Democracy & Rule of Law

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A plume of smoke rises following a reported explosion in Tehran on February 28, 2026. Israel's defence ministry announced February 28 it had launched a "preemptive strike" on Iran as sirens sounded in Jerusalem and people across the country received phone alerts about an "extremely serious" threat.

International Reactions to Military Strikes on Iran: A Tipping Point for the UN Charter?

Positions taken at the UN Security Council are a harbinger of whether the legal cornerstone of the international order that is designed to maintain world peace can hold.
EU and Ukrainian flags fly in the wind in front of the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarter for the 4th year anniversary of the full scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, on February 23, 2025 in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

Toward A Just and Lawful Peace in Ukraine: Part II

As the war in Ukraine continues to unfold, international lawyers must keep insisting that law be injected into diplomacy and accountability into power politics.
Headquarters of the New York Police Department, Manhattan New York, February 22, 2026 (photo by Melissa Bender)

FBI’s “Stand Down” Directive to NYPD on Jeffrey Epstein Investigations, and More

The most comprehensive timeline to date of the publicly available record on New York law enforcement authorities’ action and inaction with regard to Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell…
Exterior view of the International Committee of the Red Cross headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, a large white and tan multi-story building with rows of windows and the ICRC flag on the roof, under a clear blue sky.

Closing Loopholes Across Time: the ICRC’s New Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention

​The ICRC's updated Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention fills a loophole-closing function and reasserts international humanitarian law's core protective purpose.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent's back is to the camera, facing the front door of an apartment building during an immigration raid or enforcement operation.

ICE Administrative Warrants and the Fourth Amendment: A Response to the DHS General Counsel

DHS says ICE agents can enter homes to arrest noncitizens using administrative warrants, without judicial oversight. DHS's position has no legal basis.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks at the Diplomatic Conference for the Adoption of the Convention Establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crimes of Aggression Against Ukraine at the Hague on December 16, 2025 (via Council of Europe Media Gallery)

Toward A Just and Lawful Peace in Ukraine: Part I

A review of what law and lawyers have contributed toward the goal of a just and lawful peace in Ukraine over the past four years.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau (L) speaks at a lectern as AUC Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf (R) stands at the right, both of them in front of an American flag and multiple green flags of the African Union.

New U.S.–AU Infrastructure Working Group Could Thrive With Strong Values-Based Safeguards

If the Strategic Infrastructure and Investment Working Group is to succeed, the United States must anchor its offerings in rules-based governance.
Two women wearing t-shirts under bulletproof vests, helmets and handcuffs, are escorted by armed guards on either side, walking up stairs to a court building. The vests and helmets have the letters BJMP on them, for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, part of the country's Ministry of the Interior.

The Philippines Is Jailing Journalists in the Name of “Terror Financing”: Why the World Should Be Alarmed

The case of a jailed journalist in the Philippines is a warning for how efforts to counter terrorism financing can be manipulated into political tools of repression.
Statue Of Liberty

The Spirit of Liberty—Horace E. Read Memorial Lecture

Finding the spirit of liberty in the United States requires looking beyond the leadership of elite institutions. Among ordinary citizens, there’s no scarcity of civic courage.

The Taken

Inside the ICE Detention Pipeline for US Citizens and Residents: From Minnesota to Texas
A woman is arm-in-arm with a younger woman, both crying, with others behind them heads bowed, as they leave a church in a procession, a white coffin behind them being carried on the shoulders of police officers in dark dress uniforms.

Guatemala’s New State of Emergency Isn’t Just About Gangs

President Arévalo's state of emergency provides him a short window to use the gang crackdown to also crack open the country's structures of impunity.
People visit a makeshift shrine at the site where Alex Pretti was killed on January 29, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at a VA medical center died on January 24 after being shot multiple times during an interaction with border patrol agents. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

CBP Was a Leader in Transparency. Can It Still Restore that Reputation?

CBP’s handling of the investigation into Alex Pretti's death signals a troubling shift away from the agency’s commitment to transparency and accountability.
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