Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
12 Oct Reflecting with Practitioners: How is Latin America (Still and Again) Paving the Way for the Promotion of Accountability for Sexual Violence in Conflict Before National Courts?
In past decades, Latin American countries witnessed violent conflict and serious human rights abuses at the hands of state and non-state actors. In these contexts, conflict-related sexual violence was widespread, perpetrated in order to advance military goals and as a tactic of repression against political opponents and communities. But as the region has grappled with the past through efforts toward justice and accountability, there have been positive legal developments that warrant attention and should inform policy, judicial, and programmatic responses elsewhere. Taking stock of these developments, four leading experts––Daniela Kravetz,...
21 Jan Farewell to Frank Dutton – Justice Warrior and Truth Seeker.
On 19 January 2022, the legendary investigator and justice warrior Frank Kennan Dutton passed away at the age of 72. I was introduced to Frank by Howard Varney while we were all working on seeking justice for anti-apartheid activist Nokuthula Simelane who was tortured and murdered by apartheid era police. Naturally, Frank’s reputation preceded him and I had heard awe-inspiring things about him but I was immediately struck by his humility, kindness and truly down to earth nature. Frank had a wonderful ability to graciously dispense his wisdom whilst affirming and...
16 Feb On Being Disappointed at Judge Julia Sebutinde’s Dissent
...and of global affairs more broadly is both essentialist and double standard-y. However, feminist hope is (fortunately) stubborn. Just because the panaceas of liberal international justice might fall short, this does not mean we lack inspiration and opportunities for crafting other (more solidarious) ways of doing justice. As explored by others before me, these more solidarious ways can take the form of centring the process of doing international justice on active listening and on valuing the experience of those most affected by structural violence and injustices worldwide (such as people’s...16 May Justice Kennedy: "The (Legal) World is Flat"
the other branches have rejected) to interpret the U.S. Constitution. This is new stuff, and I don’t think (based on his own use of it in Lawrence and Roper) that Justice Kennedy himself has come up with an explanation of why it is so important to cite international treaties when interpreting the Constitution. No justice has offered a particularly impressive defense of this practice (see discussion of Ginsburg here and Breyer here). It’s too bad that the Justice can’t do better than simply telling us that the “world is flat”....27 Mar Justice Stevens Almost Gets It Right
In the beginning of his concurrence in Medellin, Justice Stevens reads Article 94 not to require the Texas state courts to take steps to ensure that the U.S. complys with the ICJ judgment. I disagree with his interpretation of “undertakes to comply,” but he’s almost convinced me that it’s a close question, at least with respect to whether the treaty (plus the Supremacy Clause) imposes an obligation on the state court to entertain a habeas petition that state law would otherwise foreclose. In any event, and more to the point,...
15 Mar Why Creating a Special Tribunal for Aggression Against Ukraine is the Best Available Option: A Reply to Kevin Jon Heller and Other Critics
...current events, especially when compared to the amount currently being spent to arm Ukraine and to put financial pressure on Russia, then something about our priorities is very wrong indeed. The principal criticism of the ad hoc proposal is that it would represent an egregious example of selective justice, which would undermine the international criminal justice project. This argument has several variations: that past crimes of aggression have gone unpunished; that in the future others will remain beyond the reach of the law; that it is unnecessary to establish a...04 Nov Complementarity in Crisis: Uganda, Alternative Justice, and the International Criminal Court
with broad policy discretion to approve or disapprove domestic transitional justice policies without the assistance of meaningful legal standards, then justifying the ICC becomes a more difficult proposition. My Article takes up this problem through a focused analysis of the ICC’s response to the Ugandan peace process. My three principal claims are as follows: first, the Rome Statute does not, in fact, provide meaningful guidance to the Court as it navigates the particular dilemmas of transitional justice in Uganda. Second, the development of ex ante guidelines to cabin prosecutorial discretion-a...
10 Aug Doing Justice to History Symposium: Judicializing History in Jenin? Reflections on the Possibilities of Imagining Palestine Otherwise at the ICC
...suggest here that reading these two episodes in Jenin through Barrie Sander’s book, Doing Justice to History, offers a productive way to think through the historical possibilities of (criminal) judgment on Palestine at the ICC. What role has history played thus far in framing the ICC’s (highly limited and limiting jurisdictional) approach? What type of history could we expect to be written in any future judgment and how might this serve as a way to heal the wrongs of the past? In this short reflection, I consider some key points...26 Jun Justice Breyer Rejects Pragmatic Comparativism in Heller
No surprise, the Supreme Court in the Second Amendment case of D.C. v. Heller refrains from any discussion of contemporary foreign or international laws or practices. The Court, per Justice Scalia, does discuss historical comparativism at some length (pp. 19-22), and Justice Stevens in dissent challenges this historical reading (pp. 27-31). But the really interesting part of Heller regarding comparativism comes from Justice Breyer’s dissent. He examines one amicus brief‘s pragmatic arguments that look to comparative experiences to suggest tighter gun control laws lead to more murders. (See my post...
19 Jul Options for a Peace Settlement for Ukraine: Option Paper XI – Reconciliation
...and perpetuate a conflict-oriented cultural and historical narrative. However, such provisions can be implemented effectively only if the parties are willing to comply in good faith. 3. Justice processes A peace agreement could also provide for transitional justice processes, which are meant to promote reconciliation through pursuit of truth and accountability for the conflict and its harms. Transitional justice institutions can take many forms and serve many purposes, and this paper will not fully address this issue but will examine it only through the lens of reconciliation. This section briefly...