Search: Symposium on the Functional Approach to the Law of Occupation
24 Mar The Potential of Gender Persecution in ICC Case Abd-Al-Rahman: A Twofold Opportunity to Interpret its Customary Status and Intersectional Discrimination
provision. Non-discrimination is, additionally, a fundamental ‘principle’ of international law legally binding for the Court as a source of law (article 21(1)(b)). The importance of non-discrimination in international law is reflected in the place accorded to this principle, recognized in the chapeau of all IHRL instruments (e.g. article 2 of the international covenants, here and here), leaving little doubt about its customary status. As Judge Pikis noted in his separate opinion in Lubanga (para 3), the extent to which a norm is ‘incorporated in international instruments denotes comprehensive assent to...05 Feb The DoJ White Paper’s Confused Approach to Imminence (and Capture)
...would talk. Sometimes it was with regard to holes in laws passed by Congress that were due to Congress having overlooked the implications of the laws for Americans living abroad. At the end of the 90’s I believe there were estimates that 10 million Americans lived abroad. These included soldiers and people with the government, but the vast majority were private citizens finding their bliss by having these international careers (Obama’s mother as an example, but also corporate types being sent to foreign offices, lawyers in lawfirms, etc). Being evaluated...08 Oct Guest Post: On ‘Humanitarian Intervention’, ‘Lawmaking’ Moments and What the ‘Law Ought to Be’–Counseling Caution Against a New ‘Affirmative Defense to Art. 2 (4)’ After Syria
illegality rule, but proposes a differentiated treatment as to the consequences of intervention. This logic might be somewhat closer to existing status quo of the law in terms of its approach. But it remains questionable whether it should be applied to the mix of justifications for strikes used in the Syrian context. 4. From ‘law-breaking’ to ‘lawmaking’ A final problem of Koh’s argument is his approach towards ‘lawmaking’. Syria may indeed provide a momentum for further ‘lawmaking’. But the fundamental question is whether such initiatives should focus on the framework...21 Jan Did the Gbagbo Majority Get the No Case to Answer Standard Wrong?
...— as Paul rightly does in his conclusion — that if the Majority did depart from the Ruto standard, it had every right to do so. Trial Chambers are bound by decisions of the Appeals Chamber; they are not bound by the decisions of other Trial Chambers. So, in the absence of an Appeals Chamber decision, there is nothing inherently wrong with one Trial Chamber taking a different approach than one of its predecessors. It might be a good idea for Trial Chambers to generally follow the approach taken by...14 Mar Symposium: Alter and Helfer’s Liberal Theory of International Courts–Interlocutors, Context, Backlash
contextual approach to ICs. This approach locates courts in their international and especially domestic contexts, and explores how ICs interact, not only with state governments (which Alter and Helfer believe have been overemphasized in previous scholarship), but also and especially with other supranational and domestic actors. Given the wide range of topics they address, any review of their book must be selective, and I select just three themes – interlocutors, context, and backlash – as the core value-added contributions of the volume over existing scholarship, including Alter’s and Helfer’s previous...
02 Jul The Use of Benchmarks in the Colombia Situation: An Opportunity for a Victim-Oriented Approach to ICC Complementarity
[Alejandra Muñoz is an International Legal Advisor with a Colombian lawyers’ collective, ”Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo (CAJAR)’] In February this year, the long awaited first voluntary statement rendered by Colombian army general Mario Montoya Uribe before the country’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP) sparked a great deal of frustration and disappointment among victims. After refusing to speak entirely on the first day, his declarations on the second day not only failed to contribute in any manner to establishing the truth on the more than 2000 extrajudicial executions of...
01 Dec The ECtHR’s Take on Victim Status and its Recent Climate Change Cases
[ Sude Kınık is a legal trainee at Kabine Law Office in Istanbul, Turkey] The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its latest climate change judgment, Greenpeace Nordic and Others v. Norway on October 28th, following closely in the footsteps of its decision in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland. In this new case, the Court reaffirmed and applied the KlimaSeniorinnen criteria for granting individual applicants victim status. The applicant association, Greenpeace Nordic, was granted standing under Article 34 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), while...22 Apr Is the Mauritian COVID-19 vaccine rollout based on a human rights approach?
Tanveer Jeewa is the Legal and Communications Officer at the International Commission of Jurists, Africa Regional Programme. She works mainly on issues of international human rights law and constitutional law. She has recently completed her LLM in Public Law at the University of Cape Town and was previously a law clerk at the South African Constitutional Court for Justice Theron. During 2020, Mauritius was internationally hailed as a country with among the most effective COVID-19 responses. By June 2020, the strict lockdown imposed in Mauritius had been completely lifted and...
12 Jul Intervention in Civil Wars Symposium: The Importance (and Limitations) of Legitimacy During Foreign Intervention in Civil Wars
[ John Hursh is a lawyer, writer, and researcher focusing on the use of force, human rights, and international humanitarian law. He served as Director of Research at the Stockton Center for International Law and Editor-in-Chief of International Law Studies at the U.S. Naval War College from 2017 to 2020.] “It can be difficult to write something interesting about something one agrees with.” So wrote Timothy Waters when reviewing Mark Drumbl’s excellent book Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law (CUP, 2007). I find myself reaching the same conclusion after reading Chiara Redaelli’s also...