Although I support the Security Council referral of the Libya situation to the ICC, I do not have any degree of confidence that the ICC referral has not altered Moammar Qaddafi's negotiating or fighting posture at this time. I have no idea whether Qaddafi's state of mind (if you can even refer to it in normal psychology terms) has or...
Almost three years have passed since the Supreme Court's decision in Medellin v. Texas. The only remaining avenue to overturn Medellin and make the ICJ's decision in Avena (holding that the US violated its obligations under the Consular Convention and ordering review of the cases) binding as domestic law -- a federal statute -- has not been passed. Former State...
According to the Washington Post, Covington and Burling has filed with the Department of Justice to represent Alassane Ouattara, the recognized winner of the presidential election in Cote d'Ivoire. Why would a U.S. law firm be representing (pro bono no less!) a foreign politician? According to Covington's international policy advisor, Alan Larson, the purpose was to make sure that ousted...
The American Branch of the International Law Association will be hosting its annual International Law Weekend in New York City, October 21-23. The full program can be found here, and includes some great panels on a range of topics under the theme “International Law and Institutions: Advancing Justice, Security and Prosperity.” (You might even see an OJ blogger or two!) ...
Our friend and OJ guest contributor Professor Greg Gordon passes along the following call for papers -- for international law scholars and other subject areas -- for the Central Law Schools Association 2010 meeting. Full announcement after the jump: The Central States Law Schools Association 2010 conference will be held September 24 and 25, 2010, in Grand Forks, North Dakota,...
The news out of The Hague today is the genocide convictions of Popovic and Beara, both of whom the ICTY trial chamber found to be key leaders of the Srbrenica massacre of 1995. Each was sentenced to life imprisonment, among the longest sentences for the ICTY. Lesser convictions and sentences were handed down to five other former Bosnian Serb officials....
The International Law Association's 2010 Biennial Conference, “De Iure Humanitatis: Peace, Justice, and International Law” takes place August 15-20 in The Hague. Early reduced-fee registration ends tomorrow, May 15. It looks to be a great program, hosted by the Dutch Branch of ILA, with some fun side events in and around The Hague. (You may even see a couple of...
Professor David Bosco has started a new blog focusing on international organizations, "Eye on IOs." I like his subtitle -- "A blog on the progress and pitfalls of international organizations." It reminds me of a chapter I wrote addressing "progress and paradox" in international security cooperation. (It is nice to have company as a moderate on questions of international institution...
Opinio Juris is pleased to be hosting this week a discussion of Professor Dan Bodansky's new book, "The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law" (Harvard Univ. Press, 2010). Dan is well known to our readers as a frequent guest blogger and commentator on international environmental law, a field in which he is one of the world's leading scholars. The...
The American Branch of the International Law Association has posted a call for panels for the 2010 International Law Weekend, which will take place in New York October 21-23. This year's theme is "International Law and Institutions: Advancing Justice, Security and Prosperity." ILW is always a fun event -- with lots of student, NGO, IO and private...
Dan Drezner's take at Foreign Policy on the latest Pew Research Poll on U.S. foreign policy attitudes uses a more provocative term than "uninformed," but the point is the same. Can the public be "realist" in its attitudes to the world when those attitudes are based on factual assumptions that don't exactly align with reality? Lots of interesting comments...
The just-released CFR web publication "Public Opinion on Global Issues" offers one-stop shopping for those looking for public opinion surveys across a range of transnational policy issues. The overview explains how CFR and the Univ. of Maryland consolidated all publicly available opinion polls and provides a few significant findings: The international community confronts a daunting array of transnational threats and challenges...
