In association with the International Commission of Jurists

General

10 Apr

South Korea has increased surveillance and asked China to rein in North Korea after Pyongyang moved a long-range missile in preparation for a possible launch. North Korea has warned foreigners to evacuate South Korea and said the area is headed for "thermo-nuclear war." Germany and France express growing concerns that Washington-backed EU sanctions on North Korea could negatively affect aid groups. Amnesty International...

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09 Apr

Global leaders have paid their respects to Margaret Thatcher, the UK's first female prime minister, after her death yesterday. Thousands of North Korean workers have failed to show up for work at a shared industrial complex with South Korea after the North Korean leadership said it would withdraw workers and suspend work.  With more on the North Korea situation, Foreign Policy asks...

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08 Apr

There are reports stating that North Korea is preparing to carry out a fourth nuclear test based on intelligence coming out of South Korea.  In the face of the rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, Foreign Policy offers advice about how to stop a nuclear war. Without directly naming North Korea, China has been critical of its recent actions to escalate tension on...

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08 Apr

As regular readers of this blog might have noticed, I have become more and more interested China and its engagement with international law issues.   Last year, I proposed to the ASIL Planning Committee that we put together a panel of leading U.S. China law scholars.  But the ASIL organizers pushed back and put together a much more diverse group than...

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06 Apr

This week on Opinio Juris, we brought you the latest round in the Goodman-Heller debate on capture v kill, in which Ryan Goodman responded to Kevin's comments on this blog a few weeks ago. Kevin started his week by pointing to turmoil in Sweden's prosecution of Julian Assange, following the resignation of the prosecutor and the decision by one of his accusers to...

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05 Apr

As usual, the American Society of International Law conference in Washington, D.C. is filled with panels of interest and great off line conversations with friends and colleagues. Good to see many OJ’ers there. Among many other things, I wanted to highlight yesterday’s lively discussions on targeted killing, including a panel featuring Daniel Bethlehem, Marco Sassoli, Hina Shamsi and David Glazier – a wonderfully thoughtful group. I take it the panel was available via live stream so would expect it will be posted in recorded form at some point as well. For now, a few assorted notes (in no particular order).
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05 Apr

Today marks 1000 days in the countdown towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon suggests four steps that the international community needs to take to achieve these goals. South Korea has reported its neighbor to the north has moved a missile to the east coast; the US has vowed to take "all necessary precautions" in response. World powers await...

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05 Apr

Lawyers take note: science fiction is become less fiction and more science every day. In the last year we have witnessed the launch of the first commercially built capsule to resupply the International Space Station (ISS), the announcement of significant private ventures aimed at eventually mining asteroids (1, 2, see also this), the announcement of a plan to send two people on a...

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04 Apr

The US has added Joseph Kony to its war crimes rewards programme and offered a US$5 million reward for his capture, after the recent coup in the Central African Republic forced the suspension of the manhunt for him. The US has moved missile defenses to Guam to respond to North Korea's nuclear threat, which Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel labeled a "real and clear danger" to the US...

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03 Apr

Armed Private Security Companies (APSC) doing business with the UN are now subject to a new set of practices and protocols that contain a multi-stakeholder monitoring and complaints mechanism.   These practices and protocols are set forth in the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers (“Code”), which the UN incorporates via its new Guidelines on the Use of Armed...

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03 Apr

As many of our readers may know, ASIL's 107th Annual Meeting with the theme of International Law in a Multipolar World is taking place in Washington D.C. at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel today through Saturday. Select highlights of the meeting include: The Grotius Lecture, with Emilio Álvarez Icaza, Executive Secretary, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights as the Speaker and W. Michael Reisman, Yale...

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03 Apr

As Julian already noted, the UN General Assembly passed the first-ever Arms Trade Treaty with a total of 154 states in favor, 23 abstaining and 3 (Iran, North Korea and Syria) opposing. North Korea has blocked access for South Korean workers to the joint-Korean Kaesong complex because of increasing tensions on the peninsula. Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip today,...

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