On Wednesday 6th December, the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus resolution A/C.6/79/L.16 submitted by the UNGA Sixth Committee (here). Based on this resolution, the UNGA has decided to ‘elaborate and conclude a legally binding instrument on the protection of persons in the event of disasters, without prejudice to the legal effects of any particular provisions contained therein, by the end of 2027 at the latest’ (OP 4). With its adoption, the UNGA has thus paved the way for negotiations on a universal treaty on the international legal framework relevant to disasters, based on the draft articles of the International Law Commission (ILC DAs) adopted in 2016. This contribution will focus on the long journey of the ILC DAs towards a treaty, the next steps and the legal issues that will be at the centre of the upcoming negotiations among States. A long way from the 2004 tsunami to the future treaty…
Disaster Law
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Can the ECHR Encompass the Transnational and Intertemporal Dimensions of Climate Harm?
The irreversible harm caused by greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) transcends national borders and time, challenging traditional concepts of law. In this blog post, we discuss the applicability of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to these overarching consequences of climate change, based on new reports issued by the European Network of National Human Rights…
Editorial – A Modest Proposal on Zoom Teaching
No preliminaries are necessary here. One result of Covid-19 has been a shift to online teaching by Zoom (or similar platforms). In some law faculties all teaching is online. In most faculties most teaching is online with some hybrid teaching, and in a few (privileged) places in-person teaching remains viable. It is also a commonplace that…
The Legal Duty to Cooperate amid COVID-19: A Missed Opportunity?
The unprecedented effects of COVID-19 have encouraged cooperation and commitment among different States to fight the pandemic and combat its socio-economic impacts. For example, on April 2, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution calling for ‘intensified international cooperation to contain, mitigate and defeat the pandemic’, while the G20 had earlier…
Zooming Through the Bad Times
Zoom government? Zoom Security Council? Zoombombing and trolls? Here's some Ella Fitzgerald and the prescient Gershwins on zooming through the bad times, to help lighten your day:…
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