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.
3,695 Articles
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…
Understanding the “end of war” dispute in the al Warafi habeas case
Attorneys for Mukhtar Yahia Naji al Warafi have filed their reply brief in the habeas action challenging al Warafi’s continued military detention at Guantánamo. As I have previously explained,…
Casualties and Polls: Some Observations
In a recent post provocatively entitled “New Poll: American Support for Drone Strikes Plummets When Innocent US Civilians Killed,” Just Security’s editor Ryan Goodman energetically…
UK High Court: UK Gov’t can be Held Liable for Abuse of Detainees in U.S. custody in 2003-2011 Iraq conflict
Earlier this week, the U.K. High Court handed down a further judgment in the ongoing litigation brought on behalf of hundreds of Iraqi civilians against the British government—holding…
What Civilians Themselves Say about Targeting and their Participation in Conflict
“What I think is that there is no line at all … Civilians can turn into fighters at any time. Anybody can change from a fighter to a civilian, all in one day, all in one moment.”…
Polish Outrage to Paying Victims of CIA Black Sites—and What the Eur Court Said
Poland will be paying a quarter of a million dollars to two Guantánamo detainees, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. The payment arises in the context of the torture of…