Search: self-defense
02 Nov The Nuremberg Military Tribunals and Contemporary International Criminal Law
...Mental Element of the Crime of Aggression and Mistake of Law One of the striking features of the Rome Statute is its criminal law “general part”, by far the most comprehensive of its kind ever found in a treaty. This includes, in Article 30, a default rule as to the “mental element” applicable to the “material elements” of the crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court. “Unless otherwise provided” (and the Statute is, itself, thin on “otherwise providing”), there must be “intent and knowledge” in respect of the material elements....07 Jul Ryan Goodman to Work at DoD for One Year
Ryan — friend of Opinio Juris and friend of Kevin — has been appointed Special Counsel to the General Counsel of the Department of Defense. Here is a snippet from NYU’s press release: In his new role at the Department of Defense Goodman will focus primarily on national security law and law of armed conflict. “I am very humbled to have this opportunity to work with the General Counsel and the outstanding people of the Defense Department,” said Goodman. “I look forward to the hard work and challenges ahead in...
01 Apr Justice in Extreme Cases Symposium: The Harms of the Derelict Commander
[Saira Mohamed is Professor of Law at the UC Berkeley School of Law.] Darryl Robinson’s Justice in Extreme Cases: Criminal Law Theory Meets International Criminal Law offers a detailed and convincing argument for a mutually beneficial relationship between international criminal law and criminal law theory: just as criminal law theory can clarify and improve international criminal law, international criminal law can clarify and improve criminal law theory. Based in part on earlier published work, the book offers much to dig into, from a defense of deontic reasoning in international criminal...31 Dec The NDAA: The Good, the Bad, and the Laws of War–Part I
By Marty Lederman and Steve Vladeck* Editorial pages and blogs have been overrun in the past couple of weeks with analyses and speculation about the detainee provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act, which the President has just signed into law. One of the major disputes concerns whether and how the NDAA might alter the status quo. In this post, we’ll try to synthesize the competing views offered by David Cole and Raha Wala, who remain quite critical of the provisions because of the changes they possibly presage, with those...10 Apr If Only the Gitmo Detainees Could Hold a Tea Party (Updated)
...and have the other side drop useful evidence in your lap, as might happen in a criminal case. In the cited article, the exculpatory evidence was acquired by a defense attorney in a previous criminal case that was supposed to be presented to a Military Commission. That was a criminal case, and the government fulfilled its obligation to the defense. The judge may order the government to turn over to the petitioner information that might prove favorable to that side. That might be similar to Brady material, but it would...15 Jun Four Russian Soldiers Convicted of Killing Chechen Civilians
...tribunals, Article 42 of the new Russian Criminal Code does not limit the defense of superior orders to orders that were not “manifestly unlawful” — orders whose illegality a reasonable soldier would have recognized. On the contrary, a soldier is entitled to the defense under Article 42 as long as he did not actually know that the order was unlawful, a much higher standard: 1. There shall not be deemed to be a crime the causing of harm to the interests protected by the criminal law by a person acting...21 Mar The Broken Windows Theory of Corruption
Kudos to Daniel Chow and Mike Koehler for a wonderful conference last week at Ohio State Law School addressing the FCPA at thirty-five. It’s always a risk to hold a conference that mingles hard-core practitioners with soft and fuzzy academics, but this one seemed to work. The defense and prosecution side of the FCPA bar battled it out with competing panels addressing the merits and demerits of FCPA prosecutions. Charles Duross, the DOJ attorney in charge of FCPA prosecutions, gave a spirited defense of the Obama Administration’s robust enforcement campaign,...