In association with the International Commission of Jurists

October 2020

14 Oct

[Sareta Ashraph is a Visiting Fellow of Practice with the Oxford Programme on International Peace and Security, Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict (ELAC), Oxford Blavatnik School of Government; she is a barrister with Garden Court Chambers; and the Co-Vice Chair of the IBA War Crimes Committee; Federica D’Alessandra is the Executive Director, Oxford Programme on International Peace and Security,...

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13 Oct

[Mohammad H. Zakerhossein is an Assistant Professor of international criminal law at University of Tehran.] In its eighteenth session in December 2019, the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court established the Independent Expert Review with the mandate to ‘identify ways to strengthen the ICC and the Rome Statute system in order to promote universal recognition of their central role in the global fight...

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13 Oct

[Maria Antonia Tigre is the Director for Latin America at the Global Network for the Study of Human Rights and the Environment.] In September 2020, the Brazilian Supreme Court held the country’s first public hearing on climate change. For the first time, a climate litigation case reached Brazil’s highest court, marking an historic landmark for the country’s legal system. A broad range of...

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13 Oct

In her post on Ensuring Respect for the Geneva Conventions: A More Common Approach to Article 1, Verity Robson discusses the ICRC’s recent commentaries to Common Article 1 (CA1) of the Third Geneva Convention (GC3) and argues, despite largely verbatim recitations of the previous two commentaries on the GCs by the ICRC, that this august body had finally removed some...

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12 Oct

In past decades, Latin American countries witnessed violent conflict and serious human rights abuses at the hands of state and non-state actors. In these contexts, conflict-related sexual violence was widespread, perpetrated in order to advance military goals and as a tactic of repression against political opponents and communities. But as the region has grappled with the past through efforts toward...

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12 Oct

[Malcolm Wu is an LL.M. candidate at the London School of Economics and Political Science.] Introduction Ioane Teitiota is from the sinking island nation of Kiribati. In 2013, he made a historic application for refugee status in New Zealand on the grounds of risk of life due to the adverse effects of climate change in his home country. Nonetheless, the rejection of his application and appeal by the New...

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11 Oct

Sponsored Announcement The 2020 BIICL Annual WTO Conference: 22-23 October 2020 The British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) is delighted to announce its prestigious WTO Conference. Established in 2000, the WTO Conference is one of the most important annual events in international trade law, addressing topical academic and practical issues. This is a pivotal moment for trade affairs and a critical time to take...

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09 Oct

[Madhav Mallya is a lecturer at the Jindal Global Law School.] When a country dilutes its environmental and human rights protections in a bid to attract more investment, it is then said to be engaged in a “Race to the Bottom” competition.  A reading of India’s new Draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification makes it easier to get environmental clearances by excluding several projects from public consultation....

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09 Oct

[Owiso Owiso is a Doctoral Researcher in Public International Law at the University of Luxembourg and Sharon Nakandha is a Program Officer with the OSF Africa Regional Office (OSF-AfRO). The views expressed herein are personal. Part I of this post can be found here.] Part I discussed the Committee’s evaluation of the nominees based on the requirements of Article 36(3)(b) of...

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09 Oct

[Owiso Owiso is a Doctoral Researcher in Public International Law at the University of Luxembourg and Sharon Nakandha is a Program Officer with the OSF Africa Regional Office (OSF-AfRO). The views expressed herein are personal.] Background On 30 September 2020, the Advisory Committee on Nomination of Judges (the Committee) released its report. It included an evaluation of 20 candidates nominated by states...

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08 Oct

[Altea Rossi is Programme Officer with the Security and Law Programme at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and serves as Deputy Member to the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission).] As a matter of treaty and customary law, international humanitarian law (IHL) requires states to instruct their armed forces on the norms applicable to armed conflicts. To adhere to this...

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08 Oct

Sponsored Announcement ABILA International Law Weekend 2020 The American Branch of the International Law Association is pleased to announce that registration is now open for International Law Weekend 2020, to be held virtually from October 22-24. The theme is International Law in Challenging Times. From shifting political alliances to changing trade and economic relations, the world around us is undergoing profound transformations. The backlash against...

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