In association with the International Commission of Jurists

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24 Apr

And proves he is neither very funny nor even remotely interested in anything resembling intelligent debate: Hypothesize that the Obama administration, or perhaps foreign/international courts, prosecute and convict various officials of the Bush administration. Further assume that the new President who takes office in 2013 or 2017 has promised "I will ensure that the crimes of the previous administration are vigorously...

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24 Apr

Harold Koh, who is moderating the last Reisman panel on human rights, asks the panel about the legal status of human rights committees like the CEDAW committee, obliquely referring to a controversy over the legal status of such committees' interpretive authority. Hmm...

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24 Apr

Interesting item from The Economist here.  It is becoming increasingly clear that any important international process or institution is going to be held to transparency norms.  And where there is power, there must also be accountability.  In the dispute resolution context, that takes the form of NGO participation. Why shouldn't NGOs be able to participate in proceedings with public policy...

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23 Apr

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court decided Iran v. Elahi, a case that appears to fall within a data set of one. As I reported earlier, the case is extraordinarily complex, focusing on whether a terrorist victim judgment creditor can attach a confirmed arbitration award rendered in Iran’s favor. Although it involves exotic issues relating to international terrorism, military...

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22 Apr

U.S. prosecutors charged the sole surviving Somali pirate from the Maersk Alabama incident, Abduwali Muse, yesterday on charges of piracy, conspiracy to seize a ship by force, discharging a firearm during a ship seizure, conspiracy to commit hostage-taking and brandishing a firearm during a hostage taking.  The list of reported charges seems to confirm Eugene Kontorovich's suggestion yesterday in a great post over at...

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21 Apr

Professor Ron Slye has a helpful defense of the Koh nomination up at Foreign Policy.  His post includes this very useful description of "transnational legal process" noting, importantly, that TLP is a descriptive theory of how law crosses borders.  Somehow this fact has eluded much of the MSM discussion: All transnationalism does, in a nutshell, is work to describe and understand...

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21 Apr

[Major John C. Dehn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Law, US Military Academy, West Point, NY. He teaches International Law, and Constitutional and Military Law. He is writing in his personal capacity and his views do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Defense, the US Army, or the US Military Academy.] First, I express my thanks...

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21 Apr

TNR discusses here the circumstances of last Friday's intervention by Palestinian doctor Ashraf El Hagog as a representative of UN Watch.  The Chair of the then-Prep Com, who has since been elected chair of the Durban II conference, is Najjat al-Hajjaji, representing the government of Libya. Readers might recall that Hagog, along with a group of Bulgarian nurses was...

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21 Apr

Yeah, this is much better: On Sunday, Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, said on the ABC News program “This Week” that “those who devised policy” also “should not be prosecuted.” But administration officials said Monday that Mr. Emanuel had meant the officials who ordered the policies carried out, not the lawyers who provided the legal rationale. I'm dubious that...

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20 Apr

Still holding out hope that the Obama administration will prosecute the architects of the torture regime?  Stop: The Obama administration opposes any effort to prosecute those in the Justice Department who drafted legal memos authorizing harsh interrogations at secret CIA prisons, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said yesterday. Some analysts and lawmakers have called for investigations and possible prosecution of...

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