While on the subject of Islamic radicalism, I thought it worthwhile to point you to an important article published by Professors Shaheen Sardar Ali and Javaid Rehman in Oxford's Journal of Conflict & Security Law entitled The Concept of Jihad in Islamic International Law. Particularly important is the discussion of differing interpretations of jihad. The authors identify three current...
In this month's issue of Foreign Affairs, Niall Ferguson -- one of the best gifts Glasgow has bestowed upon the world in recent times -- has an interesting article entitled Sinking Globalization. Essentially the article presents a possible doomsday scenario that draws parallels between the perils of today and those of the 1910s. One aspect of his thesis that is...
An excerpt of a motion challenging the legitimacy of the tribunal is here:“The Defense considers it their duty to point out at this juncture another peculiarity of this Trial which departs from the commonly recognized principles of modern jurisprudence. The Judges have been appointed exclusively by States which were the one party in this war. This one party to the...
Last week the 11th Circuit issued a decision in Jean v. Dorelien, available here, authorizing the plaintiffs ATS and TVPA lawsuit against the Haitian Colonel Carl Dorélien to go forward. In 1993, Dorélien allegedly subjected the plaintiffs relative, Michel Pierre, to torture, arbitrary detention, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The 11th Circuit reversed the dismissal of the lawsuit by...
Lots of breaking international news over at The Onion. As reported here, a group named the Army of Martyrs has acquired a quarter kilogram of plutonium, but then its terrorist efforts were thwarted after they discovered that not a single member of the group had the necessary physics and engineering background to construct a thermonuclear device. In addition, in this...
I figured Saturday morning would be a good time to publish a post specifically targeted at all those seriously overworked and slightly bored lawyers in law firms who simply must work this weekend. As Opinionista (the Law Firm Drone du jour) notes in her blogroll, this group is always in need of a few links to click when bored at...
In Minister of Home Affairs v. Fourie the Constitutional Court of South Africa yesterday recognized the marriage of two women and gave the Parliament one year to extend legal marital rights to all same-sex couples. A copy of the opinion is here.Just a quick thought on one aspect of the Court decision, namely its methodology in relying on international law....
The story coming out of Iraq of four members of Christian Peacemaker Team being held hostage by an insurgent organization provides a new twist on hostage-taking in Iraq. There are several factors that make this situation so complicated.First, these hostages are pacifists. CPT is founded by Mennonites and Quakers and is one of the latest incarnations of that long pacifist...
Larry Solum at Legal Theory Blog is highlighting a chapter entitled Comparative Law and Language by Vivian Grosswald Curran in a forthcoming book The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law edited by Reinhold Zimmermann and Mathias Reimann. From the abstract it sounds quite interesting: Comparative law is law's cybernetics, or 'theory of messiness.' It attempts to...
Somehow in the Thanksgiving rush this important story escaped my attention. Last week a jury in Memphis, Tennessee awarded $6 million to four victims of torture in the early 1980s. Nicholas Carranza, a former colonel in the Salvadoran Army, was held responsible for the torture of the plaintiffs and the death of family members. CNN has a brief story here....
My vote for the most important international law case in November is Doe v. Israel, ___ F.Supp.2d ___ (D.D.C. Nov. 10, 2005), available here. The case arises out of claims by Palestinians living in Israel or the West Bank against public and private Israeli defendants, including Ariel Sharon, Shimon Peres, the State of Israel, Israeli government instrumentalities, and various private...
Results from the Egyptian elections reveal that members of a radical Islamic group, the Muslim Brotherhood, have won up to 29 more seats in the 444 seat Egyptian parliament. Members of that group now have 76 seats overall, or 17 percent of all parliamentary seats. As the Financial Times has noted, "President Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic party still looks set...
