Where Gaddafi should be tried -- if and when he is captured -- has become quite the hot-button issue recently. Personally, I'm with David Kaye: he should be tried by the ICC, but the trial should be held in Libya. I'm also not opposed to Libya asserting its right under the ICC's complementarity regime to try Gaddafi domestically, although I'm...
The Globe & Mail has a blockbuster report today concerning China's willingness to supply weapons to Gaddafi's regime during the rebellion: China offered huge stockpiles of weapons to Colonel Moammar Gadhafi during the final months of his regime, according to papers that describe secret talks about shipments via Algeria and South Africa. Documents obtained by The Globe and Mail...
In her typically graceful and accessible style, Prof. Anne-Marie Slaughter has a series of posts at The Atlantic defending a redefinition of state sovereignty under international law (especially in the wake of Libya). A taste of her thoughts can be seen in this graph. So it is international law itself -- or rather the governments that bring it into being --...
That's the most disturbing line from another invaluable WikiLeaks cable about Israel and the Palestinians. As the cable makes clear, Israel is willing to use force -- of the non-lethal variety, fortunately -- to disrupt even completely peaceful protest against its policies: US government officials have been well aware of Israel's harsh methods of dealing with peaceful protests in the occupied...
A February 2010 cable from the US embassy in Tel Aviv to the State Department concerning a discussion with the IDF's Military Advocate General about the Palestinian Authority's request for the ICC to investigate Operation Cast Lead contains the following remarkable paragraph (emphasis added): Summary: IDF Military Advocate General Mandelblit updated the Ambassador on February 17 on the progress of investigations...
David Bernstein has a pointless "gotcha" post at Volokh Conspiracy today in which he argues that the Palmer Report somehow contradicts my claim that blockade is only permissible in international armed conflict (IAC), whether between states or between a state and an insurgent group recognized as a belligerent. Here it is in full: Kevin Jon Heller of University of Melbourne and...
As Julian noted earlier today, the UN's Palmer Committee has released its report on the Mavi Marmara incident, concluding that Israel's actions regarding the ship were were excessive and unreasonable, but that the blockade of Gaza itself is legal. I have questioned the legality of the blockade before, leading two readers to claim that the Palmer Committee's report contradicts my...
David Kaye has an interesting compromise proposal on what to do with Qaddafi. Some argue that the new Libyan government would be legally bound to transfer Colonel Qaddafi and his associates to The Hague. Others argue that the I.C.C. must defer to Libyan authorities if they are willing and able to try Colonel Qaddafi fairly in their own courts. A better...
Apropos of Kevin's post below criticizing China's new criminal procedure law amendments, it is worth noting that some Chinese legal scholars are defending the consistency of such laws with international treaties. China's draft amendment to the Criminal Procedure Law will further help protect human rights, and conforms rather than contradicts international conventions, legal experts in Beijing have said. The experts made the...
It's not every day that a state enacts a law that blatantly authorizes crimes against humanity, so I feel obligated to give a special shout-out to China, who intend to make the crime against humanity of enforced disappearance official government policy: Chinese police will gain new legal powers to detain suspects for up to six months without telling their families...
This legal opinion by Oxford prof Guy Goodwin-Gill has been drawing some attention in recent days. It argues that the planned campaign to establish a Palestinian state this fall at the United Nations has a number of policy and legal pitfalls that could work against the interests of most Palestinians. Here is an excerpt from an interview with Al-Jazeera: You tackle three...
The legality of NATO's action in Libya seems to me fairly straightforward. I understand that there are some quibbles about whether NATO exceeded its mandate under the UN Security Council Resolutions. But I don't think there is a very strong case, as a question of jus ad bellum. Then again, the hard left (in the form of Dennis Kucinich) and,...
