International Treaty Framework Research Articles

Emerging international regime of information security

The article examines burning issues of the formation of an international regime in the field of ensuring international information security in the context of geopolitical transformations and turbulence. The theory of international regimes developed by Russian and foreign researchers is used as a theoretical and methodological basis for the study.Based on the classical definition of the international regime, the authors focus on the norms and principles in the field of international information security. The norms and principles in the field of international information security as the rules of responsible behavior in the global information space were first proposed by Russia and its SCO partners in 2011 as part of a discussion of the UN General Assembly. However, Russian initiatives met with resistance from the United States, resulting in a fragmentation of the existing regulatory regime in the field of international information security. Currently, the relevant norms and principles, which are based on the fundamental principles of international law, enshrined in the UN Charter, are presented in the resolutions of the UN General Assembly, and are also enshrined in the reports of the Group of Governmental Experts on achievements in the field of informatization and telecommunications in the context of international security.The norms fixed in the documents are not mandatory, but they make an important contribution to ensuring international stability by structuring the expectations of various actors in the field of information security. However, the lack of formal consolidation and institutionalization of these norms within the framework of international treaties reduces their legitimacy.

Resolution 76/120 on Strengthening and Promoting the International Treaty Framework (U.N.G.A.)

On December 9, 2021, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 76/120, “Strengthening and Promoting the International Treaty Framework,” by consensus. The resolution had been forwarded to the General Assembly for consideration after having been adopted by the General Assembly's Sixth (Legal) Committee on November 18, 2021 by consensus, in line with its traditional approach to decision-making. The negotiations of the resolution were coordinated (chaired) by Brazil and Singapore.

Defining the Areas of Cooperation between Russia and China Within the SCO: Organizational and Economic Aspects

Purpose. The article discusses the interaction of Russia and China within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the formation and development of legal relations in the context of goals, objectives and functions defined by the SCO Declaration. The article characterizes the regulatory aspects of the priority directions and the prospects of Sino-Russian cooperation, in particular in the sphere of security and stability in the Central Asia.Design/methodology/approach. The SCO constituent instruments and statistical information on the Sino-Russian relations were analyzed.Findings. Russia and China’s common objectives in their joint activities were defined. The differences were indicated in the approaches to the further development of the SCO in the near future. The legal instruments regulating multilateral cooperation of the SCO member states, including Russia and China as major actors, require further dynamic improvement. The Sino-Russian relations transformed the SCO into a multi-sectoral eclectic structure. Although these two countries have significantly different interests in the SCO, contradictions can be resolved through bilateral agreements.Originality. The study points to the problem that international treaties that formalize the cooperation of the SCO member states, including Russia and China despite their leading role, need robust improvement, and the international treaty framework should evolve multilaterally.

Industrial and technological cooperation in pharmaceutical sector within the framework of EAEU: development of the model of legal regulation

The subject of the study is the legal aspects of the development of industrial and technological cooperation of the EAEU member-states in pharmaceutical sector aimed at ensuring import substitution and going global through reinforcement of export potential. The goal of this article lies in elaboration of the conceptual model of legal regulation of industrial and technological cooperation of the EAEU member-states in pharmaceutical sector. The author explores the global challenges faced by the pharmaceutical sector of the EAEU countries, framework regulation of its technological modernization on the national level, questions of formation of the system of strategic and legal grounds of industrial and technological modernization of the sector within EAEU, as well as the mechanisms which legal regulation would contribute to building the technological and industrial capacity. The conclusion is made that the legal model of industrial and technological integration in pharmaceutical sector is represented by the structured system of legal grounds that reflects the structure of the legal structure of EAEU and is similar to the legal models of other vectors of industrial and technological integration. It implies the combination of international treaty framework and provisions contained the legislative acts of the EAEU. The novelty of this work lies in comprehensive analysis of legal issues of theoretical and applied nature that emerge in the process of this vector of integration. The author’s special contribution consists in modeling the legal space of sectoral integration and forecasting the trajectory of its further development.

International Environmental Law and Sea Turtles: Anatomy of the Legal Framework and Trade of Sea Turtles in the Lesser Antilles

Of the seven extant species of sea turtles, five navigate the waters of the Caribbean Sea surrounding the Lesser Antilles. As migratory species at all life stages, sea turtles need a coherent and strong legal framework in order to ensure the survival of the species for present and future generations. In light of the ongoing Holocene mass extinction crisis, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) conducted a comprehensive global assessment that presented alarming findings of unprecedented decline in global ecosystems and of rapid acceleration in extinction rates that threatens one million species. The current legal framework of international treaties implemented to protect these fragile species is fragmented and often ineffective due to deficient implementation and enforcement. Public health risks linked to the consumption of sea turtle parts and derivatives are also discussed in this article. Finally, this article offers recommendations for effectively monitoring sea turtle fisheries as to enhance an evolution toward more sustainable activities.

A New Copyright Bargain? Reclaiming Lost Culture and Getting Authors Paid

A New Copyright Bargain? Reclaiming Lost Culture and Getting Authors Paid

Tree number estimation with the use of VHR natural colour orthophotos over a heterogeneous landscape in northern Greece

Abstract. Spatial explicit knowledge regarding the quantity and the spatial distribution of forest parameters is crucial for sustainable forest management, as well as in fulfilling national reporting needs in the framework of international treaties (i.e. Kyoto Protocol, FAO, EFFIS etc). Especially, tree number which can be used for assessing forest tree density (tree number/ha), is among the most important and laboursome parameters to be measured in the field. The aim of this study is to estimate tree number based on the use of nationwide, freely available, very high spatial resolution orthophotos acquired from Greek National Cadastre and Mapping Agency during the 2007-2009 period. The study area is the University Forest of Taxiarchis, which is located in central Halkidiki, Northern Greece. The dominant species of the forest includes both broadleaves (oak, beech) and coniferous species (Black pine, Calabrian pine), which are found in both pure and mixed stands. Tree crown detection was tested on natural color orthophoto bands in several plots. The principal components and intensity-hue-saturation transformations were also applied in order to enhance tree detection accuracy. Local maxima technique was utilized for tree crown detection. Accuracy results were evaluated based on field plot data available from the official forest management plan of the area completed in 2011. Overall, the detection accuracy exceeded 50% which is deemed satisfactory considering also the heterogeneity of the Mediterranean landscape and the limited spectral resolution of the remote sensing data available.

The medical contribution to assessing allegations of torture in international fact-finding missions

International fact-finding missions directed towards the exposure of possible ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty have become increasingly common within the framework of international treaties. Such country visits occur with the consent and co-operation of government, provide unfettered access to all places of detention and allow private interviews with detainees. The Committee for the Prevention of Torture of the Council of Europe, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, and the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture all engage in such missions, and make use of a medical professional as part of the investigative team. The medical contribution to fact finding missions assessing ill-treatment of detainees includes an assessment of the conditions of detention, the regime and the medical services. Custody doctors and their records can be a rich source of information about physical ill-treatment. The interview and examination of detainees often occurs in circumstances which are far from ideal. The safety and wellbeing of the detainees, including protection from reprisals, is always paramount. A medical examination may disclose injuries corroborative of specific allegations. More often, a medical history of the effects of ill treatment and the description of resolved transient injuries provides corroboration, and also forms part of assessing the overall credibility of the detainee. Equally important is the consistency of the allegation with other evidence obtained from a wide variety of sources including the inspection of the place of alleged ill-treatment. The evolved working methods draw on the basic principles underlying police criminal investigations and crime scene examinations as well as forensic medicine. A forensic medical expert can be a useful part of the team in such international fact finding missions.

The Use of the 'Disconnection Clause' in International Treaties: What Does it tell us about the EC/EU as an Actor in the Sphere of Public International Law?

In the late 1980s Member States of the European Community (EC) and the EC itself began with the practice of seeking to introduce so-called disconnection clauses, according to which in their relations inter se certain of the parties to the multilateral convention would not apply the rules of the convention but specific rules agreed among themselves, into multilateral treaties to which either Member States alone were to become parties, as well as in the mixed agreements which also the EC joined. This treaty-making practice did not go unnoticed. The 2006 International Law Commission Study Group Report on Fragmentation of International Law noted the ambiguity of the and suggested that this practice raises doubts about the equal application of treaty norms between parties, possibly enabling the EC and its member states to proceed to a negative derogation from the provisions of the treaty. In October 2007 also the Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law (CAHDI) was mandated by the CoE Council of Ministers to examine and to report the consequences of the disconnection clause in international law and for CoE conventions. Among various means of a strategy to establish, promote and defend the organizational and substantial aquis of the EU in the multilateral sphere the technique of disconnection clauses has been chosen for this paper, being an example that has so far attracted the most attention, as an indicator for European Union's attitude towards international law. According to the provisional results, the impression is that EC/EU practice relating to the disconnection clause is not a very consistent one and that the institutions themselves do not share the same conception of its implications. Having in mind the fact that mixed agreements are becoming the prevailing treaty practice, it also seems that for this type of agreements the disconnection clause is completely superfluous, unless the strategy behind it is to facilitate actual evasion of treaty provisions that bind the Community or Union. Also not conceivable is the use of the in treaties dealing with human rights issues. Further reconsideration is due to alternative means to enable the EC/EU to retain (and/or to declare) its possibility to apply the regulatory framework of international treaties in a way pursuant to its onward level of integration and facilitating that this happens in a way transparent to other parties to respective treaties. And finally, it seems that special attention should be directed to the exclusive nature of the to the Council of Europe Conventions since these cases have attracted the most attention among practitioners and scholars and indeed it does not seem obvious why European Union should need to negatively depart from common European co-operative and substantial framework facilitated within the CoE.

Global Justice and Intellectual Property Rights: Reforming the International IPR Regime for Balanced Development

Today it is widely recognized that a uniform global intellectual property (IP) system requiring a high level of protection is inherently unjust and affects countries differently depending upon their level of technological and economic development. This article analyzes the functioning of the current international treaty framework having intellectual property connections — the TRIPS (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Convention on Biological Diversity, bilateral trade and investment agreement and UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions — from the perspective of how it could promote a more socially and economically just international intellectual property framework. The article also brings forth some new initiatives which have been proposed to address some of the most critical issues related to the current system: providing an alternative to a patent-driven inventive system for medical research and development and a treaty proposal for access to knowledge and technology. The article points out that the problems faced by developing countries with regard to, for example, access to medicines, can be similar to those faced by those developed countries that are net importers of patented medicines. The main message of this article is that it is no longer possible to maintain a unitary IP system at the international level without grave economic and social losses to, in particular, developing countries. What is needed is a more fragmentary IP protection framework making it possible for each country to adapt it to its national level of economic, technological and social development.

Bioprospecting in Antarctica: the search for a policy regime

This paper aims to elucidate the important economic and political aspects of an extremely complex policy issue involving biological prospecting (bioprospecting) in Antarctica. In addressing this rapidly growing global industry, which searches for commercially valuable biological and genetic resources in a world of biological diversity, it becomes obvious that a critical interface exists between Antarctica and the intertwined bioprospecting policies brought forth during recent decades by two treaties, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The analytical framework of the paper builds upon the economic concept of public goods within a political framework of international treaties and law. The concept of a national public good, associated with the sovereignty of a state (nation) over its biological and genetic resources, is the basis of such policy under the Biological Diversity Treaty. In practice, this jurisdiction applies both to the land area of a state and to the exclusive economic zone of a coastal state. The Law of the Sea Treaty, on the other hand, provides both a national public good connotation to exclusive economic zones while creating a global public good connotation for deep seabed mineral resources, with a related potential application to bioprospecting in the deep seabed. While the Antarctic Treaty System possesses several institutions that could be adapted to a bioprospecting policy regime, no such regime has been established up to the present. The paper concludes with a consideration of the critical question: is bioprospecting in Antarctica a national or global public good? While logic would appear to lead one toward the ‘global’ answer, multinational economic and political realities in today's world suggest that either a national public good approach, or a largely unregulated open access approach, is more likely to prevail.