• The Institute would like to congratulate Nisrine Abiad, Director of the Iran Project, who gave birth to a boy, Charbel, in late July.

• Bart Kolerski left the Institute on 21 August 2009. Bart joined the Institute in 2004 and worked as IT Manager, as well as providing valuable support at events and in the day-to-day running of the Institute.

• Ruth Eldon, Institute Secretary, left the Institute on 31 August after joining in 2005. Ruth made a significant contribution to the Institute. Her work as Institute Secretary has been varied and required many skills, not least diplomacy, calmness, expertise, persistence and complete confidentiality, all of which she has shown in the very best measure.

• Dr Sergey Ripinsky,  Research Fellow at the Investment Treaty Forum and director of the Damages in International Investment Law project, left the Institute in July. He was Scholar in Residence at WilmerHale until October 2009.

• Faria Medjouba has been appointed member of the EU Comparative Law Oversight Group of the Ministry of Justice’s Civil Justice Council. The role of the EU Comparative Law Oversight Group will be to monitor the initiatives for civil justice reform being developed in the EU and its institutions; to consider their implications for the England and Wales jurisdiction; to contribute to the reform debate to either promote or protect access to justice and common law procedure; to monitor and debate key reforms in common law and commonwealth jurisdictions; to evaluate the access to justice implications of these reforms, and make recommendations as appropriate. The Group is chaired by Professor Rachael Mulheron, Queen Mary University.

• Dr Ralph Wilde, International and Comparative Law Quarterly (ICLQ) Book Reviews editor and reader of International Law at University College London, has been awarded an American Society of International Law (ASIL) certificate of merit for his book, International Territorial Administration: How the Civilizing Mission Never Went Away, published by Oxford University Press in 2008.

At the Annual General Meeting of the members of the Institute, which was held at the Institute on 14 September, five Trustees retired (as required by the constitution) and five new Trustees were appointed.

The retiring Trustees were:

David Anderson QC, Jeremy Carver, Sir Francis Jacobs, Peter Roth QC and Sir Michael Wood. All have indicated that they remain willing to assist the Institute in any way possible.

The new Trustees are:

• Sir William Blair―High Court judge, Chairman of Financial Services and Markets Tribunal, financial services and Islamic finance lawyer

• Susan Bright—partner at Lovells, Competition Law Forum member

• Paul Lomas —partner at Freshfields, dispute resolution lawyer in financial and competition areas, vice-chair of the Bingham Appeal

• Professor Stephen Weatherill —Jacques Delors Professor of European Community Law, Oxford, has been advisor to Board of Trustees

• Dame Juliet Wheldon QC—former Treasury Solicitor and legal adviser to the Bank of England; member of National Security Forum; Advisory Council member

• Peter Roth QC, member of the Board of Trustees, has just been appointed to be a Judge of the High Court of Justice Chancery Division as from October 1st 2009. The Institute warmly congratulates him on this appointment.

• Christine Chinkin has been elected as a Fellow of the British Academy, the national academy for humanities and social sciences. It is an independent, self-governing fellowship of scholars elected for their distinction and achievement. Christine is a professor of international law at the London School of Economics.

DON GREIG

It is a great pleasure to resume my association with the Institute. It has such a friendly (from a personal point of view) and rewarding (in an intellectual sense) atmosphere that a visitor can only rejoice in the surroundings.

I have put to one side for the moment the book on which I have been working, The Intention of the Parties and the Law of Treaties, in order to join with my co-author to rewrite The Law of Contract, which appeared as long ago as 1987, though five annual supplements were published, the last in 1993.

Although it is based on Australian law, it attempts to deal with developments in the UK, New Zealand, and with, although to a lesser extent, in Canada and the USA. Hence I do not feel any embarrassment in claiming that is complies with at least the comparative aspect of the Institute’s title!

Once again I would like to extend my thanks to the Director and the Staff at the Institute in making me so welcome.

The Institute published Don’s book, Invalidity and the Law of Treaties, in 2006.

NDANGA KAMAU

I applied for an internship at the Institute in the summer of 2007 because of the Institute’s reputation in international law. I wanted to spend some time doing research in international economic law and the Institute seemed the appropriate location for this kind of work. I was fortunate to be taken on by Dr Sergey Ripinsky as a research assistant working on his book Damages in International Investment Law. Dr Ripinsky was an excellent supervisor and gave me many opportunities to contribute to the book and, more generally, to help with the work of the Investment Treaty Forum. Further, I also helped Dr Ripinsky on a project on Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) between China and the EU. The structure of the internship was flexible and after initially signing up to do three days a week I found that I enjoyed the work so much I ended up doing it five days a week—unpaid.

While at the Institute, I also got a chance to work for Prof Robert McCorquodale on the subject of business and human rights. This research opportunity came after the publication of Prof John Ruggie’s report for the Human Rights Council on the subject, as well as the International Law Association’s conference Does International Law Mean Business—A Partnership for Progress? at which Prof Ruggie spoke. It was an excellent opportunity to be doing research that was at the cutting edge of research on human rights.

During my time at the Institute, I also took advantage of the opportunity given to interns to attend, at no charge, the series of conferences and seminars hosted by the Institute. At these events, I had the opportunity to interact with the top professionals in the area of international economic law and indeed in other areas of public international law, private international law and competition law. The environment at the Institute was collegiate and supportive and I always felt that I could approach any of the research fellows to talk about their research or to ask for advice about pursuing a career in international law. Tuesday coffee meetings were an excellent opportunity to catch up with colleagues and to meet new members of the Institute’s community. The international composition of the Institute’s staff also contributes to making it a truly international environment and the exchange of ideas about international law.

I left the Institute in the summer of 2008 to do the Bar Vocational Course at City Law School which I completed in May 2009. In the same month I was awarded a scholarship to study at the University of Geneva’s Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) where I will be pursuing a Master’s in Advanced Studies in International Dispute Settlement. I am very excited about the opportunity to study at such an excellent institution as well as the chance to work with a faculty of

eminent scholars and practitioners. I have no doubt that without my time at the Institute I would never have been able to take advantage of this opportunity to prepare for a career in international law.

Thursday 24 September

Ms Sarah Williams, Dorset Fellow in Public International Law

Speaker: Mr Thomas Winkler, The Legal Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark

The need for States contributing troops to international military operations to ensure that they act in accordance with their international obligations when handling detainees, including when transferring detainees to local authorities or to other troop-contributing countries, is a major challenge. In October 2007 the Danish government initiated the 'Copenhagen Process on Handling Detainees in International Military Operations'. The process is aimed at encouraging states to deal with these issues on a multilateral basis, on the basis of accepted standards for detainee treatment.

This lecture provided a background to the Copenhagen Process, the legal challenges involved and an update to its current status. To read a summary of the event and the Copenhagen Process, click here.

Wednesday 23 September

John Bellinger III served as Senior Associate Counsel and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council (NSC) during President George W Bush’s first term and acted as Legal Advisor to

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice under Bush’s second term. He is a partner in the

international and national security practice of Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington, DC, and Adjunct Senior Fellow in International and National Security Law at the Council on Foreign Relations.

In a frank discussion, Mr Bellinger sheds light on the opportunities and difficulties President Obama faces: with the chance to change the tone of the US’s stance on international law, he is continuing with some policies that are controversial in international law. In addition to delivering unique insight on this issue, Mr Bellinger outlines some of the domestic challenges Obama faces, discussing the international law topics which present Obama with the most significant opportunities but also the most difficult obstacles: ICJ rulings and US domestic law, US attitudes towards the International Criminal Court, and closing Guantanamo.

Click here to read a summary of John Bellinger III’s lecture.

• On 8 June the US Supreme Court affirmed Presidential authority to restore Iraq's immunity before US courts, but set the stage for battle over retroactivity of similar limitations in Republic of Iraq v Beaty, et al. Read comment and analysis

  
  

• On 25 September the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) dismissed the appeal of Germain Katanga against Trial Chamber II’s decision of 12 June which declared his case admissible before the ICC. (The Prosecutor v Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui). Read the ICC press release here.

  
  

• On 1st October, the ICC welcomes the Czech Republic as a new State party. Read the press release here.

  
  

• On 1 September, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization announced that 91 countries have agreed on the final text of the first ever UN illegal fishing treaty, which is meant to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Read the UN press release here.

  
  

•  On September 17, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) delivered a judgment concerning the application of article 9(1)(b) and 11(2) of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 in case of statutory assignment of the rights of an injured party in favour of a social security institution (C-347/08 Voralberger Gebietskrankenkasse). Read more here.

  
  

• On July 9, the ECJ interpreted the second indent of article 5(1)(b) in relation to passenger claims for compensation against airlines due to flight cancellation. The case concerned air transport from one Member State to another by an airline established in a third Member State. (C-204-08 Peter Rehder). Read more here.

  
  

•  On August 17, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission rendered its final award for compensation arising from the 1998–2000 border war between the two nations.

  
  

• On July 22nd, a Tribunal rendered their award in a complex arbitration between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army. The award determines the boundaries of the Abyei region, which will conduct a referendum in 2011 to determine whether to join south Sudan.

Lis Pendens in International Litigation

British Institute of International and Comparative Law Charles Clore House 17 Russell Square London WC1B 5JP
Tuesday 27 October 2009 17:30 to 19:30

The question of international lis pendens has long been controversial, but has taken on new and urgent importance in our age. Globalization has driven an unprecedented rise in forum shopping between national courts, but also the proliferation of new international tribunals has brought with it new challenges of interaction in today's fragmented international legal system. The response to these challenges also has profound theoretical implications for the interaction of legal systems in today's pluralistic world. This seminar will analyse the problems of parallel litigation across the landscape of international litigation - from private international litigation, through international commercial arbitration and investment treaty arbitration, to public international law.

 Click here for further information and prices

The Geneva Conventions and the Protection of Vulnerable Groups

60th Anniversary of the Geneva Conventions

British Institute of International and Comparative Law Charles Clore House 17 Russell Square London WC1B 5JP

Click here for further information and prices

 33rd ANNUAL FA MANN LECTURE

The Unity and Diversity of International Law

Wednesday 4 November 2009 18:00 to 20:00

Medicinal Bioprospecting: Policy Options for Access and Benefit-Sharing

Aphrodite Smagadi

Published: August 2009 Price: £80 (members £48) ISBN: 978-1-905221-36-3

The production of medicines, pharmaceutical and herbal, involves the sourcing of both genetic resources in the natural environment, and local knowledge. Sourcing substances for medicines in the natural environment is known as biodiversity prospecting or ‘bioprospecting’. To ensure that benefits resulting from medicinal bioprospecting are brought to those ultimately bearing the costs of conservation and sustainable use, there must be a focus on indigenous peoples’ rights—particularly property rights, whether to land, genetic material, intellectual property, or traditional medicinal knowledge. This study considers the importance of access and benefit-sharing agreements as incentives for biodiversity protection. It analyses the meaning of the objectives set by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for its implementation, examines selected domestic access and benefit-sharing measures and industry practices and, finally, evaluates the discussions taking place in international fora regarding the Convention and its principles.

A Gap in the Enforcement of Article 82 Ioannis Kokkoris

Published: June 2009 Price:£60 (members £36) ISBN: 978-1-905221-39-4

The European Commission has acknowledged and respected, in Regulation 1/2003, the ability of the Member States to apply stricter rules than Article 82. There are some types of conduct that cannot be addressed by Article 82 because the undertakings involved are not dominant. One relates to conduct by non-dominant firms against other firms in weaker bargaining positions. A second type of conduct, and the focus of this book, relates to the anti-competitive conducts that non-dominant firms may adopt towards consumers (eg price discrimination, excessive pricing). This book focuses on instances where non-dominant firms have the ability to behave independently of customers and competitors and adopt conducts which will induce consumer harm.

The Commission cannot address anti-competitive conduct of non-dominant firms which induce significant consumer harm. This has resulted from the application of the dominance concept and from the dependence of a finding of a dominant firm on the market share of the firm. The aim of this book is to illustrate that applying the concept of dominance in that way means that a non-dominant firm in a differentiated market can adopt anti-competitive conducts and not be deterred by the possible application of Article 82.