The Ninth Circuit’s reversal of a district court decision ruling that actions by Sea Shepherd against Japanese whaling vessels could not constitute piracy because they did not satisfy the “private ends” requirement is obviously correct. (Institute of Cetacean Research v. Sea Shepard Conservation Society.) The district court’s analysis always struck me as strange and disconnected […]
Author Archive | Eugene Kontorovich
Upcoming Talks in Ohio & Florida
By Eugene Kontorovich on February 17, 2013 10:45 am in Federalist Society, International Law, Israel, Uncategorized
I will be speaking at several law schools and universities in Ohio and Florida the week of March 18th (our spring break). All events are free and open to the public. Always happy to meet readers of the Conspiracy. Additional information at the links. March 18th, Case Western Reserve University Law School (noon), “Piracy and […]
Human Rights Watch Can’t Wait to Accuse Israel
By Eugene Kontorovich on February 14, 2013 3:05 pm in Human Rights Watch, International Law, Israel, Military, National Security, War on Terror
Human Rights Watch has just released a report on Israel’s recent “Pillar of Defense” operation to suppress rocket fire from Gaza. The report concludes that 18 airstrikes violated international law by not being properly targeted. I do not know if 18 is a little or a lot for an operation of this scale, as there […]
Europe OK with Occupation – and With Hezbollah
Despite the recent United Nations Human Rights Council’s report, France and many other European countries are against attempts to revive the peace process, end the occupation and remove settlements. They prefer a “long-term stalemate” (which sounds like Boogie Yaalon’s “long term conflict management plan“). Outside pressure to push peace could backfire and benefit hardliners on […]
Upcoming Talks in Midwest
I am giving several upcoming talks at Midwestern law schools on topics related to Israel and international law, including the legal status of the West Bank, settlements, and the significance of the GA statehood resolution. This Thursday I will be giving a few talks in Des Moines Iowa. Next Thursday, Feb. 14, I will be […]
French Use of Force in Africa
No, not Mali. Rather, the Gulf of Aden. A French fishing trawler sank a Somali pirate mothership during an exchange of fire. Several of the alleged pirates were killed; expect lawsuits about the French use of excessive force. Of course, Somali pirate apologists like to say that they have been driven to crime by massive […]
Hans Kelsen on Occupation of Non-sovereign territory
By Eugene Kontorovich on January 29, 2013 6:09 pm in International Law, Israel, Treaties, Uncategorized, War and Armed Conflict
The Geneva Convention is generally thought to apply to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank – that portion of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine previously occupied by the Jordan. This is important because the legal argument against settlements is that they violate Art. 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, a provision which did […]
Peace Treaties & the War Power
By Eugene Kontorovich on January 27, 2013 5:19 pm in Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Federalism, International Law, Treaties
Ilya’s response to Rick, that the Peace Treaty with Britain’s domestically applicable provisions could have been implemented through the foreign commerce power, seems right to me. But there may be another power that would have justified such legislation. Peace is the flip side of war. Thus Congress’s power to decide on war also presumably includes […]
Fourth Circuit Piracy Ruling Won’t Be Revisited
The Supreme Court has denied certiori in a pair of Fourth Circuit piracy cases, which raised questions about the Define and Punish power and how federal courts determine international law when incorporated into a federal statute. I had previously argued that the decisions below were clearly correct.
Except the Bill of Rights: The Selective-Strong Treaty Position
By Eugene Kontorovich on January 21, 2013 9:19 pm in Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Federalism, Global Governance/World Government, Treaties
Generally, the entire Constitution is seen as having equal weight; there are not tiers of authority (unlike in the constitution’s of many other nations, which make certain provisions suspendable). Thus I have always been puzzled by the dominant view, well-articulated by Prof. Pildes, which manages to account for Missouri v. Holland and Reid v. Covert […]
Pirates on Screen: My First Role
Somali pirates, and the broader contexts of state failure and the maritime economy, are the subject of the new documentary film “Stolen Seas.” It has just had its first U.S. release at Cinema Village in New York. The filmmaker quite adventurously spent significant time with Somali pirates on land and at sea, to good effect. […]
France’s Mali War & International Law
By Eugene Kontorovich on January 18, 2013 4:36 pm in Global Governance/World Government, International Law, National Security, Uncategorized, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
France is fighting a rather serious war in Mali. What does international law say about this go-it-alone incursion into a foreign country? Given the controversy over recent interventions with mixed motives, such as the U.S. war in Iraq, it is worth consider the international legal basis for the assault and its conduct. I. Security Council […]
Treaties, the Law of Nations, and Foreign Commerce
By Eugene Kontorovich on January 13, 2013 3:50 pm in Commerce Clause, Constitutional Law, International Law, Textualism, Treaties, War and Armed Conflict
I’m delighted to see Rick Pildes will be guest-blogging, and the exchange with Nick on the Treaty Power will be a treat. I would invited them to consider an aspect of the question that has long interested me: What is the relationship between the Offenses Power, the Treaty Power, and the Foreign Commerce power? All […]
Social Media
Anyone interested in links to my writings, annoucements of upcoming talks, etc., can follow me on Facebook. (Don’t mind the third-person references there, it is administered by my wife.) And for shorter matters, on Twitter.
The Trillion Dollar Heist
Whatever else one might say about the Trillion Dollar Coin, it would certainly set the stage for the ultimate heist movie. Maybe an “American Buffalo” needs Mamet, but this would write itself. In my version, a disgruntled Treasury worker swallows the coin, then goes on a hunger strike, holding the economy hostage until his demands […]