Search: Syria Insta-Symposium
28 Jan VJIL Vol. 48-2: Opinio Juris Online Symposium
The Virginia Journal of International Law is pleased to continue its partnership with Opinio Juris in this second online symposium. This week, we will be featuring two articles and one essay just published by VJIL in Vol. 48-2, available here. Thank you to the moderators of Opinio Juris for making available this great forum for discussion. On Tuesday, Haider Ala Hamoudi (University of Pittsburgh) will discuss his article, You Say You Want a Revolution: Interpretive Communities and the Origins of Islamic Finance. Professor Hamoudi’s article examines the jurisprudential philosophy of...
19 Sep Organizing Rebellion Symposium: The Second-Fiddle Perpetrators–Non-State Génocidaires
[Melanie O’Brien, Senior Lecturer in International Law, University of Western Australia, is an award-winning IHL teacher and Vice-President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars. Her research focuses on genocide and human rights. This is the latest post in the co-hosted symposium with Armed Groups and International Law on Organizing Rebellion .] Tilman Rodenhäuser’s book analyses non-state armed groups in international humanitarian law (IHL), human rights law and international criminal law (ICL). Rodenhäuser is ideally placed to consider this topic, with a background of having worked for NGO Geneva Call...04 Oct Russia-China Double Veto on Syria Resolution
Russian and China issue a dramatic double veto of the US-backed measure directed against Syria; nine Council members voted in favor, and India, Brazil, South Africa, and Lebanon abstained. Welcome to the New Post-Hegemonic World Order? It’s too soon to tell and our Data Set is insufficiently full. Still, it does recall David Rieff’s observation that a multipolar world is more competitive, not more cooperative. I don’t know where this leaves such things as R2P and in particular R2P undertaken without the blessing of the Security Council; I’d be interested...16 Nov A Short Response to Ilya Somin: Does Self-Defense Mean the U.S. Can Invade and Occupy Syria?
...against the attacker up to and including invasion and occupation of another country? Similarly, do the Paris attacks(assuming Article V were invoked) allow President Obama to launch military strikes (and maybe invade and occupy) Syria? Surely, the President could have ordered U.S. forces to defend France without Congress. But I’m just not sure the Article V self-defense rationale gets Ilya all the way to a full-scale war on ISIS. 2) On a historical note, Ilya takes issue with my characterization of the legal rationale for Article V as allowing the...14 Sep Putin & Assad: 1; Obama: 0; Syrian People: -1
Syria by November, Mr. Kerry said, speaking at a news conference with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey V. Lavrov. Under the agreement, Syria must submit a “comprehensive listing” of its chemical weapons stockpiles within a week. American and Russian officials also reached a consensus on the size of Syria’s stockpile, an essential prerequisite to any international plan to control and dismantle the weapons. “If fully implemented,” Mr. Kerry said, “this framework can provide greater protection and security to the world.” If President Bashar al-Assad of Syria fails to comply with...10 Apr LJIL Symposium: Where to Find the Liberal Principles of Criminal Law
[Jens David Ohlin is Associate Professor of Law at Cornell University Law School.] This post is part of our symposium on the latest issue of the Leiden Journal of International Law. Other posts in this series can be found in the related posts below. I agree with almost everything in Darryl Robinson’s plea for a cosmopolitan liberal approach to international criminal justice. Robinson’s article sketches out the development of ICL scholarship, noting the beginnings of the field, followed by the liberal critique of early ICL development, and then the counter-critique...18 Apr Kony 2012: Symposium on Social Activism and International Law
Opinio Juris is pleased to announce an online symposium addressing social activism and international law. As our readers know, Kony 2012 was a YouTube sensation, spreading faster than any video in history. Although the details are airbrushed, the central theme of the video is about international law. The key idea of the video is that the indicted fugitive Joseph Kony should be brought to justice before the International Criminal Court to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Millions of viewers who never thought about the International Criminal...
04 Feb ICC and Palestine Symposium: Mind the Gap– The ‘Palestine Situation’ before the ICC
...has territorial jurisdiction in Palestine. The Court faces a crucial decision: either it recognises that the ICC has judicial oversight over international crimes in Palestine (by virtue of the reasons put forth by my colleagues in this symposium), or it decides that Palestine remains in the blind spot of international justice, a legal black hole of where impunity is granted for the most serious crimes of international concern. As such, in accepting or rejecting territorial jurisdiction over Palestine, the Court will be forced to clarify its position within international law:...06 Apr Daesh and the Duty to Prevent Genocide
...a legal duty to prevent further genocide by Daesh against the Yazidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims in Iraq and Syria. The question is whether the efforts made thus far have satisfied the due diligence standard. US- and Russian-led coalitions have been pounding Daesh with airstrikes since mid-2014; however, Daesh’s genocidal campaign continues. In addition, according to reports, other States within the region, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey, have continued aiding and assisting radical groups in Iraq and Syria with arms and munitions despite the genocide against the Yazidis,...02 Oct Four Thoughts on Koh’s Defense of Unilateral Humanitarian Intervention
At Just Security today, my friend Harold Koh has mounted a typically masterful defense of the legality of unilateral humanitarian intervention (UHI) in Syria and other places. I wish all advocates of UHI were as thoughtful. Not surprisingly, though, I’m not convinced by Koh’s argument. Let me offer four (disconnected) thoughts on his claims below. A “per se illegal” rule would overlook many other pressing facts of great concern to international law that distinguish Syria from past cases: including the catastrophic humanitarian situation, the likelihood of future atrocities, the grievous...