In association with the International Commission of Jurists

General

10 Jun

Longtime readers of this blog may have noticed that one of my pet peeves is the incorrect usage of international legal terms in public and diplomatic discourse.  Hence, Israel did NOT commit "piracy" during the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid despite lots of governments claiming otherwise.  Cuba is not under a "blockade" despite tons of Cuban government propaganda otherwise. So you can imagine my...

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09 Jun

Distracted by #ComeyDay and other international crises, I missed this recent U.S. federal court decision in Sexual Minorities of Uganda v. Lively, dismissing an Alien Tort Statute lawsuit on Kiobel extra-territoriality grounds.  While using unusually critical language to denounce U.S. pastor-defendant Scott Lively's involvement in Uganda's anti-homosexual laws and actions, the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts held: ...

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03 Jun

[Anthea Roberts is an Associate Professor at the School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University.] In withdrawing from the Paris Accord, President Donald Trump emphatically rejected globalism in favor of nationalism. “As president, I can put no other consideration before the well-being of American citizens,” he explained. “I am fighting every day for the great people of this country....

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02 Jun

[Daniel Bodansky is Foundation Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University.] As usual, in his announcement yesterday about the Paris Agreement, President Trump spoke loudly but carried a small stick.  Duncan laid out the options for withdrawal in his post earlier this week.  Rather than choosing the “nuclear option” of withdrawing from the UN Framework...

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29 May

I have just finished reading the novel, in which a burned-out former US Attorney joins the ICC to investigate the disappearance, and presumed murder, of 400 Roma in Bosnia. I have always been a huge Scott Turow fan; I've read every book he's ever written, most more than once, and the best one -- the classic PRESUMED INNOCENT -- five...

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24 May

[caption id="attachment_33128" align="alignright" width="374"] Grand Justices of the Constitutional Court, Judiciary Yuan, Republic of China - Taiwan[/caption] In a first for Asia, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled today (with two dissents) that Taiwanese law limiting marriage to a man and a woman violated the Republic of China's constitutional guarantee of "equality before the law." (Taiwan is home to the exiled Republic of China government,...

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23 May

[Anthea Roberts is an Associate Professor at the School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University.] American exceptionalism is nothing new. Nor are debates about whether it is appropriate for US courts to look to foreign or international law, particularly when interpreting the US Constitution. Yet now-Justice Gorsuch’s recent testimony on the issue during his confirmation hearing still took my...

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08 May

Hope our New York-area friends will be around for this one - Cardozo Law School and the ICRC are hosting an evening panel discussion: "A View from Abroad on Current Trends in Targeting, Detention and Trials." The panel will be at Cardozo Law School, 55 Fifth Avenue in New York, May 18, 6:00-7:30p.m., and features OJ's own Kevin Jon Heller,...

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27 Apr

Most readers are probably keenly familiar with International Law Reporter, the brainchild of Professor Jacob Katz Cogan (Cincinnati).  For those not aware, ILR provides notices of scholarship, conferences, calls for papers, and the like -- and it's available in RSS feeds and via Twitter.  (There's even a tip jar!)  It's invaluable for anyone in international law and, I expect, anyone...

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13 Apr

As I write this, the ASIL annual meeting is conducting a well-timed, previously unannounced panel discussion about the legality of the missile strikes against Assad's airbase in Syria. In addition to Harold Koh (Yale Law School), who has argued in support of humanitarian intervention, the speakers include moderator Catherine Powell (Fordham Law School), Jennifer Daskal (AU Washington College of Law), Steve Pomper...

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