During a conference earlier this week at Northwestern on Israel and International law, NYU law professor Samuel Estreicher presented an interesting proposal to shift the focus of the law of armed conflict toward the duties of defenders. Arguing that most of the law (or at least law interpretation) seems focused on attackers, the duties of defenders are largely free of...
I'm sure others here at OJ will have more detailed views, but ...
This sounds like a bit of a publicity stunt by prosecutors at the Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone, but it could very well work. Prosecutors want to subpoena Miss Campbell to testify over claims she was given the "large" diamond by Taylor after a 1997 dinner hosted in South Africa by former president Nelson Mandela. The one Taylor is accused of giving...
Prof. Chimene Keitner at UC-Hastings has posted a short essay in the online version of the Yale Journal of International Law criticizing the novel and influential interpretation of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act proposed by Profs. Curtis Bradley and Jack Goldsmith. In a series of articles, Bradley and Goldsmith have argued that the FSIA's immunity for "foreign state[s]" should be interpreted...
John Robb notes the following on his excellent Global Guerillas blog: Coast Guard and BP's private military contractors team up to enforce media and scientific blackout (part of BP's information operations campaign) on the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. Here, they are caught on camera turning away a CBS film crew. Coast Guard officials say they are looking into the incident. I look forward...
Interesting article from Reuters on the growth of drone warfare under the Obama administration. One interesting note: drone attacks are being contemplated for Yemen, Somalia, and even against pirates. Also, the key explanation for the Drone Wars appears to be the legal problems created by capturing, interrogating, and detaining individuals. Some current and former counterterrorism officials say an unintended consequence of...
I continue to believe that this is a terrible idea: Spain's top judicial panel had suspended Mr Garzon on Friday pending his trial on charges he exceeded his authority by ordering an investigation into mass killings by the forces of former dictator Francisco Franco. The suspension from his functions as a judge was widely thought in Spain...
Last week, President Obama submitted the Treaty with Russia on Measures for the Further Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms to the U.S. Senate. Reading it is tough going, given all the technical terminology. A couple of not very profound observation: 1) Is this Treaty self-executing? For the many pro-self execution folks, the answer should be yes (look at the Supremacy Clause!)....
The young Somali captured last year in dramatic U.S. Navy operation has plea bargained himself into a minimum 27 year sentence. A Somali man has pleaded guilty in New York's court to seizing a US ship and kidnapping its captain last year. Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse now faces a minimum of 27 years in prison. He is expected to be sentenced in October. Muse...
I guess this is why they need a ban on the burka in France. Stories like this make France seem decidedly more unpleasant for certain Muslims than Arizona is for illegal immigrants: France had its first case of “burka rage” at the weekend when a shopper allegedly tried to pull the veil from the face of a Muslim woman and the...
There's a post that's been making the rounds in the science fiction blogosphere that warrants note by those interested in international law, especially in regards to issues of international trade, development, and regulation. The piece is by Ghanaian writer Jonathan Dotse and it concerns the rise of African cyberpunk. Before getting to Dotse's post, though, a couple of words on cyberpunk itself. Cyberpunk is...
