Word(s) up

Those of us who've labored at international law learned long ago that the just about the last place to find the meaning of terms in our field was the standard domestic reference.
Not at any more: Black's Law Dictionary has gone global.
That's the takeaway from the Autumn 2009 edition of The Green Bag, now celebrating its 13th year as "an entertaining journal of law."* Adjudging the newest edition of Black's "a product of its time," an article entitled "Timely Definitions" cites 8 "new entries" as cases in point.
A definition in 1 of the 8 entries alludes to the globalized nature of contemporary practice, for it traces a term not obviously international -- "advance-fee fraud" -- to its "believed" origins in Nigeria.
Fully 4 of the remaining 7 terms deal specifically with matters of interest to specialists in international or foreign relations law. These indeed reflect our times, ranging from "conflict diamond" to "national-security letter" to "waterboarding."
The 4th term in this latter group?

complementarity principle. International law. The doctrine that a country with control of a person accused of violating international criminal law has the jurisdiction to charge and try a person. · Because the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court is complementary to the criminal jurisdiction of countries, that tribunal can assert jurisdiction over the accused person only if the country is unable or unwilling to undertake a genuine investigation and prosecution. – Sometimes shortened to complementarity.

This new entry, in particular, underscores that lawyers need to know a lot about law's operation at inter- as well as -national levels.

* To which yours truly was pleased to have contributed "Under Deconstruction: International Criminal Law in a Postmodern World," 3 Green Bag 2d 369 (2000).

Work On! NatSec Law @ UT Law

(Work On! is an occasional item about workshops, roundtables, and other fora for scholarship-presentation-without-publication) Proposals for papers on national security law are being sought for the 3rd annual National Security Law Junior Faculty Workshop, to be held April 1 and 2, 2010, at the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, University of Texas School of Law, Austin, cosponsor along with the International Committee of the Red Cross. Also participating in the workshop are our colleagues, Texas Law Professor Robert M. Chesney and South Texas Law Professor Geoffrey S. Corn, as well as the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School and the U.S. Army.
Featured in addition to presentation and discussion of works-in-progress will be training in international humanitarian law.
Abstracts or manuscripts of unpublished papers should be sent to Chesney at rchesney@law.utexas.edu. Deadline is February 1; details here.

Experts at Law: War & conflict, ICL & IHL

(One in a series on Experts at Law)

Inspired by Diane Marie Amann's post on female international law scholars with expertise in the field of national security law, IntLawGrrls has created a new series entitled Experts at Law. Organized by field of expertise, this series of posts aims to provide easily accessible information to conference organizers, media, and others who seek expert opinions on a variety of subjects while ensuring gender balance. The list below provides institutional affiliations for as well as links to the bios and publications of and blog posts by or about our Experts at Law, who are comprised of IntLawGrrls bloggers, guests, and alumnae and presented in alphabetical order. Some offer specific areas of expertise within the broader topic presented.
If you'd like to find this series again in the future, it's easy -- just scroll down the page until you find the "IntLawGrrls series" menu on the right, and click on "Experts at Law."
Today's list focuses on female international law scholars with expertise in areas of law relating to war and conflict, including international criminal law, international humanitarian law, national security law, terrorism, and transitional justice. If you seek an expert in another field of international law, not to worry -- additional areas of expertise will be listed in posts over the next two weeks.

International criminal law and transitional justice
Diane Marie Amann, Univ. of California at Davis, (publications, blogs): international and transnational criminal justice
Elena Baylis, Univ. of Pittsburgh, (publications, blogs): post-conflict justice
Doris Buss, Carleton Univ., Ottawa (publications, blogs)
Margaret deGuzman, Temple Univ., Philadelphia, (publications, blogs)
Chimene Keitner, Univ. of California, Hastings (publications, blogs)
Linda M. Keller, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, (publications, blogs)
Fiona de Londras, Univ. College Dublin, (publications, blogs): feminist critiques of international criminal tribunals
Carmen Marquez-Carrasco, Univ. of Seville, (publications, blogs): the crime of aggression, crimes against humanity, history of international criminal law, the International Criminal Court, international criminal jurisdictions, reparations, universal jurisdiction
Valerie Oosterveld, Univ. of Western Ontario, (publications, blogs): gender issues in international criminal justice
Noëlle Quénivet, Bristol Law School, (publications, blogs): genocide, war crimes
Jaya Ramji-Nogales, Temple Univ., Philadelphia, (publications, blogs): transitional justice
Susan Harris Rimmer, Australian National Univ., (publications, blogs): feminist theory and transitional justice
Naomi Roht-Arriaza, Univ. of California, Hastings (publications, blogs): post-conflict and transitional justice, universal jurisdiction
Susana SaCouto, War Crimes Research Office, American Univ., Washington DC (publications, blogs): international criminal tribunals
Amy Senier, Foley, Hoag LLP, Boston, (publications, blogs): transitional justice
Beth Van Schaack, Santa Clara Univ., (publications, blogs)

International humanitarian law
Diane Marie Amann, Univ. of California at Davis, (publications, blogs)
Stephanie Farrior, Vermont Law School, (publications, blogs)
Carmen Marquez-Carrasco, Univ. of Seville, (publications, blogs): gender and IHL, humanitarian assistance
Monica Hakimi, Univ. of Michigan, (publications, blogs)
Noëlle Quénivet, Bristol Law School, (publications, blogs)
Susan Harris Rimmer Australian National Univ., (publications, blogs)
Beth Van Schaack, Santa Clara Univ., (publications, blogs)

National security and terrorism
See also Diane Marie Amann's list of experts here
Diane Marie Amann, Univ. of California at Davis, (publications, blogs)
Elena Baylis, Univ. of Pittsburgh, (publications, blogs): the "war on terror"
Karima Bennoune, Rutgers-Newark, (publications, blogs): terrorism
Monica Hakimi, Univ. of Michigan, (publications, blogs): the "war on terror" including detentions, mistreatment, questions on the applicable (U.S. and international) law, and renditions
Kristine A. Huskey, Univ. of Texas, (publications, blogs): national security law, the "war on terror"
Fiona de Londras, Univ. College Dublin, (publications, blogs): terrorism and counter-terrorism
Susan Harris Rimmer Australian National Univ., (publications, blogs): rights-based approaches to counter-terrorism law
Beth Van Schaack, Santa Clara Univ., (publications, blogs): the "war on terror"

War and conflict
Elena Baylis, Univ. of Pittsburgh, (publications, blogs): ethnic conflict and minority rights
Karima Bennoune, Rutgers-Newark, (publications, blogs): armed conflict, child soldiers, religious extremism
Doris Buss, Carleton Univ., Ottawa (publications, blogs): rape and sexual violence against women in conflict settings
Naomi Cahn, George Washington Univ., (publications, blogs): child soldiers, disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration, post-conflict transition
Monica Hakimi, Univ. of Michigan, (publications, blogs): armed conflict
Kristine A. Huskey, Univ. of Texas, (publications, blogs): United Nations draft convention regarding mercenaries, the use of private military/security companies in armed conflict
Carmen Marquez-Carrasco, Univ. of Seville, (publications, blogs): humanitarian intervention, prohibition on the use of force, Security Council powers and practice, right to self-defense
Noëlle Quénivet, Bristol Law School, (publications, blogs): girl soldiers, peacekeeping operations, rape and sexual violence against women in conflict settings, right to self defense

Write On! National security law workshop

(Write On! is an occasional item about notable calls for papers.)

Austin, Texas, will be the site of the 2nd annual National Security Law Junior Faculty Workshop, to be held on March 12 and 13, 2009. (Among the presenters at the inaugural workshop, held last year at Wake Forest, was IntLawGrrls' own Beth Hillman.)

This year's workshop will combine discussion of works-in-progress with training in the law of war, the latter provided by instructors from the International Committee of the Red Cross and the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General School.

For details on this year's workshop, link to the "here" details at this post. For questions, contact Robert M. Chesney at rchesney@law.utexas.edu.

Anyone is welcome to attend, and all are welcome to submit a paper for consideration. The deadline for submitting a paper or abstract for consideration is January 15, 2009.

Welcome to the blogosphere

Check out Security Law Brief, a new blog on matters of -- you guessed it -- national security.
SLB's sponsored by the Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law in Washington, D.C. It's updated daily, and has lots of short-and-snappy items to keep you on top of issues in the field. Today it joins IntLawGrrls' other favorite sites in the "connections" list at right.
Contributors, all affiliated with Georgetown, are: Nadia Asancheyev, Tim Bass, David Cole, Justin Florence, Matthew Gerke, Neal Katyal, David Koplow , Marty Lederman (prior IntLawGrrls post), David Luban (prior post), and Annamartine Salick.

Heartfelt welcome!

Write On! "National Security Law Advice"

(Write On! is an occasional item about notable calls for papers.) The Section on National Security Law of the Association of American Law Schools is seeking papers to fill out the panel discussion, entitled "National Security Law Advice to the New Administration," that it will sponsors at AALS' January 2009 annual meeting in San Diego, California.
Section Chair and Syracuse Law Professor William C. Banks invites a variety of essay- and article-length treatments of the subject of advice. For instance, an author might:
► Focus on a discrete ongoing problem, such as detention and trial of accused terrorists or reform of surveillance laws;
► Offer theoretical or historical perspectives;
► Develop recommendations concerning humanitarian intervention or measures to ensure human security; or
► Engage in a memorandum-style set of recommendations across a range of national security law problems.
The author of the selected paper will join already-confirmed panelists -- Pacific McGeorge Law Dean Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, Yale Law Dean Harold Hongju Koh, and Creighton Law Professor and Section Chair-Elect Michael J. Kelly -- in a discussion to take place from 8:30-10:15 a.m. on Thursday, January 8, 2009. The selected paper also will be published, in short form in the National Security Law Report, the periodical of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security, and in full length, subject to the journal's final approval, in the Journal of National Security Law & Policy.
Submissions should include a cover letter confirming willingness to join the panel (with home-institution funding), a c.v., and either an abstract-with-outline or a draft article. E-mail submissions to Banks at wcbanks@law.syr.edu (with documents attached in Word, WordPerfect, or PDF) no later than August 15, 2008.

Work On! National security law

(Work On! is an occasional item about workshops, roundtables, and other fora for scholarship-presentation-without-publication) A host of scholarly subjects now fall within "the national security law umbrella" -- jus ad bellum and jus in bello, of course, but also intersections between international humanitarian law and international human rights law, interactions among national, regional, and international legal regimes, overlaps among powers of various governmental branches, and, even more broadly, the degree to which individual human security aids or undermines collective national security. Scholars working in these areas (particularly though not exclusively "junior" scholars) are invited to take part in a National Security Law Works-in-Progress Workshop on May 23, 2008, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Cosponsors include Wake Forest University School of Law, national security law centers at Duke University and the University of Virginia, the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School, and the Journal of National Security Law & Policy.

Papers, or at the very least, abstracts, should be submitted by the April 4 deadline to our colleague Bobby Chesney at robert.chesney@wfu.edu. They'll then be reviewed by officers of the National Security Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools.

Details here on the call for works-in-progress and the workshop, which is open to presenters and nonpresenters alike.

Go On! "Gender & Class: Collective Voices"

(Go On! is an occasional item on symposia of interest) The upcoming annual meeting in New York of the Association of American Law Schools will kick off this year with a January 3, 2008, program that promises to be of particular interest to many readers. Entitled "Gender and Class: Voices from the Collective," it's an all-day exploration of issues like incorporation of class issues into discussions on gender-based inequality; intersections vel non of class subordination with those of race, gender, and sexual orientation; and thoughts about theorizing inequality. Speakers include 3 IntLawGrrls: Hari M. Osofsky's part of the panel on "Globalization," Elizabeth Hillman and yours truly, the panel on "National Security." Other topics include "Children," "Work and Care," "Work and Institutions," "Criminalization," "The State," and "Family." Details here; hope to see you there.

An Agora that'd make the men of ancient Athens proud (but not in a good way)

The latest edition of the American Journal of International Law just found its way here. Among its excellent contents is part 2 of an Agora -- AJIL's term for an on-paper-only symposium about a topical topic -- on military commissions in our post-9/11 world.
"Agora," of course, is the Greek word for the marketplaces, like the one at right, where Socrates, Plato, and other men of intellect conducted public discourse. It's perhaps too apt a term here:
Couldn't help noticing that out of all the articles AJIL published -- 7 total in part 1 and part 2 -- not 1 was written by a woman.
That couldn't have been for lack of 1 able to take on the task. The notion that women do not think and work and write on issues critical to national security is, as posted before, simply wrong. At least 8 IntLawGrrls've published in the area, on military and postconflict justice, the Geneva Conventions, counterterrorism, humanitarian law: Elena Baylis (Amelia Earhart), Mary Coombs (Charming Betsy), Elizabeth Lutes Hillman (Vera Brittain), Naomi Norberg (Anna Koransky) Diane Orentlicher (Beatrice), Naomi Roht-Arriaza (Gabriela Mistral), Beth Van Schaack (Eleanor Roosevelt), and I. So too have many of our colleagues; just a few of the names that jump to mind are Rosa Brooks, Laura A. Dickinson, Jenny Martinez, Mary Ellen O'Connell, Leila Nadya Sadat, Jane Stromseth, and Ruth Wedgwood.
The absence of any such voices in this Agora makes for an unfortunate reinforcement of an outdated misapprehension about who is expert on matters of international law and national security.