I want to take a break from Libya to call readers' attention to an excellent essay by Marjolein Cupido, a PhD student at VU Amsterdam, that recently appeared in Criminal Law Forum. Many ICL scholars focus on the rhetoric of judging at the level of law -- how judges construct and narrate the law that applies in a particular case. ...
Now that Taylor is finally free, we can turn our attention again to the ongoing saga of who is going to prosecute Saif Gaddafi -- Libya or the ICC. A recent article in the Independent indicates that the correct answer may well be "neither": Ms Taylor said she was “very happy” to be able to return to her family. The proceedings...
I have to admit, I've been very surprised by the negative reactions I've received concerning my belief that the ICC should not have expressed regret or apologized to Libya for Melinda Taylor's (alleged) misconduct. It seems that most people -- or at least most of the people who have emailed me -- think that the Court should have done anything...
In my previous post, I noted that Libya's representative to the ICC unequivocally acknowledged that Libyan courts could not prosecute Taylor for the alleged misconduct that led to her detention. Apparently, not all Libyan officials are on the same page; witness what a "senior member of the Libyan attorney-general's office" told the BBC earlier today about Taylor and the others: "They...
Courtesy of Christopher Libertino, my favorite film composer (and former college roommate), I want to point out that a recent post by James Daily on Subculture for the Cultured is about the international law ramifications of the actions of the superhero Daredevil in his current story arc. Daily is an attorney and a research associate at the Hoover Institution's Project on Commercializing Innovation....
The Australian media is reporting that Melinda Taylor is heading home, having being illegally detained by the Libyan government for 25 days. That is fantastic news -- and for Taylor and her family, it does not matter why she is free. Institutionally, however, the reason for her release matters a great deal. So it is very important to note that,...
In case you missed it, I want to call your attention to an excellent editorial on the ICC written by friend-of-OJ John Bellinger III. Although John does not support US ratification of the Rome Statute, he argues that the ten-year history of the Court has done much to allay US concerns about it -- and that US opposition to the...
An excellent new report by the Guardian contains a number of interesting tidbits. To begin with, the report confirms that Taylor -- like her erstwhile client -- is being held by the Zintan rebels, not by the Libyan government, and that the relationship between the two is strained: Even if the NTC decides to release Melinda Taylor, it will face the...
I obviously disagreed with the ICC's decision to issue the non-apology apology, but I sincerely hoped that it would at least lead to Taylor's release. Unfortunately, Libya has given no indication that, having suitably humiliated both the Court and Bob Carr, it has any intention of releasing her: Carr said Friday’s talks in the Hague between the ICC and Libyan authorities...
I have often chided David Bernstein for his misrepresentation of the work done by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, so it is only fair to call out progressives when they, too, distort that work. Political Animal, which is associated with the Washington Monthly, is one of my favorite progressive blogs. But a recent post by Kathleen Geier that claims...
As Mark Kersten has already ably discussed at Justice in Conflict, the ICC released a statement yesterday regarding Melinda Taylor's detention. Ironically, although I think everything about the statement is profoundly devastating to the Court's credibility, I am actually slightly less bothered than Mark by the "regret" section of the statement: The ICC deeply regrets any events that may have given...
[This guest post is from Jonathan Hafetz, Associate Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law. He has also represented several Guantanamo detainees.] The Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari last week in seven Guantanamo detainee cases marks the end of an important chapter in the post-9/11 habeas corpus litigation. It leaves in place the D.C. Circuit’s narrow construction of the constitutional...
