Search: Symposium on the Functional Approach to the Law of Occupation
09 Oct Rethinking International Law After Gaza Symposium: Israel must be Expelled from the United Nations
...offending state – in this case, Israel. Expulsion in the South Africa Case No member state has ever been expelled from the UN. However, the organization came very close in the case of South Africa – a case with obvious parallels to that of Israel. The direct trigger for the debate at the UN regarding the expulsion of South Africa was not only the growing international opprobrium towards South African apartheid, but also its continuing occupation of Namibia – an occupation recognized by the ICJ as unlawful, as in the...21 Jul First Occupation Birthday
...attention and pressure from human rights groups. One could measure how seriously nations take international law by the price they’re willing to expend to defend it in exactly those circumstances where my not be convenient. Indeed, if nations wish to talk about certain stances that they take as being strictly dictated by international law, as opposed to motivated by politics, animus or other factors, it’s important to take those stances even when it would otherwise be awkward. The characteristic of law is that it is applied across the board. In...
19 Aug To Recognize or Not to Recognize – is That Really the Question? On State Recognition Amid Genocide
274), including the right to self-determination, which is a peremptory norm. This means that states should cooperate to bring to an end to the unlawful situation, as well as refrain from recognizing as lawful the situation created by the unlawful act, nor render aid or assistance in maintaining that situation. Moreover, the Court highlighted the “duty of distinguishing dealings with Israel between its own territory and the Occupied Palestinian Territory” including “the obligation to abstain from treaty relations with Israel in all cases in which it purports to act on...11 Jul The Conundrum of International Organisations Immunities: Jam et al v International Finance Corporation (Part 2 of 2)
demonstrate the need for a fundamental shift in approach. Judge Pillard observed: ‘I agree that Atkinson and Mendaro, which remain binding law in this circuit, control this case. I write separately to note that those decisions have left the law of international organizations’ immunity in a perplexing state. I believe both cases were wrongly decided, and our circuit may wish to revisit them.’ (Appeal decision, p. 11) First, on the question whether the FSIA’s restrictive doctrine of State immunity should also apply to IOs, preferring the approach taken by the...
11 Sep Libya and International Justice Symposium: Justice, Delayed
cases have been heard by civil and military courts in Libya. The post-Gaddafi interim government, strongly supported by the UN and western governments, did not prioritize a functioning justice system. So thousands of people in east and west of the country remained in long-term abusive arbitrary detention without a hearing. Domestic courts, affected by political divisions and armed conflict, are barely functional, with procedures hampered by grave due process violations, including forced confessions, ill treatment, and lack of access to lawyers. In some areas, including the south, the criminal justice...05 Feb AJIL Symposium: Is the Vienna Convention Hostile to Drafting History? A Response to Julian Davis Mortenson, Part 1
[Dr. Ulf Linderfalk is a Professor of International Law at the Faculty of Law at Lund University, Sweden.] Julian’s article focuses on a single proposition (p. 780) “[W]hen an interpreter thinks a text [of a treaty] is fairly clear and produces results that are not manifestly unreasonable or absurd, she ought to give that prima facie reading preclusive effect over anything the travaux [préparatoires] might suggest to the contrary.” Specifically, Julian argues (p. 781), that this proposition – while today shared by an overwhelming majority of international judiciaries and legal...
28 Jun Indigenous Land Rights in Argentina Under Fire: The Significance of the Mendoza Resolution at Domestic and International Law (Part II)
[ Dr Shea Elizabeth Esterling is a Senior Lecturer Above the Bar in the Faculty of Law, University of Canterbury (Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand), Co-Chair of the American Society of International Law Rights of Indigenous Peoples Interest Group (2021-24) and Chair of the Cultural Heritage and the Arts Interest Group (2024-27). She is the author of Indigenous Cultural Property and International Law: Restitution, Rights and Wrongs (Oxon: Routledge 2024).] Introduction: The Mendoza Resolution and International Law Set amid the struggle for indigenous ownership of ancestral lands in Argentina, this series examines...
07 Feb ICC and Palestine Symposium: Prosecuting Settlements as War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity–The ICC’s Jurisdiction over the Occupied Palestinian Territory
the Wall, the International Court of Justice stated bluntly that “the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have been established in breach of international law.” (at para. 120) The ICC’s Jurisdiction over the Settlement Enterprise As the scope of the territorial jurisdiction of the ICC is the subject of other entries in this Symposium, and will soon be addressed at length by victims, States, and amicus curiae in response to the Request, this aspect of the Court’s jurisdiction will not be explored here. In any event,...
15 Jul Intervention in Civil Wars Symposium: Intervention in Latin America
My friend Chiara Redaelli has produced an impressive volume, thoroughly analysing the topic of intervention in civil wars. As others in this symposium have already pointed out, it is usually difficult to offer comments on what one mostly agrees with. In this post, therefore, apart from congratulating Chiara for a fantastic book, I wanted to add to the conversation by briefly telling the story of intervention in civil wars she explores, though Latin American eyes. Latin America is not usually a region one thinks about when dealing with issues of...
18 Sep Organizing Rebellion Symposium: Non-State Armed Groups’ Organizational Structures–Some Thoughts and Inquiries
[Ezequiel Heffes is a Thematic Legal Adviser for Geneva Call and a Lawyer at the University of Buenos Aires School of Law. The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Geneva Call. This is the latest post in the co-hosted symposium with Armed Groups and International Law on Organizing Rebellion.] Although the nature, organization and structure of non-State armed groups (NSAGs) are issues of increasing concern, in particular due to the participation of these entities in the majority of armed conflicts (here, at 19), their...