In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Search: Symposium on the Functional Approach to the Law of Occupation

17 Jan

affirms the long-standing distinction between lawful and unlawful combatants because it limits “prisoner of war” status to lawful combatants, such as members of the regular armed forces of a Party to the Convention. The underlying concept here is simple –unlawful combatants should not be provided combatant immunity during wartime, and should be held criminally accountable for their acts of war. By contrast, AU Professor Robert Goldman explains that lawful combatants have combatants’ privilege, which “immunizes members of armed forces from criminal prosecution by their captors for violent acts that do...
17.01.07 | |

15 Jan

of analysis of the international law of statehood and sovereignty. James Crawford, The International Law Commission’s Articles on State Responsibility: Introduction, Text and Commentaries (Cambridge 2002). This should have been on the original list back in 2005. A key reference to an important project in international law. Report of the Study Group of the International Law Commission on Fragmentation of International Law: Difficulties Arising from the Diversification and Expansion of International Law (.pdf) (13 April 2006) UN Doc A/CN.4/L.682 and the accompanying Analytical Study (.pdf). Much the this post is...
15.01.15 | |

21 Apr

[Major John C. Dehn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Law, US Military Academy, West Point, NY. He teaches International Law, and Constitutional and Military Law. He is writing in his personal capacity and his views do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Defense, the US Army, or the US Military Academy.] First, I express my thanks to Opinio Juris for permitting me to comment on recent events here at West Point in my personal capacity as an international law scholar and U.S. citizen. Last...
21.04.09 | |

21 Oct

national law.’ The requirement for proportionality likely has unique aspects in in context of article 8 ECHR and/or European Union law, as opposed to public international law. But there seems no reason why an extreme disproportion in a state act of deprivation of citizenship could not come within the characterisation of arbitrariness by the International Court of Justice: Arbitrariness is not so much something opposed to a rule of law, as something opposed to the rule of law. This idea was expressed by the Court in the Asylum case, when...
21.10.25 | |

05 May

[Craig Martin is a Professor of Law and the Co-Director of the International and Comparative Law Center at Washburn University School of Law.] Questions regarding the meaning, importance, and operation of “lawfare” were recently discussed at a great conference on Legal Resilience in an Era of Hybrid Threats at the University of Exeter. Several speakers explained how lawfare is being used by adversaries of Western states, and urgently argued that “we” must ourselves engage in lawfare as part of a comprehensive response to such hybrid threats. Yet I was left...
05.05.19 | |

31 Oct

for the Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law [BPGR]. These Principles, also known as the Van Boven/Bassiouni Principles, from the names of the two Special Rapporteurs who drafted them, are not legally binding. However, as stated in paragraph 7 of the Preamble, they “identify mechanisms, modalities, procedures and methods for the implementation of existing legal obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law” regarding reparations. Thus, in the words of one of their drafters, the BPGR “are meant...
31.10.24 | |

07 Jun

areas of customary international law — e.g., the law of treaties, the laws of war, or the law of the sea? This leads me to three questions. First, is my premise correct that most custom today is delineated in written instruments rather than the observed practice of states? Are there any areas where custom remains the product of state action (or inaction) in lieu of negotiated texts reflecting states’ visions of what the law is (or should be)? I’d be interested in specific examples if readers have any to offer....
07.06.06 | |

23 Jun

Law and the International Economic Law Interest Group of the European Society of International Law will host at the University of Amsterdam a Conference on “International Economic Law and Security Interests”. Besides a roundtable on adjudicating the security exception, the Conference will deal with the main areas of the topic over three axes: International Law and Security, including the history and interpretation of the security exception; Security Interests and International Economic Law, addressing the relationship between security interests and the legal regimes governing trade and investment; and Emerging Security Issues, to...
23.06.19 | |

11 Apr

Critical approaches to human rights; Critical approaches to the sources of international law; Critical approaches in the teaching of international law; The role of various actors in constructing narratives of international law, such as academics, judges, activists and/or institutions; and Critical approaches and the turn to history in international law. For more information, please contact either Sarah (Sally) Thin (she/her; sarah[dot]thin[at]maastrichtuniversity[dot]nl) or Wim Muller (he/him; wim[dot]muller[at]maastrichtuniversity[dot]nl). The full CfP can be found here. Call for Papers for 6th NLIU-Trilegal Summit on Corporate and Commercial Laws: The Centre for Business and...
11.04.21 | |

05 Feb

by law”: indeed there are advocates of this “thin” notion of the rule of law, epitomized by the writings of 19th century British jurist A.V. Dicey and the “Singapore model”. But this line of thinking ignores the now more dominant conception of the rule of law as not simply a value neutral construct addressed to forms and procedures, but a norm-laden overarching governance framework. (In fairness to O’Hehir, his point is ultimately that the rule of law is an elusive concept, not that it must mean rule by laws imposed...
05.02.18 | |

07 Sep

eliminate any ambiguity, Congress passes Law B, making conduct X plainly unlawful, and further "declares" that the new prohibition should be applied retroactively because, in Congress's view, the preexisting Law A had already proscribed that same conduct. Would the Court have to agree with that interpretation of Law A? I don't think so. And the same should be true for Congress's interpretation of what the LOAC prohibited during the period when Hamdan acted. Marko Milanovic I completely agree with Marty. There is a subtantial difference between legal interpretation and legislation...
07.09.06 | |

20 Mar

...and function of international law, its sources and subjects, and questions of jurisdiction and immunities, state responsibility and the responsibility of international organizations. For more information, please contact the course leaders: Professor Marleen van Rijswick (water law) and Professor Cedric Ryngaert (International law), or the course coordinator: Otto Spijkers. Calls for Papers The Vienna Journal on International Constitutional Law is dedicated to a wide range of subjects including in particular European Constitutional Law, Public International Law, the Constitutionalization of International Law, the Internationalization of Constitutional Law, the Migration of Constitutional...
20.03.16 | |