Eli Lake has a fantastic essay at Reason.com on the myriad ways in which Obama has replicated the worst excesses of the Bush administration with regard to national security. He rightly identifies the source of the problem -- the AUMF, which was passed in a fit of hysteria three days after 9/11 and has no natural expiration date. Here is...
In interests of being "fair and balanced," I thought I'd post Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen's rebuttal to Jane Mayer's "devastating" New Yorker review of his book on Bush-era interrogation policies. At this point, neither side is really arguing the law much, but both seem focused on policy. Thiessen's rebuttal looks pretty strong (as was Mayer's review). (see below for excerpts) Here's Mayer: His...
It's been 18 days since I asked NGO Monitor to provide the same detailed accounting of their funding that they demand of the human-rights groups they so regularly malign and demonize. Readers will be shocked -- shocked! -- to know that the organization has ignored my request, in keeping with its profoundly hypocritical approach to funding. In the meantime, of course,...
[Robert C. Bird is an Assistant Professor and Ackerman Scholar at the University of Connecticut School of Business; Peggy E. Chaudhry is an Associate Professor at Villanova University School of Business] Professor Robert Bird, Assistant Professor, University of Connecticut and Peggy Chaudhry, Associate Professor, Villanova University will discuss their Article, "Pharmaceuticals and the European Union: Managing Gray Markets in an Uncertain...
During the recent "nuclear summit" in Washington, Dutch prime minister Peter Balkenende proposed the creation of a new international tribunal to enforce and punish violations of nuclear non-proliferation agreements. Putting aside the fact that this is a blatant effort to put another international court in his hometown (the Hague), I agree with Prof. Göran Sluiter that this is a dumb...
[John F. Coyle is a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School] I want to thank Opinio Juris and the Virginia Journal of International Law for the opportunity to discuss my Article, “Incorporative Statutes and the Borrowed Treaty Rule.” I’d also like to express my gratitude to Professor Ingrid Wuerth of Vanderbilt Law School for providing a response to...
Eric Posner has an editorial today in the Wall Street Journal today that uses the recent indictment of Judge Garzon in Spain as an opportunity to dust off the traditional far-right attack on the concept of universal jurisdiction and the existence of the ICC. It's a remarkably misleading editorial, one that deserves a thorough response. Mr. Garzon wanted to prosecute Pinochet...
That very trendy and useful legal concept - the right of self-defense -- is not just for targeting U.S. citizens to be killed. The U.S. military's new "Cyber Command" chief has asserted that the U.S. government's right of self-defense almost certainly permits it to take offensive "cyber" attacks. ...
[Christopher M. Bruner is an Associate Professor, Washington and Lee University School of Law] First I want to thank Opinio Juris and the Virginia Journal of International Law (VJIL) for the opportunity to discuss my Article, “Power and Purpose in the ‘Anglo-American’ Corporation.” I’d also like to express my gratitude to Professor Brian Cheffins of the University of Cambridge for providing...
The Virginia Journal of International Law is delighted to continue its partnership with Opinio Juris this week in this online symposium featuring three Articles recently published by VJIL in Vol. 50:3, available here. Today, Christopher M. Bruner, Associate Professor, Washington and Lee University School of Law, will discuss his Article Power and Purpose in the “Anglo-American” Corporation. In his Article, Professor...
A simple question for those who believe "self-defense" and/or the AUMF authorizes the CIA to kill Americans abroad outside of armed conflict. If Obama authorizes it, can the CIA put a bullet in the back of the skull of an American citizen believed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda while he is watching a movie in Topeka, Kansas? If not, why not?...
Christopher Jenks, Chief of the International Law Branch of the Office of the Judge Advocate General, has a pretty compelling defense here of the legality of the U.S. detention and trial of Canadian Omar Khadr for violations of the law of war, despite the fact that Khadr was not quite 16 when he committed his alleged crimes. The heart of...
