Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
12 Nov After Medellin: A Proposed ICJ Decisions Implementation Act
[ Steve Charnovitz is an associate professor of law at The George Washington University Law School. He blogs at the International Economic Law and Policy Blog .] On October 31, 2008, I made a presentation at the ASIL’s Tillar House of a proposal for an “International Court of Justice Decisions Implementation Act.” My proposal is an outgrowth of my essay in the Agora of the July 2008 issue of the American Journal of International Law. The Agora focuses on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in “Medellin v. Texas” and includes...06 Dec Justice O’Connor and the Iraq Study Group
I am just now beginning to make my way through the Iraq Study Group report issued today. I wanted to raise one small but interesting issue relating to Justice O’Connor’s service on the study group. We all know various historical examples in which a sitting or former justice served an important political function (John Jay, Robert Jackson, Earl Warren, etc.). But it seems this is one of the few instances in recent memory in which a former Supreme Court justice is part of a team giving political advice to the...24 Mar Protecting Children’s Procedural Rights Through the European Social Charter
...petty offences, or placing the children in closed institutions in such a young age. A system which does not allow for diversion based on restorative justice principles, such as settlement or withdrawal of the proceedings is clearly destined to devastate or at least highly negatively impact children’s lives. To reflect the Article 40 of the CRC and the CRC Committee’s recent General Comment No 24 on children’s rights in the child justice system, the common and ultimate objective for all professionals in the justice system should be to support the...
08 May Soft Power, Misinformation and the Role of the International Court of Justice
...of destruction within the relevant regions. While the exercise of hard power has taken the limelight, it is noteworthy that the ongoing conflicts are not bereft of the involvement and influence of soft power. The present discussion will delve into the significance of soft power and the correlation between such power and misinformation. Upon making several observations to that effect, the discussion will then progress to the role of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in light of soft power and misinformation. The Significance of Soft Power As defined by...
23 May Environmental Justice at the JEP and Indigenous Worldviews: A Mismatch?
regions, home of the Nasa indigenous people. This marked the first time the JEP charged for environmental harms, expressly stating that “transitional justice is also environmental justice”. Right after the press conference, the two main Nasa indigenous organisations of the Cauca (ACIN, CRIC) convened an internal emergency meeting with Nasa indigenous authorities to discuss this decision. During the meeting, Nasa representatives heavily criticized the decision for having discarded their cosmovision and own laws (derecho proprio) and reduced Uma Kiwe, their Mother Earth, to natural resources. For the Nasa people, territory...
20 Apr ICC Sanctions Symposium: Sanctions and Exceptionalism
...the somewhat transactional relationship that the USA enjoys with the rest of the world on matters related to justice for the worst atrocities—it appears to act on such atrocities only when it suits its national interests rather than because it is the morally right thing to do. Since George Washington’s infamous 1796 Farewell Address, American foreign policy has prided itself in its ability to maintain the much-needed delicate balance between self-interest and morality. The latter has always been postured as an anchor for the observance of good faith and justice...
24 Jul Procedural Efficiency and Institutional Strain at the International Court of Justice: A Delicate Balance
[ Fabián Raimondo is an Associate Professor of Public International Law at the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University. He has been a member of the Bar of the City of La Plata (Argentina) since 1990 and on the List of Counsel of the International Criminal Court since 2005. He has acted as counsel and advocate for Sudan in three advisory proceedings before the International Court of Justice. Alexandre Skander Galand is an Assistant Professor of International Law at Maastricht University. He has participated in the International Court of Justice...
17 Apr Strategies for Appealing the Afghanistan Decision
don’t see how the judges could in good conscience arrogate to themselves the final say over whether the OTP can investigate horrific crimes in Afghanistan involving tens of thousands of victims (and perpetrators from the most powerful state in the world). Whether the PTC took the correct approach to the interests of justice is precisely the kind of legal issue that screams out for appellate consideration — particularly in light of the fact that the PTC gave the OTP absolutely no warning that the interests of justice would determine the...15 May Guest Post: The Anders Kompass Case–A Moment of Opportunity for the UN Internal Justice System
...justice system where cases often took years to resolve. In 2009, after decades of effort, the UN comprehensively redesigned its internal justice system, creating the UNDT and the UNAT. For a discussion, see an earlier article by the author here. So, is the redesigned system working? The Kompass case is a prime example that while much more needs to be done, progress has been made. What did the UNDT decide in the Kompass case? Bearing in mind that the merits of the case have not yet been determined, on the...09 Feb Why the Piracy Police Isn’t Working
...is easier than prosecuting them. Britain prefers outsourcing the prosecution to Third World states. Yet if international justice and universal jurisdiction fails here, it will be hard to take it seriously elsewhere. Thus members of the international naval force should themselves bring the offenders they catch to justice. Some of the difficulties can be addressed by shipboard court-martials, or by bringing to Kenya the precedent of the special court created to try Libyan agents in Lockerbie air bombing: Scottish judges held court in a base in Holland designated part of...