Search: Symposium on the Functional Approach to the Law of Occupation
18 May Is Israel’s New “Death Penalty for Terrorists Law” an Act of Apartheid?
the crime of apartheid, which may give rise to international criminal liability to anyone involved.” The statement by the Israeli scholars does not expand on this point. Leaving aside the domestic (constitutional) and international human rights law objections to the Death Penalty Law, is it a plausible proposition to object to the Death Penalty Law because it may be construed as an apartheid law, indeed as an act of apartheid for purposes of this crime under international law? The Death Penalty Law and (Racial) Discrimination The Death Penalty Law provides...17 Jan A Response to Ohlin about IHL and IHRL
of the laws of war, domestic criminal law – namely war crimes law – is the place to go for accountability. Indeed, that’s what the “grave breach” provisions of the Geneva Conventions and similar requirements in the Convention against Torture require (rather than merely permit). Criminal law, far from disappearing in armed conflict, merely takes a second seat only where provisions of applicable IHL would cause a different result, for example, in application of the privilege of belligerency. Otherwise, criminal law remains in force. But this is about IHRL, not...23 Oct Law, Governance, and the Eurozone
role of lawyers in the sense of sophisticated finance people who start in law but gradually take on interdisciplinary expertise; that describes a lot of the players in this world, including lots of law professors. I mean the role of lawyer and law in the questions of governance, structures of governance, the constitutional arrangements of the the EU, the eurozone, the law of the central banks, and down from the supranational to the national. The economists and most of the political types I speak with do not believe that law...11 Sep Guest Post: Is the International Criminal Court in Need of Support to Clarify the Status of Heads of States’ Immunities?
the Rome Statute and under the traditional canons of treaty interpretation lex posterior derogat legi priori? I am wary of these wide-ranging interpretations of SC powers precisely because this turns it into a legislature-cum-executive with boundless powers and makes a mockery of international law tout court. Forget treaty law, forget customary law, forget the 'traditional' rules and principles of international law developed over the centuries... in short, we are free to ignore what African states do and say because the P5, which is conveniently above the law, can do whatever...14 Aug How to Define Piracy Under U.S. Law and the “Law of Nations”
of what the law actually is." As to the relevance of UNCLOS, see also the Restatement of the Law, Third, Foreign Relations Law of the United States, on customary international law generally, and in partlicular, section 102: "International Agreements constitute the practice of states and as such contribute to the growth of customary law...Some multilateral agreements may become law for non-parties who do not actively dissent. That may be the effect where a multilateral agreement is designed for adherence by states generally, is widely accepted, and is not rejected by...04 May Quick Thoughts on UBL’s Killing — and a Response to Lewis
...internal , non-international armed conflict, international law doesn't really provide "combatant immunity." The source of "immunity" for violence forming a part of such hostilities must necessarily come from domestic law, and is more likely to take the form of "public authority." In the unique U.S. "common law of war," it is probably properly considered combatant immunity, but because it is so considered in our domestic common law. That is not what international law would necessarily call it...though state practice isn't clear on this point either so far as I can...28 Oct Contra CIA, Non-Self-Executing Treaties Are Still the Supreme Law of the Land
bin Laden). The most troubling sentence in Charlie Savage’s new New York Times piece on the legal theory underlying the United States’ 2011 incursion into Pakistan to kill or capture Osama bin Laden is this: “While the lawyers believed that Mr. Obama was bound to obey domestic law, they also believed he could decide to violate international law when authorizing a ‘covert’ action, officials said.” The Times piece very helpfully links directly to the basis of its statement that administration lawyers believed the President could disregard international law in covert...