As Thomas Escritt has reported for Reuters, the OTP has declined to open a formal investigation into Israel's attack on the MV Mavi Marmara. I will have much more to say about the decision tomorrow; I agree with the OTP's conclusion but have serious problems with much of its reasoning. But I thought I'd tease tomorrow's post by noting that, despite...
[Giacomo Pailli is a PhD in comparative law at University of Florence, Italy] Many readers will recall the judgment of the International Court of Justice in Germany v. Italy, where the Court upheld Germany’s claim of immunity under international law vis-a-vis Italy’s exercise of jurisdiction over certain Nazi crimes that had occurred during World War II. The decision received a lot...
Events Junior Scholar Workshop - Law and Human Rights in the Global South: the Role of the State and the Non-State, UBC Law School, June 8-10, 2015. At this point in history it is trite to suggest that the evolving role of non-state actors is transforming the landscape of human rights law. Yet despite repeated calls to incorporate the reality of non-state actor...
Earlier this year, Chris Gevers blogged about the Zimbabwe Torture Docket case, in which the Constitutional Court of South Africa was asked to determine whether the South African Police Service (SAPS) is required to investigate allegations that high-ranking government and security officials in Zimbabwe committed acts of torture. Those acts took place solely in Zimbabwe and involved only Zimbabweans, so the key...
Lawyers for the Lago Agrio plaintiffs have filed a communication with the ICC asking the OTP to investigate Chevron officials for alleged crimes against humanity in connection with the company's "rainforest Chernobyl" in Ecuador. Ecuador ratified the Rome Statute in 2002. Regular readers know my sympathies -- both ethical and legal -- lie squarely with the Lago Agrio plaintiffs. The only thing more...
While in DC last week for the ICC/Palestine event at George Mason -- I'll post a link to the video when it becomes available -- I had the pleasure of sitting down with Lawfare's Wells Bennet and Just Security's Steve Vladeck to discuss the oral argument at the DC Circuit on the al-Bahlul remand, which the three of us attended...
These days, I usually use Twitter to point readers to blog posts that deserve their attention. But Mark Kersten's new post at Justice in Conflict is so good -- and so important -- that I want to highlight it here. The post achieves the near-impossible, passionately indicting Canada's right-wing government for creating a political environment ripe for terrorism without in any way suggesting that...
[William S. Dodge is The Honorable Roger J. Traynor Professor of Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.] The U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) sets forth substantive rules of contract law to govern contracts for the sale of goods between parties who have their places of business in different CISG countries....
[Chimène Keitner is Harry & Lillian Research Chair and Professor of Law at UC Hastings. She is on Twitter @KeitnerLaw.] I look forward to discussing developments in the international law of non-state actor immunity on a panel on “Responsibility and Immunity in a Time of Chaos” at International Law Weekend this Saturday morning with co-panelists Kristen Boon and August Reinisch, moderated...
The event at George Mason University on the ICC and Palestine is today. Here, again, is the flyer: If you cannot attend, the live-stream link is here....
Events On Thursday, November 13, 2014, the University of Georgia School of Law and the ASIL International Legal Theory Interest Group will convene a book workshop on “International Law as Behavior,” at Tillar House, 2223 Massachusetts Ave., NW, ASIL’s headquarters in Washington, DC. Organized by Harlan Cohen (University of Georgia School of Law), the workshop will bring together scholars working at...
