Search: crossing lines
09 Mar No More Elusion of Responsibility for Rescue Operations at Sea: the Human Rights Committee’s Views on the Case A.S., D.I., O.I. and G.D. v. Italy and Malta
...and rescue service, as found in three Maritime Conventions. Rescue must be provided ‘regardless of the nationality or status’ of the person in distress or the ‘circumstances in which that person is found’. The intent of these treaties is to create a system to rescue all vessels in distress (para. 61)». Along the same lines, in its General Comment No. 36 on the right to life, the Human Rights Committee (HRC) held that «in light of article 2 (1) of the Covenant, a State party has an obligation to respect...24 Nov Reply to Professor Waxman
...Third, the detainee must be informed of the factual basis for detention and be given a genuine opportunity to respond. Even if the international standard on judicial review is developed along those lines, however, states would have some discretion on how best to implement it within their domestic legal systems. In other words, the standard would continue to permit some variance, and whether a particular detention scheme satisfies the standard would be assessed on the facts. Yet, in my view, that variance would not by itself demonstrate a lack of...
16 Jul The “Cienfuegos Affair” and the Proposal for a New Regional Transnational Criminal Court in Latin America (COPLA)
...permanent transnational criminal court established by treaty between all Caribbean and Latin American signatories of the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime 2000 (and its protocols). A Draft Statute has been produced and circulated which provides for a permanent independent court modelled, somewhat, along the same lines of the International Criminal Court (ICC). In other words, a permanent, independent organisation with international legal personality, that boasts an independent Prosecutor, and which is founded on the principle of complementary (for an overview, see Rob Currie and Jacob Leon). It is...19 Mar Comparative Free Speech About Bong Hits
This morning the Supreme Court will hear Morse v. Frederick, a case about a high school student who held up a banner advocating “Bong Hits for Jesus” at a school function associated with the passing of the Olympic torch through Juneau, Alaska. The school principal, Deborah Morse, refused to allow Joseph Frederick to display the banner, and he was later disciplined for his conduct. Given that several of the justices are strongly committed to the principled use of comparative constitutionalism, I’m confident that something along the lines of the following...
16 Mar The Best Option: An Extraordinary Ukrainian Chamber for Aggression
In an excellent recent blog post at Just Security, Tom Dannenbaum identified four options for prosecuting Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine: [T]he International Criminal Court, an ad hoc international tribunal (whether along the lines proposed at Chatham House or pursuant to a General Assembly resolution), a domestic court exercising territorial jurisdiction (in Russia, Belarus, or Ukraine), or a domestic court exercising universal jurisdiction. All four options have their costs and benefits. The ICC would offer economy of scale, given that the Prosecutor has already initiated, at the request of 41...
08 Jul The Sum of Four Fears: African States and the International Criminal Court in Retrospect–Part I
...‘[march] in lock step with the permanent members’. The most recent example of the Prosecutor and the ICC’s supporters’ cozy relationship with the Security Council, and its insidious effects, concerns the ongoing disputes regarding President Al-Bashir’s claim to Head of State immunity (debates that have become somewhat moot since his removal from office). Over the past decade academics have fiercely debated the status of President Al-Bashir’s immunity, and so when the issue finally came before the ICC Appeals Chamber in 2018 the Prosecutor was presented with a number of lines...09 Dec Today, December 9, is International Anti-Corruption Day
...to mount a global response to corruption. Symbols Posters, slogans, and other promotional material on International Anti-Corruption Day have featured a slogan or logo that takes up two lines. The first line reads “CORRUPTION” in capitalized red words, and underneath are the words “Your NO counts”. Most the second line is written in black text except for the word “NO” which is highlighted in red capital letters within a white speech bubble. The UN logo is also associated with promotions for this event. It features a projection of a world...
16 Jul Symposium on PMSCs: AI Broke the Code – The International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers and Emerging Technologies
...offensive and defensive roles in intelligence-gathering and information operations, sometimes with direct implications for the conduct of hostilities. The result is an expanding perimeter of corporate and commercial actors whose participation in armed conflict is indirect, but no less consequential. Consider Anduril again. Even if some of its business lines may be considered “operational and logistical support”—thus falling within the Code’s existing ambit—a substantial grey zone remains, particularly around dual-use technologies, databases, and services that transition seamlessly between commercial, law enforcement, and military contexts. The Code must therefore move beyond...
19 Feb A Commentary on the Arbitral Award of 3 October, 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela) jurisdiction ruling: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
...application of Guyana to admit the case concerning the validity of the Arbitral Award of October 3rd, 1899 and the ensuing territorial dispute between itself and Venezuela over the Esequibo territory. How did the dispute arrive to the Court? This dispute dates back to the end of the 19th century when an arbitral tribunal decided that the demarcation between the British Guiana and Venezuela would be drawn along the lines of the Esequibo river. A few decades later, the personal correspondence of a diplomat who participated in the proceedings- as...