Marko posted the following long response to my previous post on understandings. I'm promoting it to the main page to make sure everyone reads it. Kevin, Thanks so much for your post. Not only is this issue fascinating in its own right, there are also several fundamental, more conceptual questions here that sort of poke their head through. Let me...
Readers who have been following the Review Conference are most likely aware that the delegates adopted by consensus seven "understandings" concerning aggression in addition to a definition of the crime, the conditions of jurisdiction of the crime, and the elements of the crime. I believe that those understandings have no actual force and should be ignored by the judges when...
Someone should tell Mr. Netanyahu that he is supposed to wait until after the inquiry to announce its predetermined findings: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of Monday's cabinet meeting that the main goal of the Gaza flotilla probe is to prove to the world that the Israel Navy operation on the Gaza-bound aid ship was...
The following is a guest post by Greg Gordon, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Human Rights and Genocide Studies at the University of North Dakota. He attended the Review Conference on behalf of the International League for Human Rights. A VIEW OF THE AGGRESSION AMENDMENTS FROM KAMPALA Having been on the ground in Kampala, my take on...
Having called her out a few hours ago not knowing she was on her way back from Uganda, I thought I should excerpt Joanna Harrington's final post on the Review Conference, where she offers another great account of the final negotiations. She also offers this final take, which is more positive than Kevin's take: For some, it will undoubtedly seem self-defeating to define...
I've long supported providing the ICC with jurisdiction over the crime of aggression. Call me old-fashioned, but I believe there is a great deal of truth to the IMT's insistence that "[t]o initiate a war of aggression...
It looks like the ICC Review Conference has reached consensus on a definition of the "crime of aggression" and the mechanisms governing the ICC Prosecutor's jurisdiction over such a crime. According to the AFP, the new amendment to the Rome Statute provides: [T]hat the UN Security Council will hold primary responsibility for determining whether an act of aggression has occurred. But where...
The news out of The Hague today is the genocide convictions of Popovic and Beara, both of whom the ICTY trial chamber found to be key leaders of the Srbrenica massacre of 1995. Each was sentenced to life imprisonment, among the longest sentences for the ICTY. Lesser convictions and sentences were handed down to five other former Bosnian Serb officials....
I haven't had enough time to blog about Philip Alston's excellent report on drone warfare, but interested readers should check out today's conversation between Scott Horton and Alston at Harpers.com. Here's a taste of one of Alston's answers: Of course, calling something a war crime doesn’t make it so–the question is whether it is recognized as such under international ...
I couldn't make it to Kampala for the review conference (not that anyone invited me), but luckily, the magic of the internet means I don't have to go to find out how things are going. For two really different takes on the negotiations, I highly recommend you follow EJIL Talk's ongoing coverage here and Brett D. Schaefer (of the Heritage...
A few days ago, I recorded a conversation for Bloggingheads.tv with Mark Leon Goldberg of the invaluable UN Dispatch. It was a wide ranging discussion -- and long, 45 minutes -- covering everything from the Gaza blockade to the definition of aggression to drone attacks. Something tells me, though, that the only thing people will remember is my description of...
I know Ken's busy finishing his book and can't yet reply to Marko's remarkable post. (And personal congrats, Marko, on the lectureship. Nottingham is lucky to have you!) When he does, I hope he'll address the criminal-law aspects of his belief that self-defense justifies targeted killings outside of armed conflict. I have two scenarios in mind, borrowed and adapted from...
