The ongoing conflict engulfing Israel and Palestine continues to raise significant issues of international law and policy. My earlier contribution focused on the jurisdiction and substantive law of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Here I address the ongoing litigation before the International Court of Justice (ICJ or Court). Because the crime of genocide can be [...]

Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) on Monday accused the US of orchestrating a covert campaign to interfere with the upcoming Russian presidential election, set to take place on Mar. 15-17. The spy agency claims the administration of US President Joe Biden has ordered a group of American NGOs to stifle voter turnout in a bid [...]

This piece has been corrected to reflect the fact that Russia only attempted to issue Red Notices against Bill Browder eight times. An erroneous claim that Russia accounts for 33 percent of all Red Notices was also removed, along with one that stated INTERPOL’s data processing policy for refugees is new. An INTERPOL spokesperson reached [...]

The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos are children. What does this mean? And how might the ruling reverberate as the US grapples with reproductive rights in a post-Roe world? In this explainer, we will explore these issues and their possible implications. As succinctly as possible, what was this case about? LePage v. [...]

Publisher and activist Julian Assange appealed to London’s High Court this week in a last-ditch effort to avoid extradition to the US to face espionage charges. Following the hearing which spanned Tuesday and Wednesday, judges will consider whether Assange can appeal an earlier ruling ordering his extradition from the UK to the US, where he [...]

On December 6, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres, acting under Article 99 of the UN Charter, formally warned the UN Security Council of a looming global threat from the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. This is the first time that Guterres has invoked Article 99 since becoming Secretary-General, and only the fourth [...]

The US Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments this week in a landmark case that will determine whether states are entitled to remove former president and current Republican frontrunner Donald Trump from election ballots over his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when the US Capitol was stormed by protesters. In anticipation of the [...]

On Friday, Jan. 26, a panel of 17 judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered its ruling on South Africa’s request for the indication of provisional measures submitted in the landmark case: Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel). Although [...]

The year 2024 is an important one for Sri Lanka. It is a presidential election year, and a resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council to gather evidence of international crimes for use in future prosecutions is due for renewal. After the public ousters of the former-elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2023, Ranil Wickremesinghe [...]

The current conflict engulfing Israel and Palestine raises significant issues of international law and policy. This is part one in an anticipated two-part series that will discuss some of the relevant legal questions before the International Criminal Court (ICC; Part I) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ; Part II).  With both courts located in [...]