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
Fifth Circuit on Extraterritorial Application of Fourth and Fifth Amendments
On the heels of this morning’s Fourth Circuit decision in the Abu Ghraib case comes another significant circuit-level decision–this one from the Fifth Circuit. The…
Fourth Circuit Holds Abu Ghraib Torture Claims Not Barred by Kiobel
Although it will likely be overtaken by the news set to come out of the Supreme Court later this morning, the Fourth Circuit has handed down a very big decision in the ongoing…
Abu Khattalah and the Evolution of Ship-Based Detention
The N.Y. Times reports that Ahmed Abu Khattalah arrived in Washington, D.C., this morning by helicopter following his transport across the Atlantic on a Navy warship. Khattalah,…
The importance (and difficulty) of the Stimson Task Force transparency recommendations . . . and a couple of legal corrections
Like Steve, I strongly recommend to Just Security readers the report on drone policy that the Stimson Task Force published yesterday. The report is very thoughtful and balanced,…
You Can’t Have an “Associated Force” with No Core
There has been lots of commentary already on the newly-released (but heavily-redacted) OLC opinion, so I’ll focus mine on a key point I haven’t yet seen made. The OLC memo…
The OLC’s Drone Memo and International Law’s Ascendance
The long-awaited release of the redacted July 16, 2010 OLC memo is anticlimactic in important respects. Much is still unknown to the point that it is difficult, if not impossible,…
On the Benefits of Transparency: Why So Long to Disclose Drone Memo?
Monday’s release of the previously secret July 2010 Justice Department memo laying out the legal case for killing US citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, has sparked a wide range of reactions,…
Reflections on What the Drone Memo Does and Doesn’t Say
There is already a lot of commentary on the OLC drone memo, and likely more to come. Here, I just want to highlight three key issues that should be part of the mix: #1: Issues…
The Constitutional Question the Drone Memo Didn’t—and Couldn’t—Answer
Yesterday’s release of the Office of Legal Counsel’s “drone memo” (which, at some point, we should stop referring to in the singular) has provoked an understandable…
DOJ OLC Targeted Killing Memo Released
This morning the 2nd Circuit published a redacted version of the long-sought Department of Justice OLC memo that authorized the killing of U.S. citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki. We’ve…
Backgrounder for Release of OLC’s Targeted Killing Memo
As Jameel discussed in an important post—“The Drone Memo Cometh”—the Second Circuit appears poised to publish the Office of Legal Counsel’s memorandum on the targeted…
GTMO Transfer Bans Run Amok
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a disturbing provision that was added at the last minute to the Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the National Defense Authorization…