Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

...conference: Open-source investigations—including methods such as geo-location, satellite imagery analysis, and social media verification—have proven to be powerful tools for driving accountability in both human rights and environmental justice. In Syria, Bellingcat used geo-location, satellite imagery, and social media analysis to verify the use of chemical weapons in places like Khan Shaykhun and Douma. Similarly, Airwars exposed the extent of civilian casualties caused by the US-led coalition’s airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, leading the coalition to acknowledge over 1,400 civilian deaths and adopt greater transparency measures. During the...

...the way there were carried out, even where they vary significantly in the details; the separation of men and women, the subsequent fast killings of men and boys, and systematic sexual violence against women and girls. In 2016, in its analysis of the Yazidi genocide, “They Came to Destroy,” the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (“Syria COI”) found that “ISIS fighters systematically rape Yazidi women and girls as young as nine.” In 2018, in its analysis of the Rohingya genocide, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission...

[Ozan Varol is Assistant Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School.] This post is part of the Harvard International Law Journal Volume 53(2) symposium. Other posts in this series can be found in the related posts below. I would like to thank David Landau, William Partlett, Brad Roth, and Joel Colón-Ríos for their kind words and insightful comments about my article, The Democratic Coup d’Etat, 53 Harv. Int’l L.J. 291 (2012). These scholars have been instrumental in enhancing our knowledge of constitutional transitions, and I very much appreciate...

...my piece for the current EJIL was completed — and even after this generous symposium had been prepared by Opinio Juris and EJIL:Talk! — there would be such a confluence of genuine news events that resonate with arguments put forward in the article. It is a sad coda that the symposium also follows soon after the passing of one of the truly great international lawyers from Asia — Christopher Weeramantry, a Sri Lankan scholar who served as Vice President of the International Court of Justice. The full article is available...

A few months back, Opinio Juris was pleased to host an inaugural joint symposium with the Harvard International Law Journal. Next week, we’re very pleased to be able to regularize this partnership with a second symposium (I’m particularly pleased with this development for reasons that should become apparent below). The symposium will run from Tuesday, July 12, to Friday, July 15, and features the following line-up: On Tuesday, John H. Knox will respond to Jacob Katz Cogan‘s article, The Regulatory Turn in International Law. On Wednesday, Eric Jensen and Jonathan...

not be able to read along or participate. Thus, after talking it over with a few of my co-bloggers, we’re postponing the symposium for 1 week. So, instead of tomorrow, we’ll start next Thursday (Nov. 8) and run the symposium thru the following Monday (Nov. 12). So tune in next Thursday when we’ll begin a conversation on various questions of treaty law and practice, including (a) reservations; (b) dynamic and evolutionary treaty interpretation; (c) the new functions treaties perform; and (d) the role of new actors in the treaty-making process....

...and the Asia Justice Coalition have partnered to bring to you this Symposium, “Current Crisis in Myanmar: Legal Implications”. Previously, in August 2020, both partners hosted the symposium, “The Impact and Implications of International Law: Myanmar and the Rohingya”, in which various aspects of the legal developments related to the Rohingya were canvassed. This year, the intention is to broaden the discussion, to include the current events in Myanmar, given their inescapable impact on questions of justice and accountability, not just for the Rohingya but also the rest of the...

[Craig Martin is a Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law, and is Co-Director of the International and Comparative Law Center at Washburn Law.] This post will bring to a close the formal part of the virtual symposium on Harold Koh’s recent article The Trump Administration and International Law. As moderator, I would like to begin by thanking all those who contributed (including a couple of announced contributors who we unfortunately lost along the way to illness and crises). I think that each of the essays has raised...

[Rocío Lorca is Associate Professor and Director of Research at the University of Chile Law School] The papers in the recent ‘After Critique’ symposium move between critique and possibility regarding the role of international criminal law as an instrument of justice. Natalie Hodgson, for example, gives us good reasons to value international criminal law. Not as a grandiose mechanism that will deliver on the promise of holding power to account but as a tool that could help in this endeavor by creating awareness of the crimes of the powerful and...

[Craig Martin is a Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law, and is the Co-Director of the International and Comparative Law Center of Washburn Law.] Over the next few days Opinio Juris will be conducting a virtual symposium to discuss Professor Harold Hongju Koh’s article The Trump Administration and International Law. The article was published in a special Symposium Issue of the Washburn Law Journal, which also includes articles by David Sloss, Peggy McGuiness, and Clare Frances Moran, responding to or picking up on the themes of Harold’s...

...Finally, GR40 provides a unifying framework for collective action on women’s equal participation in decision-making at all levels. As such, it has the potential of becoming a powerful tool to drive stronger political consensus, inspire measures from political leaders at the national and international level, promote institutional changes, and support accountability efforts, including through civil society’s advocacy and litigation.    A Global Symposium to Unite Voices  A fundamental step in unlocking the full potential of GR40 is to promote its widespread dissemination and discussion. With this goal in mind, this symposium...

I’m extraordinarily pleased to be able to announce that today marks the start of the Opinio Juris symposium on my recently-edited volume, The Oxford Guide to Treaties (you can buy your copy here and there’s even a discount for Opinio Juris readers!). The Oxford Guide provides a current and comprehensive guide to treaty law and practice. It does this in two parts. First, it presents 25 chapters written by the world’s leading treaty-experts, exploring the world of treaties in five areas: (i) what a treaty is and who can make...