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.
3,512 Articles

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

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…

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 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?

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.

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.