The President signed the NDAA today, and issued the following signing statement. Steve Vladeck and I will shortly post on the details of the bill -- what's bad about it; how it has been widely misconstrued to be much worse than it is, in fact; and how in at least one important respect it marks an important resolution of an...
In case the government's actions haven't yet convinced you of the fundamental unfairness of the commissions (such as making up war crimes), perhaps its decision to treat the attorney-client privilege as optional will do the trick: The new commander of the Guantanamo Bay prison wants a team of government and law enforcement officials to be allowed to review all ...
Our friends at Cambridge University have asked me to bring the following journal to readers' attention, which has been established by James Crawford: Cambridge Journal of International & Comparative Law is a newly established double-blind peer reviewed, open-access journal which aims to publish high-end legal scholarship. It has a broad focus on international and comparative law and a particular focus on...
France has turned down the ICTY's request that it detain and turn over a former ICTY spokeswoman who has been sentenced to a week in prison for contempt of that court. PARIS — France refused Monday to carry out an arrest mandate from the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal against a French journalist convicted of contempt for revealing confidential information about the...
Big things are afoot in Europe, especially as the United Kingdom inches further and further away from European institutions. The U.K.'s refusal to join the recent fiscal reform plan has gotten all the headlines, but I hadn't realized that the U.K. is also embroiled in an ongoing battle of wills with the European Court of Human Rights over that Court's order...
The OTP is seeking an arrest warrant for Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein, the Sudanese Defence Minister, in connection with a number of attacks on civilians in Darfur between August 2003 and March 2004. The request alleges that Hussein is responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the attacks, but does not include a genocide charge. According to Bill...
I am doubtful the ICJ will be able to ultimately settle this ongoing border dispute, but both countries seem to be relying on the ICJ to resolve this matter. Nicaragua filed an action Wednesday against Costa Rica, alleging: In its Application, Nicaragua claims inter alia that “Costa Rica’s unilateral actions . . . threaten to destroy the San Juan de Nicaragua...
Don't worry, I will not be linking to any and all reviews of my book. (Only the good ones.) I mention this review -- a review essay written by the distinguished scholar David Fraser at Nottingham (sub. req.) -- because it uses my book as a springboard to discuss a number of important historiographic issues concerning World War II scholarship...
A group of distinguished Nuremberg scholars, including myself (minus the distinguished part), have filed an amicus brief in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum on behalf of the petitioners. The brief argues that although the Nuremberg trials themselves did not involve the prosecution of juridical persons such as corporations, a wide variety of Allied actions outside of judicial fora indicate that...
What is fascinating about this lawsuit is the focus on getting the "legal advice" as opposed to simply information about the targeted killings policy. The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice charging that the government failed to release information under the Freedom of Information Act on records surrounding questions of the legality of targeted killing,...
I got a message from a journalist friend who needs urgent help with the following; if someone could put something into the comments to direct him, I'd be very grateful as I'm in a meeting at the moment where I'm not supposed to be doing this sort of thing online. He's looking for some kind of official source rather than...
The NYU Development Research Institute, led by Professor William Easterly, has published the first formal international development evaluation of that international aid program known as "Christmas." It is a disturbing report, to say the least. Some highlights: Lack of Efficient Modalities: The Christmas Gifts appeared to consist largely of in-kind aid. This contradicts abundant evidence of best practices emphasizing cash transfers...
