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.
3,737 Articles
UN Panel: Blackwater Convictions are the “Exception, not the Rule”
Last week’s Blackwater convictions highlight an urgent need for an international treaty ensuring that private security contractors are held accountable if they commit human rights…
Should Foreign Nationals Get the Same Privacy Protections under NSA Surveillance–or Less (or More)?
When it comes to mass surveillance, should foreign nationals in foreign territory be afforded the same privacy protections as one’s own nationals? According to a recent report…
An Obligation to Prevent Rebel Groups from Committing Atrocities
It’s no secret that several nations (including the United States) are arming or otherwise supporting rebel groups in Syria, and that Russia is doing the same in eastern Ukraine.…
My Agenda as New UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression
This past June, the UN Human Rights Council appointed me special rapporteur on the protection and promotion of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, effective August…
International Agreements—and Disagreements—on Cybersecurity
Russian media report here and here that Russia and China are preparing to sign a cybersecurity treaty when Vladimir Putin visits China on November 10. The reported agreement would…
Samantar v. Yousuf: What Happens Next?
As Beth Van Schaack reported last week, the Supreme Court has called for the views of the Solicitor General in Samantar v. Yousuf, a case raising questions about the immunity of…
Chemical Weapons and Secrecy: a Terrible Combination
Last week’s New York Times article detailing the fact that, between 2004 and 2011, American troops in Iraq “secretly reported finding roughly 5,000 chemical warheads, shells…
Time to Give the Sleeves From Our Vest and Acknowledge the Extraterritoriality of the Convention Against Torture
As David Luban noted yesterday evening, Charlie Savage of The New York Times reported that the Obama Administration likely plans to continue to espouse Bush-era positions on the…
Military Commissions After Guantánamo
This Wednesday morning at 9:30 (EDT), a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit (Henderson, Rogers, & Tatel, JJ.) will hear oral argument in al Bahlul v. United States–a Guantánamo…
“Just looking for loopholes…”
…is what W. C. Fields supposedly said when someone found him leafing through the Bible. Apparently some lawyers in the Obama administration are following Fields’s lead,…
Supreme Court of Canada Rules Individuals cannot sue a Foreign State in Canada for Torture Committed Abroad
On Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) affirmed that individuals cannot bring civil actions in Canada against a foreign state, which includes foreign officials, for acts…
Reflections on Hassan v UK: A Mixed Bag on the Right to Liberty (Part 1)
A few weeks ago, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (GC) gave judgment in Hassan v UK . The GC found that the British government did not violate Tarek…