In 1995, while Elena Kagan was an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, she wrote a review about Stephen Carter’s book, The Confirmation Mess. Carter’s book, of course, was highly critical of the confirmation process and identified numerous ailments, including most famously, the handling of the confirmation hearing of Robert Bork. Kagan begs to differ....
There's hypocrisy, and then there's Omar al-Bashir: Sudan's justice minister has asked Interpol to arrest the leader of Darfur's most powerful rebel group, state media said on Monday, a step likely to dash hopes of progress in a faltering peace process. [snip] The Sudanese Media Centre quoted Abdel Basit Sabderat as saying the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader,...
Yesterday a federal court in New York granted Chevron's request for discovery of outtakes from the 2009 documentary Crude about the multi-billion dollar litigation in Ecuador. Chevron's request was pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1782, which authorizes a judge in the United States to order discovery of evidence to be used in proceedings before a foreign tribunal. As reported here, Chevron's...
That is what Mike Allen is reporting at Politico. If he's right, our next Supreme Court Justice will likely be the woman who recently argued this (h/t: my friend Steve Vladeck): [W]ith regard to the material support statute, there are substantial (pending) issues with regard to its scope, given that the Ninth Circuit invalidated the "service," "training," and "expert...
Michael Kearney at the University of York has written a long and interesting response to Julian's post, which I have posted below to make sure people see it. I'm far from expert about the law of statehood, so I'm reluctant to comment on the international-law debate. I continue to believe, though, that accepting the Palestinian declaration would be disastrous for...
Julian entitled a post last week "The ICC Begins to Fade in Importance in Sudan." Julian might want to have a talk with Bashir about that: On the international summit circuit, no one can clear a room more quickly than Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Leaders have maneuvered to stay out of photographs with him, dashed ...
Fascinating video of a Dutch Navy strike team recapturing a German vessel that had been captured by Somali pirates. It shows just how dangerous, expensive, and difficult it is to combat piracy. It looks cool, but frankly, the Somali pirates have the Dutch and everyone else outnumbered. There can't be that many of these kinds of strike teams and there...
The reaction of key countries to the recent Sudan elections electing Sudan's President al-Bashir are in. The bottom line seems to be- the elections were deeply flawed, but not so much so that they should be denounced or set-aside. In the meantime, start planning for the all important referendum on Southern Sudan's independence, which will require Bashir's cooperation. This appears...
Julian beat me to the punch regarding the new Council on Foreign Relations report, From Rome to Kampala: The U.S. Approach to the 2010 International Criminal Court Review Conference. Not surprisingly, I don't share Julian's enthusiasm for it. On the contrary, I think it's extremely disappointing, little more than a reiteration of the same tired talking points that the...
This sounds impressive, but somehow it feels like the ICC Prosecutor is going in circles on Sudan. THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The International Criminal Court prosecutor wants judges to report Sudan to the U.N. Security Council for refusing to hand over a government minister and a militia leader accused of atrocities in Darfur. Luis Moreno Ocampo said in a written request to...
Did the ICJ ruling on Uruguay and Argentina help to resolve the dispute? Sort of. There are some pesky protestors, though, who are not exactly convinced by the ruling. Both sides said Tuesday's decision by the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands gave them what they need to resolve their differences, with Argentina taking heart from a part of the...
Belgium and France are both considering laws to ban the wearing of full-face veils in public. According to Amnesty International, such bans would violate international human rights law. "A general ban on the wearing of full face veils would violate the rights to freedom of expression and religion of those women who choose to express their identity or beliefs in this...
