Here is an interesting little brewing dispute that lies below the radar screen. The Financial Times reports that the United States may bring the European Union to the International Court of Justice in order to challenge forthcoming EU greenhouse gas rules. The relevant rules will require airlines operating in the EU to participate in their greenhouse gas/ emissions...
The U.S. government announced a tough new set of economic sanctions on North Korea today, banning luxury goods believed to be favored by Kim Il Jung and his personal supporters. According to the AP, the banned goods include: "ipods, cognac, Rolex watches, cigarettes, artwork, expensive cars, Harley Davidson motorcycles or even personal watercraft, such as Jet Skis." These new...
A judge in France has issued a series of arrest warrants against current high-level Rwandan government officials alleging they were involved in the 1994 assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana, the assassination that many believe sparked the eventual genocide by Hutus against the Rwandan Tutsi minority. This isn't a case involving international human rights law directly. Rather the French judge is...
Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and a number of other former U.S. Department of Justice officials filed an amicus brief yesterday in Al-Marri v. Wright, a case currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (see the WPost article here). As a legal argument, the amicus brief offers little that is new or surprising. It...
As a number of critics of the U.N. reform process argued last year, the much-ballyhooed new United Nations Human Rights Council was unlikely to improve upon its much-derided predecessor. Those critics have been largely proven right by the Human Rights Council's performance thus far. Steadfastly one-sided and relentlessly obsessed with Israel, the Council has failed to build any...
Yesterday the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved a deal to provide U.S. cooperation with India in the development of a civilian nuclear program (the vote was 85-12). The House approved similar legislation earlier this year by fairly huge margins as well so final passage is likely relatively soon. I have two observations. First, this deal no doubt reflects the importance...
Some really quick unreflective thoughts on the latest Medellin decision: (1) The ICJ's interpretation in Avena is still wrong The Supreme Court's decision last summer in Sanchez-Llamas did not necessarily foreclose reliance on the ICJ's interpretation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations in this Texas proceeding. But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals showed no inclination to reach...
The remanded Texas proceeding in Medellin v. Dretke, the original case invoking the ICJ's recent decision in Avena interpreting the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, has been decided by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. I am still reading it but the upshot: The renewed petition by Medellin seeking relief under President Bush's "memorandum" enforcing the ICJ's judgment has been...
Despite earlier reports that President Bush would be able to go to Hanoi this week with congressional approval of Vietnam's permanent normal trading status in hand, House Republican leaders have reversed themselves and pulled the Vietnam bill completely today citing growing Democratic opposition. The bill, which is necessary for Vietnam's full accession to the WTO, may or may...
The lame-duck Republican House failed to pass legislation today that would have granted Vietnam permanent normal trade relations with the U.S., a necessary pre-condition of Vietnam's full accession to the WTO. But the vote is by no means the end of the battle, because this vote needed an unusual two-thirds majority to bypass normal House procedures. The vote...
Today, Protocol V to the Convention on Conventional Weapons enters into force. The Protocol on the Explosive Remnants of War requires members states to "mark and clear, remove or destroy explosive remnants of war in affected territories under its control." Its obligations are phrased somewhat too broadly for some advocates' taste (see the Human Rights Watch take on...
The U.S. Trade Representative announced yesterday that the U.S. and Russia will sign a bilateral agreement clearing the way for Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization next year. According to the NYT, the agreement should be signed by President Bush and President Putin during the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Hanoi next week (where, incidentally, President Bush...
