Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response

...alleged to have occurred on U.S. soil or in U.S. waters” was quickly rebutted by Justice Breyer, invoking Attorney General Bradford’s 1795 opinion that expressed “no doubt” that a civil suit could be brought under the ATS for violations of the law of nations in Sierra Leone. Meanwhile, Justice Kagan offered a variation of the 1784 Marbois incident, hypothesizing that the French ambassador to Britain was attacked in London by an American citizen who sought refuge in the United States and suggesting that the ATS “contemplated exactly that sort of...

[Michael A. Newton is Professor of the Practice of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School] The Kony 2012 campaign had the laudable goal of increasing public awareness in order to aid the search for justice and accountability in the wake of LRA atrocities. In fact, the worldwide attention had the paradoxical effect of demonstrating the lamentable reality that the optimal pathway towards authentic justice for LRA victims in that setting is neither simple nor self-obvious. This is true for a number of reasons which I shall summarize. Firstly, the complexity of...

...to the CAO’s recommendations, national proceedings would not have been needed. But where justice is denied within the institutional legal order, considerations around the perceived independence of an organisation continue to trump the individual right to access justice generally, and a fair trial specifically. It is most unfortunate that international organisations such as the IFC who purport to deliver ‘lasting solutions for development’ choose to engage in conduct that leads to grave denials of justice to already vulnerable people who ought to be the very beneficiaries of their development activity....

...leadership positions. We share a mutual detestation for injustice, and love and belief in supranational organs and human rights bodies to ensure justice for victims of atrocities. She is a feminist and lawyer and an awe-inspiring role model for African women and girls. Bensouda’s leadership of the ICC is also premised and informed by her position as a woman from a small West African country. This insight is essential to how her commitment to ensuring justice for women can be seen in the strategic direction of the Court in challenging...

...is that the Justices themselves apparently do not think the decision will necessarily cut off ATS claims in such a comprehensive manner. Justice Kennedy writes that the decision “leave[s] open a number of significant questions regarding the reach and interpretation of the Alien Tort Statute”; and even Justices Alito and Thomas acknowledge, with evident regret, that the Court’s opinion “obviously leaves much unanswered” (emphasis added). What is the “much” that the Court does not answer? The “number” of “significant” questions that remain unresolved? If only it were as “obvious[]” as...

[Javier Eskauriatza is an Assistant Professor in criminal law at the University of Nottingham School of Law. He is also the Co-Director of the Criminal Justice Research Centre, and the Convener of the Criminal Law and Criminal Justice stream for the Society of Legal Scholars.] On 24 April 2024, twelve U.S. Senators (Republican Party) sent a letter to Karim Khan, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (‘ICC’), threatening him, other Court officials, and their families, with ‘sanctions’ and other less specific consequences if arrest warrants were to be issued...

...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...

[Aakash Chandran (X: @ChandranAakash is the Legal Advocacy and Communications Manager at Asia Justice Coalition.] The international community is currently navigating a turbulent phase marked by armed conflicts, aggression, and manifest violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. The situation in South, Southeast, and East Asia also continues to present alarming developments, including the escalating situation in Myanmar, exacerbated by the absence of concerted international action. The entrenched impunity in Sri Lanka concerning the civil war has left thousands of victims of atrocity crimes without access to justice,...

In my post on the detention of Melinda Taylor and her team, I mentioned that the “guard” planted by the Libyan government to spy on the OPCD’s official meeting with Saif first intervened when Saif tried to sign a statement describing his attitude toward the Libyan criminal-justice system. I thought readers might be interested in the statement itself: Unsigned statement/sentiments from Mr, Saif Al Islam Gaddafi 7 June 2012, Zintan 1. I want to face justice. 2. I want to do so because I believe that Libya, the victims in...

...Playbook for Reinstating the Rule of Law”: 20–21 June 2024 at the University of Freiburg, Germany. As part of the Excellence Cluster Initiative “Constitution as Practice in Times of Transformation” (ConTrans), the two-day conference sheds light on the transition process back to the rule of law in Poland from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. Further information as well as a livestream can be found here. Nottingham International Criminal Justice Conference : The field of international criminal justice is diverse and constantly evolving. International criminal justice continues to be viewed as...

...girls during most, if not all, armed conflicts and authoritarian regimes throughout history. Despite the increase in international attention to the gender dimension of conflicts, attention to the rights violations affecting women have yet to be integrated into many transitional justice processes in practice. Spain is a clear example of this reality, though not only for gender-based crimes, since there has been a complete lack of implementation by the Spanish authorities of transitional justice measures that conform to international standards of truth, justice and reparation. Moreover, from a human rights...

[Indira Rosenthal is a legal consultant in international human rights law and international criminal law, with specialisms in women’s human rights, gender justice, law reform and access to justice. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Law, University of Tasmania, Australia, researching possible impacts of (mis)understandings of ‘gender’ on accountability for atrocity crimes at the ICC.] As the ICC ‘s third decade and the term of its third Prosecutor, Karim Khan, get underway, forensic examination of its every move continues unabated. This includes its record on investigation...