In association with the International Commission of Jurists

International Criminal Law

04 Apr

The Kenyan government has filed a 30-page motion with the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber II arguing that recent improvements to the Kenyan criminal-justice system render the cases against the Ocampo Six inadmissible.  Here are the highlights of the reforms, from the motion's introduction (para. 2): 2. The Government's Application must be determined with a full understanding of the fundamental and far-reaching constitutional...

|
04 Apr

It's amazing what not working for the government can do for one's ability to tell the truth.  As readers likely know, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley was forced to resign last month for the sin of accurately describing Bradley Manning's abusive conditions of confinement as "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid."  (For his part, the ever-credulous Obama dismissed the abuse allegations...

|
01 Apr

Critics of the Security Council's decision to refer the situation in Libya to the ICC normally argue that the referral denies Gaddafi the option of going into exile instead of fighting to the death.  That may or may not be true -- as I've noted previously, Max Boot's reliance on Charles Taylor's prosecution to make that argument fudges the actual...

|
30 Mar

I wanted to call readers' attention to an upcoming web seminar on Libya held by Harvard's Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research.  The Program's web seminars are always excellent, and this one -- which features Luis Moreno-Ocampo and Nicholas Burns -- shapes up to be superb.  Here are the details: On Tuesday, April 5, 2011, the Program on Humanitarian...

|
30 Mar

My colleague Anne Orford has a fascinating contribution today to the official blog of the London Review of Books questioning the universality of the supposedly universal international law that underlies the Security Council's authorization of military action in Libya.  Here is a taste: In 1954, Carl Schmitt bemoaned the destruction of European international law in the 20th century. According to...

|
23 Mar

In a post today at Commentary, Boot argues that Taylor's arrest after going into exile makes it more likely that Gaddafi will fight to the death instead of negotiating a gracious exit from power: Once upon a time, an autocrat could step down and live out his days securely in the south of France or some other plush locale. That...

|
16 Mar

Here it is: My thanks to all of our readers who provided me feedback on earlier covers.  Note that the dust jacket now provides a short description of Ben Shahn and the painting; particular thanks to readers who suggested the description!  I hope you can read the text on your screen....

|
11 Mar

With all the attention being paid to the situations in Libya and Kenya, the situation in Darfur has receded into the background.  (Par for the course, unfortunately, with Darfur.)  So it's worth noting that the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber I has confirmed charges against two Darfuri rebels alleged to have orchestrated a September 2007 attack that killed 12 African Union peacekeepers: On...

|
11 Mar

Today's headline in the Wall Street Journal: Threat of Trial Keeps Gadhafi Fighting. Yes, because if the Security Council hadn't referred the situation in Libya to the ICC, Gadhafi would clearly have transferred power to the rebels in an orderly and peaceful fashion by now. Oh, well.  I don't expect very much from the Wall Street Journal.  After all, in the very same...

|
08 Mar

On behalf of the organizers and the APCML, of which I am a part, I want to call readers' attention to the following conference: AFFECTIVE STATES OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE 20 ‐ 22 July 2011 Melbourne Law School Presented by Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law (APCML) and Institute for International Law and the Humanities (IILAH) Supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project Grant Convenors: Peter Rush...

|
03 Mar

The Tribunal de Grand Instance de Paris has issued its judgment in the unconscionable criminal-libel suit brought by Karine Calvo-Goller against NYU's Joseph Weiler.  Weiler, I am happy to report, prevailed on both of the key issues: lack of jurisdiction and whether the lawsuit had so little merit that Calvo-Goller's decision to file it was abuse of process.  In terms...

|