Syria has rejected the bid from the Arab League offering an exit for President Al-Assad. Syria has warned of a chemical attack on invaders, according to Al Jazeera. Reuters reports that the West has warned Syria about their use. Foreign Policy analyzes the origin of the confusion surrounding whether and how Syria has threatened to use these weapons. Foreign Policy also offers...
You asked and we answered! In our recent readers' survey, nearly 70% of the respondents indicated that they have an interest in learning about new jobs in relevant fields of international law or foreign policy. We have therefore teamed up with JobThread to provide an Opinio Juris Job Board for our readers. This board is updated frequently and offers jobs with a...
The Syrian army has launched fierce attacks against rebel forces, who had made a stronghold in Damascus. Fighting has also spread to Aleppo. The UN has extended its monitoring mission in Syria another 30 days. The Arab League has called for Syrian President Assad to resign and has offered Assad and his family a safe exit from Syria. Turkey has sent a battery of ground-to-air missiles to its border with Syria. China...
Conferences & Events The University of Leiden will host a conference: International Humanitarian Assistance and International Law, January 24-25, 2013. The aim of the conference is to bring experts in the field of international humanitarian assistance together and to explore various fields of law relating to humanitarian assistance, like international humanitarian law, human rights law, international disaster response law, and other fields. The...
As we reported earlier this week, today the ICJ will deliver its judgment in the Obligation to Prosecute or Extradite (Belgium v. Senegal) at 3:00 p.m. in The Hague (CET). The reading of the decision will be broadcast live on the Court's website. France, the United Kingdom and the United States denounced China and Russia's veto on yesterday's Security Council resolution regarding placing...
Fighting is still raging in Damascus, where yesterday many officials were killed by bombing attacks in Syria's capital city. Meanwhile, China remains silent on its position ahead of a UN Security Council vote threatening with non-military sanctions. Al Jazeera offers the profiles of the slain ministers as well as an analysis of how these deaths will affect the regime. Foreign Policy outlines "Assad's...
The United States Naval War College’s International Law Department has digitally published Volume 88 of its International Law Studies Blue Book series, entitled "Non-International Armed Conflict in the Twenty-First Century" and it may be downloaded for free from the Blue Book link on the Naval War College International Law Department’s Stockton Research Portal. Additionally, a direct link to the .pdf file...
The UN Security Council prepares for a new vote on Syria today, amidst raging battles in Damascus and tension between Russia and the West. Among the battles, a suicide attack in Damascus has killed the Syrian Minister of Defense. Foreign Policy looks in-depth into whether it matters that the ICRC has labeled the violence in Syria a non-international armed conflict. For more from Lawfare on...
The ICJ is set to deliver its judgment in Belgium v. Senegal, this Friday, July 20, 2012. The press release from the Court is found here. The UN Security Council has condemned the rebel attacks in eastern Congo and demanded an end to outside support for the conflict on the Rwanda-Congo border. The African Union has urged the group Mali Ansar Dine...
The sudden announcement that North Korea's military chief was relieved of his duties for health reasons has spurred rumors about a possible power struggle. Cambodia and Thailand have announced that they will redeploy some of the troops stationed at the Preah Vihar temple from Wednesday onwards, to comply with last year's order of the ICJ. Maritime disputes between China and Japan and China and the Philippines continue. Foreign Policy points...
Conferences & events The Brookings Institution will host Translating Human Rights into Practice: A Conversation on the United Nations Human Rights Council: Wednesday, July 11, 2012, 2:00 — 3:30 pm in Washington, D.C. Washington College of Law Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law along with ASIL will host Human Rights Implications of SCOTUS Decisions in the 2012 Term: Wed., July 18, 2012, from 4:00-5:30...
This week, Opinio Juris was a bit lighter on the blogging due to the Fourth of July holiday in the US, but we did feature a post from Peggy McGuinness that pointed out a discussion on the St. John's Center for Law and Religion Forum around the question of whether American foreign policy is Christian, in a conversation Mark Movsesian had...
