In previous posts (here and here), I discussed the reasons why Obama will never actually enforce the "near certainty" standard regarding civilian casualties and noted that the standard is vastly more restrictive than IHL's principle of proportionality. In this post, I want to explain why the new targeting standards for the use of lethal force "outside the United States and...
[Michael W. Lewis is a Professor of Law at Ohio Northern University where he teaches International Law and the Law of War.] On drones there was not that much new from President Obama yesterday, but what he emphasized tells us something about where the debate on drones remains. Echoing statements that have been previously made by a number of his advisers he...
A couple of people have suggested to me that I should be celebrating Obama's adoption of the "near certainty" standard, because it is more protective of civilians than the principle of proportionality. I will not celebrate the standard, for two very simple reasons. First, I don't believe for a moment that Obama will actually enforce it, no matter how pure...
There is a classic jury instruction that reads, "[a] witness who is willfully false in one material part of his or her testimony is to be distrusted in others. You may reject the whole testimony of a witness who willfully has testified falsely as to a material point, unless, from all the evidence, you believe the probability of truth favors his...
I want to call readers' attention to a new -- and very original -- article written by one of my best Melbourne students, Ilana Singer, which has just been published in Criminal Law Forum. Here is the abstract of the article, which is rather wordily entitled "Reductio Ad Absurdum: The Kapo Trial Judgements' Contribution to International Criminal Law Jurisprudence and Customary International...
Professor Stefan Talmon of the University of Bonn and St. Anne's College in Oxford offers one of the first serious attempts to defend China's position on the UNCLOS arbitration brought by the Philippines. In an essay published by the Global Times, China's hawkish state-owned daily paper, Professor Talmon argues that all of the Philippines' claims against China fall outside of...
[Jonathan Horowitz is writing in his personal capacity. He is the Associate Legal Officer at the Open Society Justice Initiative’s National Security and Counterterrorism Program.] When assessing the legality of drone strikes, attention is often focused on the State that carries out the strike—usually the United States. On May 8th, for example, the U.S. Congressional Progressive Caucus Peace and Security Taskforce...
Calls for Papers The Centre on Human Rights in Conflict is organising a workshop on Law, Faith and Historical Memory to take place in London (Stratford Campus, University of East London) on June, 12. More information is here The University of Wisconsin is inviting internationally acclaimed women scholars and advanced PhD candidates to the second conference on the Creation of International Law: Exploring the International...
I want to call readers' attention to a remarkable new report on international criminal justice authored by Daniel McLaughlin, a former legal officer at the ECCC, for Fordham's Leitner Center for International Law & Justice. As the introduction states, the report is an attempt -- a very successful one -- to visualize information about the criminal tribunals: There is wide awareness,...
As Bill Schabas noted in his recent post, the Comoros referral raises interesting questions concerning the Pre-Trial Chamber's power to review a decision by the OTP not to open a full investigation into a situation. Most people who don't keep a copy of the Rome Statute in their back pocket probably believe that the OTP has complete discretion concerning such...
As Peter noted yesterday, the recent tragedies in Bangladesh factories have resulted in a major breakthrough with the signing of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. Thus far, leading retailers such as H&M, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Benetton, and Calvin Klein are on board. Notably absent from the list are leading U.S. retailers such...
In my previous post, I expressed my skepticism that the OTP will open a formal investigation into the situation -- loosely defined -- involving Israel's attack on the MV Mavi Marmara. In this post, I want to raise two issues concerning Comoros' referral that I find particularly troubling. First, why is Comoros being represented by Turkish lawyers, the Elmadag Law Firm...
