Crime of Aggression
127 Articles
With the Int’l Criminal Court Going In, Russian Soldiers Should Go Home
Former President of the International Criminal Court (2018-2021) writes that Prosecutor's now taking on the case should encourage President Putin to change course.
The Definition of Aggression and Self-Defense
Exactly forty-six years ago, on December 14, 1974, the United Nations General Assembly adopted, by consensus, the Definition of Aggression, “the most serious and dangerous form…
The UN Charter’s Original Effect on State Sovereignty and the Use of Force
In 1945, not all states were UN members and not all territories were states: Dehn explains how use of force and self-defense rights under the Charter reflect these different statuses…
The United Nations Charter at 75: Between Force and Self-Defense — Part One
As we celebrate the Charter’s seventy-fifth birthday, a deep dive into its negotiating history shows that the right of self-defense under Article 51 is triggered by an act of…
Trump Repudiates a Century of U.S. Policy
The United States has consistently held that it was in our national security interest to ensure that only peaceful means were used to alter political boundaries in Europe. The…
General Comment 36: A Missed Opportunity?
General Comment 36 on the human right to life under article 6 of the ICCPR adopts the view that both international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL) apply during…
Human Rights, Deprivation of Life and National Security: Q&A with Christof Heyns and Yuval Shany on General Comment 36
In a Q&A with Ryan Goodman, Christof Heyns and Yuval Shany, members of the UN Human Rights Committee, examine the national security implications of General Comment 36 -- the Committee’s…
International Criminal Law Roundup Series: Part I
[UPDATED] To turn our lens to international criminal law for a moment, I recently attended the annual International Humanitarian Law Dialogs in Chautauqua, New York. This year’s…
Crime of Aggression Activated at the ICC: Does it Matter?
The International Criminal Court’s Assembly of States Parties agreed late last week that the ICC can now prosecute crimes of aggression, making it the fourth crime (after war…
Aggression, Armed Conflict, and the Right to Life: Does UN Human Rights Committee Get it Right?
Is it possible to respect the human right to life in the context of war? Or does war, by its very nature, involve the arbitrary deprivation of life? Last month, the United Nations…
What’s at Stake for US Officials if Their Use of Force is an Int’l Crime of Aggression?
In an article at Just Security last week, Michael Adams expressed surprise at the lack of attention on these and other pages to the possibility that the U.S. Tomahawk strikes on…
When Moral Compulsion is Characterized as a Crime of Aggression
As a number of my colleagues have been debating the lawfulness of the United States striking a Syrian airbase with 59 Tomahawk missiles in response to a purported chemical weapons…