In association with the International Commission of Jurists

January 2007

17 Jan

[Opinio Juris welcomes Professor Ken Anderson as a guest respondent. Professor Anderson teaches at American University's Washington College of Law. He also is a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He regularly blogs at his Ken Anderson's Law of War blog] I am in agreement with John’s characterization of the legal and historical-legal status of...

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17 Jan

[Opinio Juris welcomes Professor Michael Ramsey as a guest respondent. He is a professor of law at San Diego School of Law and an expert in foreign relations law.] My thanks to Opinio Juris for setting up this fascinating exchange and for inviting me to participate, and to John Bellinger for taking time to provide such thoughtful posts. As...

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17 Jan

John’s most recent post raises the question of the nature of the “bargain” theory, as he puts it, of the Geneva Conventions: In separating lawful and unlawful combatants, the Third Convention creates a basic bargain for those engaged in an international armed conflict. Engage lawfully in combat and, if captured, you will receive the comprehensive treatment protections of the Convention. Ignore...

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17 Jan

In this post I would like to take issue with the suggestion that the United States invented the concept of “unlawful enemy combatants” to avoid providing protections under the Geneva Conventions to al Qaida and Taliban detainees. I frequently hear the charge in Europe and elsewhere that this term has no basis in national or international law, and I...

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