Melissa Loja on International Agreements between Nonstate Actors as a Source of International Law (ASIL Proceedings)

"International Agreements between Nonstate Actors as a Source of International Law"

Melissa Loja
2018, Vol 112, pp 151-5
Proceedings of the 112th Annual Meeting of The American Society of International Law

Abstract: International issues that are resolved traditionally through agreements between states are managed currently through agreements between government agencies and corporate entities. Government agencies1 and corporate entities are nonstate actors that have no formal capacity to engage in international lawmaking. Are their international agreements a source of international law? 

     The question is addressed in a case study of petroleum agencies and corporations in ninety-eight countries. These agencies and corporations are authorized to conclude agreements to settle disputes over petroleum resources that are shared by states across maritime zones and boundaries (shared resources). Their agreements are subjected to linguistic and procedural criteria for purposes of identification as a source of international legal rules on shared resources. The present paper summarizes some of the data and findings in the case study.  To listen to the presentation, click here.

New Article: Crowd-Sourced Governance in a Post-Disaster Context

"Crowd-Sourced Governance in a Post-Disaster Context"

International and Comparative Law Quarterly

FirstView Article, September 2014, 16 pp.

Shahla Ali

Abstract: In the wake of recent catastrophic natural disasters, the United Nations (UN) has developed an increasingly sophisticated network of collaborative partnerships to assist with humanitarian relief operations. The growing use of open-source technology such as crowd mapping and resource tracking—being universally accessible, collaboratively designed, subject to ongoing improvement, and responsive to on-the-ground needs—reflects in many respects the emerging UN governance mechanisms developed to support the creation of such technology. The 2008 meeting of the World Economic Forum called for increased documentation and ‘dissemination of the work of humanitarian relief’ and ‘mapping of assets, non-food items’ and resources to prevent duplication.

However, as yet, little attention has been given to the role of open-source governance mechanisms in the context of disaster response. This article aims to fill this gap by examining the emerging mechanisms by which private sector collaboration is coordinated by international institutions such as the UN. It finds that the emergence of post-disaster open-source humanitarian relief reflects the observations of new governance legal scholars that coordination is increasingly the result of expanded participation and partnership on the part of governments and non-State actors, a learning-focused orientation, with the State increasingly acting as a convener, catalyst and coordinator.  Click here to read full article.