In association with the International Commission of Jurists

International Criminal Law

30 Apr

Of course, that means it's been a much better week for anyone who isn't so keen on the prospect of attacking Iran.  I'm not sure the nails are in Netanyahu's political coffin quite yet, but the carpenters are certainly gathering their supplies.  First up, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, Chief of Staff of the IDF, rejecting the notion that Iran is...

|
30 Apr

The blog, which has been uniformly excellent to date, is dedicated to exploring maritime piracy in all its dimensions.  Here is the description: Piracy is on the rise because of failed states and crushing poverty. A majority of modern pirate attacks originate in the Horn of Africa in Somalia although there is now a growing problem in the Gulf of Guinea. This...

|
26 Apr

At International Criminal Law Bureau, Kirsty Sutherland calls attention to a surprise moment during the Taylor verdict that has received, to the best of my knowledge, absolutely no attention from the media: In an unexpected turn of events, as Justice Lussick (Presiding), Justice Doherty and Justice Sebutinde rose to leave the courtroom after delivering the verdict, Justice Sow addressed the Court:  “The...

|
26 Apr

The Special Court for Sierra Leone has found Charles Taylor guilty on all counts, but only as an aider and abettor -- the judges have rejected the prosecution's allegations that he participated in a JCE to commit the crimes alleged in the indictment or that he had effective control over the RUF soldiers who committed the crimes (i.e, no ordering...

|
23 Apr

I am delighted to announce that over the next few days Opinio Juris will be hosting a symposium on what is increasingly called, following Tel Aviv University's Aeyal Gross, the "functional approach" to the law of occupation.  Here is the description that was sent to the contributors: Occupation law has undergone significant evolution in modern times, and cases such as Iraq...

|
22 Apr

In my previous post, I discussed the Registry's report of its visit with Saif Gaddafi in Libya, which was posted on the ICC website and then removed without explanation a few hours later.  It has come to my attention that the Office of Public Counsel for the Defence (OPCD) also prepared a report of that visit -- and that the...

|
21 Apr

So reports Radio Netherlands Worldwide.  The dispute, not surprisingly, involves Luis Moreno-Ocampo and Libya: This week the court’s public defender, Xavier-Jean Keita, accused chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo of siding with the Libyans and demanded he be removed from the case. In a court filing boiling with indignation, he accused Ocampo of making misleading statements during a visit to Tripoli this week...

|
21 Apr

I have uploaded a copy of the report, which was available for a couple of hours on the ICC website but then removed without explanation.  (It's marked public.)  Representatives of the Registry spent five days in Libya in late February and early March, so things could have changed significantly since that time.  Nevertheless, the report paints an interesting -- and...

|
20 Apr

[Michael A. Newton is Professor of the Practice of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School] The Kony 2012 campaign had the laudable goal of increasing public awareness in order to aid the search for justice and accountability in the wake of LRA atrocities. In fact, the worldwide attention had the paradoxical effect of demonstrating the lamentable reality that the optimal pathway towards...

|