Europe

[William Fortin is a PhD researcher at Tilburg University.] On 5 June 2026, a woman from the Dutch town of Naaldwijk, Ayada K., was sentenced to 7 years’ imprisonment by the District Court in The Hague for the following offences: participating in a terrorist organization; carrying out preparatory acts to commit terrorist offences; putting her minor son in a helpless condition...

[Zachary Marcone is a U.S. lawyer and degree candidate at Stanford Law School.] On 9 October 2026, the United States sanctioned the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an institution. Although the United States previously sanctioned individual ICC prosecutors and judges, this is the first time it has specifically targeted the institution itself. The U.S. sanctions are an existential threat to the...

[Veronika Vozniuk is a Ukrainian legal and policy professional working on issues related to international humanitarian law, human rights, and the legal consequences of armed conflict.] Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has made significant efforts to investigate and prosecute individuals responsible for war crimes committed on its territory. The scale of the alleged crimes is immense and continues...

[Madara Meļņika is a PhD Researcher in Law at the European University Institute, where her research examines how international security organisations respond to environmental realities.] In May 2026, the media reported plans for NATO’s AI Centre of Excellence to be established in Rennes, a city already famous for France’s armed forces’ cyber-defence command and other AI institutions. Allegedly, France was the...

[Dr Lena Riemer is an Assistant Professor of Law at Central European University working on migration related topics.] When around 80,000 people (according to the Spanish government) crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in early August, reactions quickly framed the event as a test of the EU’s border control and policy and the solidarity amongst its member states (for a...

[Francisco Javier Rozas Porras is a Spanish lawyer and PhD researcher in international law of the sea at the DEHUKAM Institute / Ankara University. He holds an LL.M. in Maritime Law from ICADE University in Madrid, Spain.] Introduction In 2026, Spain’s migration policy features a striking paradox. The Government has launched one of the most ambitious regularization processes in Europe on land,...

[Natia Navrouzov is a lawyer and the Executive Director of Yazda, a global Yazidi organisation that has documented ISIL’s crimes since 2014 and supports survivors of the Yazidi genocide through legal, psychosocial, and advocacy work] On 20 March 2026, the Paris Assize Court convicted Sabri Essid of genocide and crimes against humanity for atrocities committed against the Yazidi community in Iraq....

[Aldo Zammit Borda is a Professor at The City Law School, City St George's, University of London. Stefan Mandelbaum is a Lecturer at Leicester Law School, University of Leicester. Andrea Maria Pelliconi is a Lecturer in Human Rights Law at the University of Southampton.] The ICJ’s 2012 judgment in Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy: Greece intervening) has been read from...

[José Enrique Conde Belmonte is a Professor of Public International Law and European Union Law at the Complutense University of Madrid. He writes here in a personal academic capacity.] On 30 July 2026, roughly 60,000 people crossed from Morocco into the Spanish city of Ceuta — population 84,000 — in under forty-eight hours, most of them by sea around the Tarajal...

[Yaroslav Halieiev is a second-year PhD Candidate at the University of Tartu (Estonia)] The Context: Maymulakhin and Markiv v. Ukraine  In June 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or Court) issued a landmark decision in the case of Maymulakhin and Markiv v. Ukraine in which the Court addressed the lack of legal protection for same-sex couples under Ukrainian law. Rooting...

[Dr. Eray Acar is an independent researcher with a PhD in public law from Ankara University. He has worked as a researcher in Ankara University Law School and as a lecturer at Hitit University.] The Steering Committee for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (CDDH/Steering Committee) published an Outcome Document containing elements for a political declaration, which is expected to...

[Anna Maria Puigderrajols Triadó is a PhD candidate at the Europa Institute of Leiden University, where she previously completed the Advanced LL.M. in European and International Human Rights Law.] On Wednesday 26 March 2026, two days after the International Day for the Right to Truth, and more than fifty years since the fall of the Franco Regime, Spain has finally created...