In the case of Moldova, the question will be whether the protests continue and, if so, their size. While Moldova's President Voronin is term-limited out of office, based on the recent parliamentary elections, the ruling Communist Party (headed by Voronin) will stay in power. The question is whether the protests will up-end the the political status quo. I'll write a longer analysis on...
Mary Ellen O'Connell (whose recent book The Power and the Purpose of International Law was the subject of one of our book discussions) has a post at Balkinization called "Who's Afraid of International Law?" that considers the fear-mongering by some in the media concerning international law. After briefly discussing the views of the Founders, she writes: So why does Glen Beck seem to fear international law? Why...
Ed Whelan responds to my post mostly through name-calling, labeling me an incoherent, liberal academic. Yet, no amount of ad hominem attack can obscure the basic weakness of his argument. He continues to worry that international elites will subvert the will of democratically elected leaders in the executive and legislative branches. But who exactly are these international elites and how...
(Update: It appears that the ship has been retaken, by the crew, according to the NYT. There have also been some reports that at least one pirate is in custody, or anyway control, of the crew. Here, then, is my question. If one of the (alleged) pirates has been taken into custody, what should legally follow? The US has been...
Last week, on April 1, the European Community (EC) signed onto the Hague Choice of Courts Convention. The treaty essentially seeks to replicate for covered commercial contracts a regime of judgment recognition in cases where parties exclusively agreed on a particular court for their disputes akin to the recognition of arbitral awards that occurs under the New York Convention. The EC signature is...
It is a rare thing indeed to find a published mediation decision involving a matter of such profound importance as the settlement of 9/11 litigation. Last month, Judge Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York published an order accepting the mediated settlement of 95 claims against the airlines for approximately $500 million. The order and accompanying mediator...
Homework, people, homework: Bangladesh may request the International Criminal Court to put on trial Pakistani forces for alleged war crimes, a top official said Tuesday. 'We will take the matter to the International Criminal Court and seek the trial of the members of the Pakistani occupation forces who committed crimes against humanity during our liberation war,' State Minister for Liberation War...
My long slow slide into complete disenchantment with the Obama administration continues. Comes now, via my two favorite national-security law bloggers, Glenn Greewald and Scott Horton, a truly terrifying tale in which a nameless and faceless Department of Defense committee attempts to put Clive Stafford Smith, one of the world's great human-rights lawyers, in jail for...
[ Laura Dickinson is Foundation Professor of Law, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University.] Recent attempts to criticize Harold Hongju Koh’s appointment to be the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State have gone from silly to absurd. Koh, currently the Dean and the Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor at Yale Law School, is one...
If you read one article about the recently released February 2007 ICRC report on U.S. use of torture, read this one by Mark Danner in the current issue of the NY Review of Books. Danner correctly points out that, at least since 2004, the broad contours of the practice of torture by the U.S. government have been publicly known. But...
Our colleagues at International Law Observer asked me to write a post for them in honor of the blog's second anniversary. I was delighted to do so, and the post is now up. It's a long reflection on the pros and cons of international law blogging -- a timely subject, I think, given that I have been cited twice by...
Over at Volokh, Eric Posner has a very interesting post today on the Koh nomination. Here is a snippet: Foreign-law opponents, take heart! Koh is not a cosmopolitan who seeks to sacrifice American sovereignty to foreign gods. He is a liberal who wants to move American law to the left. International law serves as a handy vehicle, to be used or...
