[Beth Van Schaack is an Associate Professor at Santa Clara University School of Law and contributor to IntLawGrrls.] Professor Guilfoyle’s article makes a discrete and important contribution to his growing body of work on maritime law and the problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden. The article cogently argues that international humanitarian law (‘IHL’) does not apply to most instances...
[Dr Douglas Guilfoyle is a Lecturer in Law at the Faculty of Laws, University College London.] It is sometimes suggested that because pirates were described by classical authors as hostes humani generis (enemies of humankind) or because the Security Council has authorised the use of ‘necessary means’ in repressing Somali piracy that the laws of armed conflict ('LOAC') must (or might)...
I would like to thank Professor von der Dunk – who is a close friend and highly respected colleague – for taking the time to provide his thoughtful responses to my article ‘Fly Me to the Moon: How Will International Law Cope with Commercial Space Tourism’, published recently in the Melbourne Journal of International Law. Professor von der Dunk and...
[Frans G von der Dunk holds the Harvey & Susan Perlman Alumni and Othmer Chair of Space Law at the University of Nebraska College of Law.] The contribution of Professor Freeland to the important debate on the legal aspects of private manned spaceflights, as per his article 'Fly Me to the Moon: How Will International Law Cope with Commercial Space Tourism'...
[Steven Freeland is a Professor in International Law at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, Visiting Professor of International Law at the University of Copenhagen, a member of the Space Law Committee at the International Law Association, a member of the Directorate of Studies at the International Institute of Space Law and a Faculty Member of the London Institute of...
Dr Jean-Marc Coicaud is one of the more thoughtful and reflective UN officials, and his response shows why. Broadly speaking, I agree with all three of his comments The conceptual, political and operational relationship between law and legitimacy will be treated differently by political and legal theorists. For some, lawfulness is both a necessary and a sufficient condition of legitimacy. For...
[Dr Jean-Marc Coicaud is the Director of the United Nations University Office at the United Nations in New York.] Professor Thakur highlights what he claims to be today the weak legitimacy of the United Nations. He does so not only by stressing the gap between the principles upon which the legitimacy of the UN is meant to be based and reality,...
[Ramesh Thakur is a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, and Professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo in Canada.] The UN is the site where power should be moderated by lawful authority. Legitimacy connects authority to power. The greater the gap between power and justice in world affairs, the greater the international legitimacy deficit. The...
We are delighted to introduce the second online symposium issue of the Melbourne Journal of International Law hosted by Opinio Juris. This week will feature three pieces published in our most recent issue — issue 11(1). The issue was generalist in its focus and saw articles on topics as diverse as the law of space tourism, the right to cross-examine...
The stories of the earthquake and then the cholera coming out of Haiti continue to horrify and sadden, if it the global media wasn't already numb from Haiti stories. There is plenty of blame to go around: Bill Clinton, the Haitian government, and now we can add the United Nations to that list. Almost everyone now accepts that the United Nations...
I know Facebook does some strange things regarding friend suggestions, but I think this "tag your friends" request might take the cake. Behold how Facebook interpreted a photo I took of Mein Kampf in the Nuremberg Documentation Center: ...
