That's the punchline of a podcast Radiolab just released this week, provocatively titled "Sex, Ducks and The Founding Feud". Along with John Bellinger, Joseph Ellis and Nick Rosenkranz, I was interviewed for the story by Jad Abumrad and Kelsey Padgett. It was a fun experience overall trying to explain to a general audience the importance of the US treaty power and how...
Oklahoma City police are obviously upset that the UK has pulled ahead of the US in the competition to have the most absurd definition of terrorism. Hence this: On Friday, Oklahoma City police charged a pair of environmental activists with staging a "terrorism hoax" after they unfurled a pair of banners covered in glitter—a substance local cops considered evidence of a faux biochemical assault. Stefan...
Novelists such as H.G. Wells and George Orwell used fantastic fiction to describe their world as it was and to imagine, to use Wells' title, "The Shape of Things to Come." This past summer I wrote a post on what current science fiction can bring to international law. I mentioned various books that, though fantastic, illuminated topics related to international...
The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) at the ICC just released its 2013 Report on Preliminary Examination Activities. There is much to chew over in the report, but what is most striking is the OTP's slow-walking of its preliminary examination into crimes committed in Afghanistan. The OTP divides preliminary examinations into four phases: (1) initial assessment, which filters out requests for...
According to the Washington Post, the Department of Justice has essentially decided against trying to prosecute Julian Assange for publishing the Chelsea Manning documents: The officials stressed that a formal decision has not been made, and a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks remains impaneled, but they said there is little possibility of bringing a case against Assange, unless he is implicated in...
A flurry of news today over the announcement that Iran has cut a deal with six major world powers -- the Permanent 5 members of the UN Security Council -- the US, Russia, China, France and the UK -- plus Germany. The text of the 'Joint Plan of Action' is also widely available (see here or here). My first reaction on...
A few days ago, in response to reports of an imminent deal between P5+1 and Iran concerning Iran's uranium enrichment, Tyler Cullis and Ryan Goodman debated whether Iran has a "right" to develop nuclear power for civilian purposes. Tyler argued that Iran does, citing (inter alia) Art. IV of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT): Nothing in this Treaty...
A couple of days ago, I blogged about proposals that will soon be debated at the ICC's Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to excuse Kenyatta and Ruto from having to be physically present at trial. Colum Lynch has kindly posted the text of the two proposals, both of which would amend Rule 134 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence (RPE)....
A couple of weeks ago, Mother Jones blogger Kevin Drum said he was surprised that Syria has, by all accounts, voluntarily given up its chemical-weapons capability: I don't really have any comment about this, except to express a bit of puzzlement. As near as I can tell, Bashar al-Assad is really and truly sincere about destroying his chemical weapons stocks.1 But why?...
I am delighted to announce the publication of a new book that I co-edited with my colleague and dear friend Gerry Simpson, The Hidden Histories of War Crimes Trials. As the title indicates, the book contains a number of essays that discuss little-known trials (such as the Franco-Siamese Mixed Court) or re-narrate better known but misunderstood trials (such as the...
On November 6, the United States signed the Minamata Convention on Mercury and deposited an instrument of acceptance indicating its consent to be bound by the treaty on its entry into force, making it the first nation to do so. Here's how UNEP summarizes the Convention: The Minamata Convention for Mercury is a global treaty to protect human health and the...
[Michael W. Lewis is a Professor of Law at Ohio Northern University. He is a former Navy aviator and Topgun graduate.] Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International released reports last week criticizing the use of drones in Yemen and Pakistan. Both reports have significant flaws in the way the factual information was presented and in how they characterize international law and US...
