Search: Symposium on the Functional Approach to the Law of Occupation
29 Sep “Political” Commitments and the Constitution
a new U.S. security relationship with Iraq. The United States has long used political – or, non-legally binding – commitments as alternatives to its treaties, but the Executive’s authority to do so is un-theorized. And, although international law and international relations literature have studied political commitments extensively, conventional wisdom simply assumes that because they are not international law, they are irrelevant to domestic law as well. This paper challenges such views. We contend that the Constitution regulates the President’s ability to form political commitments and provide a comprehensive constitutional analysis...
18 Dec Meaningful Human Control over Autonomous Weapon Systems: An (International) Criminal Law Account
of the IHL principles of distinction and proportionality potentially amounting to war crimes. Criminal responsibility for unlawful attacks against protected persons (e.g. civilians) or objects is one kind of responsibility that could arise in this scenario. In light of possible responsibility gaps and the cardinal notion of ‘control’ in criminal law, meaningful human control must be shaped so that individual criminal responsibility for unlawful attacks amounting to war crimes can be attributed. Amoroso and Tamburrini rightly speak of meaningful human control as ‘responsibility attractor’. As I have previously argued ‘the...02 Dec A Response to Milanovic
prescription. He explores in depth the two main approaches to extraterritorial application—broadly, territorial and personal– and finds them both wanting. As he shows, a territorial approach pushes courts inexorably toward ever smaller definitions of relevant territory in order to ensure, at least in cases that present uncomfortable or shocking fact patterns, that justice is done. (Rather than a nation or region or city, perhaps the relevant territory over which a state exerts control is a facility or building. And so on.) An approach based on persons, by contrast, has no...
07 Feb Symposium on Fairness, Equality, and Diversity in Open Source Investigations: The Case To (Re)new Community of Practice for the Open Source Investigative Field
...perpetrators across the globe, a wealth of previously elusive information has opened up to bolster justice and truth-telling efforts, in turn spurring the growth of the open source investigative field over the last decade. However, the existing community of practice in this field is non-functioning. The status quo is for outsider researchers to form an echo chamber, mirroring, contributing to, and entrenching harms already thriving in the documentation-to-justice pipeline. Instead, how do we take good intention and turn it into truly good practice? The issues discussed below demonstrate flawed approaches...15 Nov Events and Announcements: November 15, 2015
the global arena. The conference will also address the functional reality of joint operations led by the Agency. Matters related to Human Rights and the legal responsibility for agency activities will be discussed. An emphasis with be placed on particular cases of search and rescue operations, return operations and the obligation of non-refoulement under international law. The conference will bring together academics and practitioners from EU and international law backgrounds. Given the current refugee crisis and with Luxembourg currently holding the EU Presidency, the event could hardly be better-timed or...
14 Feb Justice Prevails over Realpolitik at Koblenz: International Law offers a Rare Glimmer of Hope after a Decade of Disappointments for Syrians
[ Dr Caroline Sweeney is a lecturer in International Human Rights Law with a particular research interest in the intersection between international law and international politics in Syria. She has published on accountability for international crimes committed in Syria since 2011.] On 13 January 2022, the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany convicted Anwar Raslan, a former Syrian intelligence officer, of the crimes against humanity of killing, torture, severe deprivation of liberty, rape and sexual assault, in combination with 27 counts of murder, 25 counts of dangerous bodily injury, particularly...
21 May Transparency, Accountability and Legitimacy—Chatham House Report on Military Drones in Europe, Part I
the role of these countries in unlawful drone strikes. Under Article 16 of the International Law Commission’s Articles on State Responsibility, a state can be found internationally responsible for aiding or assisting another state in the commission of an internationally wrongful act if (a) it does so with knowledge of the circumstances of the internationally wrongful act; and (b) the act would be internationally wrongful if committed by that state (see further analysis here). Article 16 is an important additional obligation that attaches ancillary responsibility to those that aid or...24 Oct Remedying UN Abuses by Forcing the Host State’s Hand: Current Case Calls for the Haitian Government to Trigger a Standing Claims Commission
[Frédéric Mégret is an Associate Professor of Law at McGill University Faculty of Law.] On the 26th September, a group of diligent Haitian lawyers headed by human rights defender Patrice Florvilus requested an emergency injunction (“en référé”) before the Tribunal de Première Instance de Port-au-Prince against the State of Haiti, that would compel it to trigger the creation of the standing claims commission, as anticipated by the Status of Forces Agreement in effect with the United Nations since the creation of MINUSTAH in 2004. The goal of triggering such a...