Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
20 Sep The 2024 Amendments to the International Health Regulations: A Commentary (Part II: Selected Substantive Amendments)
...that the 2005 definition of a PHEIC in Article 1(1) IHR as an ‘extraordinary event’ in one state which is determined to ‘(i) constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease’ and ‘(ii) to potentially require a coordinated international response’ has long been plagued by vagueness – are exacerbated by the amendments. No clear ‘severe’ or ‘life-threatening’ disease benchmarks have been included through the amendments in Article 1 IHR or the decision instrument in Annex 2 to be applied in accordance with the principles...17 Jan A Response to Ohlin about IHL and IHRL
The following is a guest-post by Gabor Rona, the International Legal Director of Human Rights First. It is a response to a post at LieberCode by Jens Ohlin, a Professor at Cornell Law School, that argues international human rights law (IHRL) does not apply in armed conflict, because it is displaced by international humanitarian law (IHL). Prof. Ohlin’s conclusion that IHRL doesn’t (and shouldn’t) apply in armed conflict cannot survive a more than superficial look at the lay of the legal and practical landscape. Essentially, his horse left the barn...22 Feb Events and Announcements: 22 February 2026
...for Justice, Law and Society at University of East London, together with Legal Action Worldwide, present: International law symposium on Transnational Networks and Accountability. The symposium will take place at University of East London -University Square Stratford (USS), on Wednesday 4 March 2026 from 11:00am -13:30pm GMT. Often, lawyers view Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in terms of their specific contribution to the dimensions of global justice, i.e., as advocates or partners in the field. Examining the legitimacy of global justice institution is incomplete unless we look at the broader context of...
14 May How did the Israeli Supreme Court Legitimise Starvation as a Weapon of War? An Autopsy of a Ruling (Part 1)
...On March 27, 2025, over a year after it had been submitted and over three weeks after Israel imposed a complete blockade on the Gaza Strip, three Supreme Court justices unanimously rejected the petition. Chief Justice Yitzhak Amit, who is associated with the Court’s liberal camp, authored the leading opinion, and deputy Chief Justice Noam Solberg and Justice David Mintz, both associated with the conservative camp, concurred and added a few observations. An autopsy of the ruling lays bare how the Court deployed three major strategies to legitimise Israel’s deprivation...
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 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”....
21 Jul Duterte’s Arrest, the ICC, and the Politics of Accountability
...moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice What This Means for International Justice Duterte’s arrest represents a rare victory for the ICC, but it also highlights the fragility of international justice. The court relies on a delicate balance of legal authority and political will. The system worked in this case, but it did so not because of the ICC’s inherent strength but because the Philippine government saw an advantage in cooperating. At the same time, the prolonged delay, and effective failure, in prosecuting Duterte within the Philippine judiciary...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,...
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...