Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response

...from the flexible interpretability of the self-defense doctrine and the customary uncertainty surrounding the precise boundary between lawful self-defense and unlawful reprisals. As has been acknowledged, “on several occasions, force was used in response to past events, rather than current or imminent armed actions, sometimes with considerable delay” (p. vii). The timing and purpose of a forcible response are closely interconnected, aiming to ensure “that the right to use force in self-defence is protective in nature”, rather than punitive (p. 255). Still, it has been argued that “[s]ome level of...

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...

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...

– passionate about the cause of international criminal justice, boundless in his energy, brilliant at all times and never more so than when facing a challenge. As he leaves the Presidency of the Mechanism, I write this post in celebration of his abiding commitment to international law, humanism, and criminal justice. International law has been the common thread across Judge Meron’s professional life. Before he was a judge, he was a professor of international law at NYU for almost twenty-five years, and before that he spent about twenty years as...

...join the following call for action to achieve justice for Palestinians:  Re-Prioritise UN Resolution 194: Building on the ICJ Advisory Opinion affirming the Palestinian right to self-determination, particularly the right of return and reparations, efforts should focus on re-prioritising UN Resolution 194 and the mandate that Palestinians must be allowed to return to their original homes and lands. This resolution, which addresses the right of return and reparations for Palestinian refugees, must be upheld as a central mechanism for achieving justice for Palestinians. Shift to Justice-Centric Frameworks: The international community...

Although ICL partly reflects an idealistic version of how the world should be, it is also constantly under the influence of how the world is: a place in which the demands of politics and justice often come into conflict. For better or worse, ICL’s transformative value and potential is affected by the political will of states. It is submitted that the negative influences of politics on international criminal justice (for example, selective prosecutions and the African critique of the ICC) must be regarded as areas of awareness and concern for...

...be (but are not limited to) any of the following subject areas: Broad international legislative rights-based efforts to combat climate change; The role of international, regional, and/or domestic courts in the fight for climate justice; Comparative anthropogenic/ecocentric approaches to climate justice; Social justice, environmental justice, and/or youth justice movements and their influence upon international environmental decisions; International criminal law and the (potential) crime of ecocide; The scope of the proposed United Nations Global Plastics Treaty and how it may shape future climate justice efforts; Incorporating Third World Approaches to International...

...the perpetrators) are gracious enough to allow justice, and seemingly, only to the extent to which they allow it. Submitting to this understanding under the pretext of pragmatism makes a mockery of the ICC and the legacy of all those who believed in and contributed to its establishment. As Matthew Cannock, Head of Amnesty International’s Centre for International Justice, puts it: “The ICC-OTP’s legitimacy and effectiveness depends on not being seen as an instrument of powerful actors, but rather demonstrating –without fear or favour– that it will pursue accountability in situations where perhaps...

[Ton Nu Thanh Binh is an LLM student at Trinity College Dublin and a recipient of the Ireland Fellows Programme] The opinions expressed in this post are the author’s own and do not reflect the views of any institution the author might be affiliated with. On 28 June 2024, Spain became the sixth country to submit a declaration to intervene in the case between South Africa and Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Previously, seven states intervened in The Gambia v Myanmar, and 32 states intervened in the...

we fight for and what unites us is justice, justice, justice.”  In the early hours of January 8, 2020, Iran carried out missile strikes against US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force. The IRGC expected US retaliation within minutes and therefore added air defense systems to the Tehran vicinity. Despite the immediate risks, Iran kept its airspace open to civilian aircraft. Hours later, an IRGC Air Defense Unit (ADU) stationed near Imam Khomeini Airport (IKA) fired two missiles approximately 30 seconds apart...

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...

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...