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
Understanding Complicity: When the US Makes a “Substantial Contribution” to War Crimes Committed by Foreign Partners
With power comes responsibility. In their new duties, Trump administration officials will need to consider the legal hazards associated with supporting foreign military partners…
How the European Convention on Human Rights Limits Cooperation with the Trump Administration
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump repeatedly promised to keep the Guantanamo Bay detention facility open and to “load it up with some bad dudes.” He also pledged to bring…
How News Media Can Get Misled by Tough Talk on Killing Terrorists
Image: US airstrike with 2,000lb bombs on ISIS bank in Mosul, Jan. 11, 2016 – CENTCOM Less than a half hour after Donald Trump took the oath of office on Friday, ABC News…
UK Supreme Court: Parliament Must Authorize Brexit Talks
The UK Supreme Court this morning ruled that the government of British Prime Minister Theresa May cannot initiate talks with Brussels about the kingdom’s withdrawal from…
Trump’s First Drone Strikes: How to Measure His Approach to Transparency and Accountability
The first drone strikes under President Donald Trump were reportedly launched just a day after his inauguration. According to the New York Times, 17 people were killed in three…
Obama Admin: Only One Civilian Killed by U.S. Outside of War Zones in 2016
On the eve of the inauguration of a new president, the Director of National Intelligence released a report (full text) that summarizes the number of military strikes taken by the…
The UK Supreme Court’s Landmark Judgment Belhaj v. Straw: A View From the United States
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom gave its judgment in Belhaj v. Straw and Rahmatullah v. Ministry of Defence, two human rights cases brought against UK officials…
A Right to Fight?
Do the laws of war give soldiers a right to fight, irrespective of their cause and free from other constraints? Or are the laws of war merely one set of constraints among others?…
Why the Cartwright Pardon is More Important Than the Manning Commutation
Today’s news of President Obama’s decision to commute most of the rest of Chelsea Manning’s 35-year prison sentence has received (and will receive) significant…
UK Supreme Court Judgment on Extra-Territorial Detention in Iraq and Afghanistan
Today, the UK Supreme Court gave judgment (full text) in the joined appeals of Al Waheed v Ministry of Defence and Serdar Mohammed v Ministry of Defence (in which I represented…
UK Supreme Court Issues Two Major Decisions—On cooperation with CIA interrogations and on military detention
On Tuesday, the UK Supreme Court issued two important judgments, which will affect the power of the British government to carry out certain national security policies and, in turn,…
The United Kingdom’s “Modern Law of Self-Defence”—Part III
On Wednesday, Jeremy Wright QC MP, the Attorney General of the United Kingdom, delivered an important speech laying out his government’s view of the international law governing…