Public International Law

[Emanuela Chiara Gillard is a Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict and an Associate Fellow, International Law Programme, Chatham House.] Many of the contributions to this symposium have -rightly – focused on practices by belligerents that deliberately cause starvation of civilians. The debate must not overlook a different set of measures adopted by the international community and states unilaterally that also contribute to starvation or...

[Jared Miller is a Ph.D. Candidate at The Fletcher School at Tufts University focusing on governance, peacebuilding, and anti-corruption in Nigeria.] “By the time a famine is declared, it’s too late. . . it means people are already dying of hunger”World Food Programme, 4 May 2021 Introduction In 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari appeared on the BBC and declared a ‘technical victory’ over Boko Haram, yet six...

[Chris Newton previously worked in South Sudan with several humanitarian organizations, including most recently the United Nations World Food Programme, and is currently a master’s student at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.] Humanitarian famine early warning and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2417 on armed conflict and hunger share a gap – famine caused by armed conflict in...

[Yousuf Syed Khan serves as the Legal/Reporting Officer with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, and previously served as the Reporting Officer/Analyst with the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.] Introduction On 24 May 2018, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2417, recognising explicitly the link between conflict and hunger, and acknowledging and condemning – for...

[Brian Lander and Rebecca Vetharaniam Richards work for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), respectively as Deputy Director of the Emergency Division and Chief of Emergencies & Transitions Programme & Policy. The views stated in the article are those of the authors. (brian.lander@wfp.org; rebecca.richards@wfp.org)] When Security Council resolution 2417 was adopted in May 2018, WFP and other food security actors were taken...

[Global Rights Compliance (GRC) is a niche organisation that specialises in legal services associated with violations of international law. For more on GRC’s work on conflict and hunger, see here. For more on GRC’s accountability work, click here.] Three years ago, the UN Security Council Resolution 2417 (UNSC 2417) recognised for the first time the intrinsic link between hunger and conflict. This landmark resolution condemns the...

[Alex de Waal is the Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation. His expertise on famines, both scholarly and in practice, focuses on Sudan and the Horn of Africa.] Tigray, Ethiopia, is a test case for United Nations Security Council resolution 2417 (2417). The United Nations has failed that test. Today, between 4.5 million and 5.2 million people of Tigray’s total population of 5.7 million...

Featured Announcement New Course from BIICL: International Trade Law  The British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) is delighted to announce the launch of a new (Virtual) Short Course on International Trade Law. The training course offers an in-depth dynamic and applied knowledge of the regulatory framework of the multilateral trading system, covering both the institutional and substantive law of the World...

[John Quigley is Professor Emeritus at the Moritz College of Law of The Ohio State University.] Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons The recent violence in Israel/Palestine highlights the need to resolve the underlying issues that have kept generated turmoil for a century. The unresolved issue of Arabs displaced in 1948 is at the top of the list of such issues. The urgency of...

Events Discussion Group: Legal Pluralism, Voluntary Compliance, and Universal International Law: Join the SLS International Law Section to discuss legal pluralism in international law with Dr Julie Fraser (Assistant Professor at the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) and the Montaigne Centre at Utrecht University). Julie will discuss the incorporation of local norms, using Islamic law as an example, and how we...

[Sean Bain has worked on justice and democracy issues in Myanmar since 2013, including as Yangon-based legal adviser for a human rights group and as an analyst for the United Nations.] Photo credit:  "SK/Kachinwaves"; "Anti-coup protest in Myanmar's northern Kachin State, 8 May 2021"   The unlawful military coup of 1 February is not a fait accompli, and States must refuse to recognise...

Summer School Al-Haq International Law Online Summer School Program: Al-Haq Center for Applied International Law is pleased to announce its Seventh International Law Summer School for professionals, legal researchers, post-graduates and academics in the fields of international law and human rights. The 2021 program will run entirely online through ten days from 31st May – 12th June 2021. The summer school aims to assist professionals...