As Russia’s war against Ukraine rages, inflicting suffering on the country, its people, and economy, the Russian Central Bank (RCB) assets remain immobilised (i.e., frozen). Since December 2025, the EU, on whose territory a significant chunk of these assets has been immobilised, – €210 bn worth of assets out of approximately €290 bn –
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Christopher Nolan and International Law
Sand
Tomorrow, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey will come clattering into cinemas around the world. There will no doubt be talk of plotlines, performances, accents, and fidelity to the source text—perhaps even some mentions of the curious absence of Greek actors. There is less likely to be talk about sand.
But the sand is important. It…
How the war in Ukraine impacts the law and politics of security guarantees
The paradoxical revival of security guarantees
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has revived the concept of security guarantees. Their content and scope have been central to scholarly and political debates about Kyiv’s resistance to the Russian aggression (see here and here).
Yet, this revival highlights a paradox: if existing arrangements had been…
A peace treaty for Ukraine: Mini-symposium on international legal issues
By Anne Peters
In the four years since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the prospects of a negotiated peace settlement have waxed but mostly waned. But the possibility of an agreement has been an ongoing focus for international lawyers. This is primarily because Russia has demanded territorial concessions from Ukraine that appear at odds with fundamental prohibitions…
Legal Experimentation in International Institutional Law? From the Spanish Civil War and the ‘London Committee’ to Gaza and the ‘Board of Peace’
Treatable Wounds, Untreated Law: What Modern Battlefield Medicine Tells Us About the Principle of Unnecessary Suffering
Introduction
Advances in battlefield medicine have transformed the legal relevance of the principle of unnecessary suffering in international humanitarian law—but the legal community has not yet absorbed this transformation. For most of the history in which the relevant legal standards developed, certain vascular injuries caused in armed conflict were almost invariably fatal or resulted in…
The Award in Rwanda versus the United Kingdom: The PCA’s Interpretation of VCLT, Article 13
The PCA’s Award in the arbitration between Rwanda and the United Kingdom, decided on May 15, 2026, was released on June 1, 20226. The arbitration related to the decision by the incoming Labour Government to cancel the Agreement between the United Kingdom and Rwanda (formally the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Rwanda …
Constitution or Compass? A Quiet Renegotiation of the Maritime Order
Constitution or Compass? A Quiet Renegotiation of the Maritime Order
Vito De Lucia
In June 2026, the China Institute for Marine Affairs published a substantial assessment of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Assessment Report on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: Achievements, Positioning and Challenges…
Magnifica Humanitas and the International Legal Technocratic Imagination
Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, is not a source of international law. It creates no treaty obligations, modifies no customary rules, and settles no legal status for artificial intelligence. However, its relevance lies not only in the fact that it exposes a difficulty that international AI governance has not fully confronted, but…
Announcements: CfP Journal of International Peace and Organization; Academy in Advanced Legal Research and Method; BIICL International Law Short Courses; CfP Iuris Dictio Journal
By Mary Guest
1. Call for Papers: Journal of International Peace and Organization / Die Friedens-Warte. The Journal of International Peace and Organization / Die Friedens-Warte is inviting submissions for a special issue on the “Crisis of the International Law-Based Order?”. The special issue, edited by Professor Pierre Thielbörger (Ruhr University Bochum and Hertie School) and Professor Andreas
…