In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Recent Posts

28 Jul

According to research conducted by Jay Brown of theRacetotheBottom.org, blogs have been cited in "law reviews, journals, and other legal publications" more than 6300 times -- a nearly fourteen-fold increase since 2006.  Here are the 10 most-cited faculty law blogs: 1. Volokh Conspiracy -- 742 cites 2. Balkinization -- 426 cites 3. Patently O -- 393 cites 4. Concurring Opinions -- 279 cites 5. Sentencing...

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27 Jul

[Annie Gell is the Leonard H. Sandler fellow in the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch] report coverYesterday, Human Rights Watch released the report “Even a ‘Big Man’ Must Face Justice”: Lessons from the Trial of Charles Taylor. It examines the conduct of Taylor’s trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone (“SCSL”), the court’s efforts to make its proceedings accessible to affected communities, and perceptions and initial impact of the trial in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The aim of the report is to draw lessons to promote the best possible trials of high-level suspects who are implicated in genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. It is based on interviews in The Hague, London, Washington, DC, New York, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, as well as review of expert commentary, trial transcripts, and daily reports produced by trial observers. This post focuses on Human Rights Watch’s analysis of the trial’s conduct and lessons learned for future proceedings.

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27 Jul

With opening ceremonies about to get underway  in London, there's a discussion on Olympic nationality over at the NY Times Room for Debate with contributions from myself, Ayelet Shachar, Ian Ayres, and Jean-Loup Chappelet. Ayres and I agree that the current regime is unfair to both spectators and athletes by excluding would-be top competitors. Ayres would allow countries to grant...

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27 Jul

The skies over Somalia have become so congested with drones that the UAVs pose a threat to air traffic and potentially to an arms-embargo. In a shift from the past, the Egyptian president, Mohamed Mursi, met with the leader of Hamas, Ismael Haniyeh. The Netherlands suspended $6.15 million in aid to Rwanda yesterday, following a similar move by the US a day...

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26 Jul

According to the Washington Post, Phakiso Mochochoko, the head of the Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division in the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC, said the following in response to Stephen Rapp's recent comments about the potential criminal liability of the Rwandan government for its support of Bosco Ntaganda's M23 in the Congo (emphasis added): The International Criminal Court is...

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26 Jul

Mitt Romney is holding a fundraiser this evening in London. (Here's a nice scene-setter.)  Almost quaint how he promises not to criticize Obama while abroad, in the tradition of politics stoppping at the water's edge (as if physical location still mattered in the context of completely transnationalized media). Three quick thoughts: 1. This kind of extraterritorial campaigning is becoming routine. Lots of...

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26 Jul

The UN Security Council has lifted travel bans and asset freezes on 17 Liberians, including at least two of Charles Taylor's ex-wives. A special assembly met in Somalia to set up a new government. Using drones for surveillance and then shooting from helicopters, Turkey has killed 15 Kurdish rebels near its border with Iraq. EJIL: Talk! has more on the Belgium v. Senegal case,...

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25 Jul

Although clearly a step up from its genocidal predecessor, Kagame's government in Rwanda is anything but progressive. According to the State Department, the government is responsible for -- inter alia -- illegal detention, torture, enforced disappearance, attempted assassinations of political opponents, restrictions on the freedom of speech and press, violence toward journalists and human rights advocates, discrimination against women/children/gays and...

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25 Jul

The International Olympic Committee will allow marathoner Guor Marial to compete as a man without a country. From the IOC's executive board summary of its decision in the case: Passport-less athlete approved to compete The EB also approved a request to allow marathon runner Guor Marial to compete in the London 2012 Games as an Independent Olympic Athlete (IOA) under the Olympic...

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25 Jul

Ghana's President John Atta Mills has died, though details are unclear as to the cause of death. Foreign Policy has more here. Vice-President John Dramani Mahama has succeeded him, taking the oath of offices a few hours after the announcement of Mills' death. Fighting has intensified in Syria's Aleppo. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has joined the chorus of warning Syria against...

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24 Jul

From the Guardian, an account that even an academic would have a hard time making up: Honduras may allow for extraterritorial appeals in some number of jurisdictions, amounting to "semi-independent city-states," established to improve investment appeal: The complex constitutional agreement under discussion involves Mauritius – an island 10,000 miles away in the Indian Ocean – guaranteeing the legal framework of the...

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