In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Africa

27 Feb

My friend Sonya Sceats at Chatham House has asked me to announce the following event: International Law Discussion Group Monday 23 March 2009 17:30 to 19:00 Location: Chatham House, London Speakers include: Judge Bernard Ngoepe, African Court on Human and Peoples Rights; Sanji Monageng, Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights; Nobuntu Mbelle, representative of civil society Chair: Lord Steyn Against the backdrop of human tragedies...

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17 Feb

This story in the continuing saga of Bowoto v. Chevron should give human rights litigants pause: Chevron Corp., which prevailed in a human-rights lawsuit seeking to hold it responsible for the shooting of Nigerian protesters at an oil platform, is seeking nearly $500,000 in legal costs from the villagers who brought the suit. Chevron's claim for reimbursement, filed in...

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11 Feb

There is an interesting discussion going on at Alex De Waal's blog Making Sense of Darfur about the various theories of liability that might be used to hold Bashir responsible for genocide.  The discussion as a whole is well worth checking out; what I want to discuss here is whether Bashir could be convicted of genocide via JCE III, so-called...

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09 Feb

[Opinio Juris is pleased to present this essay by Professor Eugene Kontorovich of Northwestern Law School on the relationship between international law and anti-piracy efforts.  Please be sure to click "continue reading" to read the whole essay.] The successful ransom by Somali pirates of a Ukrainian freighter laden with arms and armor is indicative of the broader failure of the...

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05 Feb

Sometimes reporters and their editors get caught up in a narrative, and forget to check facts.  In the case of Obama and Bush, every Obama pronouncement is presumed to represent a reversal of Bush policy. But this is simply not true (see, e.g., the predictable and apparently uncontroversial Obama retention of Bush policies on  "extraordinary rendition" and airstrikes in Pakistan).   And so it...

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04 Feb

The Second Circuit last week rendered another important ATS decision addressing some of the most troublesome issues relating to human rights litigation against corporate defendants. In the case of Abdullahi v. Pfizer, the Second Circuit was faced with the question of whether involuntary medical testing on humans violates international law. Perhaps the most significant part of the decision was the...

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16 Jan

Regular readers no doubt know that I am obsessed with the media's seemingly congenital inability to grasp the law and politics of the ICC.  My new favorite comes via the BBC, in an article about the impending arrest warrant for Bashir: Two Sudanese groups have formally requested the International Criminal Court (ICC) not to issue an arrest for President Omar al-Bashir. He...

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13 Jan

[Susan Benesch is a Fellow at the Center for Applied Legal Studies at Georgetown Law Center and a former guest blogger here at Opinio Juris.] Simon Bikindi, the Rwandan pop star whose two-year trial at the ICTR was apparently the first attempt to criminalize music in international law, was just convicted of incitement to genocide but not, after all, for his...

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13 Jan

My favorite Darfur blogger, Michelle at Stop Genocide, has asked me to post the following plea.  I am, of course, happy to oblige.  If you want to vote, vote soon -- the deadline is January 15 at 5 pm EST.  And please pass Michelle's request on to anyone else you think might be interested. I am writing today to seek your...

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04 Jan

According to the ever-reliable Sudan Vision Daily, the Pre-Trial Chamber has already decided to issue the arrest warrant for Bashir: The entire Sudanese people will not be surprised if the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against the Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir because the decision of the ICC judges was circulated by the UN chief Ban KI-moon, the US State...

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