In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Recent Posts

06 Sep

The creation of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) was one of the few tangible outcomes of the 2005 World Summit UN Reform process. The PBC was formed to "advise and propose integrated strategies for post-conflict recovery, focusing attention on reconstruction, institution-building and sustainable development, in countries emerging from conflict." To date, the Peacebuilding Commission has taken on two cases:...

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05 Sep

BBC reports: A US judge has temporarily blocked the extradition to France of ex-Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega to allow his defence to present a new appeal. The judge told the lawyers to present on Thursday evidence to support their claim that France would not abide by a key part of the Geneva Conventions. I think the dispute here is over whether...

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05 Sep

Peru's got bigger issues to deal with these days, like recovering from an enormous earthquake. But the government there is still determined to pursue its territorial sea dispute with Chile by bringing a case to the ICJ. (By the way, this would make it the first new case for the ICJ this year). Additionally, its minister of foreign affairs...

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04 Sep

Those interested in a European perspective on public international law and EU law, may want to check out International Law Observer, a (relatively) new blog, with contributors from a number of Northern European law programs. For a sample, check out this post about the new EU identity. Hat Tip: Jacob Cogan at International Law Reporter. ...

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04 Sep

Great article in the New York Times profiling Harvard Law professor Jack Goldsmith. His book the Terror Presidency is out later this month should be a bestseller on the Foreign Affairs bestsellers list. The article has some juicy excerpts of Goldsmith's confrontations with David Addington. Knowing Jack Goldsmith quite well, I have every reason to believe his...

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04 Sep

Microcredit - providing small loans to individuals who would not normally qualify - is becoming tool of some consequence in economic reconstruction and disaster relief programs. The UN declared 2005 the year of micro-credit, and in 2006 Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen micro-credit Bank he created won the Nobel Peace Prize. Recent reports such as this...

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04 Sep

Former NY governor and perennial presidential hopeful Mario Cuomo has a confusing and muddled editorial in the LA Times yesterdayclaiming that President Bush lacked the constitutional authority to start the war in Iraq, or to continue it. The war happened because when Bush first indicated his intention to go to war against Iraq, Congress refused to insist on enforcement...

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04 Sep

A federal district court in Washington D.C. last week rendered a decision against Iran and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security for a terrorist bombing in Jerusalem that killed Marla Bennett. Details about the July 2002 terrorist attack on Hebrew University that killed nine are available at this moving victims memorial website. In Bennett v. Iran, Marla...

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03 Sep

Argentine protesters have marched into Uruguay to protest the construction of a pulp mill that they believe will pollute downriver Argentina. As this dispute heats up, it seems more and more likely that litigation at the ICJ is not going to provide a solution, and that litigation at the ICJ is almost never preferable to bilateral arbitration in these...

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01 Sep

Given all the bad press that international peacekeepers have been getting -- justifiably -- this is a welcome change:The United Nations all-female Indian police unit in Liberia, the first such unit deployed in peacekeeping missions, not only demonstrates gender equality but also serves as an encouragement for Liberian women to become police officers themselves, the top UN envoy to the...

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01 Sep

Jeremy Rabkin, a long time critic of contemporary international law and institutions, has a more detailed and persuasive attack on the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea in this week's Weekly Standard than his previous joint op-ed with Jack Goldsmith some weeks back. As the U.S. Senate gears up for ratification hearings, Rabkin's voice will no doubt...

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31 Aug

The Security Council held an open debate on Conflict Prevention in Africa this week (following up on the implementation of Resolution 1625 (2005)) on the same subject. The debate was notable in substance because of its emphasis on the Council’s role in conflict prevention. The Security Council is the UN’s primary organ with jurisdiction over threats to international...

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