Islamic law and international law: the terms of a relationship

The relationship between Islamic Law and other legal systems (basically western type domestic legal orders and international law) is often thought of in terms of compatibility or incompatibility. Concerning certain subject matters of choice, the compatibility of Islamic (legal) principles with the values embedded in legal systems that are regarded as characteristic of the Modern Age is tested by sets of questions: is democracy possible in Islam? Does Islam recognize human rights and are those rights equivalent to a more universal conception? Does Islam recognize or condone more extreme acts of violence and does it justify violence differently? Etc. Such questions and many more presuppose the existence of an ensemble of rules or principles which, as any other set of rules and principles, purport to regulate social behavior. This ensemble is generically referred to as Islamic Law. However, one set of questions is usually left unanswered: is Islamic Law a legal system? If it is a legal system, what are its specific characteristics? How does it work? Where does it apply? It is this paper`s argument that the relationship between Islamic Law and domestic and international law can only be understood if looked upon as a relationship between distinct legal systems or legal orders.

Global governance, currency and trade: implications of one on the other, common problems and how to address cooperation through law at the international level

How to deal with the impacts of the exchange rate on the trade balance of Brazil? There is not a single answer to such question. In order to find out some legal approaches for this matter, this paper aims to describe and analyze the role of the IMF, WTO and the governments of Brazil and the United States on the currency misalignments, especially the extraterritorial effects of such misalignment on the Brazil’s bilateral trade with the United States. The article concludes that the Currency Swap Agreements and other bilateral solutions may minimize the distortions that the Brazilian balance of payment against the USA is carrying, due to the lack of legal solutions for the problem of the exchange rate misalignments that Brazil is facing.

The interdisciplinary perspective on International Law and International Relations by Anne-Marie Slaughter

Este artigo consiste em uma resenha crítica sobre a reflexão de Anne-Marie Slaughter para uma aproximação interdisciplinar entre Direito Internacional e Relações Internacionais. Slaughter tem sido apontada, internacionalmente, como uma das protagonistas neste debate acadêmico, e sua obra é indicada como uma das mais influentes na academia dos Estados Unidos da América, no século XX. Em tempos de aproximação entre juristas e internacionalistas no Brasil, o artigo procura contribuir com a contextualização da produção da autora, bem como elucidar os momentos de influência das suas atividades em outros centros de discussão e produção. A proposta principal deste artigo é, assim, favorecer um mapeamento histórico e contextualizado da chamada para o debate interdisciplinar entre Direito Internacional e Relações Internacionais, a partir dos trabalhos de um de seus pivôs na academia nos Estados Unidos.

Informe de la Reunión del Grupo de Expertos Asesor del Grupo Latinoamericano en la Comisión Preparatoria de la Autoridad Internacional de los Fondos Marinos y del Tribunal Internacional del Derecho del Mar = Report of the Meeting of the Ad-hoc Advisory Expert Group of the Latin American Group in the Preparatory Commission for the International Sea-Bed Authority and for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

Contiene la asistencia, organización de los trabajos y resumen de los debates de la reunión convocada con el propósito de analizar fórmulas para el fortalecimiento de la capacidad negociadora de los grupos latinoamericanos en foros internacionales relacionados con el desarrollo de los recursos marinos.

Typology of instruments of public environmental international law

At the second meeting of the focal points appointed by the Governments of the signatory countries of the Declaration on the application of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, which was held in Guadalajara, Mexico, on 16 and 17 April 2013, a decision was made to form working groups to advance towards the creation of a regional instrument. Thus, a working group on access rights and the regional instrument was formed for the purpose of gaining more in-depth knowledge on access rights in order to make a proposal on the nature and scope of the application of a regional instrument. At its first meeting, the working group determined that a study describing the different types of international instruments would be useful in helping it achieve its objective. This report explores the different types of instruments that are used in public international law, with an emphasis on the instruments that are relevant to Principle 10. The report has three chapters, which are as follows. The first chapter analyses the term “international instrument” and discusses the distinction between binding and non-binding legal instruments, illustrated with examples. The second chapter describes the function of implementation and compliance mechanisms in an international instrument, providing examples of these mechanisms. The third chapter presents the multilateral and regional instruments relevant to access rights regarding information, participation and justice in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Roundtable discussion on the nature of the regional instrument: Summary of the answers and the comments from experts in public environmental international law

This document summarizes the development and conclusions of the sixth meeting of the working group on access rights and the regional instrument held virtually on August 1st, 2014. The meeting, which was for information purposes only, had the aim of advancing in the discussions on the nature of the regional instrument by holding a round table discussion with the renowned experts in Public International Law.