Search: extraterritorial sanctions
02 Oct Colonial Logic Redux: Scholars Comment on Trump and Netanyahu’s Proposal
...that endorse the plan are endorsing illegality, further normalising coercion as a modus operandi of international relations – and reviving the colonial spirit of ‘mentorship’ of the ‘uncivilised’. They are accepting a lesser standard of humanity for Palestinians—a standard they would never accept for themselves. Instead of cheering for such a dehumanising proposal, states must raise the bar for what is acceptable by using their leverage. The only viable way forward begins with fulfilling third-state obligations: implementing arms and energy embargoes, imposing economic sanctions, and taking collective action to support...
01 Aug ICC ratione loci Jurisdiction for Belarus: The Bangladesh/Myanmar Blueprint
...the Court’s jurisdiction to be limited to crimes exclusively occurring on the territory of a State Party. The Case for a Belarus Investigation Belarus announced in August 2020 that the incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko had won the Presidential election with 80% of the vote. When this was contested by opposition leaders and protests erupted in Minsk, the government led a crackdown. Since October 2020, the European Union has imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials and entities in response to the ‘misconduct of the electoral process’ and the ‘repression and intimidation against...
16 Jan Debate Over a New Judicial Package in Türkiye Heightens the Urgency of Kaos GL v. Türkiye Before the ECtHR
...address discrimination and rights violations against LGBTI+ groups and to apply. Thirdly, the organisations describe other practices violating LGBTI+ individuals’ rights and preventing them from exercising their freedom of expression and freedom of association and assembly. This includes the systematic use of disproportionate force – often amounting to torture or ill-treatment – and arbitrary detention by police forces to disperse peaceful LGBTQI+ assemblies and activities. Judicial harassment of LGBTQI+ protest participants through criminal sanctions and fines, further deters participation in such activities. Associations and activists have also faced administrative harassment,...
22 Jul Evacuated or Expelled? The Legal and Political Realities of Forced Displacement and Return in South Lebanon
...been slower and less cohesive. Sanctions on Hezbollah-linked financial institutions, reduced regional support, and a deteriorating economic climate have delayed large-scale rebuilding efforts. While Hezbollah continues to be a central actor in post-displacement recovery, its ability to restore housing and livelihoods is no longer as rapid or comprehensive as in previous conflicts. The delayed reconstruction process is not just an economic problem—it carries significant political ramifications. Many displaced individuals fear that prolonged absence will result in permanent dispossession, particularly in contested areas where sectarian and political shifts could influence property...05 Jan Events and Announcements: 5 January 2025
...obscure, and outdated norms. Still, in the last decade, there seems to be a renewal of interest of states, internationalized organizations and even non-state actors to refer to the principle of non-intervention. The principle has been discussed in the last decade in many different contexts – protecting democratic election processes, evaluation of secondary sanctions, defending against economic coercion, fighting against corruption, instrumentalization of migration, or grating political asylum. The Polish Review of International and European Law invites submissions devoted to non-intervention in international law. Abstracts (max. 400 words) are due 15...
29 Apr Beyond Containment – Confronting Racial Hierarchies in International Law: Norm Entrepreneurship at the UN – Addressing Racial Equality Across Borders and the South–North Divide
[Yang Han, PhD, is a Research Associate at China Centre, University of Oxford] Racism has been integral to international relations: e.g., scientific racism, social Darwinism, and the “yellow peril” discourses, just to name a few. Racist beliefs were often used to justify colonialism and imperialism, and invoked to instigate violence, hatred, and discrimination. Likewise, the principle of sovereign equality helps states evade external interference or sanctions against policies that instrumentalize domestic racism. Why, then, is there no clear international norm governing racial equality between states? To this question, some may...
07 Jan Welcome Back to the Rule of Guns and Lawyers: A Tale of Two Ursulas, From Ukraine to Venezuela
...is framed in terms of resilience, trusted networks, and control over chokepoints. This is why the strategy foregrounds supply chains, technology, energy, data, and space. The objective is not merely defence. It is the capacity to structure access and deny rivals. This agenda is also deeply legalistic. Power organised through systems depends on rule-making and enforcement. Tariffs, sanctions, investment restrictions, and compliance regimes operate continuously rather than episodically. They reshape markets, reorder alliances, and discipline behaviour without a shot being fired. When shots are fired, legality becomes even more central. Within this...
13 Feb The Tainted Matrix: Oil’s Substitution Logic and the Limits of “Clean” Trade
...product substitution may remain more elastic. If unlawful crude keeps domestic refineries supplied, it can stabilise domestic petrol and diesel markets, reduce product imports, and free domestic product volumes for export. The economic gain is then detached from the original crude, and “barrel policing” becomes even less responsive to how value is actually realised. A familiar illustration is the way sanctions practice has struggled with refined products made from restricted crude, including repeated efforts to close ‘transformation’ and routing loopholes in the Russia context. The relevant claim, then, is not...
29 Jul Symposium on Unbroken Bond: Tracing the Ties Between African and Palestinian Anti-Colonial Struggles – Race as a Tool of Oppression: Settler Colonialism in Africa and Palestine Through the Lens of Black Radical Thought
...of resistance. Kelley’s concept of “freedom dream” is particularly relevant here as he connotes that oppressed communities don’t just resist, they also imagine and fight for alternative futures. This is evident in both African liberation movements and Palestinian resistance. Lila Abu-Lughod resonates with a similar in black radical thought, highlighting how seemingly small acts of cultural preservation and defiance can challenge colonial power structures. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement against Israel has drawn explicit inspiration from the anti-apartheid resistance in South Africa, demonstrating the potential of transnational solidarity...
24 Mar Symposium on Prosecuting Heads of State for International Crimes: The Issue of Personal Immunity Before the ICC, Prosecution of African Leaders, and Questions Around ‘Double Standards’
...to create a counterweight to Western dominance in global institutions, accused the ICC of “double standards” by neglecting the Heads of State immunity that protects Putin from prosecution. In the same vein, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the Court and its judges and officials for targeting America and its close ally, Israel. Against this backdrop, I address three critical issues facing the ICC today: the collapse of its early positive relationship with Africa and the AU’s dispute with the Court over the prosecution of African leaders, the question...