Search: self-defense

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....

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,...

...or the rule of law. In this sense, it is important not to confuse the empirical reality of how the concept evolved and is used on the discourse, and the concept itself. Which leads me to the second idea : sovereignty, in one form or another is a sociological necessity. What I mean by this is that sovereignty, in its simplest definition of a delegation of power (legislative, executive, judicial, police, administrative, etc.) to centralized authorities is an inevitable phenomenon in any human community that reaches a critical mass. This...

...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...

...geographically connected to a NIAC. Wittes and Chesney’s claim that those rules permit the detention of anyone who “materially support” terrorism is still questionable. Most importantly, nothing in conventional IHL explicitly authorizes detaining anyone in NIAC. Common Article 3 and the Second Additional Protocol impose restrictions on how detainees can be treated; they do not authorize detention itself. That does not mean, of course, that IHL is silent concerning detention in NIAC. It is still possible that such detention is inherent in conventional IHL or that there is a customary...

...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...

I also want to welcome Professor D’Amato to Opinio Juris. And, in the typical Opinio Juris fashion, I want to welcome him by immediately taking exception to some of the arguments he put forward in his inaugural post. I agree that Judge Roberts should be held responsible for the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Hamdan as much as if he had written the opinion for the Court. I simply don’t find that decision as troubling as Professor D’Amato seems to. First, I guess I don’t find the D.C. Circuit’s...

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...

...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...

...“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...

the national defense, knowing or having reason to believe, at the time he receives or obtains, or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain it, that it has been or will be obtained, taken, made, or disposed of by any person contrary to the provisions of this chapter; or…. (e) Whoever having unauthorized possession of, access to, or control over any document, writing, … or note relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to...

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...