Human Rights Law
Marko Milanovic explores how lies by state officials, whether in authoritarian regimes or democracies, can constitute violations of international human rights, particularly when they affect freedoms of expression, the right to health, or public participation. He argues that such lies are often integral to or even sufficient for committing human rights abuses,
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Capping Freedom of Expression? Assessing Kneecap’s Controversy under the ECHR
On Friday 23rd May, the Irish-language rap trio Kneecap headlined London’s Wide Awake music festival at Brixton’s Broxwell Park. Attended by 20,000 fans, this marked the Belfast group’s first stage performance since the announcement that the Metropolitan police charged one of the group’s members with terrorism offences. Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (stage name Mo…
Is Israel’s Use of Force Against Iran Justified by Self-Defence?
This morning, Israel launched a major military operation against Iran targeting its nuclear programme, including facilities, individual scientists and military leadership. In this post, I will provide a quick, preliminary analysis of the legality of Israel’s use of force against Iran as a matter of the jus ad bellum. As I will explain, Israel’s…
Constructing Legality: Delegation Diplomacy and the Politics of Narrative in International Law
Setting the Scene
In the wake of the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in April 2025, the Government of India launched what it called a “Political Mission” on the global stage. At the centre of this initiative was the deployment of high-level all-party delegations to key capitals. This practice, referred to here…
The Pandemic Agreement: A Milestone in Global Health, but Will it Work?
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant weaknesses in the global legal framework for pandemics. In response, in 2021, WHO member states launched negotiations to develop a new pandemic agreement aimed at addressing the gaps revealed by the pandemic. After three years of negotiations, on 20 May 2025, the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted the WHO…
Sanctions, Coercion and the Right to Development
Last week, the Trump administration sanctioned four judges of the International Criminal Court, who were subjected to an asset freeze and a travel ban simply for doing their job. Yesterday, the governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom sanctioned two extremist Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, for inciting…
Sex in Prison: The International Human Rights Framework on Conjugal Visits, Starting from the Case of Italy
By Giulia Bosi
When was the last time you had sex? For many detainees in Italian prisons, the answer is probably years. But things are changing. In April, the first intimate visit took place in an Italian detention centre. The inmate met his partner for two hours in a room with a double bed, not monitored by the…
Can Ecocide Law Help Curb the Mass Exploitation and Killing of Animals?
In a prior post on this blog, I examined whether the existing framework of international crimes—namely, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide—could be mobilized to address the systemic exploitation and killing of animals. I concluded that the relevance of these crimes to such conducts is, at best, incidental. Primarily designed to protect human beings,…
Serbia ≠ Fidji? or: What happened to Serbia’s Intervention in the Case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Sudan v. United Arab Emirates)
I. Introduction
Certain aspects and the (then still potential) outcome of the ICJ Case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in Sudan (Sudan v. United Arab Emirates) were already discussed on this blog here and here, including the issue of a possible intervention by…
Announcements: CfP Canadian Yearbook of International Law Symposium; Human Rights and the Green Transition Symposium; CfP Early Career Conference on Humanitarian Disarmament; Ljubljana Sanctions Conference; Rio School on Global Governance, Democracy and Human Rights; India and Pakistan on the Brink of War Event; Changing Role of the ICJ Seminar; CfP Developments in the Law of State Immunity
By Mary Guest
1. Call for papers: Canadian Yearbook of International Law Symposium – The Adjudication of Climate Change. The Canadian Yearbook of International Law (CYIL) is soliciting papers (in English or French) for a symposium on “The Adjudication of Climate Change”. Prospective authors are invited to submit an abstract of up to 500 words by 15 July…