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25 Apr

Here’s your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa Zambia's government is trying to send hundreds of refugees back to camps after two people were burned to death in anti-immigration riots in the country's capital, Lusaka. Heavy fighting between a local militia and Ethiopian paramilitary militia known as the Liyu Police broke out in Galgadud region...

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20 Apr

President Obama has threatened to veto a bill pending in the U.S. Congress that would allow private plaintiffs to sue foreign sovereigns for committing (or abetting) terrorist attacks inside the territory of the United States.  The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act has broad bipartisan support in Congress and from all of the presidential candidates (including Hillary Clinton). It would add an...

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20 Apr

Russia scored a huge victory today when the Hague District Court in the Netherlands court set aside a $50 billion arbitral award in favor of former shareholders of Yukos.  The $50 billion Yukos award (that's BILLION, with a "B"),  is the largest arbitration award ever issued, was issued under the authority of the Energy Charter Treaty.  The arbitral tribunal (hosted at...

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18 Apr

We would be remiss here at Opinio Juris if we did not mark today's 70th anniversary of the opening of the International Court of Justice on 18 April 1946 at the Peace Palace in The Hague.  I have been fairly critical of the ICJ over the years. Way back in 2005, I complained about the ICJ's molasses-like deliberations.  (I also...

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18 Apr

Next month's issue of Foreign Affairs, a leading journal of highbrow foreign policy in the U.S., features an important article on the United States as "The Once and Future Superpower" (subscription).  Based on their forthcoming book, professors Steven Brooks and William Wohlforth of Dartmouth College argue that China is not going to displace the United States as the world's leading superpower...

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18 Apr

Here’s your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa The death toll from a raid carried out by South Sudanese gunmen in western Ethiopia has risen to 208 people and the assailants kidnapped 108 children, an Ethiopian official said on Sunday. The United Nations on Sunday condemned a government crackdown in Gambia that it said had...

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18 Apr

I had the pleasure about a week ago to discuss Syria with David Remnick for the New Yorker Radio Hour. Most of the questions, not surprisingly, focused on whether I thought there was any realistic prospect that Assad would face justice. (My answer: probably not.) The show went live a couple of days ago -- I was traveling and didn't...

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14 Apr

The Human Rights Advisory Panel has found UNMIK, the UN Mission in Kosovo, responsible for breach of a number of human rights provisions connected with lead poisoning of the Roma population following the 1999 conflict.   Under Section 2 of UNMIK Regulation No. 2006/12, t the Panel has jurisdiction over complaints relating to alleged violations of human rights   “that   had...

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11 Apr

Here’s your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa In Mozambique, despite improvements in education access, many rural children are still pressed into work to supplement family income. The Nigerian government denies reports of $50 million ransom from Boko Haram for release of Chibok girls. As revelations from the Panama papers rock the world of politics and...

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08 Apr

As readers no doubt know, on Tuesday the ICC's Trial Chamber declared a "mistrial" in the case against William Ruto and Joshua Arap Sang. The decision likely puts an end to the fiasco of the Ocampo Six -- now the "Ocampo Zero," to borrow Mark Kersten's nicely-turned expression -- although the Trial Chamber dismissed the charges "without prejudice," leaving the door open for the...

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08 Apr

[Matthew Sands is a Legal Advisor with the Geneva based NGO, Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) the full judgment on this case is available here.] In late January, the UK Supreme Court published its judgment in the case of Youssef. In 2005, Mr. Youssef had been suspected of involvement in terrorist-related activity, and Egypt had requested the UN sanctions committee...

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