Litigating War ─ Arbitration of Civil Injury by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission

Litigating War offers an in-depth examination of the law and procedure of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission, which was tasked with deciding, through binding arbitration, claims for losses, damages, and injuries resulting from the 1998-2000 Eritrean-Ethiopian war. After providing an overview of the war, the authors describe how the Commission was established, its jurisdiction, the sources of law it applied, its treatment of nationality and evidentiary issues, and the relief it rendered. Separate chapters then address particular topics, such as the initiation of the war, battlefield conduct, belligerent occupation, aerial bombardment, prisoners of war, enemy aliens and their property, diplomats and diplomatic property, and general economic loss. A final chapter examines the lessons that might be learned from the experience of the Claims Commission, especially with an eye to the establishment of such commissions in the future.

The volume includes a preface from James Crawford and also reproduces all the key documents relating to the Commission: the bilateral agreement establishing the Commission; its rules of procedure; and its numerous decisions and arbitral awards. The analytical portion of the volume contains extensive cross-references to these primary documents. Further, a comprehensive table of contents and indexes relating to subject matter, treaties, and cases provide ready access to all the material contained within.

Sean D. Murphy is the Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School, and a Member of the U.N. International Law Commission. Professor Murphy received his B.A. from Catholic University of America, J.D. from Columbia University, LL.M. from Cambridge University, and S.J.D. from the University of Virginia. From 1987 to 1995, Professor Murphy served in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State, specializing in international environmental law, the law of war, and international claims. From July 1995 to July 1998, Professor Murphy served as the Legal Counselor of the U.S. Embassy in The Hague. Professor Murphy has represented several countries in international courts and tribunals, including Ethiopia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Suriname, and the United States. He has published articles in a variety of national and international law journals, and his books include Principles of International Law (2nd Edition, 2012) and Foreign Relations and National Security Law (with Franck, Glennon & Swaine, 4th Edition, 2012). Professor Murphy has served on the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law and is a Member of the U.N. International Law Commission.

Won Kidane is an Associate Professor of Law at the Seattle University School of Law. Professor Kidane earned his J.D. from the University of Illinois after obtaining LL.M in International and Comparative Law from the University of Georgia and LL.B from Addis Ababa University School of Law. From 2001 to 2005, Professor Kidane practiced international arbitration in Washington D.C. From 2005 to 2008, Professor Kidane taught at the Penn State Dickenson School of Law. Professor Kidane joined the faculty of the Seattle University School of Law in 2008 and has since been teaching international arbitration and litigation, among other courses. Kidane has published several law review articles and a book entitled: China-Africa Dispute Settlement: The Law, Economics and Culture of Arbitration (2011).

Thomas R. Snider is a Counsel in the international arbitration practice group at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in Washington D.C. Mr. Snider received his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. Since 2000, Mr. Snider has represented clients in a wide range of matters involving international dispute resolution, including state-to-state arbitration, international commercial arbitration, international investment disputes, and U.S. court litigation involving the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. He is the co-author, along with Professor Kidane, of Combating Corruption Through International Law in Africa: A Comparative Analysis, 40 Cornell International Law Journal 691 (2007).