My brilliant St. John's colleague Adam Zimmerman recently posted his thoughts on global trends in the area of mass settlements at Prawfsblawg. He argues that American-style "bottom up" approaches to class actions has been converging with the "top down" approach prevalent in Europe and other jurisdictions. Questions about how to compensate large groups of claimants (e.g., victims of the BP...
Political scientist James Fearon has posted (complete with graphs) the results of his own study of whether nuclear states are more or less likely to engage in war in the years following their acquisition of nuclear weapons. Here's his bottom line: [F]or each of the nine states that acquired nuclear capability at some time between 1945 and 2001, their yearly rate...
The ABA Section on International Law is co-sponsoring with ASIL and GW Law School the second "Live from 'L'" event. "L," for the uninitiated, is the U.S. State Department Office of the Legal Adviser. State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh, along with several other lawyers from L, will be leading the discussion at GW Law School on "The...
Opinio Juris seeks candidates for the position of Assistant Editor. Responsibilities include monitoring international law developments, liaising with permanent contributors to organize special events, working with guest bloggers and partner publications on submission of posts and commentary, and other administrative duties. It is anticipated that the assistant editor will work ten to twenty hours a week. The...
Marko Milanovic’s impressive treatment of the rapidly evolving jurisprudence of extraterritoriality of human rights treaties is a must read for anyone teaching or thinking about the international human rights system. What is most significant for me is Marko’s systematic effort to put doctrinal and policy meat on the bones of the argument that has been developing over the last decade...
Professor Harlan Cohen of the Univ. of Georgia Law School will be guest blogging with us for the next few weeks. Among his other achievements prior to joining the UGA faculty in 2007, Harlan was a Furman Fellow at NYU Law School and on the staff at Foreign Affairs. He teaches and writes in international law in the U.S, international legal...
Congratulations to Kal Raustiala and Laura Dickinson, the masterminds who conceived and carried out the first Research Forum sponsored by the American Society of International Law. The forum took place this past weekend in Los Angeles, together with the ASIL Mid-Year Meeting, which ASIL President David Caron has successfully moved out of Washington and out among broader constituencies of international...
CLR Forum is an impressive new entry to the law professor blogosphere has been launched by my St. John's colleagues Mark Movsesian and Marc DeGirolami. The CLR Forum is the official blog of the St.John's Center for Law and Religion, a center which in just one year has put itself on the map hosting conferences and significant scholarly exchange...
Opinio Juris is pleased to welcome for an extended guest-blogging stint our friend and frequent contributor, John Dehn. John holds the rank of Major in the U.S. Army and currently serves as Senior Fellow at the Center for the Rule of Law at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. John has taught international law, constitutional law and military law...
Friend of Opinio Juris and current President of the American Branch of the International Law Association, Ruth Wedgwood, passes along the following announcement for teaching opportunities at the Nanjing campus of Johns Hopkins SAIS. They are looking for visitors in political science, economics, and international law: The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) invites applications for one-year...
The Transatlantic Academy is seeking young legal scholars to submit proposals for its 2012-2013 fellowship program. This looks like a great opportunity to partner with scholars in political science and economics in areas affecting the transatlantic relationship. Note next year's theme is a broad view of the "Western Liberal Order": The Transatlantic Academy is seeking candidates to serve as resident Fellows...
Though it produced hardly a ripple in the news (given all the other drama on Capitol Hill this week), Senator Leahy held a hearing yesterday on the legislation he has introduced to enforce the notification provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) at the state level. The webcast of the hearing, aptly titled "Fulfilling our Treaty Obligations and...
