I've only been vaguely aware of the ongoing battle between Chevron and Ecuador. Ecuador courts are currently entertaining an enormous lawsuit against Chevron, but Chevron has really taken the offensive by releasing videos suggesting that the Ecuadorian judge has been accepting bribes. And in its latest salvo, Chevron has filed an investor-state claim under the United States- Ecuador Bilateral Investment...
Seemingly more interested in placating victims groups than the judges who will determine Dr. Karadzic's guilt or innocence, prosecutors have refused to trim their monstrous and completely unworkable indictment: In written submissions released by the tribunal Tuesday, prosecutors say further cutting down their 11-count indictment against Karadzic to squeeze it into a year would prevent them presenting evidence encompassing all his...
It's a great day to be teaching the powers of the Security Council to my international law class! President Obama presided this morning over the Security Council meeting on non-proliferation, securing a 15-0 vote for UNSC resolution 1887, which aims to bolster the nuclear non-proliferation regime through strengthening the NPT, enforcing existing resolutions on North Korea and Iran, and...
I know you have all missed my blogging about international trade law. So now that I'm back (at least for a while), let me highlight a neat legal issue raised by China in its appeal of a recent WTO decision against its restrictions on foreign media. According to this WSJ report, China has raised the "public morals" defense contained in...
On the eve of President Obama taking the chair at the Security Council, David Bosco takes on a few of the common assumptions about the Council over at Foreign Policy. I largely agree with Bosco's quick (and yes, Ken, "breezy" - it seems to be a quality FP is promoting these days!) take on the central themes: (1) the Council...
Over at Foreign Policy magazine's blog, Eric Posner has a brief, breezy column on differences, or not, between the Bush and Obama administrations on international law. Fun, quick read, whether one agrees or not. And events of the moment - the opening of the UN General Assembly, the UN confabs on things like climate change, the G-20 meetings, etc. -...
University of Pennsylvania law professor Paul Robinson had a stinging, but somewhat confusing critique of the international law governing the use of force in yesterday's WSJ. Last week the United Nations issued a report painting the Israelis as major violators of international law in the three-week Gaza war that began in December 2008. While many find the conclusion a bit unsettling or...
I break my self-imposed blog exile to shamelessly promote an event we are hosting at Hofstra this Friday: the first ever all day teaching workshop devoted solely to teaching international law. The event is sponsored by the American Society of International Law and the American Branch of the International Law Association with the support of Hofstra. (OK, I don't actually know...
As part of the backlash against the Goldstone Commission's recommendation that the Security Council refer the situation in Gaza to the ICC if Israel and Hamas do not conduct credible investigations of their crimes, the far-right Jerusalem Post published an editorial today entitled "Strange Justice: The ICC, Europe, and the World." The editorial was ostensibly written by a Researcher at...
My sympathies are with those who have to drive anywhere in Manhattan this week as the General Assembly gets underway. In past years I have experienced the privilege of being inside the security cordon and also the inconvenience of being outside it. But now we can all experience being inside the main public events through the UN Webcast! The...
According to Newsweek, the answer may well be yes: As chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo has so far steered clear of controversial cases. In doing so, he hoped to allay U.S. fears that the ICC would become a politicized tool for settling scores. Which is why it's so surprising that Moreno-Ocampo is now considering an investigation into...
What follows is a conference announcement by my friend Mark Osiel. He welcomes -- indeed wants -- feedback. I hope to attend and discuss the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber's indefensible dilution of Article 30's default knowledge mens rea to include dolus eventualis. Common Civility: International Criminal Law as Cultural Hybrid Here’s a prospectus for a conference I’m trying to organize with two other...
