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

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…

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)…

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…

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.

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?

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…

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…

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…

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…