Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response

Jonathan Adler, a blogger at The Volokh Conspiracy, has asked me what I think about the editorial that Robert Bernstein, the founder of Human Rights Watch, published yesterday in the New York Times criticizing the organization’s coverage of Israel. My basic response: although I disagree with much of what Bernstein has to say, his criticisms must give anyone pause, because he obviously cares deeply about the organization. Before I turn to what I disagree with, it’s interesting to note that Bernstein seems to acknowledge that Israel has in the past...

...calls were all the more poignant given that he openly admitted that he was blinded by the remnants of war in the 1990s. Despite repeated pleas for engagement throughout the war, which saw some 5,000 military personnel and several hundred civilians killed or missing, the international community appear to have had limited influence over the conduct of the conflict or the ceasefire negotiations. The Council of Europe’s cautious response to the recent conflict serves as a reminder of the systemic problem of operational ‘grey zones’ in the CoE area. What...

...deterrence—whether Ukraine and its allies should coordinate to limit Russia’s access to the popular bank messaging clearinghouse facilitated by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Telecommunication known as SWIFT. Without commenting on the possibility of a SWIFT ban itself, he urged the world to be united in introducing sanctions. On February 24, 2022, in the hours after Vladimir Putin announced his plans for a military operation in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden made public remarks and answered questions from reporters about the US response. The Wall Street Journal once again raised...

of International Criminal Justice. Is international law having a Hallmark Minute? If, as the jurisprudes keep reminding us, candor is dandy, can we now reply that affection is also effective, that fondness has its own forensic force? The sentiments suffusing these books are not those of the greeting card and the holiday romance; instead, they speak to the affective dynamics that obtain among parties, judges, lawyers, and law professors, in contexts that explore “the relationships between feelings and judgments” or offer “hybridised accounts of cognition and feeling” (41). For Simpson,...

A Comment on Shiri Krebs’ chapter “The Invisible Frames Affecting Wartime Investigation: Legal Epistemology, Metaphors, and Cognitive Biases” [Emiliano J. Buis is a Professor of Public International Law at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and at the Central University of the Province of Buenos Aires (UNICEN), and researcher at the National Research Council for Science and Technology (CONICET)] Introduction Shiri Krebs’ insightful contribution to the book International Law’s Invisible Frames. Social Cognition and Knowledge Production in International Legal Processes, edited by Andrea Bianchi and Moshe Hirsch, is a thought-provoking...

...No doubt there are “strange nationalities.” In some cases, individuals have exploited an anomalous basis for citizenship in countries to which they have little or no affective (or effective) attachment – often on the basis of a parent or grandparent’s nationality. In others, countries have in effect bought competitors, with a grant of citizenship as a necessary part of the bargain. I don’t see this is as a problem, except to the extent that it depends on luck of the draw (either you have that grandparent or you don’t). But...

...a call for papers for its upcoming panel on “Emotional Warfare and its Limits: Towards an Affective Turn in International Humanitarian Law”, organized in the context of the International Conference on “Historicising International (Humanitarian) Law? Could we? Should we?” on 6–8 October 2016. When and why did the law of armed conflict become “humanitarian”? What role do fear, envy, or friendship play in the regulation of war? Can law offer an effective way out of the irrationality of violence? Possible answers to these questions cannot be addressed by means of...

...‘present’ are students in their learning when in lectures? Do we create opportunities for them to be ‘present’ in tutorials? Participation is key to effective learning, highlighting the need to reflect on student behaviour rather than just police it. By contrast, emotional engagement considers affective responses. Do they display interest or indifference, enthusiasm or anxiety? Have they formed an emotional connection to the learning process, with their peers, or even with us as educators? Positive affect paves the way to sincere effort, underscoring the importance of fostering a supportive emotional...

Iran’s decision to resume uraniam enrichment is precisely what it threatened before the IAEA Board meeting last week. In a letter dated February 2, 2006, Iran firmly requested that the case not be submitted to the Security Council. It included the threat that “I am afraid to warn that if the interlocutors of Iran want to put pressure on the [IAEA] Board to report the issue to the UN Security Council and this pressure be affective, and the [Security] Council would be involved in any way with the Iranian peaceful...

...types found in any of the affective disorders (except for delusions and hallucinations), any disorder in F4 (neurotic, stress related and somatoform disorders) and conduct disorders, so long as the criteria of an individual disorder are not fulfilled. Symptoms may be variable in both form and severity.” 33. The symptoms include depressed mood, anxiety, worry, a feeling of an inability to cope, plan ahead or continue in the present situation, with some degree of disability in performance of the daily routine. The symptoms vary considerably; some suffer very mild symptoms;...

...the termination of sanctions in Liberia. The aim was to strengthen these countries’ understanding of what the Council expects on sanctions issues and to enhance UN coordination on how the Organization can support implementation in these countries. 13. In 2006, the Secretary-General outlined four elements to improve the fairness and transparency of the sanctions procedures: the right to be informed; the right to be heard; the right to be reviewed by an affective review mechanism; and the need for periodic reviews, especially regarding the freezing of assets. Let me add...