The ALL CAPS headline of the last few hours involves news that social security and other identifying information for some 4 million U.S. federal workers was compromised in a cyber exploitation that, if one believes the unofficial finger pointing, came at the behest of the Chinese government. Of course, it was just yesterday, that the Council on Foreign Relations' Adam Segal was...
There is no shortage of commentary on the growing US-China tensions over China's land reclamation activities in the South China Sea. I've already added my two cents on the legal aspects here, but it's worth trying to understand China's defense of its actions. Here is China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman at a press conference responding to comments from US and Japanese leaders...
Oxford University Press has just published a massive new book on the ICC, "The Law and Practice of the International Criminal Court," edited by Leiden's Carsten Stahn. Here is the publisher's description: The International Criminal Court is a controversial and important body within international law; one that is significantly growing in importance, particularly as other international criminal tribunals close down. After...
Seth Tillman of Maynooth University has a clever "parody" letter (scroll to the bottom) in the most recent Claremont Review of Books. I can't really do it justice here, but it is an amusing take on how modern international law might have critiqued the relentless Allied demands for unconditional surrender by Germany and Japan in 1945. Also, I particulalry appreciate his...
Africa African leaders meeting in Tanzania on Sunday to discuss a political crisis in Burundi triggered by the president's plan to run for a third term called for the postponement of elections by at least a month and a half. The United Nations human rights chief on Saturday urged several countries to intensify their investigations of alleged sexual abuse of young children...
Over the last two weeks at Opinio Juris, we've seen several contributions. Our regular bloggers covered a number of recent developments such as Deborah's recent post, cross-posted on Just Security, on the D.C. district court's considering the habeas petition of Guantanamo detainee Mukhtar Yahia Naji al Warafi, and the concept of "active hostilities." On a related note, Jens covered the nature and scope...
Cross-posted at Just Security As Marty Lederman’s earlier post explains, a D.C. district court is now considering the habeas petition of Guantanamo detainee Mukhtar Yahia Naji al Warafi, found in an earlier habeas case to be a member of the Taliban’s armed forces, who argues that because “hostilities” between the United States and the Taliban have ceased, the domestic statute (the...
On May 27, 2015 Mr. Dire Tladi of South Africa was appointed Special Rapporteur for a new topic on the International Law Commission's agenda: jus cogens. The progressive development and codification of jus cogens principles marks a significant step forward. For many years it was considered, as Ian Brownlie once quipped, "like the car that never left the garage." The ILC's...
Two recent court filings bring to light important questions about the scope and nature of the armed conflict in Afghanistan. Who would have thought that so many years after 9/11 we would still be asking important questions about the nature of the hostilities there. First, on May 20, 1995, counsel for detainee Al Warafi filed a reply brief in his habeas...
The Argentina sovereign debt mess is still not resolved, but already folks are debating its larger consequences for international economic governance. In particular, there continue to be calls for a new international sovereign debt mechanism to prevent another Argentina-style U.S. litigation. But although I agree that there are decent arguments for some sort of international treaty-based mechanism for sovereign debt...
Africa Fighting in south Somalia between al Shabaab militants and government forces killed at least 24 people, while a rebel attack in the capital killed three Transport Ministry workers and a lawmaker, officials and the group said on Saturday. An unidentified gunman on Wednesday shot at United Nations vehicles in Mali's capital Bamako and targeted a house where U.N. staff were staying,...
There are two important new reports up on the International Law Commission's website. First, Sean Murphy’s First Report on Crimes Against Humanity is now available. The UN Doc symbol is A/CN.4/680; link to the report here. The report is a terrific overview of the current gaps in the international legal architecture, and maps out steps towards a future convention. The report also proposes...
