Despite all the pieces of national legislation that have been introduced in recent years the heart of the issue is that most PMSC exist to operate somewhere outside the country they are headquartered in. That makes then an international, not a national legal issue.
Official Washington has been rife with condemnation at the decision by the governments of Russia and China to veto an otherwise unanimous UN Security ...
Writer Enoh Meyomesse landed in Yaounde, Cameroon after a trip to Singapore on November 22. As he deplaned, the national police detained him, searched his belongings, and accused him of stealing gold as part of a sophisticated coup d'état against President Paul Biya.
Are American politicians out of sync with the public when it comes to foreign policy? There is considerable reason to believe so.
There are certain crimes -- be they war crimes or crimes against humanity -- that are illegal, no matter what your position in society or in which nation you reside.
The U.S. government can't credibly insist that the Afghans improve their justice system and treatment of detainees if the U.S. military doesn't first get its own detention house in order.
It's easy to say that dictators, tyrants or terrorists are guilty and deserve to be shot. It is important to remember, however, that we no longer live in an age where we can summarily execute those who are responsible for the gravest of atrocities.
This article is in collaboration with The Dylan Ratigan Show's "Mad As Hell" series. WASHINGTON -- A multinational oil company will be coming to th...
As most countries are just beginning to tackle data regulation online, an uncertain future remains for users on the World Wide Web.
As if we didn't have enough wars already, a battle is now reportedly taking place within the Obama administration over whether the U.S. government has the legal authority to kill low-level suspected terrorist supporters where the U.S. now has troops on the ground.
There are no easy solutions to the detention dilemmas of international forces in a country where torture by the host government is widespread.
The Gaza flotilla is not about delivering "goods" to transform Israel's siege into a kinder, gentler blockade. Rather, it is to deliver this question: By what right does Israel besiege Gaza? And this answer: None, under international law.
In just a few days, the state of Texas is scheduled to execute a Mexican citizen. His name is Humberto Leal Garcia. Mr. Leal is a Mexican nat...
There will always be Democrats who will sell out to corporate interests and compromise. However, when it comes to such blatant affronts to international legal norms as those exemplified by Netanyahu's speech, it is time to draw the line.
In the famous ticking time bomb hypothetical, it is moral to torture one person in order to save the lives of thousands, that the right to life trumps the right to physical integrity and security. This is a false construct.
Are Abu Ghraib torture victims entitled to compensation? Not one victim of official cruelty in U.S. custody has had access to an enforceable, effective remedy because the government has argued that allowing these claims to be heard would endanger national security.
"Any person who leads a terrorist organization like al Qaeda is obviously a target," Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón said. "Under the rule of law, justice should be sought by legal means.
If bin Laden had been captured and tried in a fair and transparent process, the facts of the case could have been discussed, a historical record created, more information may have emerged and individuals who lost loved ones could have testified.
Because modern piracy is largely an economic crime, and because states appear unable to stop it with any of the political, legal, or military tools, economic actors -- shipping companies -- should be given greater leeway to respond effectively.
The United States, the United Kingdom, and France should stay within the bounds of the two explicit missions of protecting civilians and enforcing the no-fly zone in Libya.
Obama's insistence that resolving the conflict over Israel's illegal settlements should be restricted to bilateral negotiations assumes symmetry in power and legality in the two sides that doesn't, in fact, exist.
Curbing organized violence involves thorny issues that will not be resolved overnight. For the U.S., it means tackling drug treatment and prevention, and halting the flow of guns and cash.
In the 1870s Christopher Columbus Langdell, Dean of Harvard Law School, introduced a major innovation in legal education: the case method. Nearly a century and a half later, another innovation is afoot.
Ducking a charge of torture is not as easy as ducking a shoe thrown at a press conference. Accordingly, the CCR has publicly released the Preliminary Bush Torture Indictment.
Why would Duvalier, a Haitian living in France, care about a law change in Switzerland? Money -- that's why.
