In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Author: An Hertogen

30 Mar

Our friends at the Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law are pleased to announce that at their upcoming conference - "Agents of Change: The Individual as a Participant in the Legal Process" - on 19 and 20 May 2012 there will now be two keynote addresses by: JUDGE ANTONIO AUGUSTO CANÇADO TRINDADE and PROFESSOR JAMES CRAWFORD SC Other highlights include a welcoming address...

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29 Mar

Our friends at ASIL Cables have posted Joanne Mariner's summary of the yesterday's 2012 Grotius Lecture at the ASIL's 106th Annual Meeting:
Jakob Kellenberger, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), kicked off ASIL’s 106th Annual Meeting with a stirring reaffirmation of the value of international law.  Delivering the Grotius Lecture on the meeting’s opening day, Kellenberger spoke of the role of international humanitarian law—the law of war—in reducing the harms caused by armed conflict. While acknowledging that international humanitarian law cannot by itself end wartime suffering, he insisted that its observance in armed conflict can go far to preserve human dignity, protect the vulnerable, and limit the horrors associated with war. As a prelude to Kellenberger’s speech, ASIL Executive Council member William H. Taft IV awarded Kellenberger ASIL’s Honorary Member Award, an annual award given to non-U.S. citizens who have made distinguished contributions in the field of international law. Taft’s introductory remarks set the stage, perhaps inadvertently, for the most memorable and emphatically-stated passage in Kellenberger’s speech.  Having served as State Department Legal Adviser during President George W. Bush’s first term, Taft commended Kellenberger for his insistence that the Geneva Conventions be respected “in the conflict with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.”  (Taft himself had been on the losing end of a struggle within the administration over whether Geneva Convention protections applied to Taliban and Al Qaeda members captured in Afghanistan.) Taft’s references to the “conflict with Al Qaeda”—a phrase he used twice—reflect the view, which the present U.S. administration shares, that the United States is engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda that is not limited to the current fighting in Afghanistan. It is this posited armed conflict that the United States relies upon in justifying drone strikes in Yemen, indefinite detention at Guantanamo, and the use of military tribunals to try suspected terrorists like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.
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29 Mar

North Korea has reportedly started fuelling a rocket for launch next month In a surprise move, Myanmar has invited foreign observers to monitor Sunday's elections For the first time since 2010, Japan has executed three multiple murderers. The Guardian has live updates of the Arab-League Summit in Baghdad. Syrian President Assad has rejected any Arab-League initiatives to come out of the summit and the...

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28 Mar

Our readers may find the following event, featuring Opinio Juris' Deborah Pearlstein, of interest: The New York Lawyer Chapter and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Student Chapter of the American Constitution Society, and Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy present: The ACLU in American Life Featuring: Adam Liptak, Supreme Court Correspondent, The New York Times Heather Mac Donald, John M. Olin Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy...

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28 Mar

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has reportedly accepted Kofi Annan's six points peace plan, but the US Ambassador to Syria expressed skepticism that Assad's words would translate into deeds. Navi Pillay has told the BBC that the Syrian forces are targeting children. UN estimates put the civilian death toll in Syria at over 9000. Iran announces that it will hold nuclear talks with the...

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27 Mar

Amnesty International reports that fewer nations are applying the death penalty, but that those who do are making more use of it. The increase is particularly noticeable in the Middle East. Amnesty International urges EU states to renew their commitment to examine their involvement in CIA secret flights Associated Press reports that the White House offered key concessions, such as advance notice...

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24 Mar

A new feature this week on Opinio Juris is the Weekday News Wrap. The latest edition, with links to the earlier ones, can be found here. At the beginning of the week, we continued last week’s roundtable discussion of the ICC’s Lubanga Judgment. Cecile Aptel discussed the split between the judges on whether the charge of using children “to participate actively...

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17 Mar

Welcome to the second edition of our Weekend Roundup. Last week’s edition can be found here. Last weekend, Claude Bruderlein’s guest post discussed the growing tension on the means and methods to provide humanitarian protection in Syria. Two posts built on posts from last week. Picking up on Anthony Colangelo’s guest post arguing against applying the presumption against extraterritoriality to the...

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10 Mar

If you have not been able to keep up with the stream of posts on Opinio Juris this week, we are pleased to offer you a weekend roundup. Three topics and a symposium fought for your attention. First, the US Supreme Court hearings in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum continued to provide food for thought, particularly after the Court’s order on...

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