Darryl is one of my very favourite international criminal law scholars. Indeed, I think he is the leading purveyor of what we might call "meta" ICL scholarship -- scholarship that is concerned less with doctrine than with the nature of ICL reasoning and rhetoric itself. His article "The Identity Crisis of International Criminal Law" is a genuine classic, and I learn from everything...
The irreplaceable Breaking the Silence has released a new report on Operation Protective Edge -- and it's a doozy. Here are some particularly disturbing snippets from the Guardian's article on the report, which contains dozens of testimonials by past and present IDF soldiers: “[The commander] said: ‘We don’t take risks. We do not spare ammo. We unload, we use as much as...
Massimino is the head of Human Rights First, one of the leading human-rights organisations in the US. Here is a snippet from her editorial today in the Washington Post, with which I almost completely agree: As a close observer of the U.S. government’s national security policy, I know it is better for Koh’s involvement. That’s not to say that I agreed with all...
At least according to Fionnuala Ní Aolain, criticising the counter-petition that I and hundreds of others signed in defense of Harold Koh. Her entire Just Security post is deeply problematic; let's go through it systematically. When asked to sign, I articulated a deep discomfort with the petition and the precedent it sets. I strongly believe that any academic should be able (as...
I'm one of them. Here is the text of the letter: To Whom It May Concern, A recent petition at NYU urges people to express "no confidence" in the Law School's invitation to Harold Hongju Koh to teach international human rights law this semester. We understand that this petition is motivated by Professor Koh's recent service as Legal Adviser to the U.S....
Newsweek published a long article today about a petition organized by NYU students, alumni, and non-law faculty claiming that it would be "unacceptable" for Harold Koh to teach international human-rights law at the law school. Here is a snippet: While working for the Obama administration, Koh was the most public legal defender of the president’s drone strike program. Last month, a...
Nearly everyone treats Palestine's membership in the ICC as a done deal; after all, the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) has accepted Palestine's accession to the Rome Statute and the OTP has publicly stated that "since Palestine was granted observer State status in the UN by the UNGA, it must be considered a 'State' for the purposes of accession." But neither the...
The op-ed, which appears in today's New York Times, argues that the ICC is the most appropriate venue for prosecuting ISIS's many international crimes. I have great respect for John, who is unique among former high-ranking US government officials in his willingness to defend the ICC, but the op-ed makes a number of arguments that deserve comment. It certainly makes more...
My contribution to the symposium is now available. Here is the introduction: I want to start with a prediction, one I’ve made before and still subscribe to: the ICC will never open a formal investigation into the situation in Palestine. People of all political persuasions seem to think that the ICC is somehow eager to leap into the most politicised conflict...
Does anyone out there in OJ-land know of a good book about the re-establishment of diplomatic relations? Ideally it would focus on the US (such as with Vietnam in 1995), but one discussing any country will do. I'm particularly interested in a book that describes the nuts and bolts of re-engagement: how the decision was made, how they selected the location of...
From April 17-19, the University of Southampton is scheduled to host a conference entitled "International Law and the State of Israel: Legitimacy, Responsibility and Exceptionalism." As the title indicates, the conference was always going to be controversial. (Full disclosure: I was originally scheduled to present at the conference, but pulled out a couple of weeks ago because I simply didn't...
Just in time for the activation of Palestine's membership in the ICC, over the next few days Mark Kersten's blog, Justice in Conflict, will be featuring posts by all of the people who participated in last week's roundtable at the LSE -- Mark, me, Kirsten Ainley, Dov Jacobs, Chantal Meloni, Leslie Vinjamuri, and Michael Kearney. Mark's introductory post can be found here. I...
