The Seventh Circuit last week rendered the most unusual foreign non conveniens decision I have ever read. The case presents a cautionary tale about the impact that foreign judicial corruption can have on domestic litigation. Mañez v. Bridgestone Firestone involved a tort action against Bridgestone Firestone filed in Indiana after José Samuel Mañez-Reyes died in a "rollover" car accident in...
The New York Times has a prominent, page 3 international story datelined from the UN by C.J. Chivers, "US Position Complicates Global Effort to Curb Illicit Arms." Let me step here directly, but I hope carefully, into the international aspects of a very emotional US political debate. (And thanks to Glenn Reynolds once again for the Instalanche! I also want...
It's been a while since I wrote about Luis Posada Carriles, former CIA asset and admitted terrorist, who currently walks the streets of Miami as a free man due to the Bush administration's disinterest in punishing terrorism committed against countries the US doesn't like. Fortunately, Posada Carriles may not be free much longer, thanks to a decision by the Panamanian Supreme...
Past and current presidents of the American Society of International Law today urged leaders in Congress to take legislative action to comply with the ICJ decision in Avena and halt the executions of Jose Medellin and the other affected death row inmates until the review required by the ICJ has been carried out. Full text of the letter is here. So, readers, is...
I noted a few days ago that the Security Council is unlikely to pass a resolution deferring the Prosecutor's investigation of Bashir, given the number of non-permanent and permanent members of the Council who are supporters of the ICC. I think that position is even more sound in light of the European Union's promise today -- on the 10th anniversary...
There is one book that I have my classes in international business as well as public international law both read (actually, I read it aloud to them and later give them a pop quiz), If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. It is the single finest book on incentives and moral hazard available, I believe: If you give a mouse a cookie,...
The following is a guest post by Aaron Zelinksy, a member of the Yale Law School Class of 2010. Wednesday marked the historic transfer of Israeli and Hezbollah prisoners at the Lebanese border. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, proclaimed that he was “very much encouraged by the exchange of prisoners” and that he hoped it would be...
It makes no sense. Israel has traded five brutal militants for the bodies of two dead soldiers and the assorted body parts of other Israeli soldiers. I am in Israel now teaching with a Whittier/Pepperdine study abroad program and coverage of the prisoner exchange is ubiquitous. I attended a special class session with our students of a presentation by Major Aharon...
Here's a surprise -- China opposes indicting Bashir: China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Beijing maintains friendly relations with Sudan and is deeply concerned and worried about the charges. He says the situation in the Darfur region is at a sensitive and critical moment. He says China hopes all sides can resolve their differences through consultation and avoid adding complications...
Senators Arlen Specter and Joe Lieberman have a joint commentary in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal (July 14, 2008), promoting a federal law to discourage so-called “libel tourism." Libel tourism refers to the practice of a plaintiff suing for libel in a plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction – i.e., the UK – and then seeking to have the judgment enforced in US and other...
I appreciate Kevin's thoughtful and evenhanded assessment of the ICC Prosecutor's complex decision to seek the arrest of Sudan's president. There are indeed good arguments both for and against the ICC Prosecutor's move. I'm torn myself. I have articulated many times before my skepticism of the ICC's effectiveness in helping to end the violence or even to bring justice for Darfur....
I missed Bastille Day celebrations in Paris on Monday – got on a plane back to DC early in the morning. But let me extend my best wishes on Bastille Day to all our French readers. And everyone else, too. My friend BP, a magazine editor in France, commented at dinner the other night that the thing about America and...
