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.
3,737 Articles
Federal Court: US Can Extradite Ex-El Salvador Official to Spain for Jesuits Massacre
On Monday, U.S. federal judge Terrence Boyle ruled that Inocente Orlando Montano Morales (Montano)—who headed El Salvador’s National Police as Vice Minister for Public Security…
The ICC’s New Libya Case: Extraterritorial Evidence for an Extraterritorial Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced last week that it had issued a new arrest warrant for Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf Al-Werfalli, a militia leader in Libya. Al-Werfalli…
Aggression, Armed Conflict, and the Right to Life: Does UN Human Rights Committee Get it Right?
Is it possible to respect the human right to life in the context of war? Or does war, by its very nature, involve the arbitrary deprivation of life? Last month, the United Nations…
In the U.S.-U.K. Deal, Both Sides Deserve Scrutiny
We recently published an analysis in Lawfare of the United Kingdom’s surveillance framework as it relates to the proposed U.S.-U.K. agreement for cross-border law enforcement…
No, the U.S. Is Not Bombing ISIS Prisons on Some Theory Prison Labor Contributes to ISIS’s Economy
A recent post at Lawfare—titled “The Al-Mayadeen Prison Bombing and the Problem of War-Sustaining Targets”—suggests that the U.S. military may have struck a prison in Syria…
The Important Legal Questions Regarding the Now-Shuttered “Covert” Program to Arm Syrian Rebels
Mark Mazzetti, Adam Goldman and Michael Schmidt report: The end came quickly for one of the costliest covert action programs in the history of the C.I.A. During a White House briefing…
The National Security Law Podcast: Military Commissions, Military Officers in the Cabinet, the Laws of War, and More
This week’s episode certainly has a military theme. Professors Chesney and Vladeck start off with a surprisingly (or is it disturbingly?) lengthy discussion of the writ…
Representative Ted Lieu in Defense of Global Justice
As mentioned last week by Jane Stromseth in her terrific post “Why the U.S. needs the Office of Global Criminal Justice Led by a Senate-Confirmed Ambassador-at-Large,” the…
We Are Already in a State of Emergency
As Trump reissues his “lock her up” talk against Hillary Clinton and assaults the Justice Department, FBI, and media, the Brennan Center recently had a prescient meeting about…
Takeaways from this Week’s House AUMF Hearing—on Authorizing War Against ISIS
Wednesday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing entitled “Authorization for the Use of Force and Current Terrorist Threats” was the latest in a string of recent developments concerning…
Lessons From Mosul: How to Reduce Civilian Harm in Urban Warfare
Fighting in densely populated areas poses a number of significant challenges to forces trying to adhere to the rules that govern warfare. Even assuming that international humanitarian…
State Dept. Office of Global Criminal Justice on the Chopping Block–Time to Save It
Word out of Washington is that the Trump Administration has started to restructure the State Department and particularly the Under-Secretariat for Civilian Security, Democracy…