International Law Blog Postings

The Asia Pacific Judicial Reform Forum (APJRF) is looking for authors to contribute to a Judicial Reform Handbook. The goal of the handbook is to provide pragmatic tools and resources in support of effective judicial reform in Asia-Pacific countries. It is intended for use by the judiciary and executive in each member country. The deadline to express interest in writing a chapter is July 31, 2007. Continue Reading

One hundred fifty years ago today, on March 6, 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court held in the Dredd Scott decision that slaves "imported into this country" were not U.S. citizens and thus could not claim the rights and privileges of citizenship, including access to justice through the courts. The decision denied Scott, as well all African-American slaves and their descendants, the legal means to challenge their status as slaves and to request their freedom. The Dredd Scott decision, officially known as Scott v. Stanford, also struck down the Missouri Compromise Act of March 6, 1820, which barred slavery in the former Louisiana Territory. The Supreme Court declared the Act unconstitutional because the federal legislature could not prohibit the right of citizens to their "property" without due process of law. Today, the prohibition of slavery is regarded universally as a preemptory norm of international law, known as jus cogens, and is codified in article 7(1)(c) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an example of a "crime against humanity" intolerable to the international community. Continue Reading

The European Commission is accepting grant proposals under the Jean Monnet Programme for projects furthering the teaching, research, dispersal of information, and debate on the European integration process. Educational institutions, professors, and researchers from anywhere in the world may apply for a grant. Proposals may include conferences, seminars, roundtables, and meetings, as well as the preparation and/or distribution of publications related to those activities. Jean Monnet was the visionary statesman who proposed a "federation" of European states in 1943 because he believed a unified Europe was essential to political, economic, and social development. Continue Reading

The American Society of International Law is accepting applications for the 2007 Arthur C. Helton Fellowship Program. Law students specializing in international human rights and humanitarian affairs can apply for grants up to $1,000 to support fieldwork completed for an NGO or human rights organization. Arthur C. Helton, internationally-renowned for his work in human rights and humanitarian relief for refugees, died in the 2003 bombing of the UN building in Baghdad, Iraq. He was an adjunct professor at Columbia University Law School and the recipient of the 2002 Award for Distinction in International Law and Affairs from the New York State Bar Association. Continue Reading

Looking for a summer internship in international public or private law? The following offices are accepting applications for internships in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. If you have an internship to add to the list, please contact me. Continue Reading

Attorneys and law students from three continents gathered in Washington, D.C. for the film screening of "State of Fear: The Truth About Terrorism," the award-wining human rights documentary about Peru's struggle with terrorism 1980-2000. The film traces the rise of the Maoist Shining Path guerilla movement (Sendero Luminoso) in the 1980s under the leadership of Abimael Guzmán and the ensuing two decades of conflict that resulted in 70,000 deaths and disappearances. A major focus of the film is the period of "fear" under former President Fujimori (1990-2000) after the government arrested the top eight rebel leaders in an apartment in Lima in 1992. The film asserts that the arrests effectively suppressed the violent revolution. Nevertheless, Fujimori persisted to transform delusory internal threats to national security into justifications to disregard democracy and to trample human rights. Riding on a political wave of popularity, Fujimori suspended the constitution, dissolved the parliament, and enacted authoritarian anti-terrorism laws. The film's producer, Paco de Onís, led an engaging discussion on how societies struggle to maintain democracy, defend human rights, and preserve justice in a world engaged in a "global war on terrorism." Continue Reading

Fourteen years after a secret military tribunal sentenced Maoist Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán to life imprisonment in October 1992, a Peruvian civil court on Friday handed down the same life sentence. Guzmán's year-long retrial resulted from a 60-page ruling by the Peruvian Constitutional Court in 2003 that declared secret military tribunals unconstitutional and in violation of international human rights standards. Guzmán's lawyer, Manuel Fajardo, unsuccessfully argued that Guzmán should be granted amnesty or the charges dropped based on due process violations. Fajardo also argued that the charge of terrorism should be lessened to rebellion. Guzmán can appeal the guilty verdict in national courts and, if unsuccessful, to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In 2003, the Peruvian Truth Commission attributed 54 percent of the estimated 70,000 deaths and disappearances between 1980 and 2000 to the Shining Path rebel movement. Continue Reading