Via Jon Adler at Volokh, I note that the D.C. Circuit issued a fascinating series of opinions today on the effect of international law on the President's execution of his warmaking powers. As Steve Vladeck at Balkinization notes, the actual DC Circuit decision was simply a denial of a rehearing en banc of a panel's earlier decision to reject a...
Professor Pasha Hsieh of Singapore Management University School of Law has asked us to alert our readers about the following call for papers for the 2011 International Law Association Asia-Pacific Regional Conference scheduled for May 29-June 1, 2011 Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. The Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law is pleased to hold the International Law Association (ILA) Asia-Pacific Regional Conference...
I'm a little late (in blogospheric time) to comment on the ACLU/CCR lawsuit today challenging the legality of the Obama Administration's policy on targeted killings of U.S. citizens. (Hat Tip WSJ Law Blog) Here is the complaint. It's is not surprising. As I noted before, the ACLU has been making noises about this lawsuit for several months. And, at least...
I don't want to get into a pointless back and forth with Kevin on the significance of Bashir's visit to Kenya. I don't think the details of his visit change my views much. It still seems much more like a slap in the face than a sign of the ICC's power. But I think we can agree to disagree on...
Our friend and OJ guest contributor Professor Greg Gordon passes along the following call for papers -- for international law scholars and other subject areas -- for the Central Law Schools Association 2010 meeting. Full announcement after the jump: The Central States Law Schools Association 2010 conference will be held September 24 and 25, 2010, in Grand Forks, North Dakota,...
Lots of ironies in this story about Kenya hosting Sudan's President Bashir at a ceremony celebrating the establishment of its new "U.S.-style" Constitution. NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya's president signed a new constitution into law Friday that institutes a U.S.-style system of checks and balances and has been hailed as the most significant political event since Kenya's independence nearly a half century...
OK, that's not exactly the title of this piece at Huffington Post, but the observations from Gary Arndt about Americans and the World sound true to me. Arndt has been traveling around the world since 2007, for no particular reason (see his travel blog here and yes, I'm very jealous of his life). Here are some my favorites from his...
[caption id="attachment_13148" align="alignright" width="150" caption=" "][/caption] The WSJ has an article on the U.S. Defense Department's push for a criminal prosecution of Wikileaks for releasing U.S. government documents on the Afghanistan war. Several officials said the Defense and Justice departments were now exploring legal options for prosecuting Mr. Assange and others involved on grounds they encouraged the theft of government property. Bringing a case...
Foreign Policy has added a new blog to its roster that should be of interest to readers. Here is the description of the blog, named The Multilateralist and run by David Bosco, an assistant professor at American University's School of International Service and the author of the excellent Five to Rule Them All: The UN Security Council and the Making...
Further to a mysterious correspondent, who asks what would be a clear, simple, and brief - as in one to three sentences - definition of the field of national security law, of the kind you might include in a law school, grad school, or undergrad course catalog and course description. Suggestions welcomed....
The WSJ has a nice discussion of the tricky legal arguments in the upcoming trial of alleged pirates in U.S. federal court. Apparently, the prosecutors and defense attorneys are battling over the fact that U.S. statutes criminalizing piracy leave the definition to "the law of nations". Now the court in Norfolk must contend with the defense motion to dismiss the piracy...
John Bellinger reflects on the meaning of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 in today's world, in a post at Foreign Policy: Today, 12 August, is the 61st anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, the international treaties designed to protect soldiers and civilians during armed conflicts. The treaties became the focus of international attention in 2002 when the...
