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. John Murphy to be published by Cambridge University Press, March 2010
Professor John Murphy of Villanova University School of Law, who is one of
the American Branch's Honorary Vice Presidents, has completed work on the
manuscript for his new book entitled "The Evolving Dimensions of
International Law: Hard Choices for the World Community." The book is
scheduled for publication by Cambridge University Press in March 2010.
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/.
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