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.
2,932 Articles

Days, Not Weeks: Gaza, Starvation, and the Imperative to Act Now
The humanitarian situation in Gaza has sharpened third states’ obligation to use their leverage now to reverse the trajectory, writes Dannenbaum.

In ICJ Advisory Opinion on Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Separate Opinions Obscure Legal Rationale
The Advisory Opinion marks an important development in international law. It is therefore disappointing that this development occurs ex cathedra and in a manner that reveals so…

Equal Access to the Supreme Court for Servicemembers: The Missing Pieces
What Congress can do to complete the job of putting military and civilian cases on an equal footing in accessing the Supreme Court.

As Ukraine Struggles for Troops, Its Constitutional Court Considers the Rights of Conscientious Objectors
A court case shows the complexity of weighing a constitutional guarantee against the obligation to protect the State in war.

Journalist in Exile Laments Kyrgyzstan Crackdown, Now Extending to His 12-Year-Old Son
Bolot Temirov on the personal cost of the country's repression of media and civil society, as democracy gives way to authoritarianism.
Election 2024 Real-Time Litigation Tracker
Tracking the most important breaking election cases across the country with implications for the democratic process.

Abu Ghraib Dejà Vu
As torture victims from the Abu Ghraib prison return to U.S. federal court, Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Xenakis discusses need for accountability.

Top 10 Election Litigation Cases in 2024 Implicating the Rule of Law
In this top ten list updated weekly, the most important of hundreds of election-law cases are ranked for their rule of law implications.

A Review of Donald Trump’s Appellate Brief, and Amicus Briefs, Concerning the Appointment of Jack Smith as Special Counsel
Preliminary reactions to the three arguments Donald Trump made to the Eleventh Circuit regarding Jack Smith's appointment as Special Counsel.

The Just Security Podcast: Could Ecocide Become a New International Crime?
What does the proposal from Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa to add ecocide as a new international crime mean in practice?

Withdrawal from International Agreements: Toward a “Tailored Out”
The practical and political stakes of this admittedly esoteric question of constitutional law are high, implicating as it does the effectiveness of the United States’ engagement…

Presidential Power to Exit Treaties: Reflecting on the Mirror Principle
On balance, a mirroring concept serves better as part of an aspiration for greater inter-branch cooperation in making and unmaking international agreements, rather than as a legally-enforceable…