Recent Posts

Chimene Keitner has revised and updated David Bederman’s 2006 treatise on International Law Frameworks. This highly readable (and short) text addresses key cases, core disputes, and essential treaties in international law. Following Professor Bederman's passing in 2011, Keitner was asked to step in and take over the production of a new edition.   In the preface to this 4th edition, Chimene describes...

[Dr. Joanna Nicholson is a Researcher at PluriCourts - Centre for the Study of the Legitimate Roles of the Judiciary in the Global Order at the University of Oslo.] If you were to ask most International Humanitarian Law (IHL) experts whether the fact that a fighter is a child under the age of fifteen affects when they constitute a military target under IHL,...

Justice Scalia's passing comes as a shock and is generating tributes across ideological lines. Indeed, whether you agreed with his opinions or not (and I was not a fan of his thinking on cases like Sosa or Bond), Justice Scalia's opinions deserved to be read.  Lines like "never-say-never jurisprudence" and "oh-so-close-to-relevant cases" are some of my personal favorites.  Readers should feel free to add...

Like many lawyers who study constitutional law, I was saddened when I heard last night of the unexpected death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The internet being what it is, commentators have already offered their quick takes on Scalia’s substantial and multifaceted jurisprudential legacy (indeed, I think we’ve already moved on to debating his replacement). Most of these...

Announcements Conflict Dynamics International presents a new tool for national judicial actors and others working on accountability for children in armed conflict: Anti-Impunity Tool: Guidance for investigating and prosecuting serious violations against children in armed conflict. This user-friendly tool provides concrete guidance and tips for investigating and prosecuting serious violations against children in armed conflict, such as recruitment and use of children by armed...

According to a recent article in Agenda.ge, Russia has announced that it will not cooperate with the ICC's formal investigation into the situation in Georgia: Russia’s Ministry of Justice issued a statement confirming it would not cooperate with the investigation, reported Russian media today. Tbilisi was not surprised by Moscow’s decision. The Georgian side believed it would not be in Russia’s best...

After attending a great panel at ESIL in 2014 on International Law and Film, I’ve been thinking about how to integrate film into my public international law class. I’ve compiled a list of international law films (with help from colleagues and fellow bloggers) that make for excellent viewing.  In a subsequent post, I’ll offer some thoughts about teaching international law through...

As many of our readers may recall, the late Professor Michael Lewis was a great friend of this blog and an important voice in U.S. international law and national security scholarship.  To honor his memory, the Federalist Society has recently launched the first annual Michael Lewis Memorial Teleforum in his honor.  The podcast features Maj. Gen. Charles Dunlap (Professor of the Practice of Law Executive Director,...

Here’s your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed responsibility for Friday's deadly attack on a U.N. police base in the northern Malian city of Timbuktu, a statement monitored by the SITE Intelligence group showed on Saturday. The Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in Africa, Honourable Reine...

Announcements The GlobalTrust research project published a call for applications for post-doctoral fellowships for the academic year 2016-17. The GlobalTrust Research project at Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law is funded by a  European Research Council Advanced Grant, and studies the extent to which states that exercise regulatory functions should take into account the interests and preferences of foreign individuals and...

Sorry for the endless self-promotion, but I thought readers might be interested in the following episode of Al Jazeera's Inside Story, which includes a 30-minute panel on siege warfare in Syria that I participated in. It was quite a wide-ranging discussion, focusing less on international law than I expected. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM8PwT9hz3c&feature=youtu.be As always, comments welcome! I hope readers don't think I was too...