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A Grotian Moment: Changes In The Legal Theory Of Statehood, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article examines the Grotian Moment theory and its practical application toward the legal theory of statehood. To that effect, this article describes, in Part II, the notion of a Grotian Moment. In Part III, it examines the legal theory of statehood in its traditional form. Part IV describes changes in the legal theory of statehood brought about by the forces of globalization in a Grotian Moment manner. These changes include a new notion of state sovereignty and the accompanying right to intervention, the emergence of human and minority rights that sometimes affect state territorial integrity, the existence of de …

"So Vast An Area Of Legal Irresponsibility"? The Superior Orders Defense And Good Faith Reliance On Advice Of Counsel, Mark W.S. Hobel

National Security Law Program

This Note argues that the modern superior orders defense represents the most relevant and just paradigm for assessing the potential criminal liability of U.S. interrogators who claim that they were authorized and counseled by government lawyers prior to using techniques that likely constituted torture. However, recent U.S. law, most importantly sections of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, constitutes an extension of the superior orders defense as it would apply to interrogators, and may not only fully immunize government officials and agents involved in interrogations, but also disrupt emerging international legal norms surrounding the superior orders defense.

Part I of …

Risk Taking And Force Protection, David Luban

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper addresses two questions about the morality of warfare: (1) how much risk must soldiers take to minimize unintended civilian casualties caused by their own actions (“collateral damage”), and (2) whether it is the same for the enemy's civilians as for one's own.

The questions take on special importance in warfare where one side is able to attack the other side from a safe distance, but at the cost of civilian lives, while safeguarding civilians may require soldiers to take precautions that expose them to greater risk. In a well-known article, Asa Kasher and Amos Yadlin argue that while …

The Threat Of Force As An Action In Self-Defense Under International Law, James A. Green, Francis Grimal

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Self-defense is a universally accepted exception to the prohibition of the use of force in international law, and it has been subjected to careful academic scrutiny. The prohibition of the threat of force, although equally important in terms of its normative status to the prohibition on use, has attracted far less academic commentary to date. This Article examines the relationship between the two prohibitions--of the use and threat of force--and considers the largely unexplored possibility of states utilizing a threat of force as a means of lawful defensive response: self-defense in the form of a threat. The status of this …

Beyond Adjudication: Resolving International Resource Disputes In An Era Of Climate Change, Anna Spain

Publications

This Article examines the role of international adjudication as a mechanism for resolving international disputes and promoting global peace and security in an era of climate change. The central claim is that adjudication has limitations that make it ineffective as a tool for resolving international resource disputes. The Article argues that adjudication is limited due to source and process challenges and it illustrates this claim by reviewing cases adjudicated by the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration and other international courts and tribunals. Four categories of adjudication limitation emerge: a) cases where the parties refused to submit …

Seductive Drones: Learning From A Decade Of Lethal Operations, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Journal Articles

The world’s fleets of unmanned combat vehicles (UCVs) are growing exponentially. This contribution aims to raise awareness that the very existence of UCV technology may well be lowering the inhibitions to kill. At least two sets of data indicate a problem: First, we have evidence from psychological studies that killing at a distance using unmanned launch vehicles may lower the inhibition to kill on the part of operators. Second, we have a decade of evidence of US presidents deploying military force where such force was unlikely to be used prior to the development of UCVs. This evidence indicates that the …

"New Rules For New Wars" International Law And Just War Doctrine For Irregular War, George R. Lucas Jr.

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

"The Crisis In The Implementation Of International Law", Richard Goldstone Hon.

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

An Age Of Extremes: International Law In Crisis: Eight Challenges, David M. Crane

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

The Crisis Of International Law, Joel P. Tractman

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Global Shipping Game '10, Doug Ducharme, Hank Brightman, Wargaming Department

Game Reports

During the period 8-9 December 2010, the United States Naval War College (NWC) in Newport, Rhode Island hosted the Global Shipping Game (GSG). The GSG was developed and executed at the direction of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). The purpose of the GSG was to explore strategic-level implications as a result of future changes in global shipping patterns. The CNO directed the NWC to develop a game that would explore changes in economic and trade patterns within the context of two future scenarios: expansion of the Panama Canal in 2020 and increased access of commercial shipping through the Arctic …

Military Activities In The Eez: A U.S.-China Dialogue On Security And International Law In The Maritime Commons, Peter A. Dutton

CMSI Red Books

On the wall in the entranceway to the personal offices of the Commander, Pacific Fleet, there hangs prominently displayed a life-size portrait of Adm. Chester William Nimitz, the legendary architect of the American naval victory in the Pacific sixty-five years ago. The painting is specially lit, giving the admiral's thoughtful gaze a lifelike glow as if he were present, judging the decisions and actions of his successors in command as these officers find means to preserve regional peace and guard American interests. In the painting's background are the objects of naval war, standing as striking reminders of the heavy price …

The International Criminal Court: Challenges And Prospects, Annual Lecture On Human Rights And Global Justice, Center For International Law And Justice (Cilj), Akua Kuenyehia

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Moral And Legal Basis For Sanctions, Anthony D'Amato

Faculty Working Papers

In order to analyze the moral and legal basis for sanctions in international relations, we have to begin at a stage where there is no centralized government in place. We first need to get a picture of the range of possible sanctions. Next, we need to see what role sanctions play in the international system. Finally, we turn to the intertwined moral and legal considerations that make well-designed sanctions efficacious in today's world. The fundamental objective of sanctions in interstate relations is to make it expensive for a target state to refrain from doing what the sanctioning state wants it …

The Concept Of Special Custom In International Law, Anthony D'Amato

Faculty Working Papers

General customary international law contains rules, norms, and principles that seem applicable to any state and not to a particular state or an exclusive grouping of states. For example, norms relating to the high seas, to airspace and outer space, to diplomatic immunities, to the rules of warfare, and so forth, apply equally to all states having occasion to be concerned with these areas. Similarly, the facts of a given case may suggest exclusively the application of general custom—such as cases concerning collision on the high seas between ships of different countries, cases involving general principles of international law, cases …

The Thickest Grey: Assessing The Status Of The Civilian Response Corps Under The Law Of International Armed Conflict And The U.S. Approach To Targeting Civilians, Dan E. Stigall

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Is Gaza Occupied?: Redefining The Status Of Gaza Under International Law, Elizabeth Samson

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Creating A Working Vocabulary Of Sovereignty: Language At The International Court Of Justice, D. Alison Von Rosenvinge

Comparative Research in Law & Political Economy

“What is sovereignty?” If there are questions international legal and political scholars ought to be able to answer, this is certainly one. State sovereignty is arguably the basis of all political and legal international relations. And, yet, what it means remains elusive. As we discuss whether we are witnessing the demise of the Westphalian system, it is critical to understand state sovereignty today. Despite the resurgence in sovereignty scholarship, there has been little empirical work done that combines political and legal theory. This project addresses that gap in the current literature between political science and international legal research by providing …

Litigating The Arab-Israeli Conflict In U.S. Courts: Critiquing The Lawfare Critique, Wiliam J. Aceves

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Fighting Piracy In Somalia (And Elsewhere): Why More Is Needed, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Article argues that pirates should be treated as terrorists and that piracy-fighting countries should rely on a variety of antiterrorist conventions to justify the capture and prosecution of pirates. Piracy resembles terrorism in many aspects, on both a theoretical and practical level, and reliance on antiterrorist conventions by piracy-fighting countries will provide these countries with greater legal tools to battle pirates within an established international legal framework. To provide a comprehensive outlook on piracy, Part I of this Article describes the history of piracy and its reappearance in the modern world. Part II briefly describes the resurgence of modern-day …

From Kosovo To Catalonia: Separatism And Integration In Europe, Christopher J. Borgen

Faculty Publications

In July 2010 the International Court of Justice rendered its Advisory Opinion on the legality of Kosovo's declaration of independence and the Constitutional Court of Spain rendered an opinion concerning the autonomy of Catalonia. Two very different cases, from very different places, decided by very different courts. Nonetheless, they each provide insights on the issue of separatism in the midst of European integration. Does the Kosovo opinion open the door for other separatist groups? Does the process of European integration increase or undercut separatism? In addressing these questions, this article proceeds in three main parts. Part A briefly recaps the …

Superior Responsibility Of Civilians For International Crimes Committed In Civilian Settings, Yael Ronen

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article examines the notion of superior responsibility of civilians for international crimes committed in civilian settings. The doctrine of superior responsibility grew out of the military doctrine of command responsibility, and its evolution is informed by this origin. Jurisprudence and academic writers emphasize that the doctrine is applicable to civilian superiors of military or paramilitary organizations, but there has never been a detailed analysis of the doctrine's relevance and applicability in civilian settings. The Article argues that the claim that customary international law extends the doctrine of superior responsibility to civilians, let alone in civilian settings, is inaccurate. In …

The Dangers Of Lawfare, Scott Horton

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Whose Lawfare Is It, Anyway?, David Scheffer

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Illustrating Illegitimate Lawfare, Michael A. Newton

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Finding Facts But Missing The Law: The Goldstone Report, Gaza And Lawfare, Laurie R. Blank

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Gaza, Goldstone, And Lawfare, William A. Schabas

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Human Rights And Humanitarian Law - Conflict Or Convergence, Christopher Greenwood Sir

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

The Knight's Code, Not His Lance, Jamie A. Williamson

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Carl Schmitt And The Critique Of Lawfare, David Luban

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.