Informal Judicial Institutions—Invisible Determinants of Democratic Decay
The latest Special Issue of the German Law Journal challenges our ways of understanding courts as principally formalized institutions following strict rules and procedures.…
Read part one of this post here. The Inauguration Ceremony Most of the attendees at the inauguration ceremony were family members of the railway’s Tamil victims.…
On 3 June 2023, about 30 pilgrims gathered at a pagoda in Wat Yuan Cemetery near the town of Kanchanaburi, Thailand.…
Part II: In part I the author backgrounded the proposal for a new UK law to enhance corporate responsibility to respect human rights and the environment and gave a brief overview of the proposed law.…
PART I A new law on the cards It has been a long journey for the UK to bring domestic force to its endorsement of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).…
PART II: In the previous part, the authors contextualized the neglect of Indonesian indigenous women in development projects and illuminated the multi-layered impact of natural resource conflicts on such indigenous women.…
PART I Introduction Indigenous women have a crucial role to play in the development of Indonesia. In addition to safeguarding the archipelago’s cultural values and traditional knowledge, they play a significant role in economic resilience, social cohesion, and natural environmental preservation.…
There is a strong presentism bias in current modes of governance. A high-velocity, short-term culture dominates our political, financial, social and cultural systems, to the point of systematically lacking concern for future generations and the risks they face.…
Traditional knowledge (TK) is loosely defined as knowledge, skills and know-how held and passed down intergenerationally by a community of people, including indigenous peoples, forming an important part of the community’s spiritual identity or cultural way of life.…
Introduction On 10th September 2023, hundreds of Sikhs lined up in the town of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada to cast their vote towards the “Khalistan” Referendum, a voting exercise that is being organised across several countries by the US-based Sikhs for Justice (SfJ) organisation seeking to create an independent Sikh homeland in northern India called Khalistan.…
Message from the AsianSIL President Dear Honourable Members of the Executive Council of the AsianSIL and Distinguished Colleagues, It is my great honour to have gained your trust and be elected as the eighth President of the AsianSIL and it is also my privilege to inherit the success of the AsianSIL from the previous Presidents of the Society.…
Introduction On 12 January 2023, the Swedish mining company LKBA announced the discovery of Europe’s largest deposit of rare earth elements – materials that are crucial for the production of a variety of renewable energy technologies – in northern Sweden, in the area of the city of Kiruna.…
Read the article “Whose Equality? Freedom of Religious Associations and Gaum v. Van Rensburg” in the Journal of Law and Religion.…
The updated draft business and human rights (BHR) treaty of July 2023, that forms the basis of negotiations for the ninth session of the Intergovernmental Working Group during the 9th session of the OEIGWG meetings beginning the week of 23rd October has had some interesting changes.…
Cambridge University Press and the Law & Society Association (LSA) are excited to announce that, beginning in January 2024, Cambridge University Press will publish the Association’s prestigious journal the Law & Society Review (LSR).…
Part II: In the previous part, the author delved into the intersection of International Law and Queer legal theories, examining the standpoint of Indian Courts.…
Part I: In recent times, South Asian courts have been deeply engaged in important discussions concerning fundamental aspects of Queer rights.…
ASEAN has progressed consistently as a responsive regional actor, especially through its economic initiatives. The organization declared its commitment to regional economic integration as early as the 1976 Declaration of ASEAN Concord/Bali Concord I, and indeed, it tends to be in the economic sphere where the most detailed and formal agreements are signed.…
In the heart of New York City, from August 10th to 12th, 2023, a cohort of twelve scholars hailing from multiple countries, backgrounds and disciplines converged for the 8th Business and Human Rights (BHR) Young Researchers’ Summit.…
I am honoured to be taking on the role of Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal of Cultural Property, following in the footsteps of Alexander Bauer.…
Does Article IX of the Indus Water Treaty Constitute a Multi-Tiered Arbitration Clause? Reflecting on the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s Award on the Competence of the Court in the Indus Waters Treaty Arbitration (Pakistan v.…
Reflecting on the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s Award on the Competence of the Court in the Indus Waters Treaty Arbitration (Pakistan v.…
Introduction In 2018, Indonesia introduced a new Government Regulation No 4 Year 2018 concerning the Security of the Airspace of the Republic of Indonesia.…
The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted on August 1, 2023 a resolution looking forward to the 125th anniversary of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) next year and commending it for its significant contributions to world peace and justice.…
World leading innovation is going on right now in granting legal personhood for mountains, rivers, and forests in New Zealand and elsewhere – but what will this mean for governance and how these new ‘entities’ relate with both companies, people and the law?…
Recently President Putin officially revealed that the Wagner group had been financed by the Russian State. Specifically, he declared (see also here) having financed the group for around 1bln dollars between May 2022 and May 2023.…
On June 1, 2023, Members of the European Parliament voted, with a large majority, in favour of new European rules on corporate sustainability due diligence.…
Introduction On 30 December 2022, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed Resolution 77/247 on ‘Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories’.…
The June issue of International Legal Materials includes four international legal documents. The first is the reparations judgment from the International Court of Justice in the case concerning Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Dem.…
As the European Union’s three legislative bodies sit down to reconcile their proposals for a draft directive on corporate sustainability due diligence, legislators have a brand-new tool to support their negotiation: the newly updated and renamed OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises for Responsible Business Conduct (Guidelines).…
Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it was laying off its AI ethics department, joining earlier cuts of ethicists at Meta, Google, Amazon and Twitter, and thereby setting a precedent for smaller tech companies with minimal financial resources that cutting corners in ethical and humane technological advancements is acceptable. …
In 2022, the European Commission (EC) proposed a new Regulation to ban products made using forced labour from the EU market.…
On February 3, 2014, I wrote here about the hell which workers at Rana Plaza had gone through, and finished by asking ‘Where do we go from here?’…
The Rana Plaza collapse in 2013 in Bangladesh exposed the severe safety issues and exploitative practices in global supply chains and the need for greater corporate liability.…
Zambia defaulted on its debt in November 2021 but has not yet reached an agreement with its creditors. Its president recently warned that this situation is hurting its citizens and undermining its democracy because “you cannot eat democracy”.…
An important case is making its way up the appellate system of England & Wales. The case, reported at its last stage asMcGaughey v USS [2022] EWHC 133 (Ch), concerns the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).…
States are currently discussing the future of one of the most important instruments for international peace and security and the room is almost empty.…
A collaboration between CIL Dialogues and AsianSIL Voices The legacy of the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) is a hotly debated topic.…
A collaboration between CIL Dialogues and AsianSIL Voices On 16 March 2018, the Philippines formally submitted its notice of withdrawal from the Rome Statute (RS).…
A collaboration between CIL Dialogues and AsianSIL Voices Lawyers and Journalists: greater than the sum of our parts The story of the Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP) is a story about the confluence of international criminal law and public advocacy.…
A collaboration between CIL Dialogues and AsianSIL Voices On 3 March 2023, published on 8 March—International Women’s Day—2023, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Committee) issued its decision in Natalie Alfonzo et.…
A collaboration between CIL Dialogues and AsianSIL Voices [This blogpost is based on a talk for the NUS Centre for Asian Legal Studies in November 2022, recording available here.]…
A collaboration between CIL Dialogues and AsianSIL Voices While most ASEAN states are not parties to the Rome Statute, this fact should not distract from the region’s growing engagement with accountability for core international crimes at the domestic, regional, or international level.…
As the sun sets over the vast cocoa plantations of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the hardworking farmers who tend to the crops are left in the dark shadows of poverty and inequality.…
The United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (Protect, Respect, and Remedy Framework) were a breakthrough initiative. The Principles have brought considerable business attention to the issue of human rights and provided ways for businesses to begin to begin to be held accountable for egregious violations.…
In the 1990s, author Neal Stephenson envisioned an immersive world that would be accessed by virtual reality goggles. He named the world the metaverse.…
This blog post by Dr Tara Van Ho is the first in a series of blog pieces by describing a change or changes the writer would like to see in any part of the field of business and human rights. …
We are grateful to you for sharing in our celebration of this Element series. Why write on this topic? Because we are excited about the series and what it represents to scholars.
On May 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) published a report which documented that the majority of the internet shutdown was reported in Asia. …
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is in clear violation of the rules governing the use of force enshrined in the United Nations Charter.…
Big pharma companies have gone to extreme lengths to squeeze every last dollar out of the Covid-19 pandemic, regardless of the huge human cost.…
Genocide is one of the most severe international crimes. The meaning of genocide and the acts that fall under it are defined in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide or the Genocide Convention of 1948 and in Article 6 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.…
Introduction: Since international law so often involves the application of treaties, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (“VCLT”) serves as a key instrument governing this process.…
Secularism as a principle and religious freedom as a fundamental right are qualifying elements of the modern concept of constitutional democracies: while putting emphasis on individual autonomy, habeas corpus and liberty of the one against the many, freedom of religion and secularism give special attention to religious groups.…
As we enter 2023 here are the most read Business and Human Rights Journal blog posts of 2022: 10 Human Dignity abused is at Number 10 of our most viewed blogs.…
In this post we examine Asia’s engagements with the international financial institutions-notably the World Bank (“the Bank”) and International Monetary Fund (“the Fund”).…
The blog analyses Brazil´s role in the business and human rights agenda after 2014, when two processes came together: the UN Intergovernmental Working Group on a Business and Human Rights Treaty and the Working Group on Business and Human Rights known by its efforts to have the National Action Plans based on the UN Guiding Principles approved.…
Peru is highly dependent on the mining sector (mining accounts for 10% of its GDP and 60% of exports). The Peruvian legal framework promotes mining investments and, at the same time, incorporates business and human rights standards, such as citizen participation in environmental impact assessments (EIA) and prior consultation of indigenous communities before the commencement of operations.…
In a first since its establishment in 2001, a special meeting of the UN Security Council’s Counter Terrorism Committee (UNSC-CTC) has been hosted in India.…
Why is teaching law contextually important, and how might it be done? Such questions have had an important role in legal study since at least 1970, when the Law in Context series was launched with the aim of broadening the study of law.
Introduction The debate on whether international law can be considered as true ‘law’ has been unremitting, with no definite answer to the bindingness of international law.…
On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched an open armed aggression against Ukraine. The main purpose of this so-called “special military operation” is the “denazification” of Ukraine contrived by the Russian leadership.…
Dr Oyeniyi Abe’s book Implementing Business and Human Rights Norms in Africa is a vitally important publication that comes at a time of urgent international security challenges and global climate and health emergencies.…
Should fisheries support vessels play a more active role in addressing illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and its associated crimes?…
This week, feminists and human rights defenders from around the world will gather in Geneva to push for action on a matter of great urgency – the 8th session of negotiations for a UN Binding Treaty on Business & Human Rights, legislation at the international level that would hold corporations accountable for their business impacts.…
This symposium marks the first time AJIL Unbound publishes in a foreign language, in an effort to open the conversation to a broader community.…
I. Introduction Foreign investors often make their investments by setting up or investing in a local company in the host state to carry out large-scale projects for public services such as road construction or electricity supply.…
International law is in turmoil, and under challenge. It has been likewise for centuries, but particularly since 24 February this year.…
On 29 April 2022, Germany instituted proceedings against Italy for allegedly failing to respect its jurisdictional immunity as a sovereign State, and, subsequently, requested the indication of provisional measures.…
Introduction Some “new” rights have recently been added to the international human rights catalogue, such as the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.…
We are delighted to launch ASIANSIL Voices, the blog of the Asian Society of International Law (ASIANSIL). The blog seeks to pursue the same broad goals that underpin the Asian Society and its journal, the Asian Journal of International Law (ASIANJIL), namely, to promote international law in Asia and foster the development and articulation of Asian perspectives on international law. …
Introduction The UK government’s sanctions on the assets of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich- the owner of Chelsea Football Club (Chelsea) – have brought to light English football’s problematic relationship with foreign capital.…
Over the last years, public servants from across the world, from French nurses and Belgian social workers to Beninese judges, have been protesting their governments.…
Law and Social Inquiry is excited to announce a new feature—building a community of book authors who both write books and who also write essays on others’ books.…
The failure to hold to account criminally UK companies (and companies which operate in the UK and/or have UK listings) which are complicit in human rights abuses abroad stands in stark contrast to more promising developments in countries such as France, with the Lafarge case, and Sweden with the Lundin case.…
A central point in every daily newspaper’s publishing cycle is the late afternoon meeting where, traditionally, editors sit around a table and decide which stories belong on the next day’s front page.…
ILM is an exceptional resource for scholars and practitioners of international law. As an active ASIL member for well over a decade, I have relied on ILM to keep me informed of developments across the field, from the latest U.S.…
It seems like only yesterday that Domingo Acevedo, my colleague at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asked me whether I would be interested in serving on the Editorial Advisory Committee of International Legal Materials (ILM) since he was rotating off.…
La Guajira: Natural wealth vs exploitation As a Guajira woman, feminist and social researcher, I want to share some personal reflections from the vision of female leadership as caretakers of the land and the fight against different forms of colonization and exploitation present in La Guajira.…
On 3 April 2022, Victor Orbán won his fourth straight election victory in Hungary. On 9 May, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, the son of a former dictator of the Philippines followed President Duterte, with Duterte’s daughter as Vice President, to victory in the Philippines.…
The ratification of the Paris Agreement opened a new chapter in Turkey’s climate policies. Followed by the declaration of a net-zero emissions target for 2053, Turkey’s ratification of the agreement came after a six-year delay, with exhausting bilateral post-Paris negotiations.…
Women’s economic empowerment (WEE) is central to realising their human rights. The access of women towards employment opportunities and economic empowerment is also beneficial for corporations and the wider community.…
For the last two years, a big story in law and religion, in the United States and throughout the world, has been the COVID-19 crisis.…
The Hong Kong government has vowed to potentially further criminally punish the leaders of the now disbanded the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), which was Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy trade union.…
When we think about what it is that legal scholars share in common, and whether there is any single concern that connects us all as part of a single endeavour, it is difficult to avoid concluding that marginalisation is key.…
The concept of “human rights” is one that most educated people would likely claim to understand in a straightforward manner. Upon closer examination, however, scholars and politicians alike have engaged in fierce disagreements about its meaning and scope.…
A dominant idea in international human rights practice is that states must respect human dignity. In the case of Venezuela, human dignity has been systematically and repeatedly violated.…