Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response

I have addressed treaty formation in the book. To that question I would answer “sort of.” As the last paragraph in my response to Roger indicates, the book does explore some of the relevant issues, but not all of them. There is much more to be said on this issue, and it strikes me as important for our understanding of international law and international relations. And if someone has a good explanation for why states sign human rights treaties, I invite them let me know and we can co-author the...

...passage in foreign territorial seas. At the end, I present an alternative justification under which coastal States may interrupt foreign passage in the territorial sea as a response to non-compliance with human rights obligations, notably where international crimes are concerned. Brief Highlights of the Opinion The question of interest concerns whether coastal States may interrupt the passage of a foreign vessel through their territorial sea “in response to non-compliance with international human rights obligations binding upon those States, including obligations under the UN [2014] Arms Trade Treaty and other relevant...

...the United States asserted response in self-defense over the past five plus years to the attack of 9/11 and other attacks attributed to Al Qaeda? Was the war in Iraq a proportional response and why? Were the secret prisons a proportional response and why? Were the extraordinary renditions to nations known by State to torture a proportional response and why? What are the legal limits on the United States or any states' reaction to an attack by a non-state actor? Does anything go? Can we round up 100 civilians to...

...authority of a neighboring territory, what would you consider a "proportionate" military response, morally, legally, or both? Marko Milanovic If I may venture to offer a response to Prof. Bernstein's question on human shields: Art. 28 of the Fourth Geneva Convention provides that "The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations." Art. 51(7) of Additional Protocol I further provides that "The presence or movements of the civilian population or individual civilians shall not be used to render certain...

… I am not making an argument against I.C.C.’s existence: In places where there is no functioning government, or the government is hostage to one section of society, or where there is no viable reconciliation process, the international community has a duty to ensure that the court is the guardian of justice. But the pursuit of justice should not replace or undermine ongoing national reconciliation efforts. The foremost challenge facing the I.C.C. is to determine whether its intervention will help or hinder the cause of peace. The wheels of justice...

...are before a legal text full of juridical inaccuracies. It is sufficient to refer to Article 1 […]. Simply, I understand that it lacks of the most elemental requirements of criminal categorisation, and this is something that we as legislators cannot ever ignore. In this sense, allow me members of the Parliament to say that we are transferring to the tribunals of justice a competence that is of the Parliament, or of the Government, but in any case of the tribunals of justice, which is to create law”. This declaration...

...sanctioning its key officials had not been contemplated. However, despite these sanctions’ shocking effect for their unlawfulness (see here) or perpetuation of racism (see here), they are only part of a consistent marginalisation of international criminal justice by powerful states. What these sanctions have come to expose is the extent to which powerful states can go to marginalise international criminal justice if it threatens their interests. Contextually, all these events arise from power and control in international criminal justice especially for states with a veto vote at the United Nations...

...the self-same test (at [88]). The Supreme Court went on to say: “The question whether there is a real risk that substantial justice will be unobtainable is generally treated as separate and distinct from the balancing of the connecting factors which lies at the heart of the issue as to proper place, but that is more because it calls for a separate and careful analysis of distinctly different evidence than because it is an inherently different question. If there is a real risk of the denial of substantial justice in...

[Stephen J. Rapp is a Senior Fellow at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Center for Prevention of Genocide and at the Blavatnik School of Government of Oxford University. He was formerly Ambassador-at-Large heading the Office of Global Criminal Justice in the US State Department, and between 2007-2009, was the Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. This essay was initially prepared at the request of FIU Law Review for its micro-symposium on The Legal Legacy of the Special Court for Sierra Leone by Charles C. Jalloh (Cambridge, 2020). An edited and footnoted version is...

is credentialed to represent Myanmar at the UN General Assembly, the representative of the National Unity Government or the junta—so urgent.  Specifically, the cracks in the Tatmadaw’s impunity were certain actions taken by Myanmar’s National Unity Government and the international community seeking accountability for the Tatmadaw’s international crimes, both before and as part of the coup. Namely, the resolution, or lack thereof, of the credentials questions could bear on the ongoing processes at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. More generally, the implications for justice and...

...Distributive justice approaches are both forward and backward-looking seeking to improve political and socio-economic conditions overall, but without presuming equality or ignoring historical grievances. The reason for pursuing distributive justice approaches is simple – by addressing real (and perceived) distributive inequities, we can help to prevent future conflicts. Accordingly, distributive justice efforts cannot afford to be treated as mere afterthoughts (if conceived of at all), where the aim of transitional institutions is to address the underlying causes that led to massive human rights violations. In short, scholars and practitioners need...

...a clear signal to would-be perpetrators that justice ultimately prevails”. But can we really say that “justice prevails” when a person is sentenced to long-term imprisonment? Although there is no doubt that mass atrocities must be condemned and prevented, the idea that harsh punishment best serves the purpose of addressing these crimes is more controversial. As several academics have noted, in the last few decades criminal punishment has gradually become the decisive instrument for responding to practices of oppression and violence, as well as for promoting justice and peace. The...