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Search: self-defense

23 Feb

...we fight for and what unites us is justice, justice, justice.”  In the early hours of January 8, 2020, Iran carried out missile strikes against US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force. The IRGC expected US retaliation within minutes and therefore added air defense systems to the Tehran vicinity. Despite the immediate risks, Iran kept its airspace open to civilian aircraft. Hours later, an IRGC Air Defense Unit (ADU) stationed near Imam Khomeini Airport (IKA) fired two missiles approximately 30 seconds apart...
23.02.22 | , and |

27 Feb

...the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa too concurred with this approach, noting that allowing immunity to prevent arrest in such situations “would create an intolerable anomaly”. Highlighting the irony that Kenya’s government disregard of its international obligations in inviting al-Bashir to the inauguration of Kenya’s progressive Constitution, the Court also notes that the government’s actions violate a specific provision of the Kenyan Constitution itself. Article 143(4) of the Constitution reads “[t]he immunity of the President under this Article shall not extend to a crime for which the President...
27.02.18 | |

27 Apr

...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...
27.04.21 | |

12 Aug

the Rwandan prosecutors regarding the link between the alleged genocide denial and Erlinder’s pleadings as a defense counsel in the Military I case. For example, according to one statement, “during the Military I Trial at the ICTR, Carl Peter Erlinder denied and downplayed genocide. He managed to prove that genocide had not been planned nor executed by the military officials he was representing.” The Court itself concluded that Erlinder should “answer for his acts at the ICTR.” To be clear, although it is unconscionable to persecute a defense attorney for...
12.08.10 | |

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 | |

25 Jun

Joe Film casting is so rarely done with any logic in mind. Look at Zang Ziyi being cast in "Memoirs of a Geisha". The Japanese community was terribly offended. But Hollywood studio executives don't really care about accuracy or even political correctness. Their main goal is to fill theater seats with people, and Britney Spears will do that. Anderson I think Britney took that <a href="http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b101256_kate_winslets_prophetic_joke_holocaust.html">Kate Winslet self-spoof</a> too seriously. Anderson Oops, dunno how that hoppened. M. Gross I see no way this could possibly end in tragedy. Time Travel,...
25.06.09 | |

26 Jul

...What’s missing, in short, is society.” (p. 173) For Witt, what’s required instead is a social history of the Court and international law. What should we make of this critique? Based on my previous post worrying that the social, political, and cultural context of the Court’s work might be obscured by the book’s grand narrative, one might expect me to agree with Witt. And at a certain level, I do. In fact, I’ve previously made a call for exactly that kind of social history myself. And yet, I can’t help...
26.07.11 | |

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 | |

27 Jan

...“inspiration” from the various “constitutional traditions common to the Member States” (as the Court puts it), the Court has begun to develop a jurisprudence of “general principles of law,” in order to redeem the EU’s self-conception as a “community based on the rule of law.” Those principles—developed by the Court sua sponte—have enabled the Court to incorporate, within “the structure and aims of the Community,” the substance of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as well as fundamental rights protected by national constitutions. The Court must decide crucial social...
27.01.09 | |

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 | |

08 Apr

Chris makes some very good points about the Bush Administration’s foreign policy “schizophrenia” and listing the nomination of Bolton as symptomatic of the problem. Not surprisingly, I disagree. I think this “schizoprenia” is actually a good thing. I do agree that there is some back-and-forth in the Bush Administration’s foreign policy recently, but I actually think this reflects an increasing sophistication rather than increasing confusion. Indeed, the main complaint up to now with the current administration has been that it has been way too consistent in the pursuit...
08.04.05 | |

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 | |