Whoops, spoke too soon about the WSJ's anti-ICC editorial. It does indeed contain a lie -- and its a doozy: What’s more, no amount of reform of the founding treaty will change the ICC’s inherent flaw. The ICC is a child of the doctrine of “universal jurisdiction,” which holds that courts can adjudicate crimes committed anywhere in the...
The reaction of key countries to the recent Sudan elections electing Sudan's President al-Bashir are in. The bottom line seems to be- the elections were deeply flawed, but not so much so that they should be denounced or set-aside. In the meantime, start planning for the all important referendum on Southern Sudan's independence, which will require Bashir's cooperation. This appears...
Adding to our already energetic discussion about the ICC and Kampala is the WSJ Editorial Board's contribution today. I share many of the editorial's skeptical views of the ICC and I think even Kevin would not find any "lies" in this article. Here is the crux of their critique, which I mostly share: From the Balkans to East Timor to the...
Too funny not to post (h/t, Gawker): (The man in the photo, for those who don't know, is Malcolm X, not Obama.)...
From the Judgment: It was further argued that Germany alone could decide, in accordance with the reservations made by many of the Signatory Powers at the time of the conclusion of the Briand-Kellogg Pact, whether preventive action was a necessity, and that in making her decision final judgment was conclusive. But whether action taken under the claim of seIf-defense was in...
On a non-aggression note, Jennifer Howard has an article in yesterday's Chronicle of Higher Education about Karin Calvo-Goller's baseless criminal-libel suit in France against NYU's Joseph Weiler. It's an excellent piece -- and not just because she is kind enough to quote me. Here's a snippet: If you're an author confronted with a negative book review, you have several options. You...
My UN Dispatch friend Mark Leon Goldberg notes today that a group of Representatives are circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter urging their colleagues to support a resolution "opposing the United States joining the Rome Statute or participating in the upcoming review conference." Reading the letter is an infuriating experience, not only for its ridiculously bad grammar -- how does one...
When I teach International Trade, one of my favorite parts of the class is the discussion of trade linkages. How does a state balance competing concerns such as labor, the environment, and human rights? Typically the WTO accommodates those concerns through the General Exceptions that permit a state to violate the WTO rules if doing so is, say,...
What should South Korea do if it confirms the responsibility of North Korea for the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel? This article quotes a Korean law professor offering three options: Writing in JoongAng Daily, Kim Hyun-soo, professor of international law at Inha University, said Lee has three options if he wishes to avoid risking all-out war on the peninsula. He...
My colleague David Post and I have an op-ed in today's National Law Journal. In it, we challenge the sufficiency of existing responses to cyberattacks, whether in terms of pushing for heightened security, more criminal law enforcement or applying the laws of war (if applicable). Criminal law (and the laws of war for that matter) depends on identifying and holding...
Julian beat me to the punch regarding the new Council on Foreign Relations report, From Rome to Kampala: The U.S. Approach to the 2010 International Criminal Court Review Conference. Not surprisingly, I don't share Julian's enthusiasm for it. On the contrary, I think it's extremely disappointing, little more than a reiteration of the same tired talking points that the...
This is not really a big deal, but it is still annoying when President Obama (or any president) flagrantly breaks his campaign promises with respect to foreign policy matters that are completely within their executive discretion. Today, in his commemoration of the Armenians who died in the 1916 expulsion from Turkey, President Obama carefully avoided the use of the word "genocide"...
