18.06.20 /
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June 2020
18
Jun
Characterisation of Sexual Violence as a Women’s Issue in the Rohingya Crisis: A Response to David Eichert
[Eva Buzo is an Australian lawyer, and the Executive Director of Victim Advocates International. She lived in Cox’s Bazar between November 2017 and September 2019.] David Eichert’s “Concerns about the non-inclusion of sexual violence against men and boys in the Gambia v Myanmar” raises important points in relation to the characterisation of sexual violence as being a primarily female experience in the clearance operations perpetrated by the Myanmar...
17
Jun
Understanding the Bolivian Coup: Latin American Democracy and the Cold War Paradigm
In 2019, Bolivia saw one of its most turbulent political crises in recent memory. The OAS accused the government of committing electoral fraud to secure Evo Morales a controversial fourth term in office. One of the OAS’s main claims was that there had been a “drastic and hard-to-explain change in the trend of the preliminary results revealed after the closing...
17
Jun
Buy This Book!
There is nothing more rewarding for an academic -- at least for this academic -- than seeing a student go on to do great things. I've been fortunate to have many wonderful students over the years, but there is no one I am more proud of than Golriz Ghahraman, whom I taught at the University of Auckland long ago and...
17
Jun
The Domestic Definitions of the Crime of Genocide: A Dizzying Diversity
[Dr. Tamás Hoffmann is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Sciences Institute for Legal Studies and an Associate Professor at Corvinus University of Budapest.] Since the adoption of the Genocide Convention by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948, the crime of genocide has been universally regarded as the ”crime of crimes” in international criminal law. Article II of...
16
Jun
Norway’s Inconsistent Interpretation of the 1920 Treaty of Paris
[Danilo Ruggero Di Bella is a lawyer at Bottega Di Bella.] This year the Treaty of Paris laying out the status of the archipelago of Spitsbergen (Svalbard) has turned 100-year-old, yet the issues dealt with therein could not be more topical. Tensions are rising among the Contracting Parties to the 1920 Treaty of Paris for the exploitation of the natural resources of Svalbard. These tensions are rooted in...
16
Jun
Is an Ineffective State Response to COVID-19 a Violation of Human Rights?
[Haniya Hasan is a Pakistani legal researcher, based in Islamabad, conducting research on issues of international human rights and humanitarian law.] The State response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been varied procedurally, operationally, and in terms of overall success. Nevertheless, key procedural and operational factors contributing to an effective State response (e.g. New Zealand’s) has shared certain characteristics: speedy precautionary measures, consistent and up-to-date information, and well-maintained...
16
Jun
Baldassi and Others v. France: Criminal Convictions of BDS Activists Violate Freedom of Expression under the European Convention on Human Rights
[Andreina De Leo is a Legal Researcher at the European Legal Support Center (ELSC).] On June 11, 2020, the European Court of Human Rights (ECt.HR) delivered the much-awaited judgement Baldassi and Others v. France (application no. 15271/16). The Court found by a majority that there was no violation of Article 7 (no punishment without law) and unanimously that there was a...
15
Jun
Covid-19 and ISDS Moratorium – An Indiscreet Proposal
[Prabhash Ranjan is a senior assistant professor of law at the faculty of legal studies, South Asian University.] The tenacious critics of the international investment law (IIL) regime have seized the current moment of crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic to sharpen their attacks against the regime. The critics tend to present the IIL regime as an immoral arrangement that prioritises corporate interests over the well being of local populations....
15
Jun
Reclaiming Human Rights: While the US Detracts, Non-State Actors Step Up
[Julie Fraser is a human rights lawyer and assistant professor with the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights and the Montaigne Centre at Utrecht University. Her monograph further exploring this topic is out this year with Cambridge University Press.] The ongoing protests in the US against racial inequality in response to the killing of George Floyd have triggered both solidarity protests around the world as well...
15
Jun
The International Criminal Court is Hardly a Threat to US National Security
[Jennifer Trahan is Clinical Professor, NYU Center for Global Affairs and Megan Fairlie is Professor of Law, Florida International University College of Law.] On June 11, Donald Trump issued an Executive Order that exponentially intensifies the United States’ ongoing attack on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its staff. Disturbingly, the Order also targets foreign nationals and, seemingly, US nationals. Regrettably (although predictably), the US is again using...
12
Jun
Black Lives Matter Will Save the World
[Kaitlin Ball has a J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law, and a PhD in Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. She lives and works in The Netherlands.] On 8 June 2020, following over a week of global demonstrations, the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown and Philando Castile—all black Americans who lost their lives to police violence—put...