A Japanese court yesterday dismissed a lawsuit filed against Japan by eight Chinese women who were forced to be "comfort women" for Japanese troops during WW II. The decision acknowledged that the troops had confined, beat, and raped the women, but denied them compensation on the ground that the 20-year period for demanding such compensation had expired. Seven other...
A federal judge in Argentina has overturned a presidential pardon given to Jorge Rafael Videla, one of the leaders of the junta that led Argentina during the Dirty War. Videla was convicted in 1985 on charges of abduction, torture, and murder, but was pardoned by former President Menem in 1990. Last year, Argentina's Supreme Court overturned amnesty laws protecting...
I wanted to say just a few words about Julian’s comment below to the effect that both sides are taking cheap shots in the debate over terrorism. I agree that some criticism of the Administration and its policies goes over the line - see the examples collected in this Boston Globe column by Jeff Jacoby. I also agree...
Where were you that morning? I was in Geneva. I was working with Charles Brower and Pieter Bekker on a hearing before the United Nations Compensation Commission. Across the table from us were nine Iraqis arguing that Iraq should not be required to pay compensation for the millions our client spent protecting their employees from Iraqi missiles...
Readers of Opinio Juris have a rare chance to determine who is a more reliable Washington pundit: Steve Clemons of the Washington Note or Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard. As Kevin points out below, Clemons is reporting that Bolton's nomination is "dead." At the same time, Fred Barnes has devoted a full cover story in the Weekly...
Breaking news: Chile's Supreme Court has upheld a lower court decision that stripped Pinochet of his immunity in a case involving Chile's infamous Villa Grimaldi prison, paving the way for him to face dozens of charges of torture and kidnapping. Here is Wikipedia's description of Villa Grimaldi:Villa Grimaldi was a complex of buildings used for the interrogation and torture...
One of my favorite legal journalists Dahlia Lithwick has a very fairminded review in Slate of Judge Richard Posner's recent book Not a Suicide Pact: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency. According to Lithwick, Posner's book argues that, "broader government surveillance powers, computerized data-mining, zealous deterrence of media leaks, and even 'coercive interrogation up to and including...
Regardless of whether we support or oppose the Castro's regime, I think we should all be able to agree that paying journalists to shill the Bush administration's line is not the brightest idea:At least 10 Florida journalists received regular payments from a U.S. government program aimed at undermining the Cuban government of Fidel Castro, The Miami Herald reported on Friday. Total payments...
According to the well-connected Steve Clemons at the Washington Note:Several well-placed sources close to the Bolton nomination process have reported to me that the Bolton confirmation process is now dead. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is "highly unlikely" to reconsider Bolton's confirmation again as things now stand. One insider reported, as far as the Committee is concerned, "we consider the confirmation over....
I’m teaching my favorite class--International Law--again this fall. As usual, I’m also trying to find ways to fit a few new, important cases into my coverage (e.g., Sanchez-Llamas, Hamdan). Meanwhile, I see that Prawfsblawg has started an admirable “research canons” series to give young academics the research tools they need to do scholarship in particular areas (look for...
Okay, not exactly a headline that makes you want to click through on a Friday afternoon. As part of its "food issue" (don't expect recipes for blondies or table-setting ideas), The Nation has this piece on the right to food. I was expecting something from the bad old days of international law during which IL proponents thought it...
Professor Peter Rutledge of the law school at Catholic University files this account of yesterday's oral argument in the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. considering the constitutionality of certain parts of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement). I've blogged about this on a number of occasions (see related posts below) The following is his very useful analysis: For...
