Twenty years ago this week, pursuant to a UN Security Council resolution, the United Nations (UN) entered into a bi-lateral treaty with the Republic of Sierra Leone, to create the world’s first hybrid international war crimes tribunal, the Special Court for Sierra Leone. A delegation travelled to the capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown, to hold [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on December 17 in a bipartisan, 2-1 decision upheld OSHA’s vaccine-or-test requirements for the American workplace and lifted a stay previously put in place by the Fifth Circuit. Judge Jane Stranch, an Obama appointee, joined by Judge Julia Gibbons, appointed by George W. Bush, wrote that [...]
Recently, the central government of India agreed to repeal the three farm laws which had led to one of the longest nationwide farmers’ protests. The decision to repeal the farm laws had come when the laws were already facing a challenge in the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. Kisan Mahapanchayat had filed a writ petition before [...]
Abstract: Ideas of Natural Law were crucial in drafting the US Constitution. These seminal ideas were made known to document “framers” largely by way of William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England. The Commentaries represent the truest philosophic origins of America’s legal system. In these dissembling times of recurrent political manipulation, Blackstone’s work warrants [...]
On November 16 the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati was randomly selected by the Multi-district Litigation Panel in Washington, DC to decide whether the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate for American workers, promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), is legal. OSHA’s rules, which are planned to take full effect on [...]
“Nothing is real that is not eternal.” Miguel de Unamuno, Tragic Sense of Life (1921) Though inconspicuous and easily misunderstood, there is no conceivably greater power in world politics than power over death. On its face, this preeminent form of power is problematic (how, after all, can one human being ever offer eternal life to [...]
North Carolina has an important connection to the “state secrets” at the center of an October 6 US Supreme Court argument. In this case, Guantanamo prisoner Abu Zubaydah seeks testimony from two former CIA contractors, James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, on torture he suffered at a secret CIA prison in Poland. The contractors’ evidence would [...]
Abstract: For Israel, core issues surrounding Iran’s still-accelerating nuclear weapons program have been strategic and political, rather than legal. Nonetheless, if Israel should ever decide that it no longer has any reasonable alternative to launching a preemptive attack against certain Iranian military/industrial targets, this defensive first-strike would need to be justified under international law. In [...]
The Rajasthan State Assembly recently passed the Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (“Amendment bill”) which provided for compulsory registration of marriages, including child marriages. This bill faced severe opposition from non-governmental organizations, activists and political parties because it ‘legitimizes’ child marriages and is said to be in contravention of several child protection [...]
Two-time Indian Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu was in the news recently and not just for her Bronze medal run at the Tokyo Olympic, 2020. After the historic win, some companies used her feat to promote their brand by using her name and image. This practice was later frowned upon by her marketing firm. Baseline Ventures, [...]
