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
Targeted Killings — The US Power to Kill and the Yemeni Power to Capture
[For Just Security’s other coverage of yesterday’s Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reports on targeted killings, see Sarah Knuckey’s guide to the…
The Problematic “Belonging To” Analogy: A Response to Goodman
[Editor’s note: Ryan Goodman replies to Professor Heller in a subsequent post.] In a recent post here at Just Security, Ryan Goodman offered a novel – and characteristically…
The Charles Taylor Appeal & The Scope of Accomplice Liability
I earlier flagged the release of the Charles Taylor appeals judgment. This post deconstructs the opinion more closely in light of the Perišić precedent and also addresses the…
Human Rights Groups Release Investigation Reports into US Targeted Killings: A Guide to the Issues
Today, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) released two detailed studies of US targeted killings in Yemen and Pakistan, putting forward specific evidence of…
Five Questions We Should All Be Asking About the NSA and the US Targeted Killing Program
The Washington Post’s latest piece on NSA surveillance, based on Edward Snowden’s leaked documents, provides a glimpse into the US government’s highly secretive process for…
Al-Qaeda, the Law on Associated Forces and “Belonging to” a Party (did the new UN drones reports get it right?)
[Editor’s note: Kevin Jon Heller responds to Ryan in a Guest Post, and Ryan replies in a subsequent post. A Guest Post by UN Special Rapporteur Christof Heyns also addresses…
UN Drone Strike Inquiry: Summary of the New Interim Report
Today, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and countering terrorism, Ben Emmerson QC, issued an interim report on his international investigation into drone strikes and targeted…
Second Major UN Drones Report Now Publicly Available
The second major UN Report on drones this week is now publicly available — by Ben Emmerson, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counterterrorism. Just Security’s Sarah…
United States Report to the UN Human Rights Committee: Lex Specialis and Extraterritoriality
The United States was poised to present its views tomorrow to the Human Rights Committee, which monitors state parties’ compliance with the International Covenant on Civil…
Scientists from 37 Countries Call for Ban on Autonomous Lethal Targeting
Today, an organization of scientists released a call for a preemptive legal ban on autonomous weapons systems (AWS) – those that can select and engage targets without human intervention. …
The President’s May 23d NDU Speech in Action: The Broader Significance of the al-Liby and Ikrima Operations [UPDATED Oct. 15]
If reported accounts thus far are accurate, the al-Liby and Ikrima capture operations last weekend are important illustrations of several things that the President and his top…
The Al-Libi Case Is a Step Forward, Even if Not (Yet) A Paradigm Shift
Jack Goldsmith on the Lawfare blog has an interesting response to Mary DeRosa and Marty Lederman’s take on the implications of the al-Libi and Ikrima operations. I agree…