In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Law School: The Recessionary Countercyle? Dark Thoughts from the Dismal Science on a Dreary Day in DC

25 Oct

Of course law school associate deans and admissions people are focused on the internals of this data, but even in the midst of crashing law school endowments, lowered giving, and so on, can we assume at least that law school itself is counter-cyclical to the economy overall?  When the economy tanks, students and recent grads take refuge in professional schools?...

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24 Oct

Last week the ICJ issued an order for provisional measures  (pdf is here) in the Case Concerning Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Georgia v. Russian Federation) . This case, along with the recent referral to the ICJ for an advisory opinion on the status of Kosovo, are the latest cases arising out of...

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24 Oct

Today, Friday, October 24, is United Nations Day.  If you are in the United States, however, your reaction is more likely to be - huh?  What United Nations Day?  This is not a feature of a right-wing blackout to prevent takeover by the 'black helicopters' - neither the New York Times nor the Washington Post (I checked the paper copies,...

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23 Oct

I'm just back from 9 days in Madrid -- my first visit, and it was great.  Of course, while there I couldn't ignore the international law-related story of the day.  Judge Baltasar Garzón (of Pinochet, al Qaeda, and Eta fame) is at it again.  This time he's agreed to open a criminal investigation into thousands of disappearances and executions surrounding...

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22 Oct

It appears that there may have been some progress regarding the Prosecutor's ability to disclose the potentially exculpatory information to the defense -- progress that is not reflected in yesterday's decision.  According to a recent motion, the Prosecutor has received permission to turn over all of the disputed documents to the Trial Chamber in unredacted form, so that the judges...

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21 Oct

The Lubanga fiasco continues.  Earlier today, the Appeals Chamber upheld the Trial Chamber's indefinite stay of the proceedings, but refused to order his immediate release, instead remanding the case to the Trial Chamber for further consideration of the issue. I have not had a chance to read the two -- typically lengthy -- decisions in any great detail, but these are...

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20 Oct

Paul Kennedy, distinguished Yale historian and author of many works, including most recently his history of the United Nations, The Parliament of Man, had a striking opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on October 17, 2008, "Weak States and Scofflaws Have No Business on the Security Council."  At issue was which countries would take up the rotating memberships on...

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20 Oct

John Bellinger has been legal adviser to the State Department for the past four years.  In this speech to the International Law Weekend (October 17, 2008), he offers some reflections on his experience.  (We here at OJ were privileged to have John guest blog here in a unique and highly successful experiment in 'blogging with the Legal Adviser'.)  I excerpt...

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19 Oct

Hope springs eternal in the Sudan -- at least on the part of the government.  Apparently, Khartoum has managed to convince itself that the Pre-Trial Chamber's recent request for additional information concerning the charges against Bashir means that it intends to dismiss those charges: The Sudanese government hailed a decision by the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) requesting more...

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18 Oct

That's the situation with the Sudanese government's latest contribution to the "peace" process: The United States, Darfuri rebels and Sudanese opposition parties have greeted a new initiative to solve the Darfur crisis with scepticism and boycotts, while Khartoum, the Arab League and the UN say it’s the region’s best hope. Widespread doubts about the credibility of the process prevail ahead of deliberations...

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17 Oct

For the last several years, I have been watching with fascination and admiration as my friend and Washington College of Law colleague, Daniel Bradlow, has been developing more or less from scratch an innovative tool in development finance for his native South Africa, what he has titled "Reconciliation and Development Bonds."  Professor Bradlow heads the international legal studies program at...

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