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05 Dec

This week on Opinio Juris, Roger commented on Joel Trachtman's article on customary international law, which attracted a lot of debate from our readers in the comments. Kevin lamented US Courts' insufficient understanding of IHL and wondered if Paddington would prefer Australia's Christmas Island. He also responded to Ryan Vogel's post on Lawfare on the OTP's Afghanistan's investigation. Julian explained why he does not fully agree with...

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04 Dec

As a number of commentators have recently noted, the latest report on the OTP's preliminary-examination activities indicates that the OTP is specifically considering whether US forces are responsible for war crimes relating to detainee treatment in Afghanistan -- something it only hinted at in its 2013 report. Here are the relevant statements (pp. 22-23): 94. The Office has been assessing available information relating to...

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01 Dec

I'm sure most of us will go see the live-action movie version of PADDINGTON, which recently hit the big screen. And we will do so, of course, because we are interested in what Paddington's residence status says about the UK's harsh immigration laws. Fortunately, Colin Yeo has prepared a nice primer for us at the Free Movement blog, run by...

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01 Dec

Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa Gambia's foreign minister said the West African country would sever all dialogue with the European Union and rejected what he said were attempts by the bloc to use its aid budget to force Gambia to revoke a tough new law against homosexuality. A peacekeeping force in Darfur had...

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30 Nov

While researching an essay on the use of analogy in IHL, I had the misfortune of reading Al Warafi v. Obama, a recent habeas case involving an alleged member of the Taliban. Al Warafi argued that even if he was a member of the Taliban -- which he denied -- he was entitled to be treated in detention as permanent...

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29 Nov

That's the provocative conclusion of the latest research by Joel Trachtman. Trachtman's articles are typically succinct and seductive, so you owe it to yourself to read the short article (and skim the long appendix). Trachtman examined 300 different CIL rules and found that only 13 (4.33%) have not been either incorporated in treaties or codified. Trachtman argues that the...

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29 Nov

This Thanksgiving week saw several posts of note on Opinio Juris. We hosted a Mini-Symposium on the latest article by James G. Stewart, The Turn to Corporate Criminal Liability for International Crimes: Transcending the Alien Tort Statute. First, Samuel Moyn discussed the ambitious past of corporate regulation, to which Stewart responded in hopes that the ideas set forth by both would...

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26 Nov

London-area readers interested in the ICC and Palestine might want to attend the following event, which is co-sponsored by Chatham House and Doughty Street Chambers (where I'm an academic member). It should be good, despite my participation: Milestones in International Criminal Justice: The ICC and Palestine Date: Tuesday 02 December 2014 Time: 18.00 - 19.30 Location: 54 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LS Venue: Doughty Street...

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25 Nov

I only recently learned about an effort by U.S. anti-corruption crusaders to win support for an "International Anti-Corruption Court" modeled on the International Criminal Court. US judge Mark Wolf from Massachusetts is spearheading this idea, especially with this article here, and a briefing was even held recently on Capitol Hill on the idea and the UN Human Rights Commissioner seems interested.  This is...

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24 Nov

Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa Caught in a forgotten war between rebels and government forces and beset by bandits who roam the lawless roads, villagers in Darfur say their lives can scarcely get any worse if Sudan insists on international peacekeepers leaving their region. Transitional leaders in Burkina Faso have agreed on a new...

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