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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3,511 Articles
Italian marines Massimiliano Latorre (C) and Salvatore Girone (L) arrive with Admiral Luigi Binelli Mantelli (R) at Ciampino airport near Rome, on December 22, 2012.

Part 1 – Tanker, Jailer, Soldier, Sailor: Functional Immunity and the Enrica Lexie Award

At the heart of the Enrica Lexie dispute-- a clash between an Italian tanker and an Indian fishing boat-- lies a question of jurisdictional immunity: was India barred from exercising…
A woman carries jerry cans to fill them up with water at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp for the displaced where families of Islamic State (IS) foreign fighters are held, in the al-Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria on December 9, 2019.

Despite US Veto, Desperate ISIS Suspects and Families Remain at Risk

There is good news and bad news from the recent UN Security Council vote on a dangerously flawed draft resolution on so-called “foreign terrorist fighters."
Pompeo speaks unmasked at a press conferenece on September 2, 2020.

Why Them? On the U.S. Sanctions Against Int’l Criminal Court Officials

What messages is the United States sending by targeting Fatou Bensouda and Phakiso Mochochoko in particular?
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R) holds a joint news conference on the International Criminal Court with US Attorney General William Barr, at the State Department in Washington, DC, on June 11, 2020.

The Int’l Criminal Court Executive Order: Global Reactions Compiled

With the Trump administration poised to issue sanctions under its new executive order aimed at the ICC, Beth Van Schaack gathers key global reactions to the order and identifies…
Broken dishes can be seen in the burned out remains of a house in Myo Thu Gyi Muslim village where houses were burnt to the ground near Maungdaw town in northern Rakhine State on August 31, 2017.

Anniversary of Genocidal Attacks on Rohingya Reminds Us They Are Still at Risk

"We come together as a Rohingya woman and a descendant of Holocaust survivors to reckon with the unconscionable crimes the Rohingya community has faced, and affirm the obligations…
Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jorge Alberto Arreaza holds the Charter of the United Nations during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Caracas, on January 28, 2019.

The UN Charter’s Original Effect on State Sovereignty and the Use of Force

In 1945, not all states were UN members and not all territories were states: Dehn explains how use of force and self-defense rights under the Charter reflect these different statuses…
Graffiti showing a US drone is depicted on a wall to protest against US drone strikes on September 19, 2018 in Sana'a, Yemen.

State Dept. Inspector General Report: A Troubling Message on Arms Sales

"A stunning revelation given the repeated, severe cases of civilian casualties resulting from Saudi-led Coalition operations over the past several years."
An aerial view San Quentin State Prison on July 08, 2020 in San Quentin, California.

Hardwired Against Change: Race, Incarceration, and COVID-19

"Given the unique risks of exposure, infection, and death in prisons, jails and detention centers, challenging carceral secrecy is even more important than ever in the midst of…
A facility believed to be a re-education camp where mostly Muslim ethnic minorities are detained, north of Akto in China's northwestern Xinjiang region.

Policy Options in Response to Crimes Against Humanity and Potential Genocide in Xinjiang

The international community can unite in myriad ways to end the stunningly sweeping abuses China is committing against Uyghurs.
The U.S. Supreme Court at night.

The Supreme Court’s Attack on Habeas Corpus in DHS v. Thuraissigiam

Refugees are the primary target of the Court’s decision in DHS v. Thuraissigiam, but the the opinion endangers everyone – U.S. citizens included – by reopening settled questions…
First Nations protestors man a barricade on Highway 6 near Caledonia, Ontario which the protestors set up in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs and the Tyendinaga Mohawks on February 26, 2020.

Post-Pandemic Canada: “At the Mercy of the Indian Race”?

Last winter, before the COVID-19 pandemic dominated headlines, Canada was already in the midst of a national crisis. This crisis stemmed from Indigenous opposition to the construction…

Two Regional Human Rights Tribunals Forge Ahead Despite Trump’s Attacks on International Institutions

Regional bodies have crucial opportunities in the coming months to address the violations imposed upon men subjected to the post-9/11 extraordinary rendition program.
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