International Law Research Research Articles

The Computational Turn in International Law

Abstract The recent computational turn carries the potential to both enrich and destabilise international law research. Epistemologically, it offers a repertoire of data science methods, including network analysis, text processing and analysis, machine learning, and large language and agent-based models. Ontologically, with its inductive and macroscopic logic, it can inflect and challenge our established understandings of the nature and role of international law. In this article, we review the growing use of computational approaches in international law research, with a focus on their methodological particularity and potential contributions to doctrinal and non-doctrinal research questions. At the same time, we discuss the limitations of the computational turn, especially issues of suitability, quality, and feasibility.

Review of the Report Digital Sovereignty: From Narrative to Policy? — A Chinese Perspective

The report Digital Sovereignty: From Narrative to Policy? provides insights on the evolving digital sovereignty landscape, focusing on the relationship between European narratives and policy initiatives. It features contributions from eight scholars and explores the blurred definitions of concepts like “digital sovereignty” and their impact on the EU’s geopolitical, norm-setting, and industrial ambitions. The report highlights the EU’s aspiration to be a global leader in rule-making but also challenges, such as protectionist accusations and internal obstacles. From a Chinese perspective, the report underscores the importance of rule-making and policy innovation, suggesting that China can contribute to international law research, refine its “network sovereignty” theory, and enhance its global influence.

Examining the Society in Which We Are Educated: Applying Critical Approaches to International Law Research

International law suffers from a lack of diversity. The scholars who are cited by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) write the most widely used textbooks, and those who are recruited by elite organizations are predominantly Western-educated White males. International law discourse sidelines Third World perspectives. In response, Third World approaches to international law (TWAIL) scholarship centers colonialism and the Global North’s entrenchment of economic and political dominance as the raisons d’être for modern rules of international law. Legal research instructors can address the lack of diversity in international law by incorporating TWAIL scholarship and applying critical approaches to international legal research.

Genomic Research and Artificial Intelligence: Problems of Legal Regulation at the Global and Regional Level

The authors examine the trends and features of the development of legal regulation of genomic research in the context of digitalization at the level of global and regional international organizations, including integration associations. The current sources of legal regulation of the use of artificial intelligence technologies in the field of genomic research in modern international and integration law are analyzed, and the main trends in the development of global and regional regulation are identified. Attention is given to the fact that key international acts adopted both at the global and regional levels, and regulating certain aspects of genomic research, are so-called acts of soft law, which are advisory and constitute a kind of «pre-law». In conclusion, recommendations are presented for improving the relevant legal regulation within the framework of integration associations with the participation of the Russian Federation.

Social guarantees for cross-border and seasonal workers in Europe during COVID-19 and other global crises

Globalization has intensified international migration, which is a powerful driver and an important factor of political, economic, social, and demographic changes in the countries of the world economy. The decision to migrate is mainly based on economic motives, but a migrant's choice of destination country is often determined by personal factors, which in modern conditions are formed under the influence of the system of social ties. Almost all countries of the world are now involved in international labour migration, and it has become increasingly widespread, resulting in many new problems for both states and the world community as a whole. The issue of protecting the rights of labour migrants in the EU is of particular relevance. The purpose of this study is to highlight the protection of labour migrants in the context of COVID-19 and other global crises. The article uses some general scientific methods (analysis and synthesis, deduction, induction, forecasting), as well as special legal scientific methods, including historical, formal legal, structural, and functional. As a result, the article examines measures and policies adopted by the countries of the European Union to improve the social protection of cross-border and seasonal workers during the crisis, as well as recommendations for further steps in this direction. The article provides a narrative analysis of social guarantees for cross-border and seasonal workers in Europe during the global crisis, which can be positioned for research in international labor law, social sciences, migration studies and economics.

Reviewer Acknowledgements for International Law Research, Vol. 12, No. 1

Reviewer Acknowledgements for International Law Research, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2023

Some Remarks on the Tradition of the “„Viennese School of International Law” in the Context of its Historical Evolution

The article is based on some remarks on the tradition of the so-called Viennese School of International Law analysed by its main historical stages of evolution from its beginnings until today. The Viennese School is presently one of the world’s oldest professional schools in international law. It was and is represented by highly reputable scholars with outstanding achievements. Their determination for teaching, research, including an excellent publication record and its international reputation has a special focus on has a multidisciplinary nature. These are the main parameters of this School. The sources of research are fields related to the legal sciences, especially of the history of teaching and research of international law in Vienna, international relations, sociology and, above all, philosophy. Thus, the School has been valued throughout the world by many scholars of other different schools. The community combining contemporary and modern lawyers, followers and supporters of the Viennese School of International Law, has never had the same interests or common beliefs. However, they share a common method of theoretical thinking and common methodological approaches in the field of international law. Therefore, today the main task of dealing with the objective of the Viennese School of International Law is primarily to strive to understand international law as a separate kind of normative order in a multidisciplinary context.

Theoretical Foundations and Techniques for Conducting International Law Research from Critical Approaches

This article aims to construct a state-of-the-art resource regarding the theoretical foundations and methodological options for any researcher interested in working with critical international law perspectives. The four views chosen for this exercise (TWAIL, CILS, feminist theories, and social idealism) will be dissected regarding their theoretical foundations and relevant research methods and techniques. It establishes the framing of critical research in international law through monodisciplinary, multidisciplinarity, and interdisciplinarity, depending upon the interaction between legal-international concepts and methods.

Research in International Law

Research in International Law

Limping relationships in international family law

The article examines a legal phenomenon that has not received a generalized legal characteristic, its research in international family law is fragmentary. The reasons for the “lame” relationships are analyzed: differences in conflict of laws regulation, incorrect application of conflict of laws rules, discrepancy between substantive regulations, conflict of jurisdictions; it is concluded that “lame” relationships are the result of the interaction of conflict of laws, substantive and procedural norms, leading to an undesirable legal effect. The author expresses doubts about the effectiveness of such a method of eliminating “lame” relationships as the convergence of legal systems, suggesting to pay attention to the competing traditional conflict tools and the opposite methodological approach — recognition, the potential of which is underestimated and insufficiently studied. Recognition is seen not as an alternative to conflict method, but as an additional way to overcome “lame” relationships. Replacement of national conflict of laws rules in cross-border family disputes is illustrated by the practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Attention is drawn to the existing models of recognition in common law countries and continental legal tradition, the legal nature and place of the norms of Russian family legislation on recognition are analyzed. иThe mechanism of recognition of foreign administrative procedures and decisions, foreign documents in the Russian Federation is assessed. The author comes to the conclusion that implementation in domestic law of various approaches to the recognition of foreign court decisions, administrative procedures and documents issued by the competent authorities of foreign states, proposing to unify them within the framework of a uniform recognition procedure that excludes uncertainty and internal contradictions.

Syria Conflict and its Impact

Abstract The Syrian war has caused catastrophic damage to the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Chemical attacks in particular have been tremendously devastating to both humans and wildlife ecosystems. Building on previous research in international humanitarian law (ihl) and the protection of the environment, this article identifies the immediate and long-term impact that the use and storage of chemical weapons has on the environment as against the shortcomings in legal coverage for the same. This article further argues that existing ihl provisions addressing the consequences of environmental warfare are fragmented at best, even when applied to a current case that most would consider to be highly applicable to ihl.

Teaching and research of International Law in an expanded world: understanding from the Indian perspective

The teaching and research of international law in India is affected in a manner, which is in many respects, occur different from that of the developed world. There exist salient differences in attitude, focus, approach, interpretation, and resources. The teaching of international law in India has been predominantly Eurocentric, with curriculum dominated by western narratives, and research which is largely detached from the relevant content. For a greater part of Indian legal education there has been a sense of lack of relatability, particularly in addressing local legal issues. This has impacted students, the discipline, and legal pedagogy alike. Furthermore, because of the complexity of Indian society engendered by its own internal contradictions, one finds interesting disparities of substance and methodology adopted for dispersing knowledge. This paper discusses teaching and research methods of international law in India with a background note that provides context within which the approach will be centered around. This will be followed by an attempt to justify the need for teaching and research of international law in India. The paper concludes with a suggestion that in view of severe social and economic limitations, subject of international law should really be given high priority.

Reviewer Acknowledgements for International Law Research, Vol. 11, No. 1

Reviewer Acknowledgements for International Law Research, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2022

International Law Research on China’s Outward Foreign Direct Investment Under the Belt and Road Initiative

Taking the Belt and Road Initiative as the background, this paper explores the general situation and concentration of China’s direct investment in countries along the Belt and Road. At the same time, under the “One Belt and One Road” Initiative, China’s overseas investment is facing many risks, the current legal security system is difficult to adapt to the “One Belt and One Road” investment requirements, this paper further analyzes the “One Belt and One Road” Initiative, China’s foreign investment will face international law issues and related countermeasures.

Global Issues Library

Global Issues Library is an Alexander Street resource that provides documents, images, and videos on more than 180 issues, topics, and events, from the eighteenth century to the present, that are key to understanding global affairs today. Curated by a board of international scholars, the database contains original documents and images in PDF format, as well as e-books, monographs, journals, photographs, audio, and video. These are drawn from a variety of national and international sources and collectively represent several thousand images, almost 1,000 hours of videos, and more than 600,000 pages of content. Alexander Street continues to add new materials to each collection. The documents stored on the site can be browsed, searched, printed, downloaded, and emailed.These unique primary source materials support research in international studies, global affairs, history, political science, sociology, security studies, peace studies, law, public policy, environmental studies, and anthropology. Specific topics include borders and migration, human rights violations, peacekeeping, climate change, terrorism, revolutions, and human trafficking. Specific events explored include the U.S.‐Mexico border, the Rwandan genocide, the Arab Spring, the Israeli‐Palestinian conflict, and climate migrants in Asia-Pacific. Multiple perspectives (personal, governmental, legal, contemporary, and retrospective) allow the comparison of issues in a variety of contexts and in an interdisciplinary manner.

A Review of Modern International Law on the Expansion of Colonies

The study begins with questions about Japan s colonization of the Korean Peninsula under international law. Currently, the international community is actively debating the establishment of comfort facilities for Asian women, including the peoples of the Korean Peninsula, who were colonized by Japan during the Sino-Japanese War, and were put into forced labor following the national recruitment order. In South Korea, the research focuses on the treaties signed between Japan and South Korea from the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War in 1914 through 1910, as well as comfort women, and forced labor. However, Japan continues to argue that while its annexation of Korea was unjustified, it was not a violation of international law due to the absence of multilateral treaties on colonial expansion and few judicial bodies or international conferences. In order to elucidate the Japanese annexation of the Korean Peninsula, which is closely linked to Korea s identity, international law research on colonial expansion in the 19th and early 20 centuries is needed. Furthermore, given the fact that international law evolved in the process of the expansion of European colonies, such research is crucial for the correct understanding of contemporary international law. This study analyzes the “European International Law” of colonial expansion by examining 19th and early 20th-century bilateral treaties, state practice, and the views of international jurists. The definition of colonies as defined in international law at the time is explored, and the concept of territorial acquisition and trust to colonial peoples of European countries are also discussed. Additionally, it reviews a non-annexation declaration agreed upon at the Paris Peace Conference. In addition, it examines the human rights norms applied to the mandate system, a territorial management system operated by the League of Nations. Furthermore, this study applies the international law on colonial expansion discussed in Chapter 2 to cases involving Japanese colonial expansion. Japan began colonial expansion at the end of the 19th century when it joined the “Family of Nations”, comprising “European Christian countries.” The international community criticized Japan s ambition to expand its colonies against European international law for its colonization of the Korean peninsula, the Manchurian Incident, the Sino-Japanese War, and the mandate of the South Sea Islands.

Teaching and Research of International Law in An Expanded World: Understanding from the Indian Perspective

Teaching and Research of International Law in An Expanded World: Understanding from the Indian Perspective

Environmental Authoritarianism: A Case Study of the Bolsonaro Government (2019-2021)

The purpose of this article is to investigate the abuse of presidential and administrative powers with a view to weakening environmental protection. We argue that the concept of “environmental authoritarianism”, designating both a democratic setback and a constitutional pathology, could be applied in order to describe the phenomenon whereby the government exploits certain legal institutions in order to erode constitutional defences against environmental degradation. Our argument is supported by a case study of the last three years of the Bolsonaro government in Brazil (2019-2021), focusing on a two-pronged analysis: a typology of the legal instruments on environmental policy in Brazil (legal competences and sources of law), and a brief report of all significant acts of environmental (un)protection implemented by the Bolsonaro government during this period. By contrasting the legal instruments and the governmental abuses, we suggest some legal patterns which might provide the basis for environmental authoritarianism in Brazil. These patterns, we argue, might even be generalised, by future research in comparative constitutionalism and international environmental law, to other contexts around the world.

Reviewer Acknowledgements for International Law Research, Vol. 10, No. 1

Reviewer Acknowledgements for International Law Research, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2021

Latvian Tradition in International Law

Research on tradition can be approached from various perspectives. It can be a study of key personalities or important scholarly works, or influential positions or documents adopted by the State within the international normative process. Concepts such as statehood, territorial integrity, equal participation in international decision- making and, recently, the rule of law in international law, have been of relevance and interest both in practice and academic research in the field of international law in Latvia. The proposition is put forward that research in international law by the scholars of a particular State is closely linked to the interests and issues which that State is confronted with in practice.