Valeria Vázquez Guevara on ‘We, the peoples of the Earth’: ALBA, populism and the making of an alternative international law (London Review of International Law)

 "‘We, the peoples of the Earth’: ALBA, populism and the making of an alternative international law"
Claerwen O’Hara, Valeria Vázquez Guevara
London Review of International Law
Published online: May 2025

Abstract: This article explores the populist approach to international law of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America (ALBA). Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of scholarship depicting populist politics as hostile to international law. Yet, across the global South, there are examples of leaders promoting regional unity, creating multilateral alliances, and engaging with international law, all while advancing a populist discourse based around an idea of ‘the people’. We argue that ALBA is one such example. Focusing on its activities as a fluid coalition in international institutions between 2009 and 2019, we demonstrate how ALBA developed a unique technique of international legal engagement and contestation, based around claims to represent ‘the people’ (or ‘peoples’) of the earth. In this way, ALBA shows how the adoption of a populist register can provide an alternative way of both belonging to, and resisting, the international legal order.

HKU Law Welcomes Prof. Valeria Vázquez Guevara

Welcome to Prof. Valeria Vázquez Guevara, who joins the Faculty of Law as an Assistant Professor.

Valeria researches and teaches across the areas of international law, law-and-humanities, and land/property law. Valeria’s research engages with law-and-humanities methodologies to address questions of international law, its institutions, contestations, and geopolitical implications, especially between North-South and South-South actors. The research builds on Valeria’s personal and professional experiences in international development and peacebuilding projects in El Salvador, Spain, the Basque Country, and South Africa.

Valeria is the author of Truth Commissions and International Law (Cambridge University Press, in press). The book examines how Truth Commissions deal with the plurality of (rival) accounts that exist across communities to establish an authoritative account of the past. It expands on her doctoral thesis at Melbourne Law School, which won the University of Melbourne Chancellor’s Prize for Excellence in the PhD Thesis and Melbourne Law School’s Harold Luntz Prize for Best Doctoral Thesis. Valeria’s next major research project focuses on the historical and contemporary relationship between ASEAN and international law, with a particular focus on land tenure issues.

Valeria serves as member of the executive committee of the Law, Literature and Humanities Association of Australasia, and as co-convener of the Critical Approaches to International Law Interest Group of the European Society of International Law (ESIL). Previously, Valeria has served as co-chair of the History and Theory of International Law Interest Group of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (2022-2025), and as Managing Editor and Editorial Board member of the Australian Feminist Law Journal (2021-2023).

HKU Law Welcomes Prof. James Zeng

Welcome to Prof. James Si Zeng, who joins the Faculty of Law as an Associate Professor.

Prof. Zeng works on corporate law, the Chinese legal system, and empirical legal studies. His independently authored works have appeared or will appear in highly selective peer-reviewed journals such as the American Journal of Comparative Law, American Business Law Journal, American Bankruptcy Law Journal, International Review of Law and Economics, European Business Organization Law Review, Journal of Environmental Law,  Journal of Corporate Law Studies, Peking University Law Journal(中外法學), Global Law Review(環球法律評論), Political Science and Law(政治與法律), and Hong Kong Law Journal, as well as leading student-edited law reviews such as the Columbia Journal of Asian Law, N.Y.U. Journal of Law and Business, University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, Berkeley Business Law Journal, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, and Review of Banking and Financial Law. His doctoral dissertation, State Ownership as a Substitute for Costly Regulation, was supported by the Oscar M. Reubhausen Fund at Yale Law School and is currently under contract for publication by Cambridge University Press. He has also conducted research on Chinese corporate law supported by the Early Career Scheme of the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong, China.

Professor Zeng graduated from Yale Law School with an LL.M and a J.S.D. degree. Prior to that Professor Zeng graduated from Peking University (LL.B., B.A. in Economics, Mphil in Law). He passed the National Judicial Examination of China and is admitted to the New York State Bar. Prior to joining HKU, he served as a tenured Associate Professor of Law, Convenor of the Faculty Seminar Series, Deputy Executive Director of the Center for Comparative and Transnational Law, and Deputy Director of the LLM Program at the Faculty of Law, Chinese University of Hong Kong.

HKU Law Welcomes Prof. David Winterton

Welcome to Prof. David Winterton, who joins the Faculty of Law as an Associate Professor.

David is an Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong, with a specialization in contract law, commercial remedies, restitution and private law theory. He has published in several leading academic journals, as well as a monograph based on his doctrinal dissertation, entitled Money Awards in Contract Law (Bloomsbury 2015), which was shortlisted for the St Petersburg International Legal Forum Private Law Prize in 2018. His work has also been cited in various judicial decisions, including in the ultimate appellate courts of Australia and Canada.

Prior to his arrival in Hong Kong, David was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney, and prior to that a Lecturer at UNSW and a stipendiary lecturer at St Anne’s College, Oxford. He holds a BSc (Pure Mathematics) and an LLB from UNSW and a BCL (Dist), MPhil and DPhil from the University of Oxford. Additionally, David has spent some time in legal practice in both Sydney (commercial litigation) and New York (Bankruptcy & Restructuring). He is admitted as a legal practitioner in NSW (2006) and as an Attorney in New York (2012).

Sida Liu and Gihad Nasr on The City and the North: Canada in the Chicago School of Sociology (The American Sociologist)

"The City and the North: Canada in the Chicago School of Sociology"
Sida Liu, Gihad Nasr
The American Sociologist
Published online: June 2025

Abstract: This article explores the intertwined histories of the Chicago School of sociology and Canadian sociology, challenging the conventional view that the Chicago School’s development was confined to the city of Chicago. By examining the academic journeys of prominent Canadian scholars such as Annie Marion MacLean, Roderick McKenzie, Helen and Everett Hughes, and Erving Goffman, it illustrates how their contributions were instrumental in shaping both the Chicago School and Canadian sociology. This research, based on extensive archival materials from primary and secondary sources, suggests that the continuous mobility and interaction of scholars between Chicago and Canada played an important role in the historical evolution of sociological thought. The study aims to “decenter” the Chicago School by highlighting the significant yet often overlooked contributions of Canadian sociologists, thereby providing a new understanding of its legacy and global impact.

Julius Yam and Cora Chan on Oratorical leadership of chief justices in post-handover Hong Kong (ICON)

"Oratorical leadership of chief justices in post-handover Hong Kong"
Julius Yam, Cora Chan
International Journal of Constitutional Law
Published online: May 2025

Abstract: This article examines how Hong Kong’s three post-handover chief justices—Andrew Li, Geoffrey Ma, and Andrew Cheung—have responded to constitutional and political challenges through their public speeches, statements, and interviews. It observes that Li adopted a bold and proactive approach that connected Hong Kong’s legal system with the wider common law world, while Ma sought greater engagement with the general public on rule-of-law issues. Cheung’s approach, in contrast, has thus far been more conciliatory and circumspect than that of his predecessors. Despite the differing leadership styles adopted by the three chief justices and the distinct nature of the challenges they have faced, the task for all three has been to find an equilibrium between liberal and authoritarian ideologies that sustains Hong Kong’s common law legal system without compromising Chinese sovereignty, and an element of pragmatism underlies all three leaders’ oratory approaches.

Technology in the Courtroom (John Liu Profiled in HKU Bulletin)

"Technology in the Courtroom"
John Liu
HKU Bulletin
Published in May 2025

How do live broadcasts affect behaviour in the courtroom? What happens when judges use AI? And what can data analytics tell us about the factors that favour litigants in court? Professor John Liu has been investigating.

Live broadcasts of court proceedings have become more common around the world, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. In China, they are also part of an effort to encourage judicial transparency.

But sentiment about such broadcasts is divided. Some fear that judges and lawyers play to the cameras and that decisions will be badly affected. Others fear that all parties involved will be very nervous with livestreaming. In the US, David Souter, former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, once famously said “the day you see a camera come into our courtroom, it’s going to roll over my dead body.”

Professor John Liu in the Faculty of Law, however, has been sceptical about such risks, which he calls ‘folklore’. Recently, he decided to test the matter in a randomised control trial involving 85 cases in China, including civil, criminal and administrative (suing the government) cases. Some cases were assigned to be broadcast live and all participants in the trials were told of this; the others were not broadcast. The language and behaviours of everyone involved were analysed using a combination of AI audio recognition tools and manual review.

“What we found out is that some of the folklore is just not true. Judges and lawyers do not play to the cameras or change their behaviour. These repeat players are not influenced or affected in a bad way by live streaming,” he said.

“On the other hand, the parties – the litigants – are somewhat influenced. They appear to be nervous, and they speak at a slow speed and convey less information in trials that are broadcast live.”

Detecting trends

While this may affect litigants’ perceptions of the judicial process – a matter that still needs to be studied more closely – Professor Liu said it demonstrates that judges may be too conservative about the risks of a tool that enhances transparency in the courtroom......

Click here to read the full text.

New book by Shiling Xiao on Judicial Review in Greater China (Routledge)

Judicial Review in Greater China: Activism and Deference of Four Apex Courts
Shiling Xiao (PhD Graduate)
Routledge
Published in June 2025
260 pp.

Description: This book examines the judicial review systems in the four areas of Greater China – China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau – and uncovers judicial review activities of the apex courts of each region. It provides a comparative assessment of judicial activism and deference. The development of modern judicial review is one of the key elements of the twentieth century’s legal heritage. By enforcing the principles of constitutionalism, the rule of law, and human rights protection, many courts have been vested with unprecedented powers and have played an essential role in supervising the exercise of government power through constitutional and administrative review. This work investigates the most up-to-date aspects of judicial review in Greater China and reflects on the modern theory regarding the judicialization of politics in different political regimes: democratic, authoritarian, and hybrid. The volume collects all substantive judicial review decisions delivered in the past twenty years by the four apex courts: the China’s Supreme People’s Court, the Taiwan Constitutional Court, the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong, and the Court of Final Appeal of Macau. This comprehensive dataset includes some 800 judicial review decisions, presenting a comprehensive resource of fundamental baseline data for evaluating judicial review in Greater China. The book will be an invaluable companion for scholars and researchers working in the areas of Comparative Public Law, Comparative Constitutional Law, Constitutional Politics, and Asian Studies.

Seung Mann BAE on The Nature of Plurality Decisions: A Theoretical Reassessment (2025 Junior Scholars Conference)

Between the 25th-26th of April, 2025, Seung Mann (Kevin) BAE, a year 1 PhD student of HKU Law, presented his working paper, titled “The Nature of Plurality Decisions: A Theoretical Reassessment,” at the 11th Annual Junior Scholars Conference (2025 Junior Scholars Conference). The Conference, hosted by the University of Michigan Law School, offers junior scholars (PhD/SJD/JSD students and candidates, postdoctoral fellows, assistant professors, and associate professors) from institutions around the world a platform to present and discuss their work with peers and receive feedback from faculty members of Michigan Law. In this year of the Conference, Kevin presented alongside scholars from the US, the UK, Canada, and Switzerland. The paper Kevin presented is part of his broader PhD research on the dynamics of agreement and disagreement in judicial decision-making, and it specifically focused on plurality decisions, or what he alternatively refers to as the phenomenon of multiple majority opinion judgments, as an instance of extreme judicial dissensus. The paper itself sought to conduct an original reassessment of the current law in the US regarding the interpretation of plurality decisions as laid down by the Supreme Court decision of Marks v United States 430 U.S. 188 (1977). Kevin argues against the incumbent doctrinal understanding of plurality decisions to be structurally impossible and fictitious when accounting for the genuine fractious dynamics of multiple majority opinion judgments. Instead, he reconciles the substance of such decisions as a matter of super-dicta to explain its normative force upon subsequent courts and address its Rule of Law concerns.

Weixia Gu comments on the establishment of the International Organization for Mediation

"Hong Kong hits a high with global legal body, but now comes the hard part"
Jess Ma, Jeffie Lam, Harvey Kong
South China Morning Post
31 May 2025

Hong Kong made a groundbreaking move on Friday (30 May 2025) when it became the headquarters for a new intergovernmental mediation body but the unit’s real tests will be in the types of substantive cases it handles and whether more countries will join the convention, experts have said.

While the China-led International Organisation for Mediation launched on Friday with 33 signatories, and the conspicuous absence of major Western countries, leading lawyers said they expected more nations would join once the body’s work was promoted.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was front and centre at a high-level ceremony for countries to formally sign as founding members of the organisation…

Asked about the participating countries, former justice minister Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah stressed that each one was an equal entity that should not be judged as “big or small”…

Hong Kong’s traditional rival Singapore had earlier spearheaded the formation of the Singapore Convention on Mediation, a treaty which came into force in 2020 and governs the enforcement of mediation outcomes in international commercial disputes.

The two world superpowers – China and the United States – were among the 46 nations that signed the multilateral treaty in 2019, alongside countries such as Britain, Japan and Australia.

Gu Weixia, an associate professor of the University of Hong Kong’s law faculty, said that the Singapore convention was a treaty led by the UN Commission on International Trade Law and acted as an enforcement tool for mediation outcomes.

“Its scope of application is comparatively restrictive,” she explained.

“It only targets international commercial mediation, and it only affects enforcement [of mediation settlement agreements].”

Gu, a dispute resolution specialist, also highlighted that more than 40 countries had signed the treaty, but only 18 had ratified it. Singapore and Japan are the only developed nations to have ratified the convention.

She said the International Organisation for Mediation has a wider scope of application, including interstate and investor-state disputes. It also offers additional options for legal services in the city.

“Most international legal capitals are in the West, such as The Hague, Geneva, New York and Washington,” Gu said. “The International Organisation for Mediation established in Hong Kong is a big booster for the city’s status in international law.”

Click here to read the full text on SCMP website.

Dr Alex Huang won Gold Medal in International Insolvency Institute 2025 Prize in International Insolvency Studies

Congratulations to our Global Academic Fellow, Dr Alex Huang, whose submitted paper The Doctrinal Evolution of Bankruptcy Law was awarded the Gold Medal in International Insolvency Institute (III) 2025 Prize in International Insolvency Studies.

Dr. Alex Huang applies network analysis and natural language processing to a dataset of 6,500 bankruptcy opinions issued between 1982 and 2017. His study traces a doctrinal shift in the relationship between two sets of rules: distributional rules, which determine the priority and payoff of creditors, and operational rules, which aim to preserve or enhance firm value through business operations. Although the U.S. Bankruptcy Code itself has remained largely intact, the relationship between these two types of rules has changed dramatically over the past three decades—shifting from unbundling to bundling. This work reveals a profound evolution in the practice of corporate reorganization.

The International Insolvency Institute is a non-profit, limited-membership organization dedicated to advancing and promoting insolvency as a respected discipline in the international field. Its primary objectives include improving international co-operation in the insolvency area and achieving greater coordination among nations in multinational business reorganizations and restructurings. The III Prize is awarded for original legal research, commentary or analysis on topics of international insolvency and restructuring significance and on comparative international analysis of domestic insolvency and restructuring issues and developments. The Prize Competition is open to full and part-time undergraduate and graduate students and to practitioners in practice for nine years or less.

Past recipients of the III Prize include leading scholars in the field of insolvency law, among them Professor Irit Ronen-Mevorach of Warwick Law School and Professor John Pottow of the University of Michigan.

Lusina Ho and Hui Jing on The Dominance of Regulatory Oversight in Chinese Investment Trusts (Asia-Pacific Trusts Law, Volume 3)

"The Dominance of Regulatory Oversight in Chinese Investment Trusts"
Lusina Ho and Hui Jing
Asia-Pacific Trusts Law, Volume 3, Boundaries in Context, Part II, Chapter 10
Hart Publishing
Published online: May 2025

Abstract: A fundamental tenet in the relationship between regulations and private law is their functional dichotomy. Private law deals with the adjudication of bilateral rights and duties between individuals. Its main purpose is to protect the rights of individuals from infringement by others. In contrast, regulations primarily serve public interests, and are typically enforced by regulatory agencies through administrative sanctions or criminal liability. In this chapter, we argue that the Chinese legal regime for investment trusts departs from this paradigmatic dichotomy. Regulatory supervision not only addresses public interest concerns, but also frequently displaces private law in resolving disputes amongst trust parties, blurring the boundary between private law and regulations. We examine the unique circumstances in China that account for this regulatory dominance and argue that it can be justified only as a temporary measure.

Following this introduction, Part II discusses the main reason for regulatory dominance in China. We examine how the widespread use of investment trusts for shadow banking raises public interest concerns when private law rights are enforced in such trusts. In Part III, we explore the use and limitations of regulatory supervision to address both the public interest and private law concerns raised by trust (mal)practice. Part IV contends that whilst regulations can be an effective interim measure for addressing private law disputes, legislators should in the long term adopt a proactive approach and enact trust laws that clearly define the rights and responsibilities of the trust parties. Part V concludes.

Full text of this chapter is available on SSRN, please click here.

Kelvin Low and Peter Watts on The Case for Cryptoassets as Property (New book chapter)

"The Case for Cryptoassets as Property"
Peter Watts, Kelvin Low
in Law at the Cutting Edge: Essays in Honour of Sarah Worthington, edited by Sinéad Agnew and Marcus Smith (Bloomsbury Publishing, April 2024), Chapter 14, pp. 281 - 299

Abstract: Cryptoassets, introduced in the wake of the Great Recession (2007-2009), have proven to be very divisive. Embraced by some as part of a revolutionary future, they are derided by others as the misconceived fever dream of naïve technologists who don’t understand how the real world works. Despite a recent meltdown in the cryptoasset markets, or perhaps because of it, the courts will increasingly have to resolve disputes over cryptoassets. An important question that has dramatic implications on how such disputes are resolved is, “Should cryptoassets be considered property?” In this bifurcated contribution, two contrasting positions are taken. “The Case for Cryptoassets as Property” presents the case for classifying cryptoassets as property, arguing that it greatly simplifies dispute resolution. “Better Left to the Legislature?”, on the other hand, disputes the capacity of the courts to do so. It is our shared hope that, through this adversarial process, we shine a clearer light on the arguments that judges and other lawmakers ought to consider as they face the coming deluge of disputes.

Please click here to read the book chapter on SSRN.

Weixia Gu spoke at International Arbitration Symposium at Cornell Law School

International Arbitration Symposium Provides Better Understanding of International Arbitration

Pictured (from left to right): Dr. Yuh-Ming Yan, Dr. Weixia Gu, Bianca Lin, and Professor Yun-chien Chang

On 18th April 2025, the International Arbitration Society, in collaboration with the Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture, hosted the Cornell International Arbitration Symposium at the Cornell Law School. This event brought together leading experts in the field to discuss various aspects of international arbitration in the East and the West. Dr. Weixia Gu, a leading scholar on international arbitration at our Law Faculty, has been invited to speak at this eminent event.

The symposium began with a morning panel featuring experts with Sinophone backgrounds. Dr. Yuh-Ming Yan, Associate Professor from Taiwan’s leading law school, National Chengchi University Law School, shared insights on arbitration developments in Taiwan. Dr. Weixia Gu, Associate Professor from Hong Kong’s top law school, The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law, then provided law and development insights into international arbitration in Hong Kong. Dr. Wei Gao, Associate Professor from mainland China’s top law school, Peking University Law School, analysed mainland China's arbitration landscape, and Bianca Lin, Partner from Allegaert Berger & Vogel, shared her experiences combining East Asian background with her legal practice in the U.S. The panel emphasized on how international arbitration frequently involves cross-border collaboration, and how understanding the practices and contexts of different jurisdictions is crucial. Moderated by Yun-chien Chang, Jack G. Clarke Professor in East Asian Law and Culture at Cornell Law School, the morning panel laid the groundwork for a deeper understanding of international arbitration in a cross-border and cross-cultural context.

The discussions continued in the afternoon panel, which focused more on American perspectives of international arbitration. Lee Caplan, leader of Arent Fox Schiff’s international arbitration practice group and a former assistant attorney at the State Department Office of the Legal Adviser, discussed the politics of investment arbitration in the U.S.. Afterwards, Ted Lynch, Partner of International Arbitration at Jones Day, talked about the enforceability of international arbitral awards in US. Stephen Anway, global co-chair of International Dispute Resolution at Squire Patton Boggs, compared arbitration practices in mainland China and the U.S., and finally Muna Ndulo, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of International & Comparative Law and Director of the Berger International Legal Studies Program, outlined global efforts to reform international arbitration laws and practices. Justice Gambino 26′, President of the Cornell International Arbitration Society at Cornell Law School, moderated the afternoon panel.

The Cornell International Arbitration Symposium provided better understanding of international arbitration, highlighting the importance of collaboration and understanding diverse legal contexts of international arbitration in today's globalized world.

The official news report from the Cornell Law School is available here.

Sida Liu and Joonsik Kim on About the Patient Named Taiwan: The Rise of Doctors in Party Politics (Journal of Contemporary Asia)

"About the Patient Named Taiwan: The Rise of Doctors in Party Politics"
Joonsik Kim, Sida Liu
Journal of Contemporary Asia
Published online: April 2025

Abstract: Doctors are not typically known for engaging in party politics. However, in Taiwan, many doctors have assumed prominent roles within the Democratic Progressive Party, including Dr Lai Ching-te who became president in May 2024. This article examines the factors contributing to the rise of doctors in Taiwan’s party politics since democratisation, particularly in the Democratic Progressive Party. Although the existing literature focuses on regime transitions and capital convertibility in elite circulation, this study proposes an alternative explanation: the symbiotic relationship between the Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan and the Democratic Progressive Party. Utilising extensive archival data from Taiwan, the article argues that this alliance, which combined an influential medical association with a weak political party, facilitated the emergence of doctor-politicians during Taiwan’s democratisation. The findings suggest that professional associations can serve as political vehicles, transforming individual efforts into collective action by participating in policymaking and mobilising resources for social movements and electoral politics. Furthermore, the case of doctor-politicians in Taiwan offers valuable insights into professional mobilisation, demonstrating how scientific expertise can be harnessed to wield moral authority and establish political coalitions within and beyond professional boundaries.

New edited book by Daniel Bell on Being Chinese, Becoming Chinese (The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press)

Being Chinese, Becoming Chinese
Edited by Daniel Bell
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press

Published in April 2025
300 pp.

Book Description: This edited volume presents a multidisciplinary exploration of Chinese identity, bringing together contributions from leading philosophers, historians, and legal theorists. The book examines the question of what it means to be, or to become, Chinese, and offers a rich collection of perspectives that span both historical and contemporary contexts. Through a series of thought-provoking chapters, the authors explore the complexities of “Chineseness,” shedding light on its relational and multifaceted nature. This book is an essential resource for scholars and students of China studies, philosophy, history, political science, sociology, and law.

New edited Chinese book by Say Goo and Shen Wei on FinTech and Legal Evolution: Credit, Currency, and AI (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

金融科技與法律變革-信用 貨幣和人工智能 (FinTech and Legal Evolution: Credit, Currency, and AI)
主編(Edited by): 沈偉 (Shen Wei), 吳世學 (Say Goo)
上海交通大學 (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)
出版日期 (Publication date)：March 2025

內容簡介(Description): 以數字為基礎的新技術革命和數字經濟正在改變我們的生活。人工智能、量子計算等高科技正在深度嵌入社會生活，從金融市場到海上船舶，從司法實踐到智慧城市 建設速度之快、規模之廣和介入之深都令人有日新月異、歎為觀止之感。技術與金融相互結合的金融科技改變了貨幣、商業銀行、保險服務、信用體系、證券交易等許多傳統領域的法律面向，對監管提出了更新的要求。本書從監管視角探討金融科技、技術 治理和科技法治的新問題、新視角和新挑戰，揭示技術浪潮對國家治理和法律制度的深刻影響。

Book review of Allison Powers's Arbitrating Empire: United States Expansion and the Transformation of International Law by Jedidiah Kroncke

"Recovering an Erased Era of Early American Imperial Legal Experimentation"
Jedidiah Kroncke
Jotwell - The Journal of Things We Like (Lots)
Published online: March 2025

Book Review: Inherent in historical work is recovering aspects of the past lost to contemporary awareness. In her new book, Arbitrating Empire: United States Expansion and the Transformation of International Law, Allison Powers recovers one such aspect that has been more than passively forgotten—it was actively erased. Her target is a series of state-to-state arbitral claims commissions central to American international law during the country’s rise as a global power. Here Arbitrating Empire revises understandings of early international arbitration as an instrument of “civilized” non-violent dispute resolution by exposing its function as a legal technology of imperial power. Powers’s intervention is a powerful and persuasive addition to the rapidly expanding literature on the evolution of the legal forms used to project American power abroad while denying accountability for its violence. The initial history of American international arbitration, she shows, was governed by the imperative “to secure territory, wealth, and political power across the globe while disavowing charges of colonial aggression.” (P. 7.)

Arbitrating Empire centers on five different claims commissions......

(Please click here to view full text of the book review)

Douglas Arner et al on Centralization in Decentralized Finance: Systemic Risk in the Crypto Ecosystem and Crypto’s Future as a Regulated Industry (Law and Contemporary Problems)

"Centralization in Decentralized Finance: Systemic Risk in the Crypto Ecosystem and Crypto’s Future as a Regulated Industry"
Douglas W Arner, Tanvi Ratna, Sijuade Animashaun, Jatin Bedi, Naveen Mishra
Law and Contemporary Problems, Volume 87, Number 2 (2025), pp. 185 - 210
Published online: April 2025

Introduction: A paradigm shift is manifesting in the global crypto ecosystem. Akin to traditional financial systems, crypto markets have developed networks of complex interrelationships between infrastructures, intermediaries and market participants. As an example, the events of the so-called “Crypto Winter” of 2022-2023, which began in early 2022 with the crash of sister tokens USDTerra and Luna and resulted in a series of cascading failures and collapses including that of the major crypto conglomerate FTX, underscore the significant potential that interconnection, interdependencies, concentration and contagion have in the evolving ecosystem. Compared to traditional finance, which is underpinned by a wide range of regulatory and supervisory interventions of central banks and other international and domestic regulatory bodies, the crypto ecosystem has until recently remained largely unregulated. This however is changing rapidly in major economies around the world and is expected to change as well in the United States, as crypto increasingly becomes a regulated industry. 

The crypto ecosystem is typically described as and characterized by decentralization and disintermediation. We have seen a range of situations however where the system does not operate in this way......

(click here to view full article)

Jiahui Duan on Belittling Grievances: Legal Consciousness and Strategic Non-mobilization in Chinese Workplace Harassment (Law & Society Review)

"Belittling Grievances: Legal Consciousness and Strategic Non-mobilization in Chinese Workplace Harassment"
Jiahui Duan
Law & Society Review
Published online: April 2025

Abstract: This article investigates the interplay between legal consciousness and legal mobilization in Chinese workplace sexual harassment cases. Drawing on 78 in-depth interviews with victims and fieldwork observations, it argues that second-order legal consciousness – the understanding of law derived from observing others’ experiences within relational networks – acts as a lens through which experiences of harassment are interpreted, inhibiting formal legal mobilization. Findings reveal that Chinese employees, facing a legal framework with limited protections and workplace hierarchies that discourage dissent, often strategically avoid formal reporting to safeguard their positions. This calculated inaction is informed by second-order legal consciousness, reinforced by the belittling of grievances, where complaints are minimized, dismissed, or normalized. Consequently, grievances are channeled away from formal, employment-based reporting toward individualized or gender-based remedies, which fail to address the systemic nature of workplace harassment. Bridging legal consciousness and mobilization literatures, this study reveals how the two concepts interact within Chinese workplaces. It further demonstrates that the belittling of employee grievances is not only a barrier to mobilization but also a crucial source of second-order legal consciousness, thus shaping victims’ decisions and perpetuating a cycle of non-reporting.