I had resolved to avoid blogging about Bernstein's endless series of attacks on Human Rights Watch, but I couldn't let the following pass without at least some acknowledgement: At what point does the MSM stop treating HRW as a neutral source on human rights in the Middle East, and start treating it like the left-wing, anti-Israel, anti-Western organization it has openly...
[caption id="attachment_10155" align="alignleft" width="145" caption="Anupam Chander"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_10102" align="alignright" width="101" caption=" "][/caption] Today, one of the most important ports of entry for trade can be found on the diminutive screen of the iPhone. Companies from around the world vie to provide a service via that screen -- playing a game, offering information, managing finances, or connecting one with friends. With its two billionth...
Looking at the long-awaited new Obama Sudan Strategy, there is much to admire. It is sensible, forward-looking, and realistic. It also appears to be pretty much the same policy President Bush pursued, which then Obama campaign adviser Susan Rice (and current UN Ambassador) trashed back in 2008. For instance, it emphasizes ending the violence and war through a peace agreement,...
[caption id="attachment_10105" align="alignleft" width="135" caption="Evan Criddle"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_10106" align="alignleft" width="123" caption="Evan Fox-Decent"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_10102" align="alignright" width="101" caption=" "][/caption] One of the great benefits of Opinio Juris is that it permits authors to clarify their views in light of thoughtful criticism, and Alexander Orakhelashvili’s comment on our article is certainly all of that. As the author of the leading monograph on jus cogens, namely Peremptory...
[caption id="attachment_10134" align="alignleft" width="110" caption="Alexander Orakhelashvili"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_10102" align="alignright" width="101" caption=" "][/caption] Peremptory norms (jus cogens) form part of the core of the international legal system, and combine both public policy (public order, ordre public) and constitutional elements in the sense that they ban the legal effect of conflicting acts and transactions and prevail over conflicting norms and instruments. Both these qualities follow...
[caption id="attachment_10102" align="alignright" width="61" caption=" "][/caption] [caption id="attachment_10105" align="alignleft" width="105" caption="Evan Criddle"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_10106" align="alignleft" width="97" caption="Evan Fox-Decent"][/caption] We would like to begin by thanking Opinio Juris and the Yale Journal of International Law for hosting this symposium, and Alexander Orakhelashvili for generously agreeing to act as our interlocutor. In international law, the term “jus cogens” refers to norms that are considered peremptory in the...
Making Sense of Darfur will be holding an online symposium over the next few weeks dedicated to analyzing what is likely to happen in Sudan in 2010 and 2011. Here is how it's described by Alex de Waal, with whom I rarely agree but always respect: Sudan faces two momentous events in the next fifteen months. The first is the general...
[caption id="attachment_10089" align="alignright" width="101" caption=" "][/caption] The Yale Journal of International Law (YJIL) is pleased to continue its partnership with Opinio Juris in our fourth online symposium (previous symposia can be found here). This Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we will feature three Articles published by YJIL in Vol. 34, No. 2, which are available for download here. Our sincere thanks to Julian...
Martin Holterman and Marko Milanovic have been kind enough to respond to my post on the ICTY's attack on Dr. Karadzic's right of self-representation, so it's only fair that I respond to their responses. To begin with, Martin writes that "[g]iven the precedent of the Milosevic case, and undoubtedly many others with which I am less familiar, I think we can...
The Obama Administration is becoming famous for their Friday night news dumps (deficit reports are always on Fridays). So here is another one sure to anger some parts of their base, but which is carefully buried while everyone is watching the Yankees beat up on the Angels. The Obama administration has formulated a new policy for Sudan that proposes working with that country’s...
Curtis Bradley and Jack Goldsmith have a nice piece in Green Bag on foreign sovereign immunity as applied to current and former government officials. The article tees up the issues that will be presented in Samantar v. Yousef. Here is a key part of their argument: We agree with those courts that have concluded that suits against individual foreign...
Harvard Law School is hosting in a couple of week what is certain to be a very interesting small conference on the Alien Tort Statute. I was lucky enough to be one of the invitees, addressing the issue of corporate liability under the ATS. I address the issue of corporate liability under the ATS, but am actually interested in it...
