Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
25 Jul Missiles and Messages: Characterizing the Use of Force between Iran and Israel
...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...
07 Apr The Growing Imperative to Recognize and Codify Gender Apartheid: Demonstrating the Need and Responding to Critics (Part II)
[ Azadah Raz Mohammad is a legal advisor for the End Gender Apartheid Campaign and a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. She is the co-author of the Handbook on Universal Jurisdiction: Holding the Taliban Accountable for International Crimes. Akila Radhakrishnan is an independent human rights lawyer and gender justice expert. She is a legal advisor for the End Gender Apartheid Campaign.] Part I of this post discussed why the term ‘gender apartheid’. Challenges and Critiques Over the last two years, even as support has grown, as with all efforts, critiques...02 Mar Fighting for Freedoms: Supreme Court In 21st Century (Part 1)
A lecture by ICJ Commissioner Justice Ajit Prakash Shah at LC Jain Memorial Lakshmi Chand Jain would have been a young man when Mahatma Gandhi passed away in 1948, but he embodied the spirit of Gandhian values in the best possible way. Indeed, he has been described as “an impassioned crusader of what Gandhi called the second freedom struggle for a just and equitable India”. Mr. Jain’s autobiography, titled Civil Disobedience is a fascinating book, especially, and very revelatory. In that, he makes extensive observations on the Emergency years. Recall...
11 Feb Myanmar Coup d’état – Implications for International Justice
...human rights and sliding back on any of the gains that may have been made in the ‘transition’ to democracy thus far. The focus of this post however is to assess the implications in relation to the international justice processes that have been set in motion in the last two years, relating to the atrocities committed against the Rohingya. There are two ongoing legal proceedings before international courts – the International Criminal Court (ICC) situation in Bangladesh/Myanmar, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in relation to the application of...
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...
01 Feb Reproductive Violence in Palestine: The Need for a Feminist Approach to Justice
of sterilisation than the rest of the population. This dehumanisation and ‘other’-ing of oppressed women’s bodies in disparate situations and across history highlights that reproductive justice will always lack under the framework of occupation, colonisation and genocide. Unless Palestine is liberated, there is no possibility for reproductive justice. Ultimately, as international lawyers it is incumbent on us to ensure our analyses understand and unpack the gendered impact of the Israeli occupation and apartheid across occupied Palestine, and the most recent military assault on Gaza, to reveal the full panoply of...
20 Aug A Victory for Media Freedom and another Blow Dealt to Criminal Defamation and Sedition Laws by the East African Court of Justice
Tetevi Davi is future pupil barrister at 25 Bedford Row in London and a Nicolas Bratza, Tancred and Hardwicke Scholar of Lincoln’s Inn. He writes regularly on international human rights law, international criminal law and transitional justice, primarily with a focus on Africa. He is a rapporteur for Oxford International Organizations where his research focuses on African treaties. Introduction On 28 March 2019, The First Instance Division of the East African Court of Justice (‘the Court’) delivered its judgment in the case of Media Council of Tanzania and Others vs...06 Jul Case of the Month: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
...of Congress, nor Congress upon the proper authority of the President… . Congress cannot direct the conduct of campaigns, nor can the President, or any commander under him, without the sanction of Congress, institute tribunals for the trial and punishment of offences, either of soldiers or civilians, unless in cases of a controlling necessity, which justifies what it compels, or at least insures acts of indemnity from the justice of the legislature.” 4 Wall., at 139-140. Whether Chief Justice Chase was correct in suggesting that the President may constitutionally convene...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...
01 Sep The Strongman’s Clause: Article 23(5), the Rules-Based International Order, and the Ukraine Tribunal’s Troubling Precedent
[Kate McInnes is a Vancouver-based criminal defence lawyer and the Principal at Arendt Chambers, Canada’s first and only law firm practicing exclusively in international human rights law and international justice] The creation of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (STCAU), a court embedded within the Council for Europe framework, marks a historic effort in securing accountability for the most devastating conflict in Europe since World War II. It is a necessary step toward rectifying the fractured international order and delivering justice to victims of an illegal...