International Humanitarian Law

A couple of weeks ago, a group of Yezidi women kidnapped, enslaved, and raped by the Islamic State (IS) lost what could have been a landmark case at the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The women sought damages from an Australian-born IS fighter, Khaled Sharrouf, under the terms of New South Wales' victim compensation scheme. Sharrouf himself is...

[Nicolás Zambrana-Tévar teaches international commercial law and dispute resolution at KIMEP University (Almaty, Kazakhstan).] Introduction: The War that Never Ends In 897 A.D., Pope Stephen VI had the corpse of his predecessor Pope Formosus exhumed and brought before the papal court, to be tried after death. The Cadaver Synod sheds a macabre light unto the recent decision of the Spanish Supreme Court to exhume the corpse...

[Phil Clark is a Professor of International Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. An Australian by nationality but born in Sudan, Dr Clark is a political scientist specialising in conflict and post-conflict issues in Africa, particularly questions of peace, truth, justice and reconciliation. This is the final post in our symposium on...

[Mark Drumbl is the Class of 1975 Alumni Professor and Director, Transnational Law Institute, Washington and Lee University. This is the latest post in our symposium on Phil Clark’s book, Distant Justice: The Impact of the International Criminal Court on African Politics.] I never thought this day would endI never thought tonight could ever beThis close to me-- The Cure (1985) from the album The Head on the...

[Xabier Agirre Aranburu is Head of the Investigative Analysis Section at the Investigations Division of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The views expressed herein are those of the author alone, and do not reflect the views of the Office of the Prosecutor. This is the latest post in our symposium on Phil Clark’s book, Distant Justice: The Impact of the International Criminal Court...

[Ottilia Anna Maunganidze is the head of special projects at the Institute for Security Studies. She is a lawyer, analyst and strategist with particular interests in international law, human rights and justice. This is the latest post in our symposium on Phil Clark’s book, Distant Justice: The Impact of the International Criminal Court on African Politics.] The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established as a court of last resort...

[Kamari Maxine Clarke is a Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. This is the latest post in our symposium on Phil Clark’s book, Distant Justice: The Impact of the International Criminal Court on African Politics.] With a spectacular introductory opening that sets the stage for understanding Bosco Ntaganda’s appearance before the International Criminal Court (ICC), Phil Clark’s Distant Justice draws on eleven...

[Owiso Owiso is a Doctoral Researcher in Public International Law at the University of Luxembourg. This is the latest post in our symposium on Phil Clark’s book, Distant Justice: The Impact of the International Criminal Court on African Politics.] A distant ICC ‘orbiting in space’ as rogue regimes make merry This post makes a few observations on Phil Clark’s book Distant justice:...

[Phil Clark is a Professor of International Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. An Australian by nationality but born in Sudan, Dr Clark is a political scientist specialising in conflict and post-conflict issues in Africa, particularly questions of peace, truth, justice and reconciliation. This is the latest post in our symposium...

[Patryk I. Labuda is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Thijs B. Bouwknegt is a Researcher at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, KNAW).] The International Criminal Court (ICC) is struggling. Fifteen years after it opened its first investigation, the Court has tried just a handful of cases. Only...

[Tilman Rodenhäuser holds a PhD from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. He is currently Legal Adviser at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and worked previously with the German Red Cross, DCAF, and Geneva Call. The views expressed on this blog are those of the author alone and do not engage the ICRC,...