In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Recent Posts

30 Jan

The recent article by Burke-White and von Staden raises critical and timely issues about international economic law and treaty interpretation. The paper acknowledges challenges posed to the institutional legitimacy of investment treaty dispute resolution (which I have written about elsewhere) that are caused by different tribunals coming to different interpretations of the same or similar treaty provisions. It...

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30 Jan

Let us begin first by thanking Opinio Juris and the Virginia Journal of International Law for the opportunity to discuss our new article, Investment Protection in Extraordinary Times: The Interpretation and Application of Non-Precluded Measures Provisions in Bilateral Investment Treaties. We also thank Susan Franck in advance for commenting on the article and for what we hope will be a...

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29 Jan

I have very little add to Professor Mallat’s enlightening comments. To the extent that I have a criticism, it is that he is perhaps too quick to dismiss his own work, upon which my scholarship is based. To be sure, Professor Mallat has focused on Sadr’s reactions to Marxism, and the role he played within the Najaf seminaries...

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29 Jan

This is a wonderful opportunity to bring Islamic law into the legal debate in the United States beyond the superficial level at which it usually takes place. This is the more welcome for someone who has written a book on Muhammad Baqer as-Sadr as the most creative Islamic thinker of the 20th century (The Renewal of Islamic Law, Cambridge 1993),...

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29 Jan

First, an obligatory and entirely deserved thanks to Chris Ripple and the editors of the Virginia Journal of International Law for giving me an opportunity to discuss my work on this blog, and to Chibli Mallat, the premier Sadr scholar of our time, for agreeing to comment thereon. Sadr’s work Iqtisaduna is so multifaceted and complex that any depiction of...

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28 Jan

In the tortured debates about torture, one rarely hears something new. But last week I was having a wonderful discussion with some prominent international law thinkers and one of them said something quite thought-provoking that I had never heard before. “If you think torture is wrong then you should also conclude that humanitarian intervention is wrong. ...

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27 Jan

My time as a guest blogger with Opinio Juris comes to an end today. I have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to post here, and to enter into discussions with the commenters. It therefore only remains for me to give my sincere thanks to the regular contributors for inviting me, and to the many commenters for their remarks, additions and corrections...

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27 Jan

Iraq has redesigned its Saddam-era flag. (The new flag is at left.) Unfortunately, it's already been rejected by both the Sunni Anbar Awakening Council and by the Kurds:"The new flag is done for a foreign agenda and we won't raise it," said Ali Hatem al Suleiman, a leading member of the U.S.-backed Anbar Awakening Council, "If they want...

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26 Jan

I've fallen behind in my Rwanda blogging. Here are some of the recent highlights — or lowlights, depending on your perspective:The ICTR announced that it will miss its 2008 deadline for completing its trial phase. According to the Tribunal's spokesman, at least one trial will not be finished by the end of the year. The ICTR...

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26 Jan

5 + 10 = X X – Y = 0 if Y = 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 5 + 10 = X X – Z = X/192 if Z = 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, or 15 What is X, Y, and Z where Y = Z? (Continue Reading for the Answer) Y = Permanent Members of the Security...

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25 Jan

Here you go. The idea: everything you need to know about really big issues in two pages or less (charts included). Say you are the CEO of Sara Lee or something and find yourself among the great minds of Davos, your KnowledgeConcierge (space intentionally omitted) will bring you up to speed so that you can take it all in....

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