It's been a tough December for Alberto Fujimori, the former President of Peru. Two weeks ago, a Peruvian court sentenced him to six years in prison for ordering an illegal warrantless search of an apartment owned by the wife of his murderous intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos — the first time a former Peruvian head of state has been convicted...
Time Magazine’s Person of the Year is Vladimir Putin (runner up Al Gore; sorry Al). The article, the wittily titled "A Tsar is Born” is here. Here’s a brief excerpt (highlights added):He is clear about Russia's role in the world. He is passionate in his belief that the dissolution of the Soviet Union was a tragedy, particularly since...
A federal district court in West Virginia recently rendered one of the most interesting extradition decisions I have ever read. The case of In re Extradition of Exoo, 2007 WL 3166926, involved allegations that George Exoo aided and abetted the suicide of Rosemary Toole. Exoo is a minister for Compassionate Chaplaincy Foundation, an organization that travels abroad to...
[Dan Bodansky is the Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Emily and Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law at the University of Georgia Law School and a leading expert on climate change regulation. He participated in the Bali meeting and contributed this report to Opinio Juris.] Only in the context of the climate negotiations could Bali be considered a “breakthrough,”...
The WaPo reports here on the UN task force report that has uncovered "a pervasive pattern of corruption and mismanagement involving hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts for fuel, food, construction and other materials and services used by U.N. peacekeeping operations, which are in the midst of their largest expansion in 15 years." The Task Force, which was created...
I want to share a small vignette that I think symbolizes the stresses on countries that were once part of the Soviet Bloc but are now unsure if their future will be in seeking a closer alliance with Russia or with the West. In an article I published earlier this year I called such states systemic borderlands—states that are the...
Governor Corzine's statement today as he signed the NJ death penalty ban: Thank you all for being here. Today, December 17th 2007, is a momentous day - a day of progress - for the State of New Jersey and for the millions of people across our nation and around the globe who reject the death penalty as a moral or practical...
This story from The Guardian is a wonderful development: A California free speech group whose board of directors includes Google and Yahoo said on Monday it had asked U.S. trade officials to challenge China's Internet restrictions as a violation of global trade rules. The issue threatens to further strain U.S.-China trade relations if the U.S. Trade Representative's office decides to take...
I don't know very much about French legal education, but I'm still surprised by this article, which claims that because France lacks a first-rate law school, the most prestigious French law firms are now requiring their new hires to have an American or British law degree:It isn't easy for corporate law firms to find qualified law-school graduates in the land...
For those looking for a more detailed breakdown of the Bali talks on Climate Change, check out this day-by-day record of the events. It's part of the International Institute for Sustainable Development's reporting service. IISD monitors and reports on developments in international environmental law, including virtually all the MEAs (multilateral environmental agreements). Indeed,...
With all this talk of Kosovo (and Transnistria), I would be remiss not to note the following. According to CNN:Tensions were rising in Bolivia on Saturday as members of the country's four highest natural gas-producing regions declared autonomy from the central government. Thousands waved the Santa Cruz region's green-and-white flags in the streets as council members of the Santa Cruz, Tarija,...
If you are looking for evidence that a) the world is paying attention to death penalty practices in the United States, and b) states in this country are active participants in the international human rights system, this week's vote by the New Jersey state legislature to abolish the death penalty is a great example. Today's NY Times editorial framed...
