Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

is required to bring some wars to an end. And yet there’s been little evidence of that sentiment in American opposition to missile strikes against military targets in Syria. Obama has specifically disclaimed any intention to end the Syrian civil war through military action. But whatever. Even after 1,400 Syrian civilians, including 400 children, were killed in a nerve gas attack that was in all likelihood carried out by government forces, the prospect of American military intervention has been met with a combination of short-sighted isolationism and reflex pacifism —...

Surgical Hospital in Idlib, Syria, on 5 May 2019. Two brothers died as a result of the attack, and the lives of approximately 30 people working in and using the hospital were endangered. Attacks of this type were, and are, a common feature of the conflict in Syria, to the extent that the UN Security Council issued a resolution calling for the protection of medical facilities. These attacks are widely documented online, and Syrian documenters have filmed and shared extensive footage of attacks on hospitals and their aftermath. On 1...

revulsion. So what’s his motivation? For reasons of his own, he must have decided that he was better off without chemical weapons than with them. Perhaps it has to do with the internal political situation in Syria. Or maybe Russia got fed up for some reason. But it’s a bit of a mystery, and not one that I’ve seen any plausible explanations for. I don’t think it’s a mystery at all. Here is the explanation: Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad have firmly seized the momentum in the country’s...

to the International Criminal Court; and yet another relates to the critical role of fact-finding and evidence gathering, being undertaken by the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria and other actors. However, important as these are, I focus on the route that has been chosen by the Netherlands in this instance – that of the CAT and its potential application to the International Court of Justice. In its press statement, referencing a diplomatic note sent to the Syrian government, the Netherlands states: “The Netherlands has invoked Syria’s responsibility for...

or appropriate as a course of action? If the United States maintains a military presence in Syria after the end of the conflict with ISIS, the only possible basis could be self-defense: Syria has not consented to the U.S. military currently being in or remaining in Syria and the U.N. Security Council has not authorized and is unlikely to authorize a multinational operation in Syria. Can self-defense be a justification for a state to use force to prevent the resurgence of conflict? Or to deny a safe haven to terrorist...

...the treaty. This joint Asia Justice Coalition – Opinio Juris symposium is to introduce you to some key aspects of the negotiations and to provide you with a flavour of the fortnight of intense discussions in Ljubljana, that have resulted in the ‘Ljubljana – The Hague Convention’. A list of contributions is listed below, with links: Priya Pillai, Introducing a Symposium on Ljubljana – The Hague Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance: Critical Reflections Vaios Koutroulis, A New Tool in the Fight Against Impunity for Core International Crimes Raquel Saavedra and...

Opinio Juris is very pleased to host for the next few days an online symposium on Eric Posner and Adrian Vermeule’s new book, Terror in the Balance recently published by Oxford University Press. The format for this symposium will be familiar to those who followed the symposium we held three weeks ago on Michael Ramsey’s book, The Constitution’s Text in Foreign Affairs. We will begin with a few posts introducing the broad outlines of the book. We will then have comments from experts who will address various aspects of the...

[Marina Aksenova is an Associate Professor of International and Comparative Criminal Law at IE University] In this concluding post, I would like to offer a few observations on the themes raised by the participants of the symposium. Above all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the contributors for taking time to reflect on my book and offer their brilliant and innovative insights as well as to Kevin Heller and Opinio Juris team for generously hosting the symposium. The points I raise are not exhaustive but rather tentative...

...ripe to rethink how we regulate private security, to catch up with the present, and effectively prepare for a fast-approaching future. Symposium Contributions: The Business of Security: New Frontiers and Old Challenges in Private Military and Security Companies Regulation – Introduction to the Symposium by Gabriella Citroni, Chiara Gabriele, Danaé van der Straten Ponthoz and Julie Bardèche Use of Maritime PMSCs, Weapons Procurement and Predatory Recruitment – New Frontiers in PMSC Regulation by Andres Macías-Tolosa, Joana de Deus Pereira, Jovana Jezdimirovic Ranito and Michelle Small The Role of PMSCs in...

...Conflict. We will kick off the joint symposium with posts by Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the first Prosecutor at the ICC, and by David Crane, the first Prosecutor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. We will then publish a number of posts each day next week, some at Opinio Juris and others at Justice in Conflict. We encourage readers to read the posts at both blogs – and to tell us what you think! Update (20 April 2020): Here is a list with all the posts in the symposium, with links....

was largely reversed by Congress a few months later while the long term effects of Sanchez-Llamas remain uncertain. For this reason, this symposium is a terrific opportunity to shine the light on this potentially important decision. This symposium is full of blogger-professors. In addition to yours truly, Opinio Juris co-blogger Peggy McGuinness and Opinio Juris guest-blogger Janet Levit have contributions in this symposium. Bloggers Melissa Waters and Paul Stephan also have essays. The symposium will not be the last word on Sanchez-Llamas, but it is certainly an important first word....

...Conflict/Opinio Juris symposium on the ICC Prosecutor, is dedicated to the memory of Felipe Michelini, Chair of the Board of Directors of the ICC’s Trust Fund for Victims, who passed away following a tragic accident as this piece was being finalized.] Introduction As Chairs of the ICC Assembly of States Parties Committee and Panel of Experts on the Election of the Prosecutor, we have read with interest the thoughtful articles in the recent symposium on “The Next ICC Prosecutor.” As the conveners rightly stressed in their introduction, “the choice of...