Revolutionary Approach to International Law

This study discusses the legal status of a remote operator of MASS, and the possibility of granting them status as a ship employee or master under international law. This research argues that the status of seafarer or deemed seafarer should be required for R-level MASS, and the status of master or deemed master with the right to command in matters relating to ship operation be conferred for RU- and A-level MASS. The study presents an expanded notion of seafarers by extending the combination of ship and human elements—concerning seafarers in existing international maritime conventions—to deem remote operators of MASS ship employees. Finally, this study suggests that remote operators be regarded as a human element by perpetuating the notion of the master, retaining their status as the final entity of responsibility for the ship, even if the cutting-edge ICT-based commercialisation of MASS is realised.

The BRI has made substantial contributions to the world economy and the realization of goals of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Because of its unique features: it is a regional economic cooperation initiative for global development and the elimination of poverty; it abides by the principles of the rule of law and democracy; it resorts to soft laws for the building of confidence and consensus for the future formulation of hard laws; it is open to diversified participants, but confined to economic and cultural cooperation, thus avoiding geopolitical and military confrontation. The non-institutionalized, non-systematic approach is rooted in China’s path to successful economic development during its opening-up period but poses challenges to the sustainable success of the BRI. Therefore, China should make efforts to make systematic construction of the BRI legal and institutional system; strictly limit its scope to economic and cultural cooperation; and institutionalize the cooperation mechanism with a diversified dispute settlement mechanism at its core, so that the BRI will bring a brighter future to the world.

It is not easy to detect East Asia’s presence in the field of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), despite its large economy. In addition to having less active foreign direct investment (FDI) relative to gross domestic product (GDP) and fewer investment treaties, East Asian economies and societies seem to possess certain characteristics that have contributed collectively to the dearth of ISDS cases in East Asia. Examples are its short history of international arbitration, the avoidance of litigation, the high proportion of state-owned enterprises in outward FDI from China, and the concentration of FDI in industries in which investor-state disputes are less likely to occur. This trend, however, is likely to change gradually with the ongoing socioeconomic changes in the region, including the increase in both outward and inward FDI, the increasing number of investment treaties, the growing familiarity with international (investment) arbitration among legal experts, the diversification of FDI, and the decreasing fear of administrative litigation.

The collective social purpose and the idea of justice derived from the desire for equality in opportunity, one of the oldest political ideals that have been pursued by reformists and initiated numerous social movements. Inequality can manifest in different ways, but the lack of equal access to resources for development is a key factor and can lead to other forms of inequality. Developed economies based on science and technology hold more sway in international politics than developing and underdeveloped countries. Hence, equal access to science and technology is crucial in determining political power. The chapter explores theories of distributive justice to guide science and technology policies and suggests the need for an international framework to ensure equal opportunity in scientific advancement for all people. This framework can be achieved through utilizing different aspects of international law for just science and technology development.

The War on Terror launched by the US against Islamic terrorist groups persisted through the Bush–Obama–Trump administrations for nearly 20 years before President Biden completely withdrew the US forces from Afghanistan by the end of August 2021. These military interventions are noticeable examples of American unilateralism in the Middle East. The War on Terror has been severely criticized by the global community as military actions without just cause and lacking grounds under international law. This research aims to critically evaluate the War on Terror in terms of legal and political theories of war now that twenty years of American unilateralism in the Middle East is over. In this article, the author examines other underlying reasons for, and the outcomes of, the war against terrorist groups. He will also suggest peaceful means to fundamentally resolve the Middle East conflict with a view to preventing war in other world regions.

Global warming is a result of human influence. However, little has been done to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to a safe level. It is an important factor for such a dismal state of affairs that the international community has emphasized far too much on the State-centric approach to combating climate change. The international legal regime does not directly control major emitters or MNCs. This article recognizes the atmosphere as a part of the global commons and the “atmospheric absorptive capacity” as the common heritage of mankind. Therefore, we can pave the way to link international climate change regime and MNCs. Those common interests of the international community can be protected when MNCs turn their production processes green, by redirecting their investment into green technology, and try to alter the negative status quo.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents various questions concerning international law and states’ domestic laws affected by this global pandemic. One of the legal issues amid COVID-19 pandemic is the state immunity principle. Many lawsuits against foreign states have challenged the state immunity principle amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In Thailand, the Chiangmai Provincial Court (court) addressed in its judgement that it did not have jurisdiction to adjudicate the compensation for COVID-19 pandemic’s damages dispute between a Thai restaurant owner and the United States (US). Notwithstanding surrounding controversies over COVID-19 pandemic, the court considered the motion denied. The main implication of the judgement is that Thailand accepted the state immunity principle under customary international law. This research briefly explains the sovereign immunity doctrine relating to this case, summarises the facts, and analyses the potential ramifications of this judgement under international law.

The One Belt One Road (OBOR) plan is a top-level developmental project primarily designed to enhance infrastructure output and investment cooperation. OBOR participating countries represent more than one third of the global GDP. It has a far-reaching impact on transnational trade and investment. The said project has been intended to promote capital flows, trade connections, investment infrastructure, and extended coordination among member states. The OBOR is also giving birth to numerous disputes among the investors and host states, consequently requiring an efficient system for dispute resolution. Therefore, a well-organized system for dispute resolution has become vital for the success of the initiative. The OBOR development is going to bring a revolution in dispute settlement system which is necessary to settle disputes arising out of it. This chapter discusses the OBOR as an agent of revolution in international dispute resolution specifically in the area of Investor-v-State disputes. It points out the existing arrangements for dispute resolution and the way forward.

The United States’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) introduces new eligibility requirements for the existing USD 7,500 tax credit provided to electric vehicles. The new requirements condition the credit upon North American final assembly and North American-sourced materials and components. As tensions flare between the US and China, these new local content requirements reflect the US’s effort to establish a supply chain for electric vehicles that circumvents China. The blow, however, is felt elsewhere, namely by South Korean auto makers whose electric vehicle models are no longer eligible for the significant tax credit necessary to compete in the American market. As South Korea considers submitting a complaint to relevant international bodies, this paper dissects the IRA’s relevant provisions and analyzes the applicability of international trade law rules of the WTO and the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement to the new local content requirements of the IRA.

The recent surge of multijurisdictional IP disputes and the increase in non-binding soft laws have made scholars cast doubt on the sustainability of public international law and the validity of the current IP legal system. Private lawyers may now think that they do not have to pay keen attention to public international law any longer when providing legal advice to their clients, particularly MNCs. This study makes a concise description of today’s legal environment in the field of IP, focusing on the emerging legal norms of transnational law, particularly in the context of its interplay with public international law. With respect to this, the ongoing and even heightened roles of public international law will be discussed. Finally, a typology is suggested using exponents to express the intensity of State sovereignty to facilitate understanding of the relationship between public international law and other categories of law.

Law t reacts to the progression of scientific technology in the end. Though conservative, changes are beginning to take place due to Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is automating conventional legal works, creating a new industry namely Legal Tech. This paper investigates the characteristics and flow of legal AI and computational law while focusing on the applicability of AI to international law. Mainly, the paper reviews three critical areas: dispute resolution, trial prediction, and machine translation, respectively. International law has different characteristics than domestic law applied in each country. Unlike domestic law, international law has not been aggregated from a pandect, and it is a still daunting task to draw any meaningful insights for further analysis due mainly to limited data (i.e., trial cases and precedents). Nevertheless, AI is already penetrating the legal ecology system, and international law would eventually accept the influx of such changes exhibiting greater force.

Anthropological approaches in international law have been ignored for centuries. The main area of interest is to emphasize indigenous peoples and account for their vulnerabilities in the development of international law. However, shifting from the ideology behind the concept of international law to global law is a crucial debate, for example, global human rights law, global criminal law, global administrative law, global environmental law, global health law, and the law of global governance. This chapter officially considers revitalizing anthropological approaches for rethinking and relearning the international legal spaces. Moreover, it provides a comprehensive understanding of global legal pluralism in terms of the widely accepted current development of global legal thinking and pedagogies. Overall, this chapter provides an introduction to transforming the global concept of justice.

For states Party to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP) negotiation seems a bit of an opportunity missed, for not taking the appropriate lead in including innovative and specific procedures for state-to-state dispute settlement. Even during the bilateral FTA negotiation minimal time and effort are generally spent on this part of the FTA negotiation. It was generally discussed within “rules” negotiation. The lack of attention on dispute settlement procedures for state-to-state disputes during any FTA negotiations has created stagnation. CPTPP is not untouched by such inertia. Despite the long and secretive negotiations, state-to-state dispute settlement did not take the center stage as the focus of the discussions, at least outside, was mainly centered on the investor–state dispute resolution system. Therefore, one can surmise that CPTPP exemplifies yet another lost opportunity in the development of dispute settlement procedures, which could better shape this system for the future or at least, serve as an example for other FTAs.

State’s urge to make attribution ensues the suffering from prior foreign malicious cyber operations. Helpful in understanding such attribution practice are three commonly recognized dimensions, respectively, from technical, political, and legal perspectives. Compared to confidentially processed attribution, to publicly blame a state should be better substantiated. But as legal deficiencies in the current body of international law, apart from also some technical obstacles, cannot live up to the political desire of the accuser to make public attribution, the ill-substantiation problem becomes prominent. Debates over the “control test” and misuse of due diligence principle in cyber scenarios extend the responsibility scope of the territorial state. Lack of essential evidentiary requirements cripples the predictability and falsifiability for bringing up accusation. Inculpability for erroneous attribution invites the accusing state’s recklessness. In light of these legal deficiencies, an international norm on responsible state behavior for public attribution could be a promising way forward.

The Chinese toxic milk scandal raised tremendous global concerns about food safety in China. To repair the tarnished reputation of domestic food production, Chinese authorities focused on compulsory food safety liability insurance. Unfortunately, the introduction of compulsory food safety liability insurance in the Food Safety Law of the PRC has been delayed by the disagreements of Chinese legal scholars. Chinese legal scholars have examined the legitimacy of compulsory food safety liability insurance in China mainly from the standpoint of domestic laws. The valuable insight of international laws has been ignored by them. This article attempts to fill this research gap by scrutinizing the Chinese endeavor of launching compulsory food safety liability insurance through the joint perspective of public and private international law. It further demonstrates that the ideology of human rights of public international law has already penetrated the body of broadly interpreted private international law.