This week on Opinio Juris, Kevin welcomed Just Security to the blogosphere, but regretted the absence of a comments section. Not one to be easily stopped, he went for inter-blog commentary instead with his response to Ryan Goodman's post on whether or not the US is at war with al-Qaeda. He also criticized the Special Court for Sierra Leone’s Appeals Chamber for its incoherent — and selective —...
As Ken notes below, the draft UN Security Council Resolution regarding the disposition of Syria’s chemical weapons is now available. While it can’t be construed as authorizing the use of force against Syria to ensure compliance without further Security Council action – entirely consistent with the Council’s past practice in Iraq, Kosovo, and elsewhere with slowly escalating Security...
As one commenter to Ken's post on the draft UN Security Council Resolution notes, there will be no Security Council referral to the ICC on Syria. Currently there is one paragraph in the draft resolution expressing the Security Council's "strong conviction that those individuals responsible for the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic should be held accountable;" That's not...
Probably many of you are reading, as I am now, the just-released language of a draft UN Security Council resolution (reported by the press as P-5 approved) on Syria's chemical weapons. I'm particularly interested in this, as I'm talking tomorrow at ASIL's monthly brown bag lunch for Congressional staff on Syria and the use of force - it's a descriptive...
It's been another busy week in international law and international relations. Here's a recap of a selection of the headlines from around the world: Middle East Israel and Palestine have agreed to intensify their peace talks with greater participation by the United States. Iran's foreign minister expressed hope that a meeting with top diplomats from the US and five other powers will jump-start...
I've been surprised how quiet the Obama Administration has been in terms of treaty actions in its 5 years in office -- you can pretty much count on one hand the number of treaties that have gone through the Senate Advice and Consent process (and nothing at all has happened this Congress). Now, some of the blame for this certainly...
Another week has gone by at Opinio Juris with much to say about current events in international law and international relations. In fact, this week, we hosted an online symposium on the recent book by Jeffrey Dunoff and Mark Pollock, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on International Law and International Relations. In other coverage this week, Julian argued on how the UN Charter does not...
Recent commentary on Bashir’s request for a US visa to attend the 68th General Assembly has focused on US obligations to grant Bashir a visa under Section 11 of the UN – US Headquarters Agreement. See Julian's post here. Pursuant to this agreement, there is little doubt that the US must permit his transit to the UN despite the fact that...
One possible silver lining in Russia and China's invocation of the UN Charter to block U.S. action in Syria is that both nations have bound themselves (at least in part) to the same norm. But at least with respect to China, it is probably not bothered by the UN Charter's limitations on the use of force because any of the...
[Ruti Teitel is Ernst C. Stiefel Professor of Comparative Law at New York Law School and a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics. She is the author of Humanity’s Law (OUP 2012).] Dunoff and Pollack conclude that interdisciplinary engagement between international law and international relations scholars has contributed to the understanding of international law in a number of areas. They mention the rise...
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi will join 37 former regime members in a pre-trial session in Tripoli over charges of murder and crimes allegedly committed during 2011 civil war. Despite Russia's claims that the UN report on chemical weapons in Syria is biased, the UN claims the evidence that rockets were used containing sarin gas is indisputable. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has pledged to...
An ICC chamber, at the request of the ICC Prosecutor, has issued a decision "remind[ing]" U.S. authorities of the two Arrest Warrants issued by the ICC, and "invit[ing]" U.S. authorities to apprehend Bashir and turn him over to the ICC. This is not exactly surprising. Still, it is worth noting that the ICC chamber reviews the legal landscape and it concludes (rightly...
