An interview with Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post on the Trump presidency, democracy and rule of law
Released on Oct 23, 2018
Podcast: With the Trump Presidency engulfed in turmoil, the increasingly toxic nature of political debate is threatening democracy and the rule of law.
In this podcast, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, Carla Hills, the 10th US Trade Representative, and Judge Thomas Griffith of the US Court of Appeals, assess the loss of compromise, collaboration and civility.
In conversation with the IBA’s US Correspondent, Michael Goldhaber, they argue that breaking norms and the debasement of political dis
Released on Sep 12, 2018
Podcast: With mounting diplomatic activity ahead of an unprecedented summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, this podcast considers the path to resolving the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula.
Released on Mar 29, 2018
Michael Froman discusses international trade, Trump policies, lobbying, multi-party negotiations and more in this interview
Released on Nov 2, 2017
Podcast - The unbalanced scales of refugee justice
Following the March 2016 agreement between the EU and Turkey to control the influx of migrants entering Europe, thousands of refugees are now confined to Lesvos and other Greek islands.
Released on May 10, 2017
Podcast - Trump White House contact with Justice Department breaches ethical rules
‘Russiagate’ – the alleged ties between Russia and the Trump presidential campaign – has prompted growing scrutiny of improper political influence in the United States justice system.
Released on Mar 27, 2017
Podcast - President Trump proposes devastating cuts to US civil legal aid
In his first draft budget since taking office, US President Donald Trump plans to scrap funding for civil legal aid. The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) would see its current funding of $375m cut to zero.
Released on Mar 8, 2017
Podcast - President Trump & Executive Power.
The President's controversial use of executive orders goes too far, says former Deputy Assistant US Attorney General, John Yoo, in this exclusive interview.
Released on Feb 21, 2017
David Scheffer, Juan Mendez and Cori Crider express their concerns over what a Trump Presidency could mean for #human rights and rule of law.
Released on Nov 11, 2016
IBA Global Insight April/May 2019 - The United States and Saudi Arabia remain strong allies despite significant challenges in recent years, from 9/11 to Jamal Khashoggi’s murder and the war in Yemen. Global Insight assesses what makes the ties that bind the two countries so remarkably resilient
IBA Global Insight April/May 2019 - When President Trump invokes the rule of law, he has something quite different in mind.
The first funds under the national emergency declared by US President Donald Trump in February have been made available to build a wall along America’s border with Mexico. The Pentagon authorised the transfer of $1bn to army engineers for the construction of 57 miles of fencing.
In a pair of sentencing hearings in the second week of March, two judges rendered the different judgments of the two Americas for the crimes of Paul Manafort, who served as President Trump’s campaign chief.
The sentences mark the most significant wins for Special Counsel Robert Mueller since he launched his investigation nearly two years ago into ‘any links and/or co-ordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with President Donald Trump’s campaign’.
The Trump administration has transformed the federal courts with unprecedented speed, largely by ignoring widely accepted norms for judicial appointments. The question now is what the response should be, in order to protect the rule of law.
At the end of November – just eleven days after the US imposed an ‘asylum ban’ on those who cross the border from Mexico between legal ports of entry – a San Francisco federal district judge granted a temporary restraining order, halting the ban nationwide. Judge Jon Tigar found the ban at odds with the Immigration and Nationality Act provision that those arriving in the US, ‘whether or not at a designated port of arrival,’ may apply for asylum.
The lurid revelations have highlighted just how debased Western political and business culture have become. By tracking Paul Manafort’s trial and guilty plea, Global Insight highlights what needs to change, from abuse of shell companies to prosecuting kleptocrats.
IBA Global Insight Aug/Sept 2018. Though America argues that its withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council is not a retreat from human rights, it looks very much that way. From family separation to ‘millions living in Third World conditions of absolute poverty’, the situation looks increasingly dire.
IBA Global Insight, June/July 2018 - Recent events have presented reformers with a remarkable moment of opportunity. But overhauling a deep-seated gun culture and gun-friendly legal regime remains a considerable challenge.
IBA Global Insight, June/July 2018 - President Trump’s environmental chief appears to be battling his own agency. Global Insight assesses an internal struggle at the EPA that could have dire consequences for the fight against climate change.
IBA Global Insight April/May 2018 - In February, Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals for conspiring to undermine US democracy, and many believe such meddling paved the way for the Trump administration – with its deregulatory agenda. Global Insight assesses whether it was electoral deregulation that cleared the way for Russian intervention.
In February, President Trump authorized the release of a controversial memo by the Republican House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes. The memo attacked the FBI for allegedly relying mainly and surreptitiously on Democrat-funded private intelligence to set in motion the Russia investigation. The President also tried, unsuccessfully, to block the release of the House Democrats’ rebuttal stating that the FBI disclosed the partisan source of its information, and had significant independent bases for su
When special counsel Robert Mueller issued grand jury subpoenas relating to emails exchanged between Donald Trump, Jr., and an intermediary offering information harmful to the Hillary Clinton campaign, it refocused attention on the investigation into President’s aides and Russia. But, Obama White House Counsel Bob Bauer suggests that there was already an election case to be made before it became fashionable. He offers some unsolicited advice to the Trumps on the law of solicitation.
In the aftermath of the US leaving the Paris Agreement on climate change, its opponents have been exaggerating its legal effect, and environmentalists playing it down. Trump’s supporters contend that staying in the Agreement could have weakened the US legal position on climate change, both in terms of international damages suits and domestic regulatory actions. Seizing on the plain language of Article 4 of the Agreement, they argue that a nation may only adjust its ‘contributions’ to climate control upward
IBA Global Insight August September 2017 - ‘We’re going to build the wall’ ranked among President Trump’s most recognisable election campaign slogans. But, even the highest wall can’t stem the flow of dirty dollars sustaining the drug cartels. The epic HSBC case shows the limits of the United States’ unique approach to money laundering.
IBA Global Insight June/July 2017 - Following the recent summit between American President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping, Global Insight considers the reversal on protectionism and free trade, assessing the potential for a major trade war between the two global superpowers.
IBA Global Insight June/July 2017 - After his first 100 days in office, President Trump understands he can’t simply govern by executive
order. Experts expect deregulation to be the Administration’s next major focus, but Justice Gorsuch’s appointment to the Supreme Court raises intriguing questions.
‘This is already beyond Watergate,’ the renowned historian Simon Schama tweeted of Donald Trump’s emerging Russia scandals. As a legal matter, that grave assessment will need to be tested by a duly-constituted authority. What form that will take is subject of keen debate.
The US Government has traditionally handled similar matters in one of three ways. First, the professionals at the Justice Department investigate it themselves. Second, the DOJ appoints a ‘special counsel,’ as was the case with Watergate
IBA Global Insight April/May 2017 - Serving as Deputy Assistant Attorney General under George W Bush, John Yoo authored the ‘Torture Memos’ that provided the legal basis for US detention and interrogation policies following 9/11. Here, he assesses Donald Trump’s early days in power and says the use of executive orders is damaging his presidency.
When US President Donald Trump signed his second travel ban executive order, people in the Middle East, the majority of whom are Muslim, saw the move as the US not living up to its own image and reputation as a bastion of law and democracy. In the US, lawyers and activists saw it as another timely test of the country's much cherished system of checks and balances.
President Donald Trump’s draft budget reportedly reduces federal funding for civil legal aid from $375m to zero. The idea of eliminating the Legal Services Corporation, whose funding is already low by global and historical standards, had drawn swift condemnation from legal aid leaders of both parties, as well as from leading non-partisan lawyers’ groups.