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[Travel and other expenses related to my participation in the "100 Years Peace Palace" program provided by the Government of the Netherlands and Radio Netherlands Worldwide] August 28th will mark the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Peace Palace at The Hague. In commemoration of this, the Government of the Netherlands and Radio Netherlands Worldwide have brought a group of...

My friend Dapo Akande has a superb post at EJIL: Talk! discussing whether the ICC could prosecute the use of chemical weapons by the government in Syria. I agree almost entirely with Dapo's analysis, but I do want to offer a couple of thoughts about his discussion of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties: The argument that chemical weapons are...

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...

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...

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...

On page 23, the amicus brief concludes that al-Bahlul's "convictions should be affirmed." Presumably, that means the brief is asking for the DC Circuit to affirm al-Bahlul's conviction for conspiracy as an inchoate offence -- that was the charge on the charge sheet, and that is the charge that was upheld by the military commission in its findings. (The other convictions were...

We are pleased to host the American Journal of International Law on-line symposium on the lead articles of the new issue of the AJIL, which were written by Leila Sadat (Washington University) and Eyal Benvenisti (Tel Aviv University). Today and tomorrow there will be a discussion of Leila Sadat's article, Crimes Against Humanity in the Modern Age. The précis of her piece explains...

International lawyers are used to explaining to skeptics the functional case for diplomatic immunity by emphasizing the benefits it provides.  Here's the 5 second version: we want our diplomats to be able to communicate with their host States since the alternative to communication is often (and certainly used to be) conflict.  To ensure open communication we need diplomats who feel...