In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Third Biennial Conference of Asian Society of International Law to be Held in Beijing

13 Jun

Passed along by Tony Anghie: The Asian Society of International Law will be holding its Third Biennial Conference in Beijing, China, on August 27th and 28th. The topics that will be addressed include human rights, international economic law and private international law, the law of the sea, climate change, disaster management, and the international law relating to security and conflict. A...

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03 Jun

I have just posted a new essay -- my first since finishing the NMT book! -- on SSRN.  Here is the abstract: Scholars have long debated to what extent the Rome Statute’s principle of complementarity permits states to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide as ordinary crimes such as rape and murder instead...

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31 May

In honor of the US government's decision to charge Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men responsible for 9/11 with the non-existent war crime of conspiracy, I want to call readers' attention to an excellent new article by Samuel Morison about the equally non-existent war crime of material support for terrorism.  Morison vivisects the government's attempt to justify material support...

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26 May

In Serbia, not surprisingly: Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general accused of overseeing the worst massacre in Europe since the end of World War II, has been arrested, Serbian authorities said Thursday. Mladic is Europe's most wanted war crimes suspect for his alleged role in the 1995 slaughter of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in the enclave of Srebrenica,...

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25 May

Members of Falun Gong have filed suit against Cisco, alleging the company collaborated with the Chinese government to develop and maintain “Golden Shield” technology. As a result of this technology, Falun Gong members have allegedly suffered “severe and gross abuses, including false imprisonment, torture, cruel assault, battery, and wrongful death.” The complaint, filed by my former colleague Lee Boyd and...

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24 May

According to TPM Muckraker, the DOJ has authorized prosecutors to indict John Edwards.  So in case you were wondering about the Obama administration's priorities, here they are: violating election laws to cover up an affair, not acceptable.  Ordering torture, no problem. Glad we cleared that up....

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24 May

This according to the New York Times: The charges — brought by prosecutors Mr. Mubarak had appointed — included hints that former subordinates might testify against him, as onetime allies and government insiders turn on one another. A Cairo criminal court is expected to set a trial date within days, and the Egyptian people could soon see the leader...

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24 May

[Marty Lederman is an Associate Professor of Law at Georgetown Law. He was was Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel from 2009 to 2010 and an Attorney Advisor in OLC from 1994-2002. This post is cross-posted at Balkinization.] [Slightly updated as noted to reflect valuable reader reactions.] Shortly after the recent military operation against Osama bin...

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19 May

[Harold Hongju Koh is the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State.] I write in response to those who have raised questions regarding the lawfulness of the recent United States operation against Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. United States officials have recounted the facts of that well-publicized incident, most recently in the interview of President Obama on CBS News 60 Minutes...

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