Here is a weird story. An eighth grader in Nevada entered a spelling bee but was eliminated despite spelling the word "discernible" correctly. The mother was livid and threatened legal action. "I'm a momma bear with her bear claws out. Spellers and academic children don't get all the accolades that the sports kids do. This is one of their few...
The U.S. military may transfer custody of U.S. citizen "enemy combatant" to the Iraqi government, according to this AP article. The article suggests that it would be the first time that a U.S. citizen "enemy combatant" is transferred to Iraq, although it would not be the first time that a U.S. citizen enemy combatant has been transferred to a foreign...
In my initial post yesterday, I discussed some of the ways international tribunals limit the right of defendants to an effective defense. That difficulty, not surprisingly, is not unique to the tribunals; national criminal prosecutions that apply international law – substantively and procedurally – are usually no better, and are often far worse. The current trial...
On January 26th, the Assembly of State Parties to the International Criminal Court elected six judges to serve nine-year terms. This is the second such election; 18 judges were elected in 2003, six for three-year terms, six for six-year terms, and six for nine-year terms. With the exception of Ekaterina Trendafilova of Bulgaria, the five other judges were...
There is an angry debate going on right now between liberal columnist Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times and conservative television host Bill O'Reilly. Kristof has devoted an entire column yesterday to attacking Bill O'Reilly and launching a fund to pay for Bill O'Reilly to travel to Darfur. "[M]aybe Mr. O'Reilly's concern is cost, so I thought my readers...
I have previously reported on the appalling decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Şahin v. Turkey that upheld the right of Turkey to prevent devout Muslim women from wearing headscarfs (hijabs) to graduate school.Last week the Chronicle of Higher Education had a very interesting article (subscription required) that highlights the brain drain of devout...
According to the Washington Post, a WTO dispute settlement panel has found EU rules restricting the sale of genetically modified foods violates WTO rules (the actual report has not yet been released publicly but for more background, see here). The decision appears to be a victory for the U.S., Canada, Australia, and other agricultural nations that rely on GMO...
In an interesting counterpoint to Roger’s post on the conviction of Abu Hamza, Reuters reports that Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court has ordered the release of Mounir el Motassadeq, the first person to be convicted in connection with the attacks on 9/11, pending resolution of defense and prosecution appeals. The court agreed with el Motassadeq’s lawyers that the Hamburg judges...
My thanks to everyone at Opinio Juris for inviting me to guest blog for the next couple of weeks – especially Julian, who proves his graciousness by letting me blog even though I’ve often used the comments section to criticize his posts. As Peggy said, I currently teach international criminal law and evidence at the University ...
A couple of weeks ago I reported about the Abu Hamza trial for inciting murder in London. Earlier today Hamza was convicted of 11 of the 15 charges he faced. The verdicts were as follows:Guilty of six charges of soliciting to murder;Guilty of three charges relating to stirring up racial hatred;Guilty of one charge of owning recordings related to stirring...
Professor Kevin Heller of the University of Georgia Law School will be guest blogging at Opinio Juris for the next couple of weeks. Kevin is an expert on evidence and criminal law, with a particular interest in international criminal law. His SSRN page is here. Prior to teaching, Kevin spent some time as writer and legal advisor on several television...
The U.S. District Court for Washington D.C. has dismissed most of a lawsuit against Donald Rumsfeld and various high-level military officials alleging responsibility for detainee abuse in Guantanamo Bay. The plaintiffs are four UK nationals who were detained, and then released, by the U.S. authorities in Guantanamo. They have now sued for damages in Rasul v. Rumsfeld (not on the...
