Search
Generic filters

Supported by:

03 July 2025

The Constitution’s Midnight

Resolving some legal issues requires drawing a line through a gray area. Others can be resolved without having to draw a line, in recognition of an old insight: that there is a dawn and a dusk does not mean there is no noon or no midnight. Whether the President had power under the Constitution to attack Iran without congressional approval is an issue that falls in the latter category, within the Constitution’s midnight: wherever a line might be drawn in harder cases, this is not one of them. Continue reading >>
0
28 June 2025

U.S. Attacks on Iran

Israel and the United States attacked Iran in mid-June 2025 with the aim of ending its nuclear program. Iran counter-attacked. While some world leaders justified what Israel and the U.S. were doing, they did so in line with political deterrence theory, not the plain terms of the United Nations Charter. The lawful use of force in self-defense depends on an armed attack occurring. Concerns over nuclear weapons are to be resolved through treaties and negotiations. Honoring deterrence theory over the law is undermining the surest path to peace. Continue reading >>
2
15 June 2025

Mit zweierlei Maß

Unmittelbar nach Beginn der israelischen Militärschläge äußerte sich das Auswärtige Amt zu den Angriffen und deutete unter Bezugnahme auf Verletzungen des Atomwaffensperrvertrags sowie die mit dem iranischen Nuklearprogramm einhergehende Bedrohung an, dass die militärischen Maßnahmen Israels vom Recht auf Selbstverteidigung gedeckt sein könnten. Diese Position ist nicht nur völkerrechtlich unhaltbar, sondern trägt auch zu einer gefährlichen Relativierung des völkerrechtlichen Gewaltverbots bei. Continue reading >>
28

Verfassungsblog is a global forum of scholarly debate at the interface of academy and society. We open up debates in public law – internationally, interdisciplinary and open access.

Go to Top