Important essays on myriad international law subfields in new OUP book, "Arcs of Global Justice: Essays in Honour of William A. Schabas"

Professor Diane Marie Amann provided this guest post, which is cross-posted from her blog.

LONDON – Building on my earlier post about the magical London conference launching Arcs of Global Justice: Essays in Honour of William A. Schabas (Margaret M. deGuzman and Diane Marie Amann eds.), today's post profiles the book itself, which, thanks to excellent assistance from John Louth, Blake Ratcliff, and their staff, has just been published by Oxford University Press. (The hardback may be ordered via OUP or Amazon, and the book's also available on Kindle.)
Very pleased to have coedited this volume with my colleague Meg. The concept, in our words:
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said 'the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.' Testing the optimism of that claim were the many fits and starts in the struggle for human rights that King helped to catalyze. The same is true of other events in the last half-century, from resistance to apartheid and genocide to equal and fair treatment in domestic criminal justice systems, to the formation of entities to prevent atrocities and to bring their perpetrators to justice. Within this display of myriad arcs may be found the many persons who helped shape this half-century of global justice-and prominent among them is William A. Schabas. His panoramic scholarship includes dozens of books and hundreds of articles, and he also has served as an influential policymaker, advocate, and mentor.
This work honours William A. Schabas and his career with essays by luminary scholars and jurists from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The essays examine contemporary, historical, cultural, and theoretical aspects of the many arcs of global justice with which Professor Schabas has engaged, in fields including public international law, human rights, transitional justice, international criminal law, and capital punishment.
In all, the book includes 29 contributions by 35 academics, advocates, and jurists, as detailed in the table of contents below. Providing jacket-cover testimonials were Steven Kay QC, Philippe Sands QC, Professor and former Ambassador David Scheffer, and Judge Christine Van den Wyngaert. We hope that you'll follow their recommendations and give these important, substantive essays a very good read.

Arcs of Global Justice:
Essays in Honour of William A. Schabas

► Foreword by Diane Marie Amann and Margaret M. deGuzman, coeditors
► Introduction: William Schabas: Portrait of a Scholar/Activist Extraordinaire by Roger S. Clark, Board of Governors Professor of Law, Rutgers University School of Law
Human Rights
► Human Rights and International Criminal Justice in the Twenty First Century: The End of the Post-WWII Phase and the Beginning of an Uncertain New Era by M. Cherif Bassiouni (He died at age 79 in September, just weeks after he completed final changes on this essay; as posted, our conference included a memorial to him. At the time of his death, he was Emeritus Professor of Law, DePaul University College of Law; Honorary President, Siracusa Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights; and Honorary President, L'Association internationale de droit pénal.)
► William Schabas, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and International Human Rights Law by Justice Thomas A. Cromwell, Supreme Court of Canada, and Bruno Gélinas-Faucher, formerly a law clerk on that court and now a Cambridge PhD candidate
► The International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as a Victim-Oriented Treaty by Emmanuel Decaux, Professor Emeritus, Université Paris 2 (Panthéon-Assas), and former President, Committee on Enforced Disappearances
► The Politics of Sectarianism and its Reflection in Questions of International Law & State Formation in The Middle East by Kathleen Cavanaugh, Senior Lecturer at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland Galway, and  Joshua Castellino, Professor of Law & Dean of the School of Law, as well as the Business School, at Middlesex University, London
Capital Punishment
► International Law and the Death Penalty: A Toothless Tiger, or a Meaningful Force for Change? by Sandra L. Babcock, Clinical Professor of Law at Cornell Law School and Faculty Director of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide
► The UN Optional Protocol on the Abolition of the Death Penalty by Marc Bossuyt, Fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, Emeritus Professor of the University of Antwerp, Emeritus President of the Constitutional Court of Belgium, and former Chairman of the UN Commission on Human Rights
► The Right to Life and the Progressive Abolition of the Death Penalty by Christof Heyns, formerly the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions from 2010 through 2016, and now a member of the UN Human Rights Committee and Professor of Human Rights Law at the University of Pretoria, Thomas Probert, Research Associate, Centre of Governance & Human Rights, University of Cambridge, and Tess Borden, Aryeh Neier Fellow at Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union, and former researcher for the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution
► Progress and Trend of the Reform of the Death Penalty in China by Zhao Bingzhi, Dean of the College for Criminal Law Science of Beijing Normal University, President of the Criminal Law Research Association of China, Vice-President of the International Association of Penal Law, and President of that association's Chinese National Group
International Criminal Law
► Criminal Law Philosophy in William Schabas' Scholarship by Margaret M. deGuzman, Professor of Law at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law
► Is the ICC Focusing too Much on Non-State Actors? by Frédéric Mégret, Associate Professor and Dawson Scholar, Faculty of Law, McGill University
► The Principle of Legality at the Crossroads of Human Rights and International Criminal Law by Shane Darcy, Senior Lecturer at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland Galway
► Revisiting the Sources of Applicable Law Before the ICC by Alain Pellet, Emeritus Professor at the University of Paris Nanterre, former Chairperson of the UN International Law Commission, President of the French Society for International Law, Member of the Institut de droit international, as well as Counsel and Advocate before the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and other forums
► The ICC as a Work in Progress, for a World in Process by Mireille Delmas-Marty, Member, Institut de France, and Professor Emerita, Collège de France de Paris
► Legacy in International Criminal Justice by Carsten Stahn, Professor of International Criminal Law and Global Justice, Leiden University
► Torture by Private Actors and 'Gold Plating' the Offence in National Law: An Exchange of Emails in Honour of William Schabas by Andrew Clapham, Professor of Public International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, and Paola Gaeta, Professor of International Law and International Criminal Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
► Secrets and Surprises in the Travaux Préparatoires of the Genocide Convention by Hirad Abtahi, First Legal Adviser, Head of the Legal and Enforcement Unit, at the Presidency of the International Criminal Court, and Philippa Webb, Reader (Associate Professor) in Public International Law at King's College London and a barrister at 20 Essex Street Chambers
► Perspectives on Cultural Genocide: From Criminal Law to Cultural Diversity by Jérémie Gilbert, Professor of International and Comparative Law, University of East London
► Crimes Against Humanity: Repairing Title 18's Blind Spots by Beth Van Schaack, Leah Kaplan Visiting Professor in Human Rights at Stanford Law School and Visiting Scholar at the Center for International Security & Cooperation at Stanford University
► A New Global Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity: Future Prospects by Leila Nadya Sadat, James Carr Professor of International Criminal Law and Director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University School of Law, Special Adviser to the ICC Prosecutor on Crimes Against Humanity, and Director of the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative
Transitional Justice and Atrocity Prevention
► Justice Outside of Criminal Courtrooms and Jailhouses by Mark A. Drumbl, Class of 1975 Alumni Professor of Law and Director, Transnational Law Institute, Washington and Lee University School of Law
► Toward Greater Synergy between Courts and Truth Commissions in Post-Conflict Contexts: Lessons from Sierra Leone by Charles Chernor Jalloh, Professor of Law, Florida International University, and a member of the International Law Commission
► International Criminal Tribunals and Cooperation with States: Serbia and the provision of evidence for the Slobodan Milosevic Trial at the ICTY by Geoffrey Nice QC, a barrister since 1971, formerly at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and Nevenka Tromp, Lecturer in East European Studies at the University of Amsterdam and former member of the ICTY Leadership Research Team
► The Arc toward Justice and Peace by Mary Ellen O'Connell, the Robert and Marion Short Chair in Law at the University of Notre Dame Law School
► The Maintenance of International Peace and Security through Prevention of Atrocity Crimes: The Question of Co-operation between the UN and regional Arrangements by Adama Dieng, UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, as well as former Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and former Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists

Justice in Culture and Practice
► Law and Film: Curating Rights Cinema by Emma Sandon, Senior Lecturer in Film and Television at Birkbeck, University of London, and a Research Fellow to the Chair for Social Change, University of Johannesburg
► The Role of Advocates in Developing International Law by Wayne Jordash QC, international human rights and humanitarian lawyer and founding partner of Global Rights Compliance
► Bill the Blogger by Diane Marie Amann, Emily and Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia School of Law

Optimism about "Arcs of Global Justice" at London launch of our OUP essay collection honouring William A. Schabas

Professor Diane Marie Amann provided this guest post, which is cross-posted from her blog

LONDON – "Optimism" was the byword for Friday's magical conference launching Arcs of Global Justice: Essays in Honour of William A. Schabas, the just-published Oxford University Press collection coedited by Margaret M. deGuzman and myself.

The event took place in a Christmas-tree-lighted conference room at 9 Bedford Row, the London chambers where our honouree, Bill Schabas (above center), is a door tenant. Joining Bill and his wife, Penelope Soteriou, were several of the 35 women and men whose 29 contributions comprise the volume, many friends, colleagues, PhD students, and relatives.

Gillian Higgins (left), Head of the International Practice Group at 9 Bedford Row, opened with a warm message of welcome and congratulations. Then followed a celebration that combined lighthearted anecdotes with serious presentations of scholarship. Topics ranged as far and wide as Schabas' multifaceted career, which includes current appointments as Professor of International Law at Middlesex University, London, Professor of International Criminal Law and Human Rights at Leiden University, and Emeritus Professor of Human Rights Law and Honorary Chairman of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland Galway; service as a member of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission and as a consultant on capital punishment for the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime; and authorship of hundreds of books, chapters, and articles.

A sobering moment came in Birkbeck Lecturer Emma Sandon's discussion of Schabas' role as an organizer of and speaker at human rights film festivals. Sandon (above) concluded with a clip from Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). All fell silent while watching the characters in the video courtroom watch actual footage from the Allied liberations of concentration camps like Buchenwald.

Also moving was the memorial that Northwestern University Law Professor David Scheffer gave on behalf of contributor Cherif Bassiouni, who died at age 79 in September, not long after finishing his chapter, entitled "Human Rights and International Criminal Justice in the Twenty-First Century: The End of the Post-WWII Phase and the Beginning of an Uncertain New Era." (Bassiouni also penned a dedication for our conference programme, available in PDF here.) Scheffer described the essay in light of his own and Schabas' writings, and concluded on a optimistic note regarding the future of human rights.

That same note sounded in Schabas' own interventions throughout the day. On issues ranging from the International Criminal Court to abolition of the death penalty, he assured his audience that even in these times, when the day-to-day "weather" may seem grim, the overall "climate" offers much room for optimism.
Here's the order of the day (full PDF programme here; additional contributors in attendance included Middlesex Law Dean Joshua Castellino and Cambridge PhD candidate Bruno Gélinas-Gaucher):

Arcs of Global Justice:

Conference Launching Essay Collection in Honour of William A. Schabas

Friday, 8 December 2017, 9 Bedford Row, London

Opening
"Welcome" by Gillian Higgins, Head of the International Practice Group at 9 Bedford Row
"In Memoriam for Cherif Bassiouni" by David Scheffer, Mayer Brown/Robert A. Helman Professor of Law and Director of the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Chicago
"Introduction to Arcs of Global Justice" by coeditors Diane Marie Amann and Margaret M. deGuzman
International Law & Criminal Justice
"The Principle of Legality at the Crossroads of Human Rights & International Criminal Law" by Shane Darcy, Senior Lecturer at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland Galway
"Criminal Law Philosophy in William Schabas’s Scholarship" by Margaret M. deGuzman, Professor of Law at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law
"Perspectives on Cultural Genocide: From Criminal Law to Cultural Diversity" by Jérémie Gilbert, Professor of International and Comparative Law, University of East London
"Toward Greater Synergy between Courts & Truth Commissions in Post-Conflict Context: Lessons from Sierra Leone" by Charles Chernor Jalloh, Professor of Law, Florida International University, and a member of the International Law Commission
Moderator: Kathleen Cavanaugh, Senior Lecturer at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland Galway
Justice / Scholarship / Culture / Practice
"Bill the Blogger" by Diane Marie Amann, Emily and Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia School of Law
"Advocates, Scholars & Maintaining the International Criminal Law Momentum" by Wayne Jordash QC, international human rights and humanitarian lawyer and founding partner of Global Rights Compliance
"Law & Film: Curating Rights Cinema" by Emma Sandon, Senior Lecturer in Film and Television at Birkbeck, University of London, and a Research Fellow to the Chair for Social Change, University of Johannesburg
Moderator: Michelle Farrell, Senior Lecturer in Law in the School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool
Abolition of the Death Penalty
"International Law & the Death Penalty: A Toothless Tiger, or a Meaningful Force for Change?" by Sandra L. Babcock, Clinical Professor of Law at Cornell Law School and Faculty Director of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide
The Right to Life & the Progressive Abolition of the Death Penalty by Thomas Probert, Research Associate, Centre of Governance & Human Rights, University of Cambridge (on behalf of himself & co-authors Christof Heyns & Tess Borden)
Moderator: Jon Yorke, Professor of Human Rights and Director of the Centre for Human Rights at Birmingham City School of Law
Closing
Introduction by John Louth, Editor-in-Chief of Academic Law at Oxford University Press
Remarks by William A. Schabas OC MRIA
Reception
With thanks to our host, 9 Bedford Row, & cosponsor, Oxford University Press

◊ ◊ ◊

Arcs of Justice: Essays in Honour of William A. Schabas (Margaret M. deGuzman and Diane Marie Amann, eds.) (OUP 2018) may be ordered via OUP or Amazon, and the book's also available on Kindle.

Call for Book Proposals: International Law series

INTERNATIONAL LAW

Call for Proposals

The University of Wales Press has launched a new series, International Law. 

The series aim is to capture dynamic and cutting-edge research in international law, with a strong focus on legal theory in international law. Proposals are welcome from any broadly defined sub-field of international law. 

This series will give internationally-based emerging scholars and published authors the opportunity to disseminate their research with a publisher which has strong links with international markets through its global distribution and marketing network.

International Law is currently soliciting proposals for monographs and edited volumes.

SERIES EDITORS:

Professor Diane Marie Amann, Associate Dean for International Programs & Strategic Initiatives and Emily & Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law, University of Georgia School of Law; and Dr Yvonne McDermott, Senior Lecturer in Law, Bangor University.

EDITORIAL BOARD:

Professor Simon Chesterman, Dean, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore;

Professor Fiona de Londras, Chair in Global Legal Studies, Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham;

Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Robina Chair in Law, Public Policy and Society, University of Minnesota Law School and Professor of Law, Transitional Justice Institute, University of Ulster;

Professor Volker Roeben, Professor of International Law, Swansea University;

Professor Carsten Stahn, Professor of International Criminal Law and Global Justice and Programme Director of the Grotius Centre for International Studies, Leiden University;

Professor Ryszard Piotrowicz, Professor of Law, Aberystwyth University. 

To discuss ideas for contributing to this exciting new series, please contact the Series Editors, or Sarah Lewis, Head of Commissioning at the University of Wales Press:

Professor Diane Marie Amann: amann@uga.edu

Dr Yvonne McDermott: y.mcdermott@bangor.ac.uk 

Sarah Lewis: s.lewis@wales.ac.uk

Summer schools: Galway and Newcastle

Readers may be interested in the following Summer Schools:

Contemporary Challenges to International Criminal Justice Summer Academy Northumbria University, Newcastle 12-16 June 2017

Northumbria Law School is pleased to announce its 1st Summer Academy on Contemporary Challenges to International Criminal Justice (Law & Criminology) will take place in Northumbria University, Newcastle from 12-16 June 2017.

This novel summer academy provides a unique opportunity for participants to acquire in-depth knowledge on the most pressing issues facing the international criminal justice system from the leading scholars and practitioners in the field. Speakers will share their expertise and experience on a varied range of topics to encourage and inspire postgraduate research in law and criminology.

 The themes of the summer academy are:

• Challenges to international criminal justice and the future of the International Criminal Court
• Challenges to international cooperation in fighting transnational and international crimes
• Challenges in prosecuting terrorism and religiously motivated violence
• Challenges in ensuring effective redress for victims in post-conflict situations
• Ecocide as a challenge to justice and security
• Rule of law reform in post conflict countries

The distinguished speakers are: 

Professor William Schabas (Middlesex University/Leiden University) - Judge Howard Morrison (International Criminal Court) - Judge Professor Wolfgang Schomburg (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia 2001-2008, Durham University) - Judge David Baragwanath (Special Tribunal for Lebanon) - Judge Professor Philip Weiner (Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia) -  Professor Roger S. Clark (Rutgers Law School) - Professor Chrisje Brants (Northumbria University) - Professor Liz Campbell (Durham University) - Mr Karim A.A. Khan, QC (Temple Garden Chambers, International Defence and Victims Counsel & former Prosecutor) - Dr. Mohamed Elewa Badar (Northumbria University) - Dr. Rod Rastan (Legal Adviser, Office of the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court) - Professor Tim Wilson (Northumbria University) - Professor Roger Clark (Rutgers Law School) - Dr. Mohamed El Zeidy (Legal Officer, Pre-Trial Chamber II, International Criminal Court) - Dr. Tanya Wyatt (Northumbria University)- Dr. Noelle Higgins (Maynooth University) - Professor Michael Rowe (Northumbria University) - Mr. Patrick Schneider (EU Office of the Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina) - Dr. Michael Kearney (Sussex University) - Mr. Krmanj Othman (KRG High Committee for the Recognition of Genocide against Yezidi Kurds and other minorities) ­- Dr. Patricia Hobbs (Brunel University) - Dr. Hakeem Yusuf (University Birmingham) - Dr. Elena Katseli (Newcastle University) - Dr. Jamie Harding (Northumbria University) - Dr. Ibrahim Shaw (Northumbria University) - Professor Nigel South (University of Essex) - Dr. Damien Short (University of London) - Dr. Mohamed 'Arafa (Indiana University) - Ms. Gemma Davies (Northumbria University) - Dr. David McGrogan (Northumbria University).

This event is a wonderful opportunity for international lawyers, legal interns, academics, and present and future postgraduate students to meet eminent scholars and practitioners in the field of international criminal justice as well as like-minded colleagues from all over the world. 
  
Participants may register to attend individual sessions or the whole event. Please note that places are limited.

For further information and to register please visit our website or email.

The International Criminal Court Summer School 2017

19 to 23 June 2017, NUI Galway, Ireland

The annual International Criminal Court Summer School at the Irish Centre for Human Rights is the premier summer school specialising on the International Criminal Court. The summer school allows participants the opportunity to attend a series of intensive lectures over five days. The lectures are given by leading academics on the subject as well as by legal professionals working at the International Criminal Court. The interactive and stimulating course is particularly suited to postgraduate students, legal professionals, scholars, and NGO workers. Participants are provided with a detailed working knowledge of the establishment of the Court, its structures and operations, and the applicable law. Lectures also speak to related issues in international criminal law, including: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, the crime of aggression, jurisdiction, fair trial rights, and the rules of procedure and evidence.

This year’s ICC Summer School will include a topical special session on Corporate Crimes and the International Criminal Court.

The list of speakers at the 2017 ICC Summer School includes the following: Professor William Schabas (Irish Centre for Human Rights/Middlesex University); Professor James Stewart (University of British Columbia); Dr. Fabricio Guariglia (Office of the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court); Professor Megan A. Fairlie (Florida International University);  Professor Ray Murphy (Irish Centre for Human Rights); Dr. Rod Rastan (Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court); Dr. Mohamed M. El Zeidy (International Criminal Court); Professor Donald M. Ferencz (Middlesex University);  Dr. Noelle Quenivet (University of the West of England); Dr. Nadia Bernaz (Middlesex University); Dr. James Nyawo (INTERVICT, Tilburg University); Dr. Nadia Bernaz (Middlesex University); Mr. Richard J. Rodgers (Global Diligence LLP); Mr. John McManus (Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Section, Canadian Department of Justice); Dr. Noelle Higgins (Maynooth University); Dr. Shane Darcy (Irish Centre for Human Rights).

The registration fee of €450 includes all conference materials, all lunches and refreshments, a social activity and a closing dinner. The registration fee also includes a complimentary copy of Professor William Schabas' book 'An Introduction to the International Criminal Court'. The closing date for registrations is 1 June 2017.

To register and for more information regarding the 2017 ICC Summer School, please visit our website  and follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Should you have any queries, please email us.