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.

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President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sits with his arms folded during a presentation of a report on the Ayotzinapa case at Palacio Nacional on September 26, 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. On September 26, 2014, 43 students of Isidro Burgos Rural School of Ayotzinapa disappeared in Iguala city after clashing with police forces. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

Neither Truth Nor Reconciliation: Mexico’s President Betrays Commitment to Transitional Justice

Yet, regardless of the scale and acceleration of abuses, such concerns are marginalized or avoided at high-level US-Mexico meetings.

Dec. 7, 2021 Camilo Pérez-Bustillo

Razor wire tops the fence of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay on October 23, 2016 at the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. An American flag waves in the background.

The Biden Administration’s Moment of Truth on Torture Evidence

US prosecutors claim the authority to use torture-derived evidence in Al-Nashiri's case, contrary to U.S. domestic and international legal obligations.

Dec. 1, 2021 David Luban, Scott Roehm and 6 more

Legal blind justice Themis metal statue with scales on chains

Litigation Tracker: Major Decisions Facing the Biden Administration

The Biden administration must decide whether to change course or maintain the Trump administration’s litigation approach in major Trump-era cases concerning national security…

Nov. 19, 2021 Karl Mihm, Justin Cole and 5 more

Big-Tobacco-Type Lawsuits from State AGs: A Roadmap for Redressing Facebook’s Harms

Facebook has followed the Big Tobacco model, maximizing profit at expense of the public. It's time for AGs to dust off this playbook too.

Nov. 18, 2021 Scott Harshbarger and Dennis Aftergut

Colombian President Ivan Duque (L) and International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan exchange signed agreements between the national government and the International Criminal Court at the Nariño presidential palace in Bogota, on October 28, 2021. (Photo by JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images)

Closure for Colombia, New Scrutiny for Venezuela: ICC Investigations in Latin America

Both decisions were controversial but also innovative, and created a new panorama in the region going forward.

Nov. 15, 2021 Naomi Roht-Arriaza

Taiwanese military vehicles take part in a national day parade in front of the Presidential Palace in Taipei on October 10, 2021.

Unilateral Use of Force in the “National Interest”: Taiwan Doesn’t Meet the Test

Can the President use force to protect Taiwan in the "national interest" without congressional authorization?

Nov. 12, 2021 Katherine Yon Ebright

International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan listens to the President of the Special Peace Jurisdiction Eduardo Cifuentes during a press conference in Bogota, October 27, 2021.

Uncertain Future for the ICC’s Investigation into the CIA Torture Program

The ICC Office of the Prosecutor has "deprioritized" investigation of CIA torture in Afghanistan. But Julian Elderfield, a former attorney in the OTP, says the stated reasons for…

Nov. 12, 2021 Julian Elderfield

Bill Browder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and two others speak while sitting at a press conference in London on November 20, 2018. People sit facing them with recording equipment.

Abuse of Interpol for Transnational Repression: Assessing the FY22 NDAA’s Provisions for Prevention

The act needs work, but could set a new standard in limiting Interpol abuse for assassinations, abductions, financial blacklisting and more.

Nov. 10, 2021 Ted R. Bromund and Jonathan Reich

A smartphone with the website of Israel's NSO Group which features 'Pegasus' spyware reads, “NSO Group Developing Technology to Prevent and Investigate Terror and Crime.” The phone lies next to a small figurine of a person and their shadow.

NSO Group Loses Immunity Claim at the Ninth Circuit

In 2019, the messaging platform WhatsApp sued NSO Group, alleging that the Israeli company sent spyware through WhatsApp’s servers to approximately 1,400 mobile devises in violation…

Nov. 9, 2021 William S. Dodge

A letter dated October 29, 2021. It reads, “From: Panel ICO U.S. vs. Khan; To: Convening Authority; The panel members listed below recommend clemency in the case of Majid Shoukat Khan. Mr. Kahn committed serious crimes against the U.S. and partner nations. He has plead guilty to these crimes and taken responsibility for his actions. Further, he has expressed remorse for the impact of the victims and their families. Clemency is recommended with the following justification: 1) Mr. Khan has been held without the basic due process under the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, he was held without charge or legal representation for nine years until 2021, and held without final sentencing until October 2021. Although designated on ‘alien unprivileged enemy belligerent,’ and not technically afforded the rights of U.S. citizens, the complete disregard for the foundational concepts upon which the Constitution was founded is an affront to American values and concept of Justice. 2) Mr. Khan was subjected to physical and psychological abuse well beyond approved enhanced interrogation techniques, instead being closer to torture performed by the most abusive regimes in modern history. This abuse was of no practical value in terms of intelligence, or any other tangible benefit to U.S. interests. Instead, it is a stain on the moral fiber of America; the treatment of Mr. Khan in the hands of U.S. personnel should be a source of shame for the U.S. government. 3) Mr. Khan committed his crimes as a young man reeling from the loss of his mother. A vulnerable target for extremist recruiting, he fell to influences furthering Islamic radical philosophies, just as many others have in recent years. Now at the age of 41 with a daughter he has never seen, he is remorseful and not a threat for future extremism. It is the view of the penal members below that clemency be granted based on the points above, as well as Mr. Khan’s continued cooperation with us efforts in other, more critical, prosecutions. Panel #1, Panel #8, Panel #5, Panel #9, Panel #12, Panel #4, Panel #11.”

Military Officers’ Handwritten Clemency Letter at Guantanamo – What It Says About Who We Are

"A long step toward the ultimate freedom: the realization that there is no them, there is only us."

Nov. 8, 2021 Joseph Margulies

Air Force Inspector General Lt. Gen. Sami D. Said speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon, Washington D.C., November 3, 2021. An American flag stands beside him.

The Missing Kabul Drone Strike Report

"It is simply not credible that the entire investigative report must be withheld in order to protect (as one imagines the claim) sources and methods of intelligence-gathering."

Nov. 5, 2021 Eugene R. Fidell

An Investigator holds a piece of evidence as he and others search for evidence inside the wreckage of a Police bus at the site of a bomb blast in Kabul, 17 June 2007.

What the Afghanistan Withdrawal Teaches Us About Safeguarding Human Rights Evidence

As the Taliban seized control, evidence of human rights abuses had to be destroyed, hidden, or risk capture. It didn't have to be this way.

Nov. 5, 2021 Mackenzie Austin

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