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...
On paper, courts-martial are far more fair than military commissions -- the substantive law they apply is superior, and their rules of evidence and procedure are designed to protect defendants, not ensure convictions. Unfortunately, a recent McClatchy investigation indicates that literally hundreds of courts-martial might have relied on evidence that was unreliable and even fabricated by an unethical forensic scientist...
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...
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...
[Rachel Davis is Legal Advisor to the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Business and Human Rights] On March 24, the UN released a much-anticipated set of Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights. The Guiding Principles seek to provide for the first time an authoritative global standard for preventing and addressing the risk of adverse human rights impacts...
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...
The following is a guest post by Natalie Oman, an Assistant Professor of Legal Studies at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Canada. As the Libyan rebels' requests for an internationally-enforced no-fly zone have multiplied and regional support has coalesced among the Arab League, the GCC and some members of the African Union, public hand-wringing over the lack of...
As of March 19, 220 academics have signed the letter. (You can read the full list here.) Well done, colleagues! Bruce Ackerman (Yale) and Yochai Benkler (Harvard) are circulating the following letter protesting the inhumane conditions of Bradley Manning's detention and asking for law professor support. I have already signed, as have 103 other scholars. I encourage our academic readers to...
A class action complaint filed this week by Guatemalans has all the ingredients for a blockbuster case not unlike the syphilis experiments of Tuskegee, Alabama. Regardless of the outcome of the case, it is a public relations nightmare for the United States. As the complaint alleges, "It has been revealed that despite ...
Our friends at Lawfare have been having a typically intelligent debate about the meaning of the Obama administration's recent declaration that “The U.S. Government will...
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...
Our friends at Columbia Law School have asked us to announce a one-day conference celebrating the legacy of the late Louis Henkin. The conference will be held on March 28 in Jerome Green Hall: 4:00-5:00 pm A Commemoration of the Life and Legacy of Louis Henkin, JGH 104 Judge Rosemary Barkett, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Sarah...
