I have just now been forwarded a copy of the 2nd Circuit opinion released today in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum. I say "apparently" because I have hastily read it in the last couple of minutes; see also Julian's post above. But unless I am greatly mistaken, it is a blockbuster opinion on the basics of ATS litigation. However, the...
Ben Wittes has a post at Lawfare today discussing ways in which the Obama administration might be able to avoid litigating the ACLU/CCR lawsuit challenging Al-Aulaqi's targeting. One of his preferred responses is the "political question" doctrine; in his view, "enemy targeting" is a classic example of a political question with which the judiciary should not interfere. I would not be...
The conventional wisdom among many international law folks is that the U.S. has (wrongly) embraced American exceptionalism in world affairs, often to the detriment of compliance with international law. I don't disagree that American exceptionalism exists, but I think the main problem with the "exceptionalism" meme is the idea that the U.S. is unique in its "exceptionalist" philosophy. Other countries can,...
Gerald Steinberg, the head of right-wing propaganda outlet NGO Monitor, is not happy about George Soros' recent $100 million gift to Human Rights Watch: In accepting a huge grant from George Soros, Human Rights Watch has spurned the public advice (and warning) offered nearly a year ago by its founder Robert Bernstein. Rather than grapple with the serious...
I have received a significant amount of feedback on my previous post on apportioning responsibility for international violations and therefore I wanted to do a couple of follow up posts on the subject. As Judge Simma indicated in his Separate Opinion in the Oil Platforms case, there arguably is a general principle of international law that joint tortfeasors are...
Something that our European readers have already probably heard as it is one of the most viewed stories on the BBC website (but not so much here in the U.S.), the Basque separatist terrorist organization ETA has renounced (at least for now) the use of violence: Armed Basque separatist group Eta says it will not carry out "armed actions" in its campaign for...
I have no desire to have the final word with Ken. But I would like answers to two questions. First, where does Melzer or the ICRC say that armed conflict is a geographically-bounded concept, such that a participant in an armed conflict ceases to be targetable as soon as he leaves the battlefield? I cited pages in Melzer's book on targeted...
I have no idea why Ken posted his thoughts on the Washington Post editorial only at Volokh Conspiracy, but I wanted to respond to his post, because I think it is based on a critical misapprehension of the laws of war. Here are the relevant paragraphs (my emphasis): [G]oing to the geographic definition of war as a legal concept. This idea...
Ben Wittes calls attention today to a Washington Post editorial defending the targeted killing of American citizens like Al-Aulaqi: [W]hen a target is hiding in a lawless state or in one which refuses to cooperate in his apprehension, other alternatives must be considered, including targeted strikes. The decision to target an American must be a last resort, used...
Via BLDGBLOG and Pruned (1, 2), here are two suggestions that are not so much literal proposals but rather thought experiments, each meant to prod the viewer. (And a third one from me.) The first is one of the winners of SeaChange 2030+, an "ideas competition" sponsored by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects with the goal of addressing the effects of...
Julian noted a couple of days ago that the ACLU and Center for Constitutional Rights have challenged the Obama administration's "asserted authority to carry out ‘targeted killings’ of U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism far from any field of armed conflict.” The lawsuit claims, inter alia, that such killings violate the due-process rights of the targeted citizens. As Anthony Romero...
Last spring I spoke at a Pepperdine torts conference addressing the globalization of tort law. Lots of famous torts scholars in the room, including my former classmate at NYU, Harvard Professor Jonathan Goldberg. I was the only international law guy in the crowd, which actually worked to my advantage given the topic. I chose for my topic...
