D'Angelo Law Library Blog

The UN Resolution on Libya and International Law

 

The violence in Libya has escalated.  On March 1, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly suspended Libya from the Human Rights Council because of its ongoing violence against anti-government protesters.  On March 17, 2011, the UN adopted Resolution 1973 imposing a "no-fly zone" over Libya and authorizing "all necessary measures" to protect civilians in Libya.  China, Russia, Brazil, India, and Germany abstained.  In the past few days, the U.S., France, and the UK have conducted air strikes aimed at destroying Libyan government defense forces.  Below are links to selected news sources on the international and U.S. legal aspects of these actions:

• Update: Michael Ramsey's guest blog posts at Opinio Juris:  The Constitution and Libya; Declaring War and Libya:  A Comment on Past Practice; Declaring War and the Security Council
• Update: The Debate Over U.S. Libya Intervention (Matthew C. Waxman, Council on Foreign Relations, March 28, 2011)
• Update: Obama's Unconstitutional War (Bruce Ackerman, Foreign Policy, March 24, 2011)
• Update: A New Lease on Life for Humanitarianism:  How Operation Odyssey Dawn Will Revive RtoP (Stewart Patrick, Foreign Affairs, March 24, 2011)("responsibility to protect")
• Update: Why Congress Played No Role in the Libya Intervention (Eric Posner, The Volokh Conspiracy, March 21, 2011)
• Update: War Power:  The President's Campaign Against Libya is Constitutional (Jack Goldsmith, Slate, March 21, 2011)
• Update: The Folly of Protection:  Is Intervention Against Qaddafi's Regime Legal and Legitimate? (Michael W. Doyle, Foreign Affairs, March 20, 2011)
• A Critique of 'Humanitarian' Interventionism in Libya (Valentina Azarov, International Law Observer, March 20, 2011)
• The Libya UNSCR Helps the President's Domestic Constitutional Arguments (Jack Goldsmith, Lawfare, March 18, 2011)
• Libya No-Fly Operation:  What Comes Next? (Peggy McGuinness, Opinio Juris, March 18, 2011)
• Would Libya No-Fly Zone Require Congressional Authorization? (Peter Spiro, Opinio Juris, March 17, 2011)
• Could R2P Justify a No-Fly Zone in the Absence of Security Council Approval? (Natalie Oman, Opinio Juris, March 17, 2011)("responsibility to protect")
• It's Not Up to the President to Impose a No-Fly Zone Over Libya (Bruce Ackerman & Oona A. Hathaway, The Huffington Post, March 9, 2011)
• Intervening in Libya -- Domestic Law Authority (Jack Goldsmith, Lawfare, March 7, 2011)
• Humanitarian Intervention in Libya:  Follow-Up Post (Kenneth Anderson, Opinio Juris, March 7, 2011) 

The Refugee CaseLaw Site

The Refugee Caselaw database contains jurisprudence from 31 jurisdictions.  It includes a "Core Collection" of decisions selected, summarized, and indexed by James C. Hathaway, from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.  Researchers can find cases by browsing by country, doing a keyword/Boolean Quick Search, or using a Guided Search.  This last feature enables field searches for refugee cases by asylum country, court, claimant's country of origin, date, "Hathaway" number, concepts (such as "torture" or "gender persecution"), and case name. The site also includes excerpts from Professor Hathaway's The Law of Refugee Status (1991).

Libya, the UN, and the ICC

The following sources are useful for an international legal perspective on the situation in Libya:

Peace Palace Library

• Update:  Libya and the International Criminal Court (ICC) (March 14, 2011)

The Telegraph

• Libya: African mercenaries 'immune from prosecution for war crimes' (February 28, 2011)

Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC)

• United Nations Security Council Refers Libya to the ICC:  ICC Prosecutor to Decide whether to Investigate Alleged Crimes Against Humanity (February 27, 2011) 

Opinio Juris

• Update:  Could the Prosecutor Decide Not to Investigate the Libyan Situation? (February 28, 2011)
• Can the Security Council Define the Limits of a “Situation”? (February 27, 2011)
• Security Council Refers the Situation in Libya to the ICC (February 27, 2011)
• Libya: Did Citizen Evacuations Stand in the Way of Better Policy? (February 26, 2011)
• The “Libya and Humanitarian Intervention” Meme (February 24, 2011)

IntLawGrrls

• ICC referral: sweet, or bittersweet? (February 27, 2011)
• Libya: Global Condemnations of Human Rights Violations (February 26, 2011)(links to selected international statements and developments)
• Human Rights Council call: Suspend Libya (February 25, 2011)

International Law News 2.0: Blogs

Do "child pirates" have rights?  Would Oregon legislation banning plastic bags raise WTO issues?  Should a lawful permanent resident on the FBI "No Fly List" have the human right to return home to the U.S. from a turbulent Egypt?  You have many Web 2.0 options for monitoring international legal developments for possible substantial paper or comment topic ideas.  You can set up Google Reader feeds for top international law blogs such as Opinio Juris, IntLawGrrls, the International Law Prof Blog, and the International Economic Law and Policy Blog.  The International Law Reporter edited by Jacob Katz Cogan is particularly useful for keeping track of new books, law journal articles, and conferences in the field.  Justia Blawgsearch list about 70 international law blogs and about 20 international trade ones. 

Chicago Celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and His Legacy

"We are tied in a single garment of destiny." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Monday, January 17, 2011, is the 25th anniversary of the first Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday.  The University commemorated Dr. King's work with programs listed in the MLK Week schedule.  Judith Jamison, the Artistic Director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, delivered the keynote speech.  The University designated today as a day of community service to acknowledge the important role of civic engagement in Reverend King's message.  Sunday, the University will host a musical and liturgical celebration of Dr. King's legacy at Rockefeller Chapel.  

The Chicago Sinfonietta is also holding its annual MLK, Jr. tribute concert, A Dream Unfolds (Jan. 15-17).  Other tributes to the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. are taking place elsewhere in Chicago and nationwide.

Martin Luther King, Jr. worked for peace and justice throughout the world.  As he said, "Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere."  He influenced international legal reforms, and popular movements for peace, civil rights, and human rights worldwide.  The following bibliographies list works that focus on Dr. King's continuing legacy.

• The Legal Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:  Selected International Resources (2008).
• The Legal Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:  Selected Resources (2007).
• Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Rights Activists & the Law: Selected D’Angelo Law Library Resources (2007).
• The Legal Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:  Selected Resources (2005).

 

The following list supplements the bibliographies:

响堂山石窟: "Echoes of the Past": The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan (Smart Museum Exhibit)

Discover the remarkable history of the ancient Buddhist cave temples of Xiangtangshan. Through January 16. Free. [via Facebook]

Since the sixth century, Buddhist cave temples in northern China have housed a magnificent array of sculptures of Buddha, his attendants, and many other figures.  In the early 1900s, looters raided the caves and chiseled off heads, hands, and feet from the sculptures.  The severed parts of the sculptures have found their way into various private collections throughout the world.  For the past six years, the University of Chicago's Center for the Art of East Asia has engaged in a research and 3-D digital reconstruction project focused on the caves.  An international team of experts tracked down and photographed the missing parts of the sculptures, and then, using scholarly research and cutting-edge technology, the experts reconstructed the original appearance of the caves.  The Smart Museum has mounted an exhibit, called "Echoes of the Past," where visitors can view a virtual representation of the caves with missing parts of the statues digitally superimposed.  The exhibit is available for viewing, free, through Sunday, January 16, 2011.  On the closing day, the museum will conduct a Curator Tour at 2 p.m.

Season's Greetings! A Christmas Holiday Quiz

 

 

Merry Christmas!   Frohe Weihnachten!

Happy Holidays!  ¡Felices Fiestas!  Bonnes Fêtes!

 

R.I.P. Professor Louis Henkin, Human Rights Scholar (1917-2010)

"...almost all nations observe almost all principles of international law and almost all of their obligations almost all the time..."*

Columbia Law School professor emeritus Louis Henkin passed away on October 14, 2010, at the age of 92.  He was a great scholar and a great speaker.  Though I never formally met him, he was "Lou" Henkin to me and many others. I enjoyed attending his panel sessions at American Society of International Law (ASIL) meetings every year.  He was the epitome of an international law scholar and human rights activist.   

Louis Henkin co-authored one of the leading human rights casebooks.  He also authored Foreign Affairs and the United States Constitution; How Nations Behave:  Law and Foreign Policy; The International Bill of Rights; The Rights of Man Today; The Age of Rights; International Law: Politics and Values; and Right v. Might:  International Law and the Use of Force.  He co-edited (with Albert Rosenthal) Constitutionalism and Rights:  The Influence of the United States Constitution Abroad.  He was chief reporter for the Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law of the United States.   A 1997 Festschrift titled Politics, Values and Functions:  International Law in the 21st Century (Jonathan I. Charney, Donald K. Anton, & Mary Ellen O'Connell eds.) celebrated his influence.

In 1978 he, with others, founded the Lawyers Committee for International Human Rights, which later became Human Rights First.  He also helped establish the Center, now Institute, for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR) at Columbia University that same year.  Several decades later, he co-founded the Human Rights Institute at Columbia Law School.  He taught human rights to generations of lawyers at Columbia Law School.  He also taught a seminar for judges at the Aspen Institute's Justice and Society Program, directed by his wife, Alice Henkin.

Louis Henkin worked as a consultant with the United Nations Legal Department. He played a key role in the negotiations for the 1951 Refugee Convention.  He served as a U.S. member of the Human Rights Committee of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).  He clerked for Justices Learned Hand and Felix Frankfurter.  He served with the Department of State in both the Truman and Eisenhower administrations.  He wrote an amicus brief with other law professors supporting the petitioner in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (548 U.S. 557 (2006)(trying Guantánamo Bay detainees before military commissions).  

I will miss seeing him at ASIL each year.  We in the human rights research community will all miss him.

*Louis Henkin, How Nations Behave:  Law and Foreign Policy 47 (2d ed. 1979)

Here is a selection of notices,  memorials and tributes to Lou Henkin:

• Louis Henkin:  Preeminent Scholar in Constitutional and International Law (Columbia Law School)
• Louis Henkin (1917-2010)(Harold Hongju Koh, Opinio Juris Blog)
• Remembering Lou Henkin, Pt. 1 & Pt. 2 (Donald K. Anton, Australian National University College of Law)(links to many other tributes, including a video honoring Professor Henkin's 50th anniversary at Columbia)
• Louis Henkin, Leader in Field of Human Rights Law, Dies At 92 (William Grimes, New York Times)
• Updated:  Louis Henkin (1917-2010)(International Law Prof blog)

"Lou Henkin, who died today, was my hero. He was one of the few truly great men I have ever met. During his six decades at the State Department, Penn, and Columbia Law School, Lou shaped modern international human rights law. In his years as an international lawyer, there was no important issue on which he did not take a stand. One measure of his influence is that every human on this planet has found some shelter or affirmation in his ideas." - Harold Koh

 

Kluwer Arbitration Made Easy

The CCH Intelliconnect trial and improvements announced in the previous blog post means that it's now easier to access Kluwer Arbitration database content.  Users seeking international commercial arbitration content no longer have to register and login separately to get to KluwerArbitration.com.  One less click!

Now, to access the Kluwer Arbitration database, you go to the Foreign and International section of our D'Angelo Law Library Law Databases page and look for "Kluwer Arbitration".  Click on CCH Intelliconnect (you can also go there directly if you have the URL/link).  If you're accessing off-campus, you enter your CNet ID and password.  Once you're at CCH Intelliconnect, click on the "International Securities & Business" heading listed on the lower left-hand side of the screen , then click on "KluwerArbitration.com", and you're in!  Just three clicks!

Let us know what you think about the Kluwer Arbitration database.  We welcome your feedback, and including what you think about all of our databases generally.

Here is more information on Kluwer Arbitration for those who haven't tried it yet:

Kluwer Arbitration is the most comprehensive database of international commercial arbitration primary and secondary resources.  Other online services such as the ICC Dispute Resolution Library, Juris' Arbitration Law database, Westlaw International Commercial Arbitration, LexisNexis International Arbitration, Transnational Dispute Management, Investment Arbitration Reporter, and Global Arbitration Review do not have as much variety and breadth of content as Kluwer Arbitration. 

Kluwer Arbitration contains international and national arbitration conventions, rules, legislation, and decisions.  It also includes commentary and practice tools, as well as lists of related organizations.  Kluwer Arbitration also has bilateral investment treaties (BITs). 

Under the Books tab in Kluwer Arbitration, you'll find major treatises, looseleaf services, yearbooks, and books compiling guides, arbitration rules, decisions, and arbitral awards (NAFTA, ICSID, ICC, CAS, Cairo, etc.). The Books section also includes works on arbitration in foreign countries and regions such as Austria, China, France, Germany, Switzerland, Latin America, as well as works on special topics such as investment treaty arbitration.  

Selected titles under the "Books" tab in the Kluwer Arbitration database (not in PDF):

• Born, International Commercial Arbitration (2009)
• Redfern and Hunter on International Arbitration (2009)
• Lew and Mistelis,Comparative International Commercial Arbitration (2003)
• Fouchard Gaillard Goldman on International Commercial Arbitration (1999)
• Kronke and Nacimiento, Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards:  A Global Commentary on the New York Convention (2010)

Under "Books" in Kluwer Arbitration are also some titles that are more serial, journal-like in nature or including primary law such as:

• Yearbook Commercial Arbitration (International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), 1976-2009)
• International Handbook on Commercial Arbitration (1984, updated to 2010)
• Austrian Arbitration Yearbook (2007-2010)
• Brower and Coe, NAFTA Chapter Eleven Reports (2006)
• Digest of CAS Awards (Court of Arbitration for Sport, 1986-2003)
• Arbitral Awards of the Cairo Regional Center for International Commercial Arbitration (1997-2000)
• ICCA Congress Series (1982-2009)

Under the "Journals" tab in Kluwer Arbitration are major journals (not in PDF) such as:

• Arbitration International (v.1, 1985-v.26, 2010)
• ASA Bulletin (v.1, 1983-v.28, 2010)
• Asian International Arbitration Journal (v.1, 2005-v.6, 2010)
• Journal of International Arbitration (v.1, 1984-v.27, 2010)
• Revue de l'arbitrage (1986-2008)

For new developments in international commercial arbitration, monitor the Kluwer Arbitration Blog.  The managing editor is Professor Roger Alford at Pepperdine University School of Law and contributors include Gary Born, partner, and chair of the International Arbitration Practice Group at WilmerHale.  Subscribe to the blog feed - it's free!

World Trials Library via HeinOnline

  

 

The World Trials Library via HeinOnline includes transcripts and reports for famous trials such as the Nuremberg war crimes trials,Sacco and Vanzetti, and Leopold and Loeb. 

It also contains the following compilations:

• American State Trials
• Howell's State Trials
• Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals
• Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression
• Trial of German Major War Criminals
• Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal (IMT, Nuremberg)
• Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuernbreg Military Tribunals under Control Council Law No. 10