Search: Symposium on the Functional Approach to the Law of Occupation
18 Oct Where De Facto States Come to Rest: The Approaching Demise of the So-called Republic of Artsakh
law. While some argue that contested or unrecognized states are entitled to the same fundamental rights and protections as recognized states, including (somewhat paradoxically) the right to self-determination and territorial integrity that they “successfully” violated in respect of their parent-states by establishing a new order, others seem deny this completely. The situation is further complicated by the fact that recognition of statehood is often a political decision rather than a legal one – while international law provides some guidance on the criteria for statehood, the decision to recognize and engage...
07 May Unbreakable Bond: Tracing the Ties Between African and Palestinian Anti-Colonial Struggles (Call for Submissions)
Israel The Palestinian-African solidarity movement The (paradoxical) role of international law in anti-colonial struggles The impact of international law on African domestic policies regarding Palestine How international law has shaped African countries’ responses to the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian struggle for liberation Legal and diplomatic measures taken by African countries at the AU, UN, and other regional and international fora Boycott, divestment, and sanctions as a strategy to challenge Israeli occupation The profound emotional, psychological, and phenomenological toll of the ongoing oppression faced by Palestinians and Africans The resistance...
05 May Symposium on the UNWCC: Ethiopia, Italy and the Archives of Selective Justice
[Megan Donaldson is a Lecturer in Public International Law at University College London.] [This post draws on a draft entry for the Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law (Donaldson 2022), available on request .] Although Ethiopia had been deliberately excluded from membership of the UN War Crimes Commission (UNWCC), Ethiopia sought to submit cases against figures responsible for atrocities during the Italian invasion and occupation (1935–41). The UNWCC archive is thus an obvious source from which to probe Ethiopia’s attempts at post-WWII prosecutions. It proves rich in technical legal...
06 May Symposium on the UNWCC: The Exercise of Universal Jurisdiction by the Post-war Occupying Powers in Germany Under the UNWCC
national law that authorised localised prosecutions conducted by those powers in Germany, within their zones of occupation. The purpose of CCL was ‘…to establish a uniform legal basis in Germany for the prosecution of war criminals and other similar offenders, other than those dealt with by the International Military Tribunal…’ Article 2 (1) stated that four crimes were to be prosecuted by the member States: war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes against peace and membership of a hostile organisation. Importantly, it further declared that the occupying powers had the jurisdiction...
23 Oct Research Services of German Bundestag Rejects Turkey’s Syria Invasion: Illegal, but Who Cares?
9 October onwards was rejected in academic circles (see here or here). A textbook example of a violation of Article 2/4 UN Charter. Yet, law does not necessarily translate into politics. While the Assad government spoke of “a flagrant violation of international law and a blatant violation of Security Council resolutions”, other states, even Assad’s closest allies Iran and Russia, have been less direct and focused less on the law than on strategic and humanitarian aspects. Realpolitik 101: Iran and Russia Iran’s foreign minister called to “end the incursion” while president Rouhani stated that “[t]he Turkish government is...01 Jun An Alternative Justification for Israel’s Attacks on Hezbollah in Syria
...out that Israel last engaged in protracted armed violence in Syria in 1974, asserts that “to suggest that an armed conflict [has been] ongoing ever since seems improbable, even under the most liberal interpretation of the way wars end and the termination of the application of international humanitarian law . . .” Tel Aviv University Professor Yoram Dinstein, a former Charles H. Stockton Professor of International Law at the U.S. Naval War College, notes in his book War, Aggression and Self-Defence that a war can end in one of five...16 Mar Events and Announcements: 16 March 2025
‘cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’; Shipping and Sustainability; and SDG17: Developing the private law framework to support sustainable development. Some of the papers may be selected for publication in a Journal Symposium. We encourage scholars and practitioners worldwide and at any stage of their career to apply. Abstracts should be sent to Hwon Lee (kl1n18@soton.ac.uk) by 31 May 2025. Further information can be found here. Event TwoLaW Lecture – The Notion of an Illegal Occupation in the ICJ’s 2024 Palestine Advisory Opinion: The TwoLaW – Lecture Series on the Laws of War invites you...
01 Apr Sanctions for War, Reparations for Peace?
calling on reparations to be made for Israeli’s bombing of Tunis in the 1985 and South Africa’s occupation of its neighbours in the 1970s and 1980s, such as Lesotho. Of course, some States may waive reparations, as victory can be its own vindication, for example the UK with Argentina over the Falklands War, or independence, as with Kosovo. The PCIJ in its 1927 judgment in the Chorzow Factory case sets down the standard for the extent of the reparation obligation in international law as ‘reparation must, as far as possible,...08 Jun U.S. and India Agree to Jointly Push for the Most Important-Sounding Treaty You’ve Never Heard of
...of the present Convention if that person, by any means, unlawfully and intentionally, causes: (a) Death or serious bodily injury to any person; or (b) Serious damage to public or private property, including a place of public use, a State or government facility, a public transportation system, an infrastructure facility or to the environment; or (c) Damage to property, places, facilities or systems referred to in paragraph 1 (b) of the present article resulting or likely to result in major economic loss; when the purpose of the conduct, by its...24 Aug Georgia, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia
...Democratic Georgia, I hasten to add, is a long way from the corrupt little principality that was Kuwait, but the abstract point is the same – the principle of defense of a sovereign state from attack and occupation is perfectly justifiable on its own terms. Moreover, the war to govern these territories is a war the Georgians cannot possibly win in the long run, and that is true even if there were no Russia, unless Georgia were willing to contemplate genuinely appalling measures. Yes, the problem of protecting ethnic Georgian...