I was introduced to the U.S. Digests on International Law as a graduate student working on my first international law research paper (an exposition of nineteenth century international law arguments over the British Guiana/Venezuela boundary dispute, which, I might add, is still around). I found John Bassett Moore's 8-volume digest from 1906 magisterial in its compilation of key primary resources such as diplomatic notes,...
Richard Hasen writes in Slate: There are of course good reasons to limit foreign money in the electoral process—it's just that none of them are compatible with the Supreme Court's First Amendment absolutism. Unlike American citizens, foreign individuals, governments, and associations are unlikely to have allegiance to the United States. A foreign entity may even have military...
No surprise that that the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement is languishing short of congressional approval in an election year. But who knew that members of Congress now feel free to team up with foreign legislators jointly to lobby their executive counterparts. From Foreign Policy's The Cable: On Monday, 21 U.S. lawmakers joined with 35 South Korea lawmakers to write to both...
As a publisher I am used to staying behind the scenes and cajoling my authors into writing for us, so it is with trepidation that I take up this kind invitation from the OJ team – but as the quote from Bull Durham goes “the world is made for people who aren’t cursed with self-awareness”. When I was invited to guest...
[Martin Flaherty is the Leitner Family Professor of International Human Rights and Director of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School. He is a visiting professor at St. John's Law School Fall 2010.] Louis Henkin influenced – and will continue to influence – countless lives in untold ways. Not least, in fact perhaps most,...
I am currently underwater with some things and won't be posting much, despite my interest in the debates over drones, targeted killing, and much else besides. However, I wanted to suggest that, for those trying to make sense of US actions in AfPak - including the overt strikes by NATO against safe havens in Pakistan, the sharply increased public pressure...
Terribly sad news today on the death of Louis Henkin. Here's the message from Columbia Law School Dean David Schizer: I'm very sorry to report that our colleague, Lou Henkin, passed away this morning. Lou has been a towering presence here at the Law School since he joined the faculty in 1962. His intellectual and personal contributions were...
Today at noon, the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University Law School is holding a debate on targeted killing using drone aircraft. It features Notre Dame's Mary Ellen O'Connell and yours truly, and moderated by Minnesota Public Radio's Matt Sepic. Mary Ellen and I each hold strong views on this topic, of course, and I am greatly...
The American Branch of the International Law Association will be hosting its annual International Law Weekend in New York City, October 21-23. The full program can be found here, and includes some great panels on a range of topics under the theme “International Law and Institutions: Advancing Justice, Security and Prosperity.” (You might even see an OJ blogger or two!) ...
That appears to be the upshot of section 704 of Public Law 111-117, a doorstop appropriations measure enacted last December: SEC. 704. Unless otherwise specified during the current fiscal year, no part of any appropriation contained in this or any other Act shall be used to pay the compensation of any officer or employee of the Government of...
Congratulations to my old friend (and currently WCL colleague) Juan Mendez on his appointment as UN special rapporteur on torture. Professor Mendez has a long and distinguished record of service and achievement in the human rights field, including heading Americas Watch at Human Rights Watch for many years, a term as president of the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights, a...
The Summer 2010 issue of Cabinet has an interview with Professor Christina Duffy Burnett of Columbia about the legal status of islands. When we've written about this issue here on Opinio Juris, we thought of issues relating to how islands can affect claims to underwater resources, or the question of Guantanamo as a legal black hole, or the issue of climate change and sinking islands....
