In association with the International Commission of Jurists

International Criminal Law

14 Dec

Courtesy of Ben Wittes at Lawfare, responding to a question about whether he believes that, if America should be permitted to prosecute a non-American like Assange for disclosing American secrets, countries like France, China, or Iran should be able to prosecute Americans for disclosing their secrets (my emphasis): This, in turn, leads ineluctibly to Tom’s reciprocity point: If Congress can make...

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14 Dec

A coalition of 26 of Australia's most prominent journalists -- essentially, the editors of every major newspaper (with the exception of the right-wing The Australian) and the news directors of all the major networks -- have written a remarkable open letter to Julia Gillard criticizing the U.S. (and Australian) government's attacks on WikiLeaks and threats to prosecute Assange.  Here is...

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11 Dec

I don't quite mean that, of course.  The total number of "international" law faculty depends on so many different things at any given law school.  What I do mean is to follow on Kevin's post and ask, supposing you are trying to rationally plan out an international law faculty and curriculum, or more practically gradually shape into the future according...

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10 Dec

Jack Goldsmith and I don't agree with each other very often, so it's worth noting that we have essentially the same reaction to WikiLeaks.  From Lawfare today: I find myself agreeing with those who think Assange is being unduly vilified.  I certainly do not support or like his disclosure of secrets that harm U.S. national security or foreign...

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09 Dec

I hope to have more to say in the next few days about Judge Bates' completely predictable decision to dismiss the ACLU/CCR lawsuit.  I just want to flag here what is the most obvious problem with it.  Judge Bates claims -- clearly trying to insulate himself from criticism -- that Contrary to plaintiff’s assertion, in holding that the political question...

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07 Dec

He may be a horrible senator, but at least Joe Lieberman is (relatively) consistent: Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who has become one of the most vocal critics of Wikileaks, said today that while Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is definitely guilty of crimes, the New York Times may also have broken the law by posting some of those diplomatic cables. "To...

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07 Dec

The Swiss domain name registrar Switch announced today that it will not shut down Wikileaks.ch as a result of Wikileaks' criminal activity. It does so at its peril. The pharmaceutical industry has long faced the question of registrar liability for hosting illegal pharmaceutical drug websites. Legitscript.com, a pharmaceutical watchdog, has summarized the obligations of domain name registrars...

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04 Dec

The following is a guest post by Anna Dolidze, a JSD candidate at Cornell Law School. In 2007-08, Dolidze was
 an Albert Podell Global Scholar at Risk at New York University Law
 School and a Visiting Fellow at Columbia University's Harriman Institute.  She has worked for a number of international organizations, including for Save the Children, Russian...

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03 Dec

As one of WikiLeaks' defenders, I feel obligated to respond to Roger's post.  I have two major disagreements with it.  First, I think it significantly overstates the harm caused by WikiLeaks, although it would be equally erroneous to claim that WikiLeaks has caused no harm whatsoever.  Second -- and perhaps more important -- it completely ignores the the benefits of...

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02 Dec

The following is a guest-post by Steve Vladeck, Professor of Law at American University.  Our thanks to him for contributing it. The Espionage Act, the Documents/Information Distinction, and the Press I’ve been following (with great interest) the exchange between Roger, Kevin, and those who have commented on their posts concerning Julian Assange, the Espionage Act, and the broader question of...

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01 Dec

I had a colleague ask an interesting question, "If Julian Assange is indicted and detained in London, would the U.S.-U.K. extradition treaty authorize extradition to the United States?" There's not an easy answer. The U.S.-U.K. Extradition Treaty requires "double-criminality"--the offense must be punishable in both States. Not surprisingly, the United Kingdom imposes criminal penalties for disclosing state...

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