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.
3,700 Articles
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…
Non-Self-Executing Treaties in the Draft Restatement of Foreign Relations Law
At its annual meeting on May 18–20, the American Law Institute (ALI) will consider portions of a draft Restatement (Fourth) of Foreign Relations Law. Unfortunately, the most…
Lessons From the North: Omar Khadr’s Release on Bail in Canada
UPDATE: The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled on May 14 that the U.S. military commission that convicted Omar Khadr sentenced him as a juvenile and not, as the Canadian…
The Relationship Between Context and Proportionality: A Reply to Cohen and Shany
I am honored that Deans Amichai Cohen and Yuval Shany, both superb scholars that I hold in the highest regard, have responded to the Just Security post I wrote with my colleague…
Why not, Secretary Carter?
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has announced that a U.S. drone strike recently killed one of AQAP’s senior commanders, Nasr Ibn Ali al-Ansi. This would, of course,…
New Poll: American Support for Drone Strikes Plummets When Innocent US Civilians Killed [Updated]
A 2009 US Air Force photo shows an armed MQ-9 Reaper drone taxiing in Kandahar, Afghanistan. US policymakers need to know the answer to a simple question about American attitudes…
Contextualizing Proportionality Analysis? A Response to Schmitt and Merriam on Israel’s Targeting Practices
In a recent post on this blog, Michael Schmitt and John Merriam discussed Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL), based on their recent visit to Israel…
Warfare and “Judicial Imperialism” in the UK
Last month, British think tank Policy Exchange published a report criticizing the rise of “judicial imperialism” in the context of British military operations, titled Clearing…