Along with more than 200 other lawyers and academics, I have signed an open letter to the UK government criticising the UK's investigatory powers bill -- aka the "Snooper's Charter." Here is the text of the letter: The UK’s investigatory powers bill receives its second reading on Tuesday. At present the draft law fails to meet international standards for surveillance powers....
Calls for Papers The Utrecht Journal of International and European Law is issuing a Call for Papers on ‘General Issues’ within International and European law. The Board of Editors invites submissions addressing any aspect of International and/or European law. All types of manuscripts, from socio-legal to legal technical to comparative, will be considered for publication. The Board of Editors will select articles based on quality...
[Abdollah Abedini is an Assistant Professor of International Law at the Faculty of Law, Farabi College at the University of Tehran.] On December 19, 2015, John Kerry, the United States Secretary of State, sent a letter to Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Foreign Minister of Iran, on the US government’s firm intention to implement the JCPOA. The letter was issued pursuant to...
It's been a rough U.S. presidential campaign season for free traders. Very few of the candidates are willing to voice broad support for free trade and free trade agreements. Populist candidates like Senator Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have made some pretty ugly noises about either violating or withdrawing from existing trade agreements. Although Donald Trump's proposal for 45% tariffs on China...
In a recent post, I noted my puzzlement at Russia's recent announcement that it will not cooperate with the ICC's investigation in Georgia. Noting that "Russia has very little to fear" from the investigation, I asked why it would not "milk a little goodwill by at least pretending to cooperate with the ICC" -- especially as Russia could simply stop...
Sponsored Announcements The Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law is happy to announce its call for applications to the 2016 Program of Advanced Studies on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, which takes place in Washington D.C. from May 31 – June 17. This annual Program offers 19 courses in English and Spanish lectured by over 40 scholars of relevance in...
[Liora Lazarus, BA (UCT), LLB (LSE), DPhil (Oxon), is an Associate Professor in Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, and a Fellow of St. Anne's College. Her primary research interests are in comparative human rights, security and human rights, comparative theory and comparative criminal justice.] The UN WGAD Assange decision was initially met with incredulity and general ridicule from British...
We are pleased to announce that Opinio Juris will begin an occasional series on international law and Presidential politics. Foreign policy and international law have been a central topic of discussion among the U.S. presidential candidates, and there is much fodder for discussion regarding the fidelity of their positions with the United States’ commitments under international law. The...
Sponsored Announcements This summer 2016, SOAS will be offering five different law short courses, co-convened by leading academics in the field. Through a mixture of lectures, readings, discussions and activities, the courses will explore contemporary issues of; Gender, Conflict & Law, English Law in the Global Context, Climate Change Law and Policy, International Law: Contemporary Issues, Migration, Radicalisation and the Law....
Things are not going well for Ukraine. It has lost Crimea, effective control over eastern parts of its territory, its divided government is hampered by corruption which is sparking more internal violence, and its economy is doing poorly. Russia is the cause of many (though not all) of its problems, so it is not surprising that Ukraine is looking to try...
[Dr. Aaron Matta is a Senior Researcher at The Hague Institute for Global Justice, Rule of Law Program. Anca Iordache is an intern within the Rule of Law Program the Institute. With many thanks to Stephen Rapp, Danya Chaikel and Lyal S. Sunga for their helpful feedback on earlier drafts of this commentary. The views expressed here do not necessarily...
[Dr Melanie O’Brien, TC Beirne School of Law & Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, University of Queensland.] Since December, there have been multiple announcements of new allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by peacekeepers, and criticism of the UN for the handling of these allegations. These allegations all relate to SEA committed by peacekeepers in the Central African...
