In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Foreign Relations Law

22 Apr

In the wake of Obama's memorable statement, a number of bloggers have questioned whether the Boston bombings deserve to be labeled "terrorism." Most of those bloggers -- such as the excellent Ali Abuminah here -- emphasize that many US definitions of terrorism require the violent act in question to be politically or ideologically motivated, which is still an open question with regard...

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16 Apr

An opinion piece in Al-Jazeera by an international lawyer who works with the Palestinians, John Whitbeck, reports some interesting comments by Fatou Bensouda about Palestinian ratification: During a public discussion held at the Academie Diplomatique Internationale in Paris on March 20, Fatou Bensouda, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, addressed the potential membership of Palestine in the ICC. During the...

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15 Apr

Apparently, the answer is yes, according to Professor Jeremi Suri of the University of Texas writing in the New York Times: The Korean crisis has now become a strategic threat to America’s core national interests. The best option is to destroy the North Korean missile on the ground before it is launched. The United States should use a precise airstrike to...

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03 Apr

Since I was unable to attend their book launch at Georgetown yesterday, the least I can do is put in a hearty plug for a new casebook written by a number of superb IHL scholars: Geoff Corn, Victor Hansen, Chris Jenks, Richard Jackson, Eric Jensen, and James Schoettler. It's entitled The Law of Armed Conflict: An Operational Approach, and it...

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27 Mar

Stewart Baker over at Volokh has a couple of interesting posts here and here on the new cybersecurity legislation that bars federal government purchases of IT equipment “produced, manufactured or assembled” by entities “owned, directed, or subsidized by the People’s Republic of China” unless the head of the purchasing agency consults with the FBI and determines that the purchase is...

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25 Mar

It's always exciting when the media pays attention to expert reports on international law. Unfortunately, the media all too often gets international law wrong -- and recent reporting on the Tallinn Manual on International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare is no exception. There has been a spate of articles in the past couple of days that breathlessly claim the Tallinn Manual...

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22 Mar

Ben Emmerson, counsel for al-Senussi, has asked the Pre-Trial Chamber to refer Libya to the Security Council for ignoring its February 6 decision ordering Libya to transfer al-Senussi to the Court. Here are the key paragraphs: 3. It has been almost six weeks since the Chamber‟s Order of 6 February, and Libya has failed to comply with every one of these...

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19 Mar

I got my first taste of international law some 25 years ago when I joined my high school's model UN team.  So, what does it says that today's high school students have model cyberwar teams?  The link's a bit short on details, but, I wonder whether they have a student playing the lawyer on each team?  I'd imagine any cyberwar scenario must...

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17 Mar

Wells Bennett calls my attention to this statement by Marc Ambinder in a recent article in The Week entitled "Five Truths About the Drone War": The CIA does not "fly" drones. It "owns" drones, but the Air Force flies them. The Air Force coordinates (and deconflicts) their use through the CIA's Office of Military Affairs, which is run by an Air Force...

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13 Mar

Ken noted last week that Lawfare has been hosting an ongoing debate over Ryan Goodman's fascinating new article "The Power to Kill or Capture Enemy Combatants," which is forthcoming in the European Journal of International Law. I contributed a long post criticizing Goodman's claim that Art. 35(2) of the First Additional Protocol -- which provides that "[i]t is prohibited to employ...

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13 Mar

Like many young, lefty international lawyers, one of my intellectual heroes is Philippe Sands. He is a remarkable scholar and an equally gifted advocate, and he puts both to good use no matter how unpopular the position or client -- as his representation of the Libyan government in its challenge to the admissibility of the case against Saif Gaddafi demonstrates. Above...

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10 Mar

I'm grateful to Ken, Wells Bennett, and Marcy Wheeler for speculating that my April 2010 blog post on 18 USC 1119, the foreign-murder statute, is the post referred to in today's New York Times article on the behind-the-scenes machinations that culminated in the CIA using a drone to kill Anwar al-Awlaki. I imagine they are correct; the post fits the timeline...

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