In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Author: Kevin Jon Heller

19 Aug

Criticism of the specific-direction requirement endorsed by the ICTY Appeals Chamber in Perišić has officially jumped the shark. According to James Stewart, the requirement would have required the British military court in Hamburg to acquit the two German businessmen who provided the Zyklon-B that the SS used to gas Jews in the death camps: In any event, let’s assume that specific direction...

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17 Aug

It's been quite a month for the mainstream media. First, at FP.com, Elias Groll completely misstated the mens rea of the Espionage Act and refused to correct his mistake. (He obviously reads my tweets, because he re-tweeted a criticism I offered of a different article.) Then, at the Guardian, Owen Bowcott misrepresented the specific-direction requirement, eliding the distinction between aiding...

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13 Aug

Another person who should know better has misrepresented the ICTY's specific-direction requirement: Owen Bowcott, a legal correspondent for the Guardian. Here is the sub-headline of his new article on the impact of the Perisic judgment: Legal experts say proof that accused 'specifically directed' atrocities now required after tribunal acquits Serbian commanders. And here is the first paragraph of the article: Generals and politicians...

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12 Aug

I want to welcome a promising new member of the international criminal law blogosphere -- Beyond the Hague. The blog is refreshingly international, as befits an ICL blog; its current contributors are Alex Fielding, Manuel Eynard, Maria Eleni Vignoli, Maria Radziejowska, Paul Bradfield, and Peter Dixon. I particularly want to single out a fantastic post by Alex Fielding on Judge Harhoff's...

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06 Aug

On July 10, counsel for Al-Senussi filed a motion with the Pre-Trial Chamber complaining that Libya had announced it would begin Al-Senussi's trial no later than the end of Ramdan -- August 7 -- despite the fact that Libya's admissibility challenge was still pending before the ICC. On August 5, Libya filed its response, arguing that it has no obligation...

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01 Aug

After much agonizing,I have reluctantly decided to discontinue my weekly analysis of Crossing Lines. Sadly, the last two episodes of the show have almost scrupulously avoided the ICC; mentions were limited to throwaway dialogue ("I'm with the ICC") or logos on computer screens. Even worse, the most recent episode featured a brief but completely accurate discussion of the Rwandan genocide...

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31 Jul

As a progressive, I'm delighted that Bradley Manning was acquitted of aiding the enemy but horrified that he was convicted of espionage. Ethically, Manning is a hero, not a spy. As a law professor, though, I think it's critically important to get the law right -- and unfortunately, many commentators are simply misstating what the Espionage Act says and how courts...

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30 Jul

As I recently noted, the Appeals Chamber has rejected Libya's request to suspend its obligation to surrender Saif Gaddafi to the ICC pending resolution of its admissibility appeal. Libya, of course, has no intention of complying with that obligation. Indeed, it admitted as much today: According to Libya’s Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani, Seif, who is being detained in the Libyan city...

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30 Jul

Peter has responded at Lawfare to my most recent post. I think we've taken the argument about as far as we can, so I'll give Peter the last word. Suffice it to say that, according to Peter's new post, there is nothing wrong with an appellate court upholding a defendant's conviction (1) for a non-existent war crime -- conspiracy; (2)...

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29 Jul

As I was doing some research for my posts on the al-Bahlul amicus brief, I came across a superb student note in the Michigan Journal of International Law written by Alexandra Link. It's entitled "Trying Terrorism: Material Support for Terrorism, Joint Criminal Enterprise, and the Paradox of International Criminal Law," and here is the (very long) abstract: In 2003, the United States...

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