International Law

Just Security offers expert analysis of international law and its role in addressing global challenges. Our coverage includes litigation in international and regional tribunals, the process of international law-making, analysis of compliance and accountability for international law violations–including international criminal justice, and challenges to the international legal order.

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3,510 Articles
Side by side photos of Guantanamo Bay and the DOJ.

What the US Government Brief Should Have Said in Al-Hela: On Guantanamo and Due Process

"Had the Justice Department wanted to recognize that the due process clause applies at Guantanamo, the brief would have essentially written itself."
Iranian President-Elect Ebrahim Raisi holds a press conference at Shahid Beheshti conference hall on June 21, 2021 in Tehran, Iran.

Will Iran’s New President be Held Accountable?

Raisi was directly involved in the summary execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988. Is there a path to justice today?
Onlookers, including children, stand next to the backpacks and books of victims following yesterday's multiple blasts outside a girls' school in Dasht-e-Barchi on the outskirts of Kabul on May 9, 2021.

As Troops Withdraw from Afghanistan, the UN Needs to Act

It is time for the U.N. Human Rights Council to establish an independent international investigation into human rights atrocities in Afghanistan.
Afghan villagers search for dead bodies of persons who were killed in a NATO airstrike on a home in Sajawand village in Logar province south of Kabul on June 6, 2012.

How US-Funded Abuses Led to Failure in Afghanistan

The primary and defining characteristic of the armed conflict in Afghanistan over the last two decades has been harm to civilians caused by massive human rights abuses and war…
Coalition Force service members set up a perimeter under the cover of darkness on the edge of Shurakian in Helmand province. The image is taken through a green night vision lens and multiple vehicles are shown.

Ending the Forever War, But Leaving a Legacy of Impunity in Afghanistan

The international military forces withdrawing from Afghanistan leave behind a legacy of impunity that threatens to undermine hopes for peace and justice in Afghanistan for years…

Nestlé & Cargill v. Doe: What’s Not in the Supreme Court’s Opinions

The Court ruled out extraterritorial application of the Alien Tort Statute. But on other key questions -- including corporate liability, secondary liability, and the status of…
Egypt's interim prime minister Hazem Beblawi gives an interview to a journalist from the Agence France-Presse at his office in Cairo on November 24, 2013 as Egypt's interim president approved a controversial law regulating demonstrations. The Egyptian flag stands behind his chair.

Parsing an Immunity Decision at the Heart of U.S.-Egypt Relations  

A suit between a US citizen and the former PM of Egypt raises sticky questions of diplomatic immunity - and tees up a potential constitutional clash between the executive and judiciary.…
Bosnian families follow the final verdict hearing of the former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic also known as the "Butcher of Bosnia" in the ethnic cleansing case by the International Criminal Tribunal, from a screen at Srebrenica Genocide Memorial in Potocari in Srebrenica, Bosnia And Herzegovina on June 08, 2021.

The Mladić Appeal Judgment and the Enduring Legacy of the Hague Tribunals

The Mladić case offers an opportunity to assess not only the judgment itself, but also the legacy of the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
A pillar of smoke rises among destroyed buildings after a US-led airstrike in Mosul. July 9, 2017

Toward a True Account of Collateral Damage in U.S. Military Operations

The Pentagon reports annually on how many civilians were killed in U.S. operations, but silent on damage to civilian homes, markets and other civilian infrastructure vital to human…
The Courtroom of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg with empty chairs. A banner at the front reads, “European Court of Human Rights” and the carpet in front of the bench shows the circle of stars against blue such as is on the European Union flag.

The Méndez Principles: A Focus on the Exclusionary Rule

To eliminate interrogation abuses, consistently bar all information gained via torture or cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.
A displaced Syrian family breaks their fast together for the sunset "iftar" meal during Ramadan. They sit in the middle of the rubble of their destroyed home. May 4, 2020, Ariha, Idlib province

The UN Has Options Beyond the Security Council for Cross-Border Aid to Syria

Security Council approval for cross-border aid expires July 10. Can the UN continue aid operations without Council authorization?
An Ehiopian woman, who fled the Ethiopia's Tigray conflict as a refugee, sits on a water container at Um Raquba refugee camp in Gedaref, eastern Sudan, on December 1, 2020. Other refugees walk or stand nearby, some also carrying water containers. The sun crosses the horizon in the background casting the people in the photo as silhouettes.

With Deliberate Famine Threatening Millions, Tigray Demands Greater Action from the US

As a man-made famine endangers millions of lives, it is urgent the Biden administration intensify pressure on the Ethiopian government beyond the sanctions it has already put in…
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