Today is International Criminal Justice Day. The Assembly of the States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) adopted this date during the Review Conference of the Rome Statute held in Kampala, Uganda in June 2010. It marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute, the treaty that founded the ICC. The treaty also defines the types of international crimes that individuals can be charged with committing: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the recently defined crime of aggression. The day aims to promote awareness and to generate support for global justice and the fight against impunity. More

On this day in 1994, Jean Kambanda became the Prime Minister of Rwanda. During the 100-day campaign, he incited genocide on the radio by announcing, "Genocide is justified in the fight against the enemy." He became the first head of state to plead guilty to genocide since the adoption of the Genocide Convention and was sentenced to life imprisonment by the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). His sentence was upheld on appeal on October 19, 2000. He currently is in prison in Bamako Central Prison, Mali. In memory of those known and unknown who died . . . More

Last night, U.S. State Department legal adviser Harold Koh outlined, for the first time, the Obama administration's legal justifications under international law for the targeted killings of non-state actors using remotely piloted aircraft, often referred to as "drones." He inserted the topic of drones into his keynote at the American Society of International Law 104th Annual Meeting at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C. The United States has used drones since at least 2001 to kill high-level terrorist operatives abroad, particularly in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen. The Obama administration has significantly increased the number of targeted drone killings, according to various non-governmental organizations and media outlets. In this posting, I look at the specific legal reasoning and standards put forth by Koh, the reactions by international law experts, and a few unanswered questions under international law. More

In judging different moot court competitions during the past two months, I have noticed several competitors did not understand the difference between signatories and parties to a treaty. This posting provides a brief overview of when a treaty is legally binding upon a State and a few examples. More

Consider the following unattributed sage words of wisdom as special "gifts" to your 2010 team from last year's competitors. They asked me not to mention their names, saying that their highest reward will be watching you benefit from their advice. The list was originally circulated in 2009. Still wondering what to say in court, what types of questions judges will ask, what to do if you don't know the answer, or which advocacy strategies will sway the judges? Here, I offer commentary to accompany the Top 21 Reverse Tips for Moot Court Competitions. More