Search: Syria Insta-Symposium
17 Apr Kiobel Insta-Symposium
We have invited several academic luminaries to post here at Opinio Juris over the next few days about the Supreme Court’s decision in Kiobel. We also are going to try something new and invite young academics to submit guests posts for possible publication. We can’t guarantee we will publish every post submitted, but we would love to broaden the discussion to include new voices. So if you want to write a guest post for Opinio Juris about Kiobel of approximately 500 to 1500 words, please do so in...02 Jun Samantar Insta-Symposium: Foreclosing “Official Capacity” Suits
Benjamin Davis The question that is unstated in these instant analyses is whether these general comments refer to civil suits or criminal prosecutions also. I would be grateful if persons would speak to that. Given Noriega, it would seem that these discussions would not reach criminal prosecutions at all. Best, Ben Roger Alford Ben, That's a great question. I would assume that individual immunity from criminal prosecution is governed in part by the VCCR, at least with respect to consular officials. Not sure about other government officials. Roger Alford Richard...22 Dec Climate Change and the Syrian Civil War
Scientific American has published an article by John Wendle on how climate change has spurred the conflict in Syria. Wendle writes: Climatologists say Syria is a grim preview of what could be in store for the larger Middle East, the Mediterranean and other parts of the world. The drought, they maintain, was exacerbated by climate change. The Fertile Crescent—the birthplace of agriculture some 12,000 years ago—is drying out. Syria’s drought has destroyed crops, killed livestock and displaced as many as 1.5 million Syrian farmers. In the process, it touched off...23 Aug Emerging Voices: Is The R2P Doctrine the Greatest Marketing Campaign International Law Has Ever Seen?
...doctrine through the inaction in Syria. The paralysis of the Security Council in Syria highlights the difficulty in arguing the R2P doctrine does represent any new set of legal norms or obligations. If the R2P doctrine is an emerging, or new norm of customary international law, the inaction in Syria can only be described as a failure of the doctrine’s capabilities. However, if the R2P doctrine is described as a marketing campaign that only re-packages already existing international legal obligations, the failure to act in Syria cannot be blamed on...01 Jun Weekday News Wrap: Friday, June 1, 2012
Syria has claimed that anti-government forces carried out the massacre in Houla in order to spur other nations into intervening. The UN and other nations have expressed concern that Syria is on the brink of a sectarian civil war. Russia and the US have been trading accusations about the situation in Syria. Anne-Marie Slaughter at FP posits that Syria is not a problem from hell…but if we don’t act quickly, it will be. A Syrian rebel group is claiming to hold 11 Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped in Syria on May 22....14 Sep Weekly News Wrap: Monday, September 14, 2015
...clashed at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for a second straight day on Monday, prompting several arrests. British Prime Minister David Cameron is visiting Lebanon to meet with refugees from the war in neighbouring Syria, Lebanese media reported. Turkish authorities have reimposed a curfew in the southeastern city of Cizre a day after it was lifted, saying they will use the curfew to arrest suspected Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters. Russia will continue its military support of Syria, including sending personnel to the embattled country, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted...
04 Dec UNSC Veto Power Symposium: Reply to Professors Jalloh and Tladi
...even these measures are blocked, it is difficult to claim that the blocking Security Council member(s) are working toward the Council fulfilling its Charter mandate to maintain international peace and security while respecting human rights and international law. I do not believe that I give “short shrift” to the General Assembly sometimes being able to act when the Security Council is blocked, as Professor Tladi claims. I acknowledge, for instance, the General Assembly’s creating the investigative mechanism for Syria known as the IIIM after veto of the referral of the...
05 Oct Trump vs. International Law: Unilateral Use of Force
...international law-related themes in his chapter on “America’s War” that I wish to comment on. The first theme is that States have the right, under existing international law (and due to policy considerations), to use force in self-defence, collective or individual, against non-state actors in the territory of third states without the third states’ consent. For example, he notes that as “a matter of international law” the US use force against ISIS in Syria was not based on Syria’s consent “but rather in collective self-defence”. The second theme is that...14 Nov MJIL Symposium: A Response to Ramesh Thakur and Thomas Weiss by Spencer Zifcak
support for the rebel cause has waned in direct proportion to the increasing number of reports emerging from Syria of rebel atrocities. And so has support within Syria itself. If a vote were taken of Syrians now, it is by no means clear that the rebels would prevail over the regime. Professor Thakur then refers to the existence of the Sunni-Shi’a split in the country and in the region. I don’t think I missed this one but may not have made it as explicit as it should be. The tragedy...
24 Jul On Sanctions and Deregistration of Vessels: The Recent Practice of Panama
[Alonso Illueca is a lawyer and adjunct Professor of International Law at Universidad del Istmo] On July 12, 2019, Panama announced its decision to withdraw its flag from any vessel violating “sanctions and international legislation”. This decision resulted in the removal of 59 ships (mostly tankers) from Panama’s shipping fleet due to their link with the Islamic Republic of Iran (“Iran”) and the Syrian Arab Republic (“Syria”). While Panama has the right to withdraw its flag from any vessel, its practice as the State with the world’s largest shipping fleet...