Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
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...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...
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...
26 Jul Article 63 Intervention Before the International Court of Justice: New Developments and the Way Forward
[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...18 Jan Judge, Professor, Diplomat: Theodor Meron as a Leading Figure in International Criminal Justice
– 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...
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,...
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...
24 Nov We are Witnessing a Genocide Unfolding in Gaza: To Stop it, the ICC Prosecutor Must Apply the Law Without Fear or Favour
...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...
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...
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...