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Luz Estella Nagle, Corruption among Politicians, Law Enforcement, and the Judiciary, in Narcos over the Boarder: Gangs, Cartels, and Mercenaries (Robert J. Bunker ed., Routledge, 2010)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Luz Estella Nagle, Should Terrorism Be Subject to Universal Jurisdiction?, 8 Santa Clara Journal of International Law 87 (2010)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Luz Estella Nagle, Terrorism and Universal Jurisdiction: Opening a Pandora’s Box, 27 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 339 (2010)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, a compelling legal debate has arisen pertaining to whether terrorism is an international crime or a transnational crime, and if and in what context actors and acts, to which we affix the label of terrorist and terrorism, should or can be subject to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and other criminal tribunals having universal jurisdiction. Some legal scholars believe terrorists acts should be subject to universal jurisdiction, while others believe that elevating terrorism to the same level of universally-recognized extreme crimes elicits several concerns. This article examines both sides of the debate and presents arguments that terrorism should remain outside the framework of universal jurisdiction.
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Luz Estella Nagle, Corruption of Politicians, Law Enforcement, and the Judiciary in Mexico and Complicity Across the Border, 21 Small Wars and Insurgencies 95 (2010)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Luz Estella Nagle, National Security Issues with Mexico: A Tale of a Troubled State, 19th Annual Review of the Field of National Security Law (2009)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Luz Estella Nagle, U.S. Narcotic Kingpin List Snares Innocents in Its Impersonal Web, 25 Int'l Enforcement L. Reporter 263 (2009)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Luz Estella Nagle and Bruce Zagaris, U.S. International Criminal Law, in The State of Criminal Justice 2009 (American Bar Association, Criminal Justice Section, 2009)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Luz Estella Nagle, The Rule of Law in Latin America, in Latin America Democracy: Emerging Reality or Endangered Species? (Richard Millett et al. eds., 1st ed., 2008)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Luz Estella Nagle, Some Thoughts on the Rule of Law and Democracy in Latin America, Criminal Law Section Newsletter 7 (2008)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Luz Estella Nagle, Colombia’s Incursion into Ecuadorian Territory: Justified Hot Pursuit or Pugnacious Error?, 17 J. Transnat'l L. & Pol'y 359 (2008)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
On March 1, 2008, Colombian military forces launched a cross-border airstrike and ground operation into Ecuador to attack a jungle encampment occupied by high ranking members of the Colombian guerrilla army known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The specific target of the air attack was Luis Edgar Devia Silva, aka Raul Reyes, the FARC’s number two in command and one of Latin America’s longest enduring guerrilla leaders. Reyes and several cohorts were killed. The Colombian forces retrieved Reyes’ body and forensic evidence, including his laptop computer, and retreated back across the frontier, leaving the Ecuadorian military to deal with the aftermath and attend to a lone survivor.
The raid sparked a regional crisis that resulted in Ecuadorian and Venezuelan military mobilizations along their borders with Colombia. Colombia’s President, Alvaro Uribe, justified the incursion into Ecuadorian territory as an operation of "hot pursuit," an international legal doctrine that allows a nation to give chase across an international frontier in order to capture a rebel force attempting to escape to safe haven in a neighboring country. The justification quickly unraveled, however, when evidence of the actual attack indicated that those in the FARC camp were in bed sleeping at the time of the airstrike on the site, and that the force that went into Colombia on the ground was a clean-up operation rather than an offensive operation.
Although the crisis was resolved two weeks later at a Latin American summit, issues remain over international law doctrines such as hot pursuit, preemptive and anticipatory self defense, and use of the Bush Doctrine by other nations for purposes of crossing into another country’s territory to pursue combatants involved in an internal armed conflict. This article examines the international law issues surrounding Colombia’s actions and its justifications in the face of harsh international reactions.