Search: jens iverson
15 Jun Will Al-Bahlul’s Appeal of his Conspiracy Conviction go to the Supreme Court?
On Friday, the DC Circuit vacated al-Bahlul’s military commission conviction for conspiracy. There has been, and will be, much coverage of this decision, especially since the decision is a great candidate for a successful Supreme Court cert petition. Assuming that the federal government wants to appeal, which I can’t imagine it would not, the case would allow the Supreme Court to return to an issue — conspiracy as a substantive offense — that it has not addressed since Hamdan (which left many crucial questions unanswered due to the...10 Sep Obama Walks a Thin Line on ISIS
A few minutes ago, President Obama addressed the nation to explain his new policy to contain and destroy ISIS. He is walking a fine line: more airstrikes but no direct ground invasion. Instead, he will fund, equip, and train foreign troops to engage in the ground fighting themselves. While this is a politically popular view (ground troops are always risky), it has serious operational deficits. The U.S. has a history of training and equipping foreign troops and the results are usually unimpressive. Too often the money gets diverted...10 Jan Trump’s Threat of Destruction of North Korea and Proportionate Defensive Force: An Assessment of Similar Observations in Legal Scholarship and US Practice
...argument and its resemblance to Dinstein’s theory of the “war of self-defense”, see Kevin Jon Heller, “The Use and Abuse of Analogy in International Humanitarian Law” in Jens D Ohlin (ed), Theoretical Boundaries of Armed Conflict & Human Rights (Cambridge University Press, 2016) pp 252–4.) As regards the proportionality requirement in the exercise of self-defense, Trump’s statement cannot therefore be regarded as a total departure from the manner in which the US has invoked Article 51 to explain its drone strikes targeting alleged terrorists outside Afghanistan. Conclusion Trump’s reference to...21 Feb Weekend Roundup: February 7-20, 2015
This fortnight on Opinio Juris, Kevin recommended an article on China’s proposed broad definition of terrorism, argued that there is no practice supporting the “unwilling or unable” test, and was surprised by the news that David Hicks’ conviction for material support for terrorism has been voided. Julian questioned whether the Outer Space Treaty allows for private exploitation of the Moon’s resources. Kristen advanced four reasons why the Security Council’s new Terrorist Financing Resolution is significant, and Jens explained why he remains troubled by the draft proposal to authorise the President...09 Apr LJIL Symposium Vol 26-1: Introduction
...of International Criminal Law. More particularly, the author aims at bridging the gap between the liberal critique of ICL and what he calls the ‘critique of the liberal critique’, through an acknowledgment of both the specificities of ICL and the ethical commitments behind it. We are happy to welcome what are probably the two main proponents of the two sides: Jens Ohlin, from Cornell University, and Mark Drumbl, from Washington & Lee University School of Law. Both of them, from their own perspective, invite Darryl Robinson to clarify his positions,...15 Jun Weekly News Wrap: Monday, June 15, 2015
Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan has returned to his country, defying a South African judge’s effort to prevent his departure on the basis of an International Criminal Court (ICC) order for his arrest. Jens has a post outlining the events here and a sampling of reactions from social media can be found here. Eleven Somali al Shabaab militants and two Kenyan soldiers were killed when the al Qaeda-linked fighters attacked a military base on Kenya’s...01 Apr Pluralism v. Harmonization: National Adjudication of International Crimes
The VU University Amsterdam is pleased to announce it will hold a conference on international criminal law titled ‘Pluralism v. Harmonization: National Adjudication of International Crimes.’ Opinio Juris’ own Kevin Jon Heller and recent guest contributors Mark Drumbl and Jens Ohlin are among the impressive line-up of speakers. The event will take place at the KNAW’s Trippenhuis in the center of Amsterdam on 14 and 15 June 2012. The conference is part of the university’s ICL research project Common Civility, and its main objective is to explore the background and...
12 Oct International Criminal Law Analysis of the Situation in Israel
Since my fields of research include criminal law, international law, and international humanitarian law, several colleagues and students have asked for my preliminary legal assessment regarding the recent attacks in Israel by Hamas terrorists. These terrorist attacks were egregious and shocking violations of human dignity and cannot be justified in any context. Although facts are still being gathered, the available evidence suggests that the killings and kidnappings constituted war crimes in violation of Article 8 of the Rome Statute and customary international law. In addition to the...