The cease fire in Gaza appears to hold, in what is seen as a test for the new Egyptian government's ability to influence Hamas. More than 20 people have been killed in a suicide attack on a Shiite procession in Rawalpindi, in northern Pakistan. The Taliban has claimed responsibility. After successfully capturing Goma, the rebels in Eastern Congo are vowing to march...
Under India’s presidency, the UN Security Council debated the global phenomenon of maritime piracy on November 19. The outcome was a presidential statement, not a resolution. Although not binding, it highlights future trends in the Security Council's approach to piracy. Unlike prior Security Council actions that have been region specific, Monday’s debate reflects the global dimensions of the issue...
US Secretary of State Clinton has arrived in Israel to assist in the negotiation of a truce with Hamas. The UK has recognized the Syrian opposition coalition, but the US has adopted a wait-and-see approach. Polish authorities have arrested two men allegedly planning to bomb Parliament. Shortly before the fourth anniversary of the Mumbai attacks, India has executed the only militant surviving the...
Job posting here. This would be a fabulous opportunity for someone with an international law background. Michigan of course has one of the country's top international law faculties and led the way in requiring transnational law as part of its first-law curriculum....
UK human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson has a confused, muddled, and revealing editorial in Bloomberg about how international law might help resolve the Iran nuclear crisis. While he describes the relevant law accurately, he fails to show how international law is doing much of anything to resolve the crisis. Here is the relevant law, as he sees it: Israel has...
Just a further quick note on the ICJ opinion yesterday (press release here) on the long-running Colombia/Nicaragua dispute over sovereignty and control over certain Caribbean islands. The ruling seems a mixed bag since it recognizes Colombia's sovereignty and rejects other Nicaragua submissions. But Nicaragua is declaring victory. At first glance, I get nervous when courts (any courts, whether domestic or international) start...
This analysis from Professor Matthew Happold offers very good reasons to doubt that Argentina can validly invoke the jurisdiction of the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea in its dispute with Ghana. Putting aside Argentina's argument that it did not (or could not) waive its warship's immunity, Professor Happold points out that it is far from clear that...
The ICJ has ruled against Nicaragua in the territorial and maritime dispute it had filed against Colombia, and rejected claims that Colombia violated international law. International pressure to reach a ceasefire after six days of conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza strip is building and there are signs that Israel is open to a diplomatic solution in which Egypt...
Just in time for the holidays, the American Bar Association and Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism are releasing a volume of essays geared toward folks who work on or write about or teach national security and foreign policy, but need a primer on the relevant law. National Security Law in the News: A Guide for Journalists, Scholars, and Policymakers...
President Obama's visit to Burma/Mynamar has centered the status of the country's Muslim minority Rohingya community which has been denied Burmese citizenship notwithstanding their historical presence in the country. (The issue gets a lot more coverage in the Muslim world than in the West.) Obama's speech today welcomed recent steps by the Burmese government "to address the issues of injustice and...
Ban Ki-moon has called for a ceasefire in Gaza. Another Israeli air strike early on Monday morning has increased the death toll to 85 Palestinians and three Israelis. IntLawGrrls reports that James Stewart has been elected as the new ICC Deputy Prosecutor On Friday, the ICTY Appeals Chamber issued its judgment in Gotovina and Markac. Over at EJIL:Talk!, Marko Milanovic issues a...
Upcoming Events On January 18-19, 2012, the Sheffield Centre for International and European Law is organizing a workshop entitled "Doing Law Beyond the State: Research Methodologies in Comparative, EU and Public and Private International Law". The program and registration are online. Calls for Papers The seventh annual International Graduate Legal Research Conference will be held on April 8-9, 2013 at King’s College London....
