A quick note to suggest that those interested in intelligence and surveillance topics check out the latest issue of the Journal of National Security Law & Policy, which features a host of interesting articles on U.S. and international law and intelligence collection by folks like Geoff Stone, Craig Forcese, and Steve Vladeck. I’d especially recommend the piece by David...
Having just returned from Asia, which is awash in disputes over territorial sea rights and exclusive economic zones, the U.S. domestic debate over ratification of the Law of the Sea Convention seems almost quaint. Unlike pretty much every country in East Asia, the U.S. does not have any serious boundary or other kind of dispute that is likely to be...
The International Court of Justice issued a "provisional measures" order today in a dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over a World Heritage temple located near or on the boundary between the two nations. The request for provisional measures was brought by Cambodia, which sought the withdrawal of Thai troops from around the temple. The ICJ granted this request, but went...
The U.S. government has recently announced it will recognize the Benghazi authority as the "legitimate" government of Libya. But is it departing from international practice or the international law relating to statehood and recognition in order to do so? I have to admit I haven't followed the recognition of state vs. the recognition of government issue very closely (OK, not at...
So I leave the country and the blogosphere for a few months, and what happens? (Well, beside that "war" in Libya), circuit courts have gone all negative on my argument against corporate liability under the Alien Tort Statute. In addition to the D.C. Circuit's recent decision, the Seventh Circuit (speaking through Judge Posner) went out of its way to reject...
[This post is part of the Second Harvard International Law Journal/Opinio Juris Symposium.] In 2007, I authored two papers -- one for a military audience and another for a legal one -- arguing that debates over the law's response to the growing range of cyberthreats would likely track ongoing debates over law's response to terrorism. In that context, we've seen 4 options...
Yes, it's true. There must be dozens, perhaps even hundreds of newborns who are extended US citizenship every year even though they are "not subject to the jurisdiction thereof." Find the evidence in a report from the restrictionist Center for Immigration Studies here. Perhaps I shouldn't be so snarky: the report is a pretty interesting one. It certainly plows new ground. ...
It's likely old news to most OJ readers, but we should still note in passing that the DC Circuit, in a divided panel, handed down an important ATS case, John Doe VIII v Exxon Mobil Corp. It is noteworthy, among other things, for straight-out rejecting the Second Circuit's Kiobel ruling, which held that there is no such thing as corporate...
A few months back, Opinio Juris was pleased to host an inaugural joint symposium with the Harvard International Law Journal. Next week, we're very pleased to be able to regularize this partnership with a second symposium (I'm particularly pleased with this development for reasons that should become apparent below). The symposium will run from Tuesday, July 12, to Friday, July 15, and...
Cross posted at Balkinization Big news in the past day is the Obama administration’s announcement that a Somali national captured by the U.S. military somewhere in the Gulf has been transferred to New York for federal prosecution on terrorism-related charges. According to the Justice Department (DOJ), the man, Warsame, was “questioned for intelligence purposes for more than two months” after his...
QS World University Rankings has released its list of the world's top law schools. Here are the top 30: 1. Harvard 2. Oxford 3. Cambridge 4. Yale 5. Stanford 6. Berkeley 7. Columbia 8. London School of Economics 9. Melbourne 10. NYU 11. Sydney 12. McGill 13. Toronto 14. Chicago 15. Australia National University 16. UCLA 17. Michigan 18. Auckland 19. Victoria University Wellington 20. Monash 21. King's College London 22. University College London 23. University of British Columbia 24. National University Singapore 25. University...
Ben Wittes, long an advocate for clearer domestic legislation authorizing U.S. detention operations, writes to ask whether my recent post favoring the Senate’s over the House’s version of pending legislation signals a shift in my position opposing new such legislation. The short answer is no. Here’s why. I’d praised the Senate’s draft of force authorization language as follows: “Where...
