As of 23:00 CET on 21 February 2022, media outlets and journalists have begun to report on an announcement by Russia that it will send troops for "peacekeeping operations" in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Eastern Ukraine. This followed Russia's announcement earlier the same evening that it would recognize those regions as independent entities, triggering threats of sanctions from...
[Marc Weller is Professor of International Law and International Constitutional Studies at the University of Cambridge and Editor of the Oxford Handbook on the Use of Force in International Law.] The international rules on the use of force are simple. Force may never be employed as a means of international policy. Force is only available by way of self-defence, if specifically...
[Sophia Zademack, MLaw, LL.M. has previously worked with different Human Rights Organizations and is currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Zurich. Luke James, LLM. is a security analyst interested in peace processes. He has worked at the ICC, OSCE, British Red Cross, Platform for Peace Humanity, UNV and is an Army Reservist.] Summary The defensive weapons supplied to Ukraine are...
[Seyfullah Hasar is a lecturer in international law at Dicle University, Turkey and author of the forthcoming book State Consent to Foreign Military Intervention during Civil Wars, published by Brill] What started as peaceful protests against a sharp rise in fuel prices in Kazakhstan turned into a violent confrontation between the protestors and security forces. The President, claiming that the situation was taken advantage...
[David J. Scheffer is a former US diplomat, an international law professor, and a Senior Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is author of The Sit Room: In the Theater of War and Peace.] Legal principles matter as two major democracies—Taiwan and Ukraine—are threatened by superpower neighbors. Whether one argues about Taiwan’s status as a country or a province...
[Katharine Fortin is an Associate Professor at the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights, Utrecht University. She is the founder and co-editor of the Armed Groups and International Law blog.] [Andrew Clapham is Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, a member of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, and an Honorary Member of the International Commission of...
[Dapo Akande, Antonio Coco, Talita Dias, Duncan B. Hollis, James O’Brien and Tsvetelina van Benthem.] In the past few months, nothing has reminded everyone of the etymology of the expression ‘computer virus’ like ransomware. This form of malicious code is delivered through a vulnerability in the victim’s system, such as a phishing email or password spraying, infiltrating and potentially crippling it...
[Kai Ambos is Professor of Criminal and International Law at the University of Göttingen and a judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, The Hague. He writes here in his academic capacity. The author would like to thank Dr Lippold, Göttingen, for his important suggestions, and Dr Margaret Hiley for the preparation of the English version.] Reports on the U.S. drone killings in connection with Afghanistan reveal an...
[Kobra Moradi is a contributor to the ICL Media Review and is currently completing her Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy at the Australian National University.] Afghanistan is currently at a critical political juncture as it attempts to transition from a state of war to a state of peace. As constituents most affected by the war, victims have a right to have their voices heard...
[Azadah Raz Mohammad is a Ph.D. candidate at the Melbourne Law School investigating the case for inclusion of an independent “crime of terrorism” in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Felicity Gerry is an international QC largely defending in serious and complex criminal trials and appeals, often with an international element; a Professor of Legal Practice at Deakin University, where she teaches a unit...
[Eian Katz is a Legal and Policy Analyst at Canmore Company. He previously served as Counsel at Public International Law and Policy Group.] Earlier this month, the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) released a statement on “The Regulation of Information Operations and Activities,” marking an important step in the global effort to reckon with the implications for international law of disruptive forms of online...
[Chiara Redaelli is a Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and a Visiting Professor at the Faculté Libre de Droit, Université Catholique de Lille.] I would like to begin by thanking Opinio Juris, its editors, and in particular Alonso Gurmendi and Jessica Dorsey for organising and hosting this symposium. I would also like to express my gratitude to John Hursh, Brad Roth, Luca Ferro, Erin Pobjie, Laura Iñigo, and...