Search: crossing lines
07 Mar Seychelles, the United States, and Transitional Justice: Big Lessons from Little Countries
...the army and police, blurring the lines between the two, and started a People’s Militia where neighbor spied on neighbor and civilian members used army-supplied guns and equipment to intimidate those perceived as not sufficiently supportive. Militia membership was a way to show allegiance to the regime. Dissidents were harassed, detained, tortured, or disappeared, their families often forced to self-exile to the United Kingdom or Australia. Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles—March 5, 2021. The Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission (TRNUC)—a truth-seeking body devoted to investigating alleged violations of human rights during...04 Jun Guest Post: Stepping Back from the Precipice in Bond
...of the nation’s population). In his opinion, however, Justice Thomas suggests that the judiciary should begin to draw such lines and should, in particular, recognize that “treaties by their nature relate to intercourse with other nations (including their people and property), rather than to purely domestic affairs.” Justice Thomas acknowledges that “the distinction between matters of international intercourse and matters of purely domestic regulation may not be obvious in all cases.” Even so, he concludes that “hypothetical difficulties in line-drawing are no reason to ignore a constitutional limit on federal...03 Feb Sorting through the Torture Debate: Lederman in a Split Decision
...discretion here. If the Administration has a policy to treat detainees “humanely” but nonetheless prisoners are not being treated “humanely” as well as (possibly) in violation of certain laws, the Administration is responsible for not preventing these abuses, even if they were not technically illegal. In order for the Administration to use coercive interrogations skirting the lines of legality, they must demonstrate the judgment and the credibility that they would wield such power judiciously. Their record thus far is not very reassuring, to say the least. No one in the...
20 Jan Q&A: The Times and Temporalities of Human Rights
...by showing up the concurrent timelines at play (still enduring one trauma as the next begins), demonstrating the snares that law sets for itself (through, for example, not anticipating its own failure or ‘stuckness’), and the predictable outcomes of the timelines law and policy establish. NM: I was struck, in reading the collection, by the pervasive presence of temporality in human rights law, in its promises and aspirations and also in its fault lines and limitations – from the idea of progressive evolutive interpretation in the ‘living instrument’ doctrine of...
21 Jun The Inadequacy of the US State Department Report on Arms Exports Assurances: Part I
...making a prediction of risk from the assurances misses multiple critical lines of inquiry. It concentrates on just a few superficial criteria, and overlooks several key points and the overall context. Certainly, the State Department may have taken these factors into consideration in its internal, confidential evaluations and not mentioned them in its report to Congress, but the report lacks clarity and transparency in this regard. The fact that the State Department chose to only ask four brief, vaguely-phrased, and backwards-looking questions before making predictions on the likelihood of misuse...31 May Weekend Roundup: May 17-31, 2015
...a Sovereign Debt Treaty.” Kevin posted on Regulation 55 of the Rome Statute in the context of the Gbagbo proceedings and what he terms the irrelevance of the confirmation hearing. He also posted on when the left shoots itself in the foot (IHL version). We had two guest contributions in the last two weeks. The first, from Rick Lines, Damon Barrett and Patrick Gallahue was entitled: The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: ‘Asian Values’ or Drug Treaty Influence? Marina Aksenova posted on Five Questions on the Colombian Sentencing Practice and...12 Sep Tenure & Promotion Timelines: An International Track?
...it’s 26 out of the 36 schools (those listed above, plus Berkeley, BYU, Cardozo, Hofstra, Minnesota, Penn State, Pitt, and Wake Forest). I’ve provided more detailed data at the end of the post. Comments, clarifications and, of course, corrections would be most welcome. But before we get there, here’s my question for international law professors out there — does this data accurately reflect the timelines facing those who specialize in our field? As collected, we asked for general information about timelines, and what is possible in terms of how quickly...07 Apr What Do a Top-Shelf Vodka and Illegal Immigrants Have In Common?
They’re both participants in the reconquista, illegal immigrants as the foot soldiers and now a vodka purveyor as its cartographer. Entertaining little dust-up over this ad from Absolut, depicting (very roughly) Mexico along the lines of its early 19th century boundaries. The ad was targeted at Mexican consumers, “based upon historical perspectives and … created with a Mexican sensibility,” according to the company’s blog. Did the folks at Absolut really think someone in El Norte wouldn’t get wind of it? The ad predictably played into “Aztlan” conspiracy theories. The company...
23 Jun Skeptical Thoughts on the Proposed Crime of “Ecocide” (That Isn’t)
...anticipated.” It will be difficult enough to prove that the perpetrator was aware there was a substantial likelihood his or her acts would cause the required environmental damage; it will be nearly impossible to prove that he or she was also aware the expected environmental damage would be clearly excessive in relation to the anticipated social and economic benefits. The requirement appears to require the perpetrator to make the value judgment in question (“this act won’t be sufficiently beneficial”), along the same lines of Art. 8(2)(b)(iv), which requires the perpetrator...31 Oct Why Can’t Obama’s Aunt Contribute to His Campaign?
...afforded some channel of influence. It’s a matter of basic democracy theory. There have been a flurry of press stories and polls relating to foreign preferences in this election (overwhelmingly favoring Obama), all along the lines of, a world wanting to vote. (The Economist has ginned up a global electoral college; here are the global poll numbers from Foreign Policy, and here’s a blog called “Voices Without Votes: Americans Vote. The World Speaks.”) Extending truly universal franchise in presidential elections is a nice thought experiment, but ultimately not very practical....