In this GLJ Shorts episode, Otava Piha presents her article "My Body is my Temple? Comparing Sexual Crimes and Property Crimes in a Human Rights Tradition" , which appeared in the GLJ vol. 25:1 in February 2024. Interview by German Law Journal editor in chief Clara Rigoni, editing by Benjamin Veit Weck.

In this GLJ Shorts episode, Shubham Jain presents his article "Resistance and Reform as Responses to Human Rights Criticism: Relativism at FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022", which appeared in the Special Section "The FIFA World Cup 2022 and the struggle for human rights in Qatar" in GLJ vol. 24:9 in December 2023. Interview by German Law Journal editor in chief Clara Rigoni, editing by Benjamin Veit Weck.

In this video, Abduletif Idris explains how the members of the Environmental Rights in Cultural Context research group at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology combine legal studies and anthropology to tackle the concept of environmental rights. Drawing on empirical evidence from case studies in Ethiopia, Mongolia, and Ecuador, the researchers see how constitutionally enshrined environmental rights are moving targets that often fail to live up to their promise.

Luc Leboeuf is the coordinator of the EU-funded VULNER project, which examines the application of the concept of vulnerability in the adjudication of asylum cases. There is still no common legal understanding of “vulnerability”; it takes on different meanings in different contexts, and is becoming a tool of selection and exclusion as it evolves as a legal instrument. In this short, Leboeuf focuses on the methodological framework that he and the VULNER consortium developed to study how asylum seekers actually experience the way “vulnerability” is applied to their specific cases. The methodology combines doctrinal legal analysis based of ECtHR case law with an ethnographic approach to how the concept is being implemented by public servants in their daily practices of dealing with asylum seekers.

“Sex must be voluntary; if it’s not, it’s a crime,” reads the Swedish government’s ad campaign. The new Swedish rape law is all about communicating consent – “listen, ask, and tune in so that you’re sure what others really want,” the ad continues. Feminists have long campaigned against rape laws that require active resistance from the victim, even where lack of consent is clear. But is rape really just about a failure of communication? What about power and patriarchy? And what about the grey zones that show up in empirical studies on sex communication? Linnea Wegerstad looks at how the new law has been applied so far, whether it really brings the clarity it promises, and what needs to happen outside of the law for it to work. Her article “Sex Must Be Voluntary: Sexual Communication and the New Definition of Rape in Sweden“ appeared in the Special Issue “Sexual Violence and Criminal Justice in the 21st Century” in GLJ vol. 22:5 in August 2021. Interview by GLJ editor Nora Markard, editing by Marlene Stiller.

Over the last years, mass protests against sexualized violence against women have led to law reform in many countries. They were sparked by shocking rape cases as well as #MeToo and similar campaigns. The Istanbul Convention provides an international framework for what is sometimes called "carceral feminism." Time to take stock and to evaluate the impact of the consent paradigm, the influence of social movements, and the limits of criminal law, both at the national and the international level. Listen to Boris Burghardt and Leonie Steinl as they talk about their Special Issue "Sexual Violence and Criminal Justice in the 21st Century," how they collected contributions from around the world and from different disciplines, what insights they took away from this, and what their next projects are. And of course, find out who would play Boris in a movie and what Leonie would have done instead of becoming an academic! The Special Issue appeared in August 2021 in GLJ 22:5. GLJ editor Nora Markard is the host, editing by Marlene Stiller.

This episode offers a hand-picked selection of highlights from the German Law Journal’s 2020 volume. It presents articles that may not (yet) have the download numbers they deserve – some algorithm detox, brought to you by GLJ Co-editor-in-chief Matthias Goldmann. All articles are vailable Open Access via our website: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/german-law-journal. Editing by Marlene Stiller.

Germany and the UK are marked by quite different legal cultures, institutional contexts, and scholarly traditions. But how does this shape socio-legal scholarship situated in those contexts? And how does this play out when studying labor law, contracts, transnational law, or urban law? What are the key contemporary trends, theoretical applications, and methodological approaches in both socio-legal academic contexts? Meet one of our editors-in-chief, Jen Hendry, as she and Naomi Creutzfeldt and Christian Boulanger talk about their Special Issue "Socio-Legal Studies in Germany and the UK: Theory and Methods," what made the project so fascinating to them, what insights it produced, and what their next projects are. And of course, find out what advice Christian received from his grandma, what Naomi is missing while working from home, and who would play Jen in a movie! The Special Issue appeared in October 2020 in GLJ 21:7. GLJ editor Nora Markard is the host, editing by Marlene Stiller.

States in the global north have been seeking to create a distance between them and migrants drowning or being abused, in an effort to avoid jurisdiction. Can international criminal law or the civil rights of Search and Rescue NGOs create a bridge for accountability? ICL's ability to also address "banal crimes against humanity" and to express their injustice makes it interesting for strategic litigation, while activists exercising their sincerely held beliefs by performing Search and Rescue may be bringing human rights jurisdiction into the "legal black holes" at sea. In this GLJ Shorts episode, Yannis Kalpouzos and Itamar Mann present their articles "International Criminal Law and the Violence against Migrants" and "The Right to Perform Rescue at Sea: Jurisprudence and Drowning." Both articles appeared in the Special Issue "Border Justice: Migration and Accountability for Human Rights Violations" in GLJ vol. 21:3 in April 2020. Interview by German Law Journal editor Nora Markard, editing by Marlene Stiller.

EU agencies have an ever increasing role in the EU asylum system – raising the question how they can be held accountable. EASO is supposed to only support Greek authorities in the asylum procedure, but in fact determines the decision. Meanwhile, Frontex is charge of highly human-rights sensitive border operations. For both agencies, accountability gaps are notorious. Do extrajudicial mechanisms, such as the European Ombudsman, or mechanisms not designed for human rights claims, such as the action for damages, provide avenues to hold them accountable? In this GLJ Shorts episode, Melanie Fink and Lilian Tsourdi present their articles "Holding the European Asylum Support Office Accountable for its role in Asylum Decision-Making: Mission Impossible?" and "The Action for Damages as a Fundamental Rights Remedy: Holding Frontex Liable." Both articles appeared in the Special Issue "Border Justice: Migration and Accountability for Human Rights Violations" in GLJ vol. 21:3 in April 2020. Interview by German Law Journal editor Nora Markard, editing by Marlene Stiller.

The UN treaty bodies are often referred to as "soft courts," because their decisions are neither binding nor enforceable. When interpreting non-refoulement, does this make them more progressive than the European Court of Human Rights, a "hard court"? An analysis of over 500 decisions shows that this is not always the case. Rather, variations in the interpretation of this norm in a crowded field of international interpreters present risks for evasion of accountability, enabling domestic authorities in Europe to favor the most restrictive interpretation. In this GLJ Shorts episode, Başak Çalı and Cathryn Costello present their and Stewart Cunningham's article "Hard Protection through Soft Courts? Non-Refoulement before the United Nations Treaty Bodies," which appeared in the Special Issue "Border Justice: Migration and Accountability for Human Rights Violations" in GLJ vol. 21:3 in April 2020. Interview by German Law Journal editor Nora Markard, editing by Marlene Stiller.

What can the "spatial turn" in international law offer in pursuit of accountability in migration control? Perceiving the site of a violation from a bird's-eye view and mapping different accountability structures across different legal regimes and regions can identify blind spots, and it can help to critically assess existing trajectories and explore the wider grid of potential accountability mechanisms. In this GLJ Shorts episode, Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen presents his and Nikolas Feith Tan's article "A Topographical Approach to Accountability for Human Rights Violations in Migration Control," which appeared in the Special Issue "Border Justice: Migration and Accountability for Human Rights Violations" in GLJ vol. 21:3 in April 2020. Interview by German Law Journal editor Nora Markard, editing by Marlene Stiller.

In this uncut version of their GLJ Special, Cathryn Costello and Itamar Mann present their Special Issue "Border Justice: Migration and Accountability for Human Rights Violations," which appeared in April 2020 in GLJ 21:3. GLJ editor Nora Markard is the host, editing by Marlene Stiller. The Special Issue brings together fifteen high-profile experts to examine avenues for accountability for human rights violations in the migration control context. The articles explore the promise and limits of strategic human rights limitations; the role of both international criminal law, and domestic (and regional) tort law in securing accountability; the turn to positive obligations to challenge entrenched features of containment; and the role of direct action in support of and solidarity with those challenging migration controls most directly, refugees and migrants themselves. In their conversation with GLJ editor Nora Markard, Cathryn Costello and Itamar Mann discuss their motivation for putting together this Special Issue, the difficulties and insights gained during the process, the key findings, and the challenges lying ahead.

In this GLJ Special, Cathryn Costello and Itamar Mann present their Special Issue "Border Justice: Migration and Accountability for Human Rights Violations" which appeared in April 2020 in GLJ 21:3. GLJ editor Nora Markard is the host, editing by Marlene Stiller. An uncut version of this conversation is also available on this podcast. The Special Issue brings together fifteen high-profile experts to examine avenues for accountability for human rights violations in the migration control context. The articles explore the promise and limits of strategic human rights limitations; the role of both international criminal law, and domestic (and regional) tort law in securing accountability; the turn to positive obligations to challenge entrenched features of containment; and the role of direct action in support of and solidarity with those challenging migration controls most directly, refugees and migrants themselves. In their conversation with GLJ editor Nora Markard, Cathryn Costello and Itamar Mann discuss their motivation for putting together this Special Issue, the difficulties and insights gained during the process, the key findings, and the challenges lying ahead.