I am a lawyer and political scientist interested in international relations. I currently teach at the University of Lausanne. My main research areas (on which I run separate blogs) are international (economic) law (with a special emphasis on Switzerland) and international legal developments relating to sexual orientation, gender identity and expression as well as sex characteristics (SOGIESC).
Call for Student Papers: 6th Annual John D. Greenwald Writing Competition
Are you a JD, LLM or SJD student passionate about International Economic Law? Would you like a chance of getting published and winning one of three cash prizes?
Call for Papers: UNCTAD-AIB AWARD for Research on Investment and Development
The call for papers submission for the UNCTAD-AIB AWARD for Research on Investment and Development has been issued: UNCTAD-AIB Award.
The Award jointly established by UNCTAD Division of Investment and Enterprise (DIAE) and the Academy of International Business (AIB) is granted on annual basis for the best young academic research work on international investment and development. The Award is intended for PhD students or early career researchers with no more than five years of full-time work experience.
UNCTAD and AIB invite contributions that provide state-of-the-art knowledge and understanding of the activities conducted by, and the development impact of, multinational enterprises and other international investors, considering economic, institutional, social, environmental or cultural aspects. Contributions should draw clear policy conclusions from the research findings.
The 4th edition of The Award will be presented during an official ceremony (final date to be confirmed) that will take place during the AIB 2023 Annual Conference which is scheduled from 5-9 July 2023 in Warsaw. Finalists will present their work in a Special Session at the AIB Conference, and the winner will be announced during the Awards Ceremony. Finalists must agree to register and attend the Awards Ceremony.
Only 15% of Swiss university students study abroad
The proportion of Swiss university graduates who have studied or completed a placement abroad is 15.7%. The target set by the national strategy of the Swiss confederation and the cantons and the objectives of the Bologna Process is 20%. Only one in nine Swiss universities were able to reach this threshold, according to the first internationalisation index of Swiss universities published on Thursday by Movetia, the national agency for the promotion of exchanges and mobility in the education system. The ranking is independent of the type of university and does not depend on the size or age of the institution, nor on the language region concerned, notes Movetia. It shows that all types of institutions, in all language regions, could achieve higher international mobility rates. The mobility rate of a university and its degree of internationalisation are correlated. Students are more inclined to go abroad if the courses in Switzerland include an intercultural dimension or offer…
L’année dernière, deux prix Nobel ont été décernés ont été attribués à des scientifiques LGBTQ. Mirko Bischoffberger, «biologiste moléculaire, cinéaste et ancien directeur de la communication de l’EPFL», explique pourquoi cela devrait nous intéresser et pourquoi la discrimination entraîne une perte de connaissances.
Happy to represent ELFA at the AALS Annual Meeting 2023
As its current President I represented the European Law Faculties Association (ELFA) at the 2023 Annual Meeting of its sister association, the Amercian Association of Law Schools (AALS).
The theme of this year’s meeting held January 3-7, 2023, in San Diego, CA is “How Law Schools Can Make a Difference.”
A also intervened personally in a Panel entitled “The Comparative Classroom”, organized by the Comparative Law Section of the AALS and the East Asian Law & Society on 4 January 2023.
Reminder: Open Access Publication of the PhD Thesis of my Former Foctoral Student: Zied Ghedira, Le tabac en droit international (2022)
Ces dernières années, la thématique des restrictions de la distribution et de la publicité pour les cigarettes a occupé de nombreux organes et tribunaux internationaux. En raison de la fragmentation du droit international et du règlement des litiges y correspondant, il existe un risque de réglementation incongrue et surtout insatisfaisante, dans laquelle la protection de la santé, les intérêts économiques des producteurs et le commerce international ne sont pas facilement pris en compte et coordonnés de manière satisfaisante.
Ce travail de thèse met pour la première fois en lumière de manière exhaustive les aspects du droit de l’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS), de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC ; commerce et droits de propriété intellectuelle liés au commerce) et du réseau d’accords bilatéraux de protection des investissements existants, ainsi que les jugements (et sentences arbitrales) et les controverses qui en découlent. Les considérations de politique de santé (y compris le droit à la santé et la protection des mineurs) et les réglementations applicables du droit international économique sont comparées et leur cohérence est remise en question. Les questions qui en résultent seront extrêmement importantes pour la recherche ultérieure et la prise de décision par les organes politiques au niveau national et dans les négociations internationales.
Cette thèse combine plusieurs domaines juridiques habituellement très séparés (droit de la santé, droit de l’OMC, droit de la protection des investissements, droit de la propriété intellectuelle). Elle traite en outre des aspects médicaux, psychologiques, sociologiques et économiques fondamentaux, nécessaires à la compréhension de la problématique. Il s’agit donc d’un travail interdisciplinaire d’une certaine ampleur. Parallèlement, les différents domaines juridiques sont présentés avec une précision adéquate afin de permettre au lecteur de comprendre le contexte et les prémisses politiques.
New publication: Ziegler Andreas R, Trade and Environment in the Region of the Caucasus and Central Asia: The Case of Hazardous Waste
Chapter 12 in: Law of International Trade in the Region of the Caucasus, Central Asia and Russia – Public International Law, Private Law, Dispute Settlement, Alexander Trunk, Azar Aliyev, Marina Trunk-Fedorova (eds.), Brill, 2022/12/15, pp. 223-232.
English version of: International Trade Liberalization and the Restrictions on Trade in Waste, in: Alexander Trunk / A. Ch. Aliyev / Marina P. Trunk-Fedorova (eds.), Mezhdunarodnoye torgovoye pravo v gosudarstvakh Kavkaza, Tsentral’noy Azii i v Rossii: mezhdu regional’noy integratsiyey i globalizatsiyey.” (Международное торговое право в государствах Кавказа, Центральной Азии и в России: между региональной интеграцией и глобализацией. (Под редакцией А. Трунка, А.Ч. Алиева, М.П.Трунк-Федоровой [International Trade Law in the States of the Caucasus, Central Asia and Russia, between Regional Integration and Globalization- Contributions to a Conference in Baku in 2013]) – (Statut [Статут], Moscow, 2016, ISBN: 9785835412402), pp. 198-207.