Search: self-defense

Chapman lawprof John Hall has a curious op-ed in the WSJ (subscription required) attacking the Cambodia hybrid war crimes court. He calls it “another U.N. corruption scandal in the making.” But this is really unfair to the U.N. (and when was the last time I wrote that sentence, maybe never?) Professor Hall is really arguing that the problem with Cambodian court is too much control and participation by local Cambodian lawyers and judges who are controlled by the current governing regime. Fair enough. But this isn’t really, or...

...up my guitar and play Just like yesterday No, no! I'll move myself and my family aside If we happen to be left half alive I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky For I know that the hypnotized never lie Do ya? YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! There's nothing in the street Looks any different to me And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye And the parting on the left Is now the parting on the right And the beards have all grown longer overnight I'll tip my hat to the new...

I was in Miami for the weekend speaking at a conference sponsored by the American Bar Association and the International Bar Association on the topic of mass claims in developing countries. Many lawyers in the room were defense counsel for prominent corporations subject to new claims for violations of international or foreign law. There were also plenty of plaintiff lawyers, which made for interesting discussion. One of the issues that I discussed in my presentation was “reverse forum shopping.” Here is what appears to be happening with many of the...

legal conception that this should not be so; just as the United States of America, … always demanded that neutrals, or neutrals and representatives of all parties, should be called to the Bench….” But this motion was not filed by defense counsel for Saddam Hussein. No, this motion was filed in November 1945 by defense counsel near the beginning of the Nuremberg trial challenging the legitimacy of that tribunal. Today, Saddam Hussein is trying the same approach. Here is a brief excerpt of the exchange at Hussein’s trial today: Judge:...

[Moisés A. Montiel Mogollón is a Professor at the Faculty of Law at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City Campus and Universidad Panamericana, Guadalajara campus (Mexico).] Summary The late judge Antonio Cançado Trindade is often criticized by legal formalism on account of his interpretive elasticity when positive law failed to meet the most “elementary dictates of public conscience”. This piece -a homage from the enemy trenches- aims to reclaim his contributions and frame them as a necessary reminder for law-makers and operators, rigorous and meticulous in the method...

enjoys diplomatic immunity and that both his arrest in Cabo Verde and the request of extradition by the US are unlawful as they violate the conventional and customary rules governing diplomatic immunities. The logic behind the defense is that, since 2018, Saab has acted on behalf of Venezuela as Special Envoy to Iran and, -since December of last year- as Alternate Permanent Representative-designate to the African Union and therefore enjoys the ensuing immunity. This contention merits scrutiny since the immunity claimed by Saab’s defense exhibits deficiencies that preclude it from...

The highly publicized McCain Amendment is now law. In order to secure the commitment of the President to support this statutory codification of the principle of humane treatment, Senator McCain agreed to the inclusion of a “superior orders” defense. The compromise legislation therefore provides that in any criminal or civil action against any employee of the armed forces or any other government agency for violation of this “humane treatment” mandate, obedience to orders may be raised as a defense. Accordingly, unless the activity forming the basis of the allegation is...

...statement' with 'stonewall'. Seriously now, everyone is entitled to a personal opinion on how to deal with one's enemies (including advocacy of pre-enlightment techniques, as the anonymous poster above does). But when such individual is a college professor, even if its at the blog level, he should be much more careful with his choice of words when commenting on very serious allegations of very serious international law infringements. Diogenes My question is this: Does Julian desperately want to believe or is he participating in the charade himself? Condi's statements were...

...unclassified secret sources that he was shown during an intelligence briefing with several U.S. officials. In its reaction on the 26th of June to the Defense request to hear Stolworthy from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence concerning the written statement, the PPS mentions that not all underlying sources could be seen anyways by the National Public Prosecutor for Counterterrorism, Intelligence and Security Services. For this reason, the PPS emphasizes that as a result of this deficiency in the evidence. “[the] court will have to take this into...

[Jennifer Trahan is Associate Clinical Professor, at The Center for Global Affairs, NYU-SPS, and Chair of the American Branch of the International Law Association’s International Criminal Court Committee. The views expressed are those of the author.] Postings on Opinio Juris seem fairly squarely against the legality of the U.S. missile strike last week into Syria. Let me join Jens David Ohlin (blogging on Opinio Juris) and Harold Koh (blogging on Just Security) in making the contrary case. When NATO intervened in Kosovo in 1999, member states did not...

The Australian is reporting that Tanzanian police have arrested Callixte Gakwaya, a defence attorney at the ICTR, on suspicion of involvement in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. “He was arrested yesterday. He is now in custody,” regional police commander Basilio Matei said. According to the arrest warrant, Gakwaya – who leads the defence team of a genocide suspect whose case comes up before the ICTR in January – supervised road blocks and massacred Tutsis as they tried to flee the Rwandan capital. “Several Tutsis were killed,” according to the warrant....

...defense, much to their concern: Saddam’s defense team complained on Wednesday that despite “repeated requests” it had not received a copy of the verdict so that it could begin work on an appeal and lodge it with the court within the 30-day deadline after the November 5 verdict. Chief counsel Khalil al-Dulaimi accused the Iraqi High Tribunal, the court that tried Saddam and seven others for crimes against humanity, of “pursuing its continued efforts to obstruct the efforts of the defense to submit a legal … appeal against the unjust...