In association with the International Commission of Jurists

John Bolton: Either Support an Israeli Preemptive Strike or Accept the Reality of a Nuclear Iran

05 Apr

The ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber I (PTC) has rejected Libya's request to postpone the surrender of Saif Gaddafi so that he can be prosecuted domestically for other crimes.  That request was based on Article 95, which reads: Where there is an admissibility challenge under consideration by the Court pursuant to article 18 or 19, the requested State may postpone the...

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05 Apr

[Michael Kearney is an LSE Fellow in the Law Department of the London School of Economics] Michael Kearney guest blogs with us to share his knowledge of the Palestinian situation as an external consultant for the Palestinian human rights NGO Al-Haq "I heard from the Americans," Abbas reports. "They said, 'If you will have your state, you will go to the ICC....

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04 Apr

As I noted in my previous post, the OTP has implied that it would accept a determination by the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) that Palestine qualifies as a state for purposes of the ICC's jurisdiction.  That raises an interesting question: why have the Palestinians never (to the best of my knowledge) asked the ASP to make such a determination? ...

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04 Apr

Last week I had the good fortune to attend a reception in Washington D.C. with various arbitration luminaries announcing the inauguration of the Jerusalem Arbitration Center. With almost $5 billion in annual trade between Palestine and Israel, it is imperative to establish a neutral forum for resolving business disputes. JAC is established under the auspices of the...

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03 Apr

President Obama is set to give a speech later today criticizing Paul Ryan's budget plan.  That's all well and good -- the plan is a study in right-wing extremism.  But one of Obama's historical references is more than a little problematic.  From his prepared remarks (my emphasis): "In this country, broad-based prosperity has never trickled-down from the success of a...

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02 Apr

Here is an excerpt from my report on the Chevron-Ecuador Panel at this year's ASIL meetings, published over at ASILcables.org: In my view, the best way to understand Chevron v. Ecuador is as a marriage gone horribly wrong, where, as usual, the children are the biggest losers.  In this case, the “children” are theLago Agrio plaintiffs, most of whom are part...

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01 Apr

I think it's safe to say that the ECCC is in serious trouble, despite having an excellent International Co-Prosecutor in Andrew Cayley and many intelligent, dedicated staff.  As readers probably know, the international reserve co-investigating judge, Laurent Kasper-Ansermet, is resigning his position because interference by the Cambodian government is making it impossible for the Tribunal to investigate new cases.  Kasper-Ansermet...

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31 Mar

Here are some choice quotes from the ASIL annual meeting, all taken out of context for maximum effect: The real problem with cyber-security is that Viagra is too expensive. ~ Christopher Soghoian International arbitration is like a Jackson Pollock painting. There is order, but it takes an expert in fractal geometry to see it. ...

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30 Mar

[Harold Hongju Koh is the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State.] Statement Regarding Syria Harold Hongju Koh Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State American Society of International Law Annual Meeting March 30, 2012 It is my honor to speak here again at the annual meeting of the American Society of International Law. A year ago, I spoke before this audience about...

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29 Mar

Dawood Ismail Ahmed, a Pakistani lawyer and JSD candidate at the University of Chicago, has a very interesting article today at Foreign Policy on Pakistan's opposition to drone strikes.  He argues that if Pakistan really wants to put an end to the strikes, which have killed hundreds of innocent Pakistani civilians, it needs to start taking advantage of its options...

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