Search: self-defense
25 Apr The Violations of Sovereignty and the Right to Self-Determination in Rojava and Ukraine
or ethnic criteria, given the lack of a permanent or standard definition for the term people. Varying uneven responses in self-determination contexts such as Rojava, the Kurdistan Region, Donetsk and Luhansk, have advanced some cases for self-determination while also setting back others, including the Kurdish people. As a matter of international practice, not all peoples are entitled to exercise self-determination as some peoples’ de facto nationhood is deemed less legitimate than that of others. Self-determination is still in practice a Eurocentric concept, whereas in the Middle East self-determination has remained...16 Jan Armed Conflict With Al Qaida: A Response
...acts by private actors (as opposed to acts by state militaries) could trigger a right of self-defense where the government of the host state was unable or unwilling to take action; and, second, whether the threat posed by those private actors satisfied the conditions of necessity, proportionality and immediacy so that the British action would be justified. But there was no question that the acts of private actors could trigger the right of self-defense where the host government was unable or unwilling to deal with the situation. Secretary Webster may...09 Apr One Possible Defense Against Piracy: Self-Help
show up unless the pirates shoot first. Nor are they willing to try them, or punish them, given various legal protections that the pirates now enjoy under international law and the U.S. constitutional defenses they can probably raise against a U.S. prosecution (gotta love that Boumediene case, just gotta love it). Self-help might actually be the most effective measure, although I’d have to think about what legal rules of engagement would apply to a merchant mariner shooting at a pirate. Ironically, the merchant mariner (acting in self-defense) is probably legally...23 Feb The Ethics of Defending Hitler
...to provide him with a zealous defense. A defense attorney does not have to like his client to provide him with a zealous defense. But a defense attorney cannot provide his client with a zealous defense unless he is is capable of reconciling himself to the possibility that his efforts might lead to his client being acquitted. The ability to accept that possibility is, I believe, the sine qua non of effective representation. It is not enough for a defense attorney to have an abstract commitment to the idea that...
29 Feb The ICJ, Provisional Measures, and the Right of Self-defence: The Unspoken Relevance of jus cogens?
of Ukraine. The Court was not as averse to the phrase ‘self-defence’ as it was in South Africa v Israel, and noted on several occasions Russia’s justification of (collective) self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter for its ‘special military operation’ (paras 32, 33, 39 and 46). At play here was not whether the prohibition of genocide ‘overrode’ (to use Judge Robinson’s terminology) the right of self-defence, but rather whether the right of self-defence was overridden by another jus cogens norm, that is, the obligation to refrain from acts...02 Aug Opinio Juris Symposium: Are Non-Self-Executing Treaties Unconstitutional?
about non-self-execution. Indeed, Prof. Ku appears to be misconceptualizing the issue of non-self-execution. A treaty provision is non-self-executing only as a factual matter, namely, a political branch has not performed some overt act to implement a treaty duty requiring the performance of an overt act. Declaring a treaty provision, which requires a party to not perform some overt act, to be non-self-executing is non-sensical. Therefore, when the President or Senate makes a declaration that, e.g., the prohibition of torture under the ICCPR is non-self-executing, this declaration makes no sense because...
24 Sep France’s Declaration on International Law in Cyberspace: The Law of Peacetime Cyber Operations, Part II
...has the right to individual or collective self-defence. Legitimate self-defense can be conducted with conventional or cyber means and has to respect the principles of necessity and proportionality. Furthermore, legitimate self-defense includes preemptive action to respond to a (cyber) armed attack which has “not yet begun, but is imminent and certain, provided that the potential impact of this aggression is sufficiently grave”. At the same time, France rejects the right to use force in preventive self-defense, i.e. when the armed attack is not imminent, but may only potentially occur in...
08 Mar Legal Implications of the Recent India-Pakistan Military Standoff
absolutely necessary”. With all their legal uncertainty, the words ‘imminent danger’ and ‘preemptive strike’ would suggest towards the right of self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. India seemed to stop short of suggesting that. It must have been because if the target is a non-state actor, in this case, JeM, it becomes necessary for India to attribute its actions to the State, in this case, Pakistan. While there is a general feeling among the Indian establishment that some level of State support, arguably, exists in the case...