In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response

07 Mar

...have lived in (and likely participated in the capturing of) the seized houses as well? Without intending to undermine the role(s) of women within ISIL, prosecutorial responses should not manifest in war crimes charges against female returnees disproportionate to the terrorism charges faced by male (foreign) fighters. Particularly, such a strategy crucially lacks an informed gender analysis of ISIL. While it is true to say that women’s roles in ISIL have been significantly underestimated, one needs to bear in mind the extent to which women were subjected to the strict...
07.03.19 | |

25 Apr

for two key reasons. Firstly, the political picture with the powers at force is not in favour of such a response. Secondly, the lapse of time between the attack and the response along with the limited impact of the attack would prove difficult to ascertain that the actions taken pursuant to the right of self-defence are necessary and proportionate. The second potential consequence relates to the law applicable to the conflict that is affecting Syria. Until today, there was a conflict between ISIL and the Assad regime together with a...
25.04.17 | |

08 Feb

[Erin F. Delaney, a Research Fellow at Columbia Law School (she holds a Ph.D. from Cambridge University and a J.D. from the NYU School of Law), & Samuel Issacharoff, the Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law at New York University School of Law, respond to David Schleicher, What If Europe Held an Election and No One Cared?] Eurodemocracy Multilevel democracy is difficult. Voters have limited time and even less information. Political parties provide the indispensable integrative mechanism for the polity and bring order to the chaotic political marketplace. But...
08.02.11 | |

05 Oct

...easy to appreciate the intellect of someone you agree with. To extol the intellectual of abilities of someone you disagree with must be one of the best compliments that can be paid to a thinker – and I am paying that compliment to Harold today. When Kevin Jon Heller asked me to contribute to this symposium in honour of the launch of Koh’s new book, The Trump Administration and International Law, I agreed without hesitation, both because of my respect for the man and because I knew, there was probably...
05.10.18 | |

09 Feb

...justice, into IHL itself), ignoring the comparative justness of the parties’ causes becomes even less normatively attractive. Indeed, as Prof. Heller surmised, I am generally sympathetic to his position. I agree that it is difficult to accept the complete divorce of the jus in bello from the jus ad bellum as a moral matter; this is especially true concerning the equal status of combatants, i.e., that no soldier commits a crime when he fights other soldiers, even if he fights an unjust war. Unless we believe that individuals bear no...
09.02.11 | |

09 Apr

...the WHO and scientists have long been warning of the increasing risks of zoonotic diseases. ‘The ultimate test of preparedness is response’ and certainly governments’ responses are now being considered and, as noted above, should be comprehensively reviewed ex post facto. Lessons must certainly be learned. However, national preparedness must also be honed and tested for future pandemics. This means reviewing and updating pandemic preparedness plans, generally that being those for seasonal influenza. Writing in December 2020, on the African response to COVID-19, Justice King highlights the importance of socio-economic...
09.04.21 | |

12 Nov

At Spreading the Jam, Dov Jacobs defends the Pre-Trial Chamber’s conclusion in the Burundi situation that the OTP is not required to notify a state until after the PTC has authorized an investigation. Here are the critical paragraphs from his post: Note the different language used [in Art. 18] depending on whether there is a referral under 13(a) (state referral) or 13(b) (proprio motu): in the former case, the notification must come when “the Prosecutor has determined that there would be a reasonable basis to commence an investigation”,...
12.11.17 | |

25 Jan

...fact, I did mean “lawfare” in the sense Kevin’s discussants (Dov, el roam, and Mendieta) are using it: “lawfare” as strategic utilization of the law, which for me isn’t negative but rather value-neutral, and this is why in the post I contrasted it with “the quest for justice” or “embracing the law.” Strategy is simply neither of those, just as it isn’t “good” or “bad” – Strategy is only successful or unsuccessful. And as my original post indicated, to me the only plausible strategic role for the ICC in the...
25.01.15 | |

08 Mar

First and most importantly, my sincere thanks to Marko Milanovic and Pierre-Hugues Verdier for taking the time to offer such careful and insightful reactions to my work. I’m extremely fortunate to have them as “virtual” colleagues, and I appreciate the efforts of the YJIL editors and folks at Opinio Juris in creating a forum for this online exchange. As Marko and Pierre-Hugues note, I focus on the interpretation and application of constitutional and quasi-constitutional rights — what I call “domestic rights regimes” — by domestic courts. This is...
08.03.11 | |

29 Sep

As a pastor of a church I find Professor Guiora’s words both challenging and problematic. Here are four points: 1. Professor Guiora writes, “Society has historically – unjustifiably and blindly – granted religion immunity.” What society? Separating “society” from “religion” is very much a modern issue. Society didn’t grant immunity to anything. Rather, society was shaped by religion and was pretty much identified religiously in the West and in the East until the beginnings of the critical/historical/scientific “Age of Reason” stirrings. In the West it was the Church...
29.09.10 | |

05 Feb

[Dr. Ulf Linderfalk is a Professor of International Law at the Faculty of Law at Lund University, Sweden. The first part of his comments can be found here.] In what sense does the VCLT give a description of the way to understand a treaty? The way Julian describes prevailing legal doctrine, the presumption against preparatory work is effectuated “by a set of threshold restrictions that relegate drafting history to ‘a carefully bounded and contingent role’, for use only … ‘when the text [of a treaty] cannot, in itself,...
05.02.14 | |

23 Nov

I would like to thank Professor von der Dunk – who is a close friend and highly respected colleague – for taking the time to provide his thoughtful responses to my article ‘Fly Me to the Moon: How Will International Law Cope with Commercial Space Tourism’, published recently in the Melbourne Journal of International Law. Professor von der Dunk and I have worked in collaboration on several research projects and he is a very highly regarded scholar in matters relating to the international, and national, regulation of the use and...
23.11.10 | |