In association with the International Commission of Jurists

May 2011

31 May

In honor of the US government's decision to charge Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men responsible for 9/11 with the non-existent war crime of conspiracy, I want to call readers' attention to an excellent new article by Samuel Morison about the equally non-existent war crime of material support for terrorism.  Morison vivisects the government's attempt to justify material support...

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31 May

I'm traveling in Europe for the next few weeks, so posting will be a bit light.  As always, I'm happy to meet up with Opinio Juris readers in the places I'm visiting.  Here's my schedule: June 4-7, Helsinki; June 7-9, Tallinn; June 9-13, Berlin; June 13-15, Leuven; June 15-18, Amsterdam; June 18-20, London.  On June 6, I'm giving a talk...

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30 May

The Wall Street Journal reporting on un-classifed portions of a report anticipated for release next month.  I concentrate on robots, not cyber, so I leave it to others to comment, but I do recall that this report and its conclusions have been discussed a fair amount in academic circles, and as far as I know this will not surprise people...

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27 May

Cross-posted at Balkinization Bobby Chesney writes back with a thoughtful post responding to my question about whether the United States has forward-going detention needs in its counterterrorism operations that are currently unmet by the 2001 statute known as the AUMF. The question arises in light of Congress’ current debate over whether to pass (as the House already has) new legislation...

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26 May

Cross-posted at Balkinization The U.S. House of Representatives today passed its version of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, including provisions that prevent any of the Gitmo detainees (or indeed any terrorism suspects) from being subject to criminal trial, and also “affirms that the United States is engaged in an armed conflict with al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces,” whomever those...

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26 May

Opinion here in Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting .  The Court green-lights state use of licensing laws as a tool of immigration enforcement, consistent with the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act.  It also upheld Arizona's imposition of the e-Verify system as a mandatory requirement on employers, where Congress had deemed the system voluntary. The decision is important in...

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26 May

In Serbia, not surprisingly: Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general accused of overseeing the worst massacre in Europe since the end of World War II, has been arrested, Serbian authorities said Thursday. Mladic is Europe's most wanted war crimes suspect for his alleged role in the 1995 slaughter of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in the enclave of Srebrenica,...

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25 May

Readers will be delighted to know that Jacob has restarted International Law Reporter, your one-stop-shopping center for all new international-law scholarship.  And I'm delighted to learn that Jacob's new essay, entitled "The Regulatory Turn in International Law," is now forthcoming in the Harvard International Law Journal, which has recently partnered with our blog.  The essay looks fascinating; check it out...

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25 May

Cross-posted at Balkinization Congress is debating a defense authorization bill this week that would not only prohibit the use of Defense Department funds to transfer Guantanamo detainees to the United States for criminal prosecution, but also effectively double down on the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) legislation Congress passed just after the attacks of 9/11. Here’s the bill....

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25 May

Nothing like the end of the semester as a cure for one’s reading pile. In addition to Marty Lederman’s post on the bin Laden targeting below (great to have him back in the blogosphere!), I’d recommend the following reports you might have missed. First, back in April, around the time the Times published its account based on Wikileaks documents...

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25 May

Members of Falun Gong have filed suit against Cisco, alleging the company collaborated with the Chinese government to develop and maintain “Golden Shield” technology. As a result of this technology, Falun Gong members have allegedly suffered “severe and gross abuses, including false imprisonment, torture, cruel assault, battery, and wrongful death.” The complaint, filed by my former colleague Lee Boyd and...

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