Journal articles on the topic 'Pacific settlement of international issues'

Abstract This article summarizes and analyzes the main issues addressed at the 7th Asia-Pacific/Arctic Maritime Security Forum held in Halifax, Canada in Fall 2019. Experts attending this forum discussed issues such as a regional maritime security overview of the South China Sea, East China Sea, Indian Ocean and the Arctic, best practices of regional ocean governance models, maritime dispute settlement practices, maritime law enforcement, and marine environmental issues. A proposal was put forward on international cooperation with regard to maritime security, ocean governance and ocean capacity building.

INTERNATIONAL COMMISSIONS OF INQUIRY ON THE MODERN SYSTEM OF PACIFIC SETTLEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES Summary What are the basic characteristics of international inquiry as a separate procedure, distinguishing it from other methods of settlement? In the first place, the agency conducting the inquiry is an international commission usually containing some impartial members of a third party, providing a “neutral” element; occasionally, an equal number of representatives of both parties compose a commission. Secondly, the final effort of the commission, which is a report, has no binding effect. The procedures thus fall into a category of non-obligatory or advisory methods along with negotiations and conciliation. A third characteristic is that the task of the commission is confined to an elucidation of the facts and the issue. If it is authorized to endeavor to effect a settlement either by presenting recommendations in the report or to the parties directly during the course of its work, it no longer remains exclusively a commission of inquiry but becomes instead a commission of inquiry and conciliation. The article discusses the origins of international fact-finding and the most characteristic cases of activities of international commissions of inquiry, established under the Hague Conventions and other instruments adopted by international organizations after the I World War.

From 26 to 29 June the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries convened at the premisses of the Peace Palace in The Hague to discuss the issue of peace and the rule of law in international affairs. This meeting was the start of a campaign for aDecade of International Law. This was the first occasion that an extraordinary ministerial conference of the Non-Aligned Movement was not held in one of its member countries. The Hague was chosen to underline the historic ties between this city and the (early) development of international law. This year it will be 90 years ago that the First Hague Peace Conference was held on the initiative of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia. This conference (together with the Second Hague Peace Conference of 1907) became a landmark in the history of the codification of international law and especially the development of mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of international disputes between states. The two most important conventions that were adopted at that conference were the Convention with Respect to the Law and Customs of War on Land and the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes.

Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) poses significant challenges in respect of tobacco control, public health, human rights, and sustainable development. Two landmark ISDS rulings provide procedural and substantive guidance on the interaction between ISDS and tobacco control. The ISDS action by Philip Morris against Uruguay in respect to graphic health warnings raised important procedural and substantive issues. The ISDS matter between Philip Morris and Australia over the plain packaging of tobacco products highlighted matters in respect of abuse of process. In the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), there was a special exclusion for tobacco control measures in respect of ISDS. There was also a larger discussion about the role of general public health exceptions. In the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), there was a debate about the application of ISDS to intellectual property rights. In the European Union, there has been discussion of the creation of an international investment court. In the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), there has even been calls to abolish ISDS clauses altogether from both Republicans and Democrats. This article concludes there is a need to protect tobacco control measures implementing the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control 2013 from further investor and trade challenges.

The article researches the position of the United States on the issue of naval arms restriction in the early 20-ies of the XX century. There are outlined causes, the course and the consequences of the intensification of Washington’s naval activity during the investigated period. It is explored the process of formation and implementation of the US initiatives to limit naval weapons before and during the Washington Peace Conference of 1921–1922. The role of the USA in the settlement of foreign policy contradictions between the leading countries of the world in the early 20-ies of the XX century is analyzed. In the early 20’s of the XX century there have been some changes in the international relations system and the role of the USA in it. Despite the isolation stance taken by Washington, the White House continues its policy of «open doors» and «equal opportunities», promoting the elimination of unequal agreements between foreign countries with China, and attempts to influence the position of European countries and Japan in the naval contest issues and limitation of naval weapons. Taking full advantages, which were giving the United States’ the richest country and world creditor status, the US Department of State has stepped up its US impact in the Asia-Pacific region. The new Republican administration succeeded in offsetting the failures of the Paris Decisions of 1919–1920 and began to СУМСЬКА СТАРОВИНА 2019 №LIV 75 construct a new model of international relations in which the United States would occupy a leading position. The success of US diplomacy at the Washington Peace Conference of 1921– 1922 contributed to this. However, the conflict between the former allies within the Entente was only smoothed out and not settled. The latter has led to increasing US capital expansion into Europe due to the significant economic growth in the country. Despite the fact that the Republicans’ achievements in US foreign policy on local issues have been much more specific than trying to solve the problem of a new system of international relations globally, these achievements have been rather relative. Leading countries in the world were still making concessions to the White House on separate issues, but in principle they were not ready to accept the scheme of relations offered by the States. That is why American foreign policy achievements have been impermanent. Key words: the

Ten years after its endorsement by the un General Assembly, the operationalisation of the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) concept faces challenges of consistency and capacity. Too often, global politics at the world’s premier intergovernmental body, the un, hampers effective action. Regional arrangements have a crucial role to play in this regard, however, questions of capacity to live up to this expectation remain. The Peace and Security Council (psc) of the African Union (au), mandated to implement the African Peace and Security Architecture (apsa) has primarily focused on developing the African Standby Force (asf), which the au succeeded in bringing to its ‘Full Operational Capability’ (foc) in December 2015 for implementation. Deploying the asf in deserving cases, for instance in Burundi in 2016, raises issues of sovereign consent, risks and costs. To avoid these complexities, this article argues that regional arrangements under Chapter viii are primarily pacific tools of the Security Council; focusing on harnessing these peaceful mechanisms of conflict prevention offers potential for consistent and effective ‘first responses’ to crises, with fewer complications. Regional arrangements as mediation tools present great opportunity for peaceful settlement of local disputes. Support for mediation is typically by peace operations. This article proposes that mediation support by a ‘preventive arbitration’ tool through ‘popular participation’ under the African Governance Architecture (aga) may have a pivotal role in this respect. Therefore, a regional responsibility to protect, through greater mediation, requires mediating challenges of governance in Africa.

Living in the shadow of the United Nations and paralysed by the superpowers for much of the post-World War II period, few regional organizations have lived a celebrated life. Few issues proved as divisive and contentious at the drafting of the United Nations Charter as the UN's future relationship to regional organizations. If some at San Francisco believed that the future global organization might be assisted by several regional pillars, the ‘Wilsonian tendency to identify regionalism with war-breeding competitive alliances survived’, and most who were present at the creation were determined to ensure that the future global organization had seniority and superiority over any present or future regional organization. Although Chapter VIII of the UN Charter did stake out a potential role for regional organizations, including the possibility that they might prevent conflicts from being referred to the Security Council, the language adopted reflected the contentious and unresolved nature of the proceedings: ‘The Security Council shall encourage the development of pacific settlements of local disputes through such regional arrangements or by such regional agencies either on the initiative of the states concerned or by reference from the Security Council.’ The subsequent forty-five years suggests that the UN found only limited use for regional organizations.

AbstractThe proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs) which share similar ideals with the World Trade Organization (WTO) has added to claims of disintegration within international trade law. Notwithstanding the ambiguity surrounding the reading of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XXIV on RTAs, WTO members are continuously negotiating RTAs with objectives which have so far not received universal acceptance under the WTO treaty system. In the context of European Union (EU)-Africa trade relations, the December 2007 EU-Africa summit was expected to be an appropriate venue for leaders from both sides to resolve the controversy surrounding the idea of development-friendly free trade agreements between the contracting parties. But, the summit was wrapped up without achieving any clear answer to this issue. Similarly, at the multilateral level, i.e. the WTO Doha Development Round negotiations, which the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States have sponsored, numerous development-friendly proposals on RTAs stalled since July 2006. Consequently, in view of this controversy, if development concerns can be factored into economic partnership agreements (EPAs), what would be an acceptable threshold for such RTAs to conform to GATT Article XXIV requirements of “substantially all trade” and “reasonable period of time”? This paper discusses the idea of development and WTO compatibility in the context of the EU-Africa Economic Partnership negotiations. In view of the flawed dispute settlement provisions under the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA), the paper further tries to answer the question of whether the CPA contains rights and obligations that need protection by individual EU member courts and may necessarily be enforced before the European Court of Justice. The paper ends with some thoughts on the post-EPAs adjustment programme.

The relations between South Korea and North Korea were improved in 2018 on the basis of the Sunshine policy ideational platform and the inter-Korean agreements reached between the two countries under the progressive administrations of Kim Dae-jung in 2000 and Roh Moohyun in 2007. However, inter-Korean relations had been at a lull since the US-North Korea summit in Hanoi in February 2019 despite the intentions of the parties to develop diverse forms of cooperation. After that, the month of June saw a severe deterioration in the Inter-Korean relations. The aim of this article is to analyze the inter-Korean relations and the North Korean policies of the South Korean governments from 1998 to 2020 as well as explain the reasons behind Seoul’s inability to make progress in dialogue with Pyongyang. South Korea’s prioritizing of its ties with the United States as well as its increased dependence on the United States were the main reason behind the stagnation of inter-Korean relations. Under the international regime of sanctions against the DPRK, Moon Jae-In has failed to put the Sunshine policy into practice, for instance, re-open Kaesong Industrial Complex and Mount Kumgang tourism zone. The fact that inter-Korean economic cooperation was actually still linked to the denuclearization of the DPRK also had a negative impact on the prospects for maintaining the positive dynamics of inter-Korean relations. The exacerbation of inter-Korean relations in June 2020 showed that in the absence of practical inter-Korean cooperation and with the continuing deadlock in the US-North Korean negotiations on the nuclear issue, Pyongyang is not interested in normalizing relations with Seoul and it can concentrate on relations with the United States. At the same time, the intensifying confrontation between China and the United States in the Asia-Pacific region is not conducive to a political settlement of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and it can potentially lead to an aggravation of inter-Korean relations.

Welcome to the first issue of Public Communication Review for 2012. There have been some delays in publishing this second volume because of changes to roles and the teaching and research commitments of editorial staff, which academics will understand. We apologise to authors whose work has been delayed and we are working on speeding up the review and publication process. This issue did not have a pre-planned theme, but two important perspectives on issue management and crisis communication are provided. In the first, we have given more space than the usual article length to an analysis of a major crisis at a university in Europe. While this occurred a few years ago, the article by Martial Pasquier and Etienne Fivat from the Institut de Hautes Études en Administration Publique (the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration – IDHEAP) provides a forensic analysis of a crisis unfolding, the actions taken by management (and desirable actions not taken), and the repercussions and effects that continued long after the initial incident. The article provides a ‘thick description’ of actions and thinking inside a crisis, as well as media and public reactions, and is informative for organisations and their communication staff. The second perspective on this theme is provided by an experienced Australian practitioner in a professional article. Tony Jaques has a long career working in issue management consulting, along with some academic teaching, and he provides salutary reminders of how crises often arise out of issues that are poorly handled or not addressed at all by management. Tony also explores the future of issue management including evolution from reactive responses to a proactive form of agenda-setting and framing by governments and policy-makers, the impact of social media, the relationship between issue management and crisis management, and the positioning of issue management within organisations. Before these two thematically related articles, this issue presents an analysis of a recent health communication campaign. In our lead article, Deborah Wise and Melanie James from the University of Newcastle in Australia use discourse analysis to examine one particular element of the communication campaign to promote use of a vaccine that prevents the development of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Types 16 and 18 which cause 70 per cent of cervical cancers. In a similarly detailed approach to that of Pasquier and Fivat, Wise and James analyse one brochure using discourse analysis to explore its text and visual content, paying attention to framing, presuppositions, register, modality, foregrounding and backgrounding of particular issues or themes, as well as omissions (what is not said). Their sentence-by-sentence analysis contributes understanding of the techniques of discourse analysis and illustrates the role and importance of deep knowledge to achieve effective communication through an information resource such as a brochure. This issue also includes an article based on a paper presented to the Third International PR History conference in Bournemouth, UK in 2011 by Robert Crawford and the editor. While being circumspect about publishing our own work, this article addresses an important gap in Australian PR scholarship – the lack of a comprehensive localised history of the development of public relations practice and the role and influence of PR socially, culturally and politically. Hence, the title refers to an ‘outside in’ perspective, noting that most PR histories to date have been written about PR for PR. This article examines a significant national cultural event, Australia Day, to identify how it was established, maintained in spite of opposition over many decades, repositioned to adapt to a changing social, cultural and political environment, and finally institutionalised with the Bicentenary celebrations of European settlement (1988) and celebrations for the new millennium. This article prompts us to issue a reminder to our readers to submit articles, tell your colleagues about Public Communication Review, and refer your students to the free online site – http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/pcr. As a ‘young’ journal, we do need to attract more quality submissions to achieve our goals of promoting scholarship across the diverse field of public communication and contributing to the dissemination of research in Australia and Asia Pacific. So please spread the word. And we hope you find the work of authors published in this issue informative and stimulating. Jim Macnamara Editor March 2012

The author uses a variety of examples to explore international dispute settlement processes and to provide some suggestions for improvement. These examples, drawing on the author's own career and New Zealand's developing role in the international community, include the Rainbow Warrior affair, nuclear testing issues, the Gaza Flotilla inquiry and experiences at the International Whaling Commission.

AbstractThe duty of states to settle their disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law is emphasized in a number of important provisions enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations (UN) and state practices. Adjudication is one among a range of existing means of pacific settlement of disputes. This article analyzes the role of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in pacific settlement of international disputes. It critically examines judicial settlement of armed conflicts, taking the ICJ decision in the Case Concerning Armed Activities in the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo v. Uganda) as a focal point. The main argument of the author is that while the adjudicatory role of the ICJ as the principal judicial organ of the UN is a crucial method in the pacific settlement of international disputes, it is unlikely to suit armed conflicts situations. Jurisdictional limitations of the ICJ in adjudication of armed conflicts situations is pointed out. The article points to the preclusion of the Court from adjudicating the other cases brought by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) against Rwanda and Burundi as an illustration of such limitations. It, however, stresses that the very outcome of the 2005 ICJ decision in the Democratic Republic of Congo v. Uganda case is another clear example of such shortcomings. Without getting into detailed discussions of theories of compliance with international law, the article further discusses the question of compliance with the current ICJ decision in the light of previous state practices. Since there are no established enforcement mechanisms in the international system akin to those in national legal systems, the question whether decisions of international judicial bodies (the ICJ in this case) are complied with remains at the mercy of condemned states. In the final analyses, the author points to the current weaknesses and limitations of the international legal system as a whole in the administration of justice.

Historians have examined the Japanese peace settlement of 1951 in a variety of ways. A few have treated it as an episode in the ongoing evolution of the structure of international relations in the Pacific and East Asia. Most have focused on the interaction between the principal victor, the United States, and vanquished Japan, weighing the negotiating successes and failures of each and assessing the impact of the settlement on subsequent Japanese-American relations. Recently still other historians have exploited newly available archival materials to analyze the role middle-range powers such as Australia and Britain played in shaping the 1951 peace treaty. While this research has revealed a great deal about the San Francisco peace settlement, it has left unexplored the part small powers played in a major restructuring of the Pacific/East Asian international order.

AIDS, like plagues throughout human history, has been blamed repeatedly on foreigners. This has heightened ramifications, from the personal to the geopolitical, in an era of escalating population movement and rapid international travel. By the end of 1990, the World Health Organization had estimated that the total number of AIDS cases worldwide was close to 1.3 million1. Recent estimates suggest that by the year 2000, 38-100 million adults and over 10 million children will have been infected with HIV2. Seventy-five to eighty-five percent of that number will be from the developing world. AIDS has rapidly become pandemic, with wide-ranging consequences for humankind. Human population movement is an important component in the natural history of AIDS. With respect to this, a central consideration is the relationship between AIDS and international travel, especially tourism. In this paper, after reviewing HTV in the Asia-Pacific region, we present the epidemiology of HIV in the Pacific Islands, discuss its impact with particular reference to population movement, and explore some of the specific challenges that the Pacific Island region faces.

Yoshifumi Tanaka is a Professor of International Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen. He has published widely in the fields of the law of the sea and international environmental law. I had a profound admiration for Tanaka’s writings, particularly in law of the sea subjects. He has a compelling method in deliberating issues comprehensively but still convenient to digest, especially for academicians, practitioners, and law students (postgraduate). Settlement of International Dispute is considered as a foundation of the establishment and the development of International Law. Accordingly, there are plenty of books and writings had published addressing similar topic, however, Tanaka’s book is distinctive. Tanaka successfully gives the reader an exhaustive and extensive analysis of the procedures for dispute settlement both in traditional means and newly development. In addition, He complemented figures and tables to give the reader a comprehensive understanding.

Yoshifumi Tanaka is a Professor of International Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen. He has published widely in the fields of the law of the sea and international environmental law. I had a profound admiration for Tanaka’s writings, particularly in law of the sea subjects. He has a compelling method in deliberating issues comprehensively but still convenient to digest, especially for academicians, practitioners, and law students (postgraduate). Settlement of International Dispute is considered as a foundation of the establishment and the development of International Law. Accordingly, there are plenty of books and writings had published addressing similar topic, however, Tanaka’s book is distinctive. Tanaka successfully gives the reader an exhaustive and extensive analysis of the procedures for dispute settlement both in traditional means and newly development. In addition, He complemented figures and tables to give the reader a comprehensive understanding.

The article discusses issues related to the settlement of disputes within the framework of the World Trade Organization, as well as assesses the advantages and disadvantages of this system. The specific problems of the dispute settlement system functioning today are considered, and options for optimizing the dispute resolution mechanism and various ways to improve the effectiveness of legal remedies in cases of non-compliance with decisions are proposed. Special attention is paid to the latest topical disputes involving the Russian Federation, the European Union, Ukraine, China and USA resolved within the framework of the World Tr ade Organization, as well as to the crisis faced by the organization due to the absence of a permanent appeals body.

International standards provide for protection of the family as the fundamental unit of society. However, a consequent right to family reunification for migrants is not sanctioned and continues to be resisted. This article reviews the formulation of the possibility for family reunification as provided for in international and regional standards and by migration policies. It argues that family separation, if inherent in some forms of migration, should not be institutionalized by migration policies and that state sovereignty is limited when dealing with human rights. More specifically it argues that labor migration, as currently developing in Asia, will require appropriate family reunification policies, because it will evolve into some form of settlement.

The 1994 Uruguay Round revision of the dispute settlement mechanism under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO) has made it a forum both for traditional trade issues and for interests ranging from environmental protection to national security. The limits of GATT jurisdiction have become important issues of dispute settlement within the WTO, especially as the emergence of the WTO and its rule-based, quasi-obligatory dispute settlement system has spurred a significant shift toward legalism. Constitutional structures are developing much faster in international trade law than in any other area of international law and, in the aftermath of the Uruguay Round, are integrating ever more aspects of economic relations among states. Within the WTO regime the dispute settlement mechanism established by the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) plays a prominent role in enforcing its rules and reconciling a wide array of the members’ interests. The limits of the reach of the dispute settlement mechanism, given its obligatory character, are, to a certain degree, the limits of the constitutionalization of the organization as a whole.

Purpose Over the past two decades, the application of most-favoured-nation (MFN) clauses in international investment agreements (IIAs) to dispute settlement matters has generated controversy. The purpose of this paper is to help resolve some of the controversies by examining the rule of law issues that may arise from such application of MFN. Design/methodology/approach The study describes controversies regarding the application of MFN to dispute settlement as per the extant literature on the subject. It explores the elements of rule of law in investor-state arbitration. The paper then analyses the implications of applying MFN to dispute settlement matters for the elements of rule of law. Based on such analysis, the study argues that the application of MFN to dispute settlement matters undermines certain elements of rule of law. Findings The paper has outlined the relevant elements of rule of law in investor-state arbitration as access to dispute settlement; judicial (or tribunal) independence, fairness and impartiality; consistency and predictability of law and decisions; transparency; accountability and subjection of dispute forums and systems to law. It found that the application of MFN undermines various components of rule of law, in particular of consistency and predictability and the requirement of tribunals to adjudicate within the limits of the law. Originality/value The findings of this study will help future investor-state arbitral tribunals to decide on the application of MFN to dispute settlement matters.

AbstractThis is the latest in a series of annual surveys in this Journal reviewing dispute settlement in the law of the sea, both under Part XV of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and outside the framework of the Convention. It covers developments during 2018. The most significant developments during the year were the judgment of the International Court of Justice in Costa Rica v. Nicaragua, delimiting the maritime boundaries between the two States’ overlapping maritime zones in both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean; the report of the Conciliation Commission concerning maritime boundary arrangements between Timor-Leste and Australia; and the findings of a dispute settlement body of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization.

Conflicts have been a constant phenomenon in history both between groups in the archaic communities as well as between global societies and in the international community in general. Although due to the escalation of regional and internal conflicts in the 1990s the prevention and settlement of social conflicts has become a significant topic for the political and theoretical discussions in most cases the applied modalities and the conflict settlement strategies have proved to be inefficient, while the national and super-national arrangements have been helpless. The authors point to the latest strategic options in the conflict prevention. They analyse the issues related to the civilising and institutionalisation of conflicts as well as the effects of the international mediation and the use of force in their termination.

AbstractFor any foreign investor, protection of their investment is a primary concern in host states. National legislations and BITs usually provide legal security to them so that they can exercise their desired economic freedom in host countries. Without legal safeguards for their investments, they will not be motivated to invest their capital further. Like other host states, generally, the national laws and BITs of Bangladesh provide significant investment protection guarantees. This paper will discuss how far the protection through judicial or arbitral settlement is established in the legal framework and BITs of Bangladesh. Dispute settlement mechanisms in Bangladesh, various ICSID cases involving Bangladesh, and conflicts between Bangladesh and foreign investors are discussed. The paper also covers the issues and challenges of judicial arrangements in Bangladesh, and findings show that dispute settlement arrangements in Bangladesh are not up to international standards and require significant development. Last, recommendations are provided for consideration.

Commentary on Robert Howse's article "WTO Governance and the Doha Round." Debra Steger is Executive in Residence at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law where she is working to establish a new institute for international law, economy and security in Canada. Previously, she was Senior Counsel with Thomas & Partners, a law firm specializing in international trade and investment matters. From 1995-2001, she served as the founding Director of the Appellate Body Secretariat of the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, during which time she helped to establish the Appellate Body as the first appellate tribunal in international trade. She is Chair of the Trade and Customs Law Committee of the International Bar Association, and has been on the executive of the Trade Committee of the International Law Association for the past 10 years. She is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal for International Economic Law. She participates on the Advisory Council of the UNCTAD Project on Building Capacity through Training in Dispute Settlement in International Trade Investment and Intellectual Property as well as the Governing Council of the World Trade Law Association. During the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, she was the Senior Negotiator for Canada on Dispute Settlement and the Establishment of the World Trade Organization as well as the Principal Legal Counsel to the Government of Canada for all of the Uruguay Round agreements. From 1991—1995, she was General Counsel of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal in Ottawa, the agency responsible for administering the antidumping, countervail, safeguards, and government procurement legislation in Canada. Her most recent book is entitled: “Peace Through Trade: Building the WTO” which was published by Cameron May International Legal Publishers in 2004. Steger holds an LL.M. from the University of Michigan Law School, an LL.B. from the University of Victoria Faculty of Law, and a B.A. (Honours) in History from the University of British Columbia.

An East Asian view about how trade dispute settlement systems should be designed is slowly emerging. Democratically-inspired trade law scholarship and cultural explanations of the international law behaviour of the Southeast and Northeast Asian trading nations have failed to capture or prescribe the actual treaty behaviour of these nations. Instead, such behaviour has resulted in the emergence of two different treaty models for the peaceful settlement of trade disputes. The first, which seems firmly established, may be found in ASEAN’s 2004 dispute settlement protocol and the regimes established under the China-ASEAN, Korea-ASEAN, Japan-ASEAN, and ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTAs. A second model, based on the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement, could in time become an alternative model for an Asia-Pacific-wide FTA (i.e., including the East Asian nations within it). It adopts a more open approach; one which better accommodates greater transparency in dispute proceedings. At least for now, the two models coexist, obviating the need for East Asia’s legal policy-makers to choose a clear, dominant design for treaty-based trade dispute settlement in the region. But it also means that East Asia’s trading partners can influence East Asian nations, at least in those trade agreements that—like the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement—involve negotiations with trans-continental partners.

Climate change induced sea-level rise (SLR) is on its increase globally. Regionally the lowlands of China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and islands of the Malaysian, Indonesian and Philippine archipelagos are among the world’s most threatened regions. Sea-level rise has major impacts on the ecosystems and society. It threatens coastal populations, economic activities, and fragile ecosystems as mangroves, coastal salt-marches and wetlands. This paper provides a summary of the current state of knowledge of sea level-rise and its effects on both human and natural ecosystems. The focus is on coastal urban areas and low lying deltas in South-East Asia and Vietnam, as one of the most threatened areas in the world. About 3 mm per year reflects the growing consensus on the average SLR worldwide. The trend speeds up during recent decades. The figures are subject to local, temporal and methodological variation. In Vietnam the average values of 3.3 mm per year during the 1993-2014 period are above the worldwide average. Although a basic conceptual understanding exists that the increasing global frequency of the strongest tropical cyclones is related with the increasing temperature and SLR, this relationship is insufficiently understood. Moreover the precise, complex environmental, economic, social, and health impacts are currently unclear. SLR, storms and changing precipitation patterns increase flood risks, in particular in urban areas. Part of the current scientific debate is on how urban agglomeration can be made more resilient to flood risks. Where originally mainly technical interventions dominated this discussion, it becomes increasingly clear that proactive special planning, flood defense, flood risk mitigation, flood preparation, and flood recovery are important, but costly instruments. 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This article is devoted to a number of issues relating to the functioning of international commercial arbitration as a non-State mechanism for the settlement of international commercial disputes in the Republic of Uzbekistan. In article also found a brief introduction on the history of arbitration in Uzbekistan since its independence. Special attention is paid to the rules introduced since the entry into force of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On international commercial arbitration”. Moreover, the author highlights some problematic issues and inconsistencies that exist in the legislation on legal proceedings in arbitration courts. The author also addresses several issues regarding the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards.

The question of how disputes arising from Brexit are to be resolved, and by which body, is one of the most sensitive issues in the negotiations on the uk’s withdrawal from the European Union and the envisaged future relationship between the uk and the eu. The legal issues related to withdrawal are further magnified in complexity due to the nature of the eu itself, which does not neatly fit into the category of a traditional international organization. The uk has repeatedly stated that it will not accept the continued role of the eu Court of Justice in the uk legal system after withdrawal. Any dispute settlement system must also respect the constitutional requirements of the eu legal order, most notably, by not infringing on the autonomy of eu law. This article discusses some of the various models from international dispute settlement that could be used to inspire a dispute settlement system in the Brexit context. It discusses dispute settlement in the withdrawal agreement and the role of the Court of Justice during and after a transition period. It then discusses the challenges of designing a dispute settlement system for the future relationship agreement. While aspects of these various models could be replicated, there is no dispute settlement system that is fully appropriate to deal with the various complexities and challenges of Brexit. The paper proposes the establishment of a standing international tribunal to resolve disputes arising from Brexit.

This paper offers an analysis of some of the problems arising in those international disputes concerning issues of public international law which do not present any proximate threat to international peace or security. It does so in the context of an examination of procedures for settling disputes over jurisdiction in public international law, disputes of the kind which arose in 1982 when the United States’ right to control—that is, its jurisdiction over—exports from Western Europe to the Soviet Union was challenged by the EEC and its member states. The analysis is also intended to have general relevance to all international legal disputes in which individuals are directly involved as disputants with or alongside states.

Consideration is given of the ‘classical’ view on state responsibility for internationally wrongful acts and the reasons why, at least according to the International Law Commission of the United Nations, this view no longer corresponds to the realities of international legal life. The author then focuses on the novel concept of international crimes of states. Both the constituent elements and the legal consequences of international crimes, as conceived of by the International Law Commission, are discussed. According to the author, without the simultaneous acceptance of compulsory means of pacific settlement, the potentially fruitful concept of international crimes of states might prove disastrous for the international community.

Organisasi Regional diakui oleh PBB sebagai faktor penting dalam memelihara dan menjaga perdamaian dan keamanan internasional. Pada awalnya organisasi Regional berfungsi sebagaisalah satu sarana untuk menyelesaikan secara damai persengketaan internasional (as a means of pacific settlement of international disputes) di samping sarana-sarana lain yang dikenal dalamhukum internasional seperti tersebut dalam Pasal 33 Piagam PBB)

This is the first part of a two part article on the impact of regionalisation on domestic legal systems with reference to Japan. Part I deals with international and regional organisations and their structure. Domestic legal issues in Japan under Asia Pacific regionalism will be examined in Part II, with particular reference to human rights issues and will be published in the next issue of the Yearbook.

Korea’s network of international investment agreements (IIAs), comprising 94 BITs and nine FTAs with investment chapters, demonstrates that attracting foreign investment to Korea and protecting Korean investors overseas has been an important policy aspect. However, little attention was paid to these agreements until 2006 when negotiations for the Korea-United States (KORUS) FTA began. These negotiations sparked public criticism and heated debates of investor-State dispute settlement. Whereas Korea had routinely accepted the IIA provisions presented by developed counter-parties and used them as a template when negotiating with developing economies in the past, Korean IIA practice changed substantially following the KORUS FTA. In the face of heightened public scrutiny, Korea began to critically review key features of its IIAs and developed its own position on some important issues. This article examines these developments, considering that Korea will play a key role in shaping international investment law in the future, particularly in Asia.

This article provides an overview of, and a short comment on the WTO's Rules of Conduct for the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes. After an introduction, the nine articles and three annexes of the Rules are described. Next, some comments are made. The article concludes arguing that some clarifications to the Rules could be made. However, these are not expected to be realised shortly, since there is as yet little or no experience with the Rules. Interpretative issues regarding the Rules appear unlikely to be invoked frequently for fear of impairing the success of the dispute settlement process.

Good social capital development allows for discussions to explore what make a self-sustaining settlement by the locals. This kind of discussions includes the opportunity to speak out and to be part of a development process that involved in the local settlement. However, many issues have been identified towards making sustainable community developments a success, especially in settlement with a high heritage values. This paper seeks to devise solutions to issues identified with regard to development occurred in Kuala Terengganu. Knowledge of these issues may provide a useful guide for future social capital developments in a place with high heritage values. Keywords: sustainability; social capital; local community, heritage, traditional settlement eISSN 2514-751X © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/aje-bs.v4i13.345

AbstractGiven their sheer number and evidence for long-term prehistoric occupation, atolls occupy a unique position in the peopling of the Pacific. However, they have frequently been overlooked in favor of larger islands due to a host of logistical and other issues. Once viewed as marginal environments, current research is now showing that small islands like these may have been more attractive to settlers than once thought. A new research program in Micronesia is dedicated to examining atolls to better develop baseline chronologies and investigate long-term human adaptations. As part of the initial stage of the project, we present the first radiocarbon dates (n=10) from Mwoakilloa (Mokil) atoll, which support a continuous occupation beginning between 1700–1560 cal BP (2σ). When compared to the settlement of other atoll groups in Micronesia such as the Marshall Islands—along with the nearby high volcanic islands of Pohnpei and Kosrae at approximately 2000–1800 yr ago—the dates from Mwoakilloa suggest a nearly contemporaneous or only slightly later occupation. The recovery of faunal material also demonstrates the translocation of at least two animals (Pacific rat and dog) to the island by humans that was coeval with early settlement. Additionally, there is evidence of landscape transformation in the form of a relatively large artificial mound created by debris and platform accumulation unseen elsewhere in central-eastern Micronesia, but common to atolls. These new dates reinforce the notion that Mwoakilloa and other atolls are integral to understanding prehistoric adaptations across the vast Pacific, though many questions still remain such as to the degree of interaction that occurred with nearby islands and whether settlement was continuous or intermittent through time.

Third-party litigation funding is increasingly used to finance legal claims in investor-state dispute settlement, with financiers funding investor claims against sovereign states in exchange for a share of potentially substantial compensation rendered in eventual arbitral awards. A chiefly unregulated phenomenon, third-party funding has been perceived especially controversial in the context of the investment arbitration regime, a system some allege is already ingrained with inequities. Third-party funding raises numerous policy questions, such as conflicts of interests, disclosure, costs of the proceedings, and even the entire permissibility of the practice in investor-state dispute settlement. This review raises various issues and concerns related to third-party funding in investor-state dispute settlement and presents the regulatory efforts and criticism thereof with regards to the reform of rules of both the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.