More follies from the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed military commission: The video and audio feed from the war court at Guantanamo Bay is on a time delay so as to prevent accidental or deliberate disclosure of classified information during proceedings. As Khalid Sheik Mohammed and the other alleged 9/11 plotters were being arraigned last Saturday, the feed abruptly cut out. Reporters and observers...
When is an arbitral panel an international tribunal for purposes of Section 1782? Section 1782, of course, is the statute that authorizes federal courts to order discovery in aid of proceedings before foreign courts and international tribunals. As discussed in a forthcoming article in the Virginia Journal of International Law entitled, Ancillary Discovery to Prove Denial of Justice,...
So reports Mark Kersten in a blockbuster post at Justice in Conflict. You have to read the whole thing; here is a taste: While haggling between the ICC and Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) over the fate of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah al-Senussi continues, Libya quietly, but controversially, passed a blanket amnesty for pro-Revolution rebels. According to Lawyers for Justice in...
Things are getting ugly at the ICC. The Office of Public Counsel for the Defence, which has been appointed to protect Saif Gaddafi's interests at the Court, has now moved to disqualify Moreno-Ocampo from Saif's case on the ground that he "lacks the requisite impartiality to direct the investigations and prosecutions" because of his "repeated failure to respect the presumption...
The Liberty Forum has just posted a debate on sovereignty in the age of globalization between John Yoo, John Cerone, and yours truly. Here's a taste of the exchange, which I encourage you to read in its entirety. From John Yoo's post: Globalization has led to (1) the explosive growth in international trade; (2) the swift creation of international markets in...
Last week’s announcements can be found here. If you are organizing a conference or other event and would like to see the call for papers or the program announced on Opinio Juris, please contact us. Calls for Papers Applications for the Helsinki Summer Seminar on International Law (August 21-30, 2012 ) on International Law and Capitalism: Exploring the Legal Architecture of the Global Political Economy close...
So reports the media. I, for one, am shocked: it's almost as if KSM has concluded, having been waterboarded (read: tortured) 183 times in one month, that the U.S. might not actually be committed to the highest standards of fairness and justice now. Come on, KSM. Can't bygones be bygones? Heed Obama's injunction: now is the time to look forward, not...
[Gabor Rona is the International Legal Director of Human Rights First. He first posted his thoughts here about Monday's counterterrorism speech by John Brennan.] I’m grateful to Bobby Chesney, over at Lawfare, for taking the time to react to my post on the recent Brennan speech. As with so many of the more thoughtful defenses of U.S. counterterrorism policy, Bobby relies heavily on...
The Chen Guangcheng saga is not yet completed, and indeed, as the NYT puts it, "what briefly looked like a deft diplomatic achievement for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton [has] turned into a potential debacle." I do hope Mr. Chen will find safety and justice soon, but I am not optimistic. Until we discover his final fate, I thought I'd...
The Nuremberg defense pops up in the strangest places. As the NFL fans among our readers know, Commissioner Roger Goodell has suspended four New Orleans Saints players for their role in Bountygate -- a program whereby Saints players would get financial bonuses for intentionally injuring other players on the football field, essentially the most heinous crime a football player can...
[Gabor Rona is the International Legal Director of Human Rights First] The Obama administration’s charm offensive on targeted killings continues in response to calls from a broad spectrum of political and legal observers for greater government transparency. The latest entry is Monday’s speech by John Brennan, the president’s chief counterterrorism advisor. Each successive speech by a government official brings some new...
Libya has now brought a formal admissibility challenge under Article 19 of the Rome Statute. The motion, written by Philippe Sands, Payam Akhavan, and Michelle Butler, is a brilliant piece of work and stands a good chance of success. I'll have much to say about the motion in the next few days, but in this post I want to focus...
