In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Public International Law

05 Oct

[Dr. Camilla S. Haake is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights affiliated with the University of Vienna.] Before release on 21 July 2023, Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ film heated up the tempers of countries bordering the South China Sea (SCS). Vietnam and the Philippines had announced in early July that they would not release the film because of a geopolitically controversial...

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02 Oct

[Jennifer Trahan is a Clinical Professor at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs and Director of their Concentration in International Law and Human Rights.] It is time for States Parties to amend the Kampala crime of aggression amendments and remove the jurisdictional gaps. At the Rome Conference, many states, particularly those from the Non-Aligned Movement, Germany, and Italy advocated for the inclusion of the crime of aggression...

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28 Sep

[Mariam Bezhanishvili (LinkedIn; Twitter; ResearchGate) is a PhD candidate at the European University Viadrina, researching on the protection of property during armed conflicts and occupations. She was formerly a visiting professional at the International Criminal Court and a legal intern at the International Bar Association ICC&ICL Programme.] On 18 July 2023, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a judgment in relation to the Situation in the...

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26 Sep

[Dhaval Bothra is a law student at Symbiosis Law School, Pune.] Introduction This blog specifically analyzes the legality of unilateral economic sanctions imposed by Member States, excluding UNSC sanctions. The primary focus is on evaluating the compatibility of these unilateral economic sanctions with the WTO's Public Morals Exception, with particular emphasis on Article XX(a) of the GATT. It should be...

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20 Sep

I had hoped not to write any more posts about the international vs. internationalized tribunal debate. I have written extensively on the topic already, and the prospects for an international tribunal grow dimmer with each passing day. Alas, Patryk Labuda's most recent entry on the topic at Just Security requires a response: although the arguments are the same unpersuasive ones...

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18 Sep

Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. Ibn Battuta From its vantage point atop the Kasbah in Tangier, Morocco, the Ibn Battuta museum overlooks the meeting point of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea—a vista coloured by myriad beginnings and a few endings as well. More of a memorial than a museum, the site...

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12 Sep

In recent days, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva has generated much controversy by declaring that, should Russian President, Vladimir Putin, visit the G20 Meeting in Brazil in 2024, he would not be arrested, in defiance of the existing International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against him. Eventually, Lula backtracked, stating the arrest was not up to him, but Brazil’s judiciary. In so doing,...

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04 Sep

[Shamik Datta is an undergraduate student at NALSAR University of Law (India). He is particularly interested in investment treaty arbitration, commercial law and public international law.] In recent years, the importance of the investor’s corporate social responsibility (‘CSR’) and environmental obligations has gained wide prominence in international investment law. This has resulted in several states explicitly including provisions mandating compliance with such responsibilities and obligations in...

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04 Sep

[Fan Huang is an LLM candidate in Public International Law at Leiden University, the Netherlands.] 1. Introduction On 8 June, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved the “Ending China’s Developing Nation Status Act”. Likewise, the US House of Representatives has recently passed an act “cancelling” China’s status as a developing country, with a stunning 415-0 vote. In response, Beijing defends its developing country status,...

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25 Aug

[Nick Leddy is Head of Litigation at Legal Action Worldwide, and a former Trial Lawyer for the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, where he worked, inter alia, on the situation in Myanmar/Bangladesh] Six years ago, in August 2017, the Myanmar military began a deadly operation in Rakhine State targeting the Rohingya group. This “Clearance Operation” caused incredible...

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25 Aug

[Ruth Buchanan is Professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University] “Words in the right order make us feel differently about the world.” (p. 19) I will begin this review with a confession—that is it late.  Very late.  There are reasons for its lateness of course—some mundane (family caregiving obligations, etc), others perhaps more telling.  As a long- time supervisor of graduate...

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