The Law of the Sea. By R. R. Churchill and A. V. Lowe. Dover, N.H.: Manchester University Press, 1983. Pp. xxxiii, 321. Index. $25.

COVID-19 and the case for global development

The concept of sovereignty crystallized at a time when distances were large and self-sufficiency was the aspiration. Sovereignty coincided with notions of democracy, under the assumption of a perfect fit between the scope of sovereign authority and the affected stakeholders. This traditional view of sovereignty yields inefficient, inequitable and undemocratic consequences. This Article argues that in a densely populated and deeply integrated world, sovereignty should be conceptualized as a trusteeship not only toward a state’s own citizens, but also toward humanity at large. Accordingly, sovereigns should be required to take into account other-regarding considerations when forming national policies that may have effects beyond their national jurisdiction, even absent specific treaty obligations. After grounding the trustee sovereignty concept on three distinct bases – the right to democratic participation, human rights, and the sovereign’s power of exclusion – the Article identifies the minimal normative and procedural other-regarding obligations that arise from this concept and suggests that they are already embedded in several doctrines of international law that delimit the rights of sovereigns. The trustee sovereignty concept can explain the evolution of these doctrines and inspire the advent of new specific obligations.

Sovereigns as Trustees of Humanity: On the Accountability of States to Foreign Stakeholders

Emerging robustly in the 1990s as a global tour de force in the globalisation process, ‘multinational corporations’ (MNCs), also referred to as ‘multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) or ‘transnational corporations’ (TNCs) introduced complex international structures connected to states, but at the same time transcending national boundaries. According to Shaw, MNCs ‘constitute private organisations comprising several legal entities linked together by parent corporations and are distinguished by size and multinational spread’. The operations of multinational corporations raise important questions of shared responsibility, because of the globalised nature of their operations and the impact of their activities. As Clapham correctly pointed out, a single actor by its action can generate multiple violations by a range of actors, thereby raising the question of shared responsibility and allocation of liability. In other words, an MNC through its global transactions with other actors may set in motion a chain of activities that may lead to multiple harmful outcomes and subsequent claims. The situation is further complicated by the structure of international law and the fact that at present there is no international tribunal or court that has jurisdiction over MNCs. It is argued in this chapter that despite the conceptual difficulties in applying shared responsibility to MNCs under international law, there are significant developments at the international level which may facilitate allocation of shared responsibilities between MNCs and other entities implicated in a violation of international law.

This chapter starts by contextualising the situations that may lead to shared responsibility between MNCs and other parties under international law (section 2). The chapter thereafter discusses the state of international law on the responsibility of states for the actions of MNCs (section 3). The chapter also examines situations that may lead to shared responsibility in the interaction between home states, host states and MNCs, especially in the context of investment treaties (section 4). The chapter further examines existing soft law rules on the international responsibility of MNCs and their potential implication (if any) for the concept of shared responsibility (section 5). Attention is paid to the United Nation’s Framework for Business and Human Rights (Framework) and the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (Guiding Principles) developed by the former United Nations (UN) Special Representative for Human Rights and Business, John Ruggie, because of their currency and possible potential for the future. The chapter also discusses the relevant case law (section 6) and conceptual difficulties posed by the current structure of international law to shared responsibility of MNCs (section 7).

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The Practice of Shared Responsibility in International Law

Health literacy has become an important health policy and health promotion agenda item in recent years. It had been seen as a means to reduce health disparities and a critical empowerment strategy to increase people’s control over their health. So far, most of health literacy studies mainly focus on adults with few studies investigating associations between child health literacy and health status. This study aimed to investigate the association between health literacy and body weight in Taiwan’s sixth grade school children. Using a population-based survey, 162,209 sixth grade (11–12 years old) school children were assessed. The response rate at school level was 83 %, with 70 % of all students completing the survey. The Taiwan child health literacy assessment tool was applied and information on sex, ethnicity, self-reported health, and health behaviors were also collected. BMI was used to classify the children as underweight, normal, overweight, or obese. A multinomial logit model with robust estimation was used to explore associations between health literacy and the body weight with an adjustment for covariates. The sample consisted of 48.9 % girls, 3.8 % were indigenous and the mean BMI was 19.55 (SD = 3.93). About 6 % of children self-reported bad or very bad health. The mean child health literacy score was 24.03 (SD = 6.12, scale range from 0 to 32). The overall proportion of obese children was 15.2 %. Children in the highest health literacy quartile were less likely to be obese (12.4 %) compared with the lowest quartile (17.4 %). After controlling for gender, ethnicity, self-rated health, and health behaviors, children with higher health literacy were less likely to be obese (Relative Risk Ratio (RRR) = 0.94, p   1.10, p < 0.0001) were more likely to report being overweight or obese. This study demonstrates strong links between health literacy and obesity, even after adjusting for key potential confounders, and provides new insights into potential intervention points in school education for obesity prevention. Systematic approaches to integrating a health literacy curriculum into schools may mitigate the growing burden of disease due to obesity.

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Health literacy and the determinants of obesity: A population-based survey of sixth grade school children in Taiwan

United Nations, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

Through the joint ‘North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative’ the states bordering the North Seas are establishing shared large-scale offshore electricity infrastructure in order to exploit their offshore wind energy resources. The article argues that this international governance of oceans space comes about legally because international law, European law and national law each fulfil a specific function. The climate regime provides the normative impetus, the law of the sea allocates competences, and European law contains principles of cooperation, which are then implemented through coordinated national law. International law, European law and national law thus become functionally integrated. This analysis has significance beyond shared offshore electricity infrastructure. It illustrates the way in which the functional integration of international law, European law and national law is emerging as a distinct legal institution in its own right, separate and distinct from the various legal orders themselves.

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Governing Shared Offshore Electricity Infrastructure in the Northern Seas

Introduction, Andrew Halpin & Volker Roeben Cosmopolitan Legal Orders, H Patrick Glenn Implications of 'Globalisation' for Law as a Discipline, William Twining Theorising the Global Legal Order - An Institutionalist Perspective, Stefan Oeter Incorporating Foreign Legal Ideas through Translation, Ko Hasegawa Globalisation and Judicial Reasoning: Building Blocks for a Method of Interpretation, Catherine Dupre Statecraft, Trade and Strategy: Toward a New Global Order, Ari Afilalo & Dennis Patterson European Union as a Single Working-Living Space: EU Law and New Forms of Intra-Community Migration, Oxana Golynker The Domestic Enforcement of Supranational Rules: The Role of Evidence in EC Competition Law, Deirdre Dwyer The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Towards a Global Legal Order on Indigenous Rights?, Stephen Allen Developing a Framework for Understanding the Localisation of Global Scripts in East Asia, John Gillespie Governance Through Corruption: Cosmopolitan Complicity, Nicholas Dorn Decentralised Constitutionalisation in National and International Courts: Reflections on Comparative Law as an Approach to Public Law, Christian Walter Concluding Reflections, Andrew Halpin & Volker Roeben

Theorising the Global Legal Order

The European Union is poised to establish a genuine European Energy Union with the new powers conferred on it by the Lisbon Treaty. Since 2014, it has been developing and implementing an energy strategy that responds to the three overarching priorities of climate change, political security, and economic competitiveness by 2030. The European Energy Union aims to provide secure, sustainable and affordable energy throughout the cycle of production, transport and consumption. This book outlines the legal regime underpinning this regulatory strategy, which integrates EU law with international law and with the law of the member states and affiliated states. It analyses and explains the increasing interaction between these legal orders in achieving the shared objective of transforming the European and global energy systems. This book will appeal to scholars and students of energy law and policy at both European and international levels.

Towards a European Energy Union: European Energy Strategy in International Law

Responsibility, Sovereignty and Cooperation - Reflections on the "Responsibility to Protect".- Sovereignty and the Responsibility to Protect in International Criminal Law.- Managing Risks to Global Stability: the UN Security Council's New-found Role Post Iraq.- Comment on the Contribution by Volker Roben.- Promoting the Unity of International Law: Standard-Setting by International Tribunals.- Where Unity Is at Risk: When International Tribunals Proliferate.- Genetic Resources of the Deep Sea - How Can They Be Preserved?.- The Liability Annex to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.- The Strange Case of Human Rights and Intellectual Property: Is There a Way to Reconcile Dr. Jekyll with Mr. Hyde?.- The Struggle for Minority Rights and Human Rights: Current Trends and Challenges.- Minority Rights as Group-Protective Rights: A Challenge for the International Law of Human Rights.

Volker Roeben

Papers

United Nations, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

Governing Shared Offshore Electricity Infrastructure in the Northern Seas

Theorising the Global Legal Order

Towards a European Energy Union: European Energy Strategy in International Law

International law today : new challenges and the need for reform?