Recent Submissions

  • The basis for indigenous peoples’ rights in international investment agreements

    Ejims, Oke (Routledge, 2024-09-02)
    This chapter discusses the absence and limitations of indigenous peoples’ free prior and informed consent (FPIC) and land and cultural rights in international investment agreements (IIAs), and will address in detail the rationale behind adopting an indigenous peoples’ rights methodology to assess international investment law rules. This methodology is a conceptual framework that is utilised in this chapter to examine the extent to which the rules of IIAs are coherent with the protection and promotion of indigenous peoples’ FPIC and land and cultural rights. At the most important level, it has been argued in this chapter that it is a prerequisite for the coherence of the international investment law system that it recognises indigenous peoples’ FPIC and land and cultural rights. This chapter will show how adopting an explicit indigenous peoples’ rights approach in the analysis of international investment law can increase and enhance indigenous peoples’ FPIC and land and cultural rights in the context of the international investment law system. Indigenous peoples’ rights approach in this context is a framework based on international law standards directed to protecting and promoting indigenous FPIC and land and cultural rights.
  • The role of artificial intelligence in international commercial arbitration in the post-Covid era

    Idrees, Muhammad Hassan; Onyefulu, Annabelle; University of Bedfordshire (Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., 2023-10-17)
    The emergence of the global pandemic has recently propelled increased usage of artificial intelligenceHereinafter referred to as 'AI'. in our workplace. Technological advancement in the legal environment, mostly portrayed in the form of digitalization, blockchain and machine learning, among others, has significantly affected international arbitration - a critical procedural element underpinning digital trade. The application of these technologies may promote efficiency, cost and speed on the one hand, while on the other it may violate the current regulatory frameworks in international arbitration. This chapter, therefore, engages in analysing the future of international arbitration vis-à-vis the introduction of new technologies. In order to do this, this chapter aims at evaluating the possibility of replacing human arbitrators with AI arbitrators, the public policy requirements and the ethical issues that may arise therefrom.
  • Developing a climate-resilient investment protocol: lessons from the final draft protocol on investment to the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area

    Ejims, Oke; University of Bedfordshire (TDM, 2023-11-14)
    This article explores the draft Protocol on Investment under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) agreement, with a view to examining the Protocol’s implications for climate change objectives in Africa. It explores how the Phase II Protocol on Investment under the AFCFTA could draw from the Paris Agreement. In particular, it suggests that the Protocol on Investment under the AFCFTA can incorporate arrangements to address state and direct investor rights and obligations in relation to climate change action. However, the article proposes that climate change objectives should be addressed in the Protocol in more detail. The article also proposes a strong mechanism of liability and accountability of states and investors under the Investment Protocol, embracing liability for parent multinational corporations (MNCs) in their home states even when such liability is not the law of the investor’s home state.
  • International investment law and indigenous peoples: a methodology for the analysis of the rights of indigenous peoples

    Ejims, Oke (2023-01-02)
    This article will set out to highlight some of the important aspects of a methodology regarding the rights and interests of indigenous peoples in the context of analysing the rules of international investment law. The approach to the rights of indigenous peoples that will be adopted here is a legal positivist approach, although such an approach, it will be argued, is also based upon the standing and the importance of the rights and interests of indigenous peoples to lands and natural resources in international law. Of particular importance in the context of the rules of international investment law, it will be pointed out that a methodology for approaching the rights of indigenous peoples must be based on equal concern for the protection and promotion of the rights and interests of indigenous peoples to land and resources.
  • Non-party access to court documents and the open justice principle

    Harvey, Ana Koprivica (SSRN, 2019-08-05)
    On the 29th July 2019, the UK Supreme Court rendered a unanimous, eagerly awaited, judgement in the case of Cape Intermediate Holdings Ltd v Dring. Broadly speaking, the case concerned the scope and operation of the constitutional principle of open justice. More precisely, the questions before the Court were how much of the written material placed before a court in a civil action should be accessible to persons other than the parties to the proceedings, and how such access should be facilitated. The judgment is significant for at least two reasons. On the one hand, it provides an extensive analysis of the court’s power to allow third parties access to court documents under the constitutional principle of open justice. In so doing, the judgment revisits the contents of the open justice principle and its application in the context of modern, predominantly written-based, civil proceedings. On the other, the judgment provides certain guidance on the circumstances in which a third party may obtain access to court documents and, to some extent, clarifies the type of documents that may in principle be obtained. As a result, the judgment largely opens third party access to the court files that have been under the exclusive purview of the court and the parties.
  • Open justice: the role of courts in a democratic society

    Hess, Burkhard; Harvey, Ana Koprivica (Nomos, 2019-12-31)
  • Open justice: what role for courts in modern societies?

    Harvey, Ana Koprivica (Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, 2019-12-30)
  • Public and media access to courtrooms: international courts and tribunals

    Harvey, Ana Koprivica (Oxford University Press, 2019-02-28)
  • Right to a fair trial in civil law cases

    Koprivica, Ana (Oxford University Press, 2018-03-31)
  • Refugee family reunification in the UK: challenges and prospects

    Borelli, Silvia; Gualco, Elena; Cameron, Fiona; Zugno, Claudia; British Red Cross/Families Together Programme; University of Bedfordshire (University of Bedfordshire/Families Together, 2021-08-31)
    Separation from family members during forced displacement and flight can have devastating consequences on the well-being of refugees and their ability to integrate within the new host community. Family reunification – broadly defined as the process by which refugees and other beneficiaries of international protection are able to be reunited with their family members – is of paramount importance in ensuring that the right to family life of refugees is respected. Refugee family reunification also plays a crucial role as an instrument of protection, through which vulnerable family members – most often women and children – who may themselves be in danger due to their association with a refugee can be brought to safety. The right of refugees to family reunification is recognised at the international level, and international bodies underline that States are under a duty to provide accessible and effective family reunification procedures which allow for the swift reunification of refugee families. In the United Kingdom, the legal and policy framework regulating family reunification for refugees and beneficiaries of humanitarian protection has been the subject of extensive debate – and criticism – for some years. Common concerns raised by refugees, refugee support charities and independent observers include the restrictive rules on eligibility, the unnecessarily burdensome nature of the application process, the lack of free qualified legal support and the unpredictability of the decision-making process. This report aims to contribute to this debate by providing a comprehensive assessment of the UK legal framework relating to refugee family reunification and its implementation in practice, including the position in respect of legal aid, and the availability of qualified assistance in making applications for family reunification. The overall purpose of the report is to make recommendations aimed at ensuring that the UK framework is fully compliant with the UK’s international obligations, and to improve the effectiveness and fairness of the UK family reunification system in practice.
  • Protection of individuals hors de combat: convergence of international humanitarian law and international human rights law

    Borelli, Silvia; Laufer, Helin; University of Bedfordshire; King’s College London (Springer, 2022-01-01)
    The principle that persons who are not, or are no longer, taking part in hostilities cannot be attacked or harmed represents one of the cornerstones of international humanitarian law. This principle is embodied by the protections afforded under international humanitarian law to individuals who are hors de combat, which apply in both international and non-international armed conflicts. Alongside the extensive protections envisaged by international humanitarian law, individuals who have fallen into enemy hands during an armed conflict also enjoy a range of substantive and procedural protections under international human rights law. The present chapter provides an overview of the relevant protections under the two systems, highlighting similarities and differences between the protections applicable under both systems, and their interaction. In doing so, it provides a critical assessment of the extent to which the protections arising under international human rights law apply to combatants who are in the power of the adverse party, and the extent to which they extend beyond those afforded under international humanitarian law.
  • Channel crossings and deaths at sea: managing irregular migration and the need for safe and legal routes to protection

    Borelli, Silvia; ; University of Bedfordshire (federalismi.it, 2022-01-17)
    The recent marked increase in numbers of individuals attempting to cross the English Channel on small boats is at the centre of the current debate on immigration in the United Kingdom. This paper provides an overview of the measures recently proposed or adopted to counter the phenomenon and assesses their legality under international law. It argues that the creation of safe and legal routes to protection is the most appropriate way to accommodate both the UK’s legitimate interests in limiting irregular migration by sea, and its humanitarian obligations towards vulnerable migrants.
  • Does accommodating solidarity in EU asylum law require a paradigm shift? from solidarity despite asylum seekers to solidarity towards asylum seekers

    Gualco, Elena; ; University of Bedfordshire (Federalismi, 2022-01-17)
    Acknowledging the central role of solidarity within the architecture of the EU, the paper investigates the internal and external dimension of solidarity. In order to evaluate the EU commitment towards its accommodation, the paper investigates how solidarity has been embedded into the CEAS and under the provisions of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Once pointed out that solidarity – despite being a universal value – is mostly intended for the benefit of EU States, the paper advocates for a paradigm change where the focus of EU asylum legislation ceases to be the affected State(s) but rather becomes the affected individuals.
  • The breach of a treaty: state responses in international law

    Xiouri, Maria; University of Bedfordshire (Brill/Nijhoff, 2021-03-11)
    In The Breach of a Treaty: State Responses in International Law, Maria Xiouri examines the relationship between responses to the breach of a treaty according to the law of treaties and the law of State responsibility, namely, between the termination of the treaty or the suspension of its operation and countermeasures. Based on extensive analysis of State practice, the relevant legal instruments, international case law and literature, the book critically examines the concept of responses to the breach of a treaty, their legal regime and their operation in practice. It focuses on suspension of the operation of a treaty and countermeasures, challenging the prevailing view that there is a clear distinction between them, and argues that the former has been effectively superseded by the latter.
  • Organising for women's emancipation: challenges and pitfalls

    Schwabenland, Christina; Lange, Chris; Onyx, Jenny (Deutsches Zentralinstitut für soziale Fragen, 2020-08-31)
    The oppression and devaluing of women is a significant problem all over the. world. Exploring forms of gender oppression as well as different kinds of responses by civil society organisations is at the core of this article. Women have persistently struggled for their rights and emancipation: in social movements, wormen's organisations and by challenging discrimination in organisations employing both women and men. But their success is often limited due to deep-seated cultural patriarchal norms.
  • Pushing back against push-backs: a right of entry for asylum seekers unlawfully prevented from reaching Italian territory

    Borelli, Silvia; University of Bedfordshire (Società Editrice il Mulino, 2020-03-10)
    A decision of a civil court in Rome has reaffirmed the illegality of ‘push-back’ operations under both Italian and international law. In a noteworthy and innovative development, the court further held that, in light of the fact that the claimants had been wrongfully prevented from reaching Italian territory, they had a subjective right as a matter of Italian constitutional law to be admitted to Italy so as to be able to make an application for international protection. The decision has potentially far-reaching implications for future cases before the Italian courts in the field of migration, and may also pave the way for similar findings at the international level.

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