Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
15 May Trump’s Coronavirus Response: Genocide By Default?
Last week, The Huffington Post published an article with the provocative title, Epidemiologist Slams U.S. Coronavirus Response: ‘Close To Genocide By Default’. The epidemiologist in question was Prof. Dr. Gregg Gonsalves, PhD (Public Health, Yale University), who, according to his online curriculum vitae, is an Assistant Professor in Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health, as well as an Associate (Adjunct) Professor of Law and Research Scholar in Law at Yale Law School, co-director of the Yale Law School/Yale School of Public Health Global Health Justice Partnership, and the Yale...21 Nov LJIL Symposium: A Response to Professor Brad R. Roth on (Empty?) Promises of Self-Determination
politically appropriate international legal response to secessionist demands, can still be challenged on two accounts: conceptual and prescriptive. On the one hand, I wish to take issue with the claim that it is impossible to discern—even if it may undesirable to prescribe—any normative ideals concealed in the idea of self-determination. In his response, Roth claims for instance that “any external effort to resolve the issue through ‘the democratic ideal of the consent of the governed’ would, ironically, have had to impose solutions to the issue’s central elements – including, …...
05 Nov The Power and Responsibility of the EU to Protect the ICC from US Sanctions
...will reveal the actual values of the states who as a matter of law are pledged to combat atrocity and impunity. There have been some responses to the sanctions so far, and it is hard to know what is happening beyond the scenes. A 22 August 2025 letter from civil society lists reasons why the sanctions against ICC Judges and Deputy Prosecutors and previous sanctions are objectionable and collect responses from civil society, States Parties, the EU, and the UN. The European Parliament’s response is of particular note, calling on...07 May Something is Not Always Better Than Nothing: Against a Narrow Threshold Justification for Humanitarian Intervention
...intervention – devoid of Security Council authorization – is legally invalid. However, as a recent post in Just Security demonstrates, though many states share this view, an increasing group now employ justificatory rhetoric in defense of the recent attacks. This rhetoric signals a potential shift. Following the NATO-led intervention in Kosovo, states and scholars vindicated the military response through universal appeals to human rights and justice. This language often remained non-specific. More recently, however, the language assumes precision. It abandons general assessments of an atrocity’s gravity and favors identification of...08 Apr Response to Ed Whelan Regarding Koh Nomination
...Whelan must really be focused only on the specter of so-called “transnationalist” judges overturning the will of democratically elected leaders. But this concern is also without foundation. After all, when interpreting constitutional provisions, not a single sitting U.S. Supreme Court justice has taken the position that international or foreign law constitutes binding authority. As to concerns about customary international law, there are, as Whelan points out, hundreds of pages of academic debate on the precise nuances of how customary international law and federal common law interact, but the key point...
09 Aug Solidarity “A La Carte”: The EU’s Response to Boat Migration
...a ‘crisis’ response by the EU and its Member States. Several commentators, including the present authors, framed the situation as a crisis of solidarity, triggered by particular policies (see e.g. here, here, and here). The Emergency Relocation Mechanism, the EU–Turkey Statement, the reintroduction of internal border controls and the intensification of external border controls, combined with restrictive individual state policies (see e.g. Sweden, Austria), have resulted in downgrading protection and in shifting responsibilities to particular countries in and outside Europe. The crisis was one of solidarity on (at least) three...16 Nov A Short Response to Ilya Somin: Does Self-Defense Mean the U.S. Can Invade and Occupy Syria?
compliance with the then-new UN Charter, and much less about re-allocating war powers under the U.S. Constitution. I should hasten to add that I am in favor of a robust military response to the Paris attacks (actually, I was in favor of a robust response before the Paris attacks too). And unlike Ilya, I think the President has broad powers under the Constitution to use military force without explicit congressional authorization. I just don’t think collective self-defense treaties like Article V are needed to authorize unilateral presidential action against ISIS....09 Apr Response to Transnational Regulatory Networks and Their Limits
...matter further, and the lack of any serious response by the Financial Stability Forum, the putative network of financial regulatory networks, suggests that there are some things networks cannot do. And the primary role played by the G20 – really, a modern day Concert of Europe – in developing and coordinating what international regulatory response we have seen should give anyone pause about the primacy of law or law-like institutions in a world where political actors will continue to play a critical role. But in the end, the problems of...07 Mar Co-Opting Universal Jurisdiction? A Gendered Critique of the Prosecutorial Strategy of the German Federal Public Prosecutor in Response to the Return of Female ISIL Members: Part I
are now increasingly confronted with the return of both female and male German nationals or residents, who had joined ISIL. Efforts to investigate and prosecute former ISIL fighters and members – who are now in Germany – for their involvement in crimes are therefore inevitable. Accordingly, several former male ISIL fighters have been charged and convicted by the German Federal Public Prosecutor (see Human Rights Watch, These are the crimes we are fleeing; TRIAL International, Make way for justice #4; EJIL: Talk!, Justice for Syria? Opportunities and Limitations of Universal...