In association with the International Commission of Jurists

National Security Law

17 Nov

Professor Sean Murphy of GW Law has been elected to the ILC. The press release from GW begins: Today, Professor Sean Murphy was elected by the United Nations General Assembly to the International Law Commission (ILC). The Commission consists of 34 distinguished legal scholars, practitioners, and government officials from around the world who are elected to serve for five-year terms. Created...

|
13 Nov

Readers know all too well where my sympathies lie regarding WikiLeaks and Julian Assange.  But I have to admit, I'm baffled by the paranoid reaction my fellow WikiSupporters are exhibiting in the wake of Assange's latest failure to block his extradition to Sweden to face sexual-assault charges.  Exhibit A, from the usually invaluable WL Central: The possibility of criminal charges against...

|
13 Nov

As readers may know, Israel's Knesset is currently considering two laws designed to prevent foreign governments and international organizations from funding progressive Israel human-rights groups: one that drastically limits the amount of funding such groups could receive, and one that imposes a tax of nearly 50% on foreign funds received by human-rights groups that do not receive Israeli funding (i.e.,...

|
10 Nov

There are many reasons to demand closing Guantanamo Bay and ending the military commissions, such as the government's tendency to invent armed conflicts in order to convict defendants of imaginary war crimes.  But even if you don't care about the integrity of international humanitarian law or the coherence of the American approach to that body of law, you should still...

|
10 Nov

The Naval War College has published the latest volume in its Blue Book series.  Here is the description and information about how to obtain it (although you can simply get the PDF here): The Naval War College International Law Department recently published volume 87 of its International Law Studies "Blue Book"  series.  The Blue Book has served as...

|
07 Nov

Tonight's episode of The Good Wife featured a Muslim-American man -- a former Army translator in Afghanistan -- who sues the U.S. government for torture and ends up being accused of supporting al-Qaeda.  It was quite a fascinating episode; it's not everyday that a mainstream television show is built around Executive Order 13324, which blocks property and prohibits transactions with...

|
26 Oct

As Roger has pointed out, the Ninth Circuit has just released a blockbuster ATS decision in the Rio Tinto case.  There is a great deal to like in the decision, particularly concerning the liability of corporations under the ATS, but it's regrettable that the majority refused to address the knowledge/intent "debate" concerning the mens rea of aid and abetting under...

|
19 Oct

David Cortright, the policy director of the Kroc Institute for International PeaceStudies at Notre Dame has posted an article to CNN.com looking at the prospect of the wide-spread proliferation of drone warfare. He begins: Drone technology is spreading rapidly. As many as 50 countries are developing or purchasing these systems, including China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran. Even non-state actors are involved. Hezbollah reportedly...

|
16 Oct

In my previous post, I responded to Mike's attempt to explain the amicus brief's distortion of ICTY jurisprudence.  In this post, I want to respond to his similar attempt to explain the amicus brief's distortion of the Rome Statute.  There are two basic issues: Article 10 of the Rome Statute's relationship to customary international law, and the importance of Article...

|
14 Oct

There are numerous problems with Mike's response to my posts (here and here) about how the amicus brief distorts the ICTY's jurisprudence.  Before getting to them, though, it's important to acknowledge that he and I agree about one thing: decisions of the ICTY are not primary sources of international law.  That, too, is international law 101.  Even here, though, the...

|