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[Lena Riemer just finished a year as a Fox International Fellowship at Yale University and is currently a PhD Candidate at the Free University of Berlin writing on the prohibition of collective expulsion in public international law.] In June 2019, US President Donald Trump announced  a migration agreement with Mexico which reportedly provides for “a regional approach to burden-sharing in relation to the...

Ernesto J. Sanchez is an attorney in Miami, Florida who concentrates his practice on appellate and international dispute resolution matters. He is also the author of The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act Deskbook, published by the American Bar Association. As tensions between Iran and the United States continue, Opinio Juris readers will most likely consult the numerous superb legal commentaries on whether the United...

On 23 January 2019, Juan Guaidó, the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, proclaimed himself as the caretaker President of Venezuela in accordance with Article 223 of the Venezuelan Constitution. Guaidó’s Government falls foul of the criterion of effectiveness (control of at least some territory, habitual obedience of a majority of the population, and reasonable prospect of permanence), which remains with Maduro. The claim is purely...

[Ricardo Arredondo is professor of Public International Law at the University of Buenos Aires and at the University of Palermo. He is Professor of Diplomatic Law and Practice at the Institute for the Foreign Service of Argentina.] After more than two decades of negotiation, on June 28, Mercosur and the European Union reached “a political agreement for an ambitious, balanced and comprehensive trade agreement”, according to the...

Max du Plessis is Senior Counsel in South Africa, an Associate Fellow at Chatham House, a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, an Associate Tenant at Doughty Street Chambers and an Honorary Research Fellow, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Christopher Gevers is a Lecturer in the School of Law at University of KwaZulu-Natal. In our first post, we identified how the...

Max du Plessis is Senior Counsel in South Africa, an Associate Fellow at Chatham House, a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, an Associate Tenant at Doughty Street Chambers and an Honorary Research Fellow, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Christopher Gevers is a Lecturer in the School of Law at University of KwaZulu-Natal. This is the first of two blog posts...

[Craig Martin is a Professor of Law and Co-Director of the International and Comparative Law Center, at Washburn University School of Law. He is a frequent visiting lecturer at Osaka University, Graduate School of Law and Politics.] In the wake of the recent attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf, there has been considerable discussion about Europe’s difficult position amidst the escalating tension between the United States...

[Steven Kay QC is Head of Chambers at 9 Bedford Row. He has appeared as leading counsel in many significant international criminal trials (Tadic, Milosevic, Musema, Gotovina, Kenyatta) – and represented heads of state and leading figures at UN tribunals and the International Criminal Court (ICC). Joshua Kern is a barrister at 9 Bedford Row. He specialises in complex criminal cases with an emphasis on international and transnational criminal...

[Marie Davoise is an English-qualified lawyer who specialises in business & human rights and international criminal law. Previously in private practice, she is currently working as a Visiting Professional at the International Criminal Court.] When it comes to business and human rights, some sectors are considered as inherently high-risk: take for example the extractive industry, with its large mining projects impacting communities, or the...

The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, released her report into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last Wednesday. The report traces with careful detail the run up to, and the eventual extrajudicial execution of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey, analyzing the available evidence and applicable international law.  The release of the...