Here is the final post in my conversation with Prof. David Weissbrodt on Kiobel and corporate liability under the Alien Tort Statute. It is worth emphasizing why I think the "choice of law" question is so crucial to resolving this case (and why Justice Breyer agrees with me on this point). In its 2004 decision, Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, the Supreme Court decided...
The ABA Journal has a cover story about the threat posed to island states by climate change. This is a topic we have discussed on Opinio Juris at various times. Duncan wrote at length about the Maldives; I had a shorter piece here, and there are various references in the midst of other blog posts. The Journal article is long and...
The Hudson Institute's John Fonte has a new book out, Sovereignty or Submission: Will American Rule Themselves or Be Ruled by Others? (Encounter Books). From the title you don't have to know John to know what his answer would be. Fonte is an unabashed sovereigntist, vaunting its "Philadelphian" strain (located in the people, as opposed to the Westphalian variant based...
Like many readers, I never miss FP's online "Morning Brief," which provides links to numerous interesting international developments. It's an incredibly useful and erudite feature -- which is why I was so surprised to see the following headline this morning: A U.S. court dismissed charges against the president of Sri Lanka for war crimes. Um, no. The case did not involve war...
Anton Metlitsky, an attorney that is defending Rio Tinto from a similar ATS lawsuit as Kiobel's, drops me this useful reminder about another hurdle facing the Kiobel plaintiffs. In a recent post, you say that “the only way plaintiffs will prevail is if they convince a majority of the Court (meaning Justice Kennedy), that the question of corporate liability is really...
For those interested in expanding their international law reading and/or writing horizons, the Virginia Journal of International Law is now welcoming submissions to its new online companion, the Virginia Journal of International Law Digest (VJIL Digest). The idea, which seems part of a useful trend among a number of the student edited law journals, is to publish short pieces focusing...
Here's something you don't see every day: Oxford University is seeking applicants for the Chichele Professorship of Public International Law. Oxford's announcement begins as follows: The Oxford Faculty of Law is a major centre for the study of international law. We aim to build Oxford’s role in the field, as international law becomes increasingly important and complex, and more closely involved with...
The Kiobel oral arguments have spawned lots of media coverage and commentary. I think this matters more than usual because the way this case plays out in the court of public opinion is going to have an effect on the justices. For instance, Dahlia Lithwick at Slate concludes that.. The skepticism of the court’s conservative bloc notwithstanding, this is a case...
That South China Sea dispute just won't go away. Not as long as there's still oil and gas down there...
Here is the second round of my exchange with Professor David Weissbrodt over at Pointoflaw. I begin by citing the following exchange during Kiobel's oral argument yesterday. SULLIVAN: ...
It is my pleasure to announce that the Journal of International Criminal Justice, the leading journal in the field, has just published a special issue on the crime of aggression to commemorate its 10th anniversary. The special issue, which is edited by Claus Kreß and Philippa Webb, contains a variety of fascinating articles on aggression from a number of leading...
