The first part of Posner and Vermeule’s book offers a forceful theoretical defense of executive authority during times of emergency. The book offers a thoughtful and well-reasoned perspective on the cost-benefit analysis at play when government seeks the optimal balance between the competing goods of security and liberty. Posner and Vermeule argue that there is a Pareto security-liberty...
Opinio Juris is very pleased to host for the next few days an online symposium on Eric Posner and Adrian Vermeule’s new book, Terror in the Balance recently published by Oxford University Press. The format for this symposium will be familiar to those who followed the symposium we held three weeks ago on Michael Ramsey’s book, The Constitution’s Text in Foreign...
Here's a footnote from the Economist to the recent posts on the scramble for the Arctic:...
Next week, the leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. will meet in Montreal as part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), a trilateral framework for cooperation between the three states. As a matter of international law classifications, the SPP is not a formal international organization nor is there a formal international agreement or charter that undergirds it....
Here's a story you don't see everyday — a Colombian drug kingpin who wants to be extradited to the U.S.:The lawyer of a reputed leader of Colombia's biggest drug cartel said Tuesday he will travel to Washington to discuss ways to speed up his client's extradition to the United States. Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, 44, who faces three U.S. federal indictments...
A little Friday levity; worth watching to the very end. (What is Jamie "bring healthful food to the masses" Oliver eating?) ...
There is nothing like an old-fashioned territorial dispute to get an international lawyer's heart pumping. The next big ICJ case will likely be brought by Peru against Chile over the little triangle of "area en controversia" on this map. Indeed, just publishing the map has led to diplomatic fireworks. Chile has recalled its ambassador to Peru for...
It’s true – we may be witnessing the last days of the European Community. Moving on from the failed effort at devising a European Constitution effort two years ago, this summer has witnessed substantial progress on revisions to the European Union (EU), with the revival of an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) and the beginning of negotiations for a new agreement...
I just learned of a wonderful new way to support your favorite nonprofit organization. It is called MissionFish. Essentially nonprofits register with MissionFish, and then Ebay sellers can agree to donate all or part of the proceeds from any Ebay sale they make to the nonprofit of their choice. Once the item sells, the seller gets paid...
I have posted a new essay on SSRN, entitled "What Happens to the Acquitted?" Here is the abstract:According to the ICTR, Emmanuel Bagambiki is an innocent man. The Trial Chamber and the Appeals chamber have each unanimously acquitted the former Prefect of Cyangugu of crimes relating to Rwanda's horrific 1994 genocide. And on July 19, Bagambiki was reunited with...
According to this report, Benin has officially taken possession of islands it was awarded in a 2005 ICJ judgment resolving a long standing border dispute with its neighbor Niger. Plaudits for this peaceful resolution should go to all parties in involved, including the ICJ, which cranked out a definitive judgment in a mere four years (2001-2005). Of course, it...
The Swiss have always represented an unusual blend of pro- and anti- internationalism. For instance, they only recently joined the United Nations, yet the U.N. has more offices in Switzerland than anywhere else in Europe (probably). They remain a weird outlier in continental Europe, surrounded by the EU yet, as far as I know, they haven't even applied...
