International Humanitarian Law

[Marijn Hoijtink is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the Department of Political Science at the University of Antwerp. She leads the PLATFORM WARS project, which focuses on military applications of AI, how these shape new military practices, and the broader political-economic frameworks in which these take place. Dr Jasper van der Kist is a researcher at the University of...

[Nurul M. Azmi is a Legal Researcher and Ciara Laverty is a Legal Adviser with UpRights, an NGO which builds partnerships with victims, civil society, and judicial authorities to document human rights violations and international crimes, and identify and pursue effective legal pathways to accountability, including in the contexts of Ukraine and North Korea] Recent reporting has confirmed the deployment of...

[Dr Eitan Diamond serves as Manager and Senior Legal Expert at the Diakonia IHL Centre in Jerusalem. Dr Ellen Nohle serves as a Senior Legal Advisor and Legal Team Coordinator at the Diakonia IHL Centre in Jerusalem.   Anna-Christina Schmidl serves as a Legal Advisor at the Diakonia IHL Centre in Jerusalem.] Introduction Between 7 October 2023, when hostilities broke out in Israel and Gaza,...

The inimitable Sam Moyn and I have a chapter on the Vietnam War and international law in the Cambridge History of the Vietnam War: Volume 3, Endings and Aftermaths, which was just published by Cambridge University Press. Here are the opening paragraphs: There have been thousands of histories of the Vietnam War, but none assigns a pivotal role to international law....

In my capacity as Special Adviser on War Crimes, I have been assisting the Prosecutor with the development of the OTP's forthcoming policy on Environmental Crimes Under the Rome Statute (ECP) -- a policy he announced in Paris last February. “Damage to the environment poses an existential threat to all life on the planet,” the Prosecutor said. “For that reason,...

[Richard Dicker is Senior Legal Adviser for Advocacy at Human Rights Watch and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Law School] It has taken two years of consideration, discussion and debate, but the agreement necessary to draft an international treaty to prevent and punish Crimes Against Humanity has finally been reached. The UN General Assembly’s Sixth Committee, which is mandated to encourage...

[Marta Bo is a Senior Researcher at the T.M.C. Asser Institute and an Associate Senior Researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)] In recent years, accountability for uses of artificial intelligence (AI) in warfare, especially under international criminal law, has progressively emerged as a critical issue in governance initiatives (SIPRI, GGE’s Guiding Principles, REAIM Blue Print for Action) and...

[Libby McAvoy is a Legal Advisor at Mnemonic, where she specialises in digital evidence archives, litigation support, and open source investigations into international crimes and human rights violations. Syrian Archive is Mnemonic's founding programme. Daragh Murray is a Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, and his research focuses on the intersection of technology and international law.] The authors were members of...

[Dr Anna Nadibaidze is a researcher for the European Research Council funded AutoNorms and AutoPractices projects based at the Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark] The United Nations Summit of the Future, held in New York in September 2024, resulted in the adoption of the Pact for the Future. Among many other issues, this pact lists as an action...

[Viola Santini is a PhD candidate in International and European Law at the University of Florence. She holds an MA in International Law from the Geneva Graduate Institute.] Photography, War and Death, a Close Relationship In recent times, social networks and media have been inundated with harrowing images: beheaded soldiers on the Ukrainian front, mutilated bodies and blindfolded prisoners of war in...

[Tamer Morris is a Senior Lecturer in international law at the University of Sydney] In early October, it was reported that Israeli authorities requested UNIFIL to relocate their position to the north of the Blue Line. On the 10 October the IDF directed attacks against UNIFIL personnel and installations, injuring two peacekeepers. On 14 October, UNIFIL reported that two IDF tanks have...