My Volokh Co-Conspirator John Elwood notes the reference to foreign courts, if not precisely law, in Justice Breyer's comment on closing the SCOTUS main front door to visitors....
Australia's government has announced that Australia will accede to the COE Cybercrime Convention (and not, as many are reporting that it will merely "sign" the Convention, which, I suppose, reflects the media's continued inability or unwillingness to sort out the basic issues of treaty formation). With Australian accession, the COE Cybercrime Convention will have 27 states parties. It remains the only cyber-specific multilateral treaty out there. And...
At last night's White House Correspondents Dinner, President Obama cracked a funny joke about his administration's use of Predator Drones for targeted killings. From the Politico: — "The Jonas Brothers are here! ...
Yes, says Human Rights Watch in this press release. According to HRW, the new (and hotly controversial Arizona law) is in conflict with ICERD. I am troubled by the AZ law and think it is likely preempted by other federal law, but I am baffled as to how the AZ law could be a clear violation (or even any...
David Bernstein calls me out today for "blogging not a word" about The New Republic's recent attack on Human Rights Watch's coverage of Israel. He also claims that "HRW has not responded" and that "it’s almost as if 'headquarters' has sent out word to ignore the TNR piece in the hopes it will go away." I'll oblige Bernstein with a...
I've been lite blogging and will be for a bit longer, due to travel and some deadline pressures. I will try to get something up about the latest drone hearing in Congress, the ACLU's letter, and that stuff. Let us not neglect the EU debt crisis, either. Kudos to Northwestern University law school's Searle Center, for the conference I am...
Still catching up on yesterday’s news that DOD released the much-anticipated 2010 edition of the Manual for Military Commissions (MMC). The Manual is here. Among its many provisions of interest (I’m still skimming) are the rules set forth for prosecutions for the commission crime of material support for terrorism – a crime I and others have argued does not...
This seems like a nice, uncontroversial way to buttress the ICC Prosecutor's Office: ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo today announced the appointment of Professor Jose Alvarez as his Office’s Special Advisor on International Law. “Professor Alvarez is one of the leading academics in international law,” said Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo. “He has written extensively on the law-making powers of international organisations and on the...
Arizona's already notorious anti-immigrant measure, enacted last week and making unauthorized presence in the U.S. a crime under state law, isn't likely to last long. But the courts may have nothing to do with its demise. It's the economic hit that Arizona is clearly going to take that will bring the state around, I suspect sooner rather than later. Lost...
Whoops, spoke too soon about the WSJ's anti-ICC editorial. It does indeed contain a lie -- and its a doozy: What’s more, no amount of reform of the founding treaty will change the ICC’s inherent flaw. The ICC is a child of the doctrine of “universal jurisdiction,” which holds that courts can adjudicate crimes committed anywhere in the...
Adding to our already energetic discussion about the ICC and Kampala is the WSJ Editorial Board's contribution today. I share many of the editorial's skeptical views of the ICC and I think even Kevin would not find any "lies" in this article. Here is the crux of their critique, which I mostly share: From the Balkans to East Timor to the...
Too funny not to post (h/t, Gawker): (The man in the photo, for those who don't know, is Malcolm X, not Obama.)...
