News

Diplomatic Assurances, Torture and Extradition: The Case of Othman (Abu Qatada) v. the United Kingdom Conor McCarthy is Visiting Fellow at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. The European Court of Human Rights has handed down its long-awaited judgment in the case of Othman (Abu Qatada) v. the …

New Discussions on UN Human Rights Treaty Monitoring Reform: Using the Momentum while Acknowledging Financial and Political Realities John Morijn, PhD (EUI (Law)) is senior human rights adviser, Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and assistant professor of human rights law, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. Views expressed …

Important Cases Against Russia before the European Court Just before the holidays the European Court of Human Rights rendered two important decisions in cases against the Russian Federation. First, a Chamber declared admissible the second interstate application filed by Georgia against Russia (Georgia v. Russia No. 2, App. No. 38263/08, …

ICJ Press Releases Distinguish the ICJ from other International Tribunals In the past couple of months the ICJ has inserted a paragraph at the end of its press releases which seeks to make clear that the ICJ is different from the other newer international tribunals out there. The paragraph can …

Uganda’s Julia Sebutinde Elected to the International Court of Justice Yesterday the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council elected Julia Sebutinde to be a Judge at the International Court of Justice (see UN press release). Readers may recall from an earlier post that the Security Council and General Assembly …

UNESCO Approves Palestinian Membership Bid – A Case for US Countermeasures Against the Organization? Christiane Ahlborn is Ph.D. Candidate at the Amsterdam Center for International Law and member of the project on Shared Responsibility in International Law (SHARES) On 31 October 2011, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) …

U.S. Cutting Off UNESCO Funding After Palestine Vote PARIS — Palestine became a full member of UNESCO on Monday in a highly divisive breakthrough that will cost the agency a fifth of its budget and that the U.S. and other opponents say could harm renewed Mideast peace efforts. Soon after …

The African Union takes on the ICC Again: Are African States Really Turning from the ICC?In the latest summit meeting of the African Union (AU) held in Malabo, Equitorial Guinea, the AU Assembly of Heads of States and Governments has reiterated its opposition to a number of prosecutions at the International …

Bin Laden Sons Say U.S. Broke International LawThe adult sons of Osama bin Laden have lashed out at President Obama over their father’s death, accusing the United States of violating legal principles.By SCOTT SHANEWASHINGTON — The adult sons of Osama bin Laden have lashed out at President Obama in their …

Was the Killing of Osama bin Laden Lawful?Yes. I wouldn’t say beyond any doubt, but for practical purposes very nearly so. As I’ve argued before, there are three bodies of law (potentially) relevant for assessing the legality of a targeted killing: the jus ad bellum, IHL, and human rights law.As …

The International Law Commission Embarks on the Second Reading of Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International OrganizationsJean d’Aspremont and Christiane Ahlborn  are both at the Amsterdam Centre for International LawOn 26 April 2011 the UN International Law Commission (hereafter ILC) began its second reading of the draft Articles on the Responsibility …

Syria Tries to Defend Its Record to United Nations The nation’s envoy repeated the government’s claim that the unrest was the work of as yet unidentified foreign agitators trying to undermine Syria’s stability. UNITED NATIONS — Syria, facing mounting global pressure over its decisions to move tanks into cities against …