Search: crossing lines
05 Oct ‘Barbie’: How a Film has Reignited the Debate About China’s Claims to Sovereignty in the South China Sea
...South China Sea,’ stating that: ‘[We Hereby] Reaffirm our respect for and commitment to the safety and freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea, in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS.’ Momentarily, however, China-ASEAN negotiations on a ‘Code of Conduct in the South China Sea’ have stalled; nevertheless, guidelines to accelerate them were agreed on 13 July 2023. ‘Blurred Lines’ Meanwhile, the Philippines has approved the release of ‘Barbie.’ The Philippine Movie and Television Review and Classification Board has concluded that the film does...05 Aug Medellin: Did Texas Cut a Deal With Mexico?
...by state law quirks that deprive Governor Rick Perry of the final say. On the other side, for all its bluster along the lines of “we didn’t sign no treaty,” Texas understands that the Avena controversy hasn’t been good for the state’s global image. So this represents the putative compromise. A slender reed of evidence for a deal: the Mexican government is MIA in all the press reports on Medellin’s impending execution. It appears not to be complaining publicly about the clear violation an IL obligation. If there were some...27 Aug Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About TWAIL (But Were Afraid to Ask)
...significant, both for the TWAIL movement and international law reformers in general. In the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas agreement (ALBA) we find a platform from which TWAIL might transcend its reactive nature and develop a proactive character. Building on a practical prototype that produced a participatory model of democracy and a progressive model of social relations, we argue that ALBA’s philosophy and substantive workings present the structure needed for the reinvention of international law along similarly equitable lines; from a formal regulatory regime to a substantive emancipatory paradigm, from...02 Nov Assessing the ICJ: Getting Off the Merry-Go-Round
...to take an oath to “believe in the ICJ” (as Julian also implied) or anything along those lines. And I am somewhat amazed that Julian could read my post and think that. Nice straw man maneuver, but let’s stick to the actual issues. My question remains: to what end are Julian’s arguments? There are many possible criticisms of the ICJ from the left, right, and center. For example, some may argue that the ICJ takes on too many politically contentious issues (like the Israeli Security Barrier case), while others criticize...
10 Dec Symposium on Forensic and Counter-Forensic Approaches to International Law: Looking Down and Looking Away – The Aerial Perspective in Investigations of Armed Conflict and Genocide
...the accusation brought by South Africa that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. All the photos they used (including video stills, satellite photos, and footage from drone cameras) feature the aerial perspective. The images look clinical, detached, objective. They are annotated with words and lines superimposed on the photos. The Israeli legal team used the visuals to argue that Palestinian fighters had embedded themselves in schools, hospitals, and residential buildings, providing legitimation for the relentless attacks on civilian infrastructure in Gaza. Only weeks later, Forensic Architecture...
13 Apr ICC Prosecutor Symposium: The Appointment of the Next ICC Prosecutor Is Not a Forum for Career Transition
...as a team player? The first two Prosecutors loomed large in the public perception of the Court, and its portrayal in the media. This certainly advanced a better understanding of Prosecution priorities and strategies concerning different cases, but also arguably led to blurred lines concerning the difference between the Prosecutor as a leading representative of the Court, as an institution, and the Prosecutor as a party to proceedings, which are presided over by Judges. Charisma may be important -– a Louis XIVth “sun king” style leader might further raise the...21 Feb Would Assassinating Iranian Civilians Be Legal? (Updated)
...iranian atomic scientists, supporting the simmering insurgencies within Iran, putting the mullahs’ expat business interests out of business, etc. Basically, stepping on the Iranians’ toes hard enough to make them reconsider their not-so-covert war against us in Iraq. And we should have been doing this since the summer 2003. But as far as I can tell, we’ve done nothing along these lines. Reynold’s post prompted a reply in the Rocky Mountain News by Paul Campos, a law professor at the University of Colorado, entitled — appropriately enough — “The Right’s...19 Aug Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission Awards Final Damages
...10. US$75,000 for other government losses on the Central Front; 11. US$125,000 for looting of property from the Relief Society of Tigray; 12. US$150,000 for damage in Adi Goshu; 13. US$625,000 for shelling damage in Sheraro; 14. US$65,000 for damage caused by the attack on the Mekele airport; 15. US$4,000,000 for profits lost by Ethiopian Airlines; 16. US$1,703,020 for failing to provide Ethiopian Airlines access to its bank accounts at the Bank of Eritrea; and 17. US$7,500,000 for reconstruction and assistance to internally displacedpersons. C. As determined at the liability...21 Jul Guest Post: Jurisdictional Aspects of the Article 12(2) Rome Statute Vessel Provision: Some Thoughts on the Provision’s Dogma and Implementation in light of the Comoros Referral
...which while not embedded in the wording of the provision itself, still constitute part of its essence. The Rome Statute provision was drafted along the lines of article 91 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The latter, echoing a strong jurisprudence and treaty tradition stipulates and favours the notion that there must be a genuine link between the flag state and the vessel. This genuine link requirement is critical. While in some instances judicial bodies may have appeared reluctant to assert it, the reason was...
08 Aug Emerging Voices: The Time We Have, the Space We Need
...by way of obliterating the element of time that a reboot of international scholarship was made possible, creating new avenues for academic debate and rerailing intellectual conversations along lines that we somewhat keep following today. But even when the abstract functioning of disciplinary discourse is exposed, its structural bias remains unexplained. For precisely because it is indeterminate and theoretically empowers no-one, international law is also invariably used to disempower the already disempowered. Here, almost on a second thought, the contextuality of time reappears, echo of a broader post-structural turn which...