Organizations

[Colleen Murphy is the Roger and Stephany Joslin Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy and Political Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.] Ruti Teitel’s 2000 book, Transitional Justice,was and remains agenda-setting for scholars working in normative theory.  In this post I explain why and some of the ongoing debates whose origin can be traced to her work. Normative theories of justice specify what...

[Ruti Teitel is the Ernst C. Stiefel Professor of Comparative Law, New York Law School; and a Visiting Fellow, London School of Economics and the author of Transitional Justice (OUP, 2000).] As one enters the main building of Humboldt University in Berlin, one finds a famed quotation from Karl Marx, which has survived the post-Communist transition: “The philosophers have only interpreted...

This week we are hosting another great online symposium, this time on the 20th anniversary of Ruti Teitel's seminal book, Transitional Justice, (OUP, 2000). The book's abstract: At the century's end, societies all over the world are moving from authoritarian rule to democracy. At any such time of radical change, the question arises: should a society punish its ancien regime or let bygones by...

[Brian McGarry is Assistant Professor of Public International Law at Leiden University.] On 2 September, Canada and the Netherlands issued a Joint Statement indicating their intention to intervene in the ongoing ICJ proceedings instituted by The Gambia against Myanmar. The Joint Statement is ambiguous in regards to certain details which are key to understanding the intervention’s likelihood of success. While it remains to be seen whether the...

[Brian McGarry is Assistant Professor of Public International Law at Leiden University.] On 2 September, Canada and the Netherlands issued a Joint Statement indicating their intention to intervene in the ongoing ICJ proceedings instituted by The Gambia against Myanmar. The Joint Statement is ambiguous in regards to certain details which are key to understanding the intervention’s likelihood of success. While it remains to be seen whether...

[Richard Mackenzie-Gray Scott is a consultant at the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law.] Reading further might disappoint those interested in investor-state dispute settlement. I will not be analysing the minimum standard of treatment with which the ISDS aficionados are familiar. Instead, I offer some thoughts relating to a minimum standard of treatment in the context of labour practices, specifically those of entities within the international law community....

[Neela Ghoshal is a senior LBGT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.] People whose identities do not fit into a rigid female/male gender binary have, in many countries, been on a years-long quest to obtain official documents that reflect their identities by using a non-binary “X” marker in lieu of the typical “F” or “M.”   If you have never questioned your assigned gender, you may...

[Tanishk Goyal & Dhruv Gupta are students at The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata.] Introduction Of the multiple threats that climate change poses to the word order we live in, the rise in global sea level remains its most significant manifestation. While the rise in sea level has become a growing concern for States all over the world, its implications concern some States more than...

[Dhananjay Dhonchak is a student in law at The National Academy of Legal Studies And Research in Hyderabad, India.] Introduction The International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued guidelines in January 2020, expressly stating that gestures like kneeling would constitute a ‘protest’ within the meaning of rule 50 of the Olympic Charter (OC). The contentious rule 50 prohibits any ‘kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda’ at all Olympic venues...

The contributions in the symposium this past week have brought up multiple issues and perspectives, pointing to challenges in the quest for justice and accountability for the Rohingya, and the role of international law. Rather than go over what has been highlighted already, here are a few reflections, linked to the international legal developments and the wider context.  There is little...

[Laetitia van den Assum is a diplomatic expert who has served as Netherlands ambassador on four continents. She was also a member of the Rakhine Advisory Commission, chaired by the late Kofi Annan.] Myanmar’s reluctance to embrace its rich ethnic, religious and cultural diversity remains the biggest stumbling block towards peace, stability and development.  It stands in the way of other major challenges, particularly high inequality and an...