A number of us -- me, Aurel Sari, Eliav Lieblich, Andrew Bell, Sasha Greenawalt, Craig Martin, Ed Swaine -- have been having an interesting discussion on Twitter about two important issues concerning the use of force. The first is when IHL begins to apply in an IAC. The traditional position is that any use of interstate force triggers IHL and...
Events COVID-19 and International Law: The Bocconi University , with the support of the European Society of International Law, is organising a webinar on the theme of 'COVID-19 and International law: Novel Strain or old wine in new test tubes?'. The Webinar will be held on 15 December 2020 at 13.30-18.00. Concept note: As the blogosphere breathlessly attests, the COVID-19 pandemic...
A few days ago, I had the pleasure of giving an online lecture for the Iranian Center for International Criminal Law about the relationship between the US and the ICC. In the lecture, I trace the evolution of the US-ICC relationship and try to predict what that relationship will look like under President Biden. I also speculate about why Trump has...
What does the dean of a law faculty do? I asked myself this question throughout my academic career. Most of the time, they appear both indispensable and irrelevant in equal measure. Deans are quixotic, sometimes even hostile. They do not teach; they produce little research; and many law faculties are acrimonious places, suggesting that organisational leadership is not within their...
I just had the pleasure of a sharp exchange on Twitter with my dear friend Mark Kersten, one of the most insightful commentators on the ICC. The exchange was motivated by the ASP making it "officially official" (Mark's nicely turned phrase) that the process for electing the next Prosecutor will be opened up to include (at a minimum) any longlisted...
[Vanessa Sant'Anna Bonifacio Tavares is a PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary International Studies (IIS) at the Vienna School of International Studies. The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect any official position.] In about 90 days, the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) shall enter into force, proscribing nuclear weapons use, threat of use, testing, development, production, possession,...
Announcements The Latest Volume of the Nuremberg Academy Series The Tokyo Tribunal: Perspectives on Law, History and Memory is out now. With the third volume of the Nuremberg Academy Series, the Nuremberg Academy offers a publication on The Tokyo Tribunal: Perspectives on Law, History and Memory, edited by Viviane E. Dittrich, Kerstin von Lingen, Philipp Osten and Jolana Makraiová. This publication combines perspectives from law,...
Judge Barrett is set to become Justice Barrett. Throughout her nomination process, I have been quite fascinated by the discussion surrounding her originalist views and originalism in general. As someone not used to originalism as a theory of Constitutional interpretation (it has not really caught on in Peru), this added exposure has offered me some new perspectives I had not previously considered, including originalism’s identity...
[Chris Jenks is the Director of the Criminal Clinic and Associate Professor of Law at SMU Deadman School of Law.] How is ‘attack’ defined under international humanitarian law (IHL), particularly in the context of cultural property and hospitals? Opinio Juris readers will likely have already answered the first part of the question by referring to Article 49 of Additional Protocol I (AP I) to the 1949...
Events The International Nuremberg Principles Academy is pleased to announce and invite you to the launch of the third volume of the Nuremberg Academy Series, an anthology entitled The Tokyo Tribunal: Perspectives on Law, History and Memory edited by Viviane E. Dittrich, Kerstin von Lingen, Philipp Osten and Jolana Makraiová. Join us for this online live event on 30 October 2020, from 10 a.m. -...
[Katharine Fortin is an Assistant Professor at Utrecht University where she teaches international humanitarian law and international human rights. Katharine has written widely about the legal framework in non-international armed conflicts and she is the author of The Accountability of Armed Groups under Human Rights Law (Oxford University Press, 2017)] Most of the literature studying what makes actors comply with international humanitarian law (IHL) has had...
According to Stephanie Maupas, in late July the chair of the Committee on the Election of the Prosecutor (CEP), Sabine Nölke, said the following concerning the Committee's vetting of candidates long-listed for Prosecutor: "I made the statement very clearly to the States Parties, the vetting process did not disclose any disqualifying information,” she said. The Canadian diplomat also asserted, not without...