A new report entitled “Nuclear Weapons: the State of Play 2015” makes for very sober reading. The authors are Gareth Evans, Tanya Ogilvie-White and Ramesh Thakur, and the report was written for the upcoming NPT review conference. Gareth Evans is on a world-tour releasing the report, and yesterday I saw him at the International Peace Institute in New York. You can...
If you haven't seen it yet, the Elders Proposal for Strengthening the UN is a must read. Chaired by Kofi Annan, The Elders is an independent group of global leaders who work together for peace and human rights. Released earlier this month at a conference in Munich, the four proposals are generating a lot of attention include: 1) A new category of Security...
On February 12, the UN Security Council unanimously passed an important new Chapter VII resolution – Resolution 2199 - to respond to terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria. This resolution is significant for four reasons. First, the resolution specifically targets the supply of oil. In other words, it attempts to degrade the supply chain and the support networks. The preamble refers...
I am pleased to announce that a new ILA Study Group on sanctions has been formed. Larissa van den Herik and I will be working together, with the support of a group of sanctions scholars and practitioners, to address questions of individualization, formalization and interplay in multilateral sanctions. Here are the three aims of the group: To evaluate the individualization and...
In an 8 page decision handed down on January 9, Judge Paul Oetken found that the UN is immune in Delama Georges et. al v. UN, the so-called “Haiti Cholera case.” The decision is available at: http://www.ijdh.org/2015/01/projects/united-states-district-court-southern-district-of-new-york/ The finding that the UN is immune rests on two points: first, that the UN did not expressly waive its immunity under the...
Although I've only been a regular OJ blogger for two years now, I feel like I've known OJ since it was born. Chris Borgen, Julian Ku and I have been friends since we all worked together at Debevoise and Plimpton in New York years ago. Over the years I've gotten to know Peggy, Roger, Ken, Deborah, Duncan, and at least by...
The UN's Department of Political Affairs recently published this list of "13 things to know about UN sanctions." If you scroll down on the link above, you'll also see some great sanctions graphics. United Nations Sanctions Primer 1. Since the creation of the United Nations, the Security Council has established 25 sanctions regimes. They have been used to support conflict resolution efforts,...
It's my pleasure to announce that Rob Howse will be guest blogging on Opinio Juris this week. Rob is the Lloyd C. Nelson Professor of International Law at NYU, and a specialist in international trade and investment law. He is also the author of a new book in political philosophy entitled Leo Strauss Man of Peace published by Cambridge. A great interview...
Congratulations to two new members of the bench of the International Court of Justice: James Crawford and Kirill Gevorgian. Also, congratulations to Joan Donoghue and Mohammed Bennouna on their reelection. The esteemed judges will commence 9 year terms starting in February 2016. The voting process and requirements for election under the ICJ statute are described here. Voting also took place for a...
For those following the developments in the Haiti Cholera Case, the transcript of the October 23, 2014 Oral Argument is now available. It can be accessed here: Oral Argument_Cholera Case 10.23. For my takeaway on this important hearing, please see my recent blog here. Perhaps not surprisingly, the hearing garnered significant coverage in the main stream press. At least one article suggested...
The UN Ombudsperson’s office currently has jurisdiction over the 1267 sanctions regime, but the discrepancy between the due process afforded to individuals affected by that regime as opposed to other regimes has long been noted: individuals listed under the various sanctions regimes applicable to situations in Africa, and the Weapons of Mass Destruction regimes applicable the situations in Iran and...
An interesting and significant hearing on the UN’s Privileges and Immunities in the Haiti Cholera case took place on Thursday morning, October 23, in the Southern District of New York. For plaintiffs, the hearing was a milestone because it represented the first time that they have had the opportunity to argue any aspect of their case regarding the cholera epidemic...
