Search: Symposium on the Functional Approach to the Law of Occupation
02 May Soldier Self-Defense Symposium: The View from the Ground – Emerging State Practice on Individual and Unit Self-Defense
theory, is widely associated with the U.S. approach (although as Col. Bagwell discusses in the U.S. contribution, there is also a U.S. domestic criminal law version of self-defense in the UCMJ). Whichever approach states adopt – whether deriving individual or unit self-defense from domestic criminal law, or from sovereign self-defense – involves borrowing the “conceptual framework” (p. 430-31) and legal standards of a body of law designed for a very different context. However, given the general under-development of the concept of self-defense and large gaps in case law and state...12 Feb A Parsimonious Approach to (How) International Law (Works)
and functions of “international law.” Traditional positivist accounts are rule based. But there are competing process-based views, including the New Haven School’s vision of law as a process of authoritative and controlling decision making, and recent accounts that understand law in terms of a transnational legal process. Other approaches would include liberal accounts, which focus on the compliance as resulting from particular constellations of domestic political forces, and competing constructivist accounts. The point is that any particular conception of compliance presupposes a contested and controversial understanding of international law. So...
30 Jun The Early Stages of ICC Proceedings: Why the Court Must Ensure Access to Justice for Victims and Suspects (Part I: Victims and ICC Investigations: Rhetoric v. Reality)
...interests when deciding whether to initiate a prosecution. And beyond those victims whom the Prosecution approaches, there will be many, many other victims interacting with the Court and with each other. Where an investigation is initiated under Art. 15, or where admissibility proceedings occur under Art. 18(2), Judges ask victims about their views. Once the investigation is open, victims (and their lawyers) are invariably active, and regardless of the Prosecution’s activities, they will be documenting crimes and advocating for their interests. At this stage, victims’ lawyers advise their clients on...17 Oct Treaty Interpretation 101
...Convention and US law. Certainly, Article 32 would seem to owe much to the rule of English common law relaxed in Pepper v. Hart, viz. the rule against the use of Hansard in statutory interpretation. I take it that such a rule has never existed in US law? Also, Lord McNair would certainly not have been talking about similarities to American law (in the passage I seem to remember). This would, of course, raise the question of how English law has come to influence international law quite so much, if...08 Nov The Oxford Guide to Treaties Symposium: Validity of Reservations Revisited
[Marko Milanovic is Lecturer at the University of Nottingham School of Law] I am grateful to Duncan for inviting me to contribute to this conversation, inspired by his important new book. Let me continue where David Stewart and Harold Koh left off, namely with the issue of the validity of reservations and the innovations in that regard in the ILC’s freshly minted Guide to Practice. I would disagee with Professor Koh that the approach ultimately adopted by the ILC ‘makes little sense and smacks of unfairness’. On the contrary –...
28 Sep Symposium on the Current Crisis in Myanmar: Post-coup Violations Should be Investigated as Crimes against Humanity
...to be considered widespread it would need to be shown that the violent acts did not occur in a limited number of confrontations. In addition, in cases where the protests have taken place in several regions throughout a country like in Myanmar, the Prosecution’s approach considers whether the alleged crimes did not occur only in a limited number of them [OTP Report 2015]. According to the Prosecution’s approach, the number of the victims needs to be weighed against the size of the targeted population and the timespan [OTP Honduras Report]....
14 Jan Remedies in International Law: A Case of Inspiration
[Kristen Boon is a Professor at Seton Hall Law School and a Visiting Academic at Global Affairs Canada. All views expressed are those of the author.] Kent Roach’s new book Remedies for Human Rights Violations: A Two-Track Approach to Supra-National and National Law celebrates the creativity of international law with regards to remedies. He writes: “a central theme of this book is that domestic human rights lawyers can learn much about remedies from international law.” (5) As international law is sometimes viewed as a siloed discipline by domestic lawyers, Kent’s...
31 Mar Justice in Extreme Cases Symposium: An Invitation to Think about the Way We Think in International Criminal Justice
focus on the insights which Robinson’s ‘coherentist’ approach provides for understanding the assessment of individual criminal responsibility at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and I will examine the implications of the book’s observations for the way we think about the application of those principles in practice. A new perspective on ICL principles Justice in Extreme Cases rejects the foundationalist approach to defining international criminal law (ICL) principles, which seeks to deduce the requirements of those principles from a pre-existingmoral theory. As the author notes, the plurality of plausible theories, alongside...06 Nov CIA’s Approach to Drones?
Jordan Exactly, and JAG officers are also more likely to be better equipped to make proper choices and provide proper legal advice with respect to the law of self-defense -- the other paradigm used over the years by the Executive as an alternative legal basis for targetings and captures. Additionally, if CIA persons are doing the targeting, they would not have "combatant immunity" as "combatants" under the laws of war unless a particular CIA person happens to alse be a member of the regular armed forces of the United States...
18 Sep Setting Sail: Tales of an Academic Nomad
...project, contextualising its resonance on possible futures for international law, for purposes of this blogpost, I wish to comment on something more intimate. Alongside Malcolm X, Samir Amin, and CLR James, Ibn Battuta is one of the scholars who has most shaped my academic trajectory and guided my next career move. * * * Like many critical idealists before me, I have found myself both drawn to the potential of international law and disillusioned by its reality. From my formative years in law school, it was evident the global legal...