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30 May

...threat" and (2)inappropriate delays in reporting civilian casualties. I grant that (2) is post hoc but (1), in theory, could still lend itself to the neg hom discussion. GH Leaving the issue aside whether criminal investigations are in place, unfortunately this is just one in a string of 'incidents' of 'collateral damage'. One may wonder whether the term incident is even appropriate in that sense. I'm currently residing in the region of South East Asia, and the local papers report similar incidents almost on a weekly basis, something that never...
30.05.10 | |

09 Mar

...president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time. OK, there is nothing here that is incorrect, as a matter of law, and this is not surprising since the letter was apparently drafted by Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a very smart and knowledgeable constitutional lawyer. The letter does raise a couple of important constitutional issues. First, a letter sent directly to a foreign leader on a matter which is currently under negotiations...
09.03.15 | |

01 Dec

...does not affirmatively prohibit sexual-orientation discrimination, it likewise does not forbid recognition of same-sex marriages. para. 103. Therefore, there was no cause to even consider a weaker interpretation of the Constitution's prohibition against sexual-orientation discrimination on international law grounds. Thus, the use of international law was appropriately limited in Fourie for two related reasons: First, the Constitution's own text (not to mention a string of earlier precedents) clearly favored requiring recognition of same-sex marriages. Second, international law did not directly conflict with that outcome; at most, it failed to provide...
01.12.05 | |

19 Jun

...an exercise in scapegoating. If the genuine will to interfere militarily existed, I doubt law would prove much of an obstacle. That being said, I'm somewhat hesitant to pay the UN at all. They've shown no interest in reform, and really, the purse string is the only control we have at all. Given the past effectiveness of UN peacekeepers, one should wonder whether those taxpayer dollars are wisely spent. jvarisco It seems that a lot more relevant than IL may be the thousands of nukes Russia has aimed at us....
19.06.07 | |

13 Feb

...basis for the judges’ ultimate determinations of a round winner. In fact, I’m convinced that my efforts to teach my students thorough international legal research and argumentation has actually hurt them at Jessup. This is because the judges, who don’t themselves know what the proper use of international legal sources is, clearly have their own closed universe of sources and arguments listed for them in their bench brief and score sheet. And wo betide the team that presents perfectly valid and supported arguments that don’t use the sources in the...
13.02.12 | |

18 Jul

...As Kirkpatrick Sale writes [in 1990!], 'What I find truly pernicious about such [lifestyle] solutions is that they get people thinking they are actually making a difference and doing their part to halt the destruction of the earth: "There, I've taken all the bottles to the recycling center and used my string bag at the grocery store; I guess that will take care of global warming." It is the kind of thing that diverts people from the hard truths and hard choices and hard actions, from the recognition that they...
18.07.07 | |

17 Jan

...interrogation and then string them up - looks like lynching in the South to me. The civilized attempted through Geneva to prevent that in armed conflict. And now all states have signed on to Geneva so that it is truly universal. Best, Ben Geoffrey Corn The Commentary is certainly instructive. However, the Commentary reflects a general impression of State positions. The Final Record of the drafting sessions is an equally, and perhaps in some cases more significant source of interpretive authority. With regard to unlawful belligerents, the Final Record indicates...
17.01.07 | |

27 Feb

...(or who do cause) cause short-term "severe mental pain or suffering" in the colloquial sense must therefore "specifically intend" to cause (or even to threaten) severe mental pain in the statutory sense, which requires proof of "prolonged mental harm." The same is true even if one assumes that the interrogator intends to threaten severe physical pain. Yes, such a threat is intended to cause severe mental pain in the colloquial, short-term sense. But it clearly would not be specifically intended to cause prolonged mental harm -- not unless the interrogator's...
27.02.10 | |

27 Feb

...or power to do so that its member states do not possess. The best it could do, perhaps, is to say that the Council failed to refer a "situation" as it understands that term in the ICC Statute, and therefore that it (the ICC) is without any jurisdiction in these matters pursuant to the referral. Even then, Art. 103 would seem to require and attempt to harmonize its interpretation of the ICC Statute with its member's Charter obligations. dov jacobs With all due respect, I think you're misphrasing the terms...
27.02.11 | |

09 May

...have seen a resurgence of interest in “what works?” research that challenges some of the more pessimistic conclusions of the 1970s. But today, rehabilitation programmes no longer claim to express the overarching ideology of the system, not even to the leading purpose of any penal measure. Sentencing law is no longer shaped by correctional concerns such as indeterminacy and early release. And the rehabilitative possibilities of criminal justice matters are routinely subordinated to other penal goals, particularly retribution, incapacitation, and the management of risk. [….] For most of the twentieth...
09.05.06 | |

14 Apr

...the back of his brief in a footnote that is roughly the size of the one giving thanks to the students in the clinic who helped write it (see p. 30). If the argument is that Harold Koh should have disclosed to the Senate that CEDAW Committee Interpretations could eventually make back-of-the-brief string cite material in an amicus then that's some pretty weak tea for a filibuster. And Mr. Swaine, don't think that interested members of the legal community and the public don't read this deep into the comments and...
14.04.09 | |

29 Oct

Patrick S. O'Donnell The search for cheaper markets: in land, labor, what have you, is not surprising and will be a mixed blessing for those countries where they're located. Of course "who owns what" will, once more, be telling.... Several titles in my latest bibliography. "mass media: politics, political economy and law," deal with some of the subject matter broached and implicated in this post. Please see: http://ratiojuris.blogspot.com/2010/10/mass-media-politics-political-economy.html Nathan Dunford I know that China has been heavily involved in Africa through aid and building infrastructure. They have made huge efforts...
29.10.10 | |