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.
3,510 Articles

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…

A Pandemic Isn’t the Only Kind of “Catastrophic Risk.” It’s Time to Prepare More Seriously for the Next.
If any good is to come of this crisis, it must be an increased awareness of America’s vulnerability -- and what it takes to prepare.

Opening Pandora’s Box: New “Threats” in the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy
How should the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy respond to “new threats” of “terrorism"?

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…

The Sixth United Nations GGE and International Law in Cyberspace
Top expert analysis of the much-anticipated report that provides consensus views among key States on the application of international law to cyberspace.

A Legacy of Unrecognized Harm: DoD’s 2020 Civilian Casualties Report
The Pentagon report appears to defy the congressional requirement to report on civilian casualties “that were confirmed, or reasonably suspected, to have resulted in civilian…

Oxford Statement on International Law Protections in Cyberspace: The Regulation of Information Operations and Activities
The Internet has allowed the dissemination of content across the globe in a matter of seconds. Recommendation algorithms, found in social media platforms and search engines, have…

The 2021 Gaza War and the Limits of International Humanitarian Law
"As long as international humanitarian law is unable to acknowledge the structural injustice of the situation—the asymmetry, the horror—discussions of these cases in the technical…

The Méndez Principles: Leadership to Transform Interrogation via Science, Law, and Ethics
New guidance points the way to scientifically sound, lawful, human rights-compliant, and effective practices.

Controlling the Lens of History: From Tulsa to the Capitol Mob
(Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Just Security series on the hundredth anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, with more essays in the following days.) The centennial…