Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
19 Feb Justice for the Yazidis in the Ishaq Case by the Stockholm District Court – Part II
...well as national courts, including others that operate under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Such qualitative outcomes are the harvest of seeds which have been planted across the international criminal justice ecosystem and include: the dedication of curious and skilful prosecutors that do not shy away from looking across jurisdiction or collaborating with investigative mechanisms, such as IIIM-Syria and UNITAD (p.35-36). The consideration of the work of the Syria COI, Yazda and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and other European criminal justice authorities successfully facilitated through Eurojust contributed...
03 Oct Symposium on Advisory Opinion AO-32/25 on the Climate Emergency and Human Rights: The Right to a Healthy Environment and State Obligations in Times of Climate Emergency
where regressive measures on environmental and climate issues are proliferating. Furthermore, by linking the fight against poverty and inequality with sustainability (para. 375), the Court places the interdependence between social justice and environmental justice at the center of the debate, a relationship that States often try to separate within their agendas. Thus, the standard set in this ruling requires a rethinking of public policy frameworks from a holistic perspective, in which backsliding on sustainability simultaneously implies a violation of the right to a healthy environment (para. 376). Critical Perspectives on...
21 Apr Is Russia Committing Genocide in Ukraine?
...in a peace settlement that will ultimately save lives requires ceding painful concessions to that villain’s power, especially when the concession is justice. And, yet, we know that true peace is never really achieved without justice. It is possible that meaningful justice is not found in the actual legal judgements of tribunals, anyway, but the many social processes and political institutions that courts create a space for in the aftermaths of atrocities. And, for that matter, any sense of justice that victims and survivors gain from tribunals usually does not have much to do...
15 Sep Transitional Justice Symposium: Reflections on the Transitional Moment
[ Martin Böhmer is a Professor of Law at the University of Palermo.] Jacob and the angel wrestling and tying. The intriguing cover of Teitel’s book sets the tone. An extraordinary moment of struggle between two who are bound together (tied, that is) but who cannot trust each other. In Bo Burt’s reading God wants His people to love and worship Him, Jacob (like his father and grandfather) wants Him to fulfill His promise. The tie produces unescapable dialogue. Transitional Justice (TJ) analyzes such moments, the moments were antagonists find...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...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...
17 Dec The Minnesota Protocol Remains a Valuable Tool in the Global Fight against Impunity
victim representatives who play a key role in monitoring State responses to unlawful killings and in carrying out documentation when States fail to act. A unique feature of these trainings (compared to other trainings justice sector actors may receive on investigations) is that they begin by framing the discussion in international human rights law and standards, including the obligations of States and the rights of victims. Over the past three years, the Global Accountability Initiative and the ICJ’s Latin America regional program has focussed on accountability for serious human rights...13 Apr Guest Post: Is the Alien Tort Statute Headed Back to the Supreme Court?
...the conduct alleged to have occurred in the United States was not relevant. The facts alleged in Cardona certainly seem sufficient to recognize a cause of action under the criteria set forth in Justice Breyer’s concurring opinion. Four Justices joined that opinion, and it takes only four votes to grant cert. If those Justices think the facts in Cardona are sufficiently egregious to persuade Justice Kennedy that an ATS cause of action against U.S. corporations should exist in at least some circumstances, they could well vote to hear the case....26 Apr One “Dissent” in the Taylor Case
At International Criminal Law Bureau, Kirsty Sutherland calls attention to a surprise moment during the Taylor verdict that has received, to the best of my knowledge, absolutely no attention from the media: In an unexpected turn of events, as Justice Lussick (Presiding), Justice Doherty and Justice Sebutinde rose to leave the courtroom after delivering the verdict, Justice Sow addressed the Court: “The only moment where a Judge can express his opinion is during the deliberations or in the courtroom, and, pursuant to the Rules, when there are no serious deliberations,...17 Jul MH17 Downing Suspects to be Prosecuted Before Dutch Domestic Courts – An Obstacle or an Advantage for International Justice?
[Dr. Aaron Matta is an expert in international law with working experience at International Courts. He also recently co-founded The Hague Council on Advancing International Justice , a network for and with practitioners, academics, and policymakers in the area of international justice. I would like to thank Dr. Philip Ambach and Anda Scarlat for their feedback on earlier drafts of this commentary.The views expressed here are of the authors alone] After nearly three years since the downing of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 flight, the countries comprising the Joint Investigation Team...