Announcements: Global Law at Reading Ghandhi Research Seminar Series; Where Human Rights Take Place Workshop; KÜREMER Call for Papers; BIICL Training Programme
Blog of the European Journal of International Law
1. Global Law at Reading (GLAR) Ghandhi Research Seminar Series. GLAR has announced the following events for the remainder of the academic year (all times are UK time, and all are welcome without prior registration): (1) Dr Andrea Maria Pelliconi, Lecturer in Human Rights at the University of Southampton, Demographic engineering and the reconfiguration of self-determination in Western Sahara from Morocco’s occupation to UN Security Council Resolution 2797 (2025); 24 February 2026, 2pm, Palmer 101 and online on Teams; (2) Dr Catherine Briddick, Associate Professor at the Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford, Palestine refugees and Article 1D of the Refugee Convention in European courts; 5 March 2026, 1pm, EM57 or online on Teams; (3) GLAR book discussion: Animals and the Constitution: Towards Sentience-based Constitutionalism, with authors John Olusegun Adenitire and Raffael Fasel, and discussants David Bilchitz, Melanie Murcott and Alok Gupta; 11 March 2026, 2.30pm, Palmer 105 or online on Teams; (4) Dr Nick Maple, Senior Lecturer in Refugee Studies at the University of London, Refugee Reception in Southern Africa; 12 March 2026, 1pm, EM57 or…
Rod MacKenna - February 10, 2026 at 10:32
I have worked for UN peacekeeping operations in Africa. Just one thing from this otherwise relevant article: sexual and gender based violence is better replaced by calling it violence against…
Ganna Yudkivska - February 7, 2026 at 14:29
Thank you, dear Mr Matthias Zechariah, for your thoughtful comment and kind words. You raise a fair point, and we want to be clear: we do not consider the current…
Matthias Zechariah - February 4, 2026 at 16:48
This is a brilliant submission. However, it is more defensive than balanced. It poryrays the present Working Groups System as sacrosanct and faultless. Such absolutist approach to matters do not…
Alexander Orakhelashvili - February 4, 2026 at 14:55
someone just advised me to add this link: https://blog.bham.ac.uk/lawresearch/2026/02/recognition-of-somaliland-legality-and-consequences/
The 53rd Session of UNCITRAL Working Group III (WGIII), held in mid-January 2026 in New York, marked another modest but revealing step in the long road toward reforming investor–State dispute settlement (ISDS). The meeting delivered some progress, particularly in clarifying what kind of legal instrument(s) might eventually emerge from the cluster of partially linked reform options grouped together for discussion…
Normative and institutional context On 20 January 2026, the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (the ‘Authority’) – the international organization established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the ‘Convention’) to organize and control mineral-related activities in the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction (Article 157, UNCLOS) – notified Member States of…
Labour mobility as a structural blind spot in international economic law International economic law is structured around the regulation of goods, capital, and services, yet it remains strikingly underdeveloped when it comes to the governance of cross-border labour mobility. Although labour functions economically as a factor of production, its movement is treated as…
Normative and institutional context On 20 January 2026, the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (the ‘Authority’) – the international organization established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the ‘Convention’) to organize and control mineral-related activities in the deep seabed beyond…
The last two weeks have taken us from headlines to bylines and beyond. Front-page legal questions on USA-Greenland and Russia-Ukraine continue to occupy commentators. While others draw our attention to the lesser thumbed back pages: from colonial-era agreements in contemporary arbitration, and the recognition of Somaliland, to the…
Many heads of state and government from European and South American countries, as well as representatives of the European Union at the highest level, have hailed the fact that, after three decades of negotiations, the EU has finally concluded its free trade agreement with Mercosur. However, the…
The last two weeks have taken us from headlines to bylines and beyond. Front-page legal questions on USA-Greenland and Russia-Ukraine continue to occupy commentators. While others draw our attention to the lesser thumbed back pages: from colonial-era agreements in contemporary arbitration, and the recognition of Somaliland, to the…
Scholarship over the past decade or so has been interested in the imperial origins of international investment law. As much as the current regime has undergone reform, some relics continue to present thorns in the current ‘decolonised’ landscape. They expose its problematic origins and, more importantly,…
This is a post in our Joint Symposium on "Negotiating a Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity" run in partnership with Just Security. Understanding the history of a legal concept can help illuminate its normative content, and explain what it stands for, why it is…
The last two weeks have taken us from headlines to bylines and beyond. Front-page legal questions on USA-Greenland and Russia-Ukraine continue to occupy commentators. While others draw our attention to the lesser thumbed back pages: from colonial-era agreements in contemporary arbitration, and the recognition of Somaliland, to the…
In the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022, Ukraine and its allies turned to international adjudication with remarkable speed and intensity. This early legal mobilisation enabled Ukraine to seize the legal narrative surrounding the conflict, ‘using its smart-power assets in a case where…
The dispute about Greenland has been conducted by the US as a zero-sum game. Either ‘ownership’ over Greenland would be handed over to Washington, or else economic sanctions or worse would be applied to Denmark and her European allies. It was all or nothing until earlier this…
Setting the scene: Frontex, CJEU and the ARIO...and beyond Although the Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations (ARIO) were adopted 15 years ago by the International Law Commission (ILC), international judicial practice interpreting and unpacking the ARIO remains scarce. That the case law…
Several weeks ago, it was reported by Reuters (here) that the United States would seek to radically reshape the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention) at a side event it had organised at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly. On the…
The Palestinian refugee protection framework adopted after WWII faces a crisis of unprecedented proportions. While it remains unclear whether this framework will survive, Israel’s recent attack on it sheds new light on asylum's oldest conundrum: the inherent tension between individual rights protection and state sovereignty.
The last two weeks have taken us from headlines to bylines and beyond. Front-page legal questions on USA-Greenland and Russia-Ukraine continue to occupy commentators. While others draw our attention to the lesser thumbed back pages: from colonial-era agreements in contemporary arbitration, and the recognition of Somaliland, to the…
On 26 December 2025, Israel became the first state to formally recognize Somaliland as a state. The reactions of the international community have ranged between negative, cautious, neutral and silence. While Somaliland has welcomed Israel’s recognition, others have argued that its recognition is unwise, dangerous and illegal.
In the beginning of January, following reported United States actions against Venezuela and threats by President Trump against Cuba, Colombia and Mexico, there were renewed statements by President Trump regarding the annexation of Greenland. President Trump stated that “we need Greenland from the standpoint of national…
January 9, 2025Francisco J. QuintanaJustina Uriburu
On 8 December 2024, Venezuelan authorities detained Argentine military police officer Nahuel Agustín Gallo after he entered the country from Colombia. According to Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gallo first travelled by car to Chile, then by plane to Bogotá, and finally by taxi to the Venezuelan…
On 15 November 2017, following a rule of 37 years since the independence of Zimbabwe, President Mugabe was placed under house arrest by the army. A military spokesman appeared on state television to declare that the president was safe and that they were only “targeting criminals around…
On 14 November 2019, the European Court of Human Rights delivered a judgement in the case N.A. v. Finland (application no. 25244/18). The ECtHR found that Finland had violated Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights when assessing an Iraqi man’s asylum…
October 22, 2025Ladan MehranvarTarald Gulseth Berge
During the week of 22 September 2025, States once again met in Vienna under Working Group III (WGIII) of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) to deliberate reforms to investor–State dispute settlement (ISDS). Since receiving its mandate in 2017, WGIII has been tasked with identifying…
Editor's Note: This week, we will be featuring several posts critically examining the UNCITRAL ISDS reform process, which held its latest Working Group III meetings in New York on April 2019. Yesterday's introduction from our Contributing Editor Anthea Roberts and UNCITRAL Academic Forum Chair Malcolm Langford…
Provisional measures requests are keeping the International Court of Justice busy. In October alone, the Court heard requests for interim relief in two separate cases, Canada and the Netherlands v. Syria and Armenia v. Azerbaijan, and received a request in one more, …
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Executive Summary
The article provides an overview of various academic and professional events, discussions, and calls for papers in the field of international law and human rights. It highlights the Global Law at Reading (GLAR) Ghandhi Research Seminar Series, which includes discussions on topics such as demographic engineering in Western Sahara, the status of Palestine refugees, animal rights, and refugee reception in Southern Africa. Additionally, it mentions the 53rd Session of UNCITRAL Working Group III, which focused on reforming investor–State dispute settlement (ISDS). The article also includes comments from readers, offering diverse perspectives on the discussed topics.
Key Points
- ▸ GLAR's seminar series covers a range of critical international law and human rights topics.
- ▸ The 53rd Session of UNCITRAL WGIII made modest progress in ISDS reform.
- ▸ Reader comments provide additional insights and critiques on the discussed topics.
Merits
Comprehensive Coverage
The article effectively covers a wide array of significant events and discussions in the field of international law, providing a comprehensive overview for readers.
Diverse Perspectives
The inclusion of reader comments adds depth and diversity to the discussion, offering different viewpoints and critiques.
Demerits
Lack of Depth
The article provides a surface-level overview of the events and discussions without delving into the substantive issues in detail.
Disjointed Structure
The article jumps between different topics and events without a clear narrative or thematic flow, which can make it difficult to follow.
Expert Commentary
The article serves as a valuable resource for those interested in the latest developments in international law and human rights. However, it would benefit from a more structured approach and deeper analysis of the substantive issues discussed. The inclusion of reader comments adds a layer of engagement and critical thinking, but the article could further enhance its value by providing more context and detailed insights into the topics covered. For instance, the discussion on demographic engineering in Western Sahara could explore the legal and political implications of Morocco's actions and the UN's response in greater detail. Similarly, the progress made in ISDS reform could be analyzed in the context of broader debates about the effectiveness and legitimacy of international dispute settlement mechanisms. Overall, while the article provides a useful overview, it leaves room for more in-depth analysis and critical engagement with the issues at hand.
Recommendations
- ✓ Future articles should aim to provide a more structured and detailed analysis of the topics covered, ensuring a coherent narrative flow.
- ✓ Incorporate more substantive discussions and expert insights to enhance the depth and value of the content.
