Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
08 Feb Why I Disagree with Marty Lederman About Prosecuting Waterboarders
...for me to tell anybody who relied, justifiably, on a Justice Department opinion that not only may they no longer rely on that Justice Department opinion, but that they will now be subject to criminal investigation for having done so. That would put in question not only that opinion, but also any other opinion from the Justice Department. Essentially, it would tell people: “You rely on a Justice Department opinion as part of a program, then you will be subject to criminal investigation when, as and if the tenure of...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,...07 Mar Alan G. Kaufman Reviews Stephen C. Neff’s ‘Justice in Blue and Gray’
Alan Kaufman, a career national security lawyer and retired Navy JAG, has a fine review-essay of Stephen C. Neff’s Justice in Blue and Gray: A Legal History of the Civil War over at Lawfare. Alan, who is a former student of mine a really long time ago at Harvard Law School as well as an occasional commenter here at OJ, observes in the essay how the law of the Civil War continues to reverberate in the US approach to its conflicts and counterterrorism today. The book is excellent and likewise...
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...
09 May Why Does the United States Continue to Oppose International Courts?
pursuit of criminal responsibility and accountability. This is particularly instrumental in conflict-torn societies, whose rebuilding and stabilization efforts rest on political reconciliation through an apolitical execution of justice. These lofty ambitions vested in the ICC are the natural extension of the liberal notion of justice, which the United States’ own eminently rich constitutional tradition has historically upheld. Yet, the ICC’s limited jurisdiction presents an enormous challenge to international justice and is typically delimited by: (i) States accession to treaties; (ii) the UN Security Council’s political alignments, configurations, and the power...27 Jun An African Backlash Against International Criminal Justice?
example, is facing prosecution through the African Union, a move which has had enthusiastic support from African human-rights advocates. Obviously, these are very difficult issues. My co-author Jide Nzelibe and I have discussed the costs of international criminal justice in Africa at length here in this forthcoming article in the Washington University Law Review, but we both would agree that there are no easy answers here. Hopefully, what is emerging in Africa should remind supporters of international criminal justice that there are downsides as well as upsides to these processes....
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...18 Jun Guest Post: Exploring Legal Rationales for South Africa’s Failure to Arrest al-Bashir
arena would be to succumb to self-subversion, or worse, to surrender to the blackmail of perfection. It is better to bring some human rights abusers to justice than none at all: the best should not be the enemy of the good." The problem, of course, is that the belief that international criminal justice can make incremental headway in terms of reducing its selectivity is based on an article of faith, a faith which the history of international criminal justice to date would suggest is misplaced. Nonetheless, I imagine most would...