The International Review of the Red Cross invites articles on "Displacement" for its upcoming thematic issue in September 2009. What is the impact of international migration? How can the Red Cross, and particularly the national societies, respond to the humanitarian needs? The deadline to submit articles is 30 April 2009. More

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is accepting applications for the Indigenous Fellowship Programme, which runs four months in Summer 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland. Fellows also have the opportunity to receive training sessions with other UN agencies, including ILO, WIPO, UNESCO and UNITAR. Fellows will receive airfare from the country of residence to Geneva, accommodation in Geneva, health insurance, and a monthly grant to cover other living expenses in Geneva. The deadline to apply is 30 April 2009. More

This year's special celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition concluded with a special Gala and International Rounds in Washington, D.C. The competition simulates a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ / "World Court") in The Hague, the Netherlands. This year, 2000+ students at 560+ law schools spent the academic year researching and preparing memorials and oral arguments for the applicant Alicanto and respondent Ravisia in the case concerning "Operation Provide Shelter." The Compromis dealt with humanitarian intervention, R2P, use of force, accountability of peacekeepers/troops, human rights, due process, and the death penalty. The Universidad de los Andes from Colombia, representing Alicanto, won the 2009 Jessup World Champion Trophy, and the University College London, representing Ravisia, won World Championship Runner-up. The lively, humorous, and demanding bench included "your excellencies": Bruno Simma as Mr. President, Ruth Wedgwood, and José Alvarez. More

The Ashburn Institute Transnational Law Journal welcomes articles and notes for its first publication to be printed in June. The AITLJ welcomes well-researched, high-quality notes and articles relating to humanitarian law, human rights law, comparative law, maritime law, and international trade/business law. The journal accepts articles from lawyers and law students. The deadline is 13 April 2009. More

The Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship is open to women journalists around the world whose work focuses on human rights and social justice. Journalists working in the print, broadcast and Internet media, including freelancers, are eligible to apply. A fixed stipend will be provided to cover lodging, meals, round-trip economy airfare to Washington, D.C., and ground transportation during the fellowship. The deadline to apply is 15 April 2009. More

The International Journal of Transitional Justice invites submissions for its 2009 special issue titled "Whose Justice? Global and Local Approaches to Transitional Justice" to be guest edited by Professor Kimberly Theidon, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Harvard University and Executive Director of Praxis Institute for Social Justice. The deadline for submissions is April 15, 2009. More

The main purpose of this research guide is to assist legal scholars conducting research in the area of nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. This research guide provides: (a) introductory resources for historical and technical background; (b) information about multilateral authorities, agreements, and enforcement mechanisms; (c) resources to locate journal articles, books, subscription databases, free databases, and additional online resources; and (d) resources on related disciplinary areas to help locate research and content on terrorism, disarmament, and national security. More

The full agenda for the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) is now available. The theme is "International Law as Law." Plenary and special sessions will feature top officials from the Obama administration, former and current judges of the International Court of Justice, UN officials, and judges from the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal and the High Court of Botswana. More than 30 regular sessions will cover a broad range of subjects, from nuclear nonproliferation to climate change. Last year, more than 1,000 leading legal scholars, practitioners, and officials from roughly 75 countries attended. The conference will be held 25-28 March 2009 in Washington, D.C. I will be blogging and tweeting from the event. More

The Journal of Human Rights Practice invites articles for a special issue on "Where is the Evidence?" The issue will seek to highlight the methodologies and tools available for generating a solid base for human rights claims relating to civil-political and economic, social and cultural rights. It will also explore some of the challenges facing evidential paradigms - technical checklists and managerialism; de-politicization; insensitivity to context; different stakeholders' perspectives on effectiveness; and the legitimacy of evidence-based claims versus other forms of justification. The deadline for submissions is 31 March 2009. More

The organizers of a one-day conference on 14 May 2009 in York, United Kingdom invite abstracts on the ethical implications of the rise of testimony and testimonial human rights research. The conference coincides with the launch of the Journal of Human Rights Practice, hosted by the Centre for Applied Human Rights, University of York (UK), and Oxford University Press, in collaboration with Amnesty International, the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, and Panos. The deadline for abstracts is 31 March 2009. More

Three events occurred this week that will impact the future of Guantanamo detainees. The first occurred on Monday, when top officials in the Obama administration held the first meeting of the Guantanamo Detainee Review Task Force to review options for closing Guantanamo without compromising national security and foreign policy interests. Then, on Tuesday, a military judge accepted guilty pleas from five of the detainees, defying President Obama's executive order to halt military commission proceedings pending the task force's report and an executive decision on the next steps. Yesterday, in a filing in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., lawyers with the Obama administration abandoned the use of the term "enemy combatant" and advocated for a "new standard" to authorize indefinite detentions at Guantanamo. The Justice Department argued that the President may lawfully authorize the detention of individuals who "substantially supported" al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks pursuant to statutory authority granted by Congress in 2001, as informed by the international laws of war. Civil rights advocates were unimpressed with the government's proclaimed higher legal standard, calling the wording "old wine in new bottles." These three events stem from the larger, unresolved problem: What legal options are on the table for the continued detention, prosecution, transfer, release, or other disposition of the detainees and future non-state actors who commit crimes against U.S. interests? More

The Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet) invites proposals for a one-day conference on internet governance on 11 May 2009 in Brussels, Belgium. Submissions may address: governance institutions and regimes; legal and technical regulations; and governance policy issues. The deadline to submit abstracts is 20 March 2009. More

The Society of International Economic Law invites expressions of interest from institutions willing to host its second biennial global conference in 2010. The first conference in 2009 attracted more than 250 people, representing more than thirty countries from all over the world. Proposals from interested institutions should by submitted by 15 March 2009. More

The National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL) invite paper proposals for their upcoming conference "Sovereign Wealth Funds: Governance and Regulation." The conference will be held at the NUS Law School in Singapore from Wednesday to Friday, 9-11 September 2009. All conference papers will be published as "working papers" on the AsianSIL website. A select number of accepted papers will subsequently be considered for formal publication in a special section of the Singapore Year Book of International Law. Speakers' reasonable travel expenses may be covered. The deadline for proposals is 24 April 2009. More

The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights is now accepting nominations for its 2009 RFK Human Rights Award. Active grassroots human rights defenders in the U.S. and around the globe are eligible for the award, which includes a $30,000 prize and a long-term partnership with the professional staff and expert advisors of the RFK Center to achieve their social justice goals. Anyone can nominate a human rights defender. The deadline is 15 March 2009. More

The International Criminal Court will hold a press conference tomorrow at 12:45 GMT to announce its decision on the arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told Al-Jazeera today that the arrest would not take place within Sudan and that "no one will try to arrest Mr. Bashir in Sudan." Notably, according to the head of UN peacekeeping operations in Sudan, the UN peacekeepers would not be authorized to arrest President al-Bashir, despite the fact the Darfur situation was referred to the ICC by the UN Security Council. The ICC Prosecutor asserts that there is "strong evidence" of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur since March 2003. The ICC will provide live online broadcasting of the al-Bashir arrest warrant press conference. More

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon began Sunday at the Hague in the Netherlands to try suspects responsible for the car bomb blast four years ago in Beirut that killed the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others. The international hybrid tribunal will apply domestic Lebanese criminal law, subject to two exceptions for permissible punishments. The maximum punishment will be life imprisonment rather than the death penalty or forced labor. The tribunal was established by the UN Security Council acting under its Chapter VII powers of the UN Charter at the request of the Lebanese government. It includes international and Lebanese judges and is expected to operate for three to five years. The prosecutor has 60 days to request a transfer of suspects from Lebanon. More