I'm not one to get hysterical over ICC news, but this recent development today strikes me as deeply problematic, and perhaps a tipping point. But perhaps not the tipping point that the ICC detractors have in mind. Sudanese President al-Bashir was attending a conference in South Africa this weekend with other heads of state and officials from several African nations. The...
On Friday, the DC Circuit vacated al-Bahlul's military commission conviction for conspiracy. There has been, and will be, much coverage of this decision, especially since the decision is a great candidate for a successful Supreme Court cert petition. Assuming that the federal government wants to appeal, which I can't imagine it would not, the case would allow the Supreme Court to return...
Eyewitness.org has released a new app that creates a secure “digital locker” for those who seek to record digital evidence of atrocity crimes for eventual use in by courts. The app has been produced by the International Bar Association and the legal services division of Lexis Nexis. Information is available here. The app was developed after controversies regarding the...
In March 2012 An Hertogen and Jessica Dorsey joined Opinio Juris as our first two Assistant Editors. Over the years, both have contributed immensely to Opinio Juris. Today, we bid An farewell as she enters a new phase in her career. You may be most familiar with An’s work writing our Weekly Round-Ups and well as the Events and Announcements posts....
A fascinating ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court this morning in Zivotofsky v. Kerry, the case presenting the question whether Congress can mandate that U.S. citizens born (to American parents) in Jerusalem may have Israel listed on their passports as their place of birth. Since 1948, every U.S. president has carefully avoided opining in any context on the status of...
Long-awaited decision here finding the President to have exclusive recognition power, trumping Congress' attempt to require birthplace of US citizens born in Jerusalem to be recorded as "Israel" on US passports issued to them. 1. Phew. Who knows what the response would have been in the Middle East if the Court had come out the other way. Maybe nothing, but it's...
Africa Mali's government and Tuareg-led rebels agreed on a ceasefire in a strategic town and on more political guarantees on Friday, steps towards a U.N.-brokered peace accord to end decades of uprisings in the northern region the separatists call Azawad. The United Nations' top human rights official called on Nigeria's new President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday to investigate reports of horrifying crimes...
Plaintiffs have appealed the January 9, 2015 decision of the Southern District of New York, that the United Nations is immune in the case Delama Georges et al. The appeal brief, filed by the International Institute for Justice in Haiti, is available here: Georges v UN - Principal Appellate Brief 5.28 Final. The contentions on appeal are as follows: 1. Whether the...
The ALL CAPS headline of the last few hours involves news that social security and other identifying information for some 4 million U.S. federal workers was compromised in a cyber exploitation that, if one believes the unofficial finger pointing, came at the behest of the Chinese government. Of course, it was just yesterday, that the Council on Foreign Relations' Adam Segal was...
There is no shortage of commentary on the growing US-China tensions over China's land reclamation activities in the South China Sea. I've already added my two cents on the legal aspects here, but it's worth trying to understand China's defense of its actions. Here is China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman at a press conference responding to comments from US and Japanese leaders...
Oxford University Press has just published a massive new book on the ICC, "The Law and Practice of the International Criminal Court," edited by Leiden's Carsten Stahn. Here is the publisher's description: The International Criminal Court is a controversial and important body within international law; one that is significantly growing in importance, particularly as other international criminal tribunals close down. After...
Seth Tillman of Maynooth University has a clever "parody" letter (scroll to the bottom) in the most recent Claremont Review of Books. I can't really do it justice here, but it is an amusing take on how modern international law might have critiqued the relentless Allied demands for unconditional surrender by Germany and Japan in 1945. Also, I particulalry appreciate his...
