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.
3,496 Articles

The Ridiculous GTMO Counsel-Stripping Amendment: An Easy Vote
[UPDATE: The Amendment failed by a vote of 133-297.] Steve has already described the likely constitutional problems with the latest Guantanamo amendment designed to strip funding…

Why the Latest Ridiculous Guantánamo Amendment is Almost Certainly Unconstitutional
Later today, the House of Representatives appears set to vote on the following amendment to the Department of Defense appropriations bill, sponsored by Missouri Congressman Jason…

An Important New Filing in the Continuing Saga of Mohamedou Ould Slahi
This morning, lawyers for Guantánamo detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi–the international best-selling author of “Guantánamo Diary”–filed a new motion in the…

No Torture Means No Torture – Why We Need the McCain-Feinstein Anti-Torture Amendment
Do we mean what we say when we ban torture? That has been a question for more than a decade, ever since President George W. Bush, on United Nations International Day in Support…

The Senate’s Guantánamo Bill: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
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…

Three Problems With Judge Brown’s Opinion in Tuaua
On Friday, I promised to write more about the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Tuaua v. United States, in which the three-judge panel (Brown, Silberman, & Sentelle, JJ.)…

Text of the Senate Bill for Closing Guantánamo Plus White House’s Veto Recommendation
This week, the full Senate is considering the proposed Fiscal Year 2016 Defense Authorization bill, the text of which was very recently made public. While the bill covers billions…

The apparent end of the “gag orders” for GTMO detainees
Back in February, I explained that the protective orders in two Military Commissions cases had been amended to now permit the defendants and their counsel to speak publicly about…

Guest Post: Is There an International Duty to Use More Accurate Weapons?
In the heated debate about drones, relatively little attention has been given to their use by the US military to carry out attacks in battlefield zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq,…

al Warafi’s active hostilities
As Marty Lederman’s earlier post explains, a D.C. district court is now considering the habeas petition of Guantanamo detainee Mukhtar Yahia Naji al Warafi, found in an earlier…

A Veteran’s Perspective on “Killer Robots”
Technological advances in robotics and other fields are already assisting soldiers with dull, dirty, and dangerous jobs on the battlefield. Within the military such advances should…

Public Opinion, International Law, and Drone Strikes: Some Reflections
We commend Professor Charles Dunlap for his excellent recent post on international law and public support for drone strikes. As he notes, there are many points of agreement between…