Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
02 Jul Justice O’Connor: A Moderate on Internationalism as Well
I have very little to add to the zillions of articles and blog posts about the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and her likely successor. I did want to point out, though, that Justice O’Connor was (not surprisingly) a moderate in the Court’s recent embrace of foreign and international law. Justice O’Connor appears to see some useful analogies to the relationship between state and federal courts. As she writes in an article entitled “Federalism of Free Nations,” As our country moves toward a more international regime of dispute resolution,...
27 Aug Rohingya Symposium: The UN Security Council, the Rohingya Genocide and the Future of International Justice
...take Myanmar to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for breaching the Genocide Convention. The public announcement of this historic case was made by Gambia’s Justice Minister, Abubacarr Tambadou, at an event co-hosted by Bangladesh and the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect on the margins of the UN General Assembly. When the case commenced at the ICJ in December 2019, The Gambia immediately submitted a request for the Court to issue provisional measures in order to protect the Rohingya people and secure evidence of the crimes that had...
24 Jun Options for a Peace Settlement in Ukraine: Options Paper VIII – Sanctions in the Ukraine–Russian War: Proposed Solutions for the Peace Process and War Crimes Prosecutions
...unlikely to be forfeited in conjunction with criminal proceedings and creating a temporary cash flow to provide immediate relief and rebuilding of the most necessary structures. The Role of the ICC in the Peace Settlement Proposal As sanctions are being imposed amidst the commencement of investigations and prosecutions before domestic courts and the ICC, the interplay and cooperation between sanctions, asset recovery, and international criminal justice is crucial to an effective peace settlement and post-conflict justice to ensure funds are available for reparations to victims. Thus, the operation of sanctions...18 Oct Philippine withdrawal from the International Criminal Court: “Much ado about nothing” at the Philippine Supreme Court? (Part II)
...hearings, that indicated anxieties about the prospects of international justice, as well as Asia-Pacific neighbourhood regional dynamics. In the Petitioners hearings, while seemingly at a tangent, the court veered into the realm of realpolitik – asking whether the Philippines would get “justice at the United Nations”, and whether the U.S., China and Russia were parties to the Rome Statute. However, this is not irrelevant as it reflects real anxieties of the “imperialist” nature of the ICC and its impact on sovereignty – echoed increasingly forcefully across multiple jurisdictions in the...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...
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...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...
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...