Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

...ruling as a crucial step in holding multinational business enterprises such as Vedanta accountable for their alleged role in massive pollution and harm to health and livelihood of many people. The ICJ and the CORE Coalition had also submitted an amicus curiae in this case. The ICJ has invited a group of experts and practitioners to participate in this symposium to discuss about the significance and likely impact of the judgment in law and policy making; the prospects for success in other similar cases; and consequences for companies’ practices, policies...

This post is part of the NYU Journal of International Law and Politics Vol. 45, No. 1 symposium. Other posts in this series can be found in the related posts below. We are excited to collaborate again this week with Opinio Juris for an online symposium. The symposium will be a discussion of Jenia Iontcheva Turner’s article Policing International Prosecutors published in our Volume 45, No. 1 issue. Professor Turner’s piece analyzes the complex issue about how to “how to ensure that prosecutors are held accountable for their errors and...

pointing to the 2016 Office of the Prosecutor Policy on Children, on which I had the privilege of working.) Many, many of the symposium’s posts focused not on the position so much as the person. What qualities of character does an ideal Prosecutor possess? What skill set ought the Prosecutor bring to the job? And even, what nationality is most desirable for an ICC Prosecutor? This singular attention to the person and position of Prosecutor is entirely appropriate. The impetus for the symposium, after all, is last August’s vacancy notice,...

laws of other states, and those of New Zealand, our courts cannot take judicial notice of foreign law." (see http://www.supremecourt.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Publications/Speeches/Pre-2015%20Speeches/Brereton/brereton160511.pdf). That means that NCAT required proof of the law that applied to Sharrouf's conduct - most commonly, that is done by someone put on an affidavit explaining what the applicable law is. It would not be enough to simply submit, without evidence, that the act occurred in Syria, Syrian law therefore applied, and the conduct was a crime under Syrian law. All of those matters needed to be proved by...

...General Assembly to provide authority for the use of military force. This might allow the U.S. to seek GA endorsement of a strike against Syria due to the deadlock in the Security Council. As a practical matter, it is far from clear that a majority of the current GA would actually support the U.S. but even if it did, the legal significance of a GA act is uncertain to say the least. Still, something worth discussing. Unfortunately, the full article is not quite done but it will be out shortly....

with the Syrian regime. However, the US strikes against the Syrian airbase in early April amounted to use of force against the Syrian regime and have initiated an international armed conflict between the two states in the sense of Common Article 2. The downing of an Iranian UAV in early June and of a second one two days after the shooting of the Syrian aircraft made it clear that these confrontations are no longer isolated incidents, but clashes in the context of an international armed conflict between Syria and the...

[Samantha Besson is a Professor of Public International Law and European Law, University of Fribourg and Fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin] I would like to start by thanking Dov Jacobs and the Leiden Journal of International Law for organizing this on-line symposium on my extraterritoriality piece, and, of course, for agreeing to publish the article in the first place. Many thanks also to Professor Marko Milanovic and Professor Cedric Ryngaert for their generous comments and not least for taking the time to deliver them at this busy time of...

This week, we are hosting a symposium on Curtis Bradley’s new book “International Law in the US Legal System“, published last month by Oxford University Press. OUP has kindly agreed to offer Opinio Juris readers a 20% discount, which you can access by clicking on the ad at the right. According to the abstract, the book explores the dynamic intersection between international law and the domestic legal system within the United States and covers both settled principles as well as unresolved issues and areas of controversy. Curtis Bradley considers all...

The Yale Journal of International Law (YJIL) is pleased to continue its partnership with Opinio Juris in our fourth online symposium (previous symposia can be found here). This Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we will feature three Articles published by YJIL in Vol. 34, No. 2, which are available for download here. Our sincere thanks to Julian Ku and the rest of the Opinio Juris team for hosting this exciting discussion. On Monday, Evan J. Criddle (Syracuse University College of Law) and Evan Fox-Decent (McGill University Faculty of Law) will discuss...

There are many reasons to be skeptical of the Security Council referring the situation in Syria to the ICC, not the least of which is that an ICC investigation is unlikely to accomplish anything given the ongoing conflict. (One that Assad is almost certainly going to win.) But just in case that’s not enough, take a gander at this provision in the draft referral: [The Security Council] recognizes that none of the expenses incurred in connection with the referral, including expenses related to investigations or prosecutions in connection with that...

express views about the zillions of confirmed news reports about the raid, and the anti-US protests in Syria, the Syrian government’s angry response, and Iran’s angry response. Yes, yes, he’s got an election to win. And I know it is politically advantageous to say nothing. But wouldn’t you like to know whether he thinks such raids are legal, appropriate, and/or necessary? That is the big question, and it would be nice if someone asked him, or if he would give us some hint of where he is going on this....

Unsurprisingly, and as I suspected, the UN is having difficulty maintaining its focus in the investigation into Syrian involvement in the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. And, while the investigation has been extended by six months, several members of the Security Council, including Russia, China (both with veto power) and Algeria, have resisted calls to accuse Syria of uncooperative behavior and to pressure Syria towards greater cooperation with the probe. This points out a serious problem for the UN specifically, and the prospects of international law more...