I’ve spent the last days at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands attending a terrific conference on privileges and immunities of IOs. (In addition to Leiden’s history of excellence in international law, there were some wonderful revelations at the conference about the university’s history -- like the fact that Albert Einstein taught there). The discussions shed light on the complex...
The United States may decide early this week to provide armed assistance to Syrian rebels. Israel's PM Netanyahu has made clear that Israel refuses to get involved in this discussion. Turkish riot police have moved into Taksim Square to remove anti-government protesters. A Kenyan court has imposed prison sentences of five years on nine Somali nationals accused of piracy in the Gulf...
[Michael W. Lewis is a Professor of Law at Ohio Northern University where he teaches International Law and the Law of War.] Something interesting and I believe significant, happened on Saturday. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry summoned the US Charge d’Affaires and formally protested the continuance of drone strikes on Pakistani territory. Pakistan protests drone strike; US CdA summoned (2013-06-08) On the Prime Minister’s instructions, the...
There has been a rightful flurry of media interest in the saga of Edward Snowden, the U.S. government contractor who is the apparent source of the leaks about the U.S. National Security Program's data mining surveillance program. One area of focus is Snowden's decision to take refuge in Hong Kong from a possible prosecution by the U.S. government. As I noted...
Things are starting to heat up around the pending U.S. Supreme Court case Bond v. United States, which will test the scope of Congress's power to implement U.S. treaties. The case is a big one -- challenging as it does the holding of the most famous of U.S. foreign affairs law cases -- Missouri v. Holland and Oliver Wendell Holmes' wonderfully...
During their talks over the weekend, President Xi Jinping and President Obama reached agreement on North Korea and on curbing HFC emissions, but didn't reach agreement on industrial cyber-espionage. Israel has accused Iran and its Palestinian and Lebanese allies of wide-scale cyber attacks on vital national infrastructure. Ed Snowden, the NSA/PRISM whistleblower has revealed his identity in an interview with The Guardian,...
Calls for Papers The American Society of International Law’s International Economic Law Interest Group (ASIL IEcLIG) is pleased to issue a Call for Proposals for its inaugural Junior Scholars Research Forum, to be held at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, in Philadelphia, on November 22, 2013. The deadline for receipt of proposals is June 25th, 2013 and more information can...
This week on Opinio Juris, Kevin analyzed the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber's rejection of Libya's admissibility challenge. He examined the PTC's analysis of Libya's inability to prosecute, and expressed surprise that Libya’s failure to provide Saif with defence counsel was evidence of its “inability” instead of “unwillingness”. If you find yourself in Johannesburg next week, you can hear more from Kevin on the admissibility...
I am currently in Durban, South Africa, co-teaching a fantastic ICL course with my friend (and War and Law blogger) Chris Gevers at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Durban is a very nice city, with amazing coffee -- high praise from someone who lives in Melbourne. I will be spending three days in Cape Town next week, then two days in Johannesburg....
South Korea has agreed to negotiate with North Korea on the reopening of a joint industrial park that was closed in April after rising tensions. The ICC Prosecutor has reported to the UN Security Council on the situation in Darfur. The EU Counter-Terrorism Co-ordinator wants member states to do more to restrict their citizens travelling to Syria to fight with extremist groups. Syrian...
According to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, forensic examination has shown that the Syrian regime used sarin gas against the rebels. He added that all options are now on the table regarding the response to the situation in Syria. Syrian troops, assisted by Hezbollah militia, have seized control of the strategic city of Qusair. The US International Trade Commission has sided with Samsung in its ongoing...
The indefatigable Benjamin Wittes at Lawfare has a short post describing a lively exchange between the Chinese and Filipino representatives at MILSOPS, an invitation-only off-the-record meeting of top military officials from the Asia-Pacific region, about China's nine-dash-line claim to the South China Sea. Apparently, this has been an ongoing debate at this annual conference. Last year, the Chinese representative presented this...
