International Law Commons^™

Broken Lands And Trusts: The Omnipresence Of The Natives’ Land Act Of 1913 And The Persistence Of Its Inequity, Emily Venkatesan

Emory International Law Review

The hallmark of all colonial and ex-colonial states is the preservation of racial hierarchy where a minority of white colonizers reserve complete control over the political, social, and economic landscape of a colonized nation. One of the most powerful exercises of this colonial oversight is the use of western property law to strip native landowners of their property interests and redistribute that land to white colonizer for economic and social power. Access and ownership of land is crucial for maintaining the colonial state. Land provides social and economic leverage in the hands of the indigenous nation, but strengthens the colonial …

Treating Social Media Corporations As Quasi-State Actors To Address The Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Content Moderation, Michael T. Tiu Jr.

Emory International Law Review

Corporations have become powerful actors in the international system. They have the potential to disrupt the protection of values that states have been performing for decades. One of these values–freedom of expression–has been the recipient of impact of emerging technologies owned by corporations. Social media platforms have become new governors of expression. Content moderation rules cause adverse impacts on freedom of expression. The vagueness of certain criteria and the inconsistency of their application have led to censorship of speech which would have been protected offline. This situation is exacerbated by the use of artificial intelligence in content moderation, owing to …

Developing A Framework For The Direct International Responsibility Of Nonstate Armed Groups: A Model From Africa, Andrew Feinstein

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Keynote Speaker Remarks From Ambassador Clint Williamson, Clint Williamson

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Building A Web Of Accountability: Learning From Ukraine’S Efforts To Bring Russian State Actors To Justice, Jane Stromseth

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Remarks Of Professor Jennifer Trahan, Jennifer Trahan

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

International Human Rights Intervention: Collective Self-Defense Of Humanity, Anthony J. Colangelo

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Outsourcing War: Wagner, Private Military Actors, And The Accountability Gap In Modern Conflicts, Dr. Jelena Aparac

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Remarks From Professor Robert C. Blitt, Robert C. Blitt

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Privatising International (Organizations) Law, Melissa (M.J.) Durkee

Scholarship@WashULaw

This essay explores the increasing role of private commercial actors within international organizations (IOs) and the implications for international law. Once conceived as state-centred institutions, IOs now routinely involve corporations, trade associations, and philanthropic foundations in lawmaking, policy-setting, financing, and implementation. These actors participate through multiple channels: as observers, delegates, stakeholders, funders, and partners. While private involvement has historical precedents, its contemporary scale and formalization mark a significant transformation in global governance. International law, however, offers little guidance on the boundary between public and private authority, leaving legitimacy concerns unresolved. To evaluate privatization, the article identifies two competing logics: a …

Seeing International Organizations In A Shifting Landscape: Law, Practice, And Authority, Melissa (M.J.) Durkee

Scholarship@WashULaw

This book review symposium comes at a moment of visible strain in the postwar legal order. As of this writing, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has described a "rupture" in the rules-based world order, warning that multilateral institutions and the architecture of collective problem-solving are under threat. Notably, Carney issued that warning at the World Economic Forum in Davos, before an audience of "companies and countries." The setting underscores a broader shift in global governance, in which states, firms, and philanthropic actors increasingly occupy shared institutional spaces, unsettling assumptions about law and power at the international level. The books under …

Space Enterprises As International Lawmakers: Nudges, Pledges, And Other Bottom-Up Modalities, Melissa (M.J.) Durkee

Scholarship@WashULaw

Private entities are influencing the development of international space law. Space enterprises need regulatory certainty and consistent standards to attract capital and develop their plans for space. Yet, states have lagged in their capacity to make multilateral international space law in traditional public fora. Private entities have responded to this legal lag by attempting to create, develop, and nudge international space law in commerce-friendly ways. This chapter surveys a variety of modalities by which commercial actors can affect the development of international law, offers several examples of how commercial lawmaking efforts

How International Organizations Regulate Lobbyist Access, Melissa (M.J.) Durkee

Scholarship@WashULaw

This chapter explores how international organizations (IOs) regulate lobbyist access through participation frameworks rather than traditional lobbying laws. While no unified international lobbying regime exists, IOs use rules on NGO 'consultation' and 'engagement' to structure access. These rules, rooted in historical practices like the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) accreditation system, prioritize representativeness and legitimacy over transparency and accountability. As lobbying increasingly targets international forums, concerns about undue influence (the 'lobbying critique') and insufficient stakeholder inclusion (the 'access critique') have driven divergent reforms: some IOs, like the World Health Organization, have adopted stricter controls; others, such as the GAVI …

International Law Duties Not To Recognize, Not To Assist, And To Cooperate Against Peremptory Norms (Jus Cogens) Violations,, Diane A. Desierto

Journal Articles

Peremptory norms (jus cogens) are the highest norms of international law. When these norms are violated, all States and international organizations have, at a minimum, three international legal duties to discharge while the violation is occurring: (1) the duty of non-recognition, where no State or international organization should recognize the situation caused by the violation; (2) the duty of non-assistance, where no State or international organization should render any aid or assistance to maintain this situation caused by the violation; and (3) the duty of cooperation, where all States and international organizations should cooperate to bring the violation to an …

The Notion Of Subordination And The Presumption Of Employment Relationship In The Perspective Of Comparative Labour Law, Adalberto Perulli

Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal

The concept of subordination serves as the key criterion for accessing social protection across civil law systems. Theoretically, subordination corresponds to what common law systems define — through multifactorial tests — as an employment (or service) contract, distinguishing it from self-employment. While this historic dichotomy is widely regarded as unsatisfactory and has long been questioned, the notion of subordination remains central to ensuring that workers receive the protection guaranteed under the labour law systems. Part I will address the problem of subordination as a fundamental legal category of labour law, rooted in contract law. Regardless of the complex legal origins …

Front Matter, Editors Of Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal

Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal

Front Matter

Book Review: Défense Et Illustration De L’Action Internationale: L’Example De L’Oit By Jean-Michel Servais, Editions L’Harmattan, 20251, Lance Compa

Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal

For decades a leading figure among senior legal officials at the International Labour Organization (ILO), Jean-Michel Servais has synthesized his experience in a magisterial work that every international labour law scholar and practitioner should have on hand — if they read French. This brief review is meant to introduce it to a broader audience, with hope that the book might be translated and published for the benefit of English readers, too.

International Declaration On Gender Apartheid And Its Destructive Consequences, Georges Abi-Saab, Belquis Ahmadi, Hala Alkarib, Waheeda Amien, Penelope Andrews, Zainah Anwar, Marzia Babakarkhail, Cecilia Bailliet, Manizha Bakhtari, Karima Bennoune, Laurence Boisson De Chazournes, Roya Boroumand, Terry Boullata, Charlotte Bunch, Rebecca J. Cook, Roberta Clarke, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Suraya Dalil, Wesahl Domingo, Shirin Ebadi, Yakin Ertük, Alda Facio, Stephanie Farrior, Hannah Garry, James Thuo Gathii, Richard Goldstone, Pablo De Greiff, Mozn Hassan, Yoko Hayashi, Helena Kennedy, Sisi Khampepe, Fawzia Koofi, Viviana Krsticevic, Joanna Lewis, Marina Mahathir, Haanya Malik, Elham Manea, Gay J. Mcdougall, Juan E. Méndez, Davood Moradian, Denis Mukwege, Nadia Murad, Elizabeth Odio Benito, Thandi Orleyn, Mikiko Otani, Tamana Zaryab Paryani, Pragna Patel, Fausto Pocar, Javaid Rehman, Mary Robinson, Kenneth Roth, Albie Sachs, Mariam Safi, Gita Sahgal, Sima Samar, Habiba Sarabi, Fatou Sou, Leigh Toomey, Melanne Verveer, Zarqa Yaftali, Ganna Yudkivska

Other Publications

The Declaration is the result of an 18-month process of global consultation with leading experts, including a series of virtual consultations with women human rights defenders (WHRDs) from Afghanistan in spring 2025 and an in-person convening of United Nations (UN) experts, Afghan and South African WHRDs, civil society representatives, and international law experts at the University of Michigan Law School in September 2025.

This effort builds on the precedent of other experts’ declarations, signed on to by leading international legal and human rights experts, which were very influential in developing a human rights jurisprudence on a range of issues, and …

The Durability Of Protections Against Abuse At Interpol Amidst Rising Authoritarian Pressures, Kristina Daugirdas

Articles

Over centuries and across continents, authoritarian governments have demonstrated a large appetite for international cooperation to target political opponents across borders. In 1851, the “first modern police organization”—the Police Union of German States, whose members included Austria and Prussia—was established “with the express purpose of policing the political opposition of established autocratic regimes.” During the 1970s and early 1980s, military regimes in South America participated in a secret scheme known as Operation Condor to coordinate their efforts to suppress subversion. A recent analysis of twenty-nine “hard authoritarian” regional organizations found that twenty-five were engaged in police cooperation. The Shanghai Cooperation …

States As Gatekeepers In Global Governance, Kristina Daugirdas

Articles

Over the last several decades, private actors—corporations, philanthropic foundations, and non-governmental organizations—have increasingly contributed to the development and implementation of public international law. In some cases, private actors are developing standards that serve as substitutes for public regulation. In other cases, private actors have been “invited in” to public international organizations as funders, accredited observers and consultants, and even representatives of member states. According to one estimate, 56 percent of international organizations offered some form of access to private actors in 1990; two decades later, more than 90 percent did.

What we are witnessing, in other words, is the growing …