Public International Law

As readers no doubt know, Fatou Bensouda announced yesterday that the OTP is opening a formal investigation into the situation in Palestine. Doing so was a foregone conclusion, given the Pre-Trial Chamber's recent decision that the ICC has jurisdiction over crimes committed in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Regardless, even if the bulk of the work will fall...

Patricia Vella de Fremeaux (Mallia) is Associate Professor and Head of the International Law Department of the Faculty of Laws, University of Malta. Dr. Felicity G. Attard is a lecturer in the Department of International Law at the University of Malta. The “Special Relationship of Dependency” and Effective Control in Rescue Operations on the High Seas We find it more...

International legal scholarship is undergoing a metamorphosis. Scholars may quibble over the catalyst and trajectory, but they concur that a shift is underway. At least this was the premise of a symposium organised by the Chicago Journal of International Law this past week, entitled The Transformation of International Law Scholarship. The event showcased three American legal academics: Daniel Adebe, Adam Chilton, and Tom Ginsburg....

Paolo Busco is a member of Twenty Essex Chambers, where he practices in the field of public international law. All opinions are expressed in a personal capacity only. Introduction On 27 January 2021 the Human Rights Committee published its decisions on two communications submitted in 2017 respectively against Malta (S.A. and others v. Malta, Communication No. 3043/2017), and Italy (S.A. and others v....

Announcements 2021 Rosalyn Higgins Prize: The Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals (LPICT) now invites submissions for the 2021 Rosalyn Higgins Prize. The deadline is 30 June 2021. The Rosalyn Higgins Prize is an annual prize which awards EUR 1.000 of Brill book vouchers and a one-year LPICT subscription to the author of the best article on the law and practice...

[Dr Alexander Gilder is a Lecturer in Law at Royal Holloway, University of London and Co-Convenor of the International Law Section of the Society of Legal Scholars (UK). He tweets @DrAlexGilder.] In 2016 the International Court of Justice (ICJ or ‘the Court’) found it had no jurisdiction in the Marshall Islands’ proceedings against India, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom. Since then...

I draw your attention to the title. It is an amalgamation of two phrases. Follow the money is pithy, even a little crass. It is often uttered in television crime dramas, usually to aid the protagonist identify the culprit. The Misery of International Law is the title of a book by Linarelli, Salomon, and Sornorajah. So provocative is this text on International Economic Law (IEL) that it...

Events Virtual Event on "Why Mechanisms and Not Tribunals?": The NYU School of Professional Studies (NYUSPS) Center for Global Affairs is pleased to announce a virtual event on "Why Mechanisms and Not Tribunals? - What the Syria, Iraq, and Myanmar Investigative Mechanisms say about the current state of International Justice." Join practitioners and critical thinkers in the field of international justice...

[Danya Chaikel is a Canadian lawyer who specialises in international criminal law, currently consulting with the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice (WIGJ) on their Call it what it is campaign, an #ATLASToo admin, and an officer on the IBA’s War Crimes Committee. Thanks to Alix Vuillemin and Valeria Babără who helped with this post. Part I of this post can be found here.] IER report – a gamechanger? The IER Report was released...

[Danya Chaikel is a Canadian lawyer who specialises in international criminal law, currently consulting with the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice (WIGJ) on their Call it what it is campaign, an #ATLASToo admin, and an officer on the IBA’s War Crimes Committee. Thanks to Alix Vuillemin and Valeria Babără who helped with this post] The next ICC Prosecutor has been chosen, following a prolonged election fraught with procedural controversies which ultimately overshadowed...

  The United Nations Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict and its partners launched in July 2020 a series of webinars, the Digital Dialogue Series. It is designed to allow academics, policymakers and practitioners to have open discussions, provoke critical reflections, and hopefully inspire a community of practice for the delivery of truly accessible and...

Call for Papers International Criminal Justice: A Counter-Hegemonic Project: The Berlin University Alliance is pleased to announce a call for papers for "International Criminal Justice: A Counter-Hegemonic Project?" International criminal law, since its origins, has been mired in controversies and critique inter alia on account of its understanding as victor’s justice as well as its colonial legacy. Some states have challenged...