Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
15 Apr Alexander Sack and Odious Debts: A Response to Ludington and Gulati
I am very grateful to Professors Mitu Gulati and Sarah Ludington for the wealth of information they have gathered about the life of Alexander Sack, the Russian legal scholar who penned the doctrine of odious debts, in their article “A Convenient Untruth: Fact and Fantasy in the Doctrine of Odious Debts.” I have taken note of the authors’ view that an inadvertent error was made by Michael Hoeflich, whom I cited in my book, Odious Debts: Loose Lending, Corruption and the Third World’s Environmental Legacy. I will amend the online...
03 Jun Non-innocence Under Article 19(2)(a) UNCLOS: A Response to Cavalcanti de Mello Filho
...therefore may not be interrupted by the coastal State based on such passage being non-innocent; but second, that coastal States could potentially interrupt such vessels as a lawful countermeasure under the law of State responsibility. This response will engage with the first argument on the interpretation of “innocent” passage in Article 19 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Specifically, in contrast to Cavalcanti de Mello Filho’s interpretation of Article 19(2)(a) UNCLOS, I argue that any threats or use of force in violation of...18 May A Response to Jean d’Aspremont by Brad Roth
Jean d’Aspremont’s supremely kind comments on my article require little response other than an expression of appreciation. Jean’s knowledge in this field is second to none, and the differences in our perceptions of these topics are minute. But it is, perhaps, worth clarifying my position on the recognition of coup regimes and the question of a democratic entitlement in international law. There is no question that the international order has departed from the strict anti-interventionism that underlies what I have termed ‘the effective control doctrine’. Coups against ‘freely and...
01 May Beyond Containment – Confronting Racial Hierarchies in International Law: Rehearsals in Emancipation
...being that is impossible to capture in theory or technocracy. Take Sudan, where the mobilisation of the Sudan Emergency Response Rooms became the backbone of the (extended and ongoing) crisis response providing food, shelter, medical care and protection, largely funded through mutual aid. Despite being ‘forgotten’ by the international community this community-led response, succeeding the neighbourhood-based Resistance Committees integral to the 2018-2019 revolution, emerged in sharp contrast to the judicial response of the International Criminal Court. In the Prosecutor v Abd-Al-Rahman (“Ali Kushayb”) case, one of the victim-witnesses voiced what...15 Apr A Response to Ingrid Wuerth
Many thanks to Ingrid Wuerth for her thoughtful response to my Article. I agree with Ingrid that the importance of maintaining a uniform international standard in the interpretation of incorporative statutes may be especially salient in the context of treaties, like the Hague Rules, that address coordination problems. I disagree, however, that the borrowed treaty rule is of little salience in the context of human rights treaties that seek to establish minimum international standards. An international standard contained in a human rights treaty is typically invoked by domestic litigants only...07 Feb A Response to Stavros Gadinis and Eric Pan by Pierre-Hugues Verdier
[Pierre-Hugues Verdier, author of Mutual Recognition in International Finance, responds to the comments by Stavros Gadinis and Eric Pan] I would first like to thank Professors Pan and Gadinis for their generous and insightful comments on my article. While it is impossible to offer a full response in this forum, I would like to offer some thoughts on three salient points. First, as Professor Pan correctly points out, financial cooperation arrangements that share important features of mutual recognition have existed for decades. However, I believe the arrangements described in the...
09 May Jurisdiction in Palestine: What the ICC Prosecutor Did Not Say in Her Response …
[Jonathan Turner is a barrister in London and Chief Executive of UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) ] Practising advocates know that what is not included in reply submissions is usually more interesting than what is there. One of the omissions in the ICC Prosecutor’s recent Response on the issue of the Court’s territorial jurisdiction in respect of Palestine is that it does not address the argument made by the amicus, UKLFI, based on the rights of the Jewish people derived from the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine. Indeed, while...
11 Feb No, Russia Can (Still) Not be Removed From the UN Security Council: A Response to Thomas Grant and Others: Part Two
...in response to its policy of apartheid, is more controversial: the leading handbook of Schermers and Blokker points out that such a de facto suspension or expulsion would amount to “an illegal circumvention of special procedures such as those laid down in Articles 5 and 6 of the Charter” – action by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council – and would arguably be ultra vires (para. 263). The decision to exclude South Africa from the work of the General Assembly clearly rested upon political support, but...03 May Hamdan, the ICRC Commentary to Protocol II, and Conflict Party Structure: A Response
...courts read that as meaning consequential damages are included and others read the fact that consequential damages is excluded from the litany of possible damages as meaning that consequential damages are not available to a seller. Both judges would look at the same text and say this is what they mean. Whether that is using the law as a means to an end can be discussed. I think that where the judge is seeking justice is not such a bad thing. I sensed that Stevens was seeking justice. Best, Ben...
09 Nov The AU’s Position on Personal Immunity: A Response to Coracini & Trahan
...seen before: namely, the insinuation that the African Union (AU) believes international courts do not have to recognise personal immunity. I assume that claim is a response to my contrary one in the article mentioned above — opposition that I have cited as a reason to be skeptical of the idea (endorsed by a number of scholars) that the General Assembly will support a Special Tribunal in large numbers. Here is what Coracini and Trahan say about the AU, referencing the Jordan case: It is worthy of note that during...