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06 Jun

My former State Department colleague, David Kaye, now the Executive Director of UCLA Law's human rights program, has just authored a study under the auspices of the Council on Foreign Relations (John Bellinger and Matt Waxman also particiapted in the effort as Directors).  Kaye acknowleges the contributions made by the likes of the ICTY, ICTR, and ICC, but argues that more work is needed...

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04 Jun

The Wall Street Journal's ace national security reporting team - Adam Entous, Siobhan Gorman, Julian Barnes, several others - reported in a very interesting story today that divisions have emerged at the senior levels of the Obama administration over the strategic utility of drone strikes in Pakistan.  The issue is between the unquestioned effectiveness of the strikes - unquestioned by...

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03 Jun

Here's the text of the resolution passed in the House this afternoon on Libya, as introduced by Speaker Boehner.  It's not insignificant, as an institutional pronouncement, even though it's non-binding. It amounts to a kind of soft law.  The resolution provides that "the President shall not deploy, establish, or maintain the presence of units and members of the United...

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02 Jun

The ABA's International Lawyer Year-in-Review has just been published and as always it is a monumental achievement. The issue is not available on the web, but the International Lawyer's home page is here. The issue includes 450 pages of international law discussion and over 150 pages of foreign and comparative law analysis. If you are looking for a thumbnail...

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31 May

I'm traveling in Europe for the next few weeks, so posting will be a bit light.  As always, I'm happy to meet up with Opinio Juris readers in the places I'm visiting.  Here's my schedule: June 4-7, Helsinki; June 7-9, Tallinn; June 9-13, Berlin; June 13-15, Leuven; June 15-18, Amsterdam; June 18-20, London.  On June 6, I'm giving a talk...

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30 May

The Wall Street Journal reporting on un-classifed portions of a report anticipated for release next month.  I concentrate on robots, not cyber, so I leave it to others to comment, but I do recall that this report and its conclusions have been discussed a fair amount in academic circles, and as far as I know this will not surprise people...

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27 May

Cross-posted at Balkinization Bobby Chesney writes back with a thoughtful post responding to my question about whether the United States has forward-going detention needs in its counterterrorism operations that are currently unmet by the 2001 statute known as the AUMF. The question arises in light of Congress’ current debate over whether to pass (as the House already has) new legislation...

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26 May

Cross-posted at Balkinization The U.S. House of Representatives today passed its version of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, including provisions that prevent any of the Gitmo detainees (or indeed any terrorism suspects) from being subject to criminal trial, and also “affirms that the United States is engaged in an armed conflict with al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces,” whomever those...

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26 May

Opinion here in Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting .  The Court green-lights state use of licensing laws as a tool of immigration enforcement, consistent with the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act.  It also upheld Arizona's imposition of the e-Verify system as a mandatory requirement on employers, where Congress had deemed the system voluntary. The decision is important in...

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25 May

Readers will be delighted to know that Jacob has restarted International Law Reporter, your one-stop-shopping center for all new international-law scholarship.  And I'm delighted to learn that Jacob's new essay, entitled "The Regulatory Turn in International Law," is now forthcoming in the Harvard International Law Journal, which has recently partnered with our blog.  The essay looks fascinating; check it out...

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25 May

Cross-posted at Balkinization Congress is debating a defense authorization bill this week that would not only prohibit the use of Defense Department funds to transfer Guantanamo detainees to the United States for criminal prosecution, but also effectively double down on the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) legislation Congress passed just after the attacks of 9/11. Here’s the bill....

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