In association with the International Commission of Jurists

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11 Nov

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was elected as president of Liberia, the first democratically-elected female president in Africa. Johnson-Sirleaf won with 59 percent of the vote. When asked whether Africa is prepared for its first female president, Johnson-Sirleaf said, “Africa is ready for a female president… Women have the education, the character, the competence, and the integrity to lead the nation.” Nigerian politician...

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11 Nov

Here is the full text of the "Graham Amendment" Bobby helpfully pointed out yesterday. The Washington Post has an analysis here. I must run off to help interview candidates interviewing for faculty positions, but let me add a few thoughts. Not surprisingly, I'm not reflexively opposed to this amendment, at least on first glance.(1) Congress plainly has constitutional...

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10 Nov

A very important development in the Senate today, one that may have profound consequences for the pending habeas litigation involving GTMO detainees. The development concerns an amendment to S.1042 (the '06 Defense Department Authorization bill) offered by Senator Graham. The Amendment is No. 2516, and its text is available here.Consider first section (d)(1) of the amendment, which amends the federal...

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10 Nov

Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez gave an important speech at the University of Chicago Law School yesterday strongly criticizing the recent trend of reliance on foreign and international authority. Gonzales made several key points:1. Sometimes reliance on international law is appropriate. "Judges and lawyers routinely use international law in other contexts. For instance, judges and lawyers seeking to interpret our...

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10 Nov

One of the most important NAFTA Chapter 11 decisions is Loewen v. United States. The Canadian company brought a $725 million claim against the United States arguing that a Mississippi state court judgment constituted a violation of NAFTA. The claim questioned whether the state court appeals process (particularly the appeal bond) could constitute an unlawful investment restriction under NAFTA. The...

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09 Nov

As the Washington Post reports, the Defense Department has released a new directive to the military on rules governing the interrogation of detainees held in U.S. military custody around the world. According to the Post, the directive has been hotly debated within the administration, especially as Congress is currently considering the McCain bill to codify standards on the treatment of...

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09 Nov

As Julian reported yesterday, Samuel Alito's 1972 Princeton senior thesis, "An Introduction to the Italian Constitutional Court" is now in the public domain. It is available here. The Daily Princetonian has a short summary here.There are several interesting aspects of the thesis. First, it is quite a remarkable piece of work. It is no small feat for a twenty-two-year-old...

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08 Nov

As I mentioned previously, U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's senior thesis on the Italian Constitutional Court, written during his senior year at Princeton, has been missing from the Princeton archives. Today, the Daily Princetonian reports that Alito's thesis adviser has sent a copy of it to the university library and the Daily Princetonian has a brief summary here. At...

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08 Nov

The General Assembly and Security Council has selected five members for the next ICJ term. One of members, Thomas Buergenthal of the United States, is a returning judge. The rest, however, are all newbies. As I discussed before, some countries not effectively guaranteed a seat by the Security Council have launched semi-aggressive efforts to get their members on the Court....

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08 Nov

The best place to go to see what the blogosphere is saying about the Paris riots is here. The right hand column has the most popular bloggers discussing the riots. The best list of news summaries regarding events in France is here. The best editorial I've seen on the riots is by Mark Steyn, available here. The best...

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07 Nov

In a roundtable interview of President Bush with foreign print media just prior to his trip to Argentina, Bush was asked the following question by a foreign correspondent:"What do you think about the [prospect] of--in the Bolivian election, the victory of an overtly leftist candidate, Evo Morales, of his peasant movement? And in that case, are you worried about a...

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07 Nov

As I reported two weeks ago, Ben Stein is experiencing cognitive dissonance. He knows he should not give to Yale. He knows his beneficence is better channeled to more worthy and needy causes. Two weeks ago he had the temerity to note that since it was virtually meaningless to give to Yale, why bother? Better, he concluded, to give to...

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