Sometimes, international law wanders far afield from questions of international criminal justice and basic human rights. Sometimes, it is just about collecting some money. Case in point: the City of New York has apparently won a judgment in federal court clearing the way for it to collect a total of $25 million in back taxes from the governments...
UVA lawprof Rosa Brooks has a measured op-ed in Sunday's LA Times surveying the progress of efforts to prosecute serious violations of international human rights on the 10th anniversary of the massacre at Srebenica. Unlike some advocates of international criminal justice, Prof. Brooks is restrained in her claims for the benefits of international tribunals like the International Criminal Court. Even...
I didn't want to seem wholly unaffected by the horrible terror attacks in London, but I didn't feel like I had anything useful to add from an international legal point of view. But where a cautious lawprof blogger fears to tread, lawyer Andrew McCarthy does not, in this blistering National Review Online piece.McCarthy's basic point is that the UK, unlike...
Rising Washington & Lee lawprof David Zaring has a nice (and somewhat brave) post up at Prawfsblawg previewing some descriptive research he has done on the citation in foreign law by U.S. courts over a long stretch of time. Here is his main conclusion so far:citation to foreign authority is hardly unprecedented, even in the modern era;but such citation,...
In yet another case of U.S. compliance with an international tribunal ruling, the Bush Administration has proposed legislative changes that would reduce U.S. cotton subsidies (by about $350 million) and bring the U.S. into compliance with a WTO decision won by Brazil. This action follows its announcement last week that the Administration would make certain administrative adjustments to comply...
The ICJ is hearing oral arguments this week in a long-running case between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Congo is alleging that Rwanda is responsible for the deaths of some 3.5 million Congolese who have died during Congo's civil wars because of Rwanda's intervention in that civil war. Congo is asking for an order from the ICJ requiring...
Just in time for Independence Day, Northwestern Law Prof John McGinnis has posted this neat little article arguing that the Founders were free traders much in the same vein that the U.S. government is today. In particular, he notes that the Continental Congress approved a "Model Treaty" that would have provided "national treatment" to treaty partners, e.g. that nationals of...
I have very little to add to the zillions of articles and blog posts about the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and her likely successor. I did want to point out, though, that Justice O'Connor was (not surprisingly) a moderate in the Court's recent embrace of foreign and international law. Justice O'Connor appears to see some useful analogies...
As I suggested earlier this week, the U.S. government had to announce what it was going to do about the WTO's cotton subsidy decision by Friday, July 1. Well, the U.S. announcement is here and it is pretty mind-numbingly technical. It basically adjusts some export credit programs. The announcement was made by the U.S. Dept of Agriculture rather than the...
Just to follow up on Chris' post on Iran's new leader. Ordinarily, the former hostages might have been able to sue the new Iranian prez in U.S. courts under the Alien Tort Statute. But they would face innumerable obstacles including a 10-year statute of limitations. But most importantly, it appears that the 1981 Algiers Accords, which resulted in...
Some folks get excited about "global governance" and "world government". But while there are some trends toward global integration in the form of free trade and greater international cooperation, I sometimes think the more likely trend will be toward regional integration. The recent setbacks for the EU notwithstanding, regionalism is more likely to occur because of competition from...
In an important decision on treaty interpretation and the political question doctrine, the D.C. Circuit yesterday affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a number of Korean, Taiwanese, and Filipino women who alleged rape, torture, and other abuse at the hands of Japanese soldiers during World War II. The lawsuit was brought under the Alien Tort Statute and had...
