Search: Syria Insta-Symposium
24 Aug President Obama Cites International Law as Limitation on U.S. Response to Syria’s Chemical Weapons Attack
As regular readers may recall, I am skeptical that the use of chemical weapons, by itself, can justify the use of military force under current international law absent authorization from the U.N. Security Council. Of course, I wouldn’t oppose the use of military force by the U.S. to stop the use of chemical weapons in Syria, I just doubt its legality under international law. More importantly, so does President Obama. Although reports are out suggesting the U.S. is preparing to launch cruise missiles into Syria, President Obama also told CNN...
27 Oct Lafarge on Trial: Cementing Accountability
At its core, the case raises questions of corporate power, double standards, and the pursuit of accountability for those who enable or profit from grave human rights abuses in Syria and beyond. According to the French investigating judges, Lafarge transferred via its subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS) more than five million euros to the Islamic State (IS), the al-Nusra Front, and Ahrar al-Sham during 2013 – 2014, in order to continue running its cement factory in northeastern Syria. The upcoming criminal trial represents a turning point in the nine-year-long legal...14 Nov MJIL Symposium: The Responsibility to Protect after Libya and Syria
[Spencer Zifcak is Allan Myers Professor of Law and Director of the Institute of Legal Studies at the Australian Catholic University.] This post is part of the MJIL 13(1) Symposium. Other posts in this series can be found in the related posts below. My article on this subject attempts to encapsulate the standing of coercive (Pillar 3) intervention within the framework of the Responsibility to Protect (‘R2P’) following the application of the doctrine in Libya and paralysis with respect to it in Syria. In 2011, the international community was confronted...06 Nov A Friendly Request for Paul Clement, the Solicitor General, and the Supreme Court — Please read up on what it means to sign a treaty!
...Convention with those who did not sign it. And just when you think the argument’s over and they can’t make any more mistakes, Paul Clement offers up this: Now, the government says you can’t do that because that’s going to mess up what’s going on in Syria. With all due respect, I assume that the issue in Syria is whether or not the nation state of Syria is doing something that would violate the convention if, contrary to fact, they were a signatory to this convention.” (emphasis added) Well, as...20 May Symposium: The International Rule of Law – Defying Gravity?
of the Charter system and, in particular, the right to veto of the P5 once more. Even outside the Charter rules, prohibitions under customary international law have been weakened. State practice in relation to Libya and Syria suggests that States deviate from established obligations in relation to the prohibition of the use of force, in particular in view of the delivery of arms to Libyan and Syrian rebels. The Paris terror attacks 2015 have perhaps again decisively raised the question whether the state-centred ius ad bellum is fit to deal...
07 Feb Key Takeaways from the Symposium by GQUAL on CEDAW’s GR40: Charting the Path to Women’s Equal Representation
been an honor to co-organize this symposium with Opinio Juris, guided by our belief that open dialogue and collective reflection are vital to advancing women’s equal leadership. In this concluding post, we aim to highlight key insights from the rich contributions and chart a hopeful path for action. Despite Progress, Gender Equality in International Leadership is Still Several Glass Ceilings Away The symposium makes it undeniable that the underrepresentation of women in international spaces remains a systemic issue across key fields such as international justice, peace and security, climate negotiations,...12 May First Annual Opinio Juris Symposium: Challenges to Public International Law
On behalf of all of us at Opinio Juris, I am pleased to annouce that the first annual Opinio Juris on-line symposium, “Challenges to Public International Law,” will be held this fall. The details below will be posted on our sidebar for future reference. Opinio Juris Online Symposium 2006: Challenges to Public International Law Theme Statement As long as people have been writing about public international law, commentators have suggested that it is a system in crisis or somehow under stress. After a moment of optimism at the end of...14 Mar Bradley Book Symposium: Response to the Commentary on International Law in the U.S. Legal System
[Curtis Bradley is the William Van Alstyne Professor of Law at Duke Law School.] I want to give my sincere thanks to the eight contributors who commented on my book this week as part of the Opinio Juris online symposium: David Moore, Jean Galbraith, Julian Ku, Kristina Daugirdas, Bill Dodge, Mark Weisburd, Mike Ramsey, and Ingrid Wuerth. Each of these contributors offered valuable feedback on aspects of the book, and I am extremely grateful for their insightful observations. The book covers a wide range of topics concerning the role of...