In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Author: Julian Ku

21 Apr

Columbia University's American Constitution Society hosted a discussion between Professors John Yoo (a leading constitutional and foreign relations scholar) and Jeremy Waldron (a distinguished Kantian legal philosopher) on legal aspects of the war on terrorism today, especially torture. As usual, tireless bloggers from Ex Post have "liveblogged" the debate here.Here are some of the highlights. The hardest question for Professor...

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20 Apr

I plan to post quite a bit more on the continuing China-Japan row later this week, but I couldn't resist passing along these remarkable pictures from a Chinese "BBS" list with pictures of the some recent anti-Japanese protests in Shanghai. Just keep scrolling down, even if you don't read Chinese, you should easily get a sense of the rather...

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19 Apr

This report gives a bit more detail to the non-agreement agreement between the ICC Prosecutor and the Ugandan leaders who visited the Hague last week. The statements by the ICC Prosecutor shows the limits of his discretion under the ICC Statute and, perhaps, why the ICC will always be a potential obstacle to settlement of an ongoing conflict. The ICC...

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17 Apr

The General Assembly endorsed by consensus Friday the International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism . The treaty sets up useful legal definitions of nuclear materials and imposes obligations on signatories to pass laws outlawing nuclear terrorism, to cooperate in exchange of information on terrorists, and to prosecute or extradite alleged nuclear terrorists (but not extradition to...

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17 Apr

I didn't notice until today this devastating WSJ article ($) about the interminable Milosevic trial at the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the Hague. ("ICTY"). Since it is behind a firewall, let me excerpt the highlights and hope the WSJ puts it on their opinionjournal.com free website eventually.As it enters its fourth year, the world's biggest war...

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17 Apr

After several days of meetings, the ICC Prosecutor and Northern Ugandan leaders have issued a joint statement pledging to work together in the prosecution of alleged war crimes while at the same time trying to work out a peace agreement. The statement says absolutely nothing of importance and does not, for instance, require the ICC Prosecutor to limit his investigations...

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15 Apr

DR-CAFTA, the Dominican Republic- Central American Free Trade Agreement, is facing rough waters in its first Senate hearing, according to this (admittedly anti-CAFTA) report. Opposition is particularly strong in the farm-states, where CAFTA would likely have its greatest effect. Key senators are already suggesting it is heading for defeat.I am generally supportive of free trade on policy grounds and therefore...

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15 Apr

In the not very exciting race to be the next WTO Director-General, ex-EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy has pulled into the lead, according to this report. Brazil's candidate is apparently out of the running and Lamy has more support than the remaining two candidates (from Mauritius and Uruguay). Does any of this matter? It is hard to say,...

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14 Apr

The seemingly minor disputes between Japan and China that I noted some time ago here have continued to fester. This past week, thousands of Chinese marched in sometimes violent (but state-organized) protests against Japan’s attempt to gain permanent membership on the United Nations Security Council and Japanese history textbooks that have whitewashed Japanese atrocities during WWII (indeed, Japan has run...

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14 Apr

David Brooks defends Bolton's nomination today on very straightforward grounds: Bolton is opposed to creeping global governance in the form of the ICC and a strong U.N. Here's an excerpt:They know we're not close to a global version of the European superstate. So they are content to champion creeping institutions like the International Criminal Court. They treat U.N. General...

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