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.
3,695 Articles

Trump’s Empty “Withdrawal” from the World Health Organization
WHO withdrawal can't take legal effect until mid-2021 per federal law. That plus other formidable legal obstacles may yet stand in Trump's way.

A Conversation With U.N. Special Rapporteur E. Tendayi Achiume: COVID-19, Racism, and Xenophobia
Editor’s Note: This piece is part of Just Security‘s United Nations Special Rapporteurs on #COVID-19 series, in which mandate holders offer their views on pressing…

The Terrorist as a “Potentially Dangerous Person”: The German Counterterrorism Regime
The attack on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz in December 2016 was arguably Germany’s 9/11. While German anti-terrorism law previously was influenced “only” by international…

Jurisdiction at Guantanamo: The Case of Long-Term Complicity
The commission should stop asking whether the acts of facilitation occurred during an armed conflict. Rather, the commission should be asking whether the defendants facilitated…

What Counts as State Practice? The Koblenz Trial and Functional Immunity
The Prosecutor, by commencing proceedings against Raslan and Al Gharib, along with in other cases where arrest warrants against Syrian State officials were issued, has already…

Nuclear Arms Control, or a New Arms Race? Trump Seems Bent on the Latter.
More ambitious talks with the Russians and Chinese are a laudable goal. But they can be pursued smartly and without unnecessarily high risk.

Time to Move Beyond the Rhetoric of Protecting Civilians in Conflict
In his annual protection report to the United Nations Security Council, released this month, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has issued a clear call to parties to conflict…

The US Cannot Withdraw from the WHO Without First Paying Its Dues
President Donald Trump must choose between freezing US contributions to the World Health Organization and following through on his threat of withdrawal. He cannot do both.

National Security at the United Nations This Week (May 15-22)
(Editor’s Note: This is the latest in Just Security’s weekly series keeping readers up to date on developments at the United Nations at the intersection of national security,…

Tents at Sea: How Greek Officials Use Rescue Equipment for Illegal Deportations
Niamh Keady-Tabbal and Itamar Mann expose the latest Greek abuse of migrants: forcing them onto rafts and leaving them adrift in the Aegean.

A Lost Phone Brings a Female ISIS Returnee to Trial for Crimes Against Humanity
Almost six years have passed since the genocide against the Yazidis, an ethno-religious minority group in Northern Iraq, and one of the first trials against a female ISIS returnee…

Mapping the Proliferation of Human Rights Bodies’ Guidance on COVID-19 Mitigation
When multiple bodies – especially intergovernmental organizations or oversight bodies within the same system – offer separate guidance on the same topics without coordinating…