Right now we are locked in a complex dispute over the claims in the SSCI Torture Report that the CIA's torture program was ineffective (as well as illegal). Part of the dispute can be frustrating because I think we are conflating a number of more distinct questions when we ask whether the torture was effective or not. Consider the following article from...
For those of us fortunate enough to end up with a career in international law, we all have our mentors, our guiding lights. Mine was Professor Alfred P. Rubin of the Fletcher School. He died last week. I write to express my condolences to his family and friends and offer a few words on his influence on my life as well as...
At long last, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has released the executive "summary" of its report into torture conducted by the CIA. The report is available here. Here are some first reactions. The nature and conditions of the interrogations are indeed horrendous. The report specifically concludes that the CIA interrogations were harsher than previously recognized and the report's allegations certainly back...
Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa The International Criminal Court has withdrawn charges of crimes against humanity against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, a decision met with mixed reaction. Suspected rebels stabbed and hacked to death at least a dozen people in a village in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, a local government...
This week on Opinio Juris, Roger commented on Joel Trachtman's article on customary international law, which attracted a lot of debate from our readers in the comments. Kevin lamented US Courts' insufficient understanding of IHL and wondered if Paddington would prefer Australia's Christmas Island. He also responded to Ryan Vogel's post on Lawfare on the OTP's Afghanistan's investigation. Julian explained why he does not fully agree with...
Way back in 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Second Circuit held that corporations cannot be held liable under customary international law in ATS lawsuits. That decision, which was the original basis for the Supreme Court's consideration of the Kiobel case, has remained the law of the Second Circuit (New York, Connecticut, Vermont) though no other circuit court...
[I posted this last week, or I thought I did, but somehow it ended up staying hidden in the bowels of OJ's archives. So although it is a little late, I am posting this again today. -Julian] As is his wont, U. Chicago law professor Eric Posner has hit a nerve with his recent Chronicle of Higher Education essay criticizing...
Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa Gambia's foreign minister said the West African country would sever all dialogue with the European Union and rejected what he said were attempts by the bloc to use its aid budget to force Gambia to revoke a tough new law against homosexuality. A peacekeeping force in Darfur had...
This Thanksgiving week saw several posts of note on Opinio Juris. We hosted a Mini-Symposium on the latest article by James G. Stewart, The Turn to Corporate Criminal Liability for International Crimes: Transcending the Alien Tort Statute. First, Samuel Moyn discussed the ambitious past of corporate regulation, to which Stewart responded in hopes that the ideas set forth by both would...
Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa Caught in a forgotten war between rebels and government forces and beset by bandits who roam the lawless roads, villagers in Darfur say their lives can scarcely get any worse if Sudan insists on international peacekeepers leaving their region. Transitional leaders in Burkina Faso have agreed on a new...
I was quoted in the NY Times on Friday on Obama's executive action on immigration to the effect that it is unprecedented in scale and formality. I'll stick to that position, but that doesn't mean that I think that the executive action is unconstitutional. Just a few thoughts to clear that up (especially since David Brooks used the quote on...
Over the past week on Opinio Juris, we again enjoyed a lot of different perspectives from our guest bloggers, beginning with Rob Howse, whom Kristen introduced as this week's featured guest blogger. He highlighted the return of neo-conservativism in Washington, reminded us of Alexandre Kojève's being a neglected figure in the history of international law and also discussed the breakthrough at recent WTO talks and...
