Search: Symposium on the Functional Approach to the Law of Occupation
03 Sep Critical Pedagogy Symposium: Teaching Palestine–Recognising and Responding to the Dangers of Online Learning
international law is sophisticated. When lecturing on the nature of the Palestine/Israel ‘conflict’ in Ireland, I tend to face a student body that is overwhelmingly white, European and/or American, liberal-minded, and whose predilections are evident from the first day. They expect to deliberate the applicability of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), legal arguments about state sovereignty and belligerent occupation, the legal outworkings of the defunct Oslo Accords, and the role of the United Nations. Some readers will be pleased to learn that the use of legal doctrine to critique Palestinian rights...23 Sep A Reply to Goodman Re: War/Not War with Al-Qaeda
Ryan has a fascinating but problematic post today at Just Security in which he takes international-law scholars to task for opportunistically flip-flopping on whether the US is involved in an armed conflict with al-Qaeda. Here is the crux of his argument, taken from the post’s introductory paragraph: Those arguments have been inconsistent with regard to one fundamental legal question: whether the US is, as a matter of law, in an armed conflict. In fact, a pattern has emerged over the years: opposition to different actions has alternated between arguing that...20 Apr Events and Announcements: 20 April 2025
...to cover a range of subject expertise and ideally with some reviewing experience. Some areas of expertise we are looking for are: public international law, international humanitarian law, international criminal law, human rights, environmental law, law of the sea and private international law, though those with expertise in other areas of international law/international relations are welcome to apply.To do so, please send your CV, motivation letter (with specific reference to any reviewing experience you may have) and a short excerpt of a writing sample relevant to the post (maximum 3...
08 May The Artemis Accords: One Small Step for Space Law?
is somewhat surprising as many have assumed that most law-related activity concerning space in the near-term would be through the development of non-binding norms and ongoing discussions over the interpretation of existing treaties. That may still be the case. But whether the Artemis Accords will be largely criticized as a hegemonic power play or accepted as a clarification of international law will ultimately decide if this will be a step forward for US policy, for the development of the space law regime, for both… or possibly for neither. Stay tuned....
02 Aug Al Hassan: The International Criminal Court’s First Judgment on Gender Persecution (Part 2)
[ Rosemary Grey is a Senior Lecturer at Sydney Law School, The University of Sydney. Valerie Oosterveld is Western Research Chair in International Criminal Justice and Professor at the Faculty of Law, Western University (Canada). While she serves as Special Adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Crimes Against Humanity, this post was written in her personal capacity, and she was not involved in the Al Hassan case.] Although the ICC’s Al Hassan case seemed like a clear example of gender-based persecution, the Trial Chamber did not...
02 Apr Is Judicial Determination of Territorial Jurisdiction in the Palestine Situation Unprecedented?
depart from this international practice of the UN and other international judicial bodies. Therefore, the Court was right not to exclude any parts of OPT. Such exclusion could have been considered an encouragement to the Israeli occupation policies of annexation, settlement and unlawful excessive use of force against the Palestinian civilians. In addition, such ruling could have been discriminatory against the Palestinian People and inconsistent with Article 21(3) of the Statute, which stipulates that: “The application and interpretation of [the Court’s applicable law] must be consistent with internationally recognized human...
02 Apr Putting the International Criminal Court’s Palestine Investigation into Context
...by the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I, spurring a long controversy over prosecutorial discretion and judicial overview. Whether one agrees with the Prosecutor or the Chamber, the decision not to initiate an investigation into the Mavi Marmara case exemplifies the fragmented and piecemeal manner in which Israeli impunity has been approached to date. While welcoming the Prosecutor’s important decision to finally open an investigation into the Situation in Palestine in the face of immense political pressure, it is nonetheless crucial to recall the broader context within which the ICC operates, both...02 Aug Assessing the Legal Issues of the Moldovan Separatist Conflict
...history helped us tease out the state practice concerning the underlying law. We found there has been a consistent view that there is no general right to secession—or “external self-determination”—under international law. Attempted secessions are largely viewed as domestic affairs that need to be resolved by the state itself. As a matter of international law, a successful claim for external self-determination must at least show that: (a) the secessionists are a “people;” (b) the state from which they are attempting to secede seriously violates their human rights; and (c) there...10 Nov Guest Post: Is the Execution of Collaborators a War Crime under the Rome Statute? (Part II)
party to the conflict”. The Pre-Trial Chamber in Lubanga applied the Tadić approach to nationality, albeit in the context of interpreting “national armed forces” in the context of recruiting child soldiers, rather than protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict concurred with prevailing international opinion that Gaza remains occupied territory and that the laws of occupation, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, continue to apply. But Palestinians detained by the authorities in Gaza would generally not be considered as protected persons under...04 Mar In Memory of Edward R. Cummings
David Kaye, a State Department lawyer who is on leave as director of the Center for International and Comparative Law at Whittier Law School, wrote to tell me that Edward R. Cummings, a long-time lawyer at the State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser has passed away. Ed was not the type of guy who is often mentioned on blogs. He wasn’t an academic celebrity. He wasn’t a bomb-thrower. He was a quite simply a great lawyer. George Washington University Law School, his alma mater, has posted an obit and...