Symposia
Divided Loyalties: Professional Standards and Military Duty
Lawfare!: Are America's Enemies Using the Law Against Us as a Weapon of War?
Somebody's Watching Me: Surveillance and Privacy in an Age of National Insecurity
After Guantanamo: The Way Forward
ICC and the Crime of Aggression
Symposia Archives
Symposia Archives
Sacred Violence: Religion and Terrorism
On March 30, 2007, the Case Western Reserve University School of Law sponsored a symposium examining the role that theological justification plays both in motivating individual suicide terrorists and sustaining an organization's use of this tactic by providing it with a deep pool of recruits to draw on. Speakers at the symposium explored and addressed the rise of suicide terrorism world-wide since 9/11, assessed religion's role as a key accelerative in this process, and discussed potential legal and policy responses to such acts. Volume 39, No. 3 (2008), of the Journal was based on articles written by speakers that attended the symposium.
Read the Religion and Terrorism Issue (Vol. 39, No. 3)
View the Webcast of the Symposium. . .
Lessons From the Saddam Trial
Billed by the international media as the "real trial of the century," the televised proceedings in the first case before the Iraqi High Tribunal were punctuated by gripping testimony of atrocities, controversial judicial rulings, assassinations of defense counsel, resignation of judges, scathing outbursts, allegations of mistreatment by the defendants, hunger strikes, and even underwear appearances. Was it a mistake to try Saddam in Baghdad before a panel of Iraqi judges? Was the Iraqi High Tribunal a legitimate judicial institution? Were the proceedings fundamentally fair? Did the judges react properly to the defendant’s attempts to derail the proceedings? Was the media coverage of the trial comprehensive and accurate? And what are the lessons for future war crimes trials? These questions were addressed in a unique day-long symposium, on October 6, 2006, one week before the judges announced their verdict in the Dujail Trial. Volume 39, Nos. 1 & 2 (2007) of the Journal was based on articles written by speakers that attended the symposium.
Read the Lessons From the Saddam Trial Issue (Vol. 39, Nos. 1 & 2)
View the Webcast of the Symposium. . .
Torture and the War on Terror
In the aftermath of 9/11, many Americans across the political spectrum felt that it would be appropriate for the United States to use unconventional methods of obtaining information from suspected terrorists in order to prevent another major attack. But shocking revelations emerging from U.S. detention centers in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan, as well as the disclosure of the practice known as "extraordinary rendition" in which suspected terrorists are sent for interrogation to countries the U.S. Department of State condemns for human rights abuses, has transformed "torture and the war on terror" into one of the most controversial issues of our time. Are such practices moral, legal, effective, and sound policy? If not, what domestic and international fora are most appropriate for challenging them? These questions were addressed in a day-long symposium featuring former government and international organization officials, prominent academics, and leading practitioners in the field, on October 7, 2005, at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Volume 37, Nos. 1 & 2 (2006) of the Journal was based on articles written by speakers that attended the symposium.
Read the Torture and the War on Terror Issue (Vol. 37, Nos. 2 & 3)
