Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
17 Apr ICC Prosecutor Symposium: “Mind the Gap”–Insights from Asia
This post looks at some of the issues and lessons that will impact the new prosecutor, emanating from the few situations related to Asia – a region that is often overlooked in the context of international justice. Other posts in our symposium have gone into details of the prosecutor’s position, responsibilities and qualifications. In this, I take a step back from the minutiae, and look at some of the larger conundrums that will face the new prosecutor, focusing on three aspects brought into sharp relief when viewing Asia and its...18 May Symposium: Rule of Law, Internationally
level. Firstly, the article, in my view correctly, distinguishes the rule of law from “the existence of, and compliance with, substantive international law obligations” (p. 15). On that ground, it does not include “all human rights in the rule of law”. Later on, however, the definition of international rule of law provided does include “access to justice to protect human rights”. Why only access to justice to protect some substantive rights and not others? Does this definition not imply, contrary to the author’s earlier statements, that human rights are part...
07 Feb ICC and Palestine Symposium: Prosecuting Settlements as War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity–The ICC’s Jurisdiction over the Occupied Palestinian Territory
...the Wall, the International Court of Justice stated bluntly that “the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have been established in breach of international law.” (at para. 120) The ICC’s Jurisdiction over the Settlement Enterprise As the scope of the territorial jurisdiction of the ICC is the subject of other entries in this Symposium, and will soon be addressed at length by victims, States, and amicus curiae in response to the Request, this aspect of the Court’s jurisdiction will not be explored here. In any event,...
07 Oct Symposium on Gender Representation: Representation of Women at the International Law Commission
[Priya Pillai is a lawyer and international law specialist. She has worked at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) headquarters in Geneva, at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and with various civil society organizations on implementation of international law.] This is an opportune moment to examine the representation of women (in an inclusive sense) in expert bodies or institutions. The basis for this symposium is the recent report by the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee on the current levels...
08 May New Technologies Symposium: Autonomous Weapons Systems– Why Keeping a ‘Human On the Loop’ Is Not Enough
[ Alejandro Chehtman is Professor of Law at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. This post is part of our New Technologies and the Law in War and Peace Symposium .] In New Technologies and the Law in War and Peace (CUP, 2018), Bill Boothby and his colleagues have written an important collection of essays exploring the regulation of new weapons systems under both the ‘laws of wars and peace’. The book concentrates on a number of pressing issues, including cyber capabilities, autonomous weapons systems, military human enhancement, non-lethal weapons (which they call...
16 Apr ICC Prosecutor Symposium: The Next ICC Prosecutor Must Embody Integrity in the #MeToo Era
miss the symposium post at Justice in Conflict by Kate Gibson.] The ICC Prosecutor is first and foremost a leader, who needs to stimulate a work culture that empowers personnel in a safe and supportive environment – so that they can investigate and prosecute with excellence. Not only must the next ICC Prosecutor effectively tackle all forms of misconduct, they must also have a clean record. In December, the ICC Staff Union Council called on States Parties to give full meaning to the provisions on high moral character of elected...06 Feb AJIL Symposium: Comment on “The Travaux of Travaux: Is the Vienna Convention Hostile to Drafting History?”
[Richard Gardiner is a Visiting Professor at University College London, Faculty of Laws] The article which this symposium addresses is important, timely, and elegant. It is an important study because it examines one of the most common misunderstandings about the VCLT provisions on the role of preparatory work in treaty interpretation. It lays to rest the mistaken idea that an interpreter may only consider preparatory work if interpretation of a treaty provision by applying the general rule reveals ambiguity or obscurity, or leads to a result which is manifestly absurd...17 May Symposium: Lies, Damned Lies, and the International Rule of Law
rule of law is required in the first place. I will not revisit the thin/thick (or formal/substantive) debates here, but would align myself with Raz’s argument that a “thin” conception does not relegate one to the arbitrary exercise of power in a rule by law state. At the domestic level, this battle is played out when McCorquodale deploys Tom Bingham’s stirring response to Raz — though it is a response essentially based on a definitional shift that the rule of law means the rule of good law (pp.283-284). At the...