Supreme plagiarist?_part 2.

see:
http://newsbreak.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7989&Itemid=88889005


Author complains of twisted conclusion in plagiarized SC ruling
Written by ARIES C. RUFO, Newsbreak
Thursday, 22 July 2010


MANILA, Philippines--One of the authors whose work was allegedly plagiarized by a Philippine Supreme Court justice has come out to complain that his article has been twisted to support a contrary view.

Professor Evan Criddle, replying to the international law blog Opinio Juris, said he found it “most troubling” that the high court, through the ponencia of Justice Mariano del Castillo, quoted out of context the article he co-authored with Professor Evan Fox-Descent that was published last year in the Yale Journal of International Law.

“Speaking for myself, the most troubling aspectof the court’s jus cogens discussion is that it implies that the prohibitions against crimes against humanity, sexual slavery, and torture are not jus cogens norms. Our article emphatically asserts the opposite,” Criddle wrote in the blog.

The SC has trashed the petition filed by dozens of Filipino comfort women asking Manila to compel Tokyo to pay for the abuses of Japanese soldiers during World War II and for the Japanese government to publicly apologize. Their lawyers, Harry Roque and Romel Bagares, filed a supplemental motion for reconsideration, alleging that Del Castillo’s ponencia liberally lifted quotes and footnotes from Criddle and Fox-Descent article, "A Fiduciary Theory of Jus Cogens," without attributing them as primary sources.

Del Castillo also allegedly lifted without attribution from two articles--"Breaking the Silence on Rape as an International Crime" by Mark Ellis; and "Enforcing Erga Omnes Obligations in International Law" by Christian Tams.

The jus cogens principle refers to international legal norms that cannot be ignored by a State as they refer to “non-derogable” principles of law “binding on the international community as a whole.” The Filipino comfort women argued that the sufferings they endured with the Japanese Imperial Army during WW 2 were a violation of the jus cogens principle on war crimes and crimes against humanity and that the State has the duty to prosecute these crimes.

In his co-authored article, Criddle cited arguments for and against the jus cogens norm, but del Castillo, the petitioners said, only lifted those that would support his contention that the comfort women case should be dismissed.

On the contrary, the Criddle and Fox-Descent article support the petititoners’ argument, their lawyers said.

Criddle reacted to the post of Julian Ku of Hofstra University in Opinio Juris, which referred to the allegations of plagiarism against Del Castillo.

Opinio Juris, the blog says, “is a forum for informed discussion and lively debate about international law and international relations.”

The SC, through spokesman Midas Marquez, has not taken a proactive stance on the plagiarism allegations. It was not in the tribunal’s agenda in Tuesday’s en banc deliberations.

Critics have said that the Court should probe the matter since it strikes at the institution and the integrity and honesty of its members. (Newsbreak)