Short answer: yes. Ted Cruz is constitutionally eligible to run for President. As he moves to announce his candidacy tomorrow, the question is sure to flare up again. As most will know, Cruz was born in Canada. He had U.S. citizenship at birth through his mother and the forerunner to section 301(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. He also had...
Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa The conviction of ex-president Laurent Gbagbo's allies for their role in the violence that followed the 2011 election in Ivory Coast has deepened a rift in his party that risks radicalizing hardliners ahead of polls this year in the world's top cocoa grower, analysts say. Somali Islamist militants...
Calls for Papers TDM is calling for papers for a special issue on Latin-America. Since the beginning of the 21st century, Latin America has sought the proper response to international disputes. That effort has been complicated by the opportunities and realities of globalization and its relation to its effects on local economies and government policy. While new export markets have driven...
This week on Opinio Juris, we saw some analysis on the recent letter sent by US Republicans to Iran. Julian kicked off the discussion by pointing out the (unnecessary?) letter explaining the US Constitution and foreign relations law and Peter questioned whether the letter might be unconstitutional and even criminal. Julian offered further thoughts about why the Congress should be involved in...
[Tom Ruys is professor of international law at Ghent University. He is the author of ‘Armed Attack’ and Article 51 of the UN Charter (CUP: 2010) and co-editor-in-chief of the Journal on the Use of Force and International Law.] In a previous post on OJ, Kevin Jon Heller talked about the Israeli intervention in Lebanon in 2006 and its relevance from...
Without weighing in on the merits of any deal with Iran on nuclear matters, I'll express some frustration over the rhetoric used in the current firestorm between the White House, 47 Senators (plus Governors Perry and Jindal), Iran's Foreign Minister, and the 4th Estate on what kind of deal the United States might conclude with Iran and the so-called P5+1 (the...
I'll one-up Julian's post below on Tom Cotton's letter to the leaders of Iran admonishing them that any agreement entered into today could be reversed by Obama's successor. It appears unprecedented for a group of opposition members of Congress to engage in such a communication. It may also be criminal. The 1799 Logan Act provides that: Any citizen of the United States, wherever he...
Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa The International Criminal Court's Pre-Trial Chamber II decided on Monday that Sudan had failed to cooperate in its war crimes investigation of President Omar al-Bashir and it plans to inform the United Nations Security Council (see press release here). Troops from Chad and Niger have retaken two northeastern...
This fortnight on Opinio Juris, Kristen discussed the Elders Proposal for Strengthening the UN and its proposals to change the selection process for the position of the Secretary-General Jens pointed out how the end of an armed conflict can be as legally complex as its start, and wrote about the proposed CIA reorganisation. Patryk Labuda contributed a guest post on hybrid justice in Africa Julian asked whether...
According to the WSJ, the "Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act" that I discussed earlier this week may already have 64 declared supporters in the Senate. This means that supporters are only 3 votes shy of enough to override President Obama's veto of this bill. Since the bill might actually become law, it is worth reminding supporters of the bill that it...
As Washington continues to digest Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's (possibly unconstitutional) address to the U.S. Congress criticizing a pending nuclear arms deal with Iran, a constitutional and political fight is brewing over the scope of the President's powers to make such an agreement and Congress's power to limit or overturn his agreement. A group of Senators re-introduced a bill last...
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers proposed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act last week. The proposed law would "would enhance U.S. monitoring of Hong Kong’s autonomy and human rights and ensure that these issues remain a cornerstone of U.S. policy," according to the bill's chief sponsor, Rep. Chris Smith. Reactions in Hong Kong and China are already pretty negative. "We...
