In association with the International Commission of Jurists

General

16 Jul

[Darryl Robinson is a Professor at Queen’s University, Faculty of Law (Canada), specializing in international criminal justice.] In part one of this post, I mapped out the main controversies and choices to be made in defining ecocide.  I now introduce the most difficult conundrum: how to align ecocide with environmental law.  The problems are not initially obvious.  Kevin Heller’s initial posts understandably...

|
16 Jul

[Darryl Robinson is a Professor at Queen’s University, Faculty of Law (Canada), specializing in international criminal justice.] In recent weeks, there has been lively debate on the crime of ecocide, in response to the proposed definition from the International Expert Panel (see here, here, here, here, here,  here, here, and here).  In two posts, I offer you an overview – or a...

|
16 Jul

[Javier S Eskauriatza is a Lecturer at Birmingham Law School.] Introduction In October 2020, it was a surprise when the U.S. arrested the former Mexican Defence Secretary, General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, on drug-trafficking and corruption charges, at an airport in Los Angeles, California. The indictment accused Cienfuegos of participating in an international conspiracy to manufacture heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana, to import and distribute them in the...

|
16 Jul

[Kamaxi Sambari is a lawyer-psychologist and is currently a Visiting Faculty member at Symbiosis Law School and Priyanka Prasanth is a final-year student at Symbiosis Law School.] Recent reports suggest that over 6,500 migrant workers, primarily from South Asian Countries have lost their lives in Qatar just in the last decade under mysterious circumstances. This post focuses on the recent changes to the Kafala...

|
15 Jul

Recently, we at Opinio Juris went through the recruitment process for an Editorial Assistant. We were really impressed with the high quality of applications from so many fantastic aspiring EAs from all over the world and it was truly difficult to make our final selection. However, when all was said and done, two superstars shone through: Ameera Ismail and Natasha...

|
15 Jul

[Chiara Redaelli is a Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and a Visiting Professor at the Faculté Libre de Droit, Université Catholique de Lille.] I would like to begin by thanking Opinio Juris, its editors, and in particular Alonso Gurmendi and Jessica Dorsey for organising and hosting this symposium. I would also like to express my gratitude to John Hursh, Brad Roth, Luca Ferro, Erin Pobjie, Laura Iñigo, and...

|
15 Jul

My friend Chiara Redaelli has produced an impressive volume, thoroughly analysing the topic of intervention in civil wars. As others in this symposium have already pointed out, it is usually difficult to offer comments on what one mostly agrees with. In this post, therefore, apart from congratulating Chiara for a fantastic book, I wanted to add to the conversation by briefly telling the story of...

|
14 Jul

[Laura Íñigo Álvarez is a postdoctoral researcher and a lecturer in international law at Nova School of Law (Universidade Nova de Lisboa). She is the author of Towards a Regime of Responsibility of Armed Groups in International Law (Intersentia, 2020)]. Dr. Redaelli’s book, Intervention in Civil Wars: Effectiveness, Legitimacy and Human Rights, constitutes one of the most comprehensive studies on the question about intervention in civil wars...

|
14 Jul

[Erin Pobjie is a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, Germany. She is a member of the International Law Association’s Committee on the Use of Force: Military Assistance on Request, and co-convener of the European Society of International Law’s Interest Group on Peace and Security.] Introduction Individuals are victims of war, but until now have not...

|
13 Jul

[Luca Ferro is a post-doctoral researcher at the Ghent Rolin-Jaequemyns International Law Institute (GRILI) of Ghent University, and a member of the ILA Committee on the Use of Force: Military Assistance on Request.] An embarrassing confession at the start of this review: I cannot remember the last time I read a book on international law from (digital) cover to cover, instead of scanning through it and...

|
13 Jul

[Brad R. Roth is a Professor of Political Science and Law at Wayne State University in Detroit. He is the author of Governmental Illegitimacy in International Law and Sovereign Equality and Moral Disagreement and co-editor of Democracy and International Law, Supreme Law of the Land? Debating the Contemporary Effects of Treaties within the United States Legal System, and Democratic Governance and International Law.] Chiara Redaelli’s meticulously researched book on Intervention in Civil Wars is...

|
12 Jul

[John Hursh is a lawyer, writer, and researcher focusing on the use of force, human rights, and international humanitarian law. He served as Director of Research at the Stockton Center for International Law and Editor-in-Chief of International Law Studies at the U.S. Naval War College from 2017 to 2020.] “It can be difficult to write something interesting about something one agrees with.” So wrote Timothy Waters when reviewing Mark Drumbl’s...

|