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.
2,974 Articles
Better Never Than Late? The D.C. Circuit’s Problematic Standing Holding in Klayman
This morning, nearly 10 months after it was argued, the D.C. Circuit finally handed down its decision in Obama v. Klayman—the government’s appeal of Judge Leon’s December…
The Alarming Gaps in Military Appellate Review
We pay a lot of attention on this blog to the Guantánamo military commissions and the principal structural defect in those tribunals as currently constituted, to wit, their power…
The Supreme Court, ISIS, and the War Powers
In the latest issue of the Atlantic, Yale Professor Bruce Ackerman has a provocative essay titled “Can the Supreme Court Force Congress to Own the War on ISIS?” Not…
Beyond the APA: The Role of Psychology Boards and State Courts in Propping up Torture
The image of torture in US popular culture is an intimate one: a government agent and a suspect in a dark cell, usually alone. But the reality of our state-sanctioned torture program…
The DOD Law of War Manual and Command Responsibility: Is it Time for a “Necessary and Reasonable” Change to the UCMJ?
Editor’s Note: This post is the latest in Just Security’s “mini forum” on the new Defense Department Law of War Manual. This series includes posts from Sean Watts, Eric…
Warrantless Phone Tracking: The Fourth Amendment and Circuit Splits
Last week, a divided three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit ruled in United States v. Graham that the government must obtain a warrant to obtain from a phone user’s historical…
A Readers’ Guide to our Mini-Forum on DOD’s new Law of War Manual
As you’ve probably noticed this summer, we’ve been hosting a mini-forum on the Defense Department’s Law of War Manual that was published earlier this summer. As Marty Lederman pointed…
President Obama’s Military Commissions
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
The Reason Why the UK Lost the Serdar Mohammed Case
The United Kingdom Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in Serdar Mohammed v. Ministry of Defense last Thursday. The decision, which assessed the lawfulness of the 110-day…
The Role of Judges Under UK Surveillance Laws May be About to Change
For centuries, the authorization of surveillance powers under UK law has – for the most part – been in the hands of the executive rather than judges. All that may be about…
Judge Lamberth decides Warafi
As Jen noted, Judge Lamberth today denied Mukhtar Yahia Naji al Warafi’s renewed habeas petition challenging his continued military detention at Guantánamo. As I have previously explained,…
UK Court Invalidates British Forces’ Afghan Detention Program
Today, the United Kingdom Court of Appeal handed down its judgement in Serdar Mohammed v Ministry of Defense. A case of great import for British detention policy in Afghanistan,…