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Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

08 Mar

This week on Opinio Juris, we continued to follow the situation in Ukraine as it unfolded with an insta-symposium. Alexander Cooley gave an overview of the power politics at play, while Chris posted about Russia’s use of legal rhetoric as a politico-military strategy, and about how language affects the evolution of international law. This last post built on a discussion between Julian and Peter in which Julian argued that the crisis shows the limits of international law, while Peter took aim at the Perfect Compliance Fallacy. Further issues of compliance...
08.03.14 | |

20 Sep

This week on Opinio Juris, we hosted an insta-symposium on the Scottish Independence Referendum. David Scheffer surveyed the legal terrain in case of a yes vote, Stephen Tierney discussed how Scotland’s move to independence would be characterised under international law, Milena Sterio argued that international law could develop a norm containing a positive right to secession under certain circumstances, Jure Vidmar looked at Scotland’s position in the EU, Tim Sparks took a long view, and Christopher Connolly discussed the phrasing of the referendum question. Finally, Chris asked whether there will...
20.09.14 | |

06 Mar

I am looking forward to the contributions to our “insta-symposium” on Ukraine and international law. I don’t have a tremendous amount to add at this point, except to point out that President Obama has been aggressive about accusing Russia of violating international law and about the importance of international law generally. This has gone beyond merely charging Russia with violation of the prohibitions on aggression and the use of force contained in the U.N. Charter. In his statement today, he took aim at the proposed referendum in Crimea on joining...
06.03.14 | |

07 Mar

...into an overt conflict?” II. The CIA, “Deniable” and “Covert” Strategypage, as it happens, has an interesting report (H/T Insta) on special forces, commandos, and intelligence personnel on the ground in Libya now — saying in particular that Egyptian special forces teams are assisting the rebels now, and that some US personnel are on the ground, partly for intelligence but also to protect diplomats and other “nationals” assistance. (It would be astonishing, of course, if many countries did not have intelligence agents on the ground in Libya, whether strictly to...
07.03.11 | |

15 Sep

...of his final visits to Scotland later on Monday four days before a historic independence referendum to warn Scots a vote to leave the United Kingdom is a forever choice. Hundreds of thousands of Catalans packed the streets of Barcelona on Thursday to demand the right to vote on a potential split from Spain, their ambitions boosted by an independence referendum scheduled for later this week in Scotland. For more on the independence vote, we are hosting an Insta-Symposium–watch for updates starting later today. Russia’s strength is being tested by...
15.09.14 | |

04 Dec

...insta-symposium last spring), and it was accepted by Judge Shira Scheindlin in a separate New York district court ATS case even though she ended up dismissing that case on other grounds. It looks like the plaintiffs in another ATS case, Jesner v. Arab Bank, will get the appeals court to consider the issue as well, according to this NY Law Journal write up of oral argument in that case. I think it is unlikely that the panel will conclude that the Kiobel corporate liability holding has been implicitly reversed, but...
04.12.14 | |

13 Sep

...strip ISIL fighters from their US citizenship, and Kevin responded to a post by Mike Lewis over at Just Security on the application of the “unwilling or unable” test in the context of article 51 UN Charter. Finally, Jessica wrapped up the news and I listed events and announcements. We’re running an insta-symposium on the Scottish independence referendum next week, and are still welcoming submissions. If you saw last week’s announcement by Matrix Chambers, you may want to take note that the deadline has been extended. Have a nice weekend!...
13.09.14 | |

18 Apr

...presence” as being insufficient to overcome the statutory presumption against extraterritoriality. This language, and the Supreme Court’s decision not to otherwise mention the corporate liability issue, was enough for Judge Scheindlin to revisit the corporate liability issue. I don’t really buy this sub silentio interpretation of Kiobel, but to give credit where credit is due, this argument was previewed in our Kiobel insta-symposium by Jordan Wells, a third year law student. Let’s just say Judge Scheindlin really went out of her way to re-open this question. My views on the...
18.04.14 | |

02 Jun

Cross-posted at Balkinization I hate to interrupt the terrific insta-symposium on the Supreme Court’s decision in Samantar already underway at Opinio Juris, but I did want to note the much-anticipated release of Philip Alston’s report as UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Killings. I take it the relevant press release and report will be available here. I’m just now paging through it, but for now, a few brief notes. Broadly, while acknowledging the sometime-legality of targeted killing, the report cautions that “circumstances in which targeted killings are alleged to be legal”...
02.06.10 | |

13 Jun

[Dr. Elizabeth A. Wilson is Assistant Professor at the School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University.] In the “Insta-Symposium” conducted here after the Supreme Court’s Kiobel decision, Peter Spiro linked to a piece by Samuel Moyn about Kiobel posted on the Foreign Affairs website and said he was “sympathetic” with Moyn’s conclusion that “human rights advocates would be better served to abandon the ATS, even to the extent that Kiobel leaves the door open.” Not willing to go quite so far as Moyn in celebrating the ATS’s...
13.06.13 | |

28 Sep

...do seem to be trending toward applying it strictly (i.e., booting out cases). I don’t know if I think that will continue in the lower courts, however. In the splendid Insta-Symposium here at OJ on Kiobel, commentators raised various ways, several of them ingenious, in which a district court judge could march ahead with ATS suits. Whether Roberts or Breyer’s approach to the question of jurisdiction, in other words, each still suffers from Sosa’s “Delphic oracle” problem: a judge wanting to find grounds to kick out the case could do...
28.09.13 | |

28 Jan

...already messy area of law incoherent in light of the Court’s own most recent precedent, as I noted in an OJ Insta-Symposium contribution last spring. What I’d like to explore now is another question raised by this terrific series of posts: the extent to which state law incorporating international law may authorize suits for causes of action arising abroad after Kiobel. This question is both especially urgent because it involves a potential alternative avenue for litigating human rights abuses abroad in U.S. courts, and especially vexing because it juxtaposes different...
28.01.14 | |