Search: extraterritorial sanctions
07 Mar Are the Security Council Resolutions Against Iran “Illegal”?
I think we have talked about this before on this blog, but I don’t think we ever came to a resolution on Iran’s argument that Security Council sanctions against its nuclear program are “illegal.” Iran’s foreign minister is apparently arguing here that the UNSC resolutions are “politically motivated and unprincipled resolutions” which violate international law, rules and regulations. It “ignores Iran’s legal and inalienable rights guaranteed by the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the nuclear safeguards regime.” I don’t exactly understand the argument fully or maybe there is no real argument....
11 Oct Delays, Interference, and Espionage: The ICC’s Struggle with Arrest Warrants in the Situation in the State of Palestine
...head of Mossad, who warned, “You don’t want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family”. The obstruction of the ICC has been marked not only by covert espionage but by overt political threats. On 24 April 2024, twelve US Republican Senators issued a letter to ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, threatening sanctions and unspecified consequences for him, Court officials, and their families if arrest warrants were issued against Israeli leaders. Democratic Senator John Fetterman even warned that pursuing charges against Israeli officials would...
31 Jan Revisiting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions: The Role of Arbitration in Reviving a Broken International Agreement
...different administrations. The Nuclear Deal marked an important milestone: it brought together various state parties (despite varying degrees of diplomatic discord and antagonistic relations) who were able to reach a multilateral accord on highly sensitive issues. From its very inception, the deal was heralded by the UN as a positive step towards advancing international peace and security through detailed and comprehensive commitments. Its main purpose was to impose restrictions on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program in exchange for substantial economic relief in the form of the lifting of sanctions. However, it...07 Mar Bomb Iran? Not Yet
...sufficient number of centrifuge machines to acquire large-scale production capacity, it will kick out the IAEA inspectors and begin rapid production of weapons-grade uranium. In light of the threat that an Iranian nuclear weapons program would pose, the United States must not allow this scenario to unfold. In the near term, it makes sense to pursue negotiated solutions, and to work through the U.N. Security Council to continue application of sanctions. If, however, Iran continues to expand its uranium enrichment capacity, the United States should launch a preemptive strike to...06 Mar The UN Human Rights Committee’s General Comment 36 on the Right to Life and the Right to Abortion
...woman or girl substantial pain or suffering, most notably where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or is not viable. In addition, States parties may not regulate pregnancy or abortion in all other cases in a manner that runs contrary to their duty to ensure that women and girls do not have to undertake unsafe abortions, and they should revise their abortion laws accordingly. For example, they should not take measures such as criminalizing pregnancies by unmarried women or apply criminal sanctions against women and girls undergoing...26 Oct The Mary Ellen O’Connell and Benjamin Wittes Debate on Targeted Killing and Drone Warfare
...crime, there must somewhere be a criminal or else it is merely a series of unfortunate events; if there is a criminal, he or she did not act alone, because these agents acted under instructions from a principal. So this is my concern: If it is politically unrealistic to consider going after Barack Obama and Harold Koh and Leon Panetta and Joe Biden, et al., and that is the reason for not pursuing criminal sanctions that follow upon criminality, well, one has to wonder when it will be politically realistic....09 Mar Events and Announcements: 9 March 2025
...Boğaziçi University Faculty of Law is holding a conference on “Justice and Reconstruction in Post-Conflict Societies”, scheduled for 5 and 6 July 2025 in Istanbul. The conference will critically explore the role of international law in shaping post-conflict transitions, with a focus on security, economic recovery, refugee returns, constitutional processes, sanctions, environmental justice, maritime disputes, and international courts. The deadline for abstract submissions is 27 April 2025. A limited number of funding opportunities are available. For further details on the call for papers, submission guidelines and important dates, please visit...02 Apr The Use of Statutory Construction in Defining Torture
Here is a key excerpt from pages 36-39 of the March 2003 “Torture” Memorandum: Section 2340 defines the act of torture as an: act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control…. The key statutory phrase in the definition of torture is the statement that acts amount to torture if they cause “severe physical or mental pain or suffering.”...23 Nov Talking or Taking? The US-Iranian Dispute over Diplomatic Property
...the awards pile up in the United States, Iran is signaling that its legal system can do the same thing. Now, I would not suggest there’s any moral equivalence in the sorts of suits for which sovereign immunity is being waived by U.S. courts and Alikhani’s complaint (he was detained for 105 days following his arrest in a sting operation involving the purchase of oil-field equipment in Florida for shipment to Libya allegedly in violation of U.S. sanctions). But, as a structural matter, once the United States decides to allow...