In another sign of how slow the mainstream media moves sometimes, the NYT has an article today discussing an issue that readers of this blog learned about nearly a month ago: the ICJ's strange reluctance to demand access to crucial Yugoslav/Serbian government documents in reaching their judgment in the Bosnia Genocide case. The ICJ's failure to consider such evidence,...
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, a famously lax enforcer of U.S. immigration laws, has started to use its broad detention powers to pick up suspected human rights abusers or war criminals living in the United States. As the Washington Post reports: Ernesto Guillermo Barreiro seemed to fit in well with his neighbors in Virginia's placid horse country. The...
The U.S. and South Korean announced yesterday that they have reached a bilateral free trade agreement - the first of its kind between the U.S. and a major Asian economy. Indeed, in terms of trade volume, "KORUS - FTA" immediately becomes the second most important trade agreement for the U.S. after NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement). The text...
Just in case some of our readers missed our panel at the American Society of International Law Meeting yesterday on customary international law, I would recommend you check out a very impressive and interesting exchange in the new online version of the Virginia Law Review - In Brief. The lead piece is by Judge William Fletcher of the U.S. Court...
For some reason, the U.S. District Court for DC has not yet posted a copy of Judge Hogan's opinion dismissing lawsuits against Donald Rumsfeld and various U.S. military officials for abuse and torture in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thanks to Paul Stephan, I finally got a copy of the opinion, styled Iraq and Afghanistan Detainees Litigation, which I am posting...
The BBC reports that the U.S. district court in D.C. has dismissed a lawsuit (Ali v. Rumsfeld) by former U.S. military detainees in Afghanistan and Iraq alleging torture and other severe abuses. Apparently, Chief Judge Thomas Hogan dismissed the lawsuit against Rumsfeld on immunity grounds, but a copy of the opinion is not yet on the D.D.C.'s website. When...
Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. envoy credited with forcing the final peace settlement in the Bosnia wars, is being accused of making a secret 1995 deal with notorious already-indicted Serb war criminal Radovan Karadzic to get Karadzic to give up power. Supposedly, Holbrooke agreed to not hunt Karadzic and prosecute him for war crimes if Karadzic would give up power. Media in...
Iran's seizure last week of 15 UK sailors for allegedly crossing into Iranian territorial waters is part of a very complex diplomatic story intertwined with Iraq, Iran's nuclear program, and longstanding UK-Iranian tensions. But it also raises some international legal questions. For instance, were the UK sailors actually in Iranian waters? The UK sailors had authority from...
The Lewis & Clark Law Review has published a useful and timely symposium on the significance of last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision in Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon. In Sanchez-Llamas, the U.S. Supreme Court decided, among other things, that it would not reverse its interpretation of a treaty because of a contrary interpretation by the International Court of Justice. ...
All 27 members of the European Union have approved a new air transport or "open skies" agreement with the United States. No surprise here. The EU ministers tacked on a delay in the effective date of the agreement, which must be approved by the U.S. This should be easy enough since no congressional approval will have to be secured...
The ICC announced today that Judge Karl Hudson-Phillips has resigned his post for personal reasons. Judge Hudson-Phillips (more background here) had previously served as Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago. Under Article 37 of the Rome Statute, the Assembly of States-Parties to the ICC will now elect a new judge to replace Judge Hudson-Phillips,...
According to the AP, Sudan announced yesterday that it will suspend all cooperation with the International Criminal Court following that the ICC prosecutor's charges of war crimes against a Sudan government minister. "We had extended our cooperation with the ICC for some time, but now the situation is completely different," Justice Minister Mohammed Ali al-Mardi told The Associated Press on...
