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Collage of photos, including a young boy, war-torn buildings, people walking, and a hand.

Protecting Civilians in Good Faith: A Joint Symposium on the Updated ICRC Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention

Expert authors examine key interpretive issues and selected topics in the updated Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention​ on protection of civilians during civil war.
Wooden gavel on a blue background with glowing digital circuit patterns, representing the connection between the legal system​ and data privacy​.​ (via Getty Images)

Technology and the ICRC’s GC IV 2025 Commentary

Surveys how the 2025 ICRC GC IV Commentary integrates technology into its analysis of specific rules, while raising concerns about its treatment of data as property.
Under a hazy, grey sky, a convoy of white vehicles drives along a dusty road near Saraya Square in western Gaza City on Jan​. 19, 2025. The vehicles are marked with the the International Committee of the Red Cross' stickers and flags.

“Significantly Diminished”: Commenting Anew on Article 23 of Geneva Convention IV in a Transformed Legal Context

New Commentary on GC IV describes Article 23—the treaty’s key provision governing the duty to allow the passage of essentials to civilians—as "significantly diminished" today.
Exterior view of the International Committee of the Red Cross headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, a large white and tan multi-story building with rows of windows and the ICRC flag on the roof, under a clear blue sky.

Closing Loopholes Across Time: the ICRC’s New Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention

​The ICRC's updated Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention fills a loophole-closing function and reasserts international humanitarian law's core protective purpose.
Screenshot of the mock legal review by Daniel Maurer.

Hypothetical Legal Review of Narcotrafficking Strikes

A mock “operational legal review” depicting what a staff judge advocate’s advice should have been prior to the first reported strike on an alleged drug trafficking vessel.
Heavy smoke billows above buildings in the vicinity of the Khartoum airport on April 15, 2023, amid clashes in the Sudanese capital. - Explosions rocked the Sudanese capital on April 15 as paramilitaries and the regular army traded attacks on each other's bases, days after the army warned the country was at a "dangerous" turning point.

The Fighting in Sudan is an Armed Conflict: Here’s What Law Applies

Violence in Sudan has reached the level of an armed conflict -- a threshold at which international humanitarian law applies.
Just Security

Armed Opposition Groups’ Courts: Challenging the Lawfulness of Detentions in Light of the Serdar Mohammed Appeals Judgment

Much has already been written on the authority to detain in non-international armed conflicts (NIACs) (see here, here, and here for recent posts). So much so, in fact, that it…
Just Security

An Inauspicious Anniversary: It’s Time to Release the Report of the Special Interagency Task Force on Interrogations and Transfer Policies

Yesterday was the five-year anniversary of President Obama’s Executive Order 13491 on ensuring lawful interrogations. The Order, one of the first acts of the Obama administration,…
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