In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Author: Kevin Jon Heller

04 Apr

It's amazing what not working for the government can do for one's ability to tell the truth.  As readers likely know, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley was forced to resign last month for the sin of accurately describing Bradley Manning's abusive conditions of confinement as "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid."  (For his part, the ever-credulous Obama dismissed the abuse allegations...

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04 Apr

The following is a guest-post written by Orde Kittrie, a professor at ASU's law school, and Sandy Spector, the deputy director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.  They very much want input from OJ's readership, so please post your thoughts.  Our thanks to Orde and Sandy for contributing the post! Seven years after A.Q. Khan publicly confessed to...

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01 Apr

Critics of the Security Council's decision to refer the situation in Libya to the ICC normally argue that the referral denies Gaddafi the option of going into exile instead of fighting to the death.  That may or may not be true -- as I've noted previously, Max Boot's reliance on Charles Taylor's prosecution to make that argument fudges the actual...

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01 Apr

On paper, courts-martial are far more fair than military commissions -- the substantive law they apply is superior, and their rules of evidence and procedure are designed to protect defendants, not ensure convictions.  Unfortunately, a recent McClatchy investigation indicates that literally hundreds of courts-martial might have relied on evidence that was unreliable and even fabricated by an unethical forensic scientist...

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30 Mar

I wanted to call readers' attention to an upcoming web seminar on Libya held by Harvard's Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research.  The Program's web seminars are always excellent, and this one -- which features Luis Moreno-Ocampo and Nicholas Burns -- shapes up to be superb.  Here are the details: On Tuesday, April 5, 2011, the Program on Humanitarian...

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30 Mar

My colleague Anne Orford has a fascinating contribution today to the official blog of the London Review of Books questioning the universality of the supposedly universal international law that underlies the Security Council's authorization of military action in Libya.  Here is a taste: In 1954, Carl Schmitt bemoaned the destruction of European international law in the 20th century. According to...

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27 Mar

I'm in Los Angeles, on my way home to Melbourne.  I had not attended an ASIL conference in five years, since I was teaching at Georgia, and I'm very glad I attended this one. I met a number of interesting people, including some with whom I've had a virtual friendship for a number of years.  (I still have not met...

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23 Mar

In a post today at Commentary, Boot argues that Taylor's arrest after going into exile makes it more likely that Gaddafi will fight to the death instead of negotiating a gracious exit from power: Once upon a time, an autocrat could step down and live out his days securely in the south of France or some other plush locale. That...

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16 Mar

As of March 19, 220 academics have signed the letter.  (You can read the full list here.)  Well done, colleagues! Bruce Ackerman (Yale) and Yochai Benkler (Harvard) are circulating the following letter protesting the inhumane conditions of Bradley Manning's detention and asking for law professor support.  I have already signed, as have 103 other scholars.  I encourage our academic readers to...

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16 Mar

Here it is: My thanks to all of our readers who provided me feedback on earlier covers.  Note that the dust jacket now provides a short description of Ben Shahn and the painting; particular thanks to readers who suggested the description!  I hope you can read the text on your screen....

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15 Mar

I don't get to the East Coast of the U.S. very often these days, so I thought I'd mention that I will be in Boston and DC next week, in case any Opinio Juris readers want to meet up.  I will be giving a lecture on the Karadzic trial (with a bit of discussion afterward about the ICC and Libya)...

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