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.
3,521 Articles
Crossing the Line from Use of Force to Torture in Response to Peaceful Demonstrations
Editor’s note from Ryan Goodman: Just Security is publishing a mini-forum on a significant document being drafted by the United Nations Human Rights Committee concerning the…
Afghanistan Papers, the Miniseries, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bombshell
The Washington Post describes the story as uncovering a widespread effort by U.S. officials to “conceal the truth” about the war. A close reading shows that's not the case.
Pentagon Deployment of New, “More Usable” Nuclear Weapon Is a Grave Mistake
DoD now acknowledges it has deployed a new, sea-based nuclear warhead capability. But the administration’s stated rationale for the new weapon is deeply flawed, and the decision…
US Should Think Again About Reversing Landmine Policy
The Trump administration announced Friday that the United States will re-start using and producing antipersonnel landmines. The new policy follows the U.S. retreat from multilateralism…
The Draft General Comment on Freedom of Assembly: Might Less Be More?
Former member of the UN Human Rights Committee, Harvard's Gerald Neuman, critically analyzes the Committee's draft document on peaceful assembly.
The Right of Peaceful Assembly: UN Committee Weighs in on the ‘Age of Protest’
The second in our series published on the UN draft document, with opportunity for public comments.
Behind Myanmar’s Military Alibi: A Path for Compliance with the ICJ’s Order to Protect Rohingya
It will be important to identify the pathways for Myanmar to comply within a governmental system that gives its military extensive autonomy, while not allowing it to hide behind…
Myanmar’s Commission Report Delivers Genocide Denial Playbook
Ignoring such propaganda only risks undermining efforts to stop atrocities.
Human Shielding (by Omission) in Iran
Iran violated its legal obligations to take passive precautions to protect civilians under its control, with the intent that those civilians shield military targets from attack.…
U.K. Proposes to Limit Accountability for Violations by Armed Forces
The British government is considering an unprecedented and comprehensive package of measures designed to shield both individual members of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of…
United Nations Sets Standards on Peaceful Assemblies and the Use of Less Lethal Weapons
Just Security is publishing a mini-forum on a significant document being drafted by the United Nations Human Rights Committee. We are honored to launch the series with this article…
Saudi Crackdown on Dissent Violates Kingdom’s International Legal Obligations
The prosecution of Salman Alodah, a reform-minded Saudi scholar, is particularly emblematic of Saudi Arabia's worrisome pattern of suppressing dissent.