In association with the International Commission of Jurists

International Criminal Law

24 Nov

Thanks to Opinio Juris for hosting this symposium. I read the blog regularly so know to expect a lively and interesting discussion.   My article addresses the international legal rules for detaining “non-battlefield terrorism suspects”—i.e., suspected terrorists not captured on a conventional battlefield or in the theater of combat. Despite the extensive literature on the rules that govern the “war on terror,”...

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23 Nov

The Yale Journal of International Law (YJIL), one of the world’s leading journals of international and comparative law, is pleased to continue its partnership with Opinio Juris in this second online symposium.  This week, we will be featuring two Articles published by YJIL in Vol. 33-2, both of which are available here.  Thank you to Peggy McGuinness and the other...

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21 Nov

The Institute for War & Peace Reporting has an interesting report today on the Ugandan government's efforts to prosecute Kony and other LRA members in a special domestic court.  According to the IWPR's report, the problem is not the lack of political will, but the potential retroactivity of the legislation necessary to make the Rome Statute's core crimes -- war...

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21 Nov

Anyone who still doubts that the ICC's pursuit of Bashir is unnerving the Sudanese government should take a gander at this article: An interview with published by Sudan official news agency (SUNA) with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband yesterday is fabricated, according to a statement by the British embassy in Khartoum. “The statements that SUNA news agency attributed to the Foreign Secretary...

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19 Nov

Salon.com has an article today about the Obama administration and torture that floats the horrifying possibility -- all too real, I'm sure -- that Bush will issue a blanket pardon for "anyone who participated in, had knowledge of, or received information about Bush's interrogation program during the so-called war on terror."  I'm not going to waste precious pixels responding to...

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18 Nov

The AP is reporting that the Trial Chamber lifted the stay "after the prosecution agreed to let judges review confidential material it received from the United Nations."  No additional information is available yet; it will be interesting to see what the Chamber does about the documents that are still protected by confidentiality agreements -- an issue I discussed here. UPDATE: According...

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17 Nov

US Navy vessel confronts Somali pirates, 2006.  Photo credit Chief Petty Officer Kenneth Anderson, USN, open access DOD (no, not me, but we Ken Andersons really get around). Somali pirates strike again, this time hijacking a Saudi-owned tanker off the coast of Kenya. The running stand off with the hijacked ship carrying arms and a Ukrainian crew continues; Russia announces that...

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16 Nov

John has kindly agreed to let me post his private response to my previous post about his speech at the Fletcher School.  Before I do, though, I want to reiterate how important it is to not let the US's refusal to join the ICC blind us to the many significant contributions the US has made, and continues to make, to...

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15 Nov

The State Department has posted John Bellinger's recent speech at the Fletcher School on international criminal justice.  It is well worth a read, because it quite rightly highlights the US's many important contributions -- past and present -- to international criminal justice.  That said, the speech regrettably dusts off all of the US's tired objections to the ICC: not giving...

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15 Nov

As most readers likely know, Germany recently arrested Rose Kabuye, the President of Rwanda's chief of protocol, on behalf of France, who intends to prosecute her for being involved in shooting down then-President Juvenal Habayarimana's plane, the event that triggered the Hutu-led 1994 genocide.  It appears that Kabuye actually wants to be prosecuted, because it will give her -- and...

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14 Nov

I have often argued that suspending the ICC's investigation of Bashir in the name of "peace" would be a mistake, because Bashir has taken peace seriously only when faced with the prospect of significant international sanctions. Today Michelle F. at Stop Genocide makes that argument far better than I ever could.  Here is a taste: Yes, we are talking about millions...

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13 Nov

[caption id="attachment_5503" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Malé, Maldives"][/caption] This week's news out of the Maldives is the sort of story that makes international lawyers salivate. It has something for everyone, bringing together issues of democracy, transitional justice, climate change, the law of the sea, not to mention good, old-fashioned sovereignty.  On Tuesday, Mohamed Nasheed was sworn in as the archipelago's new President, ending...

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