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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2,854 Articles
Insurgents on January 6, 2021 push against police forces. One insurgent seems to have a riot shield, while the police officer does not.

Incitement to Violence Ain’t Free Speech

The First Amendment protects abstract appeals for illegal actions. But there can and should be criminal liability for speech that incites the likely and imminent risk of violence.…
The dome of the US Capitol Building against a blue sky.

Impeachment Defense, the Constitution, and Bill of Rights

The question at the moment isn’t whether the president could be charged with incitement to violence in criminal court.
(FILES) Supporters of US President Donald Trump wear gas masks and military-style apparel as they walk around inside the Rotunda after breaching the US Capitol in Washington, DC, January 6, 2021.

Military Personnel and the Putsch at the U.S. Capitol

If active duty, reserve, retired, or former military personnel participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, how should they be held accountable? Courts martial may be available for…
US National Guard soldiers guard the grounds of the US Capitol from across a security fence in Washington, DC, on January 9, 2021.

Responding to the Capitol Attack: Accountability Without Overreaction

There are many indisputable facts about last week’s violent and deadly incursion into the Capitol building. It is beyond debate that the fiasco included multiple criminal acts.…
The ICC seal on a window at the International Criminal Court Building in The Hague. The windows act as mirrors, reflecting more of the ICC complex across from it.

Nestlé & Cargill v. Doe Series: Remedying the Corporate Accountability Gap at the ICC

[Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Just Security series on the consolidated cases of Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe I and Cargill Inc. v. Doe I, which was argued before…
A watch tower is seen in the currently closed Camp X-Ray at the U.S. Naval Station on June 27, 2013 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Barbed wire can be seen in both the background and foreground of the photo.

On Guantanamo’s 19th Anniversary, A Renewed Call to Close It

Nineteen years ago today, the administration of President George W. Bush sent the first detainees to the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center for the purpose of detaining them beyond…
Cases containing electoral votes are opened during a joint session of Congress after the session resumed following protests at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, early on January 7, 2021

The Constitutional Case for Impeaching Donald Trump (Again)

We are, it seems, hurtling toward impeaching Donald J. Trump for a second time in thirteen months. It is entirely right that he should be impeached again, but in the whirl of the…

The Incapacitation of a President and the Twenty-Fifth Amendment: A Reader’s Guide

An authoritative analysis of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment on the incapacitation of a president, and how it was intended to function.
An asylum seeker staying at the Juventud 2000 migrant shelter in Tijuana, Baja California State, Mexico, sprays disinfectant on tents on April 3, 2020 as stronger cleaning measures are being implemented to fight the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic.

Father-Son Separation at US Border Illustrates Lasting Harm That Demands Redress

The abuses they faced under the Trump administration's immigration policy echo those revealed in a new Human Rights Watch investigation.
Face masks with two most popular candidates for Uganda's Presidential election, incumbent President Yoweri Museveni and Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, the pop star-turned-opposition leader, printed on them are sold in Kampala, Uganda, on January 4, 2021.

Ugandan Human Rights Lawyer Fights Charges on Eve of Presidential Election

Following a now-predictable pattern in the leadup to the polls, authorities have hastened arrests of political opponents and critics of President Museveni.
International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and deputy prosecutor James Stewart speak with another prosecutor during the initial appearance of Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona of the Central African Republic, at the ICC in The Hague on January 25, 2019, following his extradition from France on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

ICC Associates Win Temporary Reprieve from Draconian US Sanctions

A judge granted a preliminary injunction in a case challenging the Trump administration’s sanctions against court personnel and others.
Legal blind justice Themis metal statue with scales on chains

Judges Doing What Judges Do: A Unified Theory of the 2020 Election Season

Dozens of judges, from all political persuasions, uniformly rejected the extravagant claims of President Donald Trump to set aside the presidential election results, or to compel…
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