In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Author: Peter Spiro

24 Jul

From the Guardian, an account that even an academic would have a hard time making up: Honduras may allow for extraterritorial appeals in some number of jurisdictions, amounting to "semi-independent city-states," established to improve investment appeal: The complex constitutional agreement under discussion involves Mauritius – an island 10,000 miles away in the Indian Ocean – guaranteeing the legal framework of the...

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13 Jul

"Non-citizen nationals" - a very small group of "Americans". Anyone born in a state of the United States is a citizen under the 14th Amendment. Almost everyone else born in sovereign US territory (Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam) has citizenship at birth by statute. The only folks who don't have citizenship at birth are those born in American Samoa and...

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27 Jun

I know that most readers of the blog are interested in international law, not immigration law, but Justice Scalia's concurrence/dissent in Monday's SB 1070 decision has something for everyone. Scalia takes the trope of formal sovereignty as among the states of the United States to its logical endpoint: As a sovereign, Arizona has the inherent power to ex­clude persons from its...

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25 Jun

The Supreme Court has struck down state laws mandating juvenile offenders to be sentenced to life without parole with its decision in Miller v. Alabama. The decision is part of a logical progression from decisions constitutionally barring the death penalty for juvenile offenders (Roper v. Simmons) and life sentences for juveniles for crimes not involving murder (Graham v. Florida). What's interesting...

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25 Jun

As predicted here, the Supreme Court delivered a split decision today in the Arizona immigration case.  But to the extent that it's a partial victory for supporters of SB 1070, it's only a nominal one.  Justice Kennedy's majority opinion broadly validates federal power over immigration, leaving a very confined space for state activity. Kennedy's opinion situates immigration law as part of...

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21 Jun

Here's an interesting report just out from the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa on the citizenship deficit in the wake of South Sudan's secession. The problem: several hundred thousand persons of South Sudanese descent resident in the north following the breakaway who now apparently have no status at all - ie, they're stateless. This is the definitive paper on...

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19 Jun

This post is part of our symposium on Dean Schiff Berman's book Global Legal Pluralism. Other posts can be found in Related Posts below. This is a great book, and I am almost completely on board with the orientation here.  Paul is right on the money in navigating between the territorial sovereigntists on the one hand and the cosmopolitan universalists on...

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19 Jun

The Supreme Court's decision in the SB 1070 case is imminent (the only suspense now being whether it gets a separate-day release from the health care case).  I think the Court will split the difference, upholding key sections of the law, striking down others.  The safest money has it validating the "papers, please" provision of the law under which AZ...

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18 Jun

We’re delighted this week to host a discussion of Paul Schiff Berman's "Global Legal Pluralism: A Jurisprudence of Law Beyond Borders" (Cambridge University Press). Paul is the Dean and Robert Kramer Research Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School. This is a rich and broadly argued book (Paul confesses to being a "lumper," I think in the best...

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25 May

Supporters of US ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty now have a network home, curiously called "The American Sovereignty Campaign." It seems to be a serious undertaking, counting the US Chamber of Commerce and the Pew Charitable Trusts among its members, running this polished ad in the print media. What of the use of "sovereignty" here?  From the coalition's...

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25 May

Ukraine and Honduras have initiated complaints at the World Trade Organization against Australia with respect to the latter's plain cigarette packaging rules.  Neither country has much trade with Australia.  (Ukrainian cigarettes? Doesn't sound very appealing!)  So why bother?  Because the cigarette companies are fronting legal costs.  From Reuters: Both complainants have "requested consultations" with Australia, the first step in the WTO...

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