Professor James A. Green has been awarded the European Society of International Law Book Prize 2017 for his monograph The Persistent Objector Rule in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2016). This prestigious prize is awarded to the best book published in the preceding year on any topic of international law. James received the award in Naples, at ESIL’s annual conference (7-9 September 2017). As part of the conference programme he discussed the book with Professor Nico Krisch (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva), and then was formally presented with the award itself by ESIL president Professor André Nollkaemper (University of Amsterdam) at the conference dinner.

Europe and the World – A Law Review is a new open access journal published by UCL Press and co-edited by GLAR’s Dr Anne Thies (along with Professor Christina Eckes (University of Amsterdam) and Professor Piet Eeckhout (UCL)).

A major launch event for the journal, featuring a keynote speech by Professor Miguel Poiares Maduro (European University Institute) is taking place on Monday 19 June 2017, 18:00 – 19:00 at the UCL Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre, Wilkins Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT.

Europe and the World – A Law Review aims to contribute to legal scholarship on the place of Europe in the world, with a particular but by no means exclusive focus on the EU’s external relations law. The journal serves as a forum where the national, international and EU perspectives meet and engage. The journal is therefore irreverent of traditional distinctions between EU, international, and national law. While primarily offering legal doctrinal and theoretical analyses, the journal also publishes multi-disciplinary work and political science and international relations contributions with an external perspective on the law of EU’s external relations.

The School of Law, together with the interdisciplinary Walker Institute, were delighted to host a visit and guest lecture on 2 March 2017 by Robert Glasser, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and head of the UN Office on Disaster Risk Reduction. Mr Glasser discussed a wide range of topics concerning the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction, for which he serves as the global focal point in the UN system. He covered such diverse issues as the process of agreeing the technical indicators for measuring the Framework’s success, the key role to be played by both the private and public sectors, including HEIs in terms of embedding the key principles and objectives at the national, particularly community, level; and current challenges, ranging from the resistance of some states to accepting further binding obligations, to issues of corruption. It was particularly thrilling to hear Mr Glasser describe the School of Law as an international ‘trailblazer’ in relation to its postgraduate teaching (on the Global Crisis, Conflict and Disaster Management Programmes) and research on Disaster Risk Reduction law. In this regard, preparations for the forthcoming major symposium on the theme of ‘Disaster Risk Reduction and International Law’ – co-sponsored by the School of Law, Walker Institute, and American Society of International Law’s Disaster Law Interest Group – are well advanced, with an exciting and impressive range of keynote speakers as well as likely participants drawn from across the globe. For further details see walker.ac.uk/news-events/disaster-risk-reduction-and-international-law-symposium-2017

The GLAR team was very saddened to hear of the passing of Professor Sir Nigel Rodley on 25th January.  Many GLAR members knew Sir Nigel, and had worked with him.  Indeed, he was planning to come and speak as part of our Ghandhi Research Seminar Series in March.

Sir Nigel was a titan of international human rights law, as professor for many years at the University of Essex and, amongst many other things, as United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and member/chair of the UN Human Rights Committee.  He was a generous and kind person who will be deeply missed within the discipline and well beyond.  The GLAR team would like to pay its respects to this great man.

GLAR is delighted to announce details of a major international symposium on Disaster Risk Reduction and International Law, organised by the Reading School of Law and the multidisciplinary Walker Institute, co-sponsored by the American Society of International Law (Disaster Law Interest Group). Framed around the principles and objectives underpinning the Sendai Framework on DRR 2015-30, and cognisant of the relevance of other global initiatives including the Sustainable Development Goals 2015 and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, this will be a unique opportunity to discuss, debate, inform and progress the development of law, policy and practice governing DRR and disasters at the national, regional and international levels. The symposium will take place between 29 June and 1 July 2017. More details can be found on the Walker Institute website, which will be regularly updated with more details ahead of the event.

On 19 October 2016, Dr Ruvi Ziegler spoke in Parliament at a meeting the All Parliamentary Party Group (APPG) on Freedom of Movement (chaired by Tom Brake MP) alongside Jacqueline Minor, Head of Representation of the EU Commission in the UK. Ruvi is an advisor to an organisation called ‘New Europeans‘, which serves as the APPG secretariat. The meeting was covered by The Guardian. The main thrust of Ruvi’s argument was that it is in (the UK) Parliament’s gift to grant citizens of other EU member states currently residing in the UK the right to remain here permanently, irrespective of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.

The GLAR grouping is delighted to announce the publication of the Research Handbook on Disasters and International Law (Edward Elgar, 2016). This handbook is edited by GLAR’s own Professor Susan C. Breau and Dr Katja L.H. Samuel, and features chapter contributions from a number of other staff in GLAR, as well as other colleagues at Reading and numerous other experts from around the world.

International law’s role in governing disasters is undergoing a formative period in its development and reach, in parallel with concerted efforts by the international community to respond more effectively to the increasing number and intensity of disasters across the world. This Research Handbook examines a broad range of legal regimes directly and indirectly relevant to disaster prevention, mitigation and reconstruction across a spectrum of natural and manmade disasters, including armed conflict.

The book is a major contribution to the burgeoning field of law and disasters, and forms a key part of GLAR’s ongoing work on this topic.

Dr Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne (GLAR) and Dr Kubo Macak (Exeter) held a successful two-day expert roundtable on the relationship between the law of armed conflict and general international law. Details can be found here.

Following the Brexit vote, Professor Chris Hilson has published a blog post examining its implications:

Chris Hilson, ‘The EU Referendum: Brexit, Solidarity and Identity’ DELI Blog (Durham European Law Institute), 18 July 2016

An international gathering in celebration of the scholarship of Professor Guy S. Goodwin-Gill, Professor of International Refugee Law and Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, was convened at All Souls College by Professor Jane McAdam (UNSW), Dr Cathryn Costello (Refugee Studies Centre & Faculty of Law, Oxford), and Dr Reuven (Ruvi) Ziegler (Reading).