In association with the International Commission of Jurists

State Department Confirms that Senators Rubio and Cotton were Right, Professors Ackerman and Golove were Wrong

03 Dec

I can't resist one final post to complete an earlier discussion between myself and professors Bruce Ackerman and David Golove on the legal status of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal.  As several others in the blogosphere have noted, the U.S. State Department has confirmed, in a letter to Congress, the following: The...

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30 Nov

Reports suggest that the Japanese government will resume whaling in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica early next year.  This news is causing lots of teeth-gnashing and anger in Australia and New Zealand, whose governments had brought and won a recent International Court of Justice decision finding Japan's previous whaling program in violation of the International Whaling Convention.  The news also reveals (again) the...

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29 Nov

Announcements The coordinators are pleased to announce the establishment of the Ghent Rolin-Jaequemyns International Law Institute (GRILI). The Institute builds on a long tradition in the area of international law at Ghent University and brings together ca. 30 faculty members and doctoral and post-doctoral researchers. Its activities span the entire realm of public international law, ranging from the law of armed conflict...

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25 Nov

Last week, the U.S. Congress passed the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015 (or the "Space Act"), which will authorize private U.S. companies to own and sell resources they extract from objects in space. Supporters (and detractors) are calling this historic, because it is the first time the U.S. government has plainly authorized commercial exploitation of outer space...

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24 Nov

Only a “truther” who denies that al-Qaeda was responsible for 9/11 could doubt the international law basis for holding al Bahlul accountable for his role in this completed war crime. So Peter Margulies argues in his latest attempt to defend the indefensible: al-Bahlul's conviction for the non-existent war crime of conspiracy as an inchoate offence. To describe the accusation as offensive...

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23 Nov

Announcements Guest Researchers – Focus on the Environment and the International Judiciary: PluriCourts invite researchers in the field of law, political science, and philosophy with a focus on the environment and the international judiciary to apply for visiting research fellowship. The positions as guest researchers can vary between 3 to 12 months. We encourage applicants to apply as soon as possible and...

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18 Nov

I had the honor and pleasure of testifying today before the U.S. Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee.  The topic of the hearing was "Examining International Climate Negotiations" and the upcoming conference in Paris. My own contribution argued that an agreement with legally binding emissions reduction obligations should be submitted to the Senate as a treaty rather than as a...

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18 Nov

A couple of years ago, I praised the winning design for the ICC's permanent home but acknowledged that I preferred a different one. I'm happy to report that I was wrong, at least aesthetically: the Court's new headquarters are absolutely beautiful. Here are a few photos: You can tell the Court's staff is eager to move into their new home, because there is...

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17 Nov

As I was researching a new essay on complementarity, I stumbled across a fantastic article in the Chinese Journal of International Law by Paidrag McAuliffe, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Liverpool School of Law. Here is the abstract of the article, which is entitled "From Watchdog to Workhorse: Explaining the Emergence of the ICC's Burden-sharing Policy as an Example of...

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16 Nov

Ilya Somin of the Volokh Conspiracy has suggested that if NATO invokes Article V's collective self-defense language against ISIS as a result of the terrible Paris attacks over the weekend, President Obama's ongoing use of military force against ISIS could be "legalized" as a matter of U.S. constitutional law.  Here is Ilya: Article 5 provides a much stronger justification for the war...

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15 Nov

Sponsored Announcement EIUC and its partner universities Birzeit University (Palestine), Saint Joseph University (Lebanon), International University of Rabat (Morocco) and Ca’ Foscari University (Italy) are proud to present to you the second edition of the Master in Democratic Governance - Democracy and Human Rights in the Mena Region (DE.MA), starting in January 2016. DE.MA is a multidisciplinary curriculum offering courses in law,...

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