In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Recent Posts

09 Jun

The Public Editor of The New York Times has a nice piece today criticizing the newspaper's "seriously flawed and greatly overplayed" front-page article “1 in 7 Detainees Rejoined Jihad, Pentagon Finds.”  Others have thoroughly debunked similar Pentagon reports -- see here, for example.  I just want to call attention to the following paragraph from the Public Editor's article, which is...

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08 Jun

I begin by thanking Ryszard Piotrowicz and Jean Allain for agreeing to take on the somewhat delicate task of commenting on my critique of James Hathaway’s article.  I am sure they will not be offended by my expressing sincere regret that Professor Hathaway himself declined to participate in this symposium. Neither respondent challenges (or seriously interrogates) my central conclusions: (i) Hathaway...

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08 Jun

[Ryszard Piotrowicz is a Professor of Law at Aberystwyth University] I would like to make three points in relation to the articles by Prof. Hathaway and Dr Gallagher. First, It seems to me that Dr Gallagher effectively refutes the basic argument of Prof. Hathaway, that the developments in trafficking in human beings (THB) have served to distract attention from what is asserted...

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08 Jun

[Dr. Jean Allain is a Reader in Public International Law at the School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast and author of The Slavery Conventions: The Travaux Préparatoires of the 1926 League of Nations Convention and the 1956 United Nations Convention (2008) and “The Definition of Slavery in International Law” 52 Howard Law Journal 239 (2009)] There is nothing like a ‘response’...

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08 Jun

[Dr. Anne T. Gallagher is the Head of Operations at Equity International, Technical Director of Asia Regional Trafficking in Persons Project, and the former UN Adviser on Trafficking] My response to James Hathaway, written with the benefit of close involvement in the development of the new legal framework, as well as in its implementation at the national level in over forty...

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08 Jun

The Virginia Journal of International Law is delighted to continue its partnership with Opinio Juris this week in this online symposium featuring three articles and two essays recently published by VJIL in Vol. 49:4, available here. Today, Dr. Anne T. Gallagher, Head of Operations of Equity International, Technical Director of Asia Regional Trafficking in Persons Project, and former UN Adviser on...

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08 Jun

I'm not a comparative constitutional-law scholar, but I find it interesting that, pursuant to Section 44(iii) of the Constitution of Australia, no one can serve in Parliament who "[i]s an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent."  The solvency requirement harkens back to the bad old days of U.S. history, when most States prohibited individuals who did not own property from voting.  But...

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07 Jun

President Obama’s speech in Cairo was nothing short of remarkable. The issue of interfaith dialogue is dear to my heart, and his speech deserves to be studied and discussed far and wide. I cannot think of a more important message about the relationship between the United States and the Muslim world in American history. If you have...

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07 Jun

I loathe anonymous blogging and anonymous commenting.  I think that, in the absence of a compelling reason to remain anonymous, people who take provocative positions and vehemently criticize others should have the courage to do so openly, under their own name.  That's why I respect someone like David Bernstein, no matter how much I disagree with him. That said, I understand...

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06 Jun

In various posts on OJ about Predator drones, targeted killing, and such topics, I've made reference to a book chapter I've been drafting for Benjamin Wittes's forthcoming edited volume of policy essays, Legislating the War on Terror: An Agenda for Reform (Brookings Institution Press 2009).  I'm pleased to say that my chapter, Targeted Killing in US Counterterrorism Strategy and Law,...

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05 Jun

There's an important roundtable in the May/June issue of Boston Review on the subject.  (Who else finds Boston Review to be more interesting than the New York Review of Books these days?)  It includes a lead-off piece making the case by University of Toronto political theorist Joseph Carens, with responses from Alex Aleinikoff, Linda Bosniak, Gerry Neuman, Peter Schuck, and...

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