In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Opinio Juris’ New Series on International Law and Presidential Politics

01 Mar

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...

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28 Feb

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....

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19 Feb

[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...

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16 Feb

[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...

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15 Feb

[Dr. Joanna Nicholson is a Researcher at PluriCourts - Centre for the Study of the Legitimate Roles of the Judiciary in the Global Order at the University of Oslo.] If you were to ask most International Humanitarian Law (IHL) experts whether the fact that a fighter is a child under the age of fifteen affects when they constitute a military target under IHL,...

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14 Feb

Like many lawyers who study constitutional law, I was saddened when I heard last night of the unexpected death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The internet being what it is, commentators have already offered their quick takes on Scalia’s substantial and multifaceted jurisprudential legacy (indeed, I think we’ve already moved on to debating his replacement). Most of these...

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14 Feb

Announcements Conflict Dynamics International presents a new tool for national judicial actors and others working on accountability for children in armed conflict: Anti-Impunity Tool: Guidance for investigating and prosecuting serious violations against children in armed conflict. This user-friendly tool provides concrete guidance and tips for investigating and prosecuting serious violations against children in armed conflict, such as recruitment and use of children by armed...

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13 Feb

According to a recent article in Agenda.ge, Russia has announced that it will not cooperate with the ICC's formal investigation into the situation in Georgia: Russia’s Ministry of Justice issued a statement confirming it would not cooperate with the investigation, reported Russian media today. Tbilisi was not surprised by Moscow’s decision. The Georgian side believed it would not be in Russia’s best...

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07 Feb

Announcements The GlobalTrust research project published a call for applications for post-doctoral fellowships for the academic year 2016-17. The GlobalTrust Research project at Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law is funded by a  European Research Council Advanced Grant, and studies the extent to which states that exercise regulatory functions should take into account the interests and preferences of foreign individuals and...

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06 Feb

Sorry for the endless self-promotion, but I thought readers might be interested in the following episode of Al Jazeera's Inside Story, which includes a 30-minute panel on siege warfare in Syria that I participated in. It was quite a wide-ranging discussion, focusing less on international law than I expected. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM8PwT9hz3c&feature=youtu.be As always, comments welcome! I hope readers don't think I was too...

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