Authors:Sam Begland Abstract: In the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s devastating decision to strip Americans of their constitutional right to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, data privacy is more salient than ever. Without adequate data regulations, state governments and anti-abortion activists alike can harass and prosecute pregnant people attempting to exercise their bodily autonomy. This comment argues that the United States has violated its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 17 by failing to protect against interference with the use and collection of reproductive health data. Further, this comment analyzes interpretations of Article 17 to show that the United States is allowing arbitrary intrusions of privacy. Because the United States must act to comply with the ICCPR, this comment recommends that (1) the United States create and enter into regional data privacy regulations, (2) the United Nations Human Rights Committee update General Comment 16 to Article 17 to reflect technological advancements in data collection, and (3) the United States enact domestic legislation addressing reproductive health data and data privacy generally. PubDate: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:56:23 PST
Authors:Charles Chernor Jalloh Abstract: It is a great privilege to be here with all of you tonight. Thank you very much to you, Professor Grossman, the moderator of this panel, and to all the organizers for inviting me to be part of this really important event. I hope this is the first of many such events concerning this really pressing issue for the international community: the issue of sea level rise which is already affecting peoples and States in many different regions of our world. PubDate: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:56:17 PST
Authors:Sean Murphy Abstract: When “diving” into consideration of sea-level rise issues, one finds various “pools” of international law that are perfectly suited for answering some of the issues we are addressing. For example, Professor Galvão Teles spoke about the protection of persons in the event of sea-level rise. There are, of course, various aspects of human rights law and international law relating to disasters that can be employed to resolve some of the concerns in that regard. It is just a question of applying that law to a new, factual phenomenon.Having said that, there are some areas where existing international law is not adequate, or is not obviously adequate, to resolve the issues that we are confronting. Certainly, the issue that Professor Juan José Ruda Santolaria was addressing, specifically the potential loss of statehood, presents a unique scenario where existing international law is unclear. Yet it is also difficult to know how best to propose new international law on that issue, given that there are so many different factual scenarios that might play out in the years to come.So, in addressing whether contemporary international law is adequate or not for addressing sea-level rise, much depends on the issue at hand. With that broad point in mind, I will address the issue of baselines (and consequential maritime entitlements) in relation to sea-level rise, as was foreshadowed by Judge Maria Teresa Infante. She set me up as though I was going to solve this problem, which of course I will not be able to do! That said, I will echo some of her very thoughtful comments and try to move the conversation along a bit. This discussion, of course, relates as well to that of yesterday’s session.
Authors:Maria Teresa Infante Abstract: This is a very timely event. Although there have been several cases in which experts—both academics and governments—discuss the connection between sea-level rise and the legal framework, this event is important because it will bring to the forefront the fact that the practice in the Americas and the Caribbean should be analyzed when discussing this pressing topic. This is a very important initiative; I encourage the Inter-American system and the juridical committee to tackle this issue. I hope it will be in connection with the work that is being conducted by the International Law Commission itself. PubDate: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:56:04 PST
Authors:Juan Jose Ruda Santolaria Abstract: Estimados amigos y amigas:Deseo, en primer lugar, agradecer a los promotores de esta iniciativa por su amable invitación y compromiso con el tratamiento de la importante temática que nos convoca. Al mismo tiempo, quiero destacar mi satisfacción por participar en esta actividad y hacerlo además con personas muy valiosas, por quienes siento especial aprecio, así como recalcar que voy a compartir con ustedes algunas reflexiones sobre la condición de estado en relación con la elevación del nivel del mar de carácter personal, es decir, que no comprometen a la Comisión de Derecho Internacional de las Naciones Unidas y son todavía muy preliminares. PubDate: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:55:58 PST
Authors:Patricia Galvao Teles Abstract: Thank you so much, Professor Grossman. I will not take time from my presentation to do a long thank you or introduction, but I really wanted to thank you warmly, Claudio, for putting together these two days of conversation so that we can connect with the Americas and also have your contributions and your experiences to our work, which you, Claudio, have committed to and are delivering on your promise to help us to navigate through what is going on in the Americas concerning sea-level rise. This is very important because, as it was mentioned, the Commission works based on practice, and we are making good effort to have as representative a practice as possible, so this is a very welcome opportunity, certainly from the Co-Chairs of the Study Group, but I think from the whole Study Group and the whole Commission—we appreciate your efforts and all your contributions. PubDate: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:55:52 PST
Authors:Wagner Menezes Abstract: Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, good morning. Initially, I would like to give thanks for the kind invitation made by Professor Claudio Grossman and now members of the committee to participate in this special conference on sea level rise and International Law’s impact on the Americas, which has set up an ahead of time debate due to the effects that are being experienced by the entire international community.The conference that preceded me today highlighted the emergence of this discussion, and this systemic character that involves its interpretation by impacting our states and peoples, demanding coordinated action in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation. As a phenomenon, climate change generates a series of serious environmental consequences, which can already be observed today. One of the consequences of the planet’s rise in temperature is the rise in sea level, which is due to the melting of glaciers in the arctic and in Antarctica, in an unprecedented and unexpected way. This will result in flooding and submersion of coastal areas, causing various damage such as reconfiguring the geographical boundaries that make up these states. In this sense, the goal of this presentation is a quick and objective analysis of the existing norms around the theme, and then to reflect how Latin America is situating this discussion and what could be its contribution to normative interpretation of this subject. PubDate: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:55:45 PST
Authors:Rosemarie Cadogan Abstract: Thank you, Mr. Moderator. Let me just start by thanking the organizers today for having me on the program, and I want to extend to everyone my gratitude for having me here today. I am going to look at, as the title suggests, sea level rise and maritime delimitation in the Eastern Caribbean, and I am going to take a comparative approach as I compare it with the Pacific–South Pacific region. I am going to take it that all protocols have been observed, and, in the interest of time, I will go straight through to my presentation with the one caveat that the views expressed today are mine only, despite my involvement in several of the agreements that I mention today. PubDate: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:55:39 PST
Authors:Carlos Fuller Abstract: First of all, as we all know, there are three aspects of climate change that we know occur. The first is the increase of global temperatures because of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. As a result of the warming of the oceans, sea levels rise; but even more importantly, additional fresh water is entering the oceans, which is now the predominant factor leading to increased sea-level rates. Finally, a change of the hydrological cycle—because of warmer temperatures, we are seeing more extreme weather events and shifts in precipitation patterns.The impacts, however, are more important—for example, the impacts of climate change on health. In Belize, we are seeing much more dengue because more mosquitoes are being spawned. There are also impacts on agricultural productivity, forestry, water resources, the coastal zone, and ecosystems in general.In the case of Belize, our best data from the international airport shows that in the past fifty years, temperatures have increased by one degree Celsius already, and we know the global average for the past one hundred and fifty years is about the same: 1.1 to 1.2 degrees Celsius. So in fact, in Belize, it is even rising at a greater rate than we see globally.
Authors:Bogdan Aurescu et al. Abstract: Thank you so much for the presentation. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to everybody—in accordance with the respective time that you are speaking. I am very honored to be invited to this conference, and I am also very honored that I am sharing this presentation together with my good colleague and friend, Nilüfer Oral. We are both co-chairs of the Study Group on Sea-Level Rise in Relation to International Law of the International Law Commission, together with the other colleagues, some of them I think are attending this session online, Patrícia Galvão-Teles and Juan José Ruda Santaloria together with Yacouba Cissé, the five proponents of this topic included on the agenda of the International Law Commission. Because the time is very limited—this means that, together with Nilüfer, we have 15 minutes, that means seven minutes and a half for each of us—so our presentation cannot be exhaustive, from an objective point of view. Therefore, I will be, and Nilüfer I think as well, very telegraphic in our presentations. PubDate: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:55:26 PST
Authors:Claudio Grossman Abstract: Good morning and good afternoon, depending on your time zone. It is a great pleasure to introduce this conference on “Sea Level Rise and International Law: Assessing its Impacts on the Americas.” Sea level rise is a pressing global challenge that could generate catastrophic effects, including in the Americas, which are surrounded by four oceans: the Arctic, the Antarctic, the Atlantic, and the Pacific. Several of the countries in the Region could suffer disproportionately from the consequences of this serious phenomenon. The implications for States and people all over the world are devastating, making rising sea levels a matter of utmost urgency. In the past few years, various substantive ideas have been developed regarding this pressing problem, this existential problem, in relation to international law. However, there is still much to do. Needless to say, this conference is an important venue for the discussion of this challenge and to contribute with further analyses, including the role that international law could play, and creating a space for the further consideration of this topic in the Americas. PubDate: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:55:20 PST
Authors:Karima Bennoune Abstract: I express my sincere thanks to the American Society of International Law and the International Legal Studies Program at American University Washington College of Law for the invitation to be this year’s commentator. It is indeed an honor to respond to Judge Charlesworth’s erudite Grotius Lecture: “The Art of International Law.”Just getting to say Judge Hilary Charlesworth alone is very meaningful. She is only the fifth woman judge out of 110 total judges on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) so far. Thanks to hard work by feminist international lawyers like her, there is finally an uptick in women’s inclusion in the field of international law. That is great news, but there is a long way to go. The progress being made has to be nurtured, expanded, and protected. I want to start off by congratulating the 2022 Grotius lecturer and thanking her personally, and her whole generation of feminist international lawyers around the world, for working so hard to increase the representation of women in international law and for creating space for many of us within the discipline. PubDate: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:55:13 PST
Authors:Hilary Charlesworth Abstract: International lawyers study international law primarily through its written texts—treaties, official documents, judgments, and scholarly works. Critical to being an international lawyer, it seems, is access to the written word, whether in hard copy or online. Indeed, as Jesse Hohmann observes, “the production of text can come to feel like the very purpose of international law.” PubDate: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:55:07 PST