Régis Bismuth

Professor Régis Bismuth was invited to participate in a radio debate about the extraterritorial impact of the American judicial system. Reflecting on the role of the US legal intervention in revealing the corruption network within FIFA, the discussion went on to question the extensive application of domestic law enabling the US to take legal action involving non-American citizens or organizations. Speakers examined this question in light of the larger political context of the European Union integration and the wariness of part of the international community toward the United States hegemony. The radio show was aired on the French leading radio station France Culture on June 10th, under the title "Y a-t-il un impérialisme judiciaire américain?" ("Is there an American Judicial Imperialism"). The recording is available (in French) on this link.

Professor Bismuth teaches International Public Law in the International Relations and Diplomacy programs at AGS. He is also a Professor of Public Law at Université de Poitiers. He received his doctorate in Law degree from Université Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris, as well as an LL.M. from Columbia Law School. He recently co-edited Sensibilité animale. Perspectives Juridiques, a collective work about animal rights published by CNRS Editions, the publishing branch of CNRS, the French National Center for Scientific Research.

On January 15-16, Prof. Régis Bismuth participated in a conference at the French Law School Université Paris II-Panthéon Assas, where he presented a paper on a comparative approach to the federalization of bank regulations in the the United States: "Approche comparative: La Fédéralisation de la Régulation Bancaire aux Etats-Unis: Un Modèle?".

Prof. Bismuth (Ph.D. La Sorbonne, LL.M. Columbia University) teaches the courses on International Public Law at AGS as well as Université de Poitiers. He is the author of several books and articles in English and French. Among his most recent publications are an article entitled "The Path Towards an International Public Policy for Sovereign Debt Contracts" in the Brazilian Yearbook of International Law Vol IX (2), 2014, pp. 122-144 ( download article), and a collective book on international standardization: La Standardisation Internationale Privée (Larcier Eds.: Brussels: 2014), which addresses legal aspects of standardization processes initiated in the private sector and applied to such domains as international trade, intellectual property, or computer equipment (See book on the publishers website | on Amazon.fr).

More information on Régis Bismuth's website

Professor Régis Bismuth presented a paper at an international conference held in Québec, Canada, at the University of Laval, on the theme: "State Capitalism in the New Global Political Economy", November 21-24 2013.

Professor Bismuth's paper focused on "The Legal Framework for the Regulation of Political and Economic Risks of State Capitalism". As Bismuth explains, foreign investments that are carried out by state entities (for instance Sovereign Stealth Funds or State-Owned Enterprises) raise serious concerns for the host states of these investments. More particularly, sovereign investments are suspected of pursuing primarily political objectives rather than purely financial or economic ones as is the case for private investors. Professor Bismuth's presentation highlighted the deficiencies of international law as well as the limits and uncertainties of domestic instruments for a comprehensive regulation of this phenomenon.

More information on this conference

During the same week, Régis Bismuth also participated in a one-day research workshop at La Sorbonne in Paris, on the theme "The Relevance of International trade Law for international Investment Law".

Professor Régis Bismuth authored an article in France's leading online newspaper LeMonde.fr, discussing the possibility for France to refer the case of the NSA's alledged surveillance program of its diplomacy to the International Court of Justice.

In his article, Professor Bismuth explains that such a referral could be done under the Vienna Convention of 1961 that was ratified by France in 1970 and by the United States in 1972. He suggests that rather than marking a hostile reaction from France towards the United States, this move could be a way to reassert the rules of International Law regarding States's behavior toward one another within the international community, and therefore safeguard the legal framework that has been built over the decades to protect the rights of the States.

Read Régis Bismuth's article in LeMonde.fr (in French)

On August 29-31, Professor Régis Bismuth participated in the annual regional conference of the International Law Association, on the theme "Governance, Trade, Resources" in Athens, Greece.

Gathering academics as well as practitioners from around the world, the conference focused on the Rule of Law as manifested in the areas of Trade and Resources and their related Governance issues. Régis Bismuth's paper addressed the legal issues of sovereign debt. Under the title "Does Freedom of Speech Protect Credit Rating Agencies?" it provided an assessment of the recent European Union initiatives to regulate unsolicited sovereign credit ratings. Bismuth explains: "The issue at stake is, taking into account that ratings given by rating agencies qualify as 'opinion', whether recent EU regulations strictly regulating and limiting sovereign ratings comply with freedom of expression standards."

See conference program

The International Law Association is an international non-governmental organization founded in Brussels in 1973 with the purpose of "study(ing), clarify(ing) and develop(ing) international law, both public and private, and further(ing) international understanding and respect of international law." It has a consultative status with a number of United Nations specialized agencies. Its work is organized around regular international and regional conferences.

Professor Bismuth had presented on a similar topic in Montreal, Canada, during an international colloquium on Sovereign Debt that took place at the University of Sherbrooke, 10-11 June 2013 (see program.)

Among Bismuth's other recent international activities was a guest lecture on "Legal Issues Surrounding Sovereign Debt Held by Private Creditors" at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil, July 1-5. Bismuth explains: "In the absence of a centralized and supranational bankruptcy procedure for sovereign States in international law, I discussed the limits of and the disorder generated by current litigations initiated by creditors as well as prospects for an improvement of existing informal and decentralized mechanisms." (More information)

On December 11, Professor Régis Bismuth was invited by the European University Institute in Florence (Italy) to give a presentation of his latest book: La Cooperation Internationale des autorités de régulation du secteur financier et le droit international public (A Public International Law Perspective on the International Cooperation of Financial Regulatory Authorities), Brussels: Bruylant, 2011.

• See book summary in English

• See book information on publisher's website (in French)

Professor Bismuth discussed the forms of cooperation between financial regulators which have developed in response to the increasing globalization of financial activities. This type of cooperation has largely taken place outside of the traditional diplomatic channels and had caught little attention from International Law experts and professionals until the publication of Professor Bismuth's book.

"These cooperation mechanisms, that appear at first sight as a soft governance phenomenon, constitute, in fact, a genuine and effective financial diplomacy,"says Professor Bismuth.

The European University Institute is an academic institution established as an intergovernmental organization by EU member-states to conduct teaching and research in social sciences with a European perspective.

Professor Regis Bismuth's doctoral dissertation was just published in French by Belgian publisher Bruylant. It is entitled La Coopération Internationale des Autorités de Régulation du Secteur Financier et le Droit International Public (International Cooperation Between Financial Regulatory Authorities and International Public Law)(Brussels: Bruylant 2011) and is part of the publisher's series on Globalization and International Law.

According to Professor Bismuth's book, international cooperation among financial regulatory authorities has developed in response to insufficient control over increasing internationalization of trade in financial services. Occurring outside the customary diplomatic channels, this process seems to be achieved on the fringes of international law. As such, it has barely been the focus of attention of public international lawyers. However, an in-depth analysis shows the relevance of the public international law angle. From an institutional perspective, the cooperation of national regulatory authorities is indeed a genuine interstate phenomenon. Their activity is related to the sovereign activity of their state and the agreements they undertake between them are potentially treaties under international law. They have established permanent fora for cooperation such as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (B.C.B.S), the International Organization of Securities Commissions (I.O.S.CO.) and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (I.A.I.S.). The functioning and legal regime of these institutions are similar to those of classic international organizations.

The cooperation of regulatory authorities through the aforementioned new kind of international institutions has also led to spontaneous normative developments. This has resulted in the adoption of common norms – international financial standards – which are meant to be transposed into national legal orders. Although not being public international rules, a multidimensional legalization process of these standards has occurred, unbeknown to their creators, and reflects on the development of new ways of setting and implementing influential international rules.

The analysis is particularly relevant in highlighting novel legal problems arising from the impact, at the international level, of an ill-controlled separation of powers in national legal orders, which result from the rise of independent regulatory authorities.

Professor Bismuth graduated with a doctorate in International Law from Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne and now teaches both at La Sorbonne and at the American Graduate School in Paris.

See book description on the publisher's website

Professor Bismuth published an article entitled «Le droit international économique: entre libéralisation et régulation» in the May-June issue of the International Relations journal Questions Internationales, published by La Documentation Française (n° 49, 2011, pp. 68-74). This article analyses international economic law in the perspective of the purpose and value of international law.

See the table of contents of Questions Internationales n° 49

During the past year Professor Bismuth published a number of articles in French as well as English, in the Journal of World Trade, the Denver Journal of International Law and Policy, the Göttingen Journal of International Law, the Revue Trimestrielle des Droits de l'Homme (Quarterly Review of Human Rights), among others: see list of selected publications on Dr. Bismuth's online profile.

Dr. Régis Bismuth recently authored two publications in European journals of law:

• A chapter about the Save European Court of Human Rights and professional journalism standards: "Le développement de standards professionnels pour les journalistes dans la jurisprudence de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme", Revue Trimestrielle des Droits de l’Homme, vol. 81, 2010, n° 1,  pp. 39-66

• A chapter entitled "Anatomy of the Law and Practice of Interim Protective Measures in International Investment Arbitration", in Journal of International Arbitration, vol. 26, n° 6, 2009, pp. 773-821.

Dr. Régis Bismuth will deliver a presentation about "Institutional Issues in International Financial Governance" during a two-day workshop about "Strategies for Solving Global Crises - The Financial Crisis and Beyond". The workshop will take place at the Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen, Germany.