Jean Monnet Saar

Environmental Due Diligence as a Precondition to Treaty Protection: Reframing International Investment Law Through Corporate Governance Norms

This article argues that environmental due diligence (EDD) should become a mandatory precondition for investment treaty protection. Drawing on the ICJ’s 2025 Climate Advisory Opinion, it calls for linking investor rights to environmental compliance reshaping international investment law into a framework of reciprocal responsibility aligned with global sustainability goals.

Rethinking Corporate Social Responsibility in Times of Armed Conflict

This contribution introduces the emerging concept of “geopolitical responsibility,” arguing that companies can actively shape or intensify international conflicts through their economic activities. It traces how existing soft law instruments, such as the UN Guiding Principles and OECD Guidelines, already call for heightened corporate due diligence in conflict-affected areas. Yet, binding frameworks like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive overlook this geopolitical dimension, leaving a growing gap between theory and corporate practice.

Ist das Völkerrecht wirklich ohnmächtig?[1]

In Prof. Giegerichs neuem Beitrag, der auf seinen Vortrag im Rahmen der Veranstaltung „Die Ohnmacht des Völkerrechts – Die Rückkehr des Kriegs und der Menschheitsverbrechen“ in der Villa Lessing zurückgeht, widerspricht der Autor entschieden der Annahme, das Völkerrecht habe angesichts aktueller globaler Krisen seine Wirkungskraft verloren. Er zeigt, dass das Völkerrecht trotz struktureller Schwächen seit Jahrhunderten als Ordnungskraft besteht und sich in jeder großen Krise weiterentwickelt hat.

The Stateless Worker Problem: Linking Nationality Law Discrimination to EU Corporate Due Diligence

This contribution examines how gender-discriminatory nationality laws create stateless populations excluded from formal labor markets, revealing a major blind spot in corporate governance and due diligence frameworks. By linking this issue to the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), it calls for expanding the directive’s scope to address nationality-based exclusion as a core human-rights risk.

Fast-Tracking the Green Transition in the EU: How RED III May Shield Corporations from Human Rights Accountability

This Saar Brief explores how the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), while designed to fast-track the green transition, may inadvertently weaken corporate accountability for human rights and environmental impacts. It calls for integrating binding due diligence and human-rights obligations into the EU’s climate framework to ensure that the transition is not only fast, but also fair and sustainable.

13. August 2025 Europäisches Völkerrecht / Globaler Menschenrechtsschutz / Völker- und Europarecht / Völkerrecht

Comparative Analysis of the Concepts of Torture and Inhumane Treatment in International Law: Perspectives from UN Human Rights Bodies, the European Court of Human Rights, and International Criminal Tribunals

This Saar Blueprint provides a comparative analysis of the legal concepts of torture and inhumane treatment under international law, focusing on interpretations by UN human rights bodies, the European Court of Human Rights, and international criminal tribunals. While all regimes uphold the absolute prohibition of torture, they differ in how they define and apply key elements, especially regarding mental and sexual violence.

13. August 2025 Online-Symposium: Protecting the Rule of Law in the European Union – Mechanisms and National Responsibility

Fünf Jahre PSPP-Urteil des Bundesverfassungsgerichts: Überlegungen zu einem künftigen Vertragsverletzungsverfahren wegen der Ultra-vires-Rechtsprechung

Fünf Jahre nach dem umstrittenen PSPP-Urteil analysiert der Beitrag, wie Europäische Kommission und Bundesregierung in neuen Vertragsverletzungsverfahren gegen Deutschland reagieren sollten, wenn sich die Ultra-vires-Rechtsprechung fortsetzt. Dabei werden insbesondere die Grenzen der Verteidigungsstrategie der Bundesregierung und die wahre Rolle des EuGH im Verhältnis zum Bundesverfassungsgericht kritisch hinterfragt.

12. August 2025 Online-Symposium: Protecting the Rule of Law in the European Union – Mechanisms and National Responsibility

Rule of Law in German and European Foreign Policy: The Use of Rule-of-Law Clauses in International Treaties

This Saar Brief explores how Germany and the EU use “rule-of-law clauses” in international agreements as foreign policy tools, linking them to EU treaties and Germany’s Basic Law. Drawing on case studies such as EU–Ukraine, EU–Moldova, EU–Israel, and CETA, it shows a preference for political over legal enforcement. The author calls for faster enforcement.

6. August 2025 Online-Symposium: Protecting the Rule of Law in the European Union – Mechanisms and National Responsibility

Germany and the EU: Safeguarding the Rule of Law in Troubled Times

This Saar Brief explores the EU’s rule of law mechanisms – Article 7 TEU, infringement proceedings, and funding conditionality. While these tools have led to major rulings and applied financial pressure, they often secure only limited compliance. The authors argue that the CJEU’s efforts rely heavily on national courts and that Germany’s legal culture and political influence are central to shaping a more cohesive enforcement regime.

4. August 2025 Online-Symposium: Protecting the Rule of Law in the European Union – Mechanisms and National Responsibility

Zur Bedeutung und Effektivität des Artikel-7 EUV-Verfahrens

Dieser Saar Brief ist Teil des Online-Symposiums mit dem JuWissBlog zum Thema „Schutz der Rechtsstaatlichkeit in der Europäischen Union – Mechanismen und nationale Verantwortung“ und beleuchtet das Verfahren nach Art. 7 EUV und dessen politische Blockierbarkeit im Schutz gemeinsamer EU-Werte. Als wirksames Ergänzungsinstrument wird die Konditionalitätsverordnung hervorgehoben, die finanzielle Sanktionen bei Rechtsstaatsverstößen erlaubt.

30. Juli 2025 Online-Symposium: Protecting the Rule of Law in the European Union – Mechanisms and National Responsibility

Factual Silence as Rule of Law Evasion: Adverse Inference and the Evidentiary Collapse of EU Accountability

This Saar Brief by Moon Hwan Lee is part of the joint Online Symposium by Jean Monnet Saar and JuWissBlog on “Protecting the Rule of Law in the European Union”. It explores how some EU Member States use factual silence to evade legal accountability while maintaining an appearance of compliance. The author proposes the use of adverse inference – treating unjustified silence as evidence of a breach – as a doctrinal tool to strengthen the EU’s rule of law enforcement.