International Law
531 Articles
We Are All Foreigners: NSA Spying and the Rights of Others
The New York Times reports today that President Obama is expected to ban eavesdropping on the phones of our allies’ presidents and prime ministers. There is no indication,…
IHL, Transparency, and the Heyns’ UN Drones Report
In his critique of Christof Heyns’ new UN report on the right to life in the context of lethal drone strikes, Eric Jensen erects two straw men and then proceeds to knock them…
Scientists from 37 Countries Call for Ban on Autonomous Lethal Targeting
Today, an organization of scientists released a call for a preemptive legal ban on autonomous weapons systems (AWS) – those that can select and engage targets without human intervention. …
The President’s May 23d NDU Speech in Action: The Broader Significance of the al-Liby and Ikrima Operations [UPDATED Oct. 15]
If reported accounts thus far are accurate, the al-Liby and Ikrima capture operations last weekend are important illustrations of several things that the President and his top…
The Al-Libi Case Is a Step Forward, Even if Not (Yet) A Paradigm Shift
Jack Goldsmith on the Lawfare blog has an interesting response to Mary DeRosa and Marty Lederman’s take on the implications of the al-Libi and Ikrima operations. I agree…
Why the US Failure to Support an ICC Referral for Syria does not Protect Israel (or American Interests)
As we watch and wait for the outcome of the destruction and disposal of the chemical weapons in Syria, the issue of accountability for war crimes and/or crimes against humanity…
Reviving Opinio Juris and Law of Armed Conflict Pluralism
It is by now hackneyed routine. A U.S. government attorney or legal policymaker invited to appear at a law of armed conflict (LOAC) conference prefaces her remarks with a pro forma…
Syria and the Law of Humanitarian Intervention (Part III – A Reply)
My recent two-part essay on Syria, posted on this blog, made both a policy claim and a legal claim. My policy claim was that despite undeniable political miscues, President Obama’s…
Maj. Kurt M. Sanger, Letter to the Editor: Response to Harold Koh’s Just Security post of Oct 2, 2013
While considering Harold Koh’s interpretation of the UN Charter and its justifications for the use of force against Syria, try standing in the shoes of foreign ministers in China…
Al-Liby: “Rendition to Justice” under Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
The U.S. government is reportedly holding Abu Anas al-Liby (Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai) on a Navy ship following a military-led apprehension in Tripoli on October 5. The capture…
Al-Liby: Male Captus, Bene Detentus?
Further to Marty’s post today on the question of Libya’s consent vel non to the recent al-Liby operation, we should also call attention to a long-withheld OLC opinion (13 U.S.…
Harold Koh’s Case for Humanitarian Intervention
The week before last, Harold Koh posted a defense of President Obama’s authority to use force in Syria without congressional authorization. Last week Professor Koh turned to…