Professor Michael Scharf Publishes Shaping Foreign Policy in Times of Crisis

ABILA Executive Committee member Professor Michael Scharf of Case Western Reserve University School of Law and Professor Paul R. Williams of American University in Washington, DC have published a new book, appropriate both for scholars and casual readers, on U.S. foreign policy and the role, in recent decades, of the Legal Adviser to the U.S. Department of State.

Shaping Foreign Policy in Times of Crisis was published in January 2010 by Cambridge University Press and is available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats through the publisher (ISBN-13 9780521167703).

Aníbal Sabater Publishes “Towards Transparency in Arbitaration (A Cautious Approach)” in Berkeley Journal of International Law

ABILA Executive Committee member Aníbal Sabater of Fulbright and Jaworski recently published an essay on international arbitration in The Publicist, an online supplement to the Berkeley Journal of International Law that specializes in timely, concise pieces by international law experts. The paper, Towards Transparency in Arbitration (A Cautious Approach), is available online at The Publicist’s website, http://bjil.typepad.com/publicist/vol-5-riesenfeld-symposium-2010/.

Prof. John Murphy's new book published by Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press has published a new book by Professor John Murphy of Villanova University School of Law entitled "The Evolving Dimensions of International Law: Hard Choices for the World Community".

Professor Murphy is one of the American Branch’s Honorary Vice Presidents and a Patron of the American Branch.

Professor Leila Sadat Attends Kampala ICC Conference

ABILA Vice President Professor Leila Sadat is attending the first Review Conference on the Rome Statute in Kampala, Uganda. The conference is being held in Kampala, Uganda from May 31 to June 11, 2010. The Review Conference constitutes a special meeting of states parties to the ICC – distinct from the annual Assembly of States Parties – to consider amendments to the Rome Statute and to take stock of its implementation and impact.

Professor Sadat has written an informative and well-balanced article reviewing the proceedings at Kampala thus far, which can be read here: intlawgrrls.blogspot.com (The link directs to the blog “IntLawGrrls;” scroll down the page to reach Professor Sadat’s post.)

Prof. John Noyes co-authors "Law of the Sea in a Nutshell, second edition"

ABILA President John Noyes, Professor Kristen Gustafson Juras of the University of Montana School of Law, and Professor Erik Franckx of Vrije Universiteit Brussel have coauthored a second edition of Law of the Sea in a Nutshell (West, 2010) (ISBN 978-0-31416-9-419). Prof. Juras and the late Professor Louis B. Sohn wrote the first edition, which was published in 1984.

The book summarizes and analyzes current principles and rules governing the international law of the sea and includes important historical perspective.

Topics include: the rights and responsibilities of states in various zones of the oceans; fisheries and non-living resources; vessel nationality and jurisdiction over vessels; maritime terrorism and security; maritime boundary delimitation and baselines; the marine environment; and dispute settlement mechanisms. These topics are explored by examining the widely accepted 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea and other relevant treaties, along with legislation, international and national cases, and other state practice.

Exhibition of "Mare Liberum" organized by Edward Gordon

Yale Law School’s Lillian Goldman Law Library marked the 400th anniversary of Grotius’s “Mare Liberum” in an exhibition organized by former ABILA President and current Honorary Vice President Edward Gordon. The exhibition, “Freedom of the Seas, 1609: Grotius and the Emergence of International Law,” was on display through mid-January 2010 in the Yale Law School. Installments of and information about the exhibition remain available on the Yale Law Library Rare Books Blog at (http://blogs.law.yale.edu/blogs/rarebooks/archive/tags/Freedom+of+the+Seas+1609+exhibit/default.aspx).

In the early 1600’s, the Dutch East India Company commissioned the young prodigy Hugo Grotius to prepare a legal argument rejecting Spanish and Portuguese claims of dominion over the oceans around their overseas empires. His essay, “Mare Liberum” (“On the Freedom of the Seas”) touched off a “Battle of the Books” with John Selden and set the foundations of the international law regime governing the common interest in shared resources. The exhibition documented the contributions of Grotius, Selden, and other European jurists, with books from the Rare Book Collection of the Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, the Harvard Law School Library, and the private collection of Edward Gordon. The exhibition was curated by Edward Gordon (Yale Law School ’63) and Mike Widener, Yale’s Rare Book Librarian.

Prof. David Stewart co-authors new CaseBook

For those teaching, practicing or interested in the rapidly expanding field of international criminal law, WoltersKluwer (Aspen) has published a new casebook by David Luban, Julie O'Sullivan, and ABILA Vice President David Stewart (all of Georgetown Law), entitled International and Transnational Criminal Law (ISBN 9780735562141, published December 28, 2009). Designed for use at the JD or LL.M. levels, it adopts a comprehensive approach, including introductory chapters on public international law and criminal justice policy (to make the topic accessible even to first-year law students) as well as in-depth discussions of such transnational crimes as money laundering, corruption, organized crime and terrorism (for those wanting more detailed treatment).

The book contains substantial coverage of the International Criminal Court and other international tribunals (including the "core crimes" of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes) as well as the jurisdictional and procedural issues crucial to transnational practice (such as extradition, mutual legal assistance and immunity).

The authors bring varied perspectives to the subject: Luban is a renowned expert in jurisprudence and ethics, O'Sullivan is a former federal prosecutor and expert in white collar crime, and Stewart spent his career as a public international lawyer.

For professors, a comprehensive Teacher's Manual will be available shortly (to assist those without specialized background), and a companion website provides links to key documents as well as periodic updates for both the casebook and the Teacher's Manual.

Lord Mance elected to four-year term as Chairman of the Executive Council of the ILA

At the ILA Executive Committee meeting in London on November 21, 2009, Lord Mance, a Justice of the United Kingdom Supreme Court, was elected to a four-year term as Chairman of the Executive Council of the International Law Association. Lord Mance has been active in international law organizations. He was the first chairman of the Council of Europe’s Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) and continues to represent the U.K. on the CCJE; he is a trustee of the European Law Academy; and he is a member of the UN-supported Judicial Integrity Group. He has also been active in the ILA as an adviser to the ILA Study Group on the Practice and Procedure of International Courts and Tribunals, which has produced the Burgh House Principles on the Independence of the International Judiciary, and which is currently working on draft Principles concerning the Professional Conduct of Counsel and Advisers in Proceedings before International Courts and Tribunals. The ILA “nominating committee,” composed of representatives from a range of ILA branches, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S., received significant input from ILA branches, considered fourteen candidates, and enthusiastically recommended Lord Mance.

Scott Horton Is Contributing Editor of Harper's Magazine

ABILA Executive Committee member and Human Rights Committee Co-Chair Scott Horton is Contributing Editor of Harper's Magazine. His work for the magazine includes preparation of a daily online blog entitled "No Comment," which readers recommend as "sophisticated" and "erudite."

http://harpers.org/subjects/NoComment

Prof. Thomas M. Franck Remembered

ABILA Honorary Vice President Thomas Franck died peacefully on May 27, 2009, after battling cancer.

Tom Franck, a Professor Emeritus at New York University, was a prolific and renowned scholar in the areas of use of force, United Nations law, and international legal theory. He served as Honorary Secretary-Treasurer of the American Branch and for many years as a Vice President, before being elected Honorary Vice President in 1994. He contributed his time, energy, wit and ideas to many American Branch activities, most recently organizing and speaking at the keynote panel on the Future of the United Nations at International Law Weekend 2008 last October.


For remembrances of Tom Franck, see:
http://law.nyu.edu/news/FRANCK_IN_MEMORIAM
http://www.asil.org/thomas-franck.cfm
http://opiniojuris.org/2009/05/28/remembering-tom-franck-the-challenge-of-the-engaged-life/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2009/aug/23/thomas-franck-obituary
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/nyregion/30franck.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries
Tom Franck remembered in ABILA Newsletter - by Rachel Smith

Prof. Bederman Wins U.S. Supreme Court Case 6-3

On April 21, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Ministry of Defense and Support for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran v. Elahi, ruling in favor of the Ministry by a 6-3 decision. American Branch Executive Committee member Professor David Bederman of Emory University School of Law represented the Ministry before the Supreme Court in this case involving the disposition of Iranian assets.

For more information, see:
www.law.emory.edu/home/news-article/article/bederman-wins-us-supreme-court-case-6-3.html and
opiniojuris.org/2009/04/23/supreme-court-decides-iranian-asset-case/.