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Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response

11 Feb

...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...
11.02.21 | |

09 Dec

...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...
09.12.15 | |

18 Feb

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...
18.02.13 | |

24 Nov

...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...
24.11.23 | and |

14 Jun

[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...
14.06.24 | and |

09 Aug

a less precise, more amorphous method of fact-finding than they publicly acknowledge. The book ends with an exploration of various normative questions, including the most foundational: whether the international tribunals’ fact-finding impediments fatally undermine the international criminal justice project. I read the book in draft form and again after it was completed. All I can say is this: it is one of the most important books ever written on international criminal law. Full stop. (That is essentially the blurb for the book that I submitted to CUP, at its request....
09.08.10 | |

15 May

[Laura Dickinson is the Oswald Symister Colclough Research Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School in Washington DC.] This is the first post in our discussion of Professor Dickinson’s book. Links to the related posts can be found below. I want to thank Opinio Juris for offering me the opportunity to post on some of the central ideas contained in my recent book, Outsourcing War and Peace: Preserving Public Values in an Era of Privatized Foreign Affairs. The book starts from the observation that, over the past...
15.05.12 | |

27 Aug

...high as operations in a densely populated built-up area, like an urban center. Response . . . There is not one law for air force another for ground troops. I was discussing a difference in doctrines that result from the use of more accurate weapons, like the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), versus less reliable indirect fire weapons. Response...Do you wish to argue that the USA expected less incidental damage to civilian objects than Israel did in the matter at hand? Yes, of course. The Gaza Strip is one of...
27.08.14 | |

18 May

that the two are mutually exclusive. Apropos of the Northern Uganda situation, at the end of July, 2005 the International Center for Transitional Justice and the Human Rights Center at UC Berkely issued a report, entitled "Forgotten Voices: A Population-Based Survey on Attitudes about Peace and Justice in Northern Uganda." The report is based on detailed interviews, conducted in April and May 2005, with more than 2,500 Ugandans on their personal experiences of the conflict and their opinions on how peace and justice should be achieved. I recommend the report...
18.05.06 | |

18 Sep

Addington is particularly devastating – who’s left to defend him? – and Gonzales comes across as an affable lightweight). Goldsmith tries to suggest the Bush Presidency’s resurrection in the history books, highlighting how presidential reputations rise and fall like stocks on Wall Street. That seems pretty unlikely, based on his own assessment. (The book’s biggest whooper by far: “Future historians may come to view President Bush as we now view Lincoln and Roosevelt.”) The other strand, highlighted by those who have actually read the book and those more sympathetic to...
18.09.07 | |

29 Aug

...right about the distinction, and we need to know exactly what "Owen" writes in the book. Given the quotes above, it seems clear to me that he believed bin Laden was dying, not dead. But I will post again when I get access to the book itself. Robert Hoekstra We will see what other details are available when we have access to the book, but just a note that even if Owen believed bin Laden was alive, a mistake in fact (if he was actually dead) would negate the crime....
29.08.12 | |

07 Mar

...check out Tom Ruys’ magisterial recent book “Armed Attack” and Article 51 of the UN Charter: Evolutions in Customary Law and Practice. Ruys carefully analyzes state practice and opinio juris to determine whether customary international law permits states to engage in preventive self-defense — the use of military force in response to the threat of an armed attack that is not imminent. Here is a long snippet from the book, discussing the international response to the report issued in 2004 by the UN’s “High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Security,”...
07.03.12 | |