This past week, the editors of the Texas International Law Journal hosted a conference on the always controversial Military Commissions Act of 2006. The conference was a bit predictable in that it was full of law professors and advocates criticizing the MCA. But at least their criticisms were knowledgeable and interesting. (Links to webcasts of the conference, which...
[John Knox is a professor at Wake Forest School of Law where he teaches international environmental law. This post is part of an Opinio Juris roundtable discussion of the international law dimensions of the Mass. v. EPA decision.] Roger’s, Dan’s, and Hari’s thoughtful posts explain why Massachusetts v EPA is an important case in several respects, particularly, of course, for...
In a strange turnabout, Yemen's Parliament has voted to retract its previous March 24 vote approving the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Reports are sketchy as to why exactly the Parliament has reversed itself so dramatically. So maybe we should wait a few more days and see if the Parliament reverses itself again. ...
Paul Wolfowitz, who, according to an intriguing profile in this week's New Yorker, has made the fight against government corruption a center piece of his tenure as World Bank President, was forced to issue an apology for arranging a job for his "significant other" (a World Bank employee) at the State Department. As the NYTimes reports, Wolfowitz's favorable treatment...
I have posted a new essay on SSRN, "The Limits of Article 8(2)(b)(iv) of the Rome Statute, the First Ecocentric Environmental War Crime." The essay, which is forthcoming in the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review, is co-authored with Jessica Lawrence, who graduates from the University of Georgia School of Law next month. Here is the abstract:Article 8(2)(b)(iv) of...
A new association, the International Network to Promote the Rule of Law(INPROL), was recently formed under the auspices of the US Institute of Peace. INPROL’s mission…is to assist international rule of law specialists in their efforts to prevent conflict and stabilize war-torn societies. An internet-based knowledge network, INPROL provides those serving in the field the ability to exchange information...
Federal courts are often requested pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1782 to assist with discovery in a case before a foreign or international tribunal. Traditionally that has been understood to exclude discovery before international arbitration tribunals. But last week a federal district court cast doubt on that rule. A New Jersey district court in In re Oxus Gold...
[Dan Bodansky, the Emily and Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law at the University of Georgia Law School, is a leading expert on climate change and is co-editor of the recently published Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law. This post is part of an Opinio Juris ...
[Hari M. Osofsky is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Oregon. She is a regular contributor to IntLawGrrls. This post is part of an Opinio Juris roundtable discussion of the international law dimensions of the Mass. v. EPA decision] The Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA represents a watershed moment in the U.S. dialogue over climate...
A war of words between the newbie presidents of Chile and Peru may send a long-running territorial dispute between those two countries to the International Court of Justice, according to this report. Chilean president Michelle Bachelet remarked on TV that “[i]f Peru decides to go to the international justice courts, then that’s up to them”, Garcia responded just a...
In another sign of how slow the mainstream media moves sometimes, the NYT has an article today discussing an issue that readers of this blog learned about nearly a month ago: the ICJ's strange reluctance to demand access to crucial Yugoslav/Serbian government documents in reaching their judgment in the Bosnia Genocide case. The ICJ's failure to consider such evidence,...
As Julian has noted (see here and here) a federal district court in Washington D.C. last week has dealt a major blow to claims for damages for alleged torture in Iraq and Afghanistan. Given the importance of the case, I wanted to flesh out the decision a little more and provide my own quick thoughts on the case. ...
