park2026:
Criminalizing Ecocide: Will Corporations Change?
Introduction
As climate change accelerates and ecosystems face unprecedented destruction, existing legal frameworks have proven inadequate to prevent or meaningfully deter large-scale environmental harm. Corporations, especially transnational corporations operating across jurisdictions, play a central role in driving deforestation, pollution, biodiversity loss, and greenhouse gas emissions, often...(more)
Wangu Gatonye:
I.
Introduction
“Ecocide” was coined in the 1970s through a proposal by Professor Arthur W. Galston, but has only recently gained popularity in legal circles.1
The proposed definition is: “[U]nlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.”2
The work that the diverse Independent...(more)
Talia Boyadjian:
Why the
IEPs
Draft Definition of Ecocide Cannot Work as a Core Crime
The concept of
ecocide
has circulated long before current efforts to amend the
Rome Statute,
with domestic and international circles debating it as a proposed legal tool to address human-caused extreme environmental destruction.1
Early formulations data back to the Vietnam War in response to large-scale wartime...(more)
Mass Rape issue
Professor MacKinnon, you write that the Trial Chamber's decision on witness proofing "cuts survivors off from the support of lawyers." Without this support and in a foreign environment, you continue...libya issue
I should have been more explicit. I meant that maybe Article 17 should not be the point of reference for when the Security Council refers matters to the ICC. Nothing in the Rome Statute states what...libya issue
One thing I've been thinking about (but haven't researched): Why must Article 17 govern whether the ICC can hear the case, or whether it must defer to the Libyan government? One of the ICC's purposes...prevention issue
Professor Goldstone praises the ICC as the world's best hope for preventing crimes against humanity. But it's just that: A hope. He argues that the key to achieving justice and preventing crimes is...prevention issue
Argument The ICC’s threat of punishment, while disincentivizing prospective criminals from committing crimes, ineffectively disincentives current...oversight issue
I take your point regarding ICJ decisions; maybe many take these non-binding decisions as law. But ultimately, I disagree on construing "recommendations" as obligations. Though some may desire a more...oversight issue
The oversight mechanism allows the Assembly to meddle in the Court's affairs. This is absolutely true. But this meddling poses little danger to the Court's functioning. Like the ICJ's advisory...oversight issue
The IOM Operational Mandate’s proposed oversight mechanism is a constitutional restriction of prosecutorial independence. Introduction...darfur issue
Scott McDonald, I disagree. The Security Council created the ICTY and ICTR. Because of that, there is neither state practice nor opinio juris for the customary law that heads of state generally do...darfur issue
The Peace and Justice Initiative argues that customary international law lifts Head of State immunity in cases of international crimes before international tribunals. I disagree. I do not believe...gaza issue
I find part of Herzberg's argument troubling. She essentially argues that because (1) the Rome Statute must not allow grave crimes to go unpunished and (2) the PNA and Arab League frequently commit...darfur issue
Professor Paust, I disagree. I believe current heads of state like Al Bashir still possess immunity for international crimes before international tribunals under customary international law....darfur issue
I would argue that this conflates the issue: Whether sitting heads of state have immunity for genocide and whether they have immunity for international crimes generally are two separate questions....darfur issue
Professor Gaeta, I would argue that the Security Council’s referral of the Darfur matter to the ICC removed the immunities of incumbent foreign heads of state in the Darfur matter....darfur issue
Professor Schabas, I agree with you that Article VI of the Genocide Convention controls which courts have jurisdiction to adjudicate violations of the Genocide Convention. I also believe that...darfur issue
I agree, in part, with Professor Schabas: I do not believe genocide has occurred in The Sudan. I ground my belief in the fact that the Commission of Inquiry on Darfur “concluded that the...darfur issue
Personal Immunity and President Omar Al Bashir: An Analysis Under Customary International Law and Security Council Resolution 1593 Argument...gaza issue
Alma, I agree that Professor Tomuschat’s impartiality was compromised by his legal work for the PLO; however, absent that legal work, I’m unsure if Tomuschat’s academic work...gaza issue
The recent UN Watch report “Goldstone II: Questions on the Impartiality of the U.N. Tomuschat Committee”argues Professor Tomuschat violated his U.N.-imposed impartiality obligations by...gaza issue
Professor Bassiouni asserts that the PLO withdrew its claim of statehood in the 1993 Oslo Accords. I’m hesitant to agree. Two principles of the Oslo Accords were that (1) Israel would withdraw its...gaza issue
Although I generally agree with Professor Quigley, especially regarding institutions impliedly treating Palestine as a state (e.g., “[t]he U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights mak[ing] services...gaza issue
To me, the UN’s analyzing the obligation of the “de facto Gaza authorities” (i.e., Hamas) and Palestinian Authority to investigate war crimes in the Gaza Strip implies an acknowledgment of...gaza issue
Does anybody think Palestine’s request for ICC jurisdiction over crimes in the Gaza Strip is playing a role in the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talk? My intuition says “yes,...gaza issue
You argued that ICC’s purpose is to ensure that crimes don’t go unpunished, while simultaneously arguing that the ICC wasn’t designed “to pass judgment and determine which side is right and which is...gaza issue
Even though Palestinians may not have satisfied the statehood requirements at the time of its independence proclamation, what if we view fulfilling the statehood requirements as a process, as opposed...gaza issue
Professor Yaël Ronen argues that the main obstacle to establishing a Palestinian state is that “neither the [Palestine Liberation Organization (“PLO”)] nor the [Palestinian National Authority] claims...