Two weeks ago, I have served as a “judge” in one of the Hamburg team’s Philip Jessup Moot Court rehearsal sessions. In the German National Rounds 2017 in Passau, the students team of the Hamburg Law School has qualified for the International Rounds to take place in Washington D.C. from April 9-15. See here. Congratulations and good luck for the International Rounds!
After a long and very careful process of deliberation, we have decided not to attend this year’s Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association (ISA) in Baltimore (Feb 22-25). This has been a tough decision since we do see the great value of the international exchange, taking place at academic conferences like the ISA meetings. Given the current political climate in the United States and, relatedly, the large group of people who have been unjustifiably targeted by Executive Orders recently, we deem it impossible to undertake the planned research activities together with colleagues from around the world. In solidarity with these colleagues and the deeply concerning absence of respect for race, gender or independence of the judiciary, and academic freedom, all fundamental norms that are at the centre of the democratic world, we feel it would be unethical to attend: unfortunately, the current circumstances necessitate a break with normal academic practice. However, we do wish to point out that this should not be understood as a decision against those of our colleagues who have come to a different conclusion. Together we stand against restrictions of academic freedom and for the rule of law and democracy as essential for normal academic practice.
Team at the Chair of Political Science, especially Global Governance, University of Hamburg
East West Street. On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity by Prof. Philippe Sands (University College London, Faculty of Laws)
Wednesday, Feb 8, 2017, 6pm at the Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung (HIS)
Research Area 4 at the Centre for Globalisation and Governance (CGG) in Cooperation with the Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung (HIS)
The talk is now online!
When human rights lawyer Philippe Sands received an invitation to deliver a lecture in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, he began to uncover a series of extraordinary historical coincidences. It set him on a quest that would take him half way around the world in an exploration of the origins of international law and the pursuit of his own secret family history, beginning and ending with the last day of the Nuremberg trial. Part historical detective story, part family history, Sands guides us through some interconnected stories on the development of international law and the inclusion of the terms ‘crimes against humanity’ (Lauterpacht) and ‘genocide’ (Lemkin) in the judgement at Nuremberg.
Philippe Sands is Professor of Law and Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals at the University College London Faculty of Laws. His fields of expertise include public international law, the settlement of international disputes, and environmental and natural resources law. As a practicing barrister he has extensive experience litigating cases before various international courts, including the ITLOS in Hamburg. Sands is also a regular commentator in the media. His most recent book East West Street is winner of the Baillie Gifford (Samuel Johnson) Prize for Non-Fiction.
At the DIEM25 roundtable with Yannis Varoufakis, I gave a talk on the problem of “creating a demos” in the context of DIEM’s bottom-up attempt to write a European constitution.
Together with Katja Freistein I have co-edited a special issue on “Fragmented Territoriality” in the Journal of International Relations and Development (Vol 19, issue 2). The contains articles by Alexis Galan, Umut Türem, Sven Opitz, and me, as well as an introduction by Katja Freistein am me. See here.
My article on Transnational Human Rights Litigation and the Production of Space is now also available in EJIR’s print version:
Philip Liste (2016). Geographical Knowledge at Work: Human Rights Litigation and Transnational Territoriality,” European Journal of International Relations 22 (1): 217-239. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1354066115581180
During the coming four semesters, I replace Prof. Antje Wiener at the Chair for Political Science, especially Global Governance at University of Hamburg. For the period of her research leave, Antje Wiener has received an Opus Magnum Fellowship by the Volkswagen Foundation (see here).
The EISA conference in Sicily is approaching quickly. I will participate in two panels with papers on “Transnational Epistemologies of Violence” and “The Transnational Politics of Law and Space: The Case of Abusive Corporate Conduct and the Production of Space.”
The final program is now online under http://www.paneuropeanconference.org/2015/spage.php?s=17.
Prof Shirley Scott (University of New South Wales)
Climate Security and the UN Security Council
Thursday, July 2, 2015, 12.15 pm
Allende-Platz 1, Raum 250.
Over the last decade there has been an evolving debate both within the United Nations and within the scholarly literature, as to whether it would be feasible and-or advantageous for the United Nations Security Council to consider climate change as within its purview. Given that irreversible global warming is underway and that this will inevitably have multiple global security implications – and indeed, that the Council has to some degree already addressed the issue – such a debate has become anachronistic. This presentation will review some of the factors that need to be taken into account in moving beyond a binary discussion of whether or not the Security Council should consider climate change. It maps four broad categories of action, situates the Council response to date within those categories, the liklihood of each being perceived as legitimate, and the prospects for an increased Council role in future.
On June 18, I will talk on “Transnational Hyper-Territoriality: Private Authority and Human Rights Litigation” at the Law & Boundaries Conference in Paris. A program is available here.