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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3,512 Articles
Supporters of former secretary to the ministry of defence and presidential candidate, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, celebrate outside Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal in Colombo on October 4, 2019, after a petition challenging his Sri Lankan nationality was taken to court and then dismissed.

Sri Lankan War Criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa May Escape Accountability Yet Again, This Time by Running for President

Recent developments in a pair of human rights cases in U.S. federal court against former Sri Lankan Defense Minister and current presidential hopeful Gotabaya (“Gota”) Rajapakse…
Razor wire tops the fence of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay on October 23, 2016 at the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

18 Years After 9/11, Why Is Guantánamo Still Open?

That a child born on that day the planes hit would by now have gained the right to vote, but there has yet to be a trial of the alleged attackers, serves to highlight how painfully…
A police officer on a night patrol in Manila, Philippines wears a helmet and a metal skeleton mask.

On a President’s Orders: New Frontline Docs Look at Duterte and MBS

In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte isn’t pulling the trigger every time a drug dealer or drug user is killed by the police. Similarly, when Saudi journalist Jamal…
American and British flag pair under a magnifier.

The UK-US CLOUD Act Agreement Is Finally Here, Containing New Safeguards

Editor’s note: This piece is cross-posted at Lawfare.  On Oct. 7, the United Kingdom and the United States released the text of the long-awaited data-sharing agreement—the…
A mobile browser unable to connect to Facebook.

Contesting the Legality of Internet Shutdowns

As government communications shutdowns become more frequent, legal challenges citing international human rights law and domestic constitutional protections are also on the rise.…
Binary code lit up in blue lights

An Overview of International Humanitarian Law in France’s New Cyber Document

France's positions explained - with translations of key text - on important issues like the meaning of "attack" and the application of the principles of distinction and proportionality…
US soldiers aim their guns during a ceremony on the outskirts of Kabul on March 15, 2012.

Do Moral Judgments of War Support the Principle of Combatant Equality?: What Empirical Studies Tells Us

Are our moral intuitions about war in line with the crucial principle of combatant equality in the law of armed conflict? A moral psychology study begins mapping out and explaining…
A Saudi female journalist films damage at a market for vehicles on August 27, 2016 in the Saudi border city of Najran, a week after it was struck by a rocket fired from Yemen.

The Yemen Project: Open Source Investigations and the Law of War

An unprecedented open source investigation aids the legal analysis of allegedly unlawful strikes by the Saudi-led coalition, but also has limits in reaching legal conclusions under…
Map of the Middle East with Saudi Arabia in focus with bullets draped across

Yemen Group of Experts’ Report Highlights Need to Halt Arms Sales

The UN Group of Experts’ report on Yemen shows that the U.S (and its allies) have helped create a humanitarian disaster in Yemen and have a duty to help end it, starting by immediately…
Saudi defence ministry spokesman Colonel Turki bin Saleh al-Malki speaks during a press conference in Riyadh on September 18, 2019, following the weekend attacks on Saudi Aramco's facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais.

Saudi Oil Attacks Raise Questions About Nature of Yemen Conflict and Legitimate Military Targets

Do the attacks against Saudi oil facilities change the current classification of the conflict in Yemen? Are oil facilities targetable under IHL?
A map of France with binary computer code.

France’s Major Statement on International Law and Cyber: An Assessment

Leading expert on international law and cyberspace assesses major new position staked out by French government.
Soldier sitting on the sofa during psychological therapy

Guidelines on Investigating Violations of International Humanitarian Law

New Guidelines from the ICRC and Geneva Academy on when and how armed forces must investigate possible law of war violations.
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