[Craig H. Allen is the Judson Falknor Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle.] I would like to begin by thanking Opinio Juris for hosting this timely and important debate on the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC) and Julian Ku in particular for inviting me to participate. My small contribution begins with two...
The Falkland Islands are set to hold a referendum about sovereignty. IntLawGrrls points to interesting issues arising around citizenship and globalization. The ICC Prosecutor seeks a 30-year sentence for Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, convicted of conscripting child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In other ICC news, a team from the Court has visited the four detained staff members in Libya, accused...
Public Citizen, an anti-free trade group based here in the U.S., sent around an email detailing its objections to a leaked draft text of the ongoing TransPacific Partnership negotiations, which would create a massive Pacific free-trade zone. Its main complaint is not actually to the free-trade portion of the agreement, but to the proposals for a robust investor-state dispute resolution...
I haven't been following this issue at all, but I found this discussion on the possible ramifications of a UK gay marriage law fascinating.The Church of England has put out a paper suggesting (among other things) that any UK law that does not guarantee the right to religious solemnization of gay marriage would violate the ECHR's equality guarantee. I don't...
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has an op-ed in the WSJ announcing his opposition to US ratification of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The op-ed is probably meant to soften the force of an earlier WSJ op-ed by former Republican Secretaries of State calling for US ratification. He is also testifying on Thursday at...
The US is accusing Russia of sending helicopters to Syria, where the UN has now officially categorized the conflict as a civil war. The UN is sending its envoy to Western Myanmar where the state of emergency was declared following unrest. Aung San Suu Kyi has left Myanmar for her trip to Europe where she will accept her Nobel Prize. The Yemeni government has declared that it has driven...
The four staff members of the ICC will remain in a 45-day detention in Libya while investigations into the meetings the staff had with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi are carried out. Al Arabyia reports that Melinda Taylor will be freed if she gives Libyan officials information on the whereabouts of Mohammed Ismail, Gaddafi's former right-hand man. Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has...
The temptation is strong to write about the Supreme Court’s decisions this morning to deny review to the latest set of Guantanamo detainee cases to come before it. The denials of certiorari effectively let stand the decisions of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has yet to find a detainee entitled to relief. But I’ll save the role...
A four-member delegation from the ICC in Libya, who went to meet with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, has been detained by Libyan authorities after one of the lawyers, Melinda Taylor, was found allegedly carrying suspicious documents. Syrian government forces renewed their attacks on Homs, killing at least 35. Protesters in Chile rallied against a documentary honoring Augusto Pinochet. The world's newest country, South Sudan, struggles to...
This week on Opinio Juris, we are happy to announce that the blog is now available on Kindle devices to our US readers. This new feature allows you to read the blog even when you are not wirelessly connected, and we hope that those of you who are often on the road will appreciate it. We of course welcome any...
Not according to John Yoo. Believing a recent NY Times article to be accurate, Yoo criticizes the President for “personally select[ing] the targets and approv[ing] each operation” and characterizes this as “an incredible misuse of presidential time and a serious distortion of proper war management.” Yoo more recently posited, in response to reports of al-Libi’s successful targeting, “the greater threat to...
In our pursuit to make Opinio Juris more accessible to our readers, we are now offering the option of reading the blog on your Kindle device through Kindle Publishing. Kindle blogs are auto-delivered wirelessly to your device so you can stay up-to-date throughout the day. You can find the link to subscribe here. You will receive a 14-day free trial when you initially subscribe, and...
