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.
3,494 Articles

The Khadr Appeal [UPDATE: and the Hicks Appeal]
In October 2010, Omar Khadr pleaded guilty to four violations of the Military Commissions Act of 2009. Khadr, who is presently serving out his sentence in Canada, has now appealed…

The Coming Hicks and Khadr Appeals: Yet Another Military Commission Headache
As various media outlets reported earlier this week, Australian David Hicks–one of the first detainees charged and convicted (via plea) under the Military Commissions Act…

Some Thoughts on the ICC OTP Strategic Plan: Trying to Build the Future on the Failures of the Past
On October 11th of this year, the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) at the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its Strategic Plan for 2012-2015. This roadmap for the conduct…

The End of the M23, Will Justice Follow?
In the last few days, we have witnessed some important and welcome developments in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)—a region of the world in desperate need of some…

The NDAA: Congress’ Opportunity to Take First Steps Towards Closing Gitmo
The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan next year will mark a milestone on the path to ending the so-called “war on terror.” But as a practical matter, what will…

Pakistan Test Fires Missile to Take Down Drones
It might have been easy to doubt the veracity of the Pakistan government’s public protestations against US drone strikes in light of secret agreements between the two governments…

Bond v. United States and a Plain Statement Rule
The old adage, “bad facts make bad law,” threatens to reassert itself in an especially damaging fashion in Bond v. United States, a case now before the Supreme Court in which…

Observations on the Oral Argument in Bond
In light of the current efforts of the United States to ensure that even Syria, a nonparty to the treaty, strictly complies with the prohibitions of the Chemical Weapons Convention–and…

African Commission Emerges as New Forum in Quest for Justice for Rendition Victims
[This post is authored by Roxanne Moore (NYU LLM ’14), Daniella Raveh (NYU JD ’15), Meg Satterthwaite, Amanda Bass (NYU JD ’15), in Banjul, Gambia] Today, we appeared alongside…

A Deus Ex Machina Postpones the Kenya Cases
Just a quick update to close the loop on a prior post. There, we noted speculative press reporting that Western diplomats were considering options for delaying the Kenyatta and…

Future of Gitmo to Take Center Stage Later This Month
With much attention in recent weeks focused on the NSA collection activities or the U.S. drone program, it can be easy to allow other important national security issues to become…

Report to the General Assembly on Armed Drones and the Right to Life (or drones should follow the law, not the other way around)
[Editorial note: Last week, the United Nations discussed two major reports on drones. Just Security’s coverage included posts by Philip Alston, Ryan Goodman (here, here), Kevin…