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...
03 Oct Symposium on Advisory Opinion AO-32/25 on the Climate Emergency and Human Rights: Indigenous Peoples, Consultation, and Climate Governance
departure from earlier approaches that tended to emphasize protection without fully acknowledging Indigenous Peoples’ role as rights-holders and decision-makers. Although formally grounded in the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR), the Opinion’s findings carry broader resonance. The Court treats participatory mechanisms, land tenure, and procedural guarantees not as ancillary safeguards but as integral to the architecture of climate governance. In doing so, it effectively elevates Indigenous rights from the margins of environmental law to the core of legal strategies for addressing the climate emergency. Moreover, by clarifying that the standards...15 May Book Discussion “Outsourcing War and Peace”: The Clash of Market and Civic Values and Its Implications
[Allison Stanger is Russell J. Leng ’60 Professor of International Politics and Economics and Chair of the Political Science Department at Middlebury College. She is the author of One Nation Under Contract: The Outsourcing of American Power and the Future of Foreign Policy.] This is the first day of our book symposium on Laura Dickinson’s book Outsourcing War and Peace: Preserving Public Values in a World of Privatized Foreign Affairs. Related posts can be found below. Laura Dickinson has written a compelling and thoughtful inquiry into the larger implications of...17 Mar International Law and The Second Amendment
...those deadly weapons.” Contrary to this assertion, most foreign gun laws in democratic nations are not nearly as restrictive as those found in Washington D.C., where private individuals are burdened by an outright ban of all functional firearms in their homes. Much of the brief focuses on country-by-country comparisons. But it also has some fascinating historical analysis of international law (citations and footnotes omitted): Some of the earliest works on the subject of International Law were by fourteenth century Milanese scholar Giovanni da Legnano, whose work, De Bello, De Represealiis...
07 Nov State Outsourcing of Information Operations: From Attribution to Aspiration – Part I
which reads: Conduct of persons or entities exercising elements of governmental authority The conduct of a person or entity which is not an organ of the State under article 4 but which is empowered by the law of that State to exercise elements of the governmental authority shall be considered an act of the State under international law, provided the person or entity is acting in that capacity in the particular instance. Unless the empowered by domestic law requirement is read out of this provision when applying it, which has...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...
24 Oct On Law, Cake and Booby-Traps: A Reply to Dr Lucas Roorda
involved. First, if we are serious about subjecting warfare to legal assessment and accountability, we must apply the law with care. This may not sound like a profound insight, but the point is that without respecting the formal strictures of the law, including its technicalities, it is all too easy to take liberties and shortcuts that bend the rules out of shape. Invoking the language of the law then becomes yet another exercise in point-scoring, for whichever side, as we see on a daily basis. This is deeply corrosive. Second,...30 May It’s My Potty, and I’ll Cry If I Want To
...disgruntled astronauts do about it? The Space Station operates pursuant to the 1998 Agreement Concerning Cooperation on the Civil International Space Station among Canada, the European Space Agency Member States, Russia, the United States, and Japan (although the Japanese Space agency’s participation is subject to an MOU with NASA, which I assume is because of domestic law limitations on the agency’s power to enter into international agreements). Article 10 of that Agreement provides The Partners, acting through their Cooperating Agencies, shall have responsibilities in the operation of the elements they...