My thanks to Adil Haque for his response to my post. Adil and I rarely disagree in any profound way about IHL, so it's enjoyable to spar with him about whether a first-strike by government forces against an organized armed group automatically creates a NIAC -- thus triggering IHL -- or whether a certain intensity of hostilities between the two is...
I have been following with great interest the debate at Just Security between Adil Haque and Jonathan Horowitz over whether the existence of a non-international conflict (NIAC) exists the moment a state launches a "first strike" at an organized armed group or whether hostilities of a certain intensity between the two are required. Adil takes the former position (see here, here, and here);...
As part of its “ICTY Legacy Dialogues” events, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (“ICTY”) is organising in the week of 19 June 2017 a conference on the legacy of the ICTY in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina. We invite your participation. With the ICTY’s closure scheduled for 31 December 2017, the conference aims to enable others to build on...
The inimitable David Bosco dropped quite the bombshell yesterday at FP.com: The Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC intends to open a formal investigation into the situation in Afghanistan -- a situation that includes, as the OTP discussed in its most recent preliminary-examination report, US torture of detainees between 2003 and 2005. I'll have more to say about the...
This is the first time a political ad has ever left me in tears. Enough said. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp4AelhV8Ws Vote. You know for whom....
Just Security published a very interesting post yesterday entitled "Military Attacks on 'Hospital Shields': The Law Itself is Partly to Blame," which seeks to explain why deliberate attacks on hospitals are becoming increasingly common -- in Syria, in Yemen, and elsewhere. The authors acknowledge that deliberate attacks on hospitals are almost always unlawful under IHL, because they violate the principle...
I want to call readers' attention to Oxford University Press's publication of my friend Kim Priemel's new book, The Betrayal: The Nuremberg Trials and German Divergence. Here is the publisher's description: At the end of World War II the Allies faced a threefold challenge: how to punish perpetrators of appalling crimes for which the categories of 'genocide' and 'crimes against humanity'...
I have posted a short article on SSRN, entitled "Taking a Consenting Part: The Lost Mode of Participation." Here is the abstract: This short article, my contribution to a special issue of the Loyola International and Comparative Law Review commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trial, critically examines “taking a consenting part” in an international crime – a mode of...
The National University of Ireland Galway seeks to appoint a Professor of Human Rights Law and Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, within the School of Law. The Irish Centre for Human Rights has developed a global reputation for excellence in the field of human rights teaching, research and advocacy, which has enabled it to attract high quality students...
Last year, I criticised ASIL for limiting its very prestigious Lieber Prize to academics under 35. I described that limit as "ageist," noting that in today's academic world there are many law professors over 35 who, because they joined academia late, should rightfully be considered junior scholars. So I am delighted to note that ASIL has changed the eligibility criteria...
I know pointing out stupid things Donald Trump says is a fool's errand -- pretty much everything Donald Trump says is stupid. (Note to non-hack conservative friends: I genuinely feel sorry for you.) But I'm struck by how little attention pundits have paid to this gem: I think that once the nuclear alternative happens, it's over. At the same time, we have...
UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM: MAY 8, 9 and 10, 2017 Earlier today, Dino Kritsiotis (Univ. of Nottingham), Anne Orford (Univ. of Melbourne) and JHH Weiler (NYU) launched the Sixth Annual Junior Faculty Forum for International Law, which will be held at the University of Nottingham in May 2017. All details regarding the Forum procedure and process are available here: http://annualjuniorfacultyforumil.org/...
