I haven't been following this issue at all, but I found this discussion on the possible ramifications of a UK gay marriage law fascinating.The Church of England has put out a paper suggesting (among other things) that any UK law that does not guarantee the right to religious solemnization of gay marriage would violate the ECHR's equality guarantee. I don't...
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has an op-ed in the WSJ announcing his opposition to US ratification of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The op-ed is probably meant to soften the force of an earlier WSJ op-ed by former Republican Secretaries of State calling for US ratification. He is also testifying on Thursday at...
The US is accusing Russia of sending helicopters to Syria, where the UN has now officially categorized the conflict as a civil war. The UN is sending its envoy to Western Myanmar where the state of emergency was declared following unrest. Aung San Suu Kyi has left Myanmar for her trip to Europe where she will accept her Nobel Prize. The Yemeni government has declared that it has driven...
The four staff members of the ICC will remain in a 45-day detention in Libya while investigations into the meetings the staff had with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi are carried out. Al Arabyia reports that Melinda Taylor will be freed if she gives Libyan officials information on the whereabouts of Mohammed Ismail, Gaddafi's former right-hand man. Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has...
[Dov Jacobs is an Assistant Professor of International Law at Leiden University. He can be followed on his blog, Spreading the Jam] On the 30th of May, the SCSL sentenced Charles Taylor to 50 years in prison. The sentencing judgment raises a number of interesting issues. Some commentators, such as William Schabas, or on this blog, Marina Aksenova, have discussed the...
The temptation is strong to write about the Supreme Court’s decisions this morning to deny review to the latest set of Guantanamo detainee cases to come before it. The denials of certiorari effectively let stand the decisions of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has yet to find a detainee entitled to relief. But I’ll save the role...
[Mark A. Drumbl is the Class of 1975 Alumni Professor at Washington and Lee University and author of Reimagining Child Soldiers (OUP, 2012).] Assuredly, discussion of the Charles Taylor sentence might revolve around its length – 50 years, for a 64 year-old man – and the proportionality between such a heavy sentence and the fact that most (but certainly not all) of his criminal...
A four-member delegation from the ICC in Libya, who went to meet with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, has been detained by Libyan authorities after one of the lawyers, Melinda Taylor, was found allegedly carrying suspicious documents. Syrian government forces renewed their attacks on Homs, killing at least 35. Protesters in Chile rallied against a documentary honoring Augusto Pinochet. The world's newest country, South Sudan, struggles to...
Dear Readers, After seven years of broadcasting our opinions, we'd like to know your opinion about us, so from today until July 11 we're holding our first Opinio Juris Readers' Survey. We'd like to know who are readers are, what they think about the blog and what they would like to see on the blog. The blog and the blogosphere have evolved a lot...
Like most people who believe in international criminal justice, I'm frustrated by the Sudanese government's ability to stonewall the ICC regarding its innumerable crimes in Darfur. But reactions like these don't help: Moreno-Ocampo, who stands down as ICC chief prosecutor in two weeks, called on the Security Council to take tougher action to detain President Omar al-Bashir and other Sudanese officials...
Calls for Papers The American Society of International Law is looking for panel and paper proposals for its 2013 Annual Meeting, International Law in a Multipolar World. Submissions should be in before June 22, 2012. The Australian Journal of International Law has issued a call for articles, case notes and book reviews for its 2012 Annual Volume. Deadline for submissions is June...
Dear readers, I need your advice. I was recently asked by a good journal to peer review a short essay about international criminal law. The essay was quite good, and I would have had no qualms about recommending its publication, but I had the strangest sense of deja vu as I read it. It didn't take me long to realize...
