UN Day 2008 – Celebrating Treaty Actions

Sixty-three years ago on October 24, 1945, the UN Charter entered into force and became legally binding upon 29 countries. The preamble to the UN Charter envisioned the establishment of an international organization “to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be […]

Quotas for Electing Women: Path to Empowerment or Peril? Part 1

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) released a report last month titled, “Progress of the World’s Women 2008/2009: Who Answers to Women? Gender and Accountability.” The report, in part, examined how countries have implemented their obligations under the Millennium Development Goals to increase the number of women in public office. The good news […]

Quotas for Electing Women: Path to Empowerment or Peril? Part 2

Part II continues the discussion on whether legally mandated quotas should be used as affirmative mechanisms to increase women’s political representation in national legislatures. The discussion explores the advantages of legally mandated quotas systems used in 46 countries, the perils of quotas, and whether quota systems could be considered discriminatory under international human rights law.

Georgetown Law Graduation 2008

Oyez, oyez, oyez . . . Over the course of the past three years, learned professors at Georgetown University Law Center have continued the time-honored tradition of prying answers to practical problems, theoretical issues, and increasingly bizarre scenarios from the scrappy crew of students — including me — seated far beneath them in lecture halls. […]

Criminal Justice Degrees Guide – Top 100 Law Blogs

I want to thank the Criminal Justice Degrees Guide for recognizing InsideJustice.com as one of the Top 100 law and lawyer blogs. On CriminalJusticeDegreesGuide.com, you can search for legal and paralegal educational programs in the United States. The guide allows you to narrow your search to online or on campus programs, to view the results […]

The Four Gaps: Challenges to UN Peacekeeping Operations

SÃ¸ren Jessen-Petersen, the former Head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK 2004-2006), spoke in Washington, D.C. this summer on challenges faced by UN missions. Currently, the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) oversees 18 peacekeeping missions, employs more than 110,000 troops, and manages a budget of $7.2 billion, up from $2.7 billion in 2001, […]

63rd Session of the UN General Assembly – Democratization, Legal Reforms, and International Courts

In his opening remarks before the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, incoming President Miguel Dâ€™Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua called for democratization of the United Nations, reform of the 15-member Security Council, and adoption of an ambitious 160-item agenda. All but eleven of the items have been discussed previously. High on his list […]

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: 1st Anniversary

In two significant developments since the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on September 13, 2007, two of the four states opposed to its adoption have taken significant political action in recognition of indigenous communities and in support of the Declaration. In Australia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued an […]

Executing MedellÃn: The International Confrontation of Fair Legal Treatment of Foreign Nationals Abroad

According to Texas authorities, Mexican national JosÃ© Ernesto MedellÃn Rojas has exhausted all available legal remedies and will be executed by lethal injection after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 for his role in two murders fifteen years ago. His planned execution brazenly defies the July 16, 2008 order by the International Court of […]

Suspending The Constitution for Terrorists

Should alleged terrorists be given a fair trial and a reasonable opportunity to confront witnesses and challenge evidence against them? If so, should they be compensated with reduced sentences if the government violates international law in their prosecution and detainment? Attorney Andrew Cohen reported today for CBS News that the U.S. Supreme Court conferred Friday […]