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[Alessandra Spadaro works as Assistant Professor in public international law at Utrecht University. She is conducting a three-year project on “Business in and for war: the role and limits of international humanitarian law”, funded by the Dutch Research Council.] On 6 November 2025, The Hague Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in a case brought by a coalition of Palestinian...

[Avi Singh is a Senior Advocate at the High Court of Delhi. Nalinaksha Singh is an Advocate] Introduction  A recent decision highlights a persistent tension within the ICC’s victim participation framework: whether Article 68(3) functions as a genuine procedural guarantee or remains dependent on narrow readings of statutory silence. On 21 November 2024, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC)...

[Omar Grech is Associate Professor within the Department of International Law, University of Malta] Several excellent posts on this blog have already explored different facets of the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change, including its treatment of state responsibility and obligations erga omnes. This post takes a different tack. It argues that the Opinion marks a doctrinal breakthrough for the concept...

[Jyoti Singh is a member of the Statelessness Asia Pacific Research Network at the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness (University of Melbourne). She is an advocate and researcher based in New Delhi] Understanding nationality and statelessness against the backdrop of armed conflict is crucial, given the mutually reinforcing relationship between the two. At present, more than 120 armed conflicts are ongoing...

[Axana Soltan is a U.S. Eisenhower Scholar at the University of Oxford and a Global Affiliate of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. She is an international lawyer and legal scholar.] In July 2025, the International Criminal Court’s Pre-Trial Chamber II issued arrest warrants for Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani on charges...

To have your event or announcement featured in next week’s post, please send a link and a brief description (1-2 paragraphs) to ojeventsandannouncements@gmail.com. Announcement ASIL International Criminal Law Scholarship Prize: Submissions are now being accepted for the 2025 American Society of International Law International Criminal Law Scholarship Prize. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. EST. The winner will be...

[Amir Abbas Kiani is a collaborating researcher in International Law at Shiraz University, Iran] On July 23, 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued its ‘historic’ Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change. As part of its reasoning, the Court examined the issue of lex specialis derogat legi generali (lex specialis) to determine “…the relationship between...

[Richard Mackenzie-Gray Scott is the author of State Responsibility for Non-State Actors: Past, Present and Prospects for the Future (Oxford: Hart | Bloomsbury, 2022, re-issued in paperback 2024)] This is the second part of a two-part post; see Part I here. But wait! How silly of me. Apologies for jumping the gun. There are other attribution tests under the ILC Articles...

[Richard Mackenzie-Gray Scott is the author of State Responsibility for Non-State Actors: Past, Present and Prospects for the Future (Oxford: Hart | Bloomsbury, 2022, re-issued in paperback 2024)] This is the first part of a two-part post; see Part II here. Information operations can impact societies in many ways. Whether by undermining specific human rights, for example, as a result of crossing...

[Safia Southey is an independent researcher and consultant specializing in post-conflict justice and international human rights law, with current projects at International Center for Transitional Justice and the Quincy Institute] In Gaza, starving Palestinians face a brutal choice: surrender your personal data, or go without food. Operating outside established UN coordination frameworks, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been accused of...

[Dr Marika McAdam is an independent international law and policy advisor who works globally on human rights-based criminal justice responses to organized crime and other issues] As the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime opened for signature last month, one would like to imagine cybercriminals pulling their computers from their sockets, anxious about their doors being kicked down when that instrument enters...