In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Philip Morris Invokes BIT Against Australia’s Plain Packaging Law

21 Nov

I haven't been following Australia's new law requiring plain packaging for tobacco products, but I am a bit surprised that Philip Morris has filed a notice of arbitration claiming the law violates Australia's bilateral investment treaty with Hong Kong.  Here is PM's argument: Australia is in breach of the BIT because plain packaging: Amounts to unlawful expropriation of PMA’s investments and valuable...

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20 Nov

Reports are a little uncertain, but it sounds like Libya will not comply with the ICC Prosecutors' arrest warrant and turn over Muammar Qaddafi's son Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi. ZINTAN, Libya (AP) – Libya's new leaders said Sunday they will try Moammar Gadhafi's son at home and not hand him over to the International Criminal Court where he's charged with crimes against humanity. The government...

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18 Nov

We want to begin our closing post by thanking everyone who has participated in the symposium on our article this week. We also wish to thank our lead editor at the Yale Law Journal, Philip Levitz, who help arrange this symposium (as well as a forthcoming symposium at Yale Law Journal Online) and who has been truly outstanding in...

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18 Nov

Suzanne Nossel, who was until recently a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations and is currently a Visiting Senior Fellow for Global Governance at the Council of Foreign Relations, has been named the new Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. (I should note that Suzanne is an old friend.)  Here's part of what the Amnesty press release said: Most...

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17 Nov

Professor Sean Murphy of GW Law has been elected to the ILC. The press release from GW begins: Today, Professor Sean Murphy was elected by the United Nations General Assembly to the International Law Commission (ILC). The Commission consists of 34 distinguished legal scholars, practitioners, and government officials from around the world who are elected to serve for five-year terms. Created...

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17 Nov

According to AFP, the ICTY has issued an "arrest warrant" for Florence Hartmann for failing to pay the fine she received for her 2009 contempt conviction: The UN Yugoslav war crimes court issued an arrest warrant Wednesday against a former spokeswoman for the tribunal's chief prosecutor for refusing to pay a 7,000-euro ($10,000) fine. Florence Hartmann, a French national, was...

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15 Nov

I read Scott's and Oona's article Outcasting with great pleasure.  It is a wonderful contribution to the burgeoning literature on legal pluralism and non-state governance.  In particular, the article contests two propositions that have undermined recognition of various forms of non-state law: first, that law must be enforced by the legal regime itself; and second, that law must be enforced through...

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15 Nov

We want to thank Gary and Samantha for offering such interesting insights.  We will not be able to do them justice, but let us at least offer a few brief words in response. In his latest post, Gary calls on us to say more about when outcasting will be effective at changing state behavior, calling for both process tracing and empirical...

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15 Nov

Oona and Scott's article is meant to be an opening salvo. But it would be helpful to see more positive empirical evidence. I don't just mean that I'd like to see more cases of non-traditional enforcement than medieval Iceland and classical canon law, although I would, and I'm sure Oona and Scott would too. (Still, has there ever been a...

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15 Nov

Thanks to Duncan and Opinio Juris for the chance to discuss this work, and thanks to Oona and Scott for writing it. This is a wonderful article, provocative and learned, bursting with fresh thinking and rich in empirical observation. It was a pleasure to read. There's a wealth of stuff to discuss. I agree, both positively and normatively, with treating international...

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15 Nov

In their article Outcasting: Enforcement in Domestic and International Law, Oona Hathaway and Scott Shapiro make a seminal contribution to the study of the legality of international law. Their piece is not only a direct contribution to the burgeoning field of philosophy of international law, but it also participates in and deepens an important conversation within the field of general jurisprudence...

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