In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Recent Posts

29 Apr

This seems like a nice, uncontroversial way to buttress the ICC Prosecutor's Office: ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo today announced the appointment of Professor Jose Alvarez as his Office’s Special Advisor on International Law. “Professor Alvarez is one of the leading academics in international law,” said Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo. “He has written extensively on the law-making powers of international organisations and on the...

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29 Apr

Arizona's already notorious anti-immigrant measure, enacted last week and making unauthorized presence in the U.S. a crime under state law, isn't likely to last long.  But the courts may have nothing to do with its demise.  It's the economic hit that Arizona is clearly going to take that will bring the state around, I suspect sooner rather than later.  Lost...

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29 Apr

Our own Ken Anderson joined a number of other law profs, including Prof. David Glazier, in testimony today before the National Security and Foreign Affairs subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to discuss, what else, the legality of U.S. targeted killings policy. Wired has a nice report summarizing the testimony, and the issues are already...

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28 Apr

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...

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28 Apr

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...

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28 Apr

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...

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27 Apr

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...

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27 Apr

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...

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27 Apr

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...

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27 Apr

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,...

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27 Apr

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...

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