In association with the International Commission of Jurists

International Criminal Law

24 Jul

“What will Gaza become after genocide?” Nour Jaddah asked this lamentable question, and it is the one I tackle today. I do so for two reasons. First, nearly two years ago, Antonio Guterres bemoaned that Gaza had become a graveyard for children. Little did he know that the graveyard would morph into a killing field, with official death tolls topping...

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24 Jul

[Paola Gaeta is a professor of international law at the Geneva Graduate Institute and director of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. Dr Etienne Henry is an independent legal consultant and a lecturer in international humanitarian law at the University of Neuchâtel, whose recent work includes contributing to the Geneva Academy’s research project IHL in Focus.] The weaponization...

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23 Jul

[Francesca Ceparano is a senior at John Cabot University in Rome, majoring in International Affairs with a minor in Legal Studies] When Osama Elmasry Njeem, a high-level officer at Libya’s Mitiga Prison, was arrested in Italy on January 19, 2025, under an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, it raised hopes for accountability in international justice. But within 48...

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21 Jul

[Dr Nina Araneta-Alana (she/her) is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Australian National University (ANU) under an ARC fellowship, where her research examines state engagement with and backlash against the international legal order] The arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a moment of rare consequence in the often-elusive pursuit of accountability for heads of...

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18 Jul

[Lisa Davis is the senior associate dean of Clinical Programs & professor of law at CUNY Law School, and the ICC special adviser on Gender and Other Discriminatory Crimes. Kirby Anwar is a senior legal fellow at Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic, CUNY School of Law, senior legal advisor at MADRE and member of the Gender Persecution in Afghanistan Accountability Working...

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11 Jul

[Alessandra Spadaro works as Assistant Professor in Public International Law at Utrecht University. She is conducting a three-year project titled “Business in and for war: the role and limits of international humanitarian law”, which is funded by the Dutch Research Council.] In a recent post on this blog, my colleague Jérôme de Hemptinne calls on (Western) international lawyers to engage with...

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11 Jul

On June 25, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) and the President of Ukraine signed an agreement to create a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine (STCoA). The tribunal, which will be based on Ukraine's territorial jurisdiction but will have a number of international elements -- and is thus properly categorised as a hybrid...

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30 Jun

[Megan Hirst is ICC victims' representative in the Bangladesh/Myanmar and Afghanistan situations. Marie O'Leary is acting Principal Counsel for the ICC Office of Public Counsel for the Defence (OPCD). The views in this post are those of the author alone and do not reflect the views of the ICC. Valeria Babără is Legal Adviser at Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice. Danya Chaikel...

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30 Jun

[Megan Hirst is ICC victims' representative in the Bangladesh/Myanmar and Afghanistan situations. Marie O'Leary is acting Principal Counsel for the ICC Office of Public Counsel for the Defence (OPCD). The views in this post are those of the author alone and do not reflect the views of the ICC. Valeria Babără is Legal Adviser at Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice. Danya Chaikel is the...

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26 Jun

[Dr Alison Bisset is an Associate Professor in International Human Rights Law at the University of Reading School of Law] The Ljubljana-The Hague Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of the Crimes of Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes and Other International Crimes was adopted in May 2023, creating a previously lacking global framework for inter-state judicial cooperation on international...

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24 Jun

[Isabelle Haßfurther is a senior legal advisor in the International Crimes and Accountability program at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR). ECCHR has been supporting the reform process and is one of over 80 co-signatories of the Joint Civil Society Statement calling for harmonization of the ICC’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression with jurisdiction over the other three core crimes.] In less...

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23 Jun

[Dr Sarah Zarmsky is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at Queen’s University Belfast School of Law] Thank you to Professor Kevin Jon Heller for his helpful comments on an earlier version of this post. Introduction Yesterday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that a confidential report had been submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) which argues that the Russia-linked Wagner Group has committed international...

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