This excellent book is remarkable for its wide and deep use of work from international relations literature, bridging the disciplines of international law and international relations as few have done previously. There is a significant body of writing in international law where the ideas from particular theoretical traditions in broader scholarship, sometimes the ideas of individual scholars, are brought to...
I have posted a substantially revised version of my essay "A Sentence-Based Theory of Complementarity" on SSRN. The essay is appearing in two different forms. The long version (23,000 words) -- the one I've posted -- is forthcoming in Volume 53 of the Harvard International Law Journal. The short version (7,000 words), which focuses on the new theory of complementarity...
In the wake of U.S. Supreme Court’s cert grant in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, the Ninth Circuit has issued its second en banc opinion in Sarei v. Rio Tinto, which it had earlier tried to avoid by referring the case to mediation. No wonder: yesterday’s opinion, which addressed multiple issues raised by the parties and at least...
I'm delighted to have been asked to participate in this discussion of Ruti Teitel’s Humanity’s Law. Let me start by simply saying what a great read this book is. Congratulations to Ruti on a book that really does shift our thinking about the base lines of international law, challenge conventional notions of a state-centric international legal system, and help make...
Eugene Volokh comments on reports that the EU is considering legal bans on statements by rating agencies in some circumstances of countries engaged in re-negotiation of their sovereign debt. He quotes Spiegel Online regarding comments and a draft law report by the EU internal market commissioner: In an internal draft of a reform to an EU law applying to ratings agencies...
As Roger has pointed out, the Ninth Circuit has just released a blockbuster ATS decision in the Rio Tinto case. There is a great deal to like in the decision, particularly concerning the liability of corporations under the ATS, but it's regrettable that the majority refused to address the knowledge/intent "debate" concerning the mens rea of aid and abetting under...
Donald "Trey" Childress has the scoop: Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a mammoth en banc opinion in the case of Sarei v. Rio Tinto. All 166 pages of the court’s splintered analysis deserves careful consideration. Here is a short review of the court’s conclusions. First, the Ninth Circuit holds that the Alien Tort...
So thanks for the opportunity to exchange on my new book Humanity's Law. I have been following the relationship of law to post conflict and political transition for many years now. The puzzle that occasioned this book was the apparently expanding role of law in periods of conflict, and the way the law at issue departed from traditional international law...
We’re pleased this week to host a discussion of Ruti Teitel's new book, Humanity's Law, just out from Oxford University Press. Ruti is Ernst C. Stiefel Professor of Comparative Law at New York Law School, where she directs the Institute for Global Law, Justice, & Policy. She is also Visiting Professor, London School of Economics. The book is a major contribution...
The eurozone is on the verge of meltdown, taking whole economies and banking systems with it, and spreading to the US through the systemic interwiring of the international financial system. Or not. European meetings to avert disaster are coming unglued and the moment when the markets simply stop turning over debt and re-lending is finally at hand, with a tipping...
Opinio Juris learns with sadness of the passing of Judge Antonio Cassese, one of the pioneers of international criminal justice, following a long battle with cancer. If you like, leave any remembrances or tributes in the comments. For my part, I remember Judge Cassese most from the 1980s, at various international humanitarian law meetings, and then particularly around the time...
On Thursday evening I was on a panel at International Law Weekend on the evolving nature of sovereignty. Sean Murphy gave a presentation on how social networking technology may affect sovereignty, but also how "Twitter revolution" claims have been overblown. As it turns out, we are a few days away from a whole conference on this question, sponsored by (among...
