Topic 1

Introduction

In the Chinese calendar, 2015 was the year of the sheep: a follower rather than a leader. Yet for international investment law, 2015 was a year of transformation, signaling a possible reorientation along a new path. This Insight reflects on some of the key moments reflecting such a transformation or reorientation in treaty law and practice: the draft model bilateral investment treaties of India and Norway, the public release of the agreed text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and the European Commission’s proposal for a new investment court.

The European Union (EU) is one of the world’s leading fishing powers and is party in its own right to several dozen multilateral, regional, and bilateral agreements on the management and conservation of fisheries, an area of exclusive EU competence under the common fisheries policy. [1]  Absolute clarity regarding the prerogatives of the European institutions in the conduct of the EU’s external representation is therefore of fundamental importance for all concerned with legal proceedings in international courts and tribunals.

Over the past few months, the mass movement of Syrian migrants into and across Europe has transfixed the international community. Though international law governs the decisions as to whether these Syrians are eligible for protection against refoulement (return to torture or persecution), the texts of the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the UN Convention Against Torture have nothing to say about the process through which these protection determinations happen.

On May 18, 2015, the European Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2015/778 (Decision) launching the European Union Naval Force – Mediterranean (EUNAVFOR MED) with the aim of disrupting the business model of human smuggling and trafficking networks in the Southern Central Mediterranean.[1] The operational headquarters is located in Rome.

On November 5, 2015, the full text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP),[1] a trade and investment agreement among twelve Pacific nations, was, after a long wait, officially released to the public. The TPP is expected to have a significant impact on global trade and investment, as it brings greater economic integration to a  diverse set of countries (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam), who together account for almost 40% of global GDP.

Introduction

The focus of this Insight is on the criminal accountability of members of the military component that may be part of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations (military members). Unfortunately, several member states that have contributed military members (Troop Contributing Countries or TCCs) have failed to hold their members accountable for alleged criminal misconduct such as rape.

Introduction

A special thank you to Rebecca Hamilton for her editing and review of this article.

Introduction

[H]ope is an important and constitutive aspect of the human person. Those who commit the most abhorrent and egregious of acts and who inflict untold suffering upon others, nevertheless retain their fundamental humanity and carry within themselves the capacity to change . . . To deny them the experience of hope would be to deny a fundamental aspect of their humanity and, to do that, would be degrading.[1]