[UPDATE: Moved to the Front as Deadline Looms!] Are you the sort of person who reads Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s transcript before the GTMO Military Commission and wonders about the legal status of the war on terror? Do you sort your Hollywood celebrities based on the substance of their position on what to do about Darfur? Do you enjoy...
‘Tis the season for academic conferences. I’m off today to participate in a conference tomorow, April 20, organized by Professors John Kroger and John Parry at Lewis and Clark Law School, entitled “Crime, War Crimes and the War on Terror.” Addressing the linkages (and tensions) implicit in this theme, the Conference will consist of four panels: (1)...
International law is often critiqued for its culture(s) of exclusion--whether it's the ability of sovereign states to shut out NGOs, the move by NGOs to block out Industry Associations, or, on more personal levels, cliques of "in" international lawyers as opposed to those who don't have the right credentials or connections. My colleague Jeff Dunoff has noted one example...
In what I suspect may be a new format for promoting international law conferences, Widener University's School of Law has put together an hour and a half streaming video with highlights from last year's 2 day conference, Envisioning a More Democratic Global System. The Conference was co-sponsored by the American Society of International Law and the Rockefeller Brothers...
Quite a bit actually. Notwithstanding Kevin's recent complaints, I’ve posted a book chapter on SSRN--Disaggregating Devils Lake: Can Non-State Actors, Hegemony, or Principal-Agent Theory Explain the Boundary Waters Treaty? (you can download it here) It's forthcoming in CCIL’s Responsibility of Individuals, States and Organizations. Although focused on exploring how well international relations theories--especially principal-agent theory and Karen...
Today’s New York Times has a fascinating story about efforts among the parties to the Montreal Protocol to accelerate the phase-out of HCFCs, chemicals which it turns out not only deplete the ozone layer, but may have a far greater impact on climate change than carbon dioxide emissions. The story references a report published last week under the auspices...
Please join me in welcoming ITER (Latin for “the way”) as the likely newest entrant to the roster of international organizations (IOs). Signed in Paris on November 21 of last year, ITER is the creation of EURATOM, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Russian and the United States. Its mission gives reality to what had previously been thought of...
That at least seems to be the view of one Japanese law-maker. Recent statements by Japanese Prime Minister Abe have sought to distance Japan from a 1993 statement accepting government responsibility for the sexual enslavement of 200,000 Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Filipino and other women. These “comfort women” were forced to “service” Japanese military forces during World War II;...
It's that time of year. This week, students from around the United States are competing in the regional rounds of the Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. Meanwhile, national competitions are taking place all over the globe, all leading up to the international rounds in Washington D.C. at the end of March. Nor is...
The International Herald Tribune has a copy of the deal reached in the six-party talks involving North Korea’s nuclear disarmament. Putting aside its content, as a treaty lawyer, my immediate question was what kind of commitment is involved? Is this deal intended to be a legally binding agreement or a statement of political commitment? The Vienna Convention...
With his final wrap up post, John Bellinger's guest stint here has come to an end. On behalf of all of us here at Opinio Juris, I want to offer a sincere thank you to John for expending so much time and effort on providing significant, extensive and thoughtful posts and respsonses to comments over the past two weeks....
Just to keep our readers in the loop, we are still expecting John Bellinger to post later tonight or early tomorrow morning a response to some of the comments on his postings from throughout the week. I also understand that John may be kind enough to do even more follow-up responsive blogging next week. So stay tuned. ...
