In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Search: self-defense

09 Oct

...merely an artistic expression of Casey’s. The defense and prosecution will each present witnesses, expert testimony, and physical evidence to support their arguments. The pretrial issue involves the First Amendment’s provisions governing freedom of speech and expression. It focuses on the constitutionality of the School Violence in Video Games statute, which prohibits the possession of certain types of video games. The defense asserts that the statute is unconstitutional. First, the defense argues that video games are a form of protected expression because they contain expressive elements entitled to First Amendment...
09.10.06 | |

23 Jul

...reference check (para 33). The report also explained that experience, by itself, was not the most important criterion; rather, it was competency. How, the Committee asked, did the candidates “demonstrate certain behaviours/skills” not merely by virtue of their resume, but “within the strategic context in which the ICC is situated” (para 37)?  As Ambassador Sabine Nolke, the committee’s chair, later put it, “The fact that you’ve done something in the past doesn’t mean you’re the right person to do it again.” At the same time, the report is also refreshingly...
23.07.20 | |

17 Oct

...some respects, this article seemed to me a direct expression of Walzer’s defense of the idea that a political community had obligations to its own members, including in matters of distribution and redistribution, that were more binding than those of general cosmopolitanism. The book is a defense of membership in a political community, a defense of the idea that certain things can morally extend to members and not to non-members, and, I suppose, it is much of what Peter does not accept. Human rights are often invoked today in defense...
17.10.08 | |

06 Dec

[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...
06.12.22 | |

25 Mar

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...
25.03.21 | |

06 Dec

...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...
06.12.05 | |

02 Mar

...any, constraints are required under domestic and international law when AI systems are capable of identifying, selecting, and potentially engaging targets without intervention by a human operator in executing these tasks. Guardrails and the Legal Framework In its statement, Anthropic made clear that their guardrails are not a rejection of cooperation with U.S. defense efforts or a strong denial of the potential utility of fully autonomous weapons as “critical for national defense.” Rather, the guardrails seek to ensure the operation of such systems within safe and reliable technical limits. The...
02.03.26 | , , , and |

31 May

quite limited. There was little in the Siemens award itself to suggest that Argentina had much, if any, chance of convincing the committee to annul the award. Bilateral investment treaties (BITs) are famously asymmetric. They grant investors rights but not obligations, while imposing upon states obligations unaccompanied by rights. Recent cases suggest, however, that BIT tribunals are poised to recognize a defense to state BIT liability that, in effect, imposes upon investors the obligation to avoid involvement in public corruption in the course of making a treaty-protected investment. In this...
31.05.12 | |

22 Sep

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...
22.09.07 | |

15 May

...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...
15.05.09 | |

11 Nov

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...
11.11.08 | |

30 Jan

...fall within the scope of the NPM clause from the substantive protections of the BIT and thereby preclude liability. Professor Franck is correct to note that in most cases the affirmative defense of necessity in customary international law should be unnecessary where a BIT contains an NPM clause. More specifically, where a treaty contains an NPM clause of comprehensive scope, the narrow necessity defense under customary law will generally not become relevant. NPM clauses are generally drafted to provide states greater flexibility to respond to emergency situations than would have...
30.01.08 | |