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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3,503 Articles
Just Security

Letter to the Editor: Response to Human Rights in Armed Conflict, Part I

In a previous post, I raised numerous concerns with Prof. Adil Haque’s novel proposal that lowers the threshold for determining what constitutes a non-international armed conflict…
Just Security

Human Rights in Armed Conflict, Part II

In my previous post, I took seriously Jonathan Horowitz’s concern that some States believe that the application of international humanitarian law (IHL) may displace or reduce…
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is flanked by his wife Lynne and Israel's President Moshe Katsav when leaders from 30 countries gather to remember the victims of the Holocaust on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazis' Auschwitz death camp by Soviet troops in Oswiecim, southern Poland on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2005. At left is Jolana Kwasniewski, the wife of Poland's President. Others surround them standing or sitting in chairs. Everyone wears coats and hats in the snowy weather.

Foreign Gov’t Assistance to Trump Administration Policies: What Int’l Law Prohibits

The policies of the incoming Trump Administration may spell legal trouble for cooperation between the United States and its allies in important areas of national security. One…

Questions for the Defense Department’s General Counsel

On Monday, Nov. 28 at 6 p.m., Jennifer O’Connor, general counsel of the Department of Defense, is giving a talk at NYU School of Law on “Applying the Law of Targeting to the…
Just Security

Smith v. Obama: The Political Question Doctrine Misapplied

Having joined The Constitution Project in an amicus brief in Smith v. Obama, I am disappointed the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia decided to dismiss the case…
Just Security

Human Rights in Armed Conflict, Part I

When powerful States adopt a mistaken view of international law, should we—scholars, practitioners, and activists—resist their view and insist on our own? Or should we regard…

More Options for Africa under the Rome Statute

African delegations attending the ongoing annual meeting of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague have been voicing serious concerns…
Soldiers torture a person lying on the ground using the “water detail” method in May, 1901, in Sual, the Philippines. “It is a terrible torture,” one soldier wrote. "This kind of torture is not identical with the practice of "waterboarding", as it lacks the cloth or other cover of the mouth.”

Will Trump Bring Back Torture? Not if He Learns from the Past and Follows the Law

Since Donald Trump’s election victory last week, attention has turned to figuring out which promises he will keep and which he will abandon. Regarding torture, there have been…
Just Security

Letter to the Editor: Chatham House Report and Individual Criminal Liability of Gov’t Officials

To the Editor: The Chatham House paper on “Aiding and Assisting: Challenges in Armed Conflict and Counterterrorism,” (see, State Complicity in Other States’ Bad Acts—and…

Trump’s Whistleblowers—Whether Limited Pardons for Manning and Snowden Makes Sense Now

Whatever you might have previously thought about the notion of President Barack Obama pardoning Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, the election of Donald Trump changes everything.…
Just Security

How Should Governments Evaluate the Actions of States They Assist?

Just Security and Chatham House are hosting a “mini forum” to debate and discuss Chatham House’s new research paper on “Aiding and Assisting: Challenges in Armed Conflict…
A view of the European Court of Human Rights courtroom as it sits empty.

Accountability for States’ Assisting Other States’ Wrongful Acts: The Superior Effectiveness of Human Rights Norms

Just Security and Chatham House are hosting a “mini forum” to debate and discuss Chatham House’s new research paper on “Aiding and Assisting: Challenges in Armed Conflict…
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