[I serve as Special Adviser to the ICC Prosecutor on War Crimes. This post is written solely in my academic capacity.] Introduction A few weeks ago, I wrote a long response to an Open Letter calling on the Assembly of States Parties to interfere in the Prosecutor's investigation into the situation in Palestine. Opinio Juris has now published a new attack on...
[Dr Mara Tignino is Lead Legal Specialist at the Geneva Water Hub and Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law and the Institute for Environmental Sciences at the University of Geneva. Dr Tadesse Kebebew is post-doctoral researcher at the Geneva Water Hub.] Introduction On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched an unprecedented ‘‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’’ against Israel from Gaza. Following the attack, Israel declared...
[Dr. Mais Qandeel is a Senior Lecturer of International Law at Örebro University, Sweden. She holds a Ph.D. in international humanitarian law from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.] Introduction On 7 October 2023, in the wake of Hamas’ attack, Israel declared a ‘state of war’ and invoked its ‘right to self-defence’. Israel launched heavy retaliatory military attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip,...
[Alonso Gurmendi Dunkelberg is a Lecturer in International Relations at King’s College London’s Department of War Studies. I wish to thank Ntina Tzouvala for her comments on previous versions of this post] For the past few months, in the context of the horrific attacks of October 7th and the subsequent Israeli military retaliation, it has become almost a ritualised incantation for...
In the field of international legal scholarship, Eurocentrism has traditionally overshadowed culture, ideology, and epistemology. Yet, as the world becomes more multipolar, these perspectives become indispensable for addressing global legal challenges in an effective manner. In our latest episode of FreshSqueezed!, Professor Cai Congyan from Fudan University Law School shared his thoughts China and the rise...
[Dobrin Dobrev is a recent graduate from Utrecht University’s master’s program in International Law from the Conflict and Security track] Introduction Commercial shipping in the Black Sea has encountered restrictions ever since the full-scale invasion by Russia towards Ukraine began. One of the issues revolves around the rising number of sea-mines in the Black Sea, which are negatively impacting not only the belligerents...
[As stated on the Contributors page and in my full profile, I serve as Special Adviser to the ICC Prosecutor on War Crimes. This post is written in my personal academic capacity.] Introduction A group of scholars and practitioners have published an open letter to the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) expressing their "grave concern over the integrity of the Office of...
[Victoria Priori is a PhD Candidate in International Law at the Geneva Graduate Institute and a Teaching Assistant at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights] The prohibition of torture is nowadays universally recognised and agreed upon in international law. Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, torture has been proscribed in most...
[Esti Tambay is a Strategic Litigation Officer at the Open Society Justice initiative, working primarily on accountability for international crimes. Anna Khalfaoui is an Associate Lawyer at Open Society Justice Initiative, working primarily on accountability for international crimes and climate justice.] The Wagner Group has been associated with international crimes and serious human rights violations in Ukraine since the launch of Russia’s full-scale...
[Mohammad H. Zakerhossein is an Assistant Professor at the University of Tehran, Iran] In recent times, the Gaza Strip has become the center of a devastating humanitarian crisis that only worsens by the hour, leaviång the world dismayed. The Palestinian people in Gaza have suffered immensely, with widespread destruction, loss of life, and unimaginable suffering. The conflict has reduced homes, schools,...
[Dobrin Dobrev is a recent graduate from Utrecht University's master's program in International Law from the Conflict and Security track.] 1. Introduction On the 24th of February 2022, the Russian Federation launched a full-scale invasion against Ukraine, marking the beginning of the biggest European conflict in the 21st century. Since the invasion began, the Black Sea has received significant attention due to its...
[Ralph Wilde is a member of the Faculty of Laws, University College London, University of London] Israel captured the Palestinian Gaza Strip and West Bank from, respectively, Egypt and Jordan, in the 1967 war it launched against these two states and Syria.* It claimed it was acting, pre-emptively, in self-defence against these states. The war was over, with Israel victorious, after...