If you are in the DC area on Monday, January 25, you might want to check out this event at ASIL Tillar House, 2:30-5:00 pm. This looks to be a terrific discussion with great people on the program. "Mind the Gap: International Human Rights Law and the Law of Armed Conflict," with Gabriella Blum and Geoffrey Corn as discussants, and...
(I put this as a comment below, but have decided to move it up as a post, with a question for Professor Klabbers.) What a fascinating post - thanks for being with us on OJ! I have two reactions that seem, on the surface, perhaps contradictory - but perhaps they are not. On the one hand, the idea of gradations of sovereignty...
It would be tempting to join Opinio Juris' discussion on soft law of a few weeks ago, but having written quite a bit on the topic going back to the mid-1990s, I thought I'd pay some attention to a lovely little story that ran in the New York Times about a month or two ago (I forgot to date my clipping...
Paul Caron at Tax Prof Blog has just published the annual rankings for law professor blogs. There is some very useful information, including overall traffic numbers and details on which blogs are growing and declining in numbers. (Opinio Juris is now ranked 16th overall and is among the top ten in percentage annual increases). As I have reported before,...
We here at Opinio Juris are thrilled to welcome Jan Klabbers as our latest guest blogger. Professor Klabbers is professor of international organizations law at the University of Helsinki, and Director of the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence in Global Governance Research. This semester he's also a Fellow in residence at NYU's newly established Straus Institute for the Advanced Study of Law &...
The current issue of Foreign Affairs has an article called A Few Dollars at a Time: How to Tap Consumers for Development, which describes the "innovative financing" movement in which private companies find ways for their customers to contribute to international development. This morning, I came across an example that I guess you could call "innovative aid" as it isn't...
There are an estimated 45,000 US citizens in Haiti, and there's an assumption that they should be first in line to receive US assistance. As Hillary Clinton said yesterday, "They are our principal responsibility, to make sure that they're safe, to evacuate those who need medical care." In his remarks this morning, President Obama stressed that "We will not rest...
The Trial Chamber has granted certification to appeal its decision upholding the Registry's selection of Richard Harvey as stand-by counsel. Here are the relevant paragraphs: 10. With regard to the first limb that must be met before certification to appeal can be granted under Rule 73(B) of the Rules, the Chamber notes that the Decision Denying Motion to Vacate concerned the...
Back in 2008, I flagged the great service being done by the Squire Law Library at the University of Cambridge in compiling oral histories from some of the more eminent figures in international law. At the time, I focused on the recorded interviews with Sir Elihu Lauterpacht QC (although they'd also done one with Sir Derek Bowett, who passed away...
I've been writing Chapter 3 of my book on the Nuremberg Military Tribunals, which traces the evolution of the Office of the Chief of Counsel's trial program -- how it selected the twelve cases, why it abandoned others, which suspects it included and which it excluded. It's a fun chapter to write, both because no one has ever done it...
The National Journal has a two part cover story, January 9, 2010, on Predator drone strikes — required reading for those following the targeted killing and Predator drone developments, and although it is behind a subscription wall, no question that this National Journal issue is making the rounds of Washington and the agencies. If you follow this topic, you’ll want...
With all the talk about the environment and climate change and the with success of eco-themed TV show Life After People, I was struck by this blog post/ photo essay at BLDGBLOG on the degradation of Biosphere 2, the experiment in building a self-contained ecological biosphere in a set of buildings in the Arizona desert. (You can see it in better condition here, with the cheery...
