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.
3,498 Articles
The Constitutional Case for Judicial Authority To Order the Transfer and Release of Guantánamo Detainees Cleared for Release
In the statement that he issued as he signed the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), President Obama, addressing the Act’s continuing restrictions on the transfer…
Horrific New Evidence of Syrian War Crimes Emerges
The Guardian has published a piece describing the emergence of disturbing new evidence of the commission of “industrial scale war crimes” in Syrian detention centers. …
UK Court Rules against Alleged Pakistani Drone Victim (Noor Khan)
The United Kingdom’s Court of Appeal has issued its judgment in Khan v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (full text). A Pakistani man brought a civil action…
Trials in Absentia Under International, Domestic and Lebanese Law
As a follow on to our backgrounder on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, one additional feature of the current proceedings is worthy of note: the trials are proceedings in absentia. …
Lebanon Tribunal Begins Work
As we’ve noted, in absentia proceedings have finally begun before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), a joint creation of the United Nations and Lebanon in The Hague…
Osama bin Laden’s Son-in-Law to Face Trial in NY Within a Year of His Arrest
Judge Lewis Kaplan in the Southern District of New York has been keeping busy. In just the last week, Judge Kaplan issued three decisions in the case of Osama bin Laden’s…
Considering Jones v. UK Requires Reflection Not Knee-Jerk Reactions
Jones v. United Kingdom was handed down by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on Tuesday. It has already elicited a considerable amount of adverse commentary (here and…
European Court of Human Rights to Torture Victims: Get Lost
In a disappointing decision yesterday (Jones v. United Kingdom), the European Court of Human Rights upheld the immunity of states and state officials from civil suits for torture…
European Court of Human Rights: Foreign State Officials are Immune from Civil Suit for Torture (Jones v. United Kingdom)
The European Court of Human Rights has issued its long-awaited judgment in Jones v. United Kingdom. The case involves four British nationals who sued Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials…
US Announces Investigation into Wedding Convoy Drone Strike: A Step Toward Accountability?
Last night, NBC’s Michael Isikoff reported that (anonymous) US officials said: “The Obama administration has launched an internal investigation into a Dec. 12 drone strike…
Timeline: Palestine and the International Criminal Court
Over the holidays, the Guardian and other media have again raised the specter of the Palestinians joining the International Criminal Court (ICC), or otherwise attempting to invoke…
Helpful Resource from the Dept of Defense: Periodic Review Board Website
We wanted to flag for interested readers a helpful resource, the Department of Defense’s website for the Periodic Review Secretariat (PRS), the body responsible for the administrative…