Although many important issues will be discussed this week at the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), none will be quite so momentous as the decision to activate the ICC's jurisdiction over the crime of aggression. Whatever one thinks of the merits of the definition of aggression, there is no question that the activation of jurisdiction will represent the culmination of...
Reminder: Deadline for Applications for Seventh Annual Junior Faculty Forum for International Law—May 28, 29 and 30, 2018 This is a brief reminder that applications for the Seventh Annual Junior Faculty Forum for International Law are due on Dec. 15, 2017. The Forum will be convened by Anne Orford (Law – Melbourne), Dino Kritsiotis (Law – Nottingham) and J.H.H. Weiler (Law –...
[Jeffrey Biller, Lt Col, USAF, is the Associate Director for the Law of Air, Space and Cyber Operations at the Stockton Center for the Study of International Law, US Naval War College.] On 27 May 1941, the British battleships King George V and Rodney engaged the German battleship Bismarck, which had been previously disabled by a torpedo attack from aircraft belonging...
A couple of days ago, the OTP finally announced what we all expected: that it would not reconsider its refusal to open a formal investigation into Israel's attack on the MV Mavi Marmara. Dov Jacobs has already offered some thoughts on the lengthy document the OTP has filed with the Court explaining its reasoning -- what the OTP nicely calls...
I am proud of many of my former students, but the one I am most proud of is Golriz Ghahraman, who took my international criminal law course many years ago at the University of Auckland and is still a dear friend. In the years since my course, Golriz has worked on the Karadzic case, earned an MSt in human rights from Oxford,...
[Jennifer Trahan is an Associate Clinical Professor at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University.] As Jens Ohlin has written, a highly awaited verdict came out Wednesday, November 22, sentencing Ratko Mladic, former commander of the Main Staff of the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS), to life in prison for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed from 1992-1995. The...
Following on the heels of the much-reported e-mail scandal, FICHL has released a policy brief entitled "A Prosecutor Falls, Time for the Court to Rise" that is an utterly damning indictment of Luis Moreno-Ocampo's tenure at the ICC. Here is a taste of the report, which picks up not long after the Court became operative: This idyllic mood in the OTP continued through...
The ICTY Trial Chamber announced today its verdict in Prosecutor v. Ratko Mladić and has found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to life in prison. (The judgement summary, which was read aloud in court, is available here. I don't see a link to the full judgement; if someone else has it, please provide a link in the comments below.)...
[Jeffrey Biller, Lt Col, USAF, is the Associate Director for the Law of Air, Space and Cyber Operations at the Stockton Center for the Study of International Law, US Naval War College.] Those familiar with Patrick O’Brian’s Aubry-Maturin series of novels (brought to film in Master and Commander starring Russel Crowe) will know that the boarding and seizure of ships was...
Just a reminder that the deadline is fast approaching for the workshop I am organising with Ingo Venzke, “Contingency in the Course of International Law: How International Law Could Have Been.” The workshop, which will feature an opening address by Fleur Johns (UNSW) and a closing address by Sam Moyn (Yale), will be held over two half days and one full day from June 14-16,...
From Professor Laurie Blank: The American Society of International Law's Lieber Society on the Law of Armed Conflict awards the Francis Lieber Prize to the authors of publications that the judges consider to be outstanding in the field of law and armed conflict. Both monographs and articles (including chapters in books of essays) are eligible for consideration — the prize is awarded...
[Alonso Gurmendi is Professor of International Law at Universidad del Pacífico, in Peru.] As seen in Part I, Colombian transitional justice mechanisms have played a key role in the evolution of the Inter-American Court’s jurisprudence on proportionality of punishment. In this second part, I will analyze whether the Court’s Colombian case-law can influence Peru’s discussion regarding a hypothetical humanitarian pardon for...
