Public International Law

[Yue Cao is a DPhil Law student at the University of Oxford. He holds an MPhil in Law and a Magister Juris (MJur) from the University of Oxford, and a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU).] On February 2, the ICJ delivered its Preliminary Objections Judgment on Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation). (see general comments here and here) One significant aspect of the...

[Noam Kozlov is a research fellow and lecturer in the Faculty of Law and Criminology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He previously received a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and Philosophy and an LLB from the Hebrew University.] After six months of intensive fighting, the Israel-Gaza war is no more. While political forces – both in Israel and abroad – continue to stress otherwise,...

A forthcoming symposium coordinated by Mohsen al Attar and Nciko wa Nciko African peoples and states have long stood in solidarity with the liberation struggle of Palestinians. Following each proclamation of independence across the continent, African leaders demanded the same for Palestine, a place that encapsulated anti-colonial resistance to Western (racial) imperialism. As Nelson Mandela powerfully declared: ‘our freedom is incomplete...

[Dr. Shea Elizabeth Esterling is a Senior Lecturer Above the Bar at the Faculty of Law at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. She is Co-Chair of the American Society of International Law Rights of Indigenous Peoples Interest Group (2021-24) and Chair of the Cultural Heritage and the Arts Interest Group (2024-27). She is the author of Indigenous Cultural Property and International...

[Nimer Sultany is a Reader in Public Law at SOAS University of London and the Editor-in-Chief of the Palestine Yearbook of International Law.] In a recent lecture at the Imperial War Museums, the prominent lawyer and author Philippe Sands makes several problematic and surprising claims concerning South Africa v. Israel, the genocide case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Sands, who represents Palestine in the...

[Anvesh Jain is a third-year J.D. candidate at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law.] Last month, two events from different parts of the world signaled a worrisome erosion of one of the fundamental lineaments of international law. On April 5, after an escalating diplomatic feud, Ecuadorian police entered Mexico’s Quito embassy to apprehend former Vice President Jorge Glas. With bribery and corruption convictions looming over him, and...

[Ọláolúwa (Laolu) Òní is in the PhD program at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto and holds other law degrees from the University of Lagos and NYU School of Law.] [Disclaimer: This essay is excerpted from a longer research paper, still in progress, titled international Law, Language, and More, More, More Borders, which applies law and language methodology to comment on transit visa restrictions.] Introduction On...

 [John Quigley is Professor Emeritus at the Moritz College of Law of The Ohio State University.] On April 18, the UN Security Council considered Palestine’s application for membership in the United Nations. When a vote was taken on a draft resolution to recommend Palestine’s admission, twelve states voted in favor, while two abstained. Only one state, the United States, a permanent member, voted in the...

[Wouter Vandenhole is full professor of human rights and children’s rights at the Law and Development Research Group of the University of Antwerp’s law faculty.] What if we could get back to the drawing board in human rights law? What would be the most decisive game changer? For some, it may be adding new rights or reframing existing rights. For others,...

[Caroline Omari Lichuma is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Luxembourg, where she researches in the broad area of BHR. She received her PhD (summa cum laude) from the Georg-August University of Göttingen.] Striding Towards Responsible Business Conduct in The Age of Due Diligence Laws Mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD) laws are in vogue.  After the completion of the trilogues in...

[Gamze Erdem Türkelli is an assistant research professor in international law, human rights and sustainable development at the Law and Development Research Group, University of Antwerp, the principal investigator of the ERC Starting Grant 2023 funded GENESIS project and a member of the Academic Circle on the Right to Development of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development.] In...