Ever since my friends at Wronging Rights flagged the upcoming NBC series Crossing Lines, which is about an ICC police unit, I’ve been scouring the internet for more information about what will no doubt be an absolute train-wreck of a TV show. Tonight I found this:

Set in exotic locations around Europe, “Crossing Lines” follows a disgraced New York cop, played by William Fichtner, who finds redemption after joining an international police unit based at the Intl. Criminal Court in the Hague that investigates cross-border crimes and hunts down brutal criminals.

[snip]

“Fans of procedural crime shows will feel very much at home with this new team, but at the same time, the global setting will add a color and flavor to the show that will take audiences on a new and exciting ride.

“Crime has gone global like everything else in our lives and now there is a weekly procedural that dives into this world. At the end of the day, we’re all frightened and concerned about the same things and problems no longer tend to stay regionally contained for too long anymore.”

The series will tackle topical crimes and illicit global trades such as plutonium poisonings, serial killings, kidnappings, human trafficking and drug smuggling, added Bauer.

Where to begin? First, the ICC doesn’t have a police force, international or otherwise. (Perhaps the show should have been set in the OTP — which at least has investigators.) Second, international crimes do not have to be transnational. (Which is the whole point of genocide and crimes against humanity.) Third, the ICC does not have jurisdiction over poisonings (except in armed conflict), serial killing (unless its like Srebrenica), kidnappings (unless they’re like during the Dirty War), or drug smuggling (sorry, Trinidad & Tobago). Fourth, and finally, it will be a very chilly day in the bad place when the ICC investigates a crime committed in Europe.

Other than that, the show sounds completely accurate.

I’ve seen some strange reality TV in my time, but (mock) picking the next Palestinian head of state?

The hit show, called simply The President, has grown out of widespread frustration among Palestinians at their own moribund politics in the real world.

The current president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, remains in office four years after his mandate expired.

His party, Fatah, rules over the West Bank while in Gaza, Hamas, the Islamist movement labelled a terrorist organisation by many countries in the West, reigns – also years beyond the mandate it won in 2006.

The Palestinian assembly hasn’t met for many months. The roster of leaders hasn’t changed for decades.

Part Apprentice part X-Factor, viewers are gripped by a show in which they get to chose who should be their next president.

Enter Raed Othman, the director general of the Ma’an broadcast network.

“I thought of this programme because we have to show that the Palestinian people understand and want real democracy. We want elections – real elections. But if we cannot have them then we can do our own,” he said backstage during the filming of the latest episode of his show which has whittled 1,200 potential presidents to 16.

He added:  “There are a lot of people who say we don’t have leaders, so we need to prove to them that there are a lot of leaders in Palestine. We want to teach the people that democracy is possible whenever we want”.

Contestants are filmed taking on tasks – being an ambassador to a European country for a day, running a major corporation, taking questions from foreign and local journalists, even how to inspect guards of honour.

They are then put through the ringer by a panel of judges, among them leading politicians like Hannan Ashrawi, a former spokeswoman for the Arab League. Viewers combine votes sent in by text message with the judges’ marks in early rounds.

The winner doesn’t actually become President; he or she just gets a car. Then again, considering the sorry state of Palestinian politics, that’s probably a more desirable outcome.

With the publication by the Journal of Legal Education’s recent “Fiction Issue,” and the London Review of International Law announcing that they will include poetry with the goal of expanding and enriching the international legal conversation, I thought this poem was particularly timely. It is written by an anonymous friend for those who have suffered from human trafficking and for those who advocate on their behalf.

Cruel Window No More

Colored panes of glass, once collected,
Good and evil, gently refracted.

Purveyor of harm enters in,
muffled alarm, tragic din.

The deed is done, young soul plucked,
Life shattered, filthy muck.

Stained glass, broken body,
Nature’s law suspended.

Shards of life, colors bleed,
Love’s dance upended.

Corrupted inquisitor, shadow valley,
Rotten misery.

Timely advocate, verdant pasture,
Quenching remedy.

Shutters open, warm air,
Cleansing counsel, gentle care.

Broken glass reframed,
Child reborn, strengthened claim.

Colored pane restored,
Cruel window no more.

I’m sorry I didn’t discover it until he linked to me, but Derek Gregory — the Peter Wall Distinguished Professor and Professor of Geography at the University of British Columbia — has recently started a blog entitled Geographical Imaginations: War, Space, and Security. Gregory is one of the great political geographers of his or any generation; I can’t recommend the book from which the blog gets its name highly enough.  Fortunately, the blog promises to be just as good, with recent posts ranging from emergency cinema to the history of bombing to teaching the arts at military academies.

I’ve added Geographical Imaginations to my RSS reader.  You should, too!

I am very sad to report that the eminent British historian has passed away at 95.  He lived an amazing life, as recounted in the Guardian‘s lengthy obituary today.  Here is a snippet:

If Eric Hobsbawm had died 25 years ago, the obituaries would have described him as Britain’s most distinguished Marxist historian and would have left it more or less there. Yet by the time of his death at the age of 95, Hobsbawm had a achieved a unique position in the country’s intellectual life. In his later years Hobsbawm became arguably Britain’s most respected historian of any kind, recognised if not endorsed on the right as well as the left, and one of a tiny handful of historians of any era to enjoy genuine national and world renown.

Unlike some others, Hobsbawm achieved this wider recognition without in any major way revolting against either Marxism or Marx. In his 94th year he published How to Change the World, a vigorous defence of Marx’s continuing relevance in the aftermath of the banking collapse of 2008-10. What is more, he achieved his culminating reputation at a time when the socialist ideas and projects that animated so much of his writing for well over half a century were in historic disarray, and worse – as he himself was always unflinchingly aware.

In a profession notorious for microscopic preoccupations, few historians have ever commanded such a wide field in such detail or with such authority. To the last, Hobsbawm considered himself to be essentially a 19th-century historian, but his sense of that and other centuries was both unprecedentedly broad and unusually cosmopolitan.

I had the pleasure of taking European history with Hobsbawm when I was a graduate student at the New School for Social Research in the early 90s — when he was already in his 70s.  He was an amazing lecturer, a very nice person, and could drink his students under the table with ease.

I’ve been planning for some time to re-read Hobsbawm’s magisterial “Age” series: The Age of Revolution: 1789-1848 (1962); The Age of Capital: 1848-1875 (1975); The Age of Empire: 1875-1914 (1987); and The Age of Extremes: 1914-1991 (1994).  They are phenomenal books; I can’t recommend them highly enough.

He will be missed.

Last week, while I was participating in a conference, I received an email from Google with a puzzling subject line: “Subpoena Notice from Google (Internal Ref. No. 257121).”  I opened the email, assuming that it was some kind of sophisticated phishing attempt.  It wasn’t.  It was Google informing me — more than a little cryptically — that Chevron had subpoenaed my account information and that it intended to comply unless I filed a motion to quash.  Here is Google’s email, with only some identifying information redacted:

Hello,

Google has received a subpoena for information related to your Google account in a case entitled Chevron Corp. v. Steven Donziger, et al., United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 11 Civ. 0691 (LAK) (Internal Ref. No. 257121).

To comply with the law, unless you provide us with a copy of a motion to quash the subpoena (or other formal objection filed in court) via email at [Google email address] by 5pm Pacific Time on October 7, 2012, Google may provide responsive documents on this date.

For more information about the subpoena, you may wish to contact the party seeking this information at:

[Attorney name]
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
200 Park Ave
New York, New York 10166-0193
[Attorney phone number]

Google is not in a position to provide you with legal advice.

If you have other questions regarding the subpoena, we encourage you to contact your attorney.

Thank you,
Google Legal Support

My first reaction was shock.  As regular readers know, I have often criticized Chevron’s actions in Ecuador.  But I could not imagine why Chevron was subpoenaing my private information; the sum total of my interaction with Steven Donziger, the Ecuadorian plaintiffs’ lead attorney and the defendant in Chevron’s lawsuit, consisted of two emails, neither of which contained anything substantive.  What did Chevron think I had that would help them?  Or were they simply trying to intimidate me?

My second reaction was anger.  I am — obviously — a blogger.  I am also, as a blogger, a journalist.  I have sources who provide me with confidential information on a wide variety of issues; those sources could lose their jobs if their identities were ever revealed.  It infuriated me that Chevron would try to obtain my account information — and I was equally frustrated that Google apparently had no intention whatsoever of protecting my privacy.

There was never any doubt in my mind that I would resist the subpoena.  But this wasn’t my area of law, so I immediately wrote for advice to my friend and Guardian blogger Glenn Greenwald, who has passionately defended the rights of bloggers and journalists.  Glenn put me in touch with Ben Wizner, the Director of the ACLU’s fantastic Speech, Privacy & Technology Project. To my relief, the ACLU quickly agreed to help me…

Here’s a quick follow-up to my book announcement last week.  With OUP’s kind permission, I’ve posted the Introduction to the Oxford Guide to Treaties on SSRN.  So, for those looking for a more detailed explanation of the book, its goals, and its methodology, feel free to download it there. Here’s the abstract:

From trade relations to greenhouse gasses, from shipwrecks to cybercrime, treaties structure the rights and obligations of states, international organizations, and individuals. For centuries, treaties have regulated relations among nation states. Today, they are the dominant source of international law. Thus, being adept with treaties and international agreements is an indispensable skill for anyone engaged in international relations, including international lawyers, diplomats, international organization officials, and representatives of non-governmental organizations.

This Introduction introduces readers to the Oxford Guide to Treaties, a volume that seeks to provide a comprehensive review of the rules and practices surrounding the making, interpretation, and operation of these instruments. Leading experts provide essays designed to introduce the law of treaties and offer practical insights into how treaties actually work. Foundational issues are covered, including what treaties are and when they should be used, alongside detailed analyses of treaty formation, application, interpretation, and exit. Special issues associated with treaties involving the European Union and other international organizations are also addressed. These scholarly treatments are complimented by a set of model treaty clauses. Real examples illustrate the approaches treaty-makers can take on topics such as entry into force, languages, reservations, and amendments. The Oxford Guide to Treaties thus provides an authoritative reference point for anyone involved in the creation or interpretation of treaties or other forms of international agreement.

I had a good day yesterday. I received a package in the mail from Oxford containing copies of my book – The Oxford Guide to Treaties. It represents the culmination of a three year effort on my part to compile a comprehensive and current guide to treaty law and practice.  To do this, I started with a fairly simple premise — in this age of specialization, why not ask the world’s leading experts on various issues of treaty law and practice to write about their particular areas of expertise and edit those contributions together in a way that covers the entire field.  With these academic explanations as a starting point, I then sought to build a set of sample treaty clauses — examples of how existing treaty texts have addressed the manifold issues associated with constructing what has now become the dominant form of international cooperation.  I’ll admit the effort proved quite a bit more daunting and rigorous that I had imagined at the outset.  But, looking at it last night, I’m feeling truly thrilled with the results.

The truth is, moreover, I couldn’t have done this book without a lot of help — the OUP staff was phenomenal (not to mention patient) with my sundry questions and suggestions.  And, of course, this project wouldn’t exist without all my fellow contributors.  They were universally thoughtful and committed to the idea of laying out the state of play in their respective areas, including existing doctrines, disagreements, and areas where progressive development may be warranted.  I could fill a whole blog post (and may yet still) acknowledging what each of the twenty-seven contributors brought to the table and how grateful I am to each of them.  For now though let me single out David Bederman who authored his chapter in what he knew to be the final months of his life.  That sort of effort leaves me speechless.

I hope to blog more about the book in the coming months. But, for those readers interested in purchasing it –  you can do so today in Europe. U.S. readers can order it now as well, although I understand U.S. copies won’t be published till mid-October. In the meantime, for those interested in knowing more about the book, the final table of contents follows after the jump.

[UPDATE:  OUP tells me that the book will be out next week in the US for American readers interested in getting a copy, not mid-October as I originally suggested].

It’s been a slow blogging week, so I think I can get away with a completely self-serving post about the awesomeness of Melbourne.  And yes, Melbourne is awesome.  The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Livability Survey says so — again:

1. Melbourne
2. Vienna
3. Vancouver
4. Toronto
5. Calgary
5. Adelaide
7. Sydney
8. Helsinki
9. Perth
10. Auckland

The survey assesses 140 cities on factors in five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.  Melbourne received a perfect score on infrastructure, healthcare and education.

Perhaps this is a good time to mention that my law school is currently advertising two entry-level positions, though at least one of the people we hire will need to teach business law.  Applications close in a week — August 22nd.

According to research conducted by Jay Brown of theRacetotheBottom.org, blogs have been cited in “law reviews, journals, and other legal publications” more than 6300 times — a nearly fourteen-fold increase since 2006.  Here are the 10 most-cited faculty law blogs:

1. Volokh Conspiracy — 742 cites
2. Balkinization — 426 cites
3. Patently O — 393 cites
4. Concurring Opinions — 279 cites
5. Sentencing Law and Policy — 272 cites
6. Prawfs Blawg — 219 cites
7. Opinio Juris — 200 cites
8. Lessig Blog — 178 cites
9. Harvard Forum on Corp. Gov. — 178 cites
10. Conglomerate — 171 cites

Brown also notes that the list has remained remarkably stable over time, with seven of the 10 being among the 10 most-cited law blogs in 2007.  We are actually one of the three newcomers, which is great news.

Thanks to all the scholars out there who have cited us!

Our own Chris Borgen recently did an interview about Opinio Juris on a New York City Cable Show, Today’s Verdict.  You can watch it here.  Chris talks about the origins of the blog, past successes and our more recent work (mostly for an audience unlikely to know much about international law).  To top it all off, Chris looks great on TV. Good job Chris!

Dear readers, I need your advice.  I was recently asked by a good journal to peer review a short essay about international criminal law.  The essay was quite good, and I would have had no qualms about recommending its publication, but I had the strangest sense of deja vu as I read it.  It didn’t take me long to realize why: the author had published a version of the article as a blog post on a major international-law blog — one of which he/she is not a member.  That would not necessarily have been a deal-breaker for me, but the blog post reproduced verbatim nearly 80% of the article’s text — basically, it was the article, minus the footnotes.  As a result, I informed the journal that although the article was very good, I could not recommend publishing it.  I also suggested that, if they were not bothered by the duplication, they should ask another reviewer to take a look at the article.  I think that was the right decision, especially as the journal did not indicate to me that it was aware the article had previously been published on a blog.  But I still feel a bit conflicted — the author is not a professor and is not necessarily aware of publishing conventions.  I would love to hear from others about what they would have done in my situation.

UPDATE: In response to Alec’s comment below, I have updated the post to make clear that this was not a self-posted entry; the author submitted the post to the blog in question and the blog agreed to publish it.  If that affects anyone’s opinion, please let me know in the comments.