Search: Symposium on the Functional Approach to the Law of Occupation
27 Nov Why Should the UN “Govern AI for Humanity”: What is at Stake and What is the Urgency?
poses several risks to humanity and, particularly, to vulnerable groups, such as children, women and girls, and minorities, especially in the Global South. Furthermore, its risks in different critical civilian fields which have a direct impact on human rights, such as the law enforcement, administration of justice, and border control, environment, are already materializing. In the military domain, AI’s implications to international peace and security, have been discussed by the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (GGE on LAWS) of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW)...
02 Feb Action and Redaction: Reclassification at Cambodia’s Hybrid Tribunal
filing urges that the SCC take responsibility for protecting victims from loss of face, the violation of personal or familial privacy, and recrimination. Archival Approaches The Lead Co-Lawyers’ suggested approach to reclassification is both defensible and feasible: to hear from individual civil parties as to their preferences for all documents they have provided or that may affect them, and to gain their informed consent for the making public of such material. Within this, the Lead Lo-Lawyers propose dealing first with evidentiary material because it is this material that might otherwise...
26 Jan It is in the Interest of India to Settle the Jadhav Matter (India v. Pakistan) through Diplomatic Methods
the power of High Courts to grant any relief “… in relation to a person … who is for the time being subject to any laws relating to any of those Forces … in respect of any action taken in relation to him … as a person subject to such law.” Mr Jadhav is, of course, not a member of any armed forces of Pakistan, but for sure, he was subjected to Army Act, 1952 – a law relating to the armed forces of Pakistan. Fair Trial May Not Necessarily...
15 May EU Corporate Human Rights Due Diligence Obligations: From Means to Results
corporations to fulfil their HRDD-based duty. National judges have already followed this approach when interpreting civil law duties (of care). The common law cases of Vedanta and Okpabi are two of the most straightforward examples when it comes to corporate tortious liability for human rights violations. In these cases, the judges introduced a presumption of negligence element into the fault-based duty of care. They argued that when a corporation introduces a policy framework to avoid human rights abuses, it could be safely assumed that it has knowledge and control over...13 Sep General Principles of International Law for Apportioning Responsibility
of multiple tortfeasors. One comparative scholar surveyed the laws of fifteen countries and concluded that an appropriate standard would impose several liability for independent tortfeasors who cause divisible harm, but joint and several liability where they cause indivisible harm. This approach of using general principles of international law is most apropos for international courts and tribunals apportioning responsibility for violations involving non-State entities. My next post will address the private international law approach that the courts in the United States will likely use to apportion liability for international law violations....16 May Book Discussion “Outsourcing War and Peace”: Too Many Gaps – The Need for a Better Accountability Framework for Private Military and Security Contractors
contractors, and third-parties injured by contractors. These cases face various hurdles, such as the political question doctrine, state secrets, and preemption of state law tort claims through extending the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) governmental immunities to contractors. Courts have taken varying approaches to all of these doctrines, but in my view there should be a narrow path forward for claims in which the underlying conduct would constitute a serious violation of international law (such as torture) and the contractor retains discretion and does not effectively stand in the shoes...
25 Jan International Law’s Invisible Frames Symposium: Inter-Temporality, Legal Fictions and Wartime Emotions in the Investigation of International Humanitarian Law Violations
in their reasoning there is a conscious appeal to a fictional “inter-temporality”, borrowing the expression from a doctrine well known in international law according to which —as judge Max Huber expressed in the 1928 decision on the Island of Palmas arbitration case (p. 845)—, “a juridical fact must be appreciated in the light of the law contemporary with it, and not of the law in force at the time when a dispute in regard to it arises or falls to be settled” (on the debates around the concept see Elias...
28 May Revisiting the ‘No Case to Answer’ Procedure – the First Step in the Right Direction
...March 2018). In 2016, I argued (here) that incorporating the traditional test for NCA motions, designed for jury-based trials, in international criminal adjudication is illogical at worst and confusing at most. The core of the problem is that it requires the specific Trial Chamber, who is both a trier of law and of fact, to speculate as to whether a reasonable trial chamber could convict. I proposed two options to solve the problem. According to the first option, the Trial Chamber can only examine the evidence as a trier of...
11 May Myanmar: with Military Lacking Legitimacy and Control, Elected Reps Seek Recognition as Government
form the national cabinet (except for ministries appointed and led by the military’s autonomous Commander-in-Chief, and in spite of the 2008 Constitution allocating a quarter of parliament seats to the military). The military response to the overwhelmingly peaceful post-coup resistance has included widespread unlawful killings and enforced disappearances as well as the use of torture. All are serious crimes under international law. As in the military campaigns experienced by many of Myanmar’s minority groups, such coordinated and widespread acts suggest individual criminal responsibility at the highest levels. Yet in spite...