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
On Big Brother Watch v. U.K.: The Future of Surveillance at Two Europe-Wide Courts
A recent opinion by the European Court of Human Rights was more limited than recent decisions concerning surveillance. The European Court of Justice should seize the opportunity…
Contempt Prosecutions Require Comity Between Branches of Government, Now Add Trump
The campaign season for the midterm elections is in full swing, with the Republican majorities in the House and, to a lesser extent, Senate in some peril. Should we have a divided…
Bolstered EU Force Could Help Stabilize Bosnia, as Russia and Elections Close In
On Oct. 7, Bosnia will hold its most contentious and divisive elections since the war that killed 100,000 people in the 1990s. The risk of state disintegration in the immediate…
Why What’s Happening to the Rohingya Is Genocide
If international law creates a right—or even a duty—to respond to massive rights violations, such a right—or duty—has long since been triggered in Myanmar.
Many Problems with Forever War: Being Too Humane Is Not One of Them
A challenge to the notion that increasing humanity in war is a bad thing from two people who work for a non-governmental organization devoted to the protection of civilians.…
What Happened in North Carolina: The State’s Role in U.S. Post-9/11 Rendition and Torture
The North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture (NCCIT) released its 83-page final report this week on the state’s role in U.S. post-9/11 rendition and torture. Drawing…
New U.K. Law Fails European Court Standards on Mass Interception Disclosed by Snowden
The U.K. government trots out its new surveillance legislation as curing the ills identified by the European Court of Human Rights. That's not the case. The Court’s judgment…
To Undermine the ICC, Bolton’s Targets Extend Way Beyond the Court
If the U.S. pressures states to sign new bilateral agreements shielding American personnel from the ICC, officials and civil society in those countries have options other than…
From Sweeping Punishment to Real Justice in Countering Terrorism
A study led by the United Nations University that examined punitive efforts in Iraq, Nigeria, and Somalia shows that too often, nonviolent associates of terror groups who may have…
Does Trump Have Legal Authority to Follow Through on John Bolton’s Threats to the Int’l Criminal Court?
Many observers have already written, on Just Security and elsewhere, of how National Security Advisor John Bolton’s predictable attack on the International Criminal Court…
Bolton, the ICC and the Rohingya
If the U.K. and the U.S. make it a priority, those responsible for the terrible crimes against the Rohingya could be held accountable. But now, with Bolton’s scathing remarks…
Post-9/11 Generation Reaches Enlistment Age in Unmoored ‘War on Terror’
Human Rights First International Legal Counsel Rita Siemion says it's long past time to ensure that war-based authorities are used only when specifically authorized by Congress…