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
Them’s Fightin’ Words? State Dept. Ramps Up Iran Rhetoric
The Trump administration's repeated use of the phrase, “threat to international peace and security,” when talking about Iran, should be monitored carefully.
Criminalizing Speech to Protect Religious Peace? The ECtHR Ruling in E.S. v. Austria
It is 2008. A far-right party in Austria hosts seminars that are free to attend and advertised to the public. The subject of one such seminar series is “Basic Information on…
Three Takeaways from Russia’s Latest Criminal Charges Against Bill Browder
On Monday, Russian prosecutors announced new charges against U.S.-born British financier Bill Browder. For years, the Kremlin has targeted Browder using Interpol’s “red notice”…
A Long Time Coming: Understanding the Landmark Ruling from the Khmer Rouge Trials
On Friday morning in Phnom Penh, the Trial Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)—more commonly known as the Khmer Rouge Trials―delivered a…
The Pentagon Put Someone in Charge of Its Civilian Casualty Policy. Now What?
For all the time and attention that the Defense Department has rightly spent addressing civilian casualties, no single official at the Pentagon has ever been formally charged with…
‘Tactic to Terrorize’: Child Abduction in Cameroon Must Stop
On November 5, around 78 students were kidnapped from a school in Cameroon, allegedly by separatist rebels. The students were released days later, but the story does not end there…
“Protecting Children”: A Welcome Addition to Efforts to Redress Wartime Harms
[This essay is the second in an online mini forum that Just Security is hosting on the new book, Protecting Children in Armed Conflict. Other participants in the mini forum include…
Need for Change to Protect Children in Armed Conflict
[This essay by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Shaheed Fatima QC is the opening of an online mini forum that Just Security is hosting on their new book, Protecting Children in…
Why the ICC Investigation of Forced Displacement in Myanmar Is a Big Deal
In September, Fatou Bensouda, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), announced that she was opening a preliminary examination of forcible deportations of the…
Accountability Fatigue: A Human Rights Law Problem for Armed Forces?
Brigadier-General (ret.) Ken Watkin in conversation with General (ret.) David Petraeus' remarks about human rights law and military policies.
How Dangerous—and How New—Is the Defense Department’s “Collective Self-Defense” Theory?
The Defense Department’s reliance on a broad interpretation of “collective self-defense” appears to authorize military operations further removed from congressional approval…
The 2018 Annual Report of the U.N. International Law Commission
The U.N. International Law Commission’s 2018 annual report is being debated from October 22 to 31 before the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the U.N. General Assembly. Sean Murphy,…