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.
3,707 Articles
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…
Once again: “Which agency?” and “How secret?” are separate and independent questions
Karen DeYoung has a story in the Post this morning about an ongoing debate on the Hill concerning whether the CIA “should be in the drone business at all, or if such lethal…
US Needs to Stop Tiptoeing Around the “Killer Robots” Threat
When it comes to banning “killer robots,” the United States is going to take some convincing. That was one major take-away from April’s multilateral meeting on the matter…
Letters to the Editor on End-of-War Claims from Guantánamo Detainees
My post from last Thursday has provoked a pair of letters-to-the-editor from lawyers for current and former Guantánamo detainees. Below the fold, I reprint them in full, and…
The Perverse and Unintended Consequences of Serdar Mohammed v. Defence
An important case in the United Kingdom (Serdar Mohammed v. Defence) and a major statement by the UN Human Rights Committee (General Comment 35) come to the wrong legal conclusion:…
We Need a Full, Transparent Review of the US Targeted Killing Program
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…