International Law Commons^™

Seizing Responsibility: International Investment Law's Shifting Understanding Of Jurisdiction In Occupied And Annexed Territory, Lena Raxter

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

Following Russia’s 2014 occupation and annexation of Crimea, Ukraine pursued the unusual strategy of encouraging its nationals to file investment claims against Russia under the 1998 bilateral investment treaty between Russia and Ukraine. The resulting “Crimea arbitrations” consistently upheld jurisdiction, reasoning that Russia’s effective control over Crimea resulted in the assumption of legal obligations in the region. Many scholars, however, contend that this conclusion was incorrect because the disputes were outside the respective tribunals’ jurisdiction. The resulting fragmentation begs the question: how can international investment law reconcile these competing positions?

In the interest of promoting stability and consistency in international …

Bridging Divides, Building Futures: Affirmative Action From A Global Perspective, Irene Rhodes

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

Affirmative action in higher education has long been central to U.S. constitutional debate, but the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA) ended race-conscious admissions. This Article uses a comparative framework to examine how Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and India reconcile equality, diversity, and meritocracy. Common law systems emphasize incremental positive action, while Brazil and India employ quota-based statutory models. These contrasts reveal that effective diversity policies must align with constitutional traditions. For the United States, durable reforms should include race-neutral socioeconomic indices, statutory authorizations, and programmatic supports with built-in review mechanisms. By drawing on …

Masthead, Vol. 58 (2026)

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Creeping Alliances In Foreign Policy Choices: A World Of Clusters And The Outline Of A Fragmented World Order, Kerem Gülay

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

International cooperation and conflict has long been studied through formal institutions, namely, membership in international organizations and participation in bilateral or multilateral treaties. This hardly grasps the informal and contingent relationships and the tacit and pragmatic alliances reflected in countries’ joint positions on multilateral issues. While most theories of alliances were preoccupied with why such formal alliances were formed, this article offers a reconceptualization of international cooperation based on empirical data. It proposes “creeping alliances,” tentatively defined as gradual and often informal cooperation that develops over time characterized by increasing mutual foreign policy alignment, to explain an undertheorized domain of …

The Unspeakable Unspoken: Terrorist Imagery, Symbolic Expression And The Shifting Boundaries Of Free Speech, Ayşe Yağmur Tunçak

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

A simple fruit like a watermelon can convey many meanings: solidarity for some, terrorism sympathies for others. Among other things, increasing restrictions on speech drive individuals to the use of symbols for political expression, which may lead to legal controversies at the international level due to the untended complexity of symbolic speech in legal discussions. Unlike verbal communication, the meaning and communicative content of symbols are often indirect and open to interpretation. Thus, international human rights standards should rely on context-sensitive evaluations to prevent arbitrary limitations. Although the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), due to its subsidiary role, assumes …

Governing Economic Statecraft: Procedural Guardrails From State Practice, Wto Rules, Multilateral Trade, Dah-Wei Yih

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

National security exceptions have long been part of international trade law, but their use has expanded alongside the rise of economic statecraft. States now increasingly rely on geoeconomic tools such as sanctions, subsidies, tariffs, and investment and export controls to pursue geopolitical goals. This phenomenon, described by political scientists as “weaponized interdependence,” has blurred the boundary between economic policy and national security, thereby straining the integrity of WTO rules and the multilateral trading system.

Against this backdrop, how can states promote rule-of-law values such as transparency and predictability on the international plane as they implement geoeconomic policies?

This Article makes …

Closing Remarks To The American Society Of International Law 2025 Midyear Meeting, Rt. Hon. Alex Chalk Kc

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Keynote Speech For The American Society Of International Law 2025 Midyear Meeting, Dr. Mark Ellis

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

2026 Klatsky Endowed Lecture In Human Rights, Beth Van Schaack

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Talking Foreign Policy: "Turning Points And Paradigm Shifts In U.S. Foreign Policy" June 23, 2025 Broadcast, Talking Foreign Policy

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Ecocide And The International Criminal Court: Reassessing The African Union-Icc Impasse, Ikechukwu Ugwu

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

The refusal of the African Union (AU) and its leaders to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) led to the negotiation of the Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights 2014 (the Malabo Protocol). The Protocol incorporates the core crimes of the Rome Statute and, in addition, expands on the meaning of international crime by defining crimes related to the environment, among others. Although the Malabo Protocol is innovative in its provisions, it lacks the potential to prevent ecocide in Africa or to serve as a model for …

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)

Individual Olympic Athlete Participation Model: Moving Toward The Standardization Of International Olympic Committee Sanction Power, Claire Fedor

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

In 2024, at the Paris Olympic Games, the Russian Olympic Committee was notably absent; however, the International Olympic Committee admitted a select group of Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under the title “Individual Neutral Athlete.” The athletes’ eligibility was determined by an Individual Neutral Athlete Eligibility Review Panel, and their participation required strict adherence to specifically tailored principles. This model is the most recent approach to permitting individual athletes’ participation despite their National Olympic Committee (NOC)’s suspension from the Olympic Games. This Note examines the absence of a uniform application for individual athlete participation in the Olympic Games amid …

Settlers In Syria: Turkey’S Population Transfers And The Geneva Conventions, Eugene Kontorovich, Erielle Azerrad

Emory International Law Review

This Article is the first work of legal scholarship to examine Turkish population transfers in northern Syria, which constitute perhaps the most aggressive movement of settler populations into occupied territory in current times. In particular, it examines the lawfulness of such movements under Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from “deport[ing] or transfer[ring] parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”  In a series of major military operations beginning in 2018, Turkey has seized nearly 3,000 square miles of territory in two sectors in northern Syria and established control. While it …

Is Seeing Still Believing? Comparing Deepfake Regulations In The U.S. And E.U., Sara Weitz

Emory International Law Review

The rapid advancement of deepfake technology has fundamentally altered the trustworthiness of audio and visual media. Deepfakes, synthetic media generated through artificial intelligence, can skew political discourse, manipulate elections, and disproportionately harm women through nonconsensual deepfake pornography. As these issues intensify, the law must provide adequate protections without stifling innovation and infringing on fundamental rights. This requires a careful balancing act.

This comment compares the emerging regulatory frameworks governing deepfakes and artificial intelligence in the United States and European Union. In the United States, constitutional constraints limit federal regulation, resulting in a fragmented patchwork of laws at the state level. …

The Lives Of Fritz Haber And Of International Law: Entwined Tales Of Tragedy And Irony, Mark A. Drumbl, C. William Vardy

Scholarly Articles

This article recounts the life of international law through the story of a single individual. This is the narrative of biographical international law. The subject — equally protagonist and antagonist — of this article is Fritz Haber, a German-Jewish scientist born in 1868. Devoted to the Kaiser, Haber was declared a war criminal by the Allies following World War I for having been ‘the father’ of chemical warfare. Haber argued that chemical weapons were more humane than conventional weapons. While under this shadow, Haber also won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1920 for his pioneering work with ammonia …

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 …

Reforma Alutsista Dan Sumber Daya Alam: Menjawab Tantangan Hukum Internasional Dan Perdamaian Dunia, Wildan Azkal Fikri, Rohadhatul Aisy

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

This study departs from the paradox of the failure to achieve world peace despite the existence of an established international legal regime. It addresses three main objectives: (1) identifying the key factors that undermine world peace; (2) analyzing the failure factors of international law to realize global peace; and (3) formulating a responsive international legal architecture to future peace agendas. The study employs a critical descriptive method with a socio-legal (non-doctrinal) approach, drawing on the analytical frameworks of neorealism, great powers oligarchy, and Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL). The qualitative analysis is conducted by examining power relations, the …

Invisible, Manipulated, And Politicised: Rethinking The Conceptual Foundations Of The Un Convention On The Rights Of The Child, Anshul Dalmia

National Law School of India Review

This paper examines whether the rights articulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (‘UNCRC’) can be meaningfully assimilated within the broader framework of international human rights. It locates this inquiry within enduring jurisprudential debates on the nature, justification, and enforceability of children’s rights. While international human rights law presumes a relatively stable rights-bearing subject, children occupy an ambivalent position—simultaneously recognised as rights-holders and as dependents mediated through an adult authority. Drawing on Tobin’s critique, which cautions against the dangers of conceptual indeterminacy, the paper argues that the UNCRC exemplifies these risks. It contends that the …

Democratizing Restitution: Trust As An Equitable Approach To Competing Claims On Cultural Heritage Objects, Britta Redwood

Articles

As formerly colonized states began to win their independence in the mid-twentieth century, a growing chorus of voices called on museums in London, Paris, Berlin, and other European cities to return objects taken during the colonial period. Having largely ignored these requests until recently, museums throughout Europe and the United States have begun negotiating returns of these objects to their rightful owners. There is a growing recognition among Western cultural institutions that continuing to hold cultural heritage objects taken under conditions of coercion or violence is morally untenable. More recently, some scholars have argued for a human rights approach to …

How The U.S. Constitution Shapes International Tax Law: Instrument Choice In Tax Agreements, Noam Noked, Young Ran (Christine) Kim, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

Articles

The U.S. Constitution’s Treaty Clause, which requires Senate approval by a two-thirds vote for treaties, has significantly influenced the development of international tax law. This Article examines the implications of Senate supermajority requirements on bilateral and multilateral tax treaties and agreements, alternative instruments, relevant international tax standards, and global tax governance.

Historically, tax treaties have been approved exclusively as Article II treaties requiring Senate approval. The difficulty of entering into treaties with the United States has influenced the instrument choice and design of U.S. and international tax standards. To address this challenge, several U.S. and international tax reforms have employed …

The International Order, International Law, And The Definition Of Security, Harlan Grant Cohen

Michigan Journal of International Law

As economic security has seemingly moved to the center of American and European foreign policy, both the United States and the European Union have broadened their interpretation of international law rules governing security, coercion, and intervention. But these interpretations are not exactly new, echoing developing state interpretations of international law that developed states had long ago seemingly rejected. How are these once moribund interpretations of security, force, and coercion being brought back to life?

This article argues that these interpretative shifts highlight the role of the international order as an interpretative mechanism within international law. Borrowing from the work of …

Comparative Visions For U.S. Group-Based Asylum Proposal, Lauren N. Hughes

Scholarly Articles

Images of asylum seekers and migrants desperate to enter the United States at the southern border abound in U.S. media. Less familiar to the American public, but intertwined with the highly politicized modern migration crisis, is the ever-growing backlog of pending asylum applications before both the Asylum Office and Immigration Courts. This backlog has many causes, including underresourced agencies, a growing number of asylum applicants, the high evidentiary burden and complexities inherent to asylum law, and the lack of counsel for many asylum seekers. In response to this crippling backlog, some scholars propose the adoption of a “group-based” asylum mechanism. …

Discipline And Punishment, Frank Rosenblatt

Journal Articles

Armed forces must be disciplined, but two bodies of international law relating to military discipline are in tension. On the one hand, international humanitarian law requires armed forces to employ robust disciplinary measures to deter and address military misconduct. On the other hand, some international human rights law scholars recently singled out military disciplinary measures as insufficiently protective of soldiers from unfair treatment. Advocates of this new approach proposed to remedy disciplinary unfairness by permitting soldiers to opt out of disciplinary proceedings and elect military criminal trials instead. This Article critically examines four of the underlying assumptions of this new …

The Birth Of Modern International Criminal Law: The International Military Tribunal At Nuremberg, Frank Rosenblatt

Journal Articles

The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (IMT), the most famous and arguably most important international criminal trial in human history, almost did not occur. In fact, it might even be an accident of history that the most senior perpetrators of the Nazi regime’s atrocities eventually faced the courtroom instead of summary execution. That their fate was decided by rights over might has shaped the world; helped birth the fields of international criminal law and international human rights law; and become the starting point for conversations about international law, transitional justice, genocide, and human rights.

Mexico’S Judicial Elections And The Politics Of Reform, Amanda Driscoll, Michael J. Nelson, Julio Ríos-Figueroa

Judicature International

No abstract provided.

The Justice For Victims Of War Crimes Act: A Dangerous Expansion Of Universal Jurisdiction To Non-International Armed Conflicts, Yuyan (Nicole) Zhang

Michigan Journal of International Law

Universal jurisdiction over war crimes committed in noninternational armed conflict (“NIACs”) has yet to develop a firm legal foundation under international law. The Justice for the Victims of War Crimes Act of 2023, however, amended the War Crimes Statute (18 U.S.C. § 2441) and extended universal jurisdiction to NIACs. This overreach risks infringing on the sovereignty of NIAC-affected states and destabilizing their ongoing peace processes. Many such states prioritize reconciliation through mechanisms like truth commissions over retributive justice through criminal trials. The prosecution of their nationals under U.S. law could undermine their sovereign decisions and unravel delicate efforts toward peace. …

Procedural Good Faith In Investment Arbitration—What Is It And What Could It Be?, Meg Kinnear

American University Business Law Review

When I selected the topic of procedural good faith for this lecture, I did not expect it to be as unwieldy as it proved to be. After all, good faith is a fundamental concept for every law student, and it anchors our approach to legal analysis and “thinking like a lawyer.” As counsel, our core belief is that proceedings must be conducted in good faith, and we each have a professional duty to act in good faith in arbitration.

Nonetheless, I am certain that each of you has witnessed conduct during an arbitration—by the opposite party, of course—that struck you …

Bridging The Digital Divide: The Role Of Evolving Space Law In Ensuring Equitable Access And Ethical Use Of Climate Data, Caitlin B. Riordan

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

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, …