Kal Raustiala has a recent article to be published in the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law on Jack Goldsmith and Eric Posner's "The Limits of International Law." Here is the abstract:Jack Goldsmith and Eric Posner's "The Limits of International Law" is not an uplifting read for most international lawyers, who are trained to think international law makes an...
Nice puff piece in the L.A. Times about Randol Schoenberg, the lawyer who brought the claim on behalf of Maria Altmann to recover five Gustav Klimt paintings. Interesting read on the gamble that Schoenberg took in bringing the case and the unlikely success story of a complete win for his client. I have posted about the litigation here and here....
Or so the plaintiffs in Ficken v. Rice (D.D.C. Jan. 17, 2006) argue. Interesting strategy. If a university committee denies your child's application for financial aid, just make a federal case out of it. And for good measure, include Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice as a defendant and claim a violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child...
The trial of Abu Hamza in London is a subject that is riveting the English press, but amazingly is largely ignored back here in the United States. Hamza is an imam at London's Finsbury Park mosque who is accused of encouraging terrorism, death, and murder of non-Muslims. He is on trial for 15 charges, including nine counts for soliciting murder,...
Rebecca MacKinnon at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and regular blogger at RConversation, is doing some fascinating work on promoting and cataloguing the use of global blogging to provide an alternative means of information in repressive regimes. She calls it "bridge blogging." If the government controls the media in a particular country such as China or...
Randol Schoenberg has provided an English translation of the arbitration award by the Austrian arbitral panel regarding the claim by Maria Altmann against Austria for five Gustav Klimt paintings. An English translation is here. I published a post about the decision earlier this week, available here. Here is the dispositive language:1. The Republic of Austria acquired ownership of the paintings...
Human Rights Watch issued its 2006 annual report yesterday. The press release focused on the United States "conscious policy choice by senior U.S. government officials" to engage in abusive inerrogation. That policy has "hampered Washington’s ability to cajole or pressure other states into respecting international law." “Responsibility for the use of torture and mistreatment can no longer credibly be passed...
Interesting decision by an English court (Queens Bench Commercial Court) that email is sufficient to arbitrate a maritime dispute under the English Arbitration Act 1996. Notice of the arbitration, together with various subsequent communications and briefings, were all done by email. Before rendering the award, the arbitrator noted that "No Defence submissions were received at any time. [But] I was...
Interesting story coming out of China about the dispute between Starbucks and Xinbake, which is a major Chinese competitor. "Xin" means star and "bake" is pronounced "bah kuh." So Starbucks sued and a Chinese court ordered Xinbake to change its name because it was engaging in "illegitimate competition." (Hat tip: How Appealing) I love this tidbit...
Last week the Ninth Circuit en banc issued an important decision in Yahoo! v. LICRA. In a complicated judgment, it concluded that it does have personal jurisdiction over LICRA and UEJF, but that the combination of votes against personal jurisdiction and ripeness required dismissal of the case without prejudice. It is a complex decision with forty-pages of opinion, so I...
Still more news today on Holocaust litigation. The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in the Ninth Circuit case of Alperin v. Vatican Bank. The order list is here. The Ninth Circuit ruled earlier this year that the property claims by plaintiffs should not be dismissed under the political question doctrine but that the "war objective claims" should be...
An Austrian arbitration court has ordered the return of five multi-million dollar paintings by Gustav Klimt to the rightful owner, Maria Altmann. The best coverage is from the L.A. Times, which has interviews of Maria Altmann and her attorney Randol Schoenberg, both of whom reside in Los Angeles. Another report stated that the world-renowned 1907 portrait of Altmann's aunt, Adele...
