The Legal Research Society

Over on the Volokh Conspiracy George Mason Law Professor Ilya Somin has a very interesting post on the democratic deficit in international human rights law. Somin argues, in a paper co-authored with John McGinnis of Northwestern, available on SSRN , that most international human rights law is created in an undemocratic environment as a result of undemocratic procedures and undue influence of authoritarian states. As an example Somin and McGinnis refer to international law-making relating to the "crime" of hate speech. From reading the abstract, while awaiting the full paper, it is clear that the authors have some valid points. In particular the example of the hate speech as well as the works of the UN human Rights Council, where the influence of authoritarian states is evident in the Council's attempts to undermine norms of freedom of speech, underline the authors' arguments. At the same time, notwithstanding the relative vagueness of terms like ...

Collective memory is a curious thing. Just weeks after rampant abuses of human rights were screened worldwide from Burma, it seems that the plight of the Burmese people has slipped out of the world's collective conscience. Le Monde reports today on the visit of the UN emissary on human rights to Burma. Perhaps it would be over optimistic to hope that this visit will have any immediate impact or ascertain the facts of the extent of abuse with any degree of certainty. However, it is commendable that the UN is using its good offices to ensure that the world does not forget the human toll of contemporary breaches of international law.

On Thursday 01 November at 5pm, the Society will hold its first roundtable discussion of this academic year in Taylor C28. The chosen topic is Iran and the Right to Nuclear Energy . The discussion will be moderated by Paula Herm and Ahmed Hassanein. Details of the society's programme for the coming weeks and months will follow soon.

At least 200,000 people have died in the Darfur region of Western Sudan, and perhaps another 2.5 million have been displaced. The West has been roundly criticized for failure to act. The question becomes though, how best to intervene in what is essentially a civil war, in which the Chinese and Russians are arming the Sudanese government? There is an interesting debate going on over at Opinio Juris on whether international law promotes or impedes the process to end the bloodshed in Darfur. Julian Ku thinks international law makes a solution to the crisis harder, not easier. As he says: notice how international law acts in ways that make a solution to this crisis harder, not easier, to achieve. An effective outside intervention by Western military powers (e.g. the U.S., U.K., France) is probably illegal (say most international lawyers) unless China and Russia consent via the Security Council or Sudan consents (don't hold your breath). So we instead get a hodgepodge of limited pea...

The UN Security Council yesterday agreed to set up a tribunal to try suspects in the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The decision follows requests from the Lebanese authorities after Hariri, an outspoken citric of Syria, and 22 other people were killed by a truck bomb in February 2005. It is still not clear who was behind the bombing in 2005 but a UN investigation last year indicated that Syria played a strong role in the political unrest leading up to the assassination as well as labeling the investigation into the bombing by the Lebanese security forces as seriously flawed. The bombing sparked mass demonstrations in Beirut which subsequently led to withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. The Security Council voted for the tribunal in a 10 to zero decision with five abstentions (Russia, China, South Africa, Indonesia and Qatar). The tribunal will be set up under chapter VII of the UN charter, which deals with threats to international peace. The decision was cr...

Last week the Wall Street Journal($) ran an interesting article by David Gauthier-Villars on French involvement in Africa via its secretive African Cell. French paratroopers ambushed rebels, but the French people and press weren't told about it until weeks after the fact. Here's the relevant excerpt: On the evening of March 4, 10 French paratroopers reached Birao, Central African Republic, and dropped near an airstrip captured by rebel militia. The paratroopers ambushed the rebels, killing several and reclaiming the airport for the government. In France, neither the public nor parliament was informed of the attack for three weeks. Coordinating the mission was the "Cellule Africaine," a three-person office nestled behind the Elysée, France's presidential palace. This wasn't the first time the office has been involved in the Central African Republic's internal affairs: In 1979, France toppled the former colony's self-proclaimed emperor and reinstalle...

Following last week’s debate on McCain’s proposal for a “League of Democracies”, the UN, and as earlier argued its member states, are doing a good job inviting criticism. This week it was confirmed that Zimbabwe has been elected to chair the UN’s Commission for Sustainable Development. The decision followed a vote granting the go-ahead to Zimbabwe’s chairmanship with the slightest of margins - 26 to 21 (with three abstentions). The chair of the Commission usually rotates between the world’s regions and the decision was supported mainly by the African nations. The decision was swiftly greeted with criticism from both European and US diplomats. Although the decisions to award the chair to Zimbabwe followed all procedures and was perfectly democratic, it raises a number of issues. First and foremost, the blatant human rights violations taking place in Zimbabwe ought to deter any support for Zimbabwe from other member states. This is regardless of the chair being for the Commission for su...