In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Search: drones

05 Sep

...time” in the “appropriate” manner, reduce the likelihood of immediate retaliation. Furthermore, the US response, involving the deployment of additional fighter squadrons and more warships to the Middle East to help defend Israel, may diminish the chances of Iranian reprisals.    On the other hand, Iran certainly has the capacity to retaliate militarily, as evidenced in April when it launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel. The decision of certain airlines to halt operations to the Middle East and the calls by states for their citizens to evacuate from...
05.09.24 | , and |

13 Apr

...of targeted killing and drone warfare, let me point readers to a conference at University of Pennsylvania Law School this weekend, a joint effort among lawyers, philosophers, diplomats, and national security and military personnel. It’s an impressive lineup – including Deborah Pearlstein and John Dehn – and you can even get CLE credit, I believe. (I’ve put the announcement below the fold.) I’ll be talking at the Penn conference about an ethical tension between jus in bello and jus ad bellum. Targeted killing through drones results (I will take by...
13.04.11 | |

04 Mar

...in today’s presidential election. A UN senior official has addressed sexual violence issues in Cambodia and Kenya. Human Rights Watch has called for an end to the violence in Bangladesh in light of the recent sentencing of opposition leader Jamaat-e-Islaami. Jurist has more here. Foreign Policy recently carried out a survey of 70 experts about global conflicts; an analysis of the results can be found here. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported last week that UK terror suspects are being stripped of their citizenship before being killed by US drones....
04.03.13 | |

30 Nov

...peace and justice, values that were at heart of Mr Weinrebe’s humanitarian activities. In his keynote lecture, Ben Emmerson, UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights and renowned barrister will focus on pressing issues at the intersection of peace and justice including: mass digital surveillance in the global age, the use of drones in the fight against international terrorism, the rights of victims of terrorism and areas of good practice in the fight against terrorism. Opening Remarks will be given by Professor Robert McCorquodale (Director, BIICL) and the lecture...
30.11.14 | |

29 Aug

...to “enable improved techniques for rapidly discriminating hostile intent and filtering out threats in complex urban environments”.  In other words, the DoD is “developing a program of high-tech cameras mounted on drones and other robots that monitor cities, which enable identification and discrimination between civilians and terrorists through machine learning computers.” In this second example too, one can observe the importance of identifying patterns of conduct, especially in urban contexts, to separate civilians from combatants. However, while in the SKYNET programme AI is aimed at a very specific task (rating...
29.08.20 | |

28 Sep

...to say about the crisis of today and its long term implications for governance. Note to young and aspiring scholars: The national security-terrorism decade is over in international law, transborder law, and domestic constitutionalism, even if there are many dangling issues that haven’t been worked out, such as the scope of covert action, drones, targeted killing, trying terrorists, detention, etc. The 90s were liberal internationalism; the 00s were non-state actor terrorism and state counterterrorism. Like it or not, questions answered or not, events have moved on. It is now the...
28.09.11 | |

18 Dec

...own territory. From a factual standpoint, both the organization and intensity criteria have periodically approached the IHL threshold. Major cartels—such as the Cártel de Sinaloa, Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), and Los Zetas—possess clear command hierarchies, internal discipline, and the logistical capacity to conduct sustained military-style operations. Their arsenals include assault rifles, explosives, armored vehicles, and weaponized drones, while their recruitment structures, financing channels, and territorial control exhibit a degree of institutionalization that far exceeds ordinary criminality. Episodes such as the prolonged Ciudad Mier clashes in Tamaulipas (2010–2012), the Tanhuato...
18.12.25 | |

23 Oct

Iran has said it may stop oil production if Western sanctions tighten. The United Kingdom will double the number of drones it has in Afghanistan for combat and surveillance missions. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany could take part in assisting a European mission to Mali that would train troops to fight Islamist insurgents in the north of the country. Former US President Jimmy Carter has said that the Israel-Palestinian peace process has reached a crisis point and he accused Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu of not pursuing a two-state...
23.10.12 | |

12 Jan

I want to call readers’ attention to a very useful new essay written by Emory’s Laurie Blank, which is forthcoming in the William Mitchell Law Review. Here is the abstract: Targeted strikes – predominantly using drones – have become the operational counterterrorism tool of choice for the United States over the past few years. Targeted killing can be used both within armed conflict and in the absence of armed conflict, as a means of self-defense, usually as operational counterterrorism. Indeed, this duality lies at the heart of the United States...
12.01.12 | |

19 May

This week on Opinio Juris, Chris Borgen posted about Peter Watts’ short story on the legal and ethical questions relating to the use of autonomous aerial combat drones; Julian Ku shared Cato Institute’s Walter Olson’s observations on the revolving door between the UN and the US legal academy; Kevin Heller gave an account of his PhD viva at Leiden; and Roger Alford made us guess which six countries were the focus of the AP Comparative Government this week. Peter Spiro continued last week’s discussion on US taxation of US expats...
19.05.12 | |

15 Feb

...laws governing the resort to, and use of, armed force. The chapters on the use of force and armed conflict include new reflections on the role of government lawyers and consider new developments in substantive law in an era of drones and “cyberwarfare.” The fourth and final part considers the relationship between domestic law and international law. This is the portion of the book most closely geared to the demands of U.S. law practice. At the same time, it introduces readers to other countries’ views on issues such as jurisdiction,...
15.02.16 | |

12 Apr

...a target was absolutely isolated and no chance of collateral damage.” And speaking of drones, Foreign Policy offers ten ways to fix the drone war. The UK will not invite Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez to the funeral of Margaret Thatcher, but later decided that “good manners” required that at the very least the Argentinian ambassador should be invited. Julian will be happy to see some sign of progress at last: the ICJ will hear Australia’s case against Japan over the latter’s whaling program in late June and early July. At...
12.04.13 | |