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.
3,494 Articles
Targeting Al-Shabaab’s Godane is not the same as targeting Al-Shabaab
On Monday, the US military conducted an airstrike in Somalia, in which the primary target was reportedly Ahmed Abdi Godane, the leader of the militant group Al-Shabaab. Based…
ISIL = Genocide?
As we have discussed, the United States has launched further military action in Iraq. These operations follow limited airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant…
International Law on Airstrikes against ISIS in Syria
The administration is actively considering the option of using military force against ISIS in Syria. As the New York Times editorial board states today: “The United States, however,…
Australia’s collateral damage in the US drone program
In the last few years there has been a hotly contested global debate about the civilian impact of the U.S. drone strike program and its moral and legal justifications. Despite…
Hope for Yemeni Detainees?
Over at Politico, Josh Gerstein reports that the Obama administration has broken its self-imposed suspension of transfers to Yemen and sent two long-term detainees from U.S. military…
New Development in Palestinian bid to Join International Criminal Court
Reports this week indicate that the Hamas leadership has signed a pledge to support any move by the Palestinian Authority to become a state party to the International Criminal…
Official Act Immunity and the Singh Case
At Lawfare, John Bellinger has commented on Judge Boasberg’s August 19 ruling that former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is immune from suit for human rights abuses in…
Cert. petition in Ali accepts Justice Breyer’s invitation
As I posted back in April, Justice Breyer issued a statement respecting denial of certiorari in the case of Hussain v. Obama in which he more or less invited Guantánamo habeas…
Did the U.S. drone strike and secretly compensate Yemeni civilians?
New documentary evidence has emerged indicating that the families of those killed in a controversial December 2013 U.S. strike in Yemen received upwards of $1 million dollars in…
The Weapons Piece of the Proportionality Analysis in Gaza
Significant commentary (here and here) continues to be generated about proportionality and the legality of the use of force, including addressing the jus ad bellum (justification…
Untold History of the Torture Program
In this morning’s Los Angeles Times, Larry Siems and I have an op-ed about the soldiers and public servants who tried to expose and end the torture program. It begins: After…
More focus on jus ad bellum in Gaza
More than 1900 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, hundreds of thousands are displaced and the material destructions are formidable. There have been several claims that Israel…