International Criminal Justice Day – July 17
Today is International Criminal Justice Day. The Assembly of the States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) adopted this date during the Review Conference of the Rome Statute held in Kampala, Uganda in June 2010. It marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute, the treaty that founded the ICC. The treaty […]
Read More →Death Row and International Law
The Obama administration, UN officials, and foreign leaders are asking Texas Governor Rick Perry and/or the U.S. Supreme Court to stay today’s execution of a Mexican citizen on death row in Texas for a crime he committed in 1994. At issue is not his guilt or innocence, the legality of the death penalty, or whether […]
Read More →Rwanda Prime Minister Kambanda First Head of State to Plead Guilty to Genocide
On this day in 1994, Jean Kambanda became the Prime Minister of Rwanda. During the 100-day campaign, he incited genocide on the radio by announcing, “Genocide is justified in the fight against the enemy.” He became the first head of state to plead guilty to genocide since the adoption of the Genocide Convention and was […]
Read More →U.S. Nuclear Posture Review Calls for Bolstering International Law and Institutions
The Obama Administration yesterday released its Nuclear Posture Review Report (NPR), which establishes “U.S. nuclear policy, strategy, capabilities, and force posture for the next five years to ten years.” The 2010 NPR becomes the third official high-level review and the first one to be entirely declassified. The NPR’s key objectives emphasize prevention, no new nuclear […]
Read More →Bassiouni “Quite Doubtful” International Criminal Court Will Succeed — The Failures, Challenges, and Future of International Criminal Law
After dedicating much of his career to the establishment of the International Criminal Court, M. Cherif Bassiouni — often called the “father” of international criminal law — startled an audience at an international law conference in Washington, D.C. on Thursday when he called some international criminal tribunals shams and declared others to be mired in […]
Read More →ASIL Keynote Highlight: U.S. Legal Adviser Harold Koh Asserts Drone Warfare Is Lawful Self-Defense Under International Law
Last night, U.S. State Department legal adviser Harold Koh outlined, for the first time, the Obama administration’s legal justifications under international law for the targeted killings of non-state actors using remotely piloted aircraft, often referred to as “drones.” He inserted the topic of drones into his keynote at the American Society of International Law 104th […]
Read More →14th Annual International Environmental Moot Court Competition
The 14th Annual International Environmental Moot Court Competition concluded yesterday with the Law Society of Ireland, Cork as Applicant facing the University of Maryland School of Law as Respondent. This year’s simulated case before the International Court of Justice focused on “Beaked Whales and Marine Seismic Surveys.” Student attorneys made arguments under the Espoo Convention, […]
Read More →California Supreme Court Hears Death Penalty Appeals Based on International Law
Two weeks ago, the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a death penalty appeal. The defendant’s legal arguments included, in part, that the death sentence must be vacated because the death penalty violates international law and that international law is binding on the California state court. Specifically, the defendant contends that the California death […]
Read More →FTC Workshop: Panel on Emerging Business Models for Online Journalism and Intellectual Property Rights
Nearly five years after the Grokster case transformed the freewheeling world of free online music sharing into the fee-based business model of iTunes, newspapers are arguing for similar legal enforcement of their intellectual property rights online. The enemy is no longer peer-to-peer (P2P) software. Rather, the new alleged enemy is “news aggregators,” such as Google […]
Read More →FTC Workshop on Journalism and the Internet: How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age?
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is hosting a two-day “Workshop on Journalism and the Internet” in Washington, D.C. The workshop serves as a forum for industry leaders, consumer advocates, academics, and lawyers to advise the FTC on possible changes to copyright law, antitrust law, and tax policy. The FTC convened the workshop in response […]
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