Last year, as I was reading an early draft of the agenda for the ICC's Review Conference in 2010, I asked myself what I would change about the Rome Statute if I was King of the Assembly of States Parties. My answer was that I would amend Article 17, the complementarity provision, to make a case admissible if a national...
A couple of years ago I wrote a paper on ways in which the American political class is riven by deep foundational disagreements about the proper way to approach transnational terrorism. It is partly implicated in the “war” versus “law enforcement” argument, but actually it goes deeper than that — is it possible to have an offensive strategy against terrorism,...
I rarely agree with our colleagues at the Volokh Conspiracy, but I think Jonathan Adler is right on the mark when he describes the TSA's security measures as "political theater." It's all about creating the illusion of safety, not actual safety. An erstwhile terrorist needs more than 100ml of a particular liquid to make a bomb? Let's hope he's not...
The New York Times has a very interesting article on the mining of rare earths, a group of elements that are particularly important for green technologies. The Times piece begins like this: Some of the greenest technologies of the age, from electric cars to efficient light bulbs to very large wind turbines, are made possible by an unusual group of elements called rare...
Britain's New Scientist has a short piece on the arrival of non-Latin script Internet addresses in 2010. They explain: Net regulator ICANN - the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - conceded in October that more than half of the 1.6 billion people online use languages with scripts not fully compatible with the Latin alphabet. It is now accepting applications...
A very Merry Christmas to our celebrating readers, and to everyone, a happy holiday and best wishes in the New Year. I would like to report for the record that NORAD got it right, and ...
The Trial Chamber has -- completely unsurprisingly -- rejected Dr. Karadzic's motion challenging Richard Harvey's appointment as stand-by counsel. As I explained in a previous post, that challenge was based on three grounds: (1) Harvey's appointment violates Article 21(4) of the ICTY Statute, which provides that a defendant has the right “to communicate with counsel of his own choosing” and...
Sixty-six years ago today, President Franklin Roosevelt addressed a national radio audience to discuss his recent meeting with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin at the Tehran Conference. Stalin secured commitments to open up a second front against Germany. Roosevelt secured a commitment from Stalin to support an international security organization. 1943 was the turning point in the...
Since 1955 NORAD (and its predecessor CONAD) has tracked Santa’s each Christmas Eve and has answered questions for boys and girls about his progress. NORAD’s Santa tracking service uses interactive maps updated every few minutes at http://www.noradsanta.org. As Santa stops in each location, you can click an icon to learn more about that part of the world. There is also...
Although most countries endorsed the Copenhagen Accord, few left Copenhagen in a positive mood. The general lack of enthusiasm about the outcome was exacerbated by the procedural wrangling on the final day about whether to “adopt” or merely “take note of” the Accord, which left delegates in a dispirited mood, both about the prospects for halting climate change and...
"Russell, I heard on your tape that you plan to study engineering - with a view to space." "Yes, sir. I mean, 'Yes, Mr. Secretary'." "Have you considered studying law? Many young engineers to want to space - not many lawyers. But the Law goes everywhere. A man skilled in space law and meta-law would be in a strong position." "Why not both?" suggested Peewee's Daddy. "I deplore this modern overspecialization." "That's an idea," agreed Mr. van Duivendijk. "He could then write his own terms."A couple of notes on this classic juvenile sci-fi book by Robert Heinlein from the 1950s, Have Spacesuit Will Travel. Already proposing joint degrees! What's "meta-law" supposed to be, anyway? What about women skilled in space law and meta-law by 2050? Do we like "to space" as a verb? Does "the Law go everywhere"?
[caption id="attachment_10843" align="alignnone" width="300" caption=""][/caption](Cross posted on Smith School of Enterprise and Environment) Copenhagen, December 19 – The Copenhagen conference limped to a finish mid-day Saturday after “working” throughout the night. These all night sessions on the closing day are becoming a COP ritual, with people spending most of their time waiting around the conference room while small huddles...
