Academic Staff

James D. Fry

Assistant Professor of Law
Director of the LL.M. Programme
Deputy Director of the Japan and Korea Programme

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
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)., University of Geneva (IHEID)

Qualifications
New York Bar Admission
Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
Qualified Mediator with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution

Email | HKU ResearcherPage | SSRN |

Dr. Fry strives to make a difference in the world and the communities in which he lives through his independent and creative thinking, contagious enthusiasm and selfless service. To these ends, Dr. Fry aims to fill the roles of teacher, researcher, practitioner, commentator, advocate, volunteer, administrator and mentor.

Dr. 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 law 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, among other administrative responsibilities. Dr. Fry serves the legal community as a member of the Constitutional Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the Law Society of Hong Kong, as a researcher on a project for the Hong Kong Independent Commission Again Corruption and as a founding blogger for the Arms Control Law website, among other activities. Dr. Fry is a member of the New York Bar and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, as well as the American Society of International Law, the European Society of International Law, the New York City Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Swiss Arbitration Association. Dr. Fry also is an accredited mediator with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution. Dr. Fry has held visiting academic positions at McGill University Law School, Southern Methodist University Law School, the Max Planck Institute of Comparative Public Law and International Law, and the University of Fribourg Law School.

Before Hong Kong, Dr. Fry worked as a member of the teaching and research faculty at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, University of Geneva, and also 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, Dr. Fry 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 LLP in New York and the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. Dr. Fry has represented the New York City Bar Association at the UNCITRAL Working Group II (Arbitration and Conciliation). Dr. Fry also 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, Dr. Fry has published numerous articles with such reputable journals as the Stanford, Columbia and Michigan international law journals, with many more on the way. Dr. Fry also has a book coming out with Cambridge University Press in 2012 or 2013, which is entitled Legal Resolution of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Disputes. Dr. Fry is an editor of International Organizations Law Review and the Hong Kong Law Journal, a co-founder of the Journal of International Dispute Settlement and an external reviewer for the Asian Journal of Comparative Law, the Asian Journal of International Law, 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 journals.

Dr. Fry originally is from New York and Dallas, although he has spent significant time in Bahrain, Japan, Switzerland, The Netherlands and China. As a result, he has some proficiency, in decreasing order, in English, Japanese, French, Arabic and Mandarin (negligible). Active in the broader community, he is a member of the Asia Society, a member of the Friends of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, a Sunday School teacher for a 16/17 year old class at a local church, and a provisional member of the Travelers’ Century Club (75 countries visited and counting).

Research and Supervision Interests

Dr. 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, the 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. Dr. Fry would be happy to entertain media inquiries, requests for invited lectures and consulting work relating to these topics.

Recently Taught Courses

International Dispute Settlement (including international arbitration)
Law of International Organizations
International Criminal Law (including international anti-corruption law)
International and Regional Protection of Human Rights
Law of Tort I & II
Law of Contract I & II
Guided Research
Oral Presentation

Selected List of Former Students' Published Papers

Steven J. Hoffman, Mitigating Inequalities of Influence among States in Global Decision Making, Global Policy (LSE), May 2012, at 1-12.

Alan Tsang, Transnational Rules on Interim Measures in International Courts and Arbitrations, 14 International Arbitration Law Review 35-42 (2011) (lead article).

Tabitha Joy Agwel Raore, Do Ethnic Minority Communities Have a Right to Secede? An Analysis of Secession, the Principle of Self-Determination and the Creation of States in International Law, 5 Hong Kong Journal of Legal Studies 139-167 (2011).

Selected List of Former Students' Internship/Clerkship Offers

Ernest Ng, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, 2010.

Chen Yuxin, International Criminal Court, 2011.

Andrei Xydas, The World Bank, 2011.

Liu Yang, United Nations Security Council, 2012.

Selected List of Former Students who have Entered Academia

Juan Ignacio Stampalija, Assistant Professor of Law, Universidad Austral School of Law, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Steven J. Hoffman, Assistant Professor, McMaster University, Hamilton ON, Canada

Ibrahim Elfadil, Lecturer of Law, University of Medical Science and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan

Selected Awards and Grants

University Research Output Prize 2009 (HK$120,000)

Universitas 21 Fellowship 2010 (HK$50,000) (teaching achievement)

Grant from the Hong Kong Research Grant Council's General Research Fund (2010-2012) (HK$139,998)

Research Merit Award 2010-2012 (HK$50,000) and Incentive Award 2012 (HK$25,000)

Seed Funding for Basic Research 2011 (HK$98,590) and 2012 (HK$44,000)

Continuing Professional Development Grant 2012 (HK$43,000) and Faculty Develop Fund Grant 2012 (HK$14,435)

Finalist for the 2011 Doreen & Jim McElvany Nonproliferation
Challenge, which is an annual competition to identify "the most outstanding new thinking in the nonproliferation field"

Selected List of Publications

International Dispute Settlement

  • Book, Legal Resolution of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Disputes (Cambridge University Press; 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; 1 citation).
  • 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; 3 citations).
  • 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; 14 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

  • Early Security Council Efforts at Nuclear Non-Proliferation Law and Policy: Cooperation Forgotten, 21 Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems 337-358 (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; 6 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; 1 citation).
  • 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; 6 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; 7 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; 12 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; 8 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; 24 citations).

Law of International Organizations

  • Early Security Council Efforts at Nuclear Non-Proliferation Law and Policy: Cooperation Forgotten, 21 Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems 337-358 (2012) ("B 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; 6 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; 1 citation).
  • 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; 6 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; 8 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; 3 citations).
  • 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).
  • 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; 13 citations).

International Investment Law and Arbitration

  • Towards an Agreement on Investment in Mercosur: Conflict and Complementarity between International Investment Law and International Trade-in-Services Law, 13 Journal of World Investment and Trade 556-596 (Brill, 2012) (with Juan Ignacio Stampalija) ("A" ranking by the Australian Research Council).
  • 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; 1 citation).
  • 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; 14 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 and History 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; 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; 14 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; 7 citations).