Search: crossing lines
16 Mar Lubanga Decision Roundtable: More on Co-Perpetration
...liability in that context is more obvious: co-perpetration requires an agreement to commit a crime — a common plan — whereas modes of participation such as instigation, aiding and abetting, and contributing to a group crime do not. In light of that fundamental difference, it would in no way blur the lines between principal and accomplice liability to adopt the same contribution requirement for both. My view, it should be noted, assumes that Article 25(3)(d) is limited to contributions to a group crime that are made by individuals who are...08 Apr O’Connell’s “Who’s Afraid of International Law?” and the Koh Nomination
...5, 6, 7), by conservative students at Yale, and also by prominent officials from across party lines. A few days ago, Ted Olson defended Koh from the right-wing criticism. A letter in support of the Koh nomination that has been recently delivered to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee includes signatories such as former Republican State Department Legal Advisers John Bellinger, William Taft, and Davis Robinson as well as former Democratic Legal Advisers David Andrews, Conrad Harper, Roberts Owen and Herbert Hansell. If I had to throw in my lot with...
18 Nov Fighting over the Spoils of the “Holy Land”: Attachment to Land as a Basis for the Rights of Ethnic Minorities?
...under Article 27 as forming part of enjoying one’s own culture, particularly for indigenous peoples and it has addressed several indigenous land claims under the norm. Still, as Kymlicka submits, “[c]onflicts involving ethno-national groups such as the Kurds, Kashmiris, and Palestinians pose a much greater threat to regional peace and security than the struggles of pastoralists or forest dwellers, yet […] the UN has no guidelines for addressing the[m]” (p. 390). Given the content of Article 27 ICCPR and the above-mentioned developments regarding (collective) land rights, the interplay of land...
21 Aug Covid-19 and the Right to Water: The Impact of Handwashing Guidance in Atolls with Limited Running Water
...access to clean washing water (far less potable water) remains a challenge. Covid-19 has exposed existing fault lines in ways that shine a light on the implications of inadequate water supplies. Atolls, Handwashing and Climate Change What has gone relatively unexamined is the impact of climate change on access to water and the additional vulnerability that countries already exposed to its effects are now facing in light of Covid-19. Any positive progressive realisation of access to water, although taking into account the particular circumstances that states might face economically, must...27 Dec Sundays with Stendhal 10: On Epigrams
The Baron could not produce epigrams; he required at least four sentences of six lines each to be brilliant. (The Red and the Black, part II, chapter 34, “The Hotel de La Mole.” Sometimes, alas, I fear this is me.)...09 Oct Judicial Review of Geneva Convention Claims: Commentary on the Military Commissions Act by David Sloss
...for example, Congress could have added language to the Military Commissions Act of 2006 along the following lines: “In the event of a conflict between the Geneva Conventions and the procedures specified herein, courts shall apply the procedures embodied in this Act.” Such language would preclude courts from applying the Geneva Conventions by making clear that Congress intended to supersede the Conventions as a matter of domestic law. However, the Military Commissions Act of 2006 does not contain any such provision. Section 3 of the Act creates a new Chapter...
03 Feb The Appeals Chamber Invents Conditional Post-Acquittal Release
...integrity of its process.” The drafters have already made that value judgment, concluding that the integrity of post-acquittal release requires the acquitted person to be released unconditionally unless exceptional circumstances justify keeping him in detention. That is a perfectly sound position: although an accused person has rights throughout the criminal process, those rights are at their absolute highest following acquittal. At that point in the process, it makes complete sense to structure release along the binary lines contemplated by Art. 81(3)(c). It is problematic enough that the AC decided to...
30 Mar International Cyber Law Strategy for the UN Global Mechanism
...available for international law matters, choosing how to spend scarce negotiating capital becomes especially critical. This post outlines four ways states could structure their engagement with international law within the Global Mechanism. From Applicability to Practice The predecessors of the Global Mechanism, the UN Groups of Governmental Experts (operating between 2012–2021) and the Open-Ended Working Groups (2019–2025), approached international law largely at an abstract level. Their deliberations focused on whether existing law applies in the cyber context and whether new law is required to govern this domain. While meaningful progress...