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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3,695 Articles
Trump, trailed by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (R) and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (2nd R), walks to the Rose Garden to make a statement about U.S. relations with China at the White House May 29, 2020.

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.
Press Briefing by Ms. E. Tendayi Achiume, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance

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…
Members of the Bavarian police and the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, intercept a vehicle and pin a man to the ground at a checkpoint during a demonstration as part of the GETEX anti-terror exercises during a media event on March 9, 2017 in Murnau, Germany.

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…
The entrance near the new courtroom at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

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…
Syrian defendants Anwar Raslan (L), 57, and Eyad al-Gharib (R), 43, wait in the courtroom before the start of an unprecedented trial on state-sponsored torture in Syria, on April 23, 2020 at court in Koblenz, western Germany.

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…
The 73rd anniversary memorial service for the atomic bomb victims at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on August 6, 2018.

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.
Syrian men evacuate children from the rubble of destroyed buildings following reported government airstrike on the rebel-held town of Douma, on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus, on February 25, 2017.

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 logo of the World Health Organization (WHO).

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.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO General Director leads a virtual press conference on COVID-19. A tablet shows the press conference, and a computer screen in the background shows the virus.

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,…
A person on a ship faces a migrant boat-tent as the ship moves closer towards it. The sky is dark and the life boat tent is lit up to give an orange glow.

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.
Omaima A, the widow of high-ranking Islamic State member Denis Cuspert, arrives for the first day of her trial on May 4, 2020 in Hamburg, Germany.

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…
Stacked Files On Table

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…
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