Academic Staff

James D. Fry

Assistant Professor of Law
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.(hons)), Brigham Young University
Master of International Affairs (M.I.A.), Columbia University
Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.), Georgetown University
Master of Laws (LL.M.), Leiden University

Email | HKU ResearcherPage | SSRN |

Assistant Professor Fry joined the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law in August 2008. He enjoys teaching and researching all aspects of law, in particular international and comparative law. He also enjoys serving as the Director of the LL.M. programme and the Deputy Director of the Japan and Korea programme. He currently conducts research for an ICAC project on anti-bribery and anti-corruption law, and he is eager to assist with other research projects and consultancies.
Before Hong Kong, he worked at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, University of Geneva, as well as provided legal counsel and expertise to various international organizations in Geneva and The Hague, including the OPCW, UNCTAD, WMO and WTO. Prior to moving to Europe, he worked for the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Legal Adviser, the International Litigation and Arbitration Group of the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York and the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. He represented the New York City Bar Association at the UNCITRAL Working Group II (Arbitration and Conciliation) in 2004. He has served as an intern with the United Nations in New York, the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, DC.
An avid writer, he has published numerous articles with such reputable journals as the Stanford, Columbia and Michigan international law journals, with many more on the way. He is a member of the New York Bar and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, as well as the American Society of International Law, the New York City Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Swiss Arbitration Association.  He is an editor of the International Organizations Law Review and the Hong Kong Law Journal, and serves as an external reviewer for the Asian Comparative Law Journal, the European Journal of International Law, the Georgetown Journal of International Law, the International & Comparative Law Quarterly, the Melbourne Journal of International Law, and the Michigan Journal of International Law, among others. He has some proficiency, in decreasing order, in English, Japanese, French, Arabic (negligible) and Mandarin (negligible). 

Research and Supervision Interests

Assistant Professor Fry is eager to supervise research students in the area of public international law, including international institutional law, international dispute settlement, international humanitarian law, international and transnational criminal law, international human rights law, international investment law, the law of arms control and disarmament, collective security law, peacekeeping law, law of the sea, transitional justice, and the history and theory of international law. He also is interested in supervising some projects dealing with comparative law and legal education.

Recently Taught Courses

International Dispute Settlement (including international arbitration)
International Criminal Law (including international anti-corruption law)
Law of International Organizations
Law of Tort I & II
Law of Contract I & II (expected 2012-2013)
Guided Research
Oral Presentation

List of Publications

International Dispute Settlement

  • Book, Legal Resolution of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Disputes (forthcoming 2012 or 2013).
  • Regularity through Reason: A Foundation of Virtue for International Arbitration, 4 Contemporary Asia Arbitration Journal 57-94 (a publication of the National Taiwan University, 2011) (included in the materials for the 2012 ITA Winter Forum).
  • Non-Participation in the International Court of Justice Revisited: Change or Plus Ça Change?, 49 Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 35-74 (2010) (lead article) (“A” ranking by the Australian Research Council).
  • Ambiguity in “Arising” Phrases: Caution for Drafters of Intended Narrow Arbitration Clauses, in AAA Handbook on Commercial Arbitration 127-134 (Thomas E. Carbonneau & Jeanette A. Jaeggi eds., 2d ed., 2010) (with Barry H. Garfinkel).
  • Désordre Public International under the New York Convention: Wither Truly International Public Policy, 8 Chinese Journal of International Law 81-134 (Oxford University Press, 2009) (“B” ranking by the Australian Research Council).
  • Arbitrating Arms Control Disputes, 44 Stanford Journal of International Law 359-420 (2008) (“A” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 3 citations).
  • International Human Rights Law in Investment Arbitration: Evidence of International Law’s Unity, 18 Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law 77-150 (2007) (“B” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 7 citations).
  • The Federal Arbitration Act, UNCITRAL Model Law and New York, 8 International Arbitration Law Review 1-13 (2005) (lead article) (“C” ranking by the Australian Research Council).
  • Quasi-In Rem Jurisdiction and Discovery in Enforcing an Arbitration Award: Understanding CME Media Enterprises B.V. v. Zelezny, 6 International Arbitration Law Review 100-105 (2003) (“C” ranking by the Australian Research Council).

International Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law, and Conflict and Security Law

  • Book, Legal Resolution of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Disputes (forthcoming 2012 or 2013).
  • Early Security Council Efforts at Nuclear Non-Proliferation Law and Policy:Cooperation Forgotten, 21 Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems (forthcoming 2012) (“B” ranking by the Australian Research Council).
  • Of Pinpricks and Cannon Shots: UN Arms Embargoes and Peacekeeping as Coercive Disarmament Measures, 17 U.C. Davis Journal of International Law & Policy 213-232 (2011) (lead article) (“C” ranking by the Australian Research Council).
  • Gas Smells Awful: UN Forces, Riot-Control Agents and the Chemical Weapons Convention, 31 Michigan Journal of International Law 475-559 (2010) (lead article) (“A*” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 3 citations).
  • Sovereign Equality under the Chemical Weapons Convention: Doughnuts over Holes, 15 Journal of Conflict & Security Law 45-63 (Oxford University Press, 2010) (“C” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 2 citations).
  • The Swindle of Fragmented Criminalization: Continuing Piecemeal Responses to International Terrorism and Al Qaeda, 43 New England Law Review 377-436 (2009) (lead article) (“C” ranking by the Australian Research Council).
  • Dionysian Disarmament: Security Council WMD Disarmament and Arms Control Measures and their Legal Implications, 29 Michigan Journal of International Law 197-292 (2008) (“A*” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 5 citations).
  • Arbitrating Arms Control Disputes, 44 Stanford Journal of International Law 359-420 (2008) (“A” ranking by the Australian Research Council).
  • Coercion, Causation and the Fictional Elements of Indirect State Responsibility, 40 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 611-642 (2007) (lead article) (“A” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 2 citations).
  • Contextualized Legal Reviews for the Methods and Means of Warfare: Cave Combat and International Humanitarian Law, 44 Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 453-519 (2006) (“A” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 8 citations).
  • The UN Security Council and the Law of Armed Conflict: Amity or Enmity?, 38 George Washington International Law Review 327-348 (2006) (“B” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 3 citations).
  • Terrorism as a Crime Against Humanity and Genocide: The Backdoor to Universal Jurisdiction, 7 UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs 169-200 (2002) (“B” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 20 citations).

Law of International Organizations

  • Gas Smells Awful: UN Forces, Riot-Control Agents and the Chemical Weapons Convention, 31 Michigan Journal of International Law 475-559 (2010) (lead article) (“A*” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 3 citations).
  • The Swindle of Fragmented Criminalization: Continuing Piecemeal Responses to International Terrorism and Al Qaeda, 43 New England Law Review 377-436 (2009) (lead article) (“C” ranking by the Australian Research Council).
  • Dionysian Disarmament: Security Council WMD Disarmament and Arms Control Measures and their Legal Implications, 29 Michigan Journal of International Law 197-292 (2008) (“A*” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 5 citations).
  • Remaining Valid: Security Council Resolutions, Textualism, and the Invasion of Iraq, 15 Tulane Journal of International & Comparative Law 609-660 (2007) (“B” ranking by the Australian Research Council).
  • The UN Security Council and the Law of Armed Conflict: Amity or Enmity?, 38 George Washington International Law Review 327-348 (2006) (“B” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 3 citations).

Comparative Law

  • European Asylum Law: Race-to-the-Bottom Harmonization?, 15 Journal of Transnational Law & Policy 97-108 (2005) (“C” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 1 citation).
  • Foreign Direct Investment in Arab Countries: A Guide to Better Understanding Islamic Financial Doctrine, 4 PCA-Peace Palace Papers 287-308 (2003) (with J. Michael Taylor).
  • Islamic Law and the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal: The Primacy of International Law over Municipal Law, 18 Arbitration International 105-124 (2002) (lead article; “A” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 2 citations).
  • Struggling to Teethe: Japan’s Antitrust Enforcement Regime, 32 Georgetown Journal of International Law 825-858 (2001) (formerly Law and Policy in International Business) (“A” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 7 citations).

International Investment Law and Arbitration

  • Regularity through Reason: A Foundation of Virtue for International Arbitration, 4 Contemporary Asia Arbitration Journal 57-94 (National Taiwan University Press, 2011) (included in the materials for the 2012 ITA Winter Forum).
  • International Human Rights Law in Investment Arbitration: Evidence of International Law’s Unity, 18 Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law 77-150 (2007) (“B” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 7 citations).
  • Quasi-In Rem Jurisdiction and Discovery in Enforcing an Arbitration Award: Understanding CME Media Enterprises B.V. v. Zelezny, 6 International Arbitration Law Review 100-105 (2003) (“C” ranking by the Australian Research Council).
  • Foreign Direct Investment in Arab Countries: A Guide to Better Understanding Islamic Financial Doctrine, 4 PCA-Peace Palace Papers 287- 308 (2003) (with J. Michael Taylor) (2 citations).
  • A Safety Net for the Internet?: SEC Protection of Online Investors from Fraud, George Washington Corporate Law and Business Journal, Summer 2000, at 56 (with Una Min).

Theory of International Law

    • Legitimacy Push: Towards a Gramscian Approach to International Law, 13 UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs 307-336 (2008) (lead article) (“B” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 2 citations).
    • International Human Rights Law in Investment Arbitration: Evidence of International Law’s Unity, 18 Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law 77-150 (2007) (“B” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 7 citations).
    • Coercion, Causation and the Fictional Elements of Indirect State Responsibility, 40 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 611-642 (2007) (lead article) (“A” ranking by the Australian Research Council; 2 citations).