Courts & Litigation
Just Security’s expert authors offer analysis and informational resources on key litigation impacting national security, rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Our content spans domestic and international litigation, from cases at the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and other international and regional tribunals, to those in U.S. courts involving executive branch actions, transnational litigation, and more.
2,854 Articles

ICC Holds Historic Hearing on U.S. Torture and Other Grave Crimes in Afghanistan
While “high crimes and misdemeanors” dominated the news cycle in Washington this month, the focus in The Hague was on grave crimes and mistreatment. Just days before the International…

Why the Settlements are a Problem for Benjamin Netanyahu
Despite the new U.S. position that West Bank settlements are not "per se" illegal, international accountability for Israeli settlement activity remains a real possibility.

The Senate Must Conduct an Impeachment Trial That Is Serious and Fair
The American people deserve an impeachment trial that is fair and serious. The Chief Justice and the members of the Senate should deliver one.

Boochani’s Tribunal: Normalizing Human Degradation at Borders
A complaint to the ICC on Australia's detention practices highlights a very clear risk that this precedent represents an emerging global normalcy of human degradation when it comes…

The Crossfire Hurricane Report’s Inconvenient Findings
"The Inspector General's report fails to turn up anything resembling a Deep State cabal within the FBI plotting against the president, or deliberate abuse of surveillance authorities…

Recent North Korea Sanctions Arrest Raises Questions About Free Speech Rights
Virgil Griffith, it’s safe to assume, did not have a happy Thanksgiving. On arriving at Los Angeles International Airport from abroad, he was arrested that day. An unsealed criminal…

D.C. Circuit Considers Limits on Guantanamo Detention
The court will hear oral arguments today in Abdul Razak Ali v. Trump on the central question of whether the Due Process Clause applies to limit the length of detention at Guantanamo…

Social Media Vetting of Visa Applicants Violates the First Amendment
The Knight First Amendment Institute and the Brennan Center for Justice sued the US government to stop social media vetting of visa applicants.

With Supreme Court Mired in Dark Money, Time for Large Dose of Transparency
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse writes that there is a dual problem with the Supreme Court: not only the web of special-interest, secret donor influence surrounding it; but an extraordinary…

9/11 Case: Military Commission Convening Authority to Be Called as a Witness as to His Own Bias
W. Shane Cohen, the current judge presiding over the 9/11 case at Guantánamo Bay, has ordered the compulsion of testimony from the Office of Military Commissions’ convening…

The Spencer Standoff with Trump over Gallagher Distracts from the Navy’s Real Problems
Focusing on Trump’s many faults in the Gallagher case obscures something even more troubling: the Navy has serious problems right now and its former leader, recently fired Secretary…

Understanding the Two Mazars Subpoena Cases Before the Supreme Court [UPDATED to reflect 11/25 stay of mandate]
Two cases currently before the Supreme Court involve whether the Constitution prohibits subpoenas issued to Donald Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, LLP, requiring Mazars…