From a law-making perspective 'soft-law' is simply a convenient description for a variety of non-binding, normatively worded instruments used in contemporary international relations by states and international organisations. The paper begins by examining the considerations that have encouraged the use of 'soft' law instruments in UN law-making. The literatur ... Show More
May 2019
The Rise of Investor-State Arbitration: Rethinking Key Moments
What explains the rise of investor-state arbitration? To the extent that investor-state arbitration had founding fathers, what were their motivations, what constraints did they have, what was their thinking? Using documents from the American, British, German, and Swiss archives, ... Show More
39m 56s
Feb 2021
Two Visions of the International Rule of Law
Professor Monica Hakimi, University of Michigan, gives a talk for the PIL discussion series. When we speak of the rule of law, we generally mean to describe the attributes that make law, as an enterprise, worthwhile--the qualities that lead us to aspire to live in a society gover ... Show More
33m 35s
May 2021
The Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Human Rights System: Standard-setting or International Law-making?
Ignacio de Casas, Austral University, Argentina, gives a seminar for the PIL discussion group. The terms ‘international human rights standards’ or ‘inter-American human rights standards’ are often used by the Inter-American human rights bodies as almost a synonym for human rights ... Show More
41m 58s
Mar 2021
The Laws of War in International Thought
Professor Pablo Kalmanovitz, International Studies Division at CIDE, Mexico City, gives a talk for the Oxford PIL discussion group. The Law of Armed Conflict is usually understood to be a regime of exception that applies only during armed conflict and regulates hostilities among ... Show More
48m 40s
Feb 2021
The Concept of Race in International Criminal Law - and Beyond
Carola Lingaas, VID Specialised University, gives a talk for the Public International Law seminar series. Members of racial groups are protected under international law against genocide, persecution, and apartheid. But what is race – and why was this contentious term not discusse ... Show More
50m 47s
May 2022
International Law, Politics and Ethics of Humanitarian Military Intervention
Dr Iacovos Kareklas, Visiting Fellow at the Changing Character of War Centre (CCW), presents a strongly argued thesis that there is a legal and moral right to unilateral humanitarian intervention which dates back to the Peloponnesian War. The presented paper adopts a fresh approa ... Show More
45m 28s