International Law Commons^™

Change And Continuity: Foreign Affairs And Procedure At The Supreme Court 2024–25, Margaret E. Mcguinness

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

The 100th anniversary of the founding of the Law School is a wonderful occasion to discuss how research and teaching form us as professors within the St. John’s community. I teach, research, and write about international law, international human rights, diplomacy, and the ways in which international law becomes law in the United States. I also teach civil procedure and international litigation. These two strands of my work allow me to think about the complex interplay between international law and domestic court procedure. I also have professional experience in each of these areas: First, as a career diplomat for …

Chicago, Arbitrary Detention And Torture: An Examination Of Human Rights Violations And Legal Responses Under The Second Trump Administration, Gianna Keuer

Bates College Undergraduate Law Review

This paper uses a human rights-based analysis to explore the legal implications of the second Trump administration’s deportation policies, using frameworks enacted by international legal organizations and state-level bodies. Drawing upon the Convention Against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and established state policies, the paper identifies important jus cogens norms against arbitrary detention and torture. With Chicago serving as a case study, the paper explores different avenues that have been employed to counter violations of prohibitions of arbitrary detention and torture, ultimately concluding that state-level policy responses and impact litigation cases serve as a more efficacious …

One Year Of The Papacy Of Leo Xiv: The Role Of The Catholic Church In International Conflict Resolution, Cardozo Christian Law Student Association (Clsa), Cardozo International Law Society, Cardozo Dispute Resolution Society

2025–2026 Flyers

A roundtable discussion examining the first year of the papacy of Pope Leo XIV and the role of the Catholic Church in international conflict resolution.

Speaker: Dmytro Vovk, Visiting Professor, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

The Legal Framework For Direct Ocean Carbon Capture And Storage (Volume 1: International Law), Romany M. Webb, Korey Silverman-Roati

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This paper focuses on the marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) approach of direct ocean carbon capture and storage (DOCCS), which aims to remove some of the carbon currently stored in the ocean and thereby enable it to uptake additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. DOCCS is still undergoing research, but early studies suggest it could have significant carbon dioxide removal potential. However, DOCCS could also present environmental and other risks, including from the construction of new facilities, the intake and processing of water, and the handling and storage of carbon dioxide. Careful siting, design, and operation of DOCCS systems is …

Now You Sea Me, Now You Don't: A "Climate Displacement Equity" Framework For Sinking Nations, Meera S. Aiyer

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a unique set of states that are disproportionately impacted by climate change impacts and are highly vulnerable to economic, cultural, and environmental harms. While many are islands, SIDS also include non-island states populated with predominately coastal communities. The United Nations recognizes 39 sovereign states and 18 associate members as SIDS. SIDS account for over 1,000 islands across the globe, but the total population across them amounts to 65 million people, less than one percent of the global population. SIDS contribute less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, the main cause of modern-day …

Thinking Constructively About International Law, Monica Hakimi

Faculty Scholarship

The international order that has defined the post-World War II period is being radically transformed, presenting a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reconstitute its basic foundations. The pressing questions for international lawyers are about the roles their enterprise can and should play going forward. I argue in this Article that most lack the analytic framework they need even to begin tackling these questions. Worse, most seem mired in an old theory about law that corrupts how they approach their enterprise. My goals in the Article are to expose the prevalence of this bad theory and to present the grounds for discarding it, …

The Human Rights Fulcrum: Using Environmental Rights As Leverage For Change, Rebecca Bratspies

Pace International Law Review

“Give me a lever long enough and a firm place on which to stand and I will move the earth." That is how Archimedes famously described the power of levers and the possibility they create for moving something that otherwise seems immovable. His point was that with the use of distance, a fulcrum, and a lever, nothing is really immovable. This same characterization has been applied to human rights law, and its attempts to disrupt patterns of structural dispossession, discrimination and oppression that bedevil human society. Indeed, the metaphor that human rights are a lever for change is relatively common …

A Primer On International Agreements Relevant To Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal, Korey Silverman-Roati, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This primer provides an introduction to seven international agreements relevant to marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) research activities in the ocean. Each of these agreements has implications for whether, when, where, and how in-ocean mCDR projects will go forward. The primer is intended to provide policymakers, non-government organizations (NGOs), scientists, and others working on mCDR with an introduction to the agreements and explain their relevance to mCDR. It also offers guidance to those wishing to engage in discussions regarding mCDR under the agreements, which could help resolve open legal questions on their applicability to, and governance of, mCDR.

Gendered Harms In Armed Conflict: International Legal Responses To The Gendered Effects Of The War In Sudan, Naima Dams

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis interrogates how international law conceptualizes, prosecutes, and ultimately limits the understanding of sexual violence in contexts of war and displacement. Drawing on feminist legal theory, postcolonial critique, and ethnographic fieldwork with Sudanese women displaced in Egypt, it questions the dominant legal framing of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) as episodic, exceptional, and individualized. Instead, it reveals sexual violence as structural, continuous, and embedded in the everyday realities of racialized, gendered, and colonial harm.

Through ethnographical narratives, the study exposes how survivors' experiences often exceed the legibility frameworks of humanitarian and legal institutions, which prioritize spectacular, forensic evidence over slow, …

Seeing Beyond The Words: What Interdisciplinary Methodologies Reveal About International Law, Matthew S. Erie, Mark Pollack, Wolfgang Alschner, Beth Simmons, Katerina Linos

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

INTRODUCTION: On April 24, 2025, the International Law and Social Science Interest Group debuted at the ASIL Annual Meeting with a panel that posed a deceptively simple question: how can social science tools advance the work of international lawyers? Chaired by Chantal Thomas, the session brought together Matthew Erie, Wolfgang Alschner, Beth Simmons, and Katerina Linos— scholars who bridge doctrinal and empirical inquiry—to show how ethnography, computational text analysis, counterfactual inference, and mixed-method design can illuminate legal puzzles that doctrine alone cannot solve. The four short essays in this symposium provide parallel illustrations of this core theme: Erie’s ethnographic approach …

The National Security Internet, Anupam Chander

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In response to widespread foreign surveillance and growing geopolitical distrust, governments are erecting a national security internet. Pioneered by China, national firewalls have gone global. But where firewalls sought to keep information out, they now seek to keep data in. Governments keen to avoid their citizens’ data from falling into foreign hands demand not only that personal data be stored on local servers, but also require that it be stored on local servers by local companies—what this Article calls “data localization squared.” Enforcing this demand requires a new mechanism of transnational control: immunity from foreign jurisdiction. Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, …

From Pirates To Corporations: The Evolving Battleground Of The Alien Tort Statute, Marin Larkin

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Doctor Won't See You Now: Legal Proscriptions For Medical Tourism Control And Regulation, Shenley W. Wish

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

The Medical Tourism industry has experienced remarkable growth in the past decade and is tracking to exceed that growth dramatically in the coming decade. With this rapid expansion, however, comes growing pains—predominantly lackluster patient safety. This Note examines the opportunities and challenges that would arise from regulating Medical Tourism through an international treaty, recognizing that an international treaty approach provides the most comprehensive and practically feasible solution for addressing complex cross-border constraints to create a safer global medical industry. (from the author)

Enforcing International Humanitarian Law Through The Business Responsibility To Respect Human Rights, Tara Van Ho

Faculty Articles

Insulation produced by the Danish company Rockwool—or its Russian subsidiary—lines thirty-one Russian Navy warships. Though not a weapon, this material is essential to the vessels’ operation. Did Rockwool have a responsibility under international law to stop the transfer of the insulation to the Russian Navy before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine? This article examines the business responsibilities under the 2011 United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (“UNGPs”). In doing so, the article finds that the business responsibility to respect human rights in the UNGPs provides a strong mechanism for enforcing international humanitarian law (“IHL”). However, it requires …

Foreign States, Private Proxies, And “Discretionary” Torts On U.S. Soil, George K. Foster

Indiana Law Journal

The tortious act exception to sovereign immunity offers a vital path for tort victims to seek redress against foreign states for harms committed on U.S. soil. Yet some courts have narrowed the exception in troubling ways when rejecting claims alleging clergy abuse cover-ups, cyberattacks, and other serious misconduct. Some have held that the exception applies only to torts committed by state officials and employees, excluding private actors even when acting under state direction. Others have deemed conduct “discretionary”—and therefore immune—even when it patently violated U.S. law or contractual obligations. This Article challenges both readings. Drawing on legislative history, common law, …

Dokdo/Takeshima And Maritime Delimitation Between The Republic Of Korea And Japan: A Comment On Icj Dispute Resolution, Katherine Angell

Celebrating WCL Student Authors

The Republic of Korea (Korea) should agree to submit the issue of sovereignty over Dokdo/Takeshima and the issue of maritime delimitation in the East Sea/Sea of Japan to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) because the ICJ is likely to decide that Dokdo/Takeshima is Korean territory and the tensions in the East Sea/Sea of Japan can be resolved to allow further cooperation between the two nations. The ICJ is the primary avenue for peacefully resolving territorial and maritime delimitation disputes between nations, and the ICJ has developed a substantial body of case law analyzing these issues. The ICJ considers various …

International Law, The Courts, And The Political Branches Of Singapore: Painting A Complete Picture, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In line with Singapore's vision of the separation of powers, the courts' duty is primarily to give effect to domestic law; the political branches take the lead in engaging with international law. A study of Singapore's interface with international law would therefore be incomplete were it to consider only the courts' role and not the political branches' model of international law as primarily a guarantor of Singapore's sovereignty and standing as a participant on the international stage. The political branches have been circumspect in engaging with international law in other areas, such as human rights, preferring a specifically Singaporean vision …

Mandatory Cooperation Under International Law, Evan J. Criddle, Evan Fox-Decent

Faculty Publications

Humanity in the twenty-first century faces serious global challenges and crises, including pandemics, nuclear proliferation, violent extremism, refugee migration, and climate change. None of these calamities can be averted without robust international cooperation. Yet, national leaders often assume that because their states are sovereign under international law, they are free to opt in or out of international cooperation as they see fit. This book challenges conventional wisdom by showing that international law requires states to cooperate with one another to address matters of international concern – even in the absence of treaty-based obligations. Within the past several decades, requirements to …

“Fleeing The Climate: The Need For Protection Of Climate Refugees In The Light Of International Law”, Carina Dietmayer

Pace International Law Review

Climate change, which is already making itself felt, poses challenges for international law and the international community. Climate change and its consequences will lead to (involuntary) human mobility and affect many people. This forced migration is not yet specifically addressed by international law. This article addresses climate-induced migration and the protection of climate refugees through international refugee and migration law, international human rights law, international environmental law, climate change law and international disaster law. It analyzes how and, above all, why climate refugees are protected. The core thesis of the article is the justification of a need for protection of …

Beyond Precedent: Sexual Violence As An Act Of Genocide In The International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda, Ciara Kilroy

Peace and Conflict Studies

Wartime sexual violence (WSV) has been a characteristic of violent conflict throughout recorded history, yet has failed to illicit the same international attention and condemnation as other war crimes. WSV has also been a particularly pervasive method of destruction during genocide, in which women make up the majority of victims and are targeted for both their gender and group membership. However, sexual violence is not enumerated as a crime of genocide in the 1948 Genocide Convention. Despite its absence from the formal genocide convention, legal institutions have still attempted to hold perpetrators responsible for sexual violence during genocide. This paper …

International Law, Adam Chilton, Weijia Rao

Faculty Scholarship

International law has, historically, been best understood as a body of principles and rules that govern the interactions between sovereign states and regulate how sovereign states can behave outside their borders. Over time, international law has evolved to regulate a broader range of subjects than just exterritorial activities—including the treatment of citizens or migrants within a country’s borders—and to regulate a greater range of actors than just sovereign states—including private individuals, corporations, and other nonstate actors. This body of principles and rules comes from several sources, including treaties and conventions, customary international law, judicial opinions, and academic articles and treatises …

Response: Foreign Affairs Prosecutions And Cybercrime, Mailyn Fidler

Law Faculty Scholarship

A response to Professor Steven Koh's new article on how the U.S. makes global criminal justice policy. Prof. Fidler examines what a decade of cybercrime indictments reveals about America's approach to prosecuting foreign hackers. Three things stand out: * Beyond Attribution - These indictments aren't just about naming and shaming, or about the typical dimensions of criminal alw. They're sophisticated foreign policy tools that coordinate and moderate international sanctions and global norms. * Intertwined with Cooperation - The indictments alternately create space for and slow the tempo of international cooperation on this issue, according to U.S. interests. * Power Projection …

Genocidal Accusation, Steven Arrigg Koh

Faculty Scholarship

To accuse of genocide — what does it mean? Genocidal accusation is ubiquitous today, evident more in the public square than in any courtroom. At first glance, such accusation seemingly relies on a central assumption: genocidal accusation is critical to preventing atrocity. This Article argues that this widespread assumption is incomplete, obscuring genocidal accusation’s dual nature. In fact, genocidal accusation encompasses not only laudable atrocity prevention (for example, the Rwandan genocide), but also problematic punitive, carceral discourse that brands the “other” as morally polluted (such as President Putin’s Ukraine invasion). It is thus challenging to evaluate such accusation in the …

2025 Fall - Clihhr Newsletter, Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr)

CLIHHR Newsletters

This Fall 2025 issue of the CLIHHR Newsletter highlights the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights’ continued work in advocacy, research, and education. It features the Institute’s landmark report on Indigenous land rights in the Brazilian Amazon, major events including the 2025 Lemkin Award Ceremony, faculty and student achievements, alumni spotlights, and engagement with international human rights mechanisms. The newsletter reflects CLIHHR’s ongoing commitment to supporting marginalized communities and advancing human rights and atrocity prevention efforts.

Transforming The World With Reparations, Ingrid Wuerth Brunk, Monica Hakimi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This special issue of the American Journal of International Law—devoted entirely to reparations in international law—offers a range of perspectives on reparations for large-scale harms relating to colonialism, slavery, industrialization, and transboundary pollution. As the symposium authors describe, the gap between the reparations that justice might demand and the ones that international law provides is enormous. The international law for reparations does not come close to remedying such harms and is not poised to do so anytime soon.

Oped: Forced Disappearances In New Mexico 2025, Jennifer Moore, Antoinette M. Sedillo Lopez, Linda Serrato

Faculty Scholarship

Immigration raids and unaccounted-for seizures of human beings are occurring in New Mexico and throughout the country, with increases in their frequency and magnitude as of June 2025. As we celebrate our Independence, every U.S. citizen should do some soul searching–to seek the soul of our nation. We call on our federal elected officials to work to ensure that enforced disappearances do not happen in our beloved country. As elected representatives and educators we demand to know where our constituents are being held and under what allegations. And we ask ICE agents to consider their actions. History did not look …

Transforming The World With Reparations?, Ingrid Brunk, Monica Hakimi

Faculty Scholarship

Claims for reparations in international law commonly reflect two competing visions--one transformative, the other corrective. The transformative vision looks to reparations to end the long tail of injustices that are associated with large-scale historic harms. The corrective vision is more confined; it focuses on repairing specific, legally cognizable harms and returning the agents or entities involved as closely as possible to the status quo ante. We argue in this Essay that these two visions have distinct conceptual logics, even though they often overlap in practice, and that the transformative vision cannot carry the burdens that are placed on it.

Exploiting Vulnerability: Human Trafficking As A Tool Of Genocide, Madison Bryant

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

This thesis examines the relationship between human trafficking and genocide, arguing that when trafficking is used with the intent to destroy a targeted group, it should be understood and prosecuted as an act of genocide. While international law traditionally treats genocide and human trafficking as distinct crimes, historical and contemporary evidence reveals significant overlap in their mechanisms, motivations, and outcomes. Through a thematic analysis of three case studies, this research demonstrates how trafficking has been systematically employed to further genocidal objectives, including displacement, exploitation, cultural erasure, and the destruction of communities. The case studies are the genocide of Indigenous peoples …

The Application Of Comparative Law In Public International Law Research, Lê Thị Anh Đào, Adrianna N. Globokar

Akron Law Student Publications

Comparative law analyses the similarities and differences between legal systems, often across different countries or jurisdictions, and examines how those systems operate. Public international law, by contrast, governs the conduct of actors subject to international law, primarily sovereign states, and international organisations, through legal frameworks and principles. Although comparative law and international law are traditionally treated as distinct areas of study, this paper explores the potential benefits of adopting a comparative approach to public international law. Insights from comparative law can deepen the public’s understanding of public international law and advocate for the establishment of “comparative public international law” as …

Thailand V. Katanyu Muenkhamruang “Pan”, Andrew Khoo, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

The criminal proceedings against Ms. Katanyu Muenkhamruang (“Pan”), a 27-year-old Thai student and pro-democracy activist, violated international fair trial standards and Thailand’s human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Pan was convicted under Thailand’s sedition law and the Computer-Related Crimes Act for Facebook posts promoting peaceful anti-government protests in 2021. The trial revealed numerous due process violations, including violation of the presumption of innocence, reliance on unsubstantiated claims, and a lack of reasoned judgment. Despite the absence of direct evidence linking Pan to the alleged posts, the court inferred guilt, and arbitrarily disregarded exculpatory …