Digital Commons Network^™

Reinterpreting Article 9 Of Japanese Constitutional Law From The International Law Perspective, Hiroshi Saito

Japanese Society and Culture

This essay aims to demonstrate that the right of collective self-defense complements that of individual self-defense. Moreover, by exercising both rights of self-defense together, the ideals of the United Nations (UN) Charter and Japanese constitutional law can be implemented as stipulated.

However, this essay focuses on ensuring better consistency with the present time (synchronicity) rather than historical facts (historicity). Additionally, I have cited cases wherein the ideas and theories presented are controversial in academic circles. I cannot discuss them individually in this essay owing to space limitations, but I will consider them in a future opportunity. Finally, I would like …

U'Wa Indigenous People Vs. Columbia: Potential Applications Of The Escazu Agreement, Ariana Lippi

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

Though the case is ongoing, and results are still to be seen, it in many ways sets a precedent for indigenous communities in Latin America seeking redress for environmental and cultural injustices. With Colombia’s recent ratification of The Escazú Regional Agreement (the Agreement herein) in 2022, this case presents a unique opportunity for implementation of the Agreement and greater accountability within existing domestic legislation.

Comment On Otp Environmental Crimes Policy, Frank Rosenblatt, Shruti Bedi, Philip D. Cave, Giovanni Chiarini, Anne Dienelt

Journal Articles

This letter transmits the views of the National Institute of Military Justice (NIMJ) regarding the ICC Office of the Prosecutor’s Environmental Crimes Policy.

International Animal Law, Frances Arricale, Daina Bray, Paula Cardoso, Matthew Collis, Giuliana D'Esopo, Erica Lyman, Jill Mariani, Omar Andrew Nimri, Megan O'Toole, Rajesh K. Reddy, Joan Schaffner, Fawn Schanz, Susan Schwartz, Malcolm Seheult

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

Export Controls And Economic Sanctions, John Boscariol, Patrick Briscoe, Jamie Brown, Sylvia Costelloe, Abigail Cotterill, Geoffrey Goodale, Timothy O'Toole, Jason Prince, Christopher Stagg, Lawrence Ward

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

Aggressor Status And Its Impact On International Criminal Law Case Selection, Nancy Amoury Combs

Pace International Law Review

The laws of war apply equally to all parties to a conflict; thus, a party that violates international law by launching a war is granted the same international humanitarian law rights as a party that is required to defend against the illegal war. This doctrine—known as the equal application doctrine—has been sharply critiqued, particularly by philosophers, who claim the doctrine to be morally indefensible. Lawyers and legal academics, by contrast, defend the equal application doctrine because they reasonably fear that applying different rules to different warring parties will sharply reduce states’ willingness to comply with the international humanitarian law system …

The Urgency In Legal Protection Of The Internment In Non-International Armed Conflict Between The Ethiopian Government And The Tigray People’S Liberation Front, Ika Ningtyas, Maheswari Trinanda Putri, Yasniar Rachmawati, Fransiska A. Susanto, Patricia Audrey Ruslijanto

Indonesian Journal of International Law

The issue of a legal vacuum in international humanitarian law related to administrative internment in non-international armed conflicts has been a concern addressed in Article 3 of the Geneva Convention and Articles 5-6 of Additional Protocol II. Due to this deficiency, many countries establish their domestic laws. One such example is the non-international armed conflict between the Ethiopian government and a non-state armed group, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. The issue in this case began with the government's emergency statement for a six-month period, granting broad authority to arrest individuals based on “impossible judgment” and cooperation with a “terrorist group” …

Artificial Intelligence, Cyberspace And International Law, Tripti Bhushan

Indonesian Journal of International Law

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a significant technology that has transformed different sectors, including cyberspace. As AI continues to advance, it poses complex challenges to the existing international legal frameworks that govern cyberspace. This research paper examines the relationship between AI, cyberspace, and international law. It explores the impact of AI on the development of cyberspace and its potential consequences for international law. It also examines the existing international legal frameworks that regulate cyberspace and the challenges posed by the development of AI. This paper investigates the legal implications of AI and cyberspace on international law, specifically in the context …

Ukraine, Urban Warfare, And Obstacles To Humanitarian Access: A Predicament Of Public International Law, Harriet Norcross Eppel

BYU Law Review

Humanitarian assistance is not carried out in a vacuum. As urban warfare historically complicates humanitarian aid’s access to civilians in war zones, Ukraine, having suffered and still facing highly publicized violence in civilian-dense areas, has encountered dire obstacles in acquiring necessary resources for civilians’ survival, including both direct and incidental attacks on humanitarian access. Thus, it is vital the international legal community take measures to mitigate current and future dangers of urban warfare, as well as design new solutions, such as strengthening current international law under which obstructing humanitarian access constitutes a violation of jus cogens principles, attempting to induce …

Digital Terror Crimes, Cody Corliss

Law Faculty Scholarship

Terror actors operating within armed conflict have weaponized social media by using these platforms to threaten and spread images of brutality in order to taunt, terrify, and intimidate civilians. These acts or threats of violence are terror, a prohibited war crime in which acts or threats of violence are made with the primary purpose of spreading terror among the civilian population. The weaponization of terror content through social media is a digital terror crime.

This article is the first to argue that the war crime of terror applies to digital terror crimes perpetrated through social media platforms. It situates digital …

Seizure Of Russian Corporate Assets: Prosecution Of Russian Corporations For War Crimes In Ukraine As A Precursor To Seizure Of Frozen Corporate Assets In Foreign Jurisdictions, Milena Sterio, Federica D’Alessandra, Michael J. Kelly, Lydia Korostelova, Dmytro Koval

Law Faculty Reports and Comments

This White Paper proposes a criminal litigation pathway within a broader rule of law context for legally securing those assets, which Ukraine can then utilize to begin the rebuilding process without having to wait through more years of depredation and harsh winters. Doing so through a legal process such as that outlined in this White Paper is going to be key to Ukraine’s future as a democracy, as a candidate to join the European Union, as a candidate to join NATO, and as a rule of law society that is trusted and safe enough to attract substantial foreign direct investment.

Navigating The Battlefield Of Hunger During Armed Conflicts: Obligations, Obstacles And Solutions, Ying Chen, Tarisa Yasin

American University International Law Review

Despite sufficient global food supplies, food insecurity remains a persistent problem in many countries. In recent years, conflict has emerged as one of the key drivers of acute food insecurity, affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The situation has worsened since 2022, as the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war are felt worldwide. This Article investigates food security challenges arising from armed conflicts and proposes potential solutions to tackle these challenges. It first examines the right to food as enshrined in both international and national laws. These legal frameworks set out the rules that govern the responsibilities of States and …

Under The Golden Arch: Permanent Neutrality And Authoritarian International Law In Turkmenistan, Madison Wall

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Forty-Seven Years’ War: Identifying The Cold War As An Armed Conflict As A Matter Of International Law, Peter S. Konchak

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ecocide In War And Peace, From The Air Pollution Consequences Of The War In Ukraine To Japan's Disposal Of Fukushima Water Into The Ocean, Giovanni Chiarini

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

This Article will propose and analyze potentially prosecutable cases of alleged global ecocide and propose targeted amendments to Articles 36(3) and (5) of the ICC Rome Statute. These proposed amendments may serve as a blueprint to procedurally ensure environmental expertise at the international judicial level. Ecocide is unfortunately not currently recognized under the Rome Statute. However, certain scholars have suggested defining it as a fifth international crime. This analysis identifies environmental crises, international criminal law expectations and examines the environmental pollution caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Japanese government’s decision to dispose of radioactive treated water from …

What’S The Game Plan? An Analysis Of How Antitrust And Sanction Laws Currently Apply And Should Apply To The International Sports Investment Boom, Eric Geringer

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Defeat Fascism, Transform Democracy: Mapping Academic Resources, Reframing The Fundamentals, And Organizing For Collective Actions, Francisco Valdes

Seattle University Law Review

The information we gathered during 2021–2023 shows that critical faculty and other academic resources are present throughout most of U.S. legal academia. Counting only full-time faculty, our limited research identified 778 contacts in 200 schools equating to nearly four contacts on average per school. But no organized critical “core” had coalesced within legal academia or, more broadly, throughout higher education expressly dedicated to defending and advancing critical knowledge and its production up to now. And yet, as the 2021–2022 formation of the Critical (Legal) Collective (“CLC”) outlined below demonstrates, many academics sense or acknowledge the need for greater cohesion among …

Policing The Strait: How China’S Policing Of The Taiwan Strait Violates The U.N. Convention On The Law Of The Sea, Elizabeth C. Parker

American University International Law Review

As tensions continue to grow across the Taiwan Strait, China is using domestic maritime law to justify an expansion of police power in the international waters of the Taiwan Strait in violation of international law. This Comment will argue that the People’s Republic of China has violated the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”) by implementing non-resource-related police power in waters meant only for resource exploration and management. In comparing the language of China’s domestic maritime law with that of UNCLOS, this Comment will show that the People’s Republic of China has used domestic law to reinterpret …

Charting Extraterritoriality: Jurisdiction, Corporate Conduct, And Environmental Harm, Kalika Mehta

National Law School of India Review

Chimni’s TWAIL critique of the principle of jurisdiction, the subject of this symposium, implicates its development with the evolution of capitalism. Against this backdrop, this paper uniquely focuses on international criminal law and the selective application of principle of extraterritorial jurisdiction, particularly its exclusion of corporate entities from prosecution for large-scale violence. Through an analysis that engages with Chimni’s critique, the paper illustrates how these extraterritorial prosecutions align with the mainstream liberal theory of jurisdiction, while also exposing gaps in corporate accountability. Further, the paper contributes to ongoing legal reform debates by exploring the proposed international crime of ecocide, a …

The Marijuana Insurgency: Federalism And Social Reframing In Policy Reform, Matthew P. Cavedon

Seattle University Law Review

After fifty years of federal prohibition, marijuana reform efforts have won political and legal success. These victories hold lessons for anyone seeking to resist federal law without being able to directly affect it.

Victory can come from reframing an issue. For marijuana reform, social reframing—not formal legal analysis or material factors—provides the best explanation for how advocates achieved change. Their unconventional political tactics, akin to those used by insurgents in wartime, undercut federal prohibition by winning hearts and minds.

This is an analysis of the sociology of legal change. It is also the story of how ordinary Americans retook personal …

Ukraine, Moral Outrage, And International Law, Heidi Gilchrist

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between International Criminal Tribunals And National Militaries, Frank Rosenblatt

Journal Articles

This article studies the possibilities and perils of international criminal tribunals collaborating with national military forces to support the investigation and prosecution of international crimes. It does so through a case study of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2002, where a multinational military peacekeeping coalition called Stabilisation Force (SFOR) headquartered in Sarajevo supported the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. Through that case study, the article extracts larger lessons potentially applicable to other post-conflict scenarios involving both military forces and international courts. Some ways that militaries and tribunals can work together are familiar, such as …

Climatizing National Security, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

Is climate change a national security issue? Human security? Ecological security? This Article addresses the growing nexus between climate change and various conceptions of security with a particular emphasis on climate change's national security impacts. This Article argues that there is a growing connection between national security and climate change and a corresponding need to address the normative implications of "climatizing national security." This connection can be observed through three lenses: mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions from military and national security sources); adaptation (investing in climate resilient infrastructure in an effort to prepare for climate impacts), and response (addressing climate-exacerbated …

Environmental War, Climate Security, And The Russia-Ukraine Crisis, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

This Article addresses the Russia-Ukraine conflict’s broad implications for energy security, climate security, and environment protections during wartime. I assert that in the short-term the Russian-Ukraine war is poised to hinder much-needed international climate progress. It will stymie international decarbonization efforts and cause greater uncertainty in other climate-destabilized parts of the world, such as the Arctic. While Russia has become a pariah in the eyes of the United States and other Western nations, it has forged new partnerships and capitalized on new, lucrative energy markets outside the West and Global South. But in the long term, the global renewable energy …

Racial Capitalism, Climate Change, And Ecocide, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Faculty Publications & Other Works

Lawyers, scholars, and activists have long sought to incorporate ecocide into the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to address corporate and governmental impunity for massive and severe ecological damage, including the harms caused by climate change. This Article uses the framework of racial capitalism to examine and critique the proposed criminalization of ecocide. Coined by South African scholars and activists and refined by political theorist Cedric Robinson, the theory of racial capitalism offers valuable insights on the root causes of the climate crisis and the manifold injustices it inflicts on marginalized states and peoples. While most discussions of …

Updating Senator Borah: A Nuclear Kellogg-Briand Pact, David A. Koplow

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In recognizing the legacy of Senator William E. Borah, the author shares his remarks from the Borah Symposium at the University of Idaho, about the Senator's personality and character, his contribution and later characterization to international law and national security, specifically the 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact, and finally, a proposal to a modern reincarnation to the Kellogg-Briand Pact and the newer threats of this era.

The Battle Between Open Markets And National Security: How Limiting Investments Into Foreign Technology Might Be Hurting National Security Goals, Alexandra Van Cleef

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Counterterrorism Uses Of Force: The Laws Of War And Jus Ad Vim, Salomon, Paolo

Santa Clara Journal of International Law

Al Qaeda’s terror attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, introduced heretofore unseen issues under International Humanitarian Law. After Al-Qaeda’s attacks, the Bush administration began its Global War on Terror by invading Afghanistan in order to find those responsible for the attacks on September 11, 20001. This invasion caused Al-Qaeda to flee into Pakistan’s Tribal Areas in order to evade American forces. The Bush administration began employing drone strikes in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas to degrade Al-Qaeda’s ability to conduct operations against the United States. The Obama administration continued and expanded the use of drone strikes. Amid the use …

“With Intent To Destroy, In Whole Or In Part”: Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, And A Lost History, Alexander K.A. Greenawalt

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Drawing upon original research into the travaux préparatoires of the 1948 Genocide Convention, this Article advances several claims that complicate the standard account according to which genocide must entail a purpose to physically destroy at least a substantial part of a protected group. The core of the Article closely explores the words “intent,” “destroy,” and “in part,” showing how international authorities have settled on a received and largely uninterrogated wisdom regarding the meaning of these terms, one which is supported neither by the drafting history of the Genocide Convention, nor even by the actual results of the judicial decisions that …

Blinded By The Light: Resolving The Conflict Between Satellite Megaconstellations And Astronomy, David A. Koplow

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The sudden emergence of large constellations of small satellites in low altitude orbits represents one of the most dramatic contemporary innovations in outer space. Promising low-cost, low-latency global communications and spectacular capacities for remote sensing of the Earth, these satellites will soon number in the tens of thousands, sponsored by diverse corporations and countries around the world. But this proliferation of spacecraft comes at a steep cost in unavoidable interference with ground-based astronomy: as the satellites overfly the observatories, they block the views of remote objects and phenomena, leaving obliterating white streaks on the collected imagery, and obscuring access to …