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Archive For Entries On International Humanitarian Law

AFTER THE SPEAKER’S RULING: Open Letter on the House of Commons Process for Examining Documents on Afghan Detainees Produced Pursuant to the House of Commons Order of December 10, 2010

(The Court returns after a week transitioning from our 2009-2010 academic-year editorial team to our summer editors. We thank our readers for their patience during this break. From May 3 through to the end of August, we move to our summer publication schedule of three postings per week [usually Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays] with occasional [...]

Raising the Burden of Proof: The Prosecutor v. Omar Hussein Ahmad Al Bashir

Last Wednesday, hope for justice in Darfur was renewed with the news that the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) opened the door for an arrest warrant on the charge of genocide to be issued against Sudanese President Omar Hussein Ahmad Al Bashir. The Prosecutor hopes to add genocide to the existing arrest [...]

HMT v. Mohammed Jabar Ahmed (UKSC): Limiting Executive Power in the Post-9/11 World

On January 27, 2010, the UK Supreme Court struck down two UK Orders in Council that formed the entirety of the country’s terror financing and asset-freezing law (Her Majesty’s Treasury v. Mohammed Jabar Ahmed and others; Mohammed al-Ghabra; Hani El Sayed Sabaei Youssef ([2010] UKSC 2 & [2010] UKSC 5). The Court held the laws [...]

Bil’in and Yassin v. Green Park International Ltd. : Quebec Court Acknowledges War Crimes as Potential Basis for Civil Liability, Claim Ultimately Fails on Forum Non Conveniens

On September 18, the Superior Court of Quebec released its decision in the novel and intriguing case of Bil’in (Village Council) v. Green Park International Ltd., 2009 QCCS 4151. The plaintiffs sought to claim against a Quebec corporation and its sole director for participating in war crimes allegedly committed in the West Bank. However, Superior [...]