Caroline Foster

About/Bio

Dr Caroline Foster is an Associate Professor in Law at the University of Auckland. She has a special interest in States’ regulatory freedom and obligations and is presently completing a book on the role of international courts and tribunals in elaborating global regulatory standards in environmental, health, oceans, trade and investment disputes. She has published a number of related articles in international journals and a previous monograph with Cambridge University Press on Science and the Precautionary Principle in International Courts and Tribunals: Expert Evidence, Burden of Proof and Finality, as cited by Judges Simma and Al Khasawneh in the Case Concerning Pulp Mills and by Japan in Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v Japan: New Zealand Intervening).

Recently Published

Justified Border Closures do not violate the International Health Regulations 2005

Rapidly developing pandemics require governments to use their best endeavours to protect their populations.  International law permits them to do this provided they observe certain conditions, but limits on the reach of the World Health Organization (WHO) International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR) have previously been insufficiently appreciated. In mid-February 2020 The Lancet published a piece by…

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The Tension between International Law as ‘Law’ and International Governance: A Comment on the EJIL Debate between Mónica García-Salmones and Andrew Lang and Rosie Cooney

Dr Caroline Foster is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Auckland, New Zealand and was a diplomat and legal adviser at the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She has a special interest in the nexus between trade, human rights and the environment and she has…

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