2019-01; Law and Justice Across Borders Research Paper No. 2019-01.
Articles
Bartels, R.
'The Interplay between International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law during International Criminal Trials', in Human Rights and International Legal Discourse, Vol. 12, Issue 1, 2018

Bartels, R.
'The Relationship between International Humanitarian Law and the Notion of State Sovereignty', in Journal of Conflict and Security Law, Vol 23, Issue 3, 2018       

Bartels, R.
'When Do Terrorist Organisations Qualify as "Parties to an Armed Conflict" Under International Humanitarian Law?', The Military Law and the Law of War Review, Vol. 56, Issue 2, 2018

Bartels, R.
A Fine Line Between Protection and Humanisation: The Interplay Between the Scope of Application of International Humanitarian Law and Jurisdiction over Alleged War Crimes Under International Criminal Law. In: Gill T., McCormack T., Geiß R., Krieger H., Paulussen C. (eds) Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, Volume 20, 2017. Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, vol 20. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague

Brölmann, C.
‘Exiting International Organizations: A Brief Introduction,’ in International Organizations Law Review 15 (2018), 243-263, with Richard Collins, Sufyan El-Droubi, Ramses Wessel.

Donders, Y.
‘Towards a Right to Cultural Identity? Yes, Indeed!’ Diritti Umani e Diritto Internazionale (Società editrice il Mulino, ISSN: 1971-7105)
Vol. 12, 2018, n. 3, pp. 523-548.

Venzke, I.
'Possibilities of the Past: Histories of the NIEO and the Travails of Critique,' Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d'histoire du droit international, 20(3), 263-302.
Book chapters & papers
Bartels, R.
'Armistice', 'Evacuation', 'Non-International Armed Conflict', 'Reciprocity', 'Reconnaisance Missions' (five entries) in D. Djukić and N. Pons (eds), The Companion to International Humanitarian Law (Brill Nijhoff, 2018).

Brölmann, C.
‘The Law of Treaties’, in: PA Nollkaemper, A Reinisch, R Janik  &  F Simlinger (eds), International Law in Domestic Courts (Oxford OUP 2018), pp 197-242, with Christina Binder

Brölmann, C. (ed.)
International Organizations Law Review, Volume 15 (2018): Issue 2 (Dec 2018): Special Issue: Exiting International Organizations edited by Catherine M Brölmann, Richard Collins, Sufyan Droubi, and Ramses A Wessel

Venzke I.
'International Courts’ de facto Authority and its Justification,' in Karen Alter, Laurence Helfer and Mikael Rask Madsen (eds), International Courts Authority,  p.391-402 (, Oxford University Press 2018).
Presentations and societal impact
Bartels, R.
'Applying International Humanitarian Law during International Criminal Trials: Criticism, Challenges, and Prospects', presentation at the conference 'The ICC Statute Reaches 20: Critical and interdisciplinary approaches,' 3-4 December 2018, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels.

Brölmann, C.
Participant and speaker in the Expert Roundtable on 'The Geneva List of Principles on the Protection of Water Infrastructures During and After Armed Conflicts,' 13-14 December 2018, Platform for International Water Law, University of Geneva, Geneva.

Brölmann, C.
Participant at the Round Table on ‘Shared Responsibility in international law.' 23 November 2018, UvA-ERC Shares project, The Hague.

Brölmann, C.
The draft of jointly authored ‘Exiting International Organisations. A brief introduction’, was mentioned in the OPINION OF ADVOCATE GENERAL CAMPOS SÁNCHEZ-BORDONA delivered on 4 December 2018(1) in Case C 621/18 (Andy Wightman et al v. Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, (in the judgment on unilateral revokation by the UK of Art 50 (para 65, fn 37).

Donders, Y.
Presentation, “Mainstreaming human rights and science in UNESCO”, Conference The right to science: then and now, 10 December 2018, Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Law, University of Copenhagen.

Donders, Y.

Keynote, “Shelter city: defending the human rights defenders”, International Conference Cities, territories and the struggles for human rights: a 2030 perspective, 26 November 2018, Faculty of Law, University of Padova.

Donders, Y.
Panelist Symposium 'Mensenrechten in het Openbaar Bestuur.' 12 December 2018, Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken, The Hague.

Nijman, J.E.
'Ius Gentium', paper presented at Workshop 'Christianity and International Law', 1-2 November 2018, University of Helsinki, Finland.

Venzke, I.
Invited Lecture: An Extended Critique of International Adjudication, Conference on 'Sociological Perspectives on International Tribunals,' 9 November 2018, Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for Procedural Law.

Venzke, I.
Public lecture on ‘The Authority of International Courts and the Possibilitiy of Politics at the Forum for International Science.’ The lecture formed part of a series on ‘Perspectives of Modernity.’ 30 January 2019, University of Bonn.

Vlaming, F. de
Seminar on 'How victims of coalition bombardments on Iraq obtain information and transparency about the bombardments through national or international legal proceedings.' 6 November 2018, War Reparations Centre, University of Amsterdam.
In this project, WRC collaborates with PAX, ECCHR, Airwars, the Nuhanovic Foundation, prof Liesbeth Zegveld,  journalists, lawyers and students.
 
Vlaming, F. de
Round table on 'Business and violations of International Humanitarian Law in Palestine: exploring strategies for transnational litigation.' The round table marked the beginning of a research project with the Amsterdam Law Clinic 2019. In this project, WRC collaborates with Al Haq, Article 1 Collective, the Nuhanovic Foundation, SOMO, prof Liesbeth Zegveld, students and lawyers. 11 December 2018, War Reparations Centre, University of Amsterdam.

Vlaming, F. de
Students of the Masters of  International Transnational & Criminal Law presented their preliminary findings of their research connected to WRC’s Syria project: 1) the question whether the Turkish attack on, and occupation of Afrin constitutes a crime of aggression and 2) whether genocide has been or is being committed in Syria. WRC collaborates with PAX and the Syria Legal Network. 12 December 2018, University of Amsterdam.

Vlaming, F. de
New WRC reader. Background documents: (1) 'Exploring strategies for transnational litigation: the case of Iraq.' (2) 'Access to justice for victims of coalition air strikes: the right to truth and the duty to investigate.'

Zieck, M.
Presentation Current Issues in International Refugee Law, followed by Q&A, at a meeting of The Law, Justice and Order Sector of the Government of Uganda. 12 November 2018, Royal Netherlands Embassy in Kampala, Uganda.

Zieck, M.
Presentation on Developments and Challenges in International Refugee Law, 12 December 2018, Faculty of Law, Democritus University, Komotini, Greece.

Zieck, M.
Two lectures: (1) 'Protecting Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in Peace-Keeping Operations' to military personnel (Commanders of the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF), and (2) 'The Burundi National Defence Force,'  9-10 November 2018 as part of the Commanders Legad Course (CLC) at the UPDF Legal Training Centre in Jinja, Uganda.

Zieck, M.
Course, Introduction to International Refugee Law, 27 November - 4 December 2018, Faculty of Law, RUDN University, Moscow.

Zieck, M.
Two lectures: (1) 'The system of international refugee law', (2) 'Durable solutions and complementary pathways'). 10-11 December 2018, Winter ELSA Law School on “Refugee and Migration Law”, Komotini, Greece.
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