[Meir Feder heads up the appeals and issues practice at the New York office of Jones Day.] For anyone looking to yesterday’s oral argument to predict how the Court will resolve Kiobel—a dubious exercise in any event, as last Term’s health care case should remind us— yesterday’s argument was a mess. The Justices seemed skeptical of the positions of both parties (and,...
I have very much enjoyed our guest commentary on the Kiobel extraterritoriality issue and can't resist adding my two cents. In short, I am pretty dissatisfied with the arguments made by the petitioners, respondents and the United States government. I am not dissatisfied because the arguments are "wrong", but because none seem to offer a persuasive theory of the purpose of...
Oral arguments were heard yesterday for the second time before the US Supreme Court in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum; the transcript can be found here. You can already read the preliminary thoughts from a few of our regulars Roger, Deborah and Peter, and as Julian mentioned, starting today, we will have a roundtable discussion from a variety of guest...
I am still digesting the transcript of the Kiobel reargument today, although I can say that nothing in the argument today has changed my view that this brief (which both Ken and I signed) represents the best approach to resolving the case. I will say, however, that nothing in the argument suggested that any member of the Court is considering...
The transcript in the Kiobel case has been posted here. Shell counsel/former Stanford dean Kathleen Sullivan seems to have been on her heels for much of her argument time. Big sticking point on her claim that the ATS was not intended to cover piracy or a "reverse Marbois." (No, that is not a wrestling move; it's the counterfactual in which the...
For those watching for signs of how oral arguments went in the U.S. Supreme Court in Kiobel this morning, early consensus seems to be that while a majority of the justices were plainly concerned by a reading of the universal jurisdiction statute that would give the courts the power to hear cases with no substantial connection to the United States,...
I am very sad to report that the eminent British historian has passed away at 95. He lived an amazing life, as recounted in the Guardian's lengthy obituary today. Here is a snippet: If Eric Hobsbawm had died 25 years ago, the obituaries would have described him as Britain's most distinguished Marxist historian and would have left it more or less...
The US Supreme Court begins its new term today and will hear re-argumentation in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum. SCOTUS Blog offers insight into what is at stake and for whom in this case. After 10 years’ imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay, Omar Khadr was repatriated to Canada, where he will serve the rest of his sentence. At the UN General Assembly, several leaders of the Muslim...
This week on Opinio Juris, one of us was facing a legal challenge of his own. You can read Kevin Jon Heller's account of Chevron's subpoena for 9 years of IP-logs for his gmail-account here. Ken Anderson is back to blogging, and discussed the leading issues at this week's opening of the UN General Assembly in a post that also reflected on whether a...
According to a Kenyan military spokesman, Kenyan forces have captured the Somali port city of Kismayo, a bastion for Al-Shabbab fighters. At the UN General Assembly, China's foreign minister accused Japan of stealing the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has said he will seek a vote on an upgraded status for Palestine to non-member state, like The Vatican, from the UN General Assembly. At...
[Polina Levina is a masters in international law candidate at the School of Oriental and African Studies and Kaveri Vaid is an Institute for International Law and Justice Scholar at New York University School of Law.] Overview Recently, Human Rights Watch released a report detailing systematic practices of capture, torture, and rendition of members of the Libyan opposition by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. At least...
