Geir Ulfstein

The constitutionalization of international law

Setting the scene / Jan Klabbers -- Institutions and competences / Geir Ulfstein -- Law-making and constitutionalism / Jan Klabbers -- The International judiciary / Geir Ulfstein -- Membership in the global constitutional community / Anne Peters-- Dual democracy / Anne Peters -- Conclusion / Anne Peters.

Autonomous institutional arrangements in multilateral environmental agreements: a little-noticed phenomenon in international law

Since the early 1970s a considerable number of multilateral agreements have been concluded in the environmental field that establish a common pattern of institutional arrangements. The purpose of these arrangements is to develop the normative content of the regulatory regime established by each agreement1 and to supervise the states parties’ implementation of and compliance with that regime. These institutional arrangements usually comprise a conference or meeting of the parties (COP, MOP) with decision-making powers, a secretariat, and one or more specialist subsidiary bodies. Such arrangements, because of their ad hoc nature, are not intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) in the traditional sense. On the other hand, as the creatures of treaties, such conferences and meetings of the parties, with their secretariats and subsidiary bodies, add up to more than just diplomatic conferences. Because such arrangements do not constitute traditional IGOs and yet are freestanding and distinct both from the states parties to a particular agreement and from existing IGOs, we have chosen to describe them as “autonomous.” They are also autonomous in the sense that they have their own lawmaking powers and compliance mechanisms.

Maritime Delimitation in the Arctic: The Barents Sea Treaty

During a visit to Norway by the Russian president in the spring of 2010, the president and the Norwegian prime minister surprisingly announced agreement on a delimitation line in the Barents Sea ending almost 40 years of negotiations. The agreement was signed in Murmansk on 15 September 2010. This article presents the background of the dispute and undertakes an assessment of the agreement and its implications for the Barents Sea, Svalbard, and other Arctic maritime delimitations.

Implementing the climate regime : international compliance

Preface * Notes on Contributors * Acronyms and Abbreviations * Introduction and Main Findings * Part I: The Kyoto Compliance Regime: Emergence and Design * The Negotiation of a Kyoto Compliance System * The Kyoto Compliance System: Towards Hard Enforcement * Part II: Challenges to Effective Operation of the Compliance Regime * Flexibility, Compliance and Norm Development in the Climate Regime * Reporting and Verification of Emissions and Removals of Greenhouse Gases * Effective Enforcement and Double-edged Deterrents: How the Impacts of Sanctions also Affect Complying Parties * Part III: External Enforcement - Parties and Non-parties * The Pros and Cons of External Enforcement * Trade Measures, WTO and Climate Compliance: The Interplay of International Regimes * Part IV: Compliance, NGOs and International Governance * The Role of Green NGOs in Promoting Climate Compliance * Major Oil Companies in Climate Policy: Strategies and Compliance * Enhancing Climate Compliance - What are the Lessons to Learn from Environmental Regimes and the EU? * Epilogue: The Future of Kyotos Compliance System * Index

THE LEGALITY OF THE NATO BOMBING IN LIBYA

On 17 March 2011 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1973 authorizing member states to take forceful measures to protect Libyan civilians. Clearly NATO actions to protect civilians were within the mandate. But the authors claim that operations aiming at overthrowing the Qaddafi regime were illegal use of force. The overstepping of the mandate may have a negative effect on the credibility of the responsibility to protect in future gross human rights violations.

UN human rights treaty bodies : law and legitimacy

1. Introduction Helen Keller and Geir Ulfstein 2. Examination of state reports Walter Kalin 3. Individual complaints Geir Ulfstein 4. General comments of the Human Rights Committee and their legitimacy Helen Keller and Leena Grover 5. The protection of economic and social rights: a particular challenge? Urfan Khaliq and Robin Churchill 6. Aspects of human rights interpretation by the UN Treaty bodies Birgit Schlutter 7. UN Treaty bodies and the Human Rights Council Nigel S. Rodley 8. The legal status of decisions by human rights treaty bodies in national law Rosanne van Alebeek and Andre Nollkaemper 9. Conclusions Helen Keller and Geir Ulfstein.

Making treaties work : human rights, environment and arms control

Preface and acknowledgements Notes on the contributors Table of cases Table of treaties and other international instruments Introduction Geir Ulfstein, Thilo Marauhn and Andreas Zimmermann Part I. International Human Rights: 1. Dispute resolution, compliance control and enforcement in human rights law Andreas Zimmerman 2. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Martin Scheinin 3. The European Convention on Human Rights Mark E. Villiger 4. The European Convention on the Prevention of Torture compared with the United Nations Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol Renate Kicker Part II. International Environmental Law: 5. Dispute resolution, compliance control and enforcement in international environmental law Geir Ulfstein 6. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Rosalind Reeve 7. The Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution Tuomas Kuokkanen 8. The Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) Veit Koester 9. The Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention): international arms control law Timo Koivurova Part III. International Arms Control: 10. Dispute resolution, compliance control and enforcement of international arms control law Thilo Marauhn 11. The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention) Lisa Tabassi 12. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the IAEA Safeguards Agreements Laura Rockwood 13. The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (Ottawa Convention) Kathleen Lawand Part IV. General Comments: 14. Dispute resolution Andreas L. Paulus 15. Compliance control Jutta Brunnee 16. Enforcement Christian J. Tams Index.

The conflict between petroleum production, navigation and fisheries in international law

Abstract Growing offshore oil activity and new technology have resulted in increased interference with traditional uses of the sea, such as fishing and navigation. This article discusses where oil production is prohibited, the extent of safety zones and the removal of installations after use. These questions are examined on the basis of the 1958 Continental Shelf Convention, the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention and state practice. When assessing this multiple use conflict, the different legal regimes for the continental shelf, fishing and navigation must be harmonized. “Creeping jurisdiction”; in state practice and the handling of these questions in the International Maritime Organization are also examined.

Constituting Europe : the European Court of Human Rights in a national, European and global context

1. Introduction Andreas Follesdal, Birgit Peters and Geir Ulfstein 2. The Court and the member states: procedural aspects Ian Cameron 3. The margin of appreciation doctrine: a theoretical analysis of Strasbourgs variable geometry Yutaka Arai-Takahashi 4. The ECHR as a living instrument: its meaning and legitimacy George Letsas 5. No longer offering fine mantras to a parched child? The European Courts developing approach to remedies Philip Leach 6. National implementation of ECHR rights Mads Andenas and Eirik Bjorge 7. The Court as a part of the Council of Europe: the Parliamentary Assembly and the Committee of Ministers Elisabeth Lambert-Abdelgawad 8. Should the European Union ratify the European Convention for Human Rights? Some remarks on the relations between the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice Leonard F. M. Besselink 9. The European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations Christian Tomuschat 10. Conclusions Andreas Follesdal, Birgit Peters and Geir Ulfstein.

Terrorism and the Use of Force

There exist today a number of conventions aimed at combating terrorism. These treat acts of terrorism as criminal acts. However, the events of 11 September 2001 introduced a new dimension into the debate on the use of force in addressing the problem of terrorism. This article discusses whether the UN Security Council has given its approval for the USAs use of force in the wake of 11 September 2001 and whether this use of force can be justified under the right of self-defence. The articles conclusion is that the Security Council has not given its approval. Nevertheless, the USA may invoke the right of self-defence on the basis of the Talibans support for the terrorists. However, it is important to remember that acts of terrorism ought as far as possible to be addressed through criminal prosecution. Furthermore, any use of force ought to take place under the control of the UN. And we must be on our guard against any erosion of the prohibition against the use of force in international law.