The domestic analogy cannot offer definitive answers. It can only help sharpen our intuitions about which factors should matter when we ask whether vote buying is a flaw or merely a feature of the international order. Ultimately, vote buying emerges as neither wholly malign nor entirely unproblematic; rather, we are left with a series of contingent generalizations. To summarize, the domestic analogy suggests that vote buying is more objectionable when it takes place within a political community or, even more so, within an agency relationship; when sovereign equality matters, but…
Read MoreINTERNATIONAL LAW AND MILITARY STRATEGIES: A TOOL OF CHOICE FOR THE WEAKER POWER
The shifting relationship between humanitarian law principles and sovereignty provides opportunities that state and non-state actors exploit in numerous ways, with some of the most creative methods being employed by weaker powers who view international law as a tool to extract otherwise unobtainable advantages from major powers. There are three different examples in which weaker powers have used international law in their relations with stronger powers. One example is Central Asia, where the post-Soviet states of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have used the West’s own humanitarian and democratic principles…
Read MoreDEMOCRATIC RESPONSES FOR DIGITAL REVOLUTION : DEFICIENCIES OF SPEED SCALE AND SUSTAINABILITY
Despite private corporations and citizens advocating for states to take the reins on fleshing out standards for online content regulation, thus far many Western governments have been hesitant to tread into such territory, but where they have, their responses have been relatively weak. In the European Union, some rules for online content regulation have emerged, while in the United States, no such government policy has been enacted. Regulatory efforts in the United States with regard to algorithmic transparency and accountability have also been limited and largely restricted to public use…
Read MorePOLLUTANTS THAT DEGRADE INDOOR AIR QUALITY AND THEIR EFFECT ON HEALTH
The sources of air pollution in buildings are numerous. Typically, indoor pollutants are categorized by type: chemical (semi-volatile and volatile organic compounds or VOCs, inorganic gases), biological (viruses, bacteria, molds, pet allergens, mite allergens) or physical (particulates, asbestos fibers, artificial mineral fibers, electromagnetic fields). Indoor pollution may also be described according to the three types of sources typically recognized: i) external pollution (air or ground in the case of radon, or soil contaminated by past or present industrial activity), ii) building constituents (construction materials and floor, wall and ceiling coverings)…
Read MoreEMERGING FIELD OF GLOBAL HEALTH LAW
Global health law is a field that encompasses the legal norms, processes, and institutions needed to create the conditions for people worldwide to attain the highest possible level of physical and mental health. The field seeks to facilitate health-promoting behaviour among key actors who significantly influence public health, including international organisations, governments, businesses, foundations, the media, and civil society. The mechanisms of global health law should stimulate investment in research and development, mobilize resources, set priorities, coordinate activities, monitor progress, create incentives, and enforce standards. Study and practice of the…
Read MoreINTERNATIONAL VOTE BUYING: THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND DOMESTIC APPROACHES TO BRIBERY AND ELECTION FRAUD: PART I
The practice of vote buying is neither rare nor isolated. One might then ask how international law affects the vote-buying market, if indeed it plays any role at all. Those conversant in public international law will appreciate already that most international voting is governed by the principle of “one country, one vote.” This system is the norm in the United Nations (notwithstanding the Security Council veto possessed only by the five permanent members) and is implicit in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (“VCLT”), which governs all aspects…
Read MoreTHE POWAR OF PROXIES: WAR SPONSOR, PROXIES, AND SPONSOR-PROXY RELATIONSHIP
Although it is widely acknowledged that the use of proxy forces has a wealth of historical antecedents, their systematic study is a rather recent phenomenon. Despite the increased attention that the use of proxies in conflict has drawn in recent years, however, scholars have yet to agree on a general, integrated theory of proxy sponsorship. One major impediment toward the emergence of such a theory has been a lack of terminological and conceptual clarity related to the use of proxies in conflict. The present study places its analytical attention on…
Read MoreREGIONALISM AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE IN THE MULTIPOLAR ORDER: PART II
Although regionalism has often been portrayed as a force opposed to globalization, both processes are intrinsically linked to global developments. Moreover, during the “third phase” of regionalism, globalization itself can be seen as one of the main drivers of regionalism and regionalization. In the emerging inter-polar world order, regional cooperation and integration are likely to continue to play a major role. Within the context of the current transformation of the world order, however, regional developments have attained rather limited public and scholarly attention. This is peculiar as regional cooperation continues…
Read MoreIN SEARCH FOR A BETTER MODEL FOR SPACE GOVERNANCE THROUGH THE DECENTRALIZATION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF SPACE GOVERNANCE
The crisis in space governance has not escaped the notice of the space community. The 2014 Manfred Lachs International Conference, organized by the McGill University Institute of Air and Space Law and held in Montreal, was devoted to this issue, under the general theme of Global Space Governance. The conference culminated with the Montreal Declaration, which noted that “the current global space governance system that was created during the 1960s and 1970s has not been comprehensively examined by the international community since . . . [although] numerous developments have occurred…
Read MoreINTERNATIONAL COLLECTIVE ACTION FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
Reducing the risks of climate change is the most important example of the provision of a global public good. It is also in many ways the ‘purest’ example of a public good in that emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from any one country have the same effect on the atmosphere as those from any other. Climate change also shares some key characteristics with other environmental challenges that require the international management of common resources, including the depletion of fisheries, the protection of the ozone layer, and with the provision of…
Read MoreREGIONALISM AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE IN THE MULTIPOLAR ORDER: PART I
The seemingly unstoppable growth of regional organizations, since the end of the Cold War, has been one of the defining characteristics of the current international system. Throughout this period, regionalism has taken many forms and shapes, varying from tiny associations that include no more than a few actors and focus on a single issue, to huge continental-unions that address a multitude of common problems from territorial defense to food security. Far from being solely state-led undertakings, regional organizations have also come to include a variety of actors from civil society…
Read MoreSECURITY LAW AND NON-BINDING NORMS IN SPACE: FROM PEACE TO CONFLICT
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty contains three important principles. Article II spells out the principle of non-appropriation, Article III requires all activities in outer space to conform with international law, and Article IV announces the principle that the Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used for peaceful purposes. The question was posed whether these principles continue to be effective, or whether the principles of non-appropriation and peaceful purposes are under threat. One key issue in raising this question is the relationship between peaceful purposes and war fighting in space.…
Read MoreTARGETED KILLING AS A METHOD OF COUNTER TERRORISM AND DRONES AS MEANS OF COMBAT AGAINST INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
When one aims to describe the human rights legality of targeted killings, one has to examine the right to life. The right to life is a natural and unalienable right of men. From the point of view of its subjects, the right to life requires that no man shall be killed arbitrarily, thus it ensures the life of the individual. From the relevant international conventions a two-folded obligation seems to flow: On the one hand, states have to respect the right to life of individuals, and in certain situations– based…
Read MoreWHAT IMPACT COULD ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HAVE ON ELECTIONS?
The Experts/Researchers adopt a broad understanding of elections that encompasses more than the practical conduct of elections and includes the election campaign and the post-election period, when the election results are published and discussed. In its work, the Experts/Researchers have focused on three main areas where we believe Artificial Intelligence (AI) may have an impact on elections and democracy. In these areas, we believe there is particular cause to be vigilant and prepared to avoid negative consequences for elections and democracy: – The information and media landscape – Covert election…
Read MoreCLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS IMPACT ON THE REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEMS
With reference to the UN Human Rights Commission’s adoption of Resolution 7/23.2 and the flurry of preparations for the December 2009 round of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations in Copenhagen (“UNFCCC COP-15”), several institutions had joined the call to develop the nexus between human rights and climate change. The nexus was meaningful because it demonstrated that climate change’s numerous negative impacts on human rights, particularly for already vulnerable populations, can be used as a way to measure the harm. It is also meaningful because it connects this…
Read More