In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Author: Julian Ku

31 Jan

[I am passing along this reminder of the upcoming registration deadline on behalf of ILA President Ruth Wedgwood since many of our readers are likely to attend this meeting.] Register by February 7, 2014 to snap up the advantageous “Early-Bird Rate”– saving $160 over the walk-up rate– for the historic joint meeting between the 150-year-old global International Law Association and the American Society of International Law, running April 7-12, 2014. ...

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22 Jan

Jess Bravin has an interesting report out in Thursday's WSJ (subscrip. req'd)  detailing U.S., UK, and EU support (and funding) for a team of investigators to gather evidence of war crimes by Syrian government and military officials. For nearly two years, dozens of investigators funded by the U.S. and its allies have been infiltrating Syria to collect evidence of suspected war crimes, sometimes...

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16 Jan

The American Journal of International Law has posted electronic excerpts from its "Agora: Reflections on Kiobel", which will be published in its next issue.  As a contributor to the AJIL Agora myself, I was fascinated to see the different takes that everyone had on the decision.  For the most part, contributors seem to read Kiobel the same way: as sharply cutting...

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16 Jan

A subcommittee of the  U.S. House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee held a much-needed hearing to educate themselves on China's recent activity in the East and South China Seas.  Professor Peter Dutton of the Naval War College, along with two other experts on Asian affairs, gave interesting and useful testimony on the nature of China's maritime disputes with Japan, the...

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10 Jan

It looks like the U.S. and India have worked out a sort-of deal to end the battle over visa-fraud charges brought against India's deputy consul-general in New York Devyani Khobragade.  Yesterday, a U.S. grand jury indicted Khobragade on the visa-fraud charges, and shortly thereafter, Khobragade was allowed to leave the U.S. for India.  India is now retaliating by demanding the U.S. withdraw...

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30 Dec

I've been working hard this break teaching in Hofstra's winter program in Curacao. But I couldn't resist stepping away from the beach and posting on the India-US flap over the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York. Dapo Akande at EJIL Talk! has two great posts on the consular and diplomatic immunity legal issues.  I have nothing to add,...

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13 Dec

A nice light-hearted exchange at today's U.S. State Department media briefing, which shows some folks in government like Jen Psaki still have a sense of humor. Reporter: “So has the U.S. already issued a visa to Santa?” Psaki: Santa does not need a visa. He has a visa waiver in the United States. (Laughter.) So he can get to every house, and...

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10 Dec

I love Canada, and I have long been intrigued by plans to unite the U.S. and Canada in deeper political and economic integration (See this post from 2005(!)). So I have been excited to see the idea getting some mainstream media love with discussions of Diane Francis's new book  Merger of the Century: Why the U.S. and Canada Should Become One...

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