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.
3,518 Articles
The Worst of the Worst? What al-Shamiri’s Case Tells Us About Gitmo Detainees
Earlier this month, the US government revealed that Guantánamo detainee Mustafa al-Aziz al-Shamiri was a low-level fighter, not the al-Qaeda courier and trainer the government…
Human Shields: The Dialogue Continues
As avid readers of Just Security may recall, last summer Professor Adil Ahmad Haque and I engaged in an animated discussion about the new Defense Department Law of War Manual’s…
War-Sustaining Activities and Direct Participation in the DOD Law of War Manual
In a recent post on Lawfare, Butch Bracknell discussed the use of leaflets by the United States to warn truck drivers transporting oil for ISIL of an impending attack. Bracknell…
Don’t Forget the Other Legal Issues in the 9/11 Trial
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
Military Commissions and Fairness
My friend Marty Lederman provides a lot of fascinating commentary about the en banc rehearing in the Al-Bahlul case (here and here). I’d like to focus on just part of Marty’s…
The Schiff AUMF: It’s even better than that
I heartily concur in the praise that Jen and Steve, and Jack Goldsmith, have heaped upon the new draft AUMF proposed by Representative Adam Schiff. Indeed, my enthusiasm for…
Rep. Schiff’s Newly-Proposed AUMF: Praise And A Caveat
Over at Lawfare, Jack Goldsmith praises Adam Schiff’s newly-proposed Consolidated Authorization to Use Military Force. With one important caveat (see below), we share in Jack’s…
On Human Rights Day, One Year On: No Apology and No Accountability for US Torture
A year ago yesterday, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a redacted version of the executive summary of its exhaustive report on the CIA’s detention and interrogation…
European Human Rights Court Deals a Heavy Blow to the Lawfulness of Bulk Surveillance
In a seminal decision updating and consolidating its previous jurisprudence on surveillance, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights took a sideways swing at mass…
A Legal Map of Airstrikes in Syria (Part 2)
Editor’s Note: This is the second post in a two-part series discussing the legal justifications various countries have put forth related to airstrikes in Syria. You can find…
The Government’s Surprising (and Flawed) New Attack on Habeas Corpus in Immigration Cases
These days, most discussions of the US Constitution’s Suspension Clause — and the entitlement to judicial review that it codifies — center upon non-citizen terrorism suspects…
A Legal Map of Airstrikes in Syria (Part 1)
Editor’s Note: This is the first post in a two-part series discussing the legal justifications various countries have put forth related to airstrikes in Syria. You can find…