Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

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...

I had the pleasure about a week ago to discuss Syria with David Remnick for the New Yorker Radio Hour. Most of the questions, not surprisingly, focused on whether I thought there was any realistic prospect that Assad would face justice. (My answer: probably not.) The show went live a couple of days ago — I was traveling and didn’t have access to internet — but you can find the podcast here. My interview lasted about 25 minutes, and I highly recommend the segment on Syria that precedes it. Thoughts...

it could also take this simple pledge not to use its veto in the face of atrocity crimes? Aside from legal questions as to the strike and whether or not it met appropriate criteria of legitimacy (as well as why the US is not doing more to solve the Syrian crisis or admit Syrian refugees as Harold H. Koh well asks), let us recognize that we are in a place we should never have reached. First, the Assad regime should never have been using chemical weapons against its own people...

Although it is sometimes hard to remember, there are things going on in the world that are unrelated to the looming U.S.-Syria conflict. And although I have lots of thoughts on Syria, I wanted to point folks to some other news. Japan is threatening to take Korea to the ICJ as a result of a Korean court has upholding compensation to a Korean victim of WWII forced labor who sued Nippon Steel, a Japanese corporation that had used such labor in its support of the Japanese government during WWII. Interestingly,...

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....

priorities of the main session and some 50 side meetings. “It is really troubling that this situation is continuing without any immediate end to this crisis.” Attention is one thing, however, and progress something else entirely. Despite at least three high-level meetings on Syria, and countless other talks, not to mention day after day of speeches from presidents, kings and other potentates, no broad new initiatives are expected. “Everybody will think of Syria, everybody will speak of Syria, especially in the speeches to the General Assembly, but I don’t see...

“hostilities” for purposes of the WPR. That argument incensed many on the Hill, who thought they were being taken for fools. Bob Corker was particularly unhappy (check out his testy exchange with Harold Koh around time stamp 57:00 in the June 2011 SFRC hearing on Libya and war powers). Looks like Corker is settling that score here. By applying the WPR timeline specifically to Syria, it almost certainly will stick. It is highly unlikely that Obama would in this case continue a Syria operation beyond the 60/90-day limit. So the...

field or whether it will be able to handle the full extent of Syria’s stockpile. Even purpose-built destruction facilities in stable countries have run into technical problems that required them to suspend operations. At this time, there doesn’t seem to be a fully thought out plan for how Syria’s toxic chemicals will be eliminated. This key issue must be resolved by November 15, 2013, when the OPCW is supposed to adopt a detailed destruction plan for Syria. Being at the center of world events has downsides too. The OPCW will...

...the group counter-attacked in both Iraq and neighbouring Syria. More than 100,000 Syrians were trapped near the Turkish border as fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group advanced on two strategically-vital towns. The United Nations’ humanitarian chief on Friday demanded that the Syrian government and militant groups stop interfering with the delivery of food and medicine for civilians trapped in besieged and difficult-to-reach areas in war-ravaged Syria. Asia The Japanese government said on Monday it was doing all it could to secure the release of...