Prosecution Beyond Borders: The Incorporation of Universal Jurisdiction into Primary International Law

By Alexandra Winter

Universal jurisdiction as it stands now is a poorly understood concept, owing partly to its modernity and the failure of states to distinguish it from prior jurisdictional methods such as extraterritorial jurisdiction. Universal jurisdiction allows any state to bring proceedings against a perpetrator of a certain heinous crime regardless of the […]

The Business Consequences of Arctic Climate Change

By Ryan Campbell

The Inuit of Kivalina, Alaska, have begun to consider their legal options in determining how they are going to relate to other societies and corporations who have been contributing to climate change. This is because the ocean has been swallowing their homes,1 as the increasing strength of the waves erode their […]

Guatemala’s Failure to Ensure Indigenous Women’s Right to be Free from Violence Under the International Covenant on Civil on Political Rights

By Eduardo Jiménez Mayo

The U.N.-brokered Guatemala Peace Accords of 1996, which ended the nation’s prolonged civil war (1960–96)—a period in which more than 100,000 people were killed and approximately 40,000 disappeared1—includes an Agreement on the Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Agreement).[2] Section II-B of the Agreement declares, “It is recognized that […]

That Unwelcome Encounter With a Veil in the Supermarket

Link to PDF full-text

By Kathryn Heffron

It is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practicing religion as they see fit—for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear. We can’t disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretense of liberalism.[1] –      President Obama

French President Nicholas Sarkozy had made it clear that the veil[2] is not welcome in France.[3] In January 2010, a French parliamentary committee proposed a partial ban on the veil in public spaces such as schools, public hospitals, and on public transport.[4] The debate is continuing in France. In March 2010, the French Council of State suggested that a full public ban on the veil violates the French Constitution and possibly the European Convention on Human Rights. However, it added that there could be justification for limitations on the veil in public spaces.[5] The policy to ban the veil is meant to defend France from extremists and comes just five years after France banned headscarves and other “conspicuous religious items” from schools.[6] Concerned with disruption to state secularism, the European Court of Human Rights has thus far upheld State measures to ban religious clothing in school.[7] Given the rising, prevalent discrimination against Muslims in Western nations[8], one can’t help but wonder whether it is the veil or the Muslim women who wear it, that is unwelcome in France. Continue reading That Unwelcome Encounter With a Veil in the Supermarket

From the Archives: the 2005 edition of the ILS Digest

Thanks to the CUNY Law librarians, we unearthed this precursor to the current ILS Digest. Click here to read The International Law and Foreign Affairs Digest (Spring 2005).