This week on Opinio Juris, Duncan was thrilled that the Supreme Court had finally reached a decision on whether to grant certiorari in Bond v United States, a case that requires revisiting Missouri v Holland. Julian though questioned whether Bond v United States will matter, although he gave his own two cents on the treaty power and federalism later. Julian clearly got more excited...
[I know that what this blog needs is yet another post on the China-Philippines UNCLOS Arbitration! We aim to please!] Steve Groves of Heritage asks in the comments to my prior post: What happens if China simply refuses to show up at the arbitration? Can an arbitral tribunal even be formed to rule on jurisdiction? This is something that I've wondered too, and...
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights while Countering Terrorism, Ben Emmerson, announced the launch of a special investigation into drone warfare and targeted killings yesterday. The United Nations is planning to consider later this year the scientific validity of a claim by China that a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea are part of its territory, although Japan says...
This article from the Global Times, a hawkish state-controlled newspaper in China, probably reflects a little bit of the official Chinese view on the Philippines UNCLOS claim. It also contains this troubling bit of analysis, from a Chinese scholar: The international court would not take the case without agreements from all parties involved, Dong Manyuan, a researcher at the China Institute...
David Bosco has an important post at The Multilateralist today reminding people that Palestine does not have to ratify the Rome Statute for the ICC to be able to investigate the situation in the West Bank and Gaza. As David notes, because Palestine has filed a declaration under Article 12(3) accepting the Court's jurisdiction on an ad hoc basis, the...
I am remiss in not linking earlier to this excellent and absorbing discussion of the upcoming US Supreme Court decision in Bond v. United States at the Volokh Conspiracy. Rick Pildes at NYU is doing a nice job, but he is single-handedly taking on Professors Nick Rosenkranz, Ilya Somin, and Eugene Kontorovich on various aspects of the treaty power and...
This treaty was totally NOT on my radar screen. But as the NYT reports: More than 140 nations adopted the first legally binding international treaty on Saturday aimed at reducing mercury emissions, after four years of negotiations on ways to set limits on the use of a highly toxic metal. The treaty was adopted after all-night negotiations that followed a week of...
North Korea has said it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States. Several European leaders have criticized British Prime Minister David Cameron's demand for radical reform of the EU and promise of an "in-out" referendum on UK membership. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has decided to lift the military's ban on women serving in combat, a move...
Pathetic: Ambassador Susan Rice objected Wednesday to the Palestinians' latest bid to capitalize on their upgraded UN status when their foreign minister spoke at Security Council while seated behind a nameplate that read "State of Palestine." It was the first Palestinian address to the Security Council since the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on November 29 to upgrade the Palestinians from UN...
[John B. Bellinger III is a partner in the international and national security law practices at Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington, DC and an adjunct senior fellow in international and national security law at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as The Legal Adviser for the Department of State from 2005–2009.] Julian invited me to respond to his post...
It’s becoming a trend …. international law apps that aim to influence policy makers and engage the public. The app for “Children and Armed Conflict” (sponsored in part by the Mission of Liechtenstein) collates information on the legal framework and grave violations relevant to the effects of armed conflict on children, as well as providing recent news, background information on...
China's initial reaction to the Philippines' decision yesterday to file an arbitration claim has been to stick to its guns. From the BBC: On Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told journalists that China has "indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and adjacent waters, which has abundant historical and legal grounds". "The key and root of the dispute over...
