The exploitation of natural resources in times of conflict has been the object of a prolific literature due to the extremely laconic character of the standards of conduct prescribed by the Hague and Geneva Conventions. Such laconicism has led scholars to be creative in ensuring that this central aspect of modern conflicts falls within the scope of existing legal instruments. This article starts by depicting the rich argumentative creativity developed by scholars and experts to ensure a more comprehensive regulation of what has often been perceived as a form of international brigandage. Subsequently it reflects on the biases of the professional community that has dedicated its efforts to the elaboration of a fairer framework of natural resources exploitation in times of conflict. In particular, it formulates some critical remark on the “just world business” that has dictated the methodology behind most of the interpretative engineering to be found.

This article discusses the transition of international criminal justice from a predominantly ex post facto punitive concept of post World War II efforts—and the ad hoc tribunals set up in the 1990s—towards a more comprehensive concept of justice centred around the International Criminal Court established by the Rome Statute, with significant potential for the prevention of future atrocities. Four sources of preventive effect are examined: deterrence, timely intervention, stabilization, and norm setting. Significant challenges remain for the Rome Statute system, notably strengthening the principle of complementarity, enhancing the co-operation of states with the ICC, securing sufficient resources for international justice, and furthering universal acceptance of the Rome Statute, especially in the Asia-Pacific. The author argues that the ultimate value of the Rome Statute system lies in entrenching legal and social norms that will help human compassion prevail over cruelty.

The principle of non-intervention remains a significant legal issue, particularly in Asia, for regional efforts to address a wide range of transnational security issues in the absence of a regional collective security mechanism. This article revisits the principle of non-intervention with a particular focus on the application and interpretation of the principle by Asian states for the purpose of identifying whether and in what respect an Asian approach or approaches can be found, and considering its implications for regional efforts to address transnational security issues. This article finds that the emerging regional norm of comprehensive security requires clear demarcation between the principle of non-intervention and the norm of comprehensive security, as well as an institutionalized mechanism to ensure that regional efforts to address transnational security issues are not used as a disguised form of intervention and that the fear of intervention does not impede those regional efforts.

It is the purpose of this paper to examine what challenges globalization poses to China, and “Eastphalian” sovereignty. Some commentators have suggested that globalization's advance will transform the globe into something more closely resembling the West. Accordingly, it could be said that it is inevitable that globalization's influences will bring Western perceptions of liberalism and democracy to China. The paper will briefly sketch the broad outlines of sovereignty and globalization to enable working definitions of “Westphalian” and “Eastphalian” sovereignty. The authors then discuss and assess the engagement of European powers with China as a means of contextualizing Eastphalian sovereignty's essence as ideology and worldview. This discussion sets the background for the following analysis of China's and Eastphalian sovereignty's reaction to the notion of a global community.

The International Law Commission recently completed its work on the controversial issue of the effects of armed conflicts on treaties, culminating in the adoption of a set of eighteen draft articles and an annex. The Commission's efforts are nothing short of commendable, but this article argues that insufficient attention has been paid to the role of supervening impossibility of performance and fundamental change of circumstances in determining the effects of armed conflicts on treaties. Although both doctrines may in fact appropriately apply in the context of armed conflicts, the mere referencing of them in the adopted draft articles gives rise to several problems. In particular, the two doctrines were codified by the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties without their application to armed conflicts in mind. Some changes to the draft articles are proposed to address these difficulties.

Ever since the beginning of the “Asian Values” debate in the early 1990s, there have been efforts on the part of many societal actors to establish distinctively Asian human rights norms that integrate local customary values and international human rights norms. This article presents the claim that National Human Rights Commissions in Asia are well placed to play an important role in this effort to develop localized human rights norms because of their close links with local civil actors, along with their independence from government control, pluralistic make-up, and ability to address complex rights issues in detail. The article also presents a study of how the National Human Rights Commission of Korea has used its powers to prioritize and promote a particularly Korean version of the human rights of the elderly.

This article questions the idea that the role of domestic courts in relation to international law is triggered only when international law is incorporated into domestic law by the other branches of government. It argues that domestic courts have extensive powers in defining their role vis-à-vis international law and influencing the relationship between domestic and international law. By going beyond the typical monist-dualist discussions, the first part of the article presents how English and American courts, by giving different meanings to the term “part”, reveal how they perceive their relationships with the other government branches and their role in relation to international law. The article then investigates whether similar judicial techniques can be identified in Asian courts’ treatment of international law. In showcasing the approaches of some Asian courts, the article provides snapshots of how these judges actively shape their role vis-à-vis international law and how they construct their relationships with the Legislature and the Executive.

Several proposals for global legal governance of environmental migration have recently been published, almost exclusively by Western scholars. The present article denounces the geographical and intellectual disconnect between descriptive works on environmental migration as a phenomenon and the normative studies on the developments in law and governance. It suggests that this disconnect has resulted in a post-colonial approach towards tackling environmental migration, which could impede the protection of environmental migrants. While recalling that governance of environmental migration is most likely to succeed within a regional framework, this article pleads for a home-grown legal approach of environmental migration in the Asia-Pacific. Participating in a multilateral discussion is a unique opportunity for the rising countries of Asia and the Pacific to strengthen their growing diplomatic roles and to demonstrate their capacity in the development of liberal forms of transnational governance.

Internal self-determination is a popular dimension of self-determination in international law. Often regarded as a right to democratic governance, its early promoters were largely Western states and international lawyers. A central observation made by such promoters was that the West favoured internal self-determination while the Third World did not. The present article will argue why this is a misconception and an outdated observation today. However, having argued so, the article proceeds to develop a Third World-oriented constructive critique of internal self-determination, suggesting why the Third World should nevertheless be more critically cautious and vigilant about the promotion of internal self-determination by Western actors as a distinct and concrete right in international law.

Despite the existence of almost eighty international agreements and legal instruments, there has not been a marked development in the transfer of climate change technologies to poor and the least developing countries. This article investigates the role of intellectual property rights (IPDs) and scrutinizes the effects of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on the transfer of these technologies. It explores the TRIPS patent protection provisions and examines the associated flexibilities like compulsory licensing and parallel import options in the context of the transfer of climate change technologies. It finally concludes that the TRIPS patent protection rules, including the existing flexibilities, are one of the biggest impediments to the transfer of these technologies to poor and least developed countries. New agreements or promises on the transfer of green technologies would be fruitless if these TRIPS rules are not amended.

Looting and illicit trafficking of cultural artefacts pose major threats to Asia's cultural heritage. This not only causes a continuing loss of cultural objects but also the destruction of large numbers of archaeological and historical sites as objects are often looted from tombs or cut off from larger pieces in order to obtain transportable parts for sale on the international art market. In addition, items are stolen from collections and museums or are trafficked in violation of export bans. This article explores the relevant international conventions dealing with the prevention of the illicit export of cultural artefacts and their repatriation, examines how those legal instruments are implemented in Asia and extended in bilateral agreements between market and source countries, and how particularly regional co-operation between Asian nations, international solidarity and assistance, and relevant domestic approaches can assist in improving the situation.

The Fukushima nuclear accident raised questions about the implementation of the Convention on Nuclear Safety by the Japanese government and identified the need to reassess the obligation of each contracting party deriving from the Convention and IAEA safety standards. The author analyzes several major deficiencies such as the lack of independence and effectiveness of the regulatory body, the failure to evaluate all relevant site- and design-related factors, and design and construction of the installation, as well as the emergency response, in order to determine the failure of the Japanese government to comply with the Convention and exercise the obligation of due diligence. As a result, the author demonstrates the fulfilment of two elements of state responsibility for nuclear damage. The author also establishes the ineffectiveness of the Convention's preventive monitoring mechanisms and recommends the introduction of a stronger monitoring regime and highlights the need to amend the Convention safety rules.

The issue of carbon emissions in international aviation has proven difficult to deal with from a regulatory standpoint. Issues of a transnational character are regulated through co-operation and compromise, but there has been a lack of political will to achieve the necessary co-operation and compromise to deal effectively with carbon emissions in international aviation. The European Union is now trying to push for development in the regulatory sphere through the unilateral extension of its Emissions Trading Scheme to international aviation. This unilateral extension conflicts with international air law, but has recently been declared valid by the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-366/10. This article focuses on the legal arguments raised in that case, concluding that the judgment delivered by the Court is legally questionable, but may nonetheless prove constructive, as a political instrument, in the delivery of an international solution to the regulation of aviation emissions.

In parallel with its efforts to become a full member of the United Nations (UN) and its specialized agencies, Palestine needs to take the implications of joining such organizations in earnest. Admission to the UN, in addition to encompassing rights for states, simultaneously entails duties on the part of the state. One duty is to respect, protect, and fulfil human rights for those living under Palestine's jurisdiction. This paper assesses the ability of the applicable legislation in Palestine to secure adequate standards of living by focusing on three rights: food, housing, and health. Many of the laws relating to these rights date back to the Turkish, British, Jordanian, and Egyptian eras. With a few exceptions, Palestine has so far enacted executive orders to activate these rights based on older laws. Nothing prevents Palestine from modernizing its nutrition, habitation, and medical care systems and joining the community of welfare states.