My French is pretty rusty, but I think that is the upshot of this decision from the Conseil Constitutionnel, France's highest body for reviewing questions under the French Constitution. As Maggie Gallagher, a leading opponent of same-sex marriage in the U.S. notes, this decision (along with a similar decision by the European Court of Human Rights) could be important in...
The State Department this week released the 2009 volume of its Digest on U.S. Practice in International Law. Kudos to Elizabeth Wilcox for continuing the long tradition of making these sorts of materials publicly available; as I've noted previously, I find the whole Digest project--from Moore's seminal series to the current annual volumes--to be an invaluable resource in doing international law...
The U.N. Security Council heard a proposal yesterday for the establishment of special courts in Somalia and Tanzania to try suspected pirates. 25 January 2011 – The United Nations special envoy on maritime piracy off the coast of Somalia today proposed the setting up of two special courts inside the country and one in Tanzania to try suspected pirates, saying the...
The Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law is pleased to hold the International Law Association (ILA) Asia-Pacific Regional Conference from May 29 to June 1, 2011 at the Grand Formosa Regent Taipei, a Four Seasons Hotel, in Taipei, Taiwan. The theme of the conference is “Contemporary International Law Issues in the Asia Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges.” This conference will provide a...
I've been restrained in criticizing state laws that purport to ban the use of international or foreign law in state courts, as in Oklahoma and now one proposed in Arizona. I think they are largely harmless, and probably constitutional. But I am still struck by the unusual and even strange wrinkle in the Arizona proposal. 1. Requires courts, when making...
Even more revelations in the plagiarism scandal that has caused an uproar among the faculty of the University of the Philippines and the Philippines Supreme Court. MANILA, Philippines – Supreme Court Justice Mariano del Castillo plagiarized at least 20 more times in the decision on the comfort women case (Isabelita Vinuya v. Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo), apart from those already brought to the...
I blogged a year ago about the ridiculous criminal-libel suit that an academic named Karin Calvo-Goller filed against NYU's Joseph Weiler. Today Weiler blogs (no permanent link for some reason) about the trial at EJIL: Talk!. It's a remarkable account that should be read in full. But here's a taste: Three months later I was summoned to appear before an...
I've been updating my article advocating for an e-SOS (the first draft is available here). When I originally wrote it, Stuxnet had been identified as one of the first forms of malware to target SCADA systems explicitly (a SCADA--or “supervisory control and data acquisition”--system is one specifically designed to operate and control infrastructure, such as electrical and nuclear power systems, telecommunications, and oil...
An important update from NBC News: U.S. military officials tell NBC News that investigators have been unable to make any direct connection between a jailed army private suspected with leaking secret documents and Julian Assange, founder of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. The officials say that while investigators have determined that Manning had allegedly unlawfully downloaded tens of thousands...
Pirates are non-state actors who cause serious international problems that are sometimes beyond the reach or interest of most governments. Mercenaries are non-state actors who can combat pirates without implicating the political and legal problems faced by regular armed forces. And so, it is not surprising, or unwelcome, to hear that mercenaries are getting involved in Somalia. WASHINGTON — Erik...
According to the Washington Post, Covington and Burling has filed with the Department of Justice to represent Alassane Ouattara, the recognized winner of the presidential election in Cote d'Ivoire. Why would a U.S. law firm be representing (pro bono no less!) a foreign politician? According to Covington's international policy advisor, Alan Larson, the purpose was to make sure that ousted...
Actually, I am not quite sure, since all I have is this report on the recent decision of the Supreme Judicial Circuit of Massachusetts holding that the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations gives foreign nationals legal rights to the notification of their consular officials if they are arrested by Massachusetts authorities: Massachusetts, Cordy wrote, will take steps now to bring the...
