Dear friends,
Welcome to the Institute’s Autumn Newsletter.
I would like to start by thanking all of those who have contributed so generously to the BIICL 60+ Appeal, chaired by our President, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury. He and his Appeal Panel have worked tirelessly help us to raise gifts and pledges of £1.85million towards our target of £3million. I would thank in particular those who have joined the President’s Circle by making a gift of £10,000 or more.
The Institute is dependent on donations and research grant funding to continue its work. The generous gifts we have received have helped us to complete the renovation of our premises, increase our research activity and deliver a full programme of training and events at a time when we have faced many challenges. It is those from the profession, the judiciary and academia who give their time and expertise so generously that makes BIICL one of the leading independent research centres in the world. All our donors and supporters have the very grateful thanks of everyone at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.
In this newsletter you will read more about BIICL’s support of Ukranian academics, our new landmark corporate climate litigation project and the launch of an Independent Commission on UK Public Health Emergency Powers. While this newsletter is by no means a comprehensive overview of our current work, I hope that it goes some way to updating you with life at the Institute.
I look forward to welcoming you to the Institute again soon.
Professor Spyros Maniatis
Director of BIICL
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In this edition
To jump to a particular section, please click on the link:
The BIICL 60+ Appeal
Ukraine: Researchers at Risk
Training
Centre for International Law
Climate Change, Cultural Heritage & Human Rights and Migration Law
Centre for Comparative Law
Breathing Space, Rome II, COVID-19 and vulnerable Groups
Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law
New Research Director, UK Public Health Emergency Powers Commission, Domestic Bill of Rights
& COVID-19 control tech
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Modern Slavery Policy and Evidence Centre
Latest reports and podcasts from the centre
Publications
ICLQ and new E-Publications
Events at BIICL
Round up of events this autumn
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BIICL 60+ Appeal President’s Circle
President’s Circle members are individuals who have made a gift of £10,000 or more to the BIICL 60+ Appeal or one of our Centres. Without the support of our President’s Circle Members and others who give so generously to the Institute, BIICL would not have the funds to rigorously retain its independence, react speedily to new legal issues or support its talented research team to investigate new areas. Members are highly valued and are kept in touch and engaged with the Institute’s work. President’s Circle Members:
- are invited to an annual drinks reception and briefing, hosted by Lord Neuberger;
- receive invitations to other high-profile key events at the Institute;
- receive reports and updates on our progress;
- are encouraged to become more involved in our work.
A list of our members can be found here.
For more information, please contact Diane Denny on +44 (0)20 7862 5443 or at d.denny@biicl.org.
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BIICL is delighted to welcome Ukrainian academics fleeing the war in Ukraine, through the Researchers at Risk Fellowship Programme. The programme was launched by the British Academy with support from the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society and CARA - the Council for At-Risk Academics.
BIICL will provide an enabling and supportive academic environment to further the researchers work in areas such as international humanitarian law, war crimes and human rights amongst others. Their work will complement our existing Ukraine International Law response initiative, set up with the aim of bringing together scholars working on international legal matters to respond to the multiple international law challenges posed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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During 2022 training has become an increasingly important part of our work at BIICL. Capacity building in the legal sector is a key objective for the Institute and we have been delighted by the response to our wide ranging programme of short courses, which included the introduction of many new courses. 2022 saw a significant rise in the number of participants on our courses with over 550 people participating in our courses this year alone (not to mention high number of participants to our online courses).
We are now at the end of our 2022 course programme with just one course this year to run namely the Intensive Course: Law of the Sea 1-2 December 2022. In addition our self-paced online courses, Citizenship and the Rule of Law and International Investment law and Dispute Resolution, also continue to welcome participants.
We are now getting ready to publish our schedule of courses for 2023 which will include many of our popular courses alongside new offerings including on shipping and aviation, cyberlaw and a series of masterclasses. Join our mailing list to receive the latest programme of courses
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Climate Change
BIICL has launched a two-year project Global Perspectives on Corporate Climate Legal Tactics, which will provide a selection of tools for NGOs, government bodies, local communities, lawyers, other impacted groups and individuals around the world.
This project will provide an inventory of substantive and procedural provisions relevant to climate change cases to be used as legal models by policymakers and legal practitioners and to act as an authoritative reference point for judges and other adjudicators, leading to more informed decisions, in turn producing clearer precedents. The project's approach will be comparative in nature, taking into consideration perspectives from Global South and Global North countries, in order to offer a comprehensive overview of existing best practices worldwide and corporate climate litigation avenues.
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Migration, Anti-trafficking and Labour Rights
 The findings of the Determinants of Anti-Trafficking Efforts project have been published and are now available.
The results reflect the complex web of factors that influence States’ anti-trafficking efforts. The publication includes the main report authored by Dr Jean-Pierre Gauci and Dr Noemi Magugliani, an executive summary as well as 14 case study reports and working papers including a literature review and a paper that explores the meaning of political will in the context of anti-trafficking efforts. The findings were extremely well received and described as ambitious, novel and hugely important by government representatives, international organisations and NGOs.
The project was supported by the United States Government J/TIP Office within the Department of State.
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Identification of adults with lived experiences of modern slavery in the UK
In September BIICL began a new research project in collaboration with the Human Trafficking Foundation which will investigate potential ways to improve the identification of adults with lived experiences of modern slavery in the UK through the examination of existing practice, looking at gaps in identification processes, and capturing promising practice in the area.
This project is funded by the Modern Slavery PEC following an open call as part of its Responsive Research Mechanism.
More information about the project
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Cultural Heritage
Beyond Restitution Project Update
During the summer Dr Elke Selter travelled to Cambodia to collect fieldwork data for the “Beyond Restitution” project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The specific aim of the fieldwork was to look at a case of exchange between the Musée Guimet in Paris and the National Museum in Phnom Penh. In this exchange, which takes the form of long-term renewable loans, the Musée Guimet  returned the head of a Harihara statue from Phnom Da of which the body was at Cambodia’s National Museum. In return, Cambodia sent the base of a Koh Ker statue to the Musée Guimet so that they could reunite it with the rest of the statue that is part of their collection.
The fieldwork in Cambodia allowed us to take a closer look at how the process of exchange unfolded in Cambodia, but also to ask additional questions on the (spiritual) meaning of such returns and exchanges and on the way in which these involve local communities.
More about the project
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Human Rights and Democracies
The state of local and regional democracy – a youth perspective
BIICL has now completed its work on a report on democratic participation of young people for the EU Committee of the Regions. The report identified a series of factors that influence youth democratic participation, both positively and negatively, and made a number of recommendations on how such participation could be enhanced moving forward. The report both informed the drafting COR Documents and has now been published by the EU.
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Breathing Space Podcast Series
BIICL is proud to partner with the CEDR on the podcast series on Smarter approaches to dispute resolution. The series brings together leading experts in the field of dispute resolution to also discuss the 'BIICL Guidelines’, a set of practical guidelines that set out how companies and particularly those who are conscious of Environmental, Social and Governance requirements and their reputations can manage legal disputes responsibly. Drafted by Helen Dodds, Guy Pendell and Justice Adam Johnson QC, The BIICL Guidelines are deliberately framed so that they can be used in all jurisdictions and legal systems. To this end, they have been translated into seven different languages. While looking at issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, the series is also looking at evolving attitudes to dispute resolution, future trends and advice from leading conflict specialists.
Episode three features Lauren McGuirl, Director of Commercial Disputes at CEDR, Sapfo Constantatos, Senior Legal Counsel, Standard Chartered Bank and Guy Pendell, Disputes Partner and Solicitor Advocate, CMS.
Episode three looks at
- Relationship preservation
- Who should be involved in negotiations
- Role of third parties in negotiations and dispute resolution processes
- Impact of the pace of proceedings.
Listen now
More information on BIICL's Breathing Space Series and access to the three Concept Notes can be found here.
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Rome II Regulation
On Friday, 2 December 2022, EAPIL will hold an online seminar on the Rome II Regulation.
The seminar will shed light on the Study that was prepared in 2021 by BIICL in consortium with Civic Consulting to support the preparation of the report on the application of the Rome II Regulation.
The speakers will be: Eva Lein (BIICL / University of Lausanne), Constance Bonzé (BIICL), Xandra Kramer (University of Rotterdam), Martin Ebers (University of Tartu), Marie Louise Kinsler (2 Temple Gardens, London).
Find out more and book your place
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Japan, Covid19 and vulnerable groups
The three-year project with the University of Kyoto started in February 2022 and is funded by the UK Research and Innovation fund (UKRI). Drawing on interdisciplinary and empirical analyses, the project is part of CCL’s and University of Kyoto’s large-scale effort to shed light on the societal and legal effects of COVID-19 with an emphasis on protection and recovery of vulnerable groups. As a whole, the project aims to identify common traits of legal tools and responses mitigating the effects of the pandemic and to assess their effectiveness comparatively and in context by drawing on the experiences from a number of jurisdictions in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
BIICL is happy to announce that, alongside Prof. Eva Lein, Dr Sara Razai, and Constance Bonzé, contributors to the project will include Lise Smit, Dr Irene Pietropaoli, Dr Jean-Pierre Gauci and Prof. Mark Findlay. Prof. Yuko Nishitani leads the Japanese team which includes Prof. Miguel Alvarez Ortega, Prof. Antonios Karaiskos, Prof. Noriko Odagiri, Prof. Reiko Ogawa, and Prof. Dr. Franz Waldenberger.
More about this project
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New Director of Research
 Jeff King, Professor of Law at UCL Laws, has been announced as the new Director of Research at the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law. Professor King is an outstanding Rule of Law scholar and practitioner whose career has bridged the divide between Rule of Law theory and practice. Professor King joins the Bingham Centre on secondment for two years from UCL. The Director of Research is a new senior leadership role at the Bingham Centre, which has been made possible by the generous support of the Sigrid Rausing Trust and The Legal Education Foundation. The creation of the role is an important step in the Bingham Centre's long term strategic goal of developing a sustained programme of world class, policy-relevant research on the most significant Rule of Law issues of the day, both in the UK and worldwide.
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October saw the launch of the Independent Commission on UK Public Health Emergency Powers to review the UK's legislative framework and institutional arrangements, alongside Government decision-making during the Covid-19 pandemic. The secretariat for the commission is being provided by The Bingham Centre.
The Commission's findings and recommendations will inform planning for future public health emergencies. More immediately, the Commission will make recommendations to inform the UK and Scottish Covid-19 public inquiries, as advocated by the House of Lords Constitution Committee. The Independent Commission will provide a legal and constitutional analysis of existing and alternative emergency public health laws, parliamentary procedures for responding to public health emergencies, and the ways in which emergency laws and public health guidance were made, scrutinised, utilised and disseminated during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Twelve Commissioners have now been appointed to work alongside The Right Hon. Sir Jack Beatson FBA as Chair. The Commission brings together leading policy experts, practitioners, parliamentarians and academics working in the field. The Commissioners will be working in smaller groups to focus on key issues, including the legislative framework, parliamentary oversight of executive action, and international comparisons.
Find out more
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International principles for domestic bills of rights processes
This new project will seek to identify and examine key principles drawn from international human rights law, which are binding on the UK, against which to measure domestic bills of rights processes such as those currently underway both at UK level and in devolved jurisdictions. Bingham Centre is working with the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford and the University of Strathclyde’s Centre for the Study of Human Rights Law. A report is expected before the end of 2022.
Find out more
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Rule of Law, Legitimacy and Effective COVID-19 Control Technologies
The final output of our joint project with the Munich Center for Technology in Society and the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Data Governance (CAIDG) at the Singapore Management University was published at the end of the summer. This White Paper aims to provide an overview over the assessment of the technological applications in terms of their legitimacy and amenability to Rule of Law standards ensuring respect for rights and liberties. The Paper is oriented towards the policymakers who consider introducing surveillance technologies for health purposes and would like to learn more about how to assess this from a Rule of Law perspective.
Find out more
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Europe and the Rule of Law
Dr Oliver Garner, our Maurice Wohl Research Fellow in European Rule of Law, recently gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Constitution, Europe, External Affairs & Culture Committee on the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, to assist the Scottish Parliament in its consideration of whether to grant a Legislative Consent Motion in respect of the Bill and its effect on devolved Scottish matters.
Video link 
The Bingham Centre has closely engaged with the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill since it was first introduced, as the Bill raises a number of Rule of Law concerns. The Bingham Centre’s Rule of Law Monitoring of Legislation project most recently published a report for the House of Commons’ Committee Stage of the Bill in July.
During the session before the Scottish Parliament, Oliver discussed provisions of the Bill which would breach the UK’s international obligations, and the Government’s unconvincing attempts to justify such a breach using the international law doctrine of necessity. He also outlined the legal uncertainty inherent in the Henry VIII clause and other subjective ministerial powers granted by the Bill.
In his testimony, Oliver argued that further legal uncertainty was likely to be caused by the Bill seeking to exclude the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the EU. Oliver noted that the attempt to exclude the Court of Justice would give rise to legal instability, create uncertainty over who has the authority to resolve disputes, and could prompt the EU to utilise the Withdrawal Agreement general dispute resolution procedure.
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Policy brief: public procurement measures to address modern slavery
The Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (Modern Slavery PEC) has published a Policy Brief on the effectiveness of public procurement measures in addressing modern slavery. The Brief is underpinned by an evidence review carried out by Dr Sofia Gonzalez de Aguinaga which surveyed a wide range of public procurement measures in place in many countries around the world.
The review found that because many public procurement measures are recent, there is as yet little direct evidence of their effectiveness. However, there are case studies demonstrating where public procurement measures have positively influenced supplier behaviour and contributed to reduced modern slavery risk.
Read the blog accompanying this review which reflects on the impact of public procurement modern slavery measures on business.
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Protecting British nationals from modern slavery
A report published by the Modern Slavery PEC found that UK professionals from social services, education, mental health services and the criminal justice system miss many opportunities to protect British nationals from being exploited in modern slavery. Their misunderstanding of modern slavery often leads to them failing to spot the signs of exploitation and treating vulnerable British nationals as criminals rather than victims.
It found that British nationals referred as potential victims of modern slavery often face “a cycle of closed doors”, caused by confusion over what support they are entitled to and often resulting in being directed to local authorities rather than to specialised services through the National Referral Mechanism.
The study was carried out by St Mary’s University Twickenham in partnership with the Wilberforce Institute at the University of Hull and Justice & Care and Craig Barlow Consultancy and Training.
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Improving participation and outcomes for children following modern slavery
Feeling safe, stability, peace, trusting professionals, being believed and listened to are important and meaningful outcomes identified by children with experience of trafficking through a research project led by The Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University, Institute of Applied Social Research at the University of Bedfordshire and ECPAT UK.
As part of this participatory research, young people identified 25 positive outcomes and developed a Positive Outcomes Framework, designed to help policymakers and practitioners create an environment and support programmes helping young people achieving a positive long-term future.
Read the research summary , as well as a blog by young people themselves describing what they want social workers, healthcare professionals, lawyers and foster carers to know about working with trafficked children on Children & Young People Now.
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Addressing modern slavery in long and complex supply chains
The Modern Slavery PEC published a report on big UK utilities and industrial companies addressing modern slavery in their long and complex supply chains. The research was carried out by the University of Nottingham Rights Lab and ShareAction.
The research found that utilities and industrial companies lack visibility of their supply chains beyond Tier 1 for modern slavery risks, and despite some good practices, they have significant gaps in areas such as freedom of association. The research recommends that businesses need to put workers and their representatives at the centre of wider collaborative approaches to managing supply chains if they are to increase their visibility beyond Tier 1.
A short research summary can be found on the Modern Slavery PEC website along with the full report.
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Impact of providing technology to survivors of modern slavery in the UK
During the Covid-19 pandemic, organisations supporting survivors of modern slavery were forced to move to providing support remotely, including by phone and online.
However, the provision of technology - such as phones, laptops or data packages - to individuals in receipt of National Referral Mechanism (NRM) support (i.e., via the national framework that is used in the UK to identify and support potential victims of modern slavery) is not part of the current standard support package. NGOs have raised concerns about ‘digital exclusion’ among adult victims and survivors and some support providers have had concerns about the risk of digital access in certain instances. A research project, led by the University of Liverpool, in partnership with the International Organisation for Migration UK and Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA) seeks to evaluate the impact of providing technology to adults with lived experience of modern slavery in the UK.
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Improving equality, diversity and inclusion in modern slavery research
In the Modern Slavery PEC Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy and Action Plan, the Centre committed to improving diversity in the research we fund to effectively include all individuals, communities and organisations with an interest in and affected by modern slavery. In the Action Plan, the Modern Slavery PEC committed to undertake research on EDI within the wider modern slavery research sector, to understand the challenges and barriers stopping people from all backgrounds from being able to participate effectively and make recommendations for improvements.
Following the open call for applications for research funding, a project led by BASNET at AFRUCA Safeguarding Children, the University of Nottingham, the University of Sheffield and St Mary’s University, Twickenham was selected to carry out that work. This research is the first Modern Slavery PEC project to be led by an NGO as part of our new funding processes to promote diversity in modern slavery research.
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Podcasts
Forced labour import bans featuring Sofia Gonzalez de Aguinaga of the Bingham Centre and Owain Johnstone of the Modern Slavery PEC.
How to research modern slavery better: partnerships between academics and NGOs
a recording of the event in August 2022 looking at building equitable partnerships between academics and NGOs in modern slavery research
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ICLQ October 2022 
The October edition of the International and Comparative Law Quarterly has now been published (Vol 71 Part 4) It includes articles focusing on human rights, international trade law, maritime zones and apartheid.
BIICL Members can log in and access the ICLQ free of charge here
To keep up to date with the latest ICLQ news, and for free access to highlighted articles, follow @iclq_jnl on Twitter.
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BIICL E-publications now available
Fro m November BIICL will be offering some of its published books as e-publications. Thirteen new e-publications will be available including our most popular titles. The move to e-publishing reflects the way in which readers prefer to access our publications and allows us to offer these titles at a very reasonable charge across the globe.
The titles will be available on the Kindle platform to purchase and download either alone or as a series
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Below is a summary of our recent events. For upcoming events go to our events homepage
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Global Perspectives on Corporate Climate Legal Tactics: Developing a Comparative Toolbox for Corporate Climate Litigation
17 November 2022
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The Review of the Arbitration Act 1996: How do we maintain English arbitration law as state of the art
16 November 2022
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Are States Still Masters of their Treaties? The Role of Subsequent Agreements and Subsequent Practice in Treaty Interpretation
15 November 2022
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Climate Change and Inequality: Insights from Research
25 October 2022
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Thirty Eighth ITF Public Conference: Complex Arbitration Proceedings in ISDS
14 October 2022
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What next for the International Law commission?
27 September 2022
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