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

Secretary Pompeo: More Russia Sanctions Are Coming … Sometime

This article is cross-posted at Steptoe International Compliance Blog. On February 13, 2019, the State Department provided a summary of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent…
Judges Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, Bertram Schmitt and Raul Pangalangan sit in the courtroom prior to the sentencing of Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba and his accomplices before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, The Netherlands, on March 22, 2017.

ICC Judge Schmitt Counsels Resilience to Preserve International Justice

Editor’s note: At a difficult time for the International Criminal Court (ICC)—criticism over recent rulings, resistance from current and prospective members, and threats from…

The Pentagon’s Latest Report on Civilian Casualties Policy

Late on Friday night, the Pentagon submitted to Congress and publicly released a 17-page report required under the 2019 John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)…
A Syrian woman hangs laundry in Raqa in the midst of collapsing buildings.

General Comment 36: A Missed Opportunity?

General Comment 36 on the human right to life under article 6 of the ICCPR adopts the view that both international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL) apply during…
International Human Rights Unit seal reads, "No Safe Haven - Criminal Investigative Division"

EXCLUSIVE: FBI’s War Crimes Unit on the Chopping Block

The FBI's International Human Rights Unit may be dissolved, according to US officials. Here's why that's a bad idea, writes Beth Van Schaack.
Murdered women’s shoes are seen during a demonstration demanding justice for the 5.929 women killed in the past 15 years in Honduras, in the framework of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women which was commemorated on the eve worldwide, in Tegucigalpa, on November 26, 2018.

Gendered Security and the Right to Life: Analysis of UN Human Rights Committee’s General Comment

UN human rights body goes far in recognizing how gender and women's rights intersect with (national) security issues, but far enough?
A general view taken on September 10, 2018 during the opening day of the 39th UN Council of Human Rights at the UN Offices in Geneva.

Targeted Killing and the Right to Life: A Structural Framework

Shaheed Fatima Q.C., analyzes the recently issued "General Comment 36" of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which sets forth a legal framework under human rights law for…
Portraits of victims mark the memorial to the Islamic State (ISIS) massacre of 1,700 Shiite Air Force cadets from Camp Speicher beneath a bridge where victims were shot and their bodies thrown into the Tigris River by the Sunni jihadist group in Tikrit, Iran, on November 10, 2016.

Bringing ISIS to Justice: Running Out of Time?

The international community and key actors in Syria and Iraq need to develop a coherent plan to bring ISIS members to account for war crimes, not just counterterrorism crimes,…

What to Make of the Pentagon’s Internal Civilian Casualties Review, and What Comes Next

Breaking analysis of a new Department of Defense report on civilian casualties in the CENTCOM and AFRICOM areas of operation from 2015-2017: the key takeaways, major gaps, and…
Numerous national flags are seen in front of the United Nations Office (UNOG) on June 8, 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Human Rights, Deprivation of Life and National Security: Q&A with Christof Heyns and Yuval Shany on General Comment 36

In a Q&A with Ryan Goodman, Christof Heyns and Yuval Shany, members of the UN Human Rights Committee, examine the national security implications of General Comment 36 -- the Committee’s…

Syria Found Liable for the Death of War Correspondent Marie Colvin

Judge Amy Berman Jackson, of the D.C. District Court, has unsealed a $302 million judgment against the Syrian Arab Republic, finding it liable for the assassination of intrepid…
Syrian soldiers stand atop a tank deployed at a position in the village of Qart Saghir northwest of the northern town of Manbij, near the frontline with forces from the Turkey-backed Euphrates Shield alliance, on January 12, 2019.

Calibrating the Compass of Proportionality

This article is part of our joint symposium with EJIL: Talk! on Chatham House’s “Proportionality in the Conduct of Hostilities” Report. Chatham House’s newly published…
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