Search: crossing lines

...curb malign and criminal behavior in cyberspace. In crafting these rules, the current practice of states with cyber sanctions can provide important elements to be included in a future treaty. Cyber sanctions emerged as a tool to address extraterritorial nature of cyber-attacks. While unilateral in nature, their use can signal red lines in cyber space and thus make evident an emerging state practice in this regard. For this reason, paying more attention to the current use of cyber sanctions should be complementary to the efforts undertaken at the UN level. ...

Just a further quick note on the ICJ opinion yesterday (press release here) on the long-running Colombia/Nicaragua dispute over sovereignty and control over certain Caribbean islands. The ruling seems a mixed bag since it recognizes Colombia’s sovereignty and rejects other Nicaragua submissions. But Nicaragua is declaring victory. At first glance, I get nervous when courts (any courts, whether domestic or international) start adjusting lines based on “equitable considerations.” But there are no good ways to do this according to very strict legal rules. So we’ll see if this ruling sticks....

...implies that, like reports of other international organizations, this report ends up with “muddy, often useless conclusions in an attempt to avoid rocking the boat.” Well, I guess someone better tell all those demonstrators in Damascus to calm down. That is not the result of a document that avoids rocking the boat. What is even more interesting are the comments of some of the Syrians in the street when asked about the report. Comments were along the lines of, “well, if these allegations turn out to be true then whoever...

...Americans, and only incidentally to others. Most Americans would hew to that today, but it’s not quite as easy to get there as in the past. Obama’s speech threaded the identity issue with this: “our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared.” I expect we’ll see some elaboration in the inaugural address. Perhaps something alongs the lines of his “citizen of the world” riff at Berlin? The speech will easilly be the most internationally-directed (and consumed) inaugural address in U.S. history. How much will he speak to Americans, singularly,...

...elements for restitution. International human rights law is an example. In this context, the Human Rights Council has recognized that organized looting, smuggling, and theft of and illicit trafficking in cultural property undermines the full enjoyment of cultural rights.  In the present post, I will lay down some general remarks concerning the relationship between cultural heritage and human rights law. I will present some alternatives to rely on this body of law in order to enable the restitution of culturally relevant pieces. Another aim of these lines is to suggest...

...other Party than the price charged for those energy goods or raw materials when destined for the domestic market, by means of any measures such as licences or minimum price requirements. One would therefore expect that something similar could be included in a Ukraine-Russia peace settlement. In addition, Ukraine might also seek a fall-back guarantee that it can purchase energy from its partners, for example the EU and the US, or Norway. The Egypt-Israel peace settlement also came with a side agreement along these lines. To encourage Israel to participate...

...years – a “global” corporation that was in fact balkanized, sometimes viciously so, in its local business units around the world along ethnic, national, and similar lines. Management in NY would sing the praises of the “universal” company and its “universal” values – but there was only one matter in which there was general agreement about universals, and that was finance. Finance – quoting the extremely business-credentialed financial engineer spouse of a close friend – was the only truly common language among the various business units. Human resources, in her...

...of international lawmaking in trade and its stagnation in human rights as a question of substance rather than as a question of process. It turns out, Hathaway tells us, that this gap reflects the fact that the process by which international law is made in the trade area is more likely to be by congressional executive agreement (i.e., NAFTA) while the process by which international law is made in the human rights area is exclusively by treaty (i.e., the Genocide Convention). Along the lines of Martin Lederman and David Golove...

...lines that many other countries have created, and that exist in the United States on the local and state level. I can imagine that a national office to coordinate U.S. reporting obligations would be very useful, but I wonder whether national offices would play an effective role in the United States as compared to other countries, in light of the very active litigation-based system for enforcement of US constitutional rights. Many (though certainly not all) national human rights institutions in other countries focus much of their attention on discrimination claims,...

...fact that IHL may apply to situations in which a multinational operation is involved is nowadays accepted, states and international organisations are generally reluctant to admit that a peace operation has become party to an armed conflict. Such possibility has been often discussed but frequently let sink through the lines and rarely tackled head on. If, on the one hand, the capacity of a multinational operation to become party to the conflict is often taken for granted, the concretisation of such a possibility is on the other hand never explicitly...

...UN ROE, the Force Commander has command responsibility to order the necessary and permissible use of force to fulfill the POC mandate. To the extent that UN military contingents continue to be subject to their national command and exclusive criminal jurisdiction, however, many contingents and their commanders do not fully accept the unified command and operational control of the UN Force Commander.. The resulting dual lines of authority undermine the authority of the UN Force Commander, the responsiveness of national contingents to his or her orders, and ultimately the credibility...

...denied his requests. And he’s extremely upset at “the tyrants [who] won’t allow me to attend #CES2015, #TNABC or anything in the US.” Here’s Roger with his “Borders are Imaginary Lines” t-shirt he wore for his appointment at the US Embassy Barbados to apply for a Visa. He even seems to be selling these shirts as a way people can express their opposition to the tyranny that is keeping him from visiting the US. As I’ve written before, I don’t think American citizens who renounce their citizenship for tax purposes...