For those watching for signs of how oral arguments went in the U.S. Supreme Court in Kiobel this morning, early consensus seems to be that while a majority of the justices were plainly concerned by a reading of the universal jurisdiction statute that would give the courts the power to hear cases with no substantial connection to the United States,...
John Witt's magisterial new book, Lincoln's Code: The Laws of War in American History, appeared a few weeks ago, and Gary Bass has an enthusiastic review of it in yesterday's New York Times Sunday Book Review. I am only about half-way through it, but Bass' enthusiasm is entirely justified - it is a fabulous book and one that I think...
I am very sad to report that the eminent British historian has passed away at 95. He lived an amazing life, as recounted in the Guardian's lengthy obituary today. Here is a snippet: If Eric Hobsbawm had died 25 years ago, the obituaries would have described him as Britain's most distinguished Marxist historian and would have left it more or less...
The US Supreme Court begins its new term today and will hear re-argumentation in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum. SCOTUS Blog offers insight into what is at stake and for whom in this case. After 10 years’ imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay, Omar Khadr was repatriated to Canada, where he will serve the rest of his sentence. At the UN General Assembly, several leaders of the Muslim...
Upcoming Events The Levin Center of Stanford University is hosting the International Public Interest Lawyering Symposium: Advancing Gender Equality through Human Rights, October 11-13, 2012. To register, click here. The American Bar Association (in cooperation with ASIL) will host the 2012 Fall Meeting from October 16-20, 2012 in Miami Beach, Florida. More information found here. The American Society of International Law has its third-annual Midyear...
This week on Opinio Juris, one of us was facing a legal challenge of his own. You can read Kevin Jon Heller's account of Chevron's subpoena for 9 years of IP-logs for his gmail-account here. Ken Anderson is back to blogging, and discussed the leading issues at this week's opening of the UN General Assembly in a post that also reflected on whether a...
Last week, while I was participating in a conference, I received an email from Google with a puzzling subject line: "Subpoena Notice from Google (Internal Ref. No. 257121)." I opened the email, assuming that it was some kind of sophisticated phishing attempt. It wasn't. It was Google informing me -- more than a little cryptically -- that Chevron had subpoenaed...
Since June 2012, there has been a new addition to the international legal blogosphere: Armed Groups and International Law. The blog is edited by Katharine Fortin of Utrecht University and Rogier Bartels at the Netherlands Defence Academy and the University of Amsterdam. The blog's two main purposes are information sharing and community building between individuals and organizations working on issues related to armed groups....
According to a Kenyan military spokesman, Kenyan forces have captured the Somali port city of Kismayo, a bastion for Al-Shabbab fighters. At the UN General Assembly, China's foreign minister accused Japan of stealing the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has said he will seek a vote on an upgraded status for Palestine to non-member state, like The Vatican, from the UN General Assembly. At...
Benjamin Netanyahu is being suitably mocked for the Wily E. Coyote-like picture of a bomb he used at the UN to describe Israel's "red line" concerning Iran's purported efforts to build a nuclear weapon. There's no need for me to pile on; even right-wingers are horrified, with Jeffrey Goldberg -- Jeffrey Goldberg! -- tweeting earlier today that "Netanyahu's bomb cartoon...
[Polina Levina is a masters in international law candidate at the School of Oriental and African Studies and Kaveri Vaid is an Institute for International Law and Justice Scholar at New York University School of Law.] Overview Recently, Human Rights Watch released a report detailing systematic practices of capture, torture, and rendition of members of the Libyan opposition by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. At least...
