Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
10 May The Past, Present, and Future of the Veto: A Further Response to Professor Jennifer Trahan
Finally, I would like to use this opportunity to briefly reflect on a broader normative matter. I am unable to determine with certainty whether Professor Trahan believes that, as a matter of lex lata, a rule has emerged to prohibit vetoes by the Permanent Members of the Security Council in situations of mass atrocities. In her response to my post she stated: “I do not believe my arguments are de lege ferenda.” However, in her response to Professor Kevin Jon Heller, she wrote: “the international system needs to evolve in...
24 Feb Harmonizing Global Health Law and Human Rights Law to Develop Rights-Based Approaches to Global Health Emergencies
global health emergency has enabled inappropriate and violative public health responses across nations. As the world’s struggle against the coronavirus stretches on, we must begin to consider how global health law and human rights law can be harmonized – not only to protect human dignity in the face future global health crises, but also to strengthen effective public health responses with justice. The necessarily multi-sectoral response to COVID-19 reveals the distinctive nature of interpreting human rights limitations in a global health emergency that (1) is an international (compared to a...09 Dec Transitional Justice and Judicial Activism Symposium: International Courts and Tribunals Should Have Discretionary Review
...motivate the decision not to take on a case; and so on. Granted, discretionary review has some disadvantages, too. It reduces access to justice and leaves the parties (mostly victims of human rights abuses) at the mercy of the discretion of the court. However, if we can trust the wisdom of these judges on the merits of the case, why can’t we trust them also on weighing the costs and benefits, writ large, of hearing the case? It is exactly the conundrums of transitional justices detailed in Teitel’s article that...
03 Oct Distant Justice Symposium: Some Thoughts on Getting Close
[Mark Drumbl is the Class of 1975 Alumni Professor and Director, Transnational Law Institute, Washington and Lee University . This is the latest post in our symposium on Phil Clark’s book, Distant Justice: The Impact of the International Criminal Court on African Politics.] I never thought this day would end I never thought tonight could ever be This close to me — The Cure (1985) from the album The Head on the Door When we embraced, when we embraced again, I didn’t think of what would happen, of what I’d do,...
14 Jun In Serbia, Justice Overruled: 25 Years after NATO Intervention, a Pass for Atrocity Crimes
[Fred Abrahams covered the Kosovo conflict for Human Rights Watch . He wrote the book Modern Albania and co-wrote A Village Destroyed: War Crimes in Kosovo . Marija Ristic covered Serbian war crimes trials as a journalist for local and international media.] This April, a modest courtroom in Belgrade, Serbia, offered a lens into the global debate on justice for atrocity crimes. The case dealt with mass killings in Kosovo committed 25 years ago but the topic has relevance for Sudan, Ukraine, Israel/Palestine and other conflicts today. In the dimly...
09 Feb Civil Society Documentation Efforts: Working Together to Identify and Find Solutions
[Brianne McGonigle Leyh is an Associate Professor of Human Rights Law and Global Justice with Utrecht University and a Senior Legal Advisor with PILPG, working on transitional justice and human rights documentation. Milena Sterio is The Charles R. Emrick Jr. – Calfee Halter & Griswold Professor of Law & LLM Programs Director and Managing Director at the PILPG, working on transitional justice and human rights documentation. Gregory P. Noone is a Professor of Political Science and Law at Fairmont State University, a retired U.S. Navy judge advocate, and a Senior...
06 Nov The International Court of Justice and the Rohingya: The Long Road Ahead for Accountability
At the International Conclave on Justice and Accountability for the Rohingya organized by the Centre for Peace and Justice (BRAC University), the Asia Justice Coalition and the International Institute of Social Studies on 18 October 2019, the Minister of Justice for The Gambia announced that he had instructed counsel on 4 October to proceed to file an application at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) based on the Genocide Convention, in respect to the crime of genocide against the Rohingya. This puts state responsibility of Myanmar front and center in...18 Feb A Bigger Transitional Justice Role Recommended for the AU
to place transitional justice issues at the center of a new continental legal architecture, which would include promoting ratification of existing legal instruments such as the African Charter on Human and People’s rights and the new African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. 2) The AU should develop a Transitional Justice Policy Framework and strengthen instruments for justice and reconciliation on the continent. The text provides general background on the ICC’s role in Africa, but of particular note are the recommendations in the Annex that, if implemented, would alter the...
06 Feb Symposium by GQUAL on CEDAW’s GR40: A Catalyst for Gender Equity and Climate Justice
shaping climate policies and actions, a crucial gap that has hindered inclusive and effective response to the climate crisis. Addressing this gap is not merely about fairness, but about creating more effective, inclusive, and impactful responses to the global climate crisis. Gender Disparities in Climate Leadership Over the past two decades, environmental risks have consistently ranked among the greatest long-term global concerns, with state-based armed conflicts and geo-economic confrontations emerging as equally significant threats (Global Risks Report, WEF, 2025). Women are disproportionately affected by both these crises, yet they remain...02 Jan The ICC and Saif: After International Intervention, Avoiding Victor’s Justice
of international criminal justice. But an equally compelling goal is to prevent a post-conflict free fall into vengeance, vendetta, or victor’s justice. Moreover, the ICC Statute is a treaty, and standard rules about interpretation of treaties in international law require that its complementarity principle be read along with other international obligations. So when the Statute refers to whether a state is able or willing to prosecute, that should include all that holding trials imply—that is, able and willing to respect the human rights of the criminal defendant. Even those charged...