Conservatives and human rights groups have rightly pummeled the new UN Human Rights Council as a deeply problematic institution, characterized by a strange obsession with Israel. But the Obama Administration joined anyway, despite criticism, and they won a small payoff this week in Geneva. The HRC finally got tough (well, at least they focused on) someone other than Israel. The...
John Bellinger makes a solid observation in the NYT on the Obama Administration's general approach to international law. The bottom line: Obama is basically the same as Bush (at least during the second term) on international law. Last month marked the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s first signature foreign policy initiative: the issuance of three executive orders ordering the closure of the...
Not everyone in international law is quite so fascinated as I with CDS spreads on Greek sovereign debt. However, the issues raised by the Greek debt difficulties and the urgent discussions in the Eurozone over a possible bailout, attendant moral hazard, and the like are far more than merely fiscal or monetary questions. Rather, this crisis is one of those...
The UN special tribunal to investigate the murder of Lebanese leader Rafik Hariri seemed like a good idea at the time it was established, back in 2005. Some folks claimed it vindicated the role of the UN in resolving this kinds of delicate political disputes. But the opposite has turned out to be the case. Half a decade later, however, the...
The Economist Intelligence Unit has just released its annual list of the world's most livable cities -- and my adopted home of Melbourne ranks third, behind only Vancouver and Vienna. It thus seems like an appropriate time to mention that Melbourne Law School is looking to hire new faculty at all levels, from Lecturer to Professor: This year we...
Professor Osofsky’s response to my article is convincing and her exploration of the gaps in my earlier discussion of climate reparations is welcome — in fact, it is encouraged. The hope in writing an article on climate reparations was to investigate seriously alternate avenues for remedy for the climate vulnerable and encourage creativity across scales, between novel claimants, and...
[Hari M. Osofsky is Associate Professor at Washington and Lee School of Law.] In Climate Reparations, Professor Maxine Burkett makes a compelling case for viewing climate justice problems though a reparative lens. She articulates thoughtfully the barriers to achieving meaningful justice under existing frameworks and proposals, as well as the profound ethical dilemmas posed by the inequities regarding emissions, impacts, and...
UC Irvine should be ashamed of itself. This is about as rude and discourteous as one could possibly imagine. Chancellor Drake issued the following statement of apology: This behavior is intolerable. Freedom of speech is among the most fundamental, and among the most cherished of the bedrock values our nation is built upon. A great university depends on the...
The Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS), in partnership with ASIL and the One Earth Future Foundation, have released a report entitled: "Suppressing Maritime Piracy: Exploring the Options in International Law". It is a useful report, and it is the product of a very smart and knowledgeable group of international law experts including friends of this blog like...
[Associate Professor Maxine Burkett is the Director of the Center for Island Climate Adaption and Policy at the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawai'i at Manoa.] With the uncertain — and deeply disappointing — conclusion of the COP15, one thing has become crystal clear: states and vulnerable communities must explore alternative avenues to address the climate crisis and...
The UN's new temporary quarters, during renovations, are not too popular with the staff. For the next four years, the United Nations' nerve center, including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office, will be situated in a squat, three-story, corrugated steel building on the U.N.'s north lawn that looks like a cross between a suburban big-box store and a high-security lockup facility. Bantánamo, a nickname embraced...
Last Thursday, February 4, the Lieber Society of the ASIL (the laws of war interest section) sponsored a program at ASIL's Tillar House in DC to discuss the draft model manual on air and missile warfare that has been slowly evolving through the "Alabama process" and the International Humanitarian Law Research Initiative based at Harvard University. Claude Bruderlein, director of...
