In association with the International Commission of Jurists

National Security Law

24 Sep

It's a great day to be teaching the powers of the Security Council to my international law class!  President Obama presided this morning over the Security Council meeting on non-proliferation, securing a 15-0 vote for UNSC resolution 1887, which aims to bolster the nuclear non-proliferation regime through strengthening the NPT, enforcing existing resolutions on North Korea and Iran, and...

|
23 Sep

Over at Foreign Policy magazine's blog, Eric Posner has a brief, breezy column on differences, or not, between the Bush and Obama administrations on international law.  Fun, quick read, whether one agrees or not.  And events of the moment - the opening of the UN General Assembly, the UN confabs on things like climate change, the G-20 meetings, etc. -...

|
22 Sep

My sympathies are with those who have to drive anywhere in Manhattan this week as the General Assembly gets underway.  In past years I have experienced the privilege of being inside the security cordon and also the inconvenience of being outside it.  But now we can all experience being inside the main public events through the UN Webcast!  The...

|
21 Sep

According to Newsweek, the answer may well be yes: As chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo has so far steered clear of controversial cases. In doing so, he hoped to allay U.S. fears that the ICC would become a politicized tool for settling scores. Which is why it's so surprising that Moreno-Ocampo is now considering an investigation into...

|
13 Sep

My friend Jens Ohlin, who teaches at Cornell, has posted an important new essay on SSRN, "The Torture Lawyers."  Here is the abstract of the essay, which is forthcoming in the Harvard International Law Journal: One of the longest shadows cast by the Bush Administration’s War on Terror involves the fate of the torture lawyers who authored or signed memoranda approving...

|
10 Sep

(Update: See KJH's post above, particularly pointing out that the prosecutor has not formally opened an investigation, but is only "collecting information."  Likewise Kevin's point that a couple of the laws of war possible violations I mention are not actually crimes under the ICC statute.  Thanks, Kevin.) The Wall Street Journal reports today that the prosecutor's office of the International Criminal...

|
09 Sep

At the risk of being told again that I am writing in “literary Klingon,” I want to return to the issue of virtual worlds and their real world implications. This time, a virtual world is being considered as a way to assist in the management of an international organization, namely NATO. According to Danger Room: NATO’s got a new plan for training...

|
08 Sep

Orin Kerr has an interesting post at Volokh noting a story reporting that NSA intercepts were used in the just announced conviction in the UK of terrorists in the liquid-mixing-chemicals case.  Orin is right in saying the story deserves more notice than it will probably get.  I found it particularly interesting that apparently a reason why the NSA finally signed...

|
05 Sep

It's not unusual, I gather (never having worked in government), for the CIA to ask DOJ prosecutors to investigate leaks involving the agency.  However, in the circumstances surrounding the current AG Holder decision to appoint a prosecutor to investigate CIA activities, it's perhaps worth noting that the CIA has asked for an investigation into what it apparently regards as a...

|
31 Aug

Following-up on my recent post, I see that the Wall Street Journal reports that President Qaddafi no longer plans to stay in a large tent on the grounds of a home owned by the Libyan government in Englewood, NJ, during the opening of the UN General Assembly this fall. No specific reason is being given for the change, although diplomatic negotiations...

|
28 Aug

The local news in New York and New Jersey is abuzz this morning with unconfirmed rumors that, for the opening of this year's UN General Assembly, Libyan President Muammar Qaddafi is planning to stay in an air-conditioned "Bedouin-style" tent  on the grounds of a residence owned by the Libyan government in Englewood, New Jersey, a suburban town of 30,000. According...

|