(2023) 4 TWAIL Review
ISSN 2563-6693
Published under a Creative Commons licence.
Ata R. Hindi ~ Unlawful Occupations? Assessing the Legality of Occupations, including for Serious Breaches of Peremptory Norms ~ pages 1-34
Abstract
In light of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly request on the legality/illegality of Israel’s occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt)/State of Palestine and the existence of several occupations elsewhere that are or will be prolonged, this contribution looks to address the legality of occupations under the rules of state responsibility, including for serious breaches of peremptory norms (particularly the prohibitions on annexation, denial of the right to self-determination, and racial discrimination and apartheid). The article engages the discourse of various UN mechanisms in that regard, as well as the scholarly discourse. It stresses the importance of the separation and co-applicability of both IHL (jus in bello) and the law on the use of force (jus ad bellum) in such situations. Further, it argues against a discourse that entertains shifting duties and obligations in such situations which could, in turn, benefit an Occupying Power and provide leeway prolonged occupations which cross further into the occupation-to-annexation threshold. The article then discusses the importance of assessing the legality/illegality of occupations, including for serious breaches of peremptory norms, and the subsequent legal consequences for the Occupying Power and third States. As such, it discusses the occupation-to-annexation paradigm and the findings of international bodies on the situation in the oPt/State of Palestine.
Ananya Jain ~ International Economic Law and COVID-19: Global Capitalism as an Imperialist Tool ~ pages 35-59
Abstract
This paper argues that international economic law functions as a tool of imperialist domination by advancing global capitalism. It uses the case study of the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate how institutions such as the World Trade Organisation and laws such as the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights have sacrificed the human rights of peoples in the Global South, such as the right to health and the right to benefit from scientific progress at the altar of corporate profitability. Such laws and institutions have constrained the economic sovereignty of these nations by disallowing them from acting autonomously in the best interests of their populations whilst subjecting them to rules that are inherently disadvantageous to them and in the formulation of which they have often been excluded. The consent of the Global South to such institutions and laws is manufactured through a combination of coercive mechanisms that weaponise the limited economic leverage of these countries as well as the ideological allure of notions such as free trade and economic liberalisation premised on ostensibly neutral ideas such as freedom and equality. The result is that these formerly colonised nations, although independent and sovereign under the Westphalian model, remain at the mercy of private capital and governments in the Global North.
Alicia Haripershad ~ The Right to Access Contraception: A Third World Feminist Analysis of the CEDAW and the Maputo Protocol as interpreted in Nigeria and Uganda ~ pages 60-87
Abstract
This article will explore the extent to which there is a right to access contraception in international law and African regional law, through the CEDAW and the Maputo Protocol. The theoretical right to access contraception will not only be compared but the practical implementation will also be examined – in an attempt to understand the scope of a woman s right to access contraception when applied. This is evaluated through a comparative case study on how the right to access contraception is interpreted by Nigeria and Uganda. Through examining the respective state reports submitted in fulfilment of their CEDAW and Maputo Protocol obligations, this article will draw conclusions on the implementation of contraceptive access in both states. This article uses the lens of third-world feminism to explore the legal pathways to access contraception for African women and thus contributes to a decolonial perspective by highlighting progressive understandings of contraception in African regional law. Amongst the major findings, access to healthcare services directly impacts access to contraception and therefore states should apply intersectional approaches to policy planning and implementation, acknowledging that women are not a homogenous group, in order to promote greater contraceptive access and empowerment. Application of third-world feminism reveals that the Maputo Protocol can be considered more empowering than the CEDAW, though the CEDAW committee has made crucial advances with their general recommendations.
Dominic J. Bielby ~ Immuno-Imperialism: TRIPS and the Third World’s Disadvantaged Access to the COVID-19 Vaccine ~ pages 88-117
Abstract
Between October 2020 and June 2022, the WTO’s TRIPS Council was the location of a sustained challenge brought by the Third World to the TRIPS Agreement on account of the Agreement’s effect on the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A key element of the Third World’s challenge related to the barriers that TRIPS allegedly raised to vaccine access. This article considers that aspect of the Third World’s challenge by analysing how Third World vaccine production and procurement has been impacted by intellectual property rights universalised in TRIPS, focusing on patents. Alongside this analysis, the article reviews the TRIPS ‘waiver’ which resulted from the TRIPS Council discussions in June 2022. The article identifies a ‘cascade of disadvantage’ faced by the Third World, whereby TRIPS limits the potential for Third World pharmaceutical production, directly and indirectly increases procurement costs through its cultivation of the anti-commons, and has, combined with the effects of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Understanding, channelled Third World advocacy in the identified period into a ‘waiver’ whose provisions do not meet the Third World’s original demands.
Richard Delgado ~ El académico imperial: Reflexiones de una revisión a la literatura sobre derechos civiles ~ pages 118-135
Abstract
Un ejemplo temprano de la Teoría Crítica de la Raza, este artículo analiza los patrones de citación de los principales estudiosos blancos de los derechos civiles. Después de revelar que esas figuras dominantes, todos partidarios de causas minoritarias, se citaban principalmente entre sí y no al creciente número de académicos negros y latinos que comenzaban a escribir sobre acción afirmativa, discriminación en materia de vivienda y otras áreas relacionadas, paso a mostrar que este patrón de negligencia tiene consecuencias reales, incluido el “embotamiento y sesgo” en el tratamiento de la raza y un discurso empobrecido sobre este tema vital. (Traducido del Inglés por Daniel Rivas-Ramírez y Fabia Fernandes Carvalho. Publicado originalmente bajo el título “The Imperial Scholar: Reflections on a Review of Civil Rights Literature” en University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Vol. 132, No. 3 (Mar. 1984), pp. 561 – 578.)
Karin Mickelson ~ Retórica y rabia: Voces del Tercer Mundo en el discurso jurídico internacional ~ pages 136-200
Abstract
Este artículo se propone cuestionar la visión convencional del Tercer Mundo y el derecho internacional, que tiende a caracterizar el discurso jurídico del Tercer Mundo como ad hoc y reactivo. Considera si sería posible identificar “modos distintivos de pensamiento y análisis” característicos de un enfoque del Derecho internacional del Tercer Mundo. En su análisis, la autora comienza explorando varios usos del término “Tercer Mundo” y explica la forma en que se utiliza en este artículo. Luego esboza los enfoques del Tercer Mundo en las áreas temáticas del derecho económico internacional, los derechos humanos y el medio ambiente, cada uno de los cuales va seguido de un examen de un texto relevante de un escritor del Tercer Mundo. Después de su examen, reúne rasgos comunes de estos textos que se podría decir que caracterizan un “enfoque del Tercer Mundo” global respecto del derecho internacional. El artículo concluye con una exploración de por qué puede ser significativo y útil intentar delinear tal enfoque. (Traducido del Inglés al Español por Daniel Rivas Ramírez y Fabia Fernandes Carvalho. Publicado originalmente bajo el título “Rhetoric and Rage: Third World Voices in International Legal Discourse” en 16:2 Wis. Int’l LJ 353 (1998).)
Joel Ngugi ~ Haciendo nuevo vino para viejos odres ¿Puede la reforma del derecho internacional emancipar al tercer mundo en la era de la globalización? ~ pages 201-234
Abstract
Este artículo pregunta si el derecho internacional tiene algún potencial redentor o de mejora para el Tercer Mundo. Parecería que para que el Tercer Mundo obtenga algún beneficio del régimen internacional, debe salir de la episteme del derecho internacional tal como está configurado actualmente y comprometerse con él desde afuera. El derecho internacional, tal como está configurado actualmente, crea categorías para manejar el discurso, lo que permite suspender los debates sobre cuestiones fácticas o jurídicas que rodean la realidad concreta. Sin embargo, al tratar las categorías mismas como políticas (en lugar de neutrales) y cuestionadas (en lugar de resueltas), el Tercer Mundo puede cambiar las percepciones de la “realidad” que están bajo análisis. (Traducido del inglés al español por Daniel Rivas Ramírez y Fabia Fernandes Carvalho. Publicado originalmente bajo el título “Making New Wine for Old Wineskins: Can the Reform of International Law Emancipate the Third World in the Age of Globalization” en 8 U. C. Davis J. Int’l L. & Pol’y 73 (2002).)
