Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response

...someone of being a murderer. But that isn’t the worst claim in the above paragraph. I find particularly troubling Ní Aolain’s suggestion that an “organized” response to the original petition (ie, two professors wrote a response and asked others who agreed with them to sign it) might make “younger scholars” “feel unable to articulate their discomfort” (ie, publicly accuse a respected scholar of being a murderer) because of potential career repercussions. Does she have any evidence for the idea that the signatories to the counter-petition are going to persecute the...

...in his magisterial book “Armed Attack” and Article 51 of the UN Charter (p. 155): In the end, customary practice suggests that, subject to the necessity and proportionality criteria, even small-scale bombings, artillery, naval or aerial attacks qualify as ‘armed attacks’ activating Article 51 UN Charter, as long as they result in, or are capable of resulting in destruction of property or loss of lives. By contrast, the firing of a single missile into some uninhabited wasteland as a mere display of force, in contravention of Article 2(4) UN Charter,...

The Yale Journal of International Law (YJIL) is pleased to continue its partnership with Opinio Juris in this third online symposium. Today, Friday, and Monday we will feature three Articles published by YJIL in Vol. 34-1, which is available for download here. Thank you very much to Peggy McGuinness and the other Opinio Juris bloggers for hosting and joining in this discussion. Today, Pierre-Hugues Verdier (Boston University School of Law) will discuss his Article, Transnational Regulatory Networks and Their Limits. Verdier’s Article serves as a counterpoint to scholars who are...

...demands, online blogs help widen the scope of scholarship, affording students and scholars the opportunity to present their ideas in real time. On account of their wide reach, blogs provide authors with the confidence that their works will be closely read and elicit attention from peers and other interested parties. As research has shown, these blog articles enjoy more readership than journal articles and book chapters. Constructive feedback could also assist the writer in developing the blog article into a full-length paper where traditional modes of scholarship (articles and books)...

...military and civil uses of technologies.” The second recognizes AI’s dual-use and transboundary nature and seeks to integrate responses across the broader peace and security domains. Most current efforts remain siloed. Following the recommendations of the UNSG High-level Advisory Body on AI, the General Assembly established the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance in August 2025, yet their mandates are explicitly “limited to the non-military domain and do not refer to artificial intelligence for military purposes.” The EU AI Act explicitly states that...

[Heike Krieger is Professor of Public Law and International Law at Freie Universitaet Berlin and Co-Chair of the Berlin Potsdam Research Group on The International Rule of Law – Rise or Decline? This is the fifth post in the Defining the Rule of Law Symposium, based on this article (free access for six months). The first is here, the second, here, the third here, the fourth here and the fifth here. ] The awareness of a crisis of international law is widespread. The multiplicity of challenges which the international order...

...(POCA, Part 5, Ch. 1, sections 241(2A) and 241A). Notably, the definition of ‘gross human rights abuses or violations’ is narrowly defined. It applies exclusively to cases involving torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment inflicted on whistleblowers or human rights activists by public officials or with their instigation, consent, or acquiescence (Criminal Finances Act, s13(3)).  This limited scope reflects the provision’s origin as a response to the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, and hence it is commonly referred to as the ‘Magnitsky Clause’. The provision appears to be...

...as a defense to liability in ICSID arbitration. In his Essay, Professor Yackee suggests a model framework for dealing with this new trend. Responding to his piece will be Jarrod Wong (Pacific-McGeorge School of Law). Andrea K. Bjorklund (UC-Davis School of Law) and Daniel Litwin (McGill University) will also offer a joint response. Although this online symposium focuses on the pieces mentioned above, VJIL would like to bring attention to two additional Articles published in our third Issue. First, in her excellent Article, “Unwilling or Unable: Toward a Normative Framework...

[Dr. John Heieck is a criminal defense lawyer in the US and an independent researcher of genocide and human rights studies.] Before I begin, I would like to thank Opinio Juris and the International Commission of Jurists for hosting this online symposium on my new book A Duty to Prevent Genocide: Due Diligence Obligations among the P5. I would also like to thank the preeminent scholars who agreed to not only read my book but also provide their respective analyses of what is an admittedly controversial position on the possible...

[This post is part of our New Technologies and the Law in War and Peace Symposium .] Technology advances through synergy. Breakthroughs in one area of technology spurs developments in others. Advances in materials science led to the miniaturization of electronic components. Miniaturization led to a revolution in the architecture of computers. From ENIAC to iPhones. The computer revolution led to a revolution in, well, just about every other area of technology. Advances in electronics, robotics, and computerization each affects space tech. And so on, across a complex web of...

[Martin Scheinin is a Professor of International Law and Human Rights at European University Institute and a former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism.] Professor Monica Hakimi’s article ’Making sense of customary international law’ is both rewarding and thought-provoking. It fully merits this Symposium. She makes a convincing case that most if not all mainstream doctrinal writing on the topic has serious flaws. She rightly criticizes what she calls the “rulebook conception” of customary international law and convincingly demonstrates that in everyday practice it does not really work like...

Starting this coming Tuesday, Opinio Juris is pleased to host a joint symposium with the Yale Law Journal on a new article by Oona Hathaway and Scott Shapiro, Outcasting: Enforcement in Domestic and International Law. Here’s the abstract: This Article offers a new way to understand the enforcement of domestic and international law that we call “outcasting.” Unlike the distinctive method that modern states use to enforce their law, outcasting is nonviolent: it does not rely on bureaucratic organizations, such as police or militia, that employ physical force to maintain...