In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Regions

15 Mar

The general consensus among comments to my post last week on the previously-unacknowledged U.S.-Japanese security agreements was "no big deal."  These pacts reinforce an already well-developed practice of states doing deals--whether legally binding or political commitments--without U.N. registration or public disclosure.  Similarly, they reinforce existing views of Executive authority to conclude sole-executive agreements on defense-related matters for the United States.  So, if everyone's OK with such...

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11 Mar

It is always unpleasant to get lectured by foreign governments about "violating international law", but this is something U.S. government officials should be used to.  Still, it must be galling for the new U.S. administration to be lectured by Brazil's president over U.S. non-compliance with a WTO ruling on cotton subsidies. The United States must comply with a World Trade Organization...

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10 Mar

Yesterday, the Japanese Government (now led by the Democratic Party after nearly five-plus decades of rule by the Liberal Democratic Party) confirmed that in the 1960s Japan and the United States entered into a series of secret defense pacts.  Specifically, a committee of scholars has identified various tacit agreements allowing U.S. warships to carry nuclear weapons into Japanese ports, granting unrestricted use of...

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08 Mar

As I have noted earlier, there is a pitched battle between victims of Pan Am 73 terrorist hijacking over the distribution of treaty funds secured by the United States for American victims in a 2008 diplomatic settlement with Libya. The treaty and Executive Order stipulate that the money shall be distributed solely for the benefit of United States nationals,...

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06 Mar

That's a bit of an overstatement, but this review of Michael Byers' latest book: Who Owns the Arctic: Understanding Sovereignty Disputes in the North, reminds me of the surprising legal positions taken by Russia, Canada, and the United States over the legal status of the Northwest Passage. It is ironic that while Russia supports Canada's claim to the Northwest Passage, the...

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05 Mar

As Opinio Juris readers know, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday in the case of Samantar v. Yousuf (briefs and transcript available here), which asks the Court to interpret the 1976 Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Commentators, including OJ’s own Julian Ku, have reported that the Justices seemed “unconvinced by all sides” (Julian’s words) and that none of the...

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04 Mar

Two different but interesting views of Australia's threat to bring Japan to the ICJ over whaling. Over at The Jurist, Don Rothwell of Australian National University provides some background and legal context for Australia's lawsuit. As I understand it, Australia could claim that Japan is actually violating Australia's 200 mile exclusive economic zone (assuming certain Australian Antarctic claims were accepted).  But...

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