The war in the Middle East has plunged the world into yet another crisis. Days are paced by minute-by-minute updates: at first, tragic reports of civilian deaths and incendiary threats from US President Donald Trump, now fragile peace negotiations between the United States and Iran. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has spiked oil
EJIL: Talk!
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Genocide Modelling as Ladder and Ceiling: Ecocide and the Limits of the Rome Statute
When Arthur Galston coined the term ‘ecocide’ in 1970, the choice to model it on ‘genocide’ was deliberate; the etymological echo was designed to generate political leverage and signal the gravity of environmental destruction caused by the US’ Operation Ranch Hand in Vietnam.
The same analogy that gave ecocide its political traction has also constrained…
Two Weeks in Review: 1—12 June 2026
The last fortnight has been dominated by two major developments: the proceedings initiated by deep-seabed mining contractors before the ITLOS Seabed Disputes Chamber, and the ICJ’s Right to Strike Advisory Opinion. Interventions have also grappled with different institutional silences around Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank, from Eurovision to the Human Rights Committee…
Announcements: CfP International cooperation under the ECHR; CfP International Business Law Scholars Roundtable; CfP Beyond the Gender Blind Spot; CfP Theorising the New Age of Environmental Human Rights Law Conference; The Relevance of ICJ Advisory Opinions Event; Postdoctoral Researcher Vacancy; Remembering Nuremberg Dialogue; Nuremberg Forum 2026; International Law & the Mind Workshop; CfA International Climate Change Law Conference; CfP Asymmetries in Public Policy Conference
By Mary Guest
1. Call for Papers: International cooperation under the European Convention on Human Rights. The University of Liverpool is organising a two-days conference on “International cooperation under the European Convention on Human Rights” (Liverpool, 15 – 16 October 2026). The conference relies on a dialogue of scholars and practicing experts from the European Court of Human
…
Pre-Exploitation Litigation: Cases No. 34 and 35 and the Timing of Deep-Sea Mining Governance
By Yinuo Kang
On 5 June 2026, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) announced two new proceedings before its Seabed Disputes Chamber (SDC). Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI) and Tonga Offshore Mining Ltd. (TOML) each instituted proceedings against the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and requested provisional measures. The cases have been entered as Case…
Case Concerning an Inquiry by the International Seabed Authority: Less a Defence of Due Process than an Attempt to Short-circuit It?
By Hannah Lily
On 30 May 2026, two deep seabed mining exploration contractors—NORI and TOML (“the contractors”), both subsidiaries of Canada-based The Metals Company (TMC)—lodged an application and a request for provisional measures with the Seabed Disputes Chamber (SDC). The claims allege that the International Seabed Authority (ISA) violated international obligations relating to due process, transparency, and non-discrimination…
CERD’s May 2026 Statement on Israel’s Death Penalty Law: On the Silence of Other Treaty Bodies and On a Missed Rendez-Vous with The Hague
On 29 April 2026, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) expressed alarm at Israel’s “Death Penalty for Terrorists Law,” urging its immediate repeal, and situating the rolling back of a long-standing de facto moratorium on executions within a broader framework of racial discrimination.
CERD’s statement is significant per se, but…
From “Blinking Red” to AMIA: An Emerging Standard of Intelligence Failure Under the Right to Life
On 1 September 2004, more than a thousand people were taken hostage in School No. 1 in Beslán, North Ossetia. Three days later, at least 334 of them — including 186 children — were dead. On 18 July 1994, a vehicle laden with explosives detonated in front of the headquarters of the AMIA —…
Essential Supplies for Friends? AOTES, Export Restrictions, and WTO Non-Discrimination
When supply-chain disruptions interrupt access to essential supplies, small, highly open economies are particularly vulnerable. A familiar response has been cooperation and information-sharing, as reflected in the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement. New Zealand and Singapore have now taken a narrower and harder legal step. Their Agreement on Trade in Essential Supplies (AOTES), signed…
A Framework for the Weight of Treaty Body Output: The ICJ’s Right to Strike Advisory Opinion
On 21 May 2026, the International Court of Justice delivered its advisory opinion on the right to strike under ILO Convention No. 87, holding by ten votes to four that the right is protected by that instrument. The Opinion clarifies a long-running issue between workers’ and employers’ groups. But it is also significant…