Thursday, January 30, 2014

Tales of English justice

"[I]n 1746 the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas gave judgment for £1000 damages in favour of a Lieutenant Frye against the president of a court martial which had wronged him, and then encouraged Frye to sue the other members. When they protested through the Lords of the Admiralty to the King, the Chief Justice had the whole lot of them arrested for contempt and released them, when they apologised, with the warning: ‘Whosoever set themselves up in opposition to the law or think themselves above the law will find themselves mistaken.’"

Above it all

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Wir sind die Nacht 我们是夜晚

From a 'language learning' site:




"Wenn du wüsstest , dass

如果你知道

es auf dieser Welt nur einen einzigen Menschen gibt ,

在这个世界上只存在唯一一个

Der dich glücklich macht , 

能让你幸福的人

Der für dich bestimmt ist , 

为你注定的人

Was würdest du opfern , um ihn zu finden? 


为了找到他你会舍弃什么

Wie viele Jahrhunderte würdest du nach ihm suchen?

你是否会用几百年去寻找他

Und wenn du ihn dann gefunden hättest ,

然后当你找到他之后

würdest du ihn je wieder gehen lassen?

你会让他再次离开你吗


Würdest du ihn nicht auch mit


你是不是也会

beiden Armen so fest umklammern , wie du nur kannst , 

紧紧地把他拥在怀里

und ihn nie , nie , nie wieder loslassen? "

绝对绝对绝不会再放手

Dumpfe Träume





Kalte
Kalte
Nächte
Nächte
Lass deine Augen leuchten...
Dumpfe
Dumpfe
Träume
Träume
Und meine Seele fordert...

Kalte
Kalte
Nächte
Nächte
Lass deine Augen leuchten...
Dumpfe
Dumpfe
Träume
Träume
Und meine Seele fordert...

Schneller
Schneller
Atmen
Atmen
Unsere Körper beben...
Leises
Leises
Zittern
Zittern
Und meine Seele lodert...

Süsse Bisse
Kaltes Schaudern...
Und meine Seele lodert...
Kalte
Kalte
Nächte
Nächte
Lass deine Augen leuchten...
Dumpfe
Dumpfe
Träume
Träume
Und meine Seele fordert...

Friday, January 24, 2014

Who judges the judges?

‘His Majesty’s Judges are satisfied with the almost universal admiration in which they are held.’

‘Her Majesty’s judges have a greater understanding of human nature than any other body of men in the world.’ 

Above it all

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Configuration of international justice

From Sedley, Stephen. Ashes and Sparks: Essays on Law and Justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. 15-16. 

In speaking of a 'consensus [that] is eroding the old impunities afforded by statehood and state office':

"If this epoch-making jurisdiction is not simply to degenerate into the twenty-first century's version of victor's justice, into a regime in which the war criminals of the lesser nations get their deserts while nationals of the greatest power are shielded from all process except that which their own state elects to deploy against them, the long arm of international law has to be able to reach everyone against whom there is a triable case, and the mailed fist has to be there to punish those who are found guilty by due process. A system which replicates the very insolence of office from which human rights abuses spring cannot properly call itself a system of justice. One law for the powerful and another for the weak is no law at all."

It is unclear...
"whether internationals criminal jurisdiction is instead to slide back into its ambivalent twentieth century role as a secondary and localised manifestation of military and political power."