Professor Milena Sterio conducted an online expert training for a cohort of Ukrainian prosecutors on prosecuting environmental crimes, as ecocide or as war crimes. The training was organized by the International Bar Association, and it took place on March 27th. Professor Sterio focused on the definition of the war crime of destruction against the environment under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as on the development of the crime of ecocide under national law as well as international criminal law. Professor Sterio has already conducted similar trainings in person with different cohorts of Ukrainian prosecutors.
Professor Sterio Moderates Debate on Operation Epic Fury
Professor Milena Sterio moderated a debate on the legality of Operation Epic Fury (Iran) on March 26. The debate was organized by the Federalist Society at Ohio Northern University Law School, and it featured Professor Dan Maurer (Ohio Northern) and Professor Robert Turner (University of Virginia Law School).
Professor Sterio Participates in Radio Show on President Trump’s Board of Peace
Professor Sterio participated in another episode of the “Talking Foreign Policy” radio show, a quarterly show broadcast on Ideastream (Cleveland-area NPR affiliate radio station) on the topic of “Assessing Trump’s Board of Peace in the wake of US-Iran war.” The episode was broadcast live on March 24, and it is available for on-demand listening here.
In addition to Professor Sterio, other experts on this show included Professor Michael Scharf as host (CWRU School of Law), Harold Hongju Koh (Yale Law School), Leila Sadat (Washington University School of Law), and Jessica Peake (UCLA School of Law). The experts discussed President Trump’s creation of the Board of Peace, the Board’s mandate, and its legitimacy in light of the existing United Nations-based international legal order.
Professor Sterio Participates in United Nations Event
Professor Milena Sterio participated as an expert and moderator in a United Nations event on March 10, titled “Women’s Equal Right to Participate in the Judiciary and Women’s Access to Justice: More Women, More Access.” This event was organized as a side event to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women conference at UN headquarters in New York City.
The event focused on the need for equal and inclusive participation of women in the international judiciary, including at the International Court of Justice. The panelists included Ambassador Jennifer Feller, Director General for Human Rights and Democracy, Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Catherine Amirfar, Partner & Co-Chair, International Dispute Resolution and Public International Law Groups, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP; Ms. Akila Radhakrishnan, Legal Advisor, End Gender Apartheid Campaign; Professor Jelena Pia-Comella, Independent Expert, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) ; Amanda Chong, Counsellor (Legal), Permanent Mission of Singapore to the United Nations; Ms. Amie Lewis, Senior Program Officer and Lead, Women in Leadership in Law (WILIL) Initiative, International Association of Women Judges; Claudia M. Flores, Chair of the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls; and Lucía Solano, Legal Adviser to the Permanent Mission of Colombia.
The event was organized by the Gender Parity at the ICJ project, co-sponsored by the American Branch of the International Law Association, the Women in International Law Interest Group at the American Society of International Law, as well the Permanent Missions of Canada, Mexico, Sweden, and Singapore.
Professor Sterio Provides Expert Review for Kriminologie
Professor Milena Sterio provided an expert review for Kriminologie, a peer reviewed online journal in the field of criminology based in Germany. Professor Sterio’s expert review focused on an article about the role of war crimes prosecutions in the transitional justice process of Kosovo.
Professor Sterio Interviewed on Air Talk Radio Show
Professor Milena Sterio was interviewed live on the Air Talk radio program (Los Angeles NPR Station) on March 2, on the legality of the U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran under international law. The program, including Prof. Sterio’s interview, is available here.
Professor Luisetto Publishes in the Ohio State Business Law Journal
Professor Lorenzo Luisetto’s scholarship has been published in the Ohio State Business Law Journal. In “Shaping Corporate Behavior: Evidence from the No‑Poach Initiative,” Professor Luisetto empirically examines the effects of the State of Washington Attorney General’s unprecedented “No‑Poach Initiative,” launched in January 2018. As part of that initiative, 237 franchisors agreed to remove no-poaching clauses (i.e., provisions in franchise contracts that prohibit franchisees from hiring each other’s employees) nationwide.
Professor Luisetto’s analysis shows that state‑led enforcement can have far‑reaching, nationwide consequences for corporate behavior. His findings illustrate how enforcement actions targeting contractual practices can function as powerful regulatory tools in the labor market, shaping firms’ conduct even in the absence of federal intervention.
Robertson Presents Two Papers at the International Academic Association of Planning, Law, and Property Rights Annual Meeting
Professor Heidi Gorovitz Robertson attended the International Academic Association of Planning, Law, and Property Rights Annual Meeting at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. She presented two papers. The first, presented with Dr. Rebecca Leshinksy from RMIT in Melbourne, Australia, focuses on property rights in radio-frequency spectrum allocations (“Spectrum Licensing, Property Theory, and Ecological Interference”). The paper will be submitted for peer review later this spring. The second presentation was associated with Professor Robertson’s work in Ohio on the state’s view of local involvement in decision-making concerning energy development facilities (“What’s Real and Remaining – A Framework for Agency Decision‑Making to Reduce Ohio’s Legislative Bias Against Renewable Energy”). She plans to submit this draft to journals this spring.
Robertson is the Steven W. Percy Professor of Law at the College of Law and Professor of Environmental Studies at the Levin College of Public Affairs and Education, Cleveland State University.
Witmer-Rich Comments on Police Use of Facial Recognition
Professor Jonathan Witmer-Rich was quoted in an article titled, “Cleveland police use facial recognition without training or transparency on its use,” published by Ideastream Public Media. The article discusses a recent criminal case in which Cleveland police used facial recognition technology to obtain a search warrant in a murder investigation.
In recent public comments to City Council, Cleveland Public Safety Director Wayne Drummond stated that the Cleveland Real Time Crime Center does not use facial recognition technology. However, the recent criminal case shows that the Real Time Crime Center sent images to the Northeast Ohio Fusion Center, which conducted the facial recognition search on their behalf.
Professor Witmer-Rich opined that Cleveland police should be more open about what technology they’re using and how they’re using it.
“What body of images do we want the police to be using if, if using it at all?” Witmer-Rich said. “And is it anything that a company can scrape off of the internet, or should it be something more limited than that? Something that’s limited to a certain set of images that we know are reliable or that we know haven’t been manipulated?”
Professor Sterio Speaks at British International Law Studies Association Event
Professor Milena Sterio spoke at the British International Law Studies Association webinar on February 24, on the topic of “Trump, US Foreign Policy, and International Law.” Professor Sterio’s remarks focused on use of force issues under international law in light of President Trump’s intervention in Venezuela, and the Administration’s threats against Iran and Greenland.