International Legal Regime Research Articles

Prescribing the Best Medicine for the Struggling Space Mining Industry

In the context of global energy crises related to the traditional energy sources, as well as in connection with modern challenges and threats caused by the instability of the world energy markets, there is a necessity to expand and use the objects of energy complex that use renewable energy sources like solar energy.Such energy usage can be a reason for different interstate disputes due to the uncertainty in international legal regimes of space energy sources under international space law. Firstly, there is no legal definition of “space resource.” Secondly, the current international space treaties contain only basic principles and norms for regulating this kind of space activity. Finally, there could be many issues related to the responsibility and liability for such a new kind of space activity. This paper will be devoted to the issues mentioned above and to other questions related to this problem.

Legal Regime of Requests for Labor Remuneration in Case of Bankruptcy

The article investigates the structural elements of international legal regimes of requests for labor remuneration in the event of the employer's insolvency - the «priority of requirements» model, the «warranty of requirements» model and the «mixed» model. It examines the problematic issues of the interpretation and application of the norms of the current Russian legislation arising in the course of filing and satisfying the requests for labor remuneration in a bankruptcy case. It stares that the Russian bankruptcy legislation establishes several legal regimes in regard to requests for labor remuneration. The privileged character is envisaged for requests for the current payments regimes (priority) and for the registered payment regimes (second priority). The restricted character is established for the requests due to payments in end-of-priority (after-second priority) order. The article gives a critical assessment of the law enforcement practice whereby it expands the circle of persons subject to the privileged legal regime. It draws attention to inadmissibility of referring the requests for insurance payments to the second (privileged) turn of creditors. It recognizes as ineffective the order, existing in the law enforcement practice, of collecting the interests charged according to the labor legislation, in case of bankruptcy.

Problems of formation of an international regime of the joint use and protection of international watercourses

The article is devoted to the problem of formation of modern international legal regime of joint use and protection of international watercourses that is aimed at effective provision of water to the States of international watercourse with due respect to new challenges and threats that have a negative impact on international water resources. The model is based on the concept of “international watercourse” that has the following features: 1) international watercourses include surface and ground waters; 2) a spatial and territorial criterion of an international watercourse that means crossing of the border between two or more States or being on their border; 3) the use of international watercourses affects the interests of two or more States; 4) the special international legal regime for the use of international watercourses that has developed within the framework of international law development; 5) special requirements for the protection of ecosystems of international watercourses that include protection from pollution and other forms of degradation of lands and forests adjacent to international watercourses, their fauna and flora; as well as seas into which watercourses flow; 6) a high conflict potential in the use of water resources of international watercourses. The analysis of the provisions of the doctrines of joint use and protection of transboundary waters shows that the formation of international water law should timely take into account human factors, technological and socio-economic changes. The modern international law model of the joint use and protection of international watercourses is a system of international legal norms regulating inter-state relations in the following areas: prevention, limitation and reduction of transboundary impact; protection of ecosystems of international watercourses; rational use of waters of international watercourses, effective management of water resources of international watercourses (including establishment and functioning of international basin organizations); information support of the population with regard to international watercourses.

Rethinking the Length of Patent Terms

The current 20 year patent term set out in international trade agreements does not have a firm evidentiary basis, but rather is a mostly arbitrary product of history. At one point there was experimentation among different countries, but that has been eliminated through the uniform rules of the TRIPS Agreement. However, economists are increasingly calling lengthy patent terms into question, and recent concerns about medicine prices could provide the impetus for policy-makers to take another look at the issue. The existing domestic and international legal regime makes rethinking patent terms difficult, but in order to get innovation policies right, it is important to think carefully about the foundations of the patent regime.

Intermodal Air-Rail Agreements: Legal Aspects and Considerations

Intermodal air-rail forms of cooperation have proliferated over the last decades as a response to the need for more efficient and strategic alliance in the transportation industry. Airlines and rail operators have indeed concluded formal agreements allowing them to synchronize services and offer an ever more seamless travel experience. While such agreements certainly generate significant benefits for both consumers and carriers, integration between airlines and rail operators may also raise serious concerns as to the applicable legal framework. In light of this, the present article will emphasize on the main legal implications of air-rail agreements. The analysis will consider three areas of interest, namely, competition law, liability and passenger protection. Whereas in terms of competition law, the same legal categories applicable to airline code-shares and alliances may be easily and conceptually borrowed, peculiar and interesting legal issues seem to arise out of the comparison of different international and European legal regimes with respect to liability and passenger protection.

Deblurring the concept of a breach of the peace as a component of contemporary international collective security

ABSTRACTPlausibly representing one of the most obscure concepts in the jus ad bellum, ‘breach of the peace’ may potentially serve as an essential component of contemporary international collective security. However, this potential may not be realised as long as its legal parameters remain obscure. The aim of the present article therefore is to conceptually and contextually shed some light on the outer legal boundaries of a ‘breach of the peace’. The deblurring examination contemplates, first, the ‘peace’ that is breached, with the central focus thereafter directed towards a tridimensional examination of the conceptual construction of a ‘breach’ of the peace encompassing ratione temporis, ratione materiae and ratione personae perspectives. The examination is methodologically projected from a clarifying position, drawing on comparative elements from related international legal regimes, primarily international criminal law.

International Labor Law and its Others: Governance by Norm Versus Governance by Knowledge

Domestic laws are shaped by myriad global governance projects, which may attract the support of different organizations, promote contrasting socioeconomic visions, and operate at diverse levels and scales. Beyond differences in their whos, whats, and wheres, governance projects are also differentiated by their hows: they may embody different ways of imagining relations between order, authority, and legitimacy; operate through different styles; or deploy different technologies. International legal regimes, which function through a logic of governance that applies norms sanctioned by the political consent of states, have long operated alongside “systems of management and control” drawing their legitimacy from claims of “objective, disinterested scientific knowledge.”

Recalibrating the EU – International Arbitration Interface – 4th EFILA Annual Lecture 2018

It is no exaggeration to describe the relationship between the European Union and international arbitration as the most dramatic confrontation between two international legal regimes seen in a great many years. International law scholars commonly lament the ‘fragmentation’ of international law, i.e. the co-existence of multiple international legal regimes whose competences overlap and whose policies may differ, resulting in a degree of regulatory disorder. However, seldom do these regimes actually ‘collide’. By contrast, the two international regimes in which we are interested this evening – international arbitration and the European Union – may be described, without hyperbole, as on a collision course. Arguably, the collision has already occurred. The emergence of hostilities on this scale in recent years came about as something of a surprise to me. At Columbia and elsewhere, I have taught EU law and international arbitration law concurrently – in different courses, of course – for more decades than I care to count. Over that period, I have written and spoken about the EU and international arbitration as separate and distinct enterprises. Rarely did teaching, writing or speaking of one necessitate, or even prompt, discussion of the other.

Remarks by Alice Farmer (as Summarized by the Moderator)

Alice Farmer discussed the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) long-standing and strengthening work to address forced migration from Central America within the context of the current international legal regime. In keeping with the panel's theme, she noted that international refugee law was written in the wake of World War II, in a time when the nature of persecution looks very different than it does today. With 68.5 million forcibly displaced people in the world—an all-time high—many of the solutions that the UNHCR has used in the past are not viable anymore. The numbers we are seeing now will be dwarfed in a few decades as climate change displacement rises. Fixing our stressed legal regime is urgent.

Law of the Sea and Environmental Law acting together: Experience of laying submarine cable in the Arctic

All states have the right to lay submarine cables on the seabed according to the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention 1982 (LOSC). Unlike submarine pipelines, cables are generally consideredbeing environmentally friendly, having minimum impact on the marine environment. Currently, there are several projects on submarine cables planned to be laidin the Arctic. In particular, the Quintillion Subsea Cable System is an ongoinglarge-scale project, which majorpart will go through the Arctic waters. Despite mostly local and moderate disturbance to the environment in other regions, it causes certainconcerns regarding the influence on the Arctic environment due to its unique and sensible ecosystem. The LOSC does notseparate the Arctic from other regions, andcables are laid there following the same conditions as well as in other parts of the World Ocean. This article aims to examine the international legal regime of submarine cables in the context of the ongoing cable projects in the Arctic as well as to consider the applicability of the precautionary principle and the provisions of the Polar Code for ensuring the protection of the Arctic environment.

International Information Security in the Framework of International Law (Methodology, Theory)

The aim of the study is to form basic approaches to formation and development of the law of international information security. The relevance of such an analysis is provided by the analysis of the legal nature of international information security. Examines the information component, which is an important component of international and national security. Explores the international information security management issues within the framework of the law of international law and of international information security in particular. Examines the problem of ensuring international information security on the improvement of the legal system of international information security. Analyses the legal nature of international information security in modern conditions. Explores approaches to the subject of education newly emerging branch of international law: the right of international information security. The work involves scientific and private scientific research methods, including analysis, synthesis, deductive, inductive, systematic methods, normative-logical method and other methods of cognition. In an article in a special way the role of information security at the international level and of ensuring international information security actors are the State, its bodies, legal entities and natural persons, who are required to carry out its activities in a specified direction. The novelty of the study is: firstly, the international information security is aimed at forming and ensuring international information security legal regime on the basis of the universally recognized principles and norms of international law and international treaties; secondly, international legal principles and norms regulating the legal status of the information space, usage of public persons, belong to the branch of international law: the right of international information security; thirdly, under the international information security understand global information system security from threats of «triad»- terrorist, kiberprestupnye and politico-military (under military-political threats means information warfare and information confrontation). Fourthly, the international information security is governed by universally recognized principles and norms of international law, international treaties of the Russian Federation and.

The Sociological Perspective on International Law

Sociological analysis of international law begins from the premise that international legal rules and institutions are deeply embedded in the particular socio-cultural features of certain communities. Sociological factors and processes thus form an inseparable dimension of international law, and international law is both affected by and influences such factors and processes. Numerous international legal rules reflect and affect societal factors such as norms, socialization, identity, collective memories and social control. Existing sociological studies of international law essentially emphasize that socio-cultural factors are involved in two primary (and inter-related) dimensions of international law: behavior and knowledge. First, such factors influence the behavior of actors in the international legal system (e.g., via social norms). Second, sociological factors are involved in the production of collective knowledge shared by members of social groups (e.g., via collective memories regarding historical events) which also affect actors' legal behavior. Some eminent sociologists have relatively recently highlighted a third level of social behavior - the cognitive dimension. Cognitive sociology underscores that humans process information existing in our environment (e.g., filtering in/ out some items of information) also according to socio-cultural factors. Cognitive sociology literature generates significant insights regarding the link between socio-cognitive processes and international law; for example, with respect to the impact of culturally embedded categorizations on compliance with international treaties prohibiting racial or gender discrimination. The draft chapter is structured as follows: Section II exposes the central assumptions of the sociological perspective and introduces the core theoretical approaches in sociological literature. Section III discusses the sociological dimension of international law, highlighting the role of socio-cultural factors in three primary dimensions of international law relating to behavior, knowledge, and cognition. Here we also shed light on the broad contours of earlier scholarship on the sociology of international law. To illustrate the contribution of sociological theories to international legal scholarship, this section also briefly examines the question of the desirable structural design for international legal regimes from the three major sociological theoretical perspectives. Section IV observes some significant recent changes in international investment law and sketches out some thoughts regarding sociological factors that may explain this legal change; underlining the role of strains between values prevailing in the international community and the investment arbitration community, social movements, and social control mechanisms. Section V recaps the main conclusions drawn from the preceding sections.

Is the Cargo Liability Limit Unbreakable under the Montreal Convention?: Implications of a Civil Case in China

Air cargo claims have been handled under the international legal regime since the early 1930s when the Warsaw Convention was adopted. This liability regime later developed into a more modern instrument, i.e. the Montreal Convention 1999, which allegedly sets an unbreakable limit for cargo damage. Although such cargo liability limit under the Montreal Convention has been upheld by courts in many jurisdictions, efforts made by plaintiff lawyers to circumvent it have never ceased. In China, a Beijing Intermediate Court decided in an air cargo damage case that the airlines should not be entitled to the limit protection under the Montreal Convention and must indemnify the actual losses suffered by the plaintiff in accordance with the PRC Civil Aviation Law. This has been criticized by many practitioners for violating the intention of the drafters of the convention. The aim of this article is to look into the true meaning of the related provisions of the Montreal Convention by examining not only the convention itself, but also the judicial practices of other countries, and explore possible methods to clarify the legislative intent so as to avoid judicial uncertainty.

A Higher Authority: Canada's Cannabis Legalization in the Context of International Law

Recreational cannabis is being decriminalized, deregulated and even legalized across a growing number of jurisdictions throughout the world. This article addresses the international law and policy implications of this trend, examining three international law frameworks — the drug control and anti-trafficking framework of the United Nations drug conventions, international human rights law, and the international economic law regime, in which the World Trade Organization (WTO) is central. In this article, we use Canada’s legal regime for cannabis liberalization as a case study that illuminates the tensions, but also the unexplored complementarities, between the different international legal regimes or orders that affect cannabis legalization. We argue that although the drug conventions appear to provide unequivocal requirements for drug criminalization, a closer read of the treaty texts suggest otherwise, particularly when read together with the international human rights obligations. At the same time, international economic law, which has largely been ignored in the discussion of cannabis legalization, demonstrates certain inconsistencies with the Canadian cannabis legalization scheme that must be taken into account in further legalization efforts by other states.

To Fight to Save in Space: A Legal Argument that a Space ‘Coast Guard’ Is Increasingly Necessary for Effective Twenty-First Century Space Governance

Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump directed the Department Defense to create a new Space Force. Congress has pursued similar ideas in the recent past. If the United States is going to create a new space agency it may, however, be better served by establishing a ‘Space Guard’ modelled after and organized similarly to the existing U.S. Coast Guard. Indeed, it has become increasingly apparent the United States may need to establish such an agency sooner, rather than later to ensure that it meets its international legal obligations and to address widening authorities and capabilities gaps in existing U.S. space ‘governance’ programs. A pending ‘space boom’ led by private actors and businesses, and indeed encouraged by the United States government, makes it more and more likely that existing international legal regimes will prove inadequate governance structures as increasing numbers of state and private actors take to the stars. Further, the United States government currently divides responsibility and authorities for space operations amongst several departments and agencies, which is burdensome, inefficient, and unlikely to be agile enough to keep pace with, let alone effectively regulate and manage private space ventures. This article argues that establishing a Space Guard is a critical first step in how the United States can contribute to twenty-first century space governance, while at the same time also protecting important U.S. interests, because only an agency modelled on the Coast Guard’s ability to exercise broad, interdependent authorities across every aspect within an entire domain, and with the organizational culture to responsibly wield those authorities, will be able to effectively and efficiently manage future U.S. space activities.

Polemics on the Utility of Domestic Courts to Prosecute International Crimes

The role and ability of domestic courts to try international crimes has led to debates among scholars and practitioners. While international law and particularly the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court exist on the premise of ensuring a robust international judicial system to deal with heinous crimes against humanity, its role is imbedded to the extent that it is complimentary to what domestic courts can or cannot do. Yet, there is contention on whether that domestic courts can be trusted with the complex task of effectively dealing with crimes that constitute grave violations that include geocide and crimes against humanity. This paper argues that the best way to confront these crimes is to support robust domestic legal systems that will have the capacity to investigate and prosecute these crimes It is by this commitment that the both domestic and international legal regime with enhance its legitimacy and be able to check the excesses of offenders without necessarily compromising on other fundamental principles of international law and the legitimate democratic quest for accountability, rule of law and social order across the world.

Getting to Yes: Lessons for a Transnational Activist

Leif Wenar argues, in Blood Oil, that the current rules governing natural resource exploitation by governments leaves too much room for the sale of a country’s natural resources in a manner which does not benefit its citizens. To that end, he proposes what he calls a Clean Trade Policy, under which individual developed states would pass laws forbidding the trade in resources where minimum standards for resource exploitation and sale are not met. In our paper, we first develop Wenar’s proposal, and then ask if it is possible for it to come to fruition. We theorize how activists interested in bringing about these changes might utilize the existing features of international law to adopt Wenar’s proposals. Beginning with Jessup’s theory of transnational law as a method of understanding the interaction of public, private, national and international legal regimes, and the process of norm creation and enforcement outside states, we argue that activists interested in taking up Wenar’s challenge to reform the ownership and distribution of global commodities would do well to move beyond Wenar’s narrow public law framework, and study the myriad forms of regulation and interactions that define the contemporary transformation of political sovereignty and rule-making under the conditions of globalization. We argue thatnonly by exploiting mechanisms of transnational lawmaking could the Clean Trade Policy be made law.

Prosecuting ISIS for the sexual slavery of the Yazidi women and girls

ABSTRACTThe crime of sexual slavery committed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) against Yazidi women and girls is of such an extreme nature that prosecution should be pursued to the fullest extent of the law. After discussing the international legal regime that prohibits sexual slavery, this article explains the different routes that can be taken through National Truth Commissions and Courts, in courts of third states and in the International Criminal Court to bring justice to the victims. It shows that each route has its advantages and challenges, but that the seriousness and the scale of the crime may require a prosecution model that features the coordinated and complementary efforts of the courts across all three levels.

Energy Revolution for Our Common Future: An Evaluation of the Emerging International Renewable Energy Law

Climate change poses profound threats to the Earth and its people. Its mitigation, therefore, demands common but differentiated actions with comprehensive and coordinated approach. The global community has pledged to mitigate various greenhouse gases in some international soft law instruments. Exploitation of renewables to generate energy and produce electricity is simultaneously suggested for the last couple of decades as a viable alternative in mitigating climate change. This gets momentum with the adoption of the historical and universally ratified Paris Agreement in 2016 where energy is placed at the heart of the Agreement. Energy, where renewable energy is a branch, is generally regulated and governed domestically and so, international legal regime is still evolving in this regard. In the absence of any specific and direct international instrument on energy and renewable energy, published literatures have considered this topic from different directions ranging from climate change to the principle of national sovereignty, economic, trade and investment issues. In this backdrop, this paper aims to introduce various renewable sources, prospects and challenges in their promotion that may help to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. Relevant international law provisions have been evaluated, performances of the relevant regional and international organizations active in this sector are highlighted and some of the disputes in this area considered in international forums are duly addressed. It is revealed that strong political will of the global community in fulfilling their commitments made so far in different international forums is the key to transforming the world into a better one for the future generation.

To Fight to Save . . . In Space: A Legal Argument that a Space 'Coast Guard' Is Increasingly Necessary for Effective 21st Century Space Governance

Recently U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a speech calling for the creation of a U.S. Space Corps to advance U.S. space interests. Congress has also pursued similar ideas. The United States, however, does not need what would very likely be a heavily defense-centric, single mission new space service. If the United States is going to create a new space agency it would be better served by establishing a “Space Guard” modeled after and organized similarly to the existing U.S. Coast Guard. Indeed, it has become increasingly apparent the United States may need to establish such an agency sooner, rather than later to ensure that it meets its international legal obligations and to address widening authorities and capabilities gaps in existing U.S. space “governance” programs. A pending “space boom” led by private actors and businesses, and indeed encouraged by the United States government, makes it more and more likely that existing international legal regimes will prove inadequate governance structures as increasing numbers of state and private actors take to the stars. Further, the United States government currently divides responsibility and authorities for space operations amongst several departments and agencies, which is burdensome, inefficient, and unlikely to be agile enough to keep pace with, let alone effectively regulate and manage private space ventures. This paper argues that establishing a Space Guard is a critical first step in how the United States can contribute to 21st century space governance, while at the same time also protecting important U.S. interests, because only an agency modeled on the Coast Guard’s ability to exercise broad, interdependent authorities across every aspect within an entire domain, and with the organizational culture to responsibly wield those authorities, will be able to effectively and efficiently manage future U.S. space activities. The views presented within this paper are the author's and not representative of those of the U.S. Coast Guard or the Department of Homeland Security. A version of this paper will be published in Issue 4/5 2018 of Air & Space Law.