[Dianne Otto is a Professor of Law at the University of Melbourne, where she directs the programme on International Human Rights Law] Two of the challenging questions that Gina Heathcote asks in her wonderfully provocative article are: What is a ‘feminist’ approach to the regulation of the ‘use of force’ in international law? What light is thrown onto this question by...
[Gina Heathcote is a Senior Teaching Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies] In my 2010 article in the Melbourne Journal of International Law (‘MJIL’), I explore two issues within a larger discussion of the impact of the war on terror on feminist scholarship in the international arena. The first issue is the role of feminist approaches in contemporary...
Here I was, thinking that targeted killing raised complex and contestable legal issues that required painstaking analysis. Fortunately, Somin sets me straight at Volokh Conspiracy by pointing out that, as a simple matter of logic, there is no legal difference between killing Admiral Yamamoto during World War II and killing a terrorist anywhere in the world today: But most of the...
His name? John Ashcroft. Yep, that John Ashcroft: The consortium in charge of restructuring the world’s most infamous private-security firm just added a new chief in charge of keeping the company on the straight and narrow. Yes, John Ashcroft, the former U.S. attorney general, is now an “independent director” of Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater. Ashcroft will...
Mary Ellen O'Connell has written a more detailed analysis of the international law involved in the bin Laden killing responding to some of the comments on her Opinio Juris post. Here's a taste: The use of lethal force is governed by two types of international law: the law of peace and the law of armed conflict. In peace, international law supports...
[Major John C. Dehn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Law, US Military Academy, West Point, NY. He currently teaches International Law and Constitutional and Military Law. He is writing in his personal capacity and his views do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Defense, the US Army, or the US Military Academy. The analysis...
A number of students and colleagues have asked me if I believe that Usama bin Laden's killing was legal. I'm swamped with teaching and writing responsibilities, so my ability to blog is limited. But I thought I'd at least put my thoughts on record, skeletal though they may be. And I want to reply to what I think are two...
[Mary Ellen O’Connell is the Robert and Marion Short Chair in Law and Research Professor of International Dispute Resolution—Kroc Institute. She is a Vice President at the American Society of International Law and the author of author of The Choice of Law Against Terrorism, 4 J. NAT. SEC. L. & POL’Y 2010] In his speech announcing the death of Osama...
The media is reporting that the Obama administration is handling Usama bin Laden's remains in accordance with Islamic principles. That decision is a stark reminder of why we are so fortunate that a Republican is no longer President. When the Bush administration killed Uday and Qusay Hussein, recall, it infuriated Muslims and at least arguably violated the First Additional Protocol...
I've been on a self-imposed blogging hiatus of late due to the dual demands of serving as Temple's Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and editing the forthcoming book, The Oxford Guide to Treaties (on which I'll blog more later). But, I had to pass along the following significant and important development -- Superman is renouncing his U.S. citizenship. Here's the scoop...
It's amazing what not working for the government can do for one's ability to tell the truth. As readers likely know, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley was forced to resign last month for the sin of accurately describing Bradley Manning's abusive conditions of confinement as "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid." (For his part, the ever-credulous Obama dismissed the abuse allegations...
On paper, courts-martial are far more fair than military commissions -- the substantive law they apply is superior, and their rules of evidence and procedure are designed to protect defendants, not ensure convictions. Unfortunately, a recent McClatchy investigation indicates that literally hundreds of courts-martial might have relied on evidence that was unreliable and even fabricated by an unethical forensic scientist...
