Recent Posts

[Tadesse Kebebew is a Researcher and Project Manager at the Geneva Water Hub, a Centre of Competence on Water for Peace and holds a PhD in International Law from the Geneva Graduate Institute] Introduction  Water has increasingly become both a target and a weapon in armed conflicts across regions, causing severe humanitarian suffering and environmental degradation. When warring parties damage water systems...

[Ignacio Portela Giráldez is a Ph.D. candidate at University of New South Wales (UNSW), tutor of ‘Introduction to Military Ethics’ at UNSW and tutor of ‘International Public Law’ at UTS. His research explores new legal pathways to defend communities living in Special territories of the European Union (Outermost regions and Overseas Countries and Territories) and British Overseas Territories.] In Cannavacciuolo and...

[Naimeh Masumy is a Research Fellow a Deakin University, PhD Candidate at Maastricht University and a dispute resolution expert specialized in energy and investment disputes] As the new administration dismantles the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the importance of diversity within the legal profession and its broader implications beyond daily practice has come into sharper focus. Critics of this initiative often fail...

[Neve Gordon is a professor at the School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, a Fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences and the former Chair of the British Society of Middle Eastern Studies’ Committee on Academic Freedom. He is the author of Israel’s Occupation (University of California Press 2008) and co-author of The Human Right to Dominate (Oxford University Press, 2015), Human Shields:...

[Neve Gordon is a professor at the School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, a Fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences and the former Chair of the British Society of Middle Eastern Studies’ Committee on Academic Freedom. He is the author of Israel’s Occupation (University of California Press 2008) and co-author of The Human Right to Dominate (Oxford University Press, 2015), Human...

To have your event or announcement featured in next week’s post, please send a link and a brief description (1-2 paragraphs) to ojeventsandannouncements@gmail.com. Featured Announcement: BIICL Summer Schools 2025 This summer, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) is hosting two summer schools designed for individuals looking to deepen their legal expertise. The first programme, Law and Technology, provides a comprehensive overview of the...

[Image by Freepik.] Introduction It is widely acknowledged that, without regulation, Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) can contribute to violations of international law and benefit from impunity. Both corporate actors and States increasingly rely on PMSCs to secure their operations in high-risk areas—whether through direct contracts, in-house security arrangements, or outsourcing military and law enforcement functions. Numerous UN reports have documented...

[Klaudia Klonowska is a PhD Researcher at the Asser Institute and the University of Amsterdam, and is serving as Managing Director of the Manual on the International Law Applicable to Artificial Intelligence in Warfare. Sofie van der Maarel is Assistant Professor in Military Ethics and Leadership at the Netherlands Defense Academy and affiliated to Radboud University Nijmegen.] Introduction The concept of “deep sensing”...

To have your event or announcement featured in next week’s post, please send a link and a brief description (1-2 paragraphs) to ojeventsandannouncements@gmail.com. Calls for Papers Early Career Conference on Humanitarian Disarmament: On 10-11 July 2025, the Asser Institute in The Hague will host a conference for young scholars on Humanitarian Disarmament. The organizers have issued a call for papers open to researchers working...

[Dr Henrique Marcos is a lecturer at the Foundations of Law Department, Faculty of Law Maastricht University] This text is inspired by the discussions held at the event “Whatever Happened to TikTok” organised by the Law & Popular Culture Network at Maastricht University Faculty of Law in February 2025. In this post, I discuss the recent ban and subsequent unbanning of TikTok...

[Eduardo Cavalcanti de Mello Filho is a Research Associate (Ocean Law and Policy) at the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore] On 11 March 2025, ASCOMARE authored a legal opinion commissioned by the Palestinian BDS National Committee, answering the above question in the affirmative. The piece is well-written and insightful, but its findings are also innovative and perhaps too...

[Gerhard Kemp is professor of criminal law at UWE Bristol, and extraordinary professor of public law at Stellenbosch University] On Monday, 14 April 2025, the high court in Johannesburg issued an important ruling in the historic first criminal prosecution of two individuals for the crime against humanity of apartheid. The ruling is a significant victory for the prosecuting authority, civil society...