In association with the International Commission of Jurists

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21 Aug

DARPA will be making a grant award this fall to some organization to address interstellar space flight: In what is perhaps the ultimate startup opportunity, Darpa, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, plans to award some lucky, ambitious and star-struck organization roughly $500,000 in seed money to begin studying what it would take — organizationally, technically, sociologically and ethically — to send...

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21 Aug

CNN is reporting that Libyan rebels have arrested Saif Gaddafi, Muammar's second-eldest son long thought to be his most likely successor. Saif is one of the three suspects for whom the ICC has issued arrest warrants; the allegations include persecution and murder as crimes against humanity.  And it appears that the OTP is already in negotiations with the rebels to...

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21 Aug

Our friends at the Cornell International Law Journal have asked me to post the following call for papers.  The conference looks great; I'm disappointed that it starts the last day of my summer teaching obligations. The Cornell International Law Journal is pleased to announce its 2012 symposium, Forces Without Borders: Non-State Actors in a Changing Middle East, February 17th–18th, 2012 at...

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21 Aug

David Bosco has an essay at Foreign Policy arguing that the current financial and security crises, rather than weakening international intitutions, are strengthening them.  In short, there are so few options, that leaders are turning to international organizations and relying on them. But there may also be a more fundamental shift that is occurring in international economic policymaking: ...

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19 Aug

Well, at least it is in Michelle Bachmann's world: I would say it's a unified message. It really is about jobs and the economy. That doesn't mean people haven't [sic] forgotten about protecting life and marriage and the sanctity of the family. People are very concerned about that as well. But what people recognize is...

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19 Aug

After 200 years of quiescence, Piracy has re-emerged as a major problem for world shipping.  A recent report has documented that Piracy has resulted in more than $12 billion in losses in the past twelve months alone.  According to an August 11, 2011 article in the Guardian, Piracy is also significantly hampering food aid to drought-stricken Somalia, resulting in thousands of deaths.  Somali...

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19 Aug

Let me respond to Kevin’s thoughtful post and discuss an opportunity for judicial review of an (implicit or explicit) elected branch assertion of the existence of an armed conflict.  (After all, I promised Raha an example that I have not yet provided.) In my opinion, Hamdan is not an example of such judicial review.  The Bush administration did not argue that...

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19 Aug

Apologies for the non-existent blogging of late -- a few weeks ago a car knocked me off my bike, breaking a small bone in my forearm and badly bruising my ribs.  I didn't need surgery or even a cast, fortunately, but I haven't been able to type more than a short email until the past few days.  This is probably...

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18 Aug

In response to my last post, Raha Wala asked a wonderfully difficult question.  I have argued below, as well as here and here, that judicial review of executive war measures against U.S. citizens in armed conflict is not only permissible but may even be constitutionally compelled (in cases meeting other prerequisites to the exercise of judicial power).  Raha asked whether I believed...

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17 Aug

It is a great pleasure to be invited to be a guest blogger on Opinio Juris for the next few weeks. Please stay tuned for my upcoming blogs about Somali piracy and the Hosni Mubarak trial later in the week. For my first blog, I want to weigh in on the provocative question of whether the UN Security Council should consider...

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16 Aug

As well as John Dehn, whom Peggy has previously welcomed, we would like to welcome Michael Scharf to guest blogging with us for the next couple of weeks. Mike is probably well-known to many of our readers, especially those with an interest in international criminal law. He is the John Deaver Drinko-Baker & Hosftetler Professor of Law and director of...

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16 Aug

I’d like to call attention to comments by Ben Wittes over at Lawfare regarding two recent New York Times editorials.  Both editorials essentially deal with issues of accountability in armed conflict.  One voiced (understandable) skepticism regarding government claims that the CIA’s drone programs have caused no civilian deaths in the past year or so.  The other commented on a Seventh...

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