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.
2,863 Articles

Professional Criminal Prosecution Versus The Siren Song of Command: The Road to Improve Military Justice
An almost paragraph-by-paragraph critique of Jeh Johnson's essay opposing the Military Justice Improvement Act. Our author: Professor Rachel VanLandingham, Lt Col, USAF (ret.),…

A Deeper Dive: Facebook’s Response to Oversight Board on Trump May Be Less Than It Appears
A deeper dive shows the company is not ready to engage with the board's most far-reaching recommendations,

The Surprisingly Broad Implications of Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe for Human Rights Litigation and Extraterritoriality
In Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe, the U.S. Supreme Court took up the question of corporate liability for human rights violations under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) for the third time.…

How the Biden Administration Should Take Torture-Derived Evidence Off the Table
In a decent legal system, the government does not ask courts to admit evidence derived from torture, nor does it press other arguments that disregard the absolute prohibition on…

State Secrets and the Torture of Abu Zubaydah
More than any case to have reached the Supreme Court, Abu Zubaydah’s case demonstrates the need to carefully scrutinize what information the Executive Branch can legitimately…

What To Do About Lt. General (retired) Flynn: Military Justice and Civil-Military Relations Considerations
Flynn's recent conduct has raised new questions about retiree court-martial jurisdiction. Yevgeny Vindman and Dan Maurer make the legal and policy argument for a court-martial.…

For Facebook’s Sake: Getting Conversant with Human Rights
The Facebook Oversight Board decision on former President Trump has helped bring into sharper focus what international law scholars and lawyers have long understood: international…

In Belarus, Who’s the Terrorist? Another Step in the Crackdown on Journalists
The case of Roman Protasevich is nothing more than a step – albeit unprecedented and shocking – in the incremental use by States, across the globe, of legislation to counter…

Getting Real About General Flynn
At a rally in Dallas on May 30, 2021, retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn put his foot in his mouth. Again. This time his offense was a comment in response to…

Asylum and the Three Little Words that Can Spell Life or Death
The U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals defines “particular social group” in a way that practically ensures the denial of asylum claims, especially for Central Americans. The…

A New Consensus Around Transparency and National Security Surveillance
Civil libertarian arguments that were dismissed a decade ago are now broadly accepted, even at the highest levels of the intelligence community.

Torture Evidence and the Guantanamo Military Commissions
Burying evidence of torture, while surreptitiously admitting the fruits of torture is not what a decent legal system does. Bringing to justice those accused of atrocious crimes…