National Security Law Commons^™

A Human Rights Perspective To Global Battlefield Detention: Time To Reconsider Indefinite Detention, Yuval Shany

International Law Studies

This article discusses one principal challenge to detention without trial of suspected international terrorists—the international human rights law (IHRL) norm requiring the introduction of an upper limit on the duration of security detention in order to render it not indefinite in length. Part One of this article describes the “hardline” position on security detention, adopted by the United States in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks (followed, with certain variations, by other countries, including the United Kingdom and the State of Israel), according to which international terrorism suspects can be deprived of their liberty without trial for the …

The Limits Of Inviolability: The Parameters For Protection Of United Nations Facilities During Armed Conflict, Laurie R. Blank

International Law Studies

This article examines the international legal protections for United Nations humanitarian assistance and other civilian facilities during armed conflict, including under general international law, setting forth the immunities of the United Nations, and the law of armed conflict (LOAC), the relevant legal framework during wartime. Recent conflicts highlight three primary issues: (1) collateral damage to UN facilities as a consequence of strikes on military objectives nearby and military operations in the immediate vicinity; (2) the misuse of UN facilities for military purposes; and (3) direct attacks on fighters, weapons or other equipment that cause damage to such facilities. To identify …

Newsroom: Cybersecurity: Obama's Conflicted Legacy 02-17-2017, Peter Margulies

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Security Council Resolution 2178 (2014): An Ineffective Response To The Foreign Terrorist Fighter Phenomenon, Cory Kopitzke

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Thousands of foreign terrorist fighters poured into the Middle East from almost every country across the globe. Radicalized by professionally edited videos and propaganda disseminated through the Internet, people from all walks of life were captivated by the Islamic State's rhetoric, and nations were struggling to figure out how to stop them. One solution came in the form of a United Nations Security Council Resolution- Resolution 2178 (2014). This resolution is directed specifically at foreign terrorist fighters and calls upon all Member States to act with haste to address this new phenomenon. Critics were quick to call into question the …

The New Era Of Doing Business With Iran: Iran’S International Commercial Transactions And Global Security, John Changiz Vafai

Pace International Law Review

On January 17, 2016, in a statement following his signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, President Obama addressed that country’s people, stating that “yours is a great civilization, with a vibrant culture that has so much to contribute to the world – in commerce, and in science and the arts.” While the former U.S. President’s evaluation of the Iranian people’s greatness is indisputable, there are questions concerning doing business with Iran which transcend conventional legal issues and commercial problems.

Given the juxtaposition of Iran’s duopolistic government structure and ideologically oriented decision-making processes, questions arise as …

Rule Of Law In The Age Of The Drone: Requiring Transparency And Disqualifying Clandestine Actors—The Cia And The Joint Special Operations Command, Thomas Michael Mcdonnell

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Since shortly after 9/11, weaponized drones have be-come part of the fabric of United States policy and practice in countering Islamic terrorist organizations and personnel. Although many diplomats, UN officials, and scholars have criticized the widespread use of this weapon system for “targeted killing,” drones are here to stay. But how much investigation and oversight must a democratic country carry out over such a program, and more critically, how can a country do so effectively when the Executive has handed primary responsibility for drone targeted killing attacks to its clandestine forces, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Special Operations …

Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law, January 2017, Daugirdas Kristina, Julian Davis Mortenson

Articles

In this section: • Congress Overrides Obama’s Veto to Pass Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act • U.S. Federal Court of Appeals Upholds United Nations’ Immunity in Case Related to Cholera in Haiti • U.S.-Russian Agreements on Syria Break Down as the Syrian Conflict Continues • Russia Suspends Bilateral Agreement with United States on Disposal of Weapons-Grade Plutonium • The United States Makes Payment to Family of Italian Killed in CIA Air Strike • United States Ratifies Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance

The European Union And The Outer Space Treaty: Will The Twain Ever Meet?, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

In spite of the envisaged Brexit and other crises and problems currently threatening the European Union (EU), that half-way house between a group of cooperating states and a single quasi-federal union of states remains an important player in today’s world, also – at least from a bird’s eye view – in terms of outer space. Its member states Germany and France have the largest space budgets of all European states (discounting the Russian Federation as a European state), and the European flagship projects Galileo and Copernicus, with the European Commission on behalf of the Union in the driver’s seat, are …

Transfer Of Ownership In Orbit: From Fiction To Problem, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

For many years, the concept of transfer of ownership of a satellite in orbit was not something on the radar screen of anyone seriously involved in space law, if indeed it was not considered a concept of an essentially fictional nature. Space law after all developed, as far as the key UN treaties were concerned, in a period when only States—and only very few States at that—were interested in and possessed the capability of conducting space activities, and they did so for largely military/strategic or scientific purposes. The idea of transferring ownership over satellites or other spacecraft involved in such …

Cyber Strategy & Policy: International Law Dimensions, Matthew C. Waxman

Faculty Scholarship

Important international law questions for formulating cyber strategy and policy include whether and when a cyber-attack amounts to an “act of war,” or, more precisely, an “armed attack” triggering a right of self-defense, and how the international legal principle of “sovereignty” could apply to cyber activities. International law in this area is not settled. There is, however, ample room within existing international law to support a strong cyber strategy, including a powerful deterrent. The answers to many international law questions discussed below depend on specific, case-by-case facts, and are likely to be highly contested for a long time to come. …

The U.S. Election Hacks, Cybersecurity, And International Law, David P. Fidler

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Second African National Space Law: The Nigerian Nasrda Act And The Draft Regulations On Licensing And Supervision, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

The number of countries with more or less comprehensive national space legislation addressing in particular the authorization and supervision of private space activities continues to grow, and several more countries are currently in the process of adding themselves to that list. One of the more recent and most interesting ones among them is Nigeria, as the second African country after South Africa and—after Brazil—the second leading spacefaring nation from the developing world, to draft, further to a fairly recently established succinct framework law, a set of regulations addressing precisely those issues.

The paper briefly recaps the underlying international obligations, in …

Kiwis In Space: New Zealand’S “Outer Space And High-Altitude Activities Act”, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

The number of countries with more or less comprehensive national space legislation that addresses in particular the authorization and supervision of private space activities continues to grow, and several more countries are currently in the process of adding themselves to that list. One of the more recent ones among them is New Zealand, which has an extensive “Outer Space and High-Altitude Activities Act” that is to enter into force in December 2017.

The paper briefly recaps the general underlying international obligations, in particular as following from Articles VI, VII, and VIII of the Outer Space Treaty, the Liability Convention, and …

Emigration, Repatriation And The Reality Of Returned Youth In El Salvador, Isabel C. Duarte Vasquez

Master's Theses

According to US Customs and Border Protection, over 59 thousand unaccompanied minors from the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador) have been detained at the US border, of those 59 thousand, 17 thousand are from El Salvador. El Salvador is home to some of the most dangerous and ruthless gangs of the twenty-first century. Their ruthlessness comes from 1980s guerrilla warfare experience. In addition, El Salvador serves as a transshipment point for illicit substances from South America into Mexico. These dynamics fuel the homicide rate of the region as local gang members must protect their territory by any means …

Space Traffic Management Concepts Leveraging Existing Frameworks, Stephen K. Hunter

Space Traffic Management Conference

Leveraging existing U.S. regulatory frameworks, as well as international organizations, will dramatically shorten the time needed to develop an effective Space Traffic Management concept. Both the Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation have been working with the U.S. Congress to define and develop a Space Traffic Management concept that will allow the Office of Commercial Space Launch to begin a new mission that will help to ensure the safety and resilience of the space domain. Outside observers can easily see forward progress toward this, still, undeveloped concept. This paper explores potential final U.S. Space Traffic Management concepts that …

The Conflict In Syria: Should The United States Get More Involved?, Jacob Peoples

Posters-at-the-Capitol

The purpose of this research is to explore the relations between Syria, Russia, and the United States in the Syrian civil war. The relationship has been in turmoil because of the complexities of the situation. Syria has been a designated state sponsor of terrorism since December 29, 1979, five years before the next designated state of Iran. Syria is a very important and strategic country and now more than ever has a large risk of being completely overrun by the newest terrorist group ISIS. The turmoil is possibly stemming initially from the result of a failed 1957 Central Intelligence Agency …

Soldier 2.0: Military Human Enhancement And International Law, Heather A. Harrison Dinniss, Jann K. Kleffner

International Law Studies

Advances in technologies that could endow humans with physical or mental abilities that go beyond the statistically normal level of functioning are occurring at an incredible pace. The use of these human enhancement technologies by the military, for instance in the spheres of biotechnology, cybernetics and prosthetics, raise a number of questions under the international legal frameworks governing military technology, namely the law of armed conflict and human rights law. The article examines these frameworks with a focus on weapons law, the law pertaining to the detention of and by “enhanced individuals,” the human rights of those individuals and their …

Without Unnecessary Delay: Using Army Regulation 190–8 To Curtail Extended Detention At Sea, Meghan Claire Hammond

Northwestern University Law Review

This Note analyzes instances of U.S. detention of suspected terrorists while at sea as an alternative to Guantánamo, and how this at-sea detention fits in the interplay of U.S. statutory law, procedural law, and applicable international law. Of particular interest is the dual use of military and civilian legal regimes to create a procedural-protection-free zone on board U.S. warships during a detainee’s transfer from their place of capture to the U.S. court system. The Note concludes that U.S. Army Regulation 190–8 contains language of which the purpose and intent may be analogized to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure requirements …

War By Legislation: The Constitutionality Of Congressional Regulation Of Detentions In Armed Conflicts, Christopher M. Ford

Northwestern University Law Review

In this essay, Ford considers provisions of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which place restrictions on the disposition of detainees held in Guantánamo Bay. These provisions raise substantial separation of powers issues regarding the ability of Congress to restrict detention operations of the Executive. These restrictions, and similar restrictions found in earlier NDAAs, specifically implicate the Executive's powers in foreign affairs and as Commander in Chief. Ford concludes that, with the exception of a similar provision found in the 2013 NDAA, the restrictions are constitutional.

Icrc, Nato And The U.S. – Direct Participation In Hacktivities – Targeting Private Contractors And Civilians In Cyberspace Under International Humanitarian Law, Ido Kilovaty

Duke Law & Technology Review

Cyber-attacks have become increasingly common and are an integral part of contemporary armed conflicts. With that premise in mind, the question arises of whether or not a civilian carrying out cyber-attacks during an armed conflict becomes a legitimate target under international humanitarian law. This paper aims to explore this question using three different analytical and conceptual frameworks while looking at a variety of cyber-attacks along with their subsequent effects. One of the core principles of the law of armed conflict is distinction, which states that civilians in an armed conflict are granted a set of protections, mainly the protection from …

Espionage As A Sovereign Right Under International Law And Its Limits, Asaf Lubin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The literature surrounding the international legality of peacetime espionage has so far centered around one single question: whether there exist within treaty or customary international law prohibitive rules against the collection of foreign intelligence in times of peace. Lacking such rules, argue the permissivists, espionage functions within a lotus vacuum, one in which States may spy on each other and on each other's nationals with no restrictions, justifying their behavior through the argumentum ad hominem of "tu quoque." . . .

A Survey Of Possible Legal Responses To International Terrorism: Prevention, Punishment, And Cooperative Action, Jordan J. Paust

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Book Review: The Birth Of Nations. By Phillip C. Jessup. New York And London: Columbia University Press, 1974., Sandy Mccormack

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Aviation Law - Insurance - Neither “War Risk” Nor Other Standard Terms Denoting Civil Disturbance Within The Exclusionary Clauses Of All Risks Policies Encompass The Destruction Of An Aircraft By Hijackers, Kathy D. Izell

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

United States Obligations Under Status Of Forces Agreements: A New Method Of Extradition?, William J. Norton

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Book Review: The Soviet Union In World Affairs, A Documented Analysis, 1964-1972. By Professor W. W. Kulski. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1972. Pp. 526. $17.50., Jacob D. Beam

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Charter On Economic Rights And Duties Of States: A Solution To The Development Aid Problem?, Joseph C. Vanzant

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Device Of Fiction In Public International Law, Jean J. A. Salmon

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Japan’S 2015 Security Legislation: Challenges To Its Implementation Under International Law, Hitoshi Nasu

International Law Studies

Japan’s new security legislation, enacted on September 30, 2015 amid fierce debate over its constitutionality, is designed to enable a “seamless response” to any security situation that may arise. While public debate has been fixated on the re-interpretation of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which underpins the theoretical foundation of this new legislation, there are also important international law issues that need to be addressed. After briefly reviewing the historical background leading to the adoption of the new security legislation and its contents, this article examines how the Self-Defense Force (SDF) can respond with the use of force to …

Comment: Blocked Assets And Private Claims: The Initial Barriers To Trade Negotiations Between The United States And China, John J. Fitzpatrick Jr., Toby B. Prodgers

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.