International Humanitarian Law Commons^™

Beyond The Legal Black Hole: Hyper-Legality, Deferral, And Detention In Northeast Syria, Grace T. Harmon

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the detention of suspected ISIS affiliates and their family members held in facilities administered by the Kurdish-led authorities in North-East Syria. Thousands of foreign nationals remain detained without trial, without repatriation, and in conditions widely criticized as inhumane. Existing scholarship and political discourse often describe these facilities as legal voids, limbo, or black holes where law has broken down or ceased to apply. This thesis challenges that characterization. Rather than existing outside the law, the facilities are governed through overlapping frameworks of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, counterterrorism security resolutions, and domestic laws. I argue …

Masthead

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Getting Money Out Of Politics By Putting Money Into Politics: A Few Modest Proposals To Reform Seattle’S Democracy Voucher Program, Decker O’Donnell

Seattle University Law Review

Seattle’s Democracy Voucher Program offers an unconventional response to the growing influence of money in American elections: rather than restricting political spending, it seeks to amplify the participation of ordinary voters by providing publicly funded vouchers that residents may assign to participating candidates. This Article examines the program’s development, operation, and constitutional foundation within the modern campaign-finance framework established by Buckley v. Valeo and subsequent Supreme Court decisions. It argues that democracy vouchers provide a constitutionally viable means of broadening participation in campaign financing while mitigating the influence of wealthy donors. The Article identifies two weaknesses in the current system: …

Converting Buildings Is Hard: Why Seattle’S Municipal Government Should Streamline Commercial-To-Residential Conversions, Tyler M. King

Seattle University Law Review

The conversion of commercial buildings into housing is a promising solution to the growing housing crisis in many urban areas. However, despite its potential benefits, the process of repurposing commercial spaces is often stymied by complex zoning codes, high conversion costs, and bureaucratic hurdles. This Article argues that the local and state governments in Seattle should adopt more streamlined policies and offer greater incentives to developers to facilitate these conversions. By reforming zoning regulations and providing targeted financial support, municipalities can reduce the barriers to conversion and unlock the potential of underutilized commercial properties. This article examines the legal and …

An Exceptional Model At Sea: Functionalist Targeting And The Legal Vulnerability Of Maritime Civil Defense In Japan, Kentaro Furuya

International Law Studies

The intensifying security competition in East Asia, characterized by persistent territorial disputes and the potential for major regional contingencies, has placed the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) at a strategic crossroads. The 2023 Control Guideline, which outlines the JCG’s role during armed attacks, has further heightened interest in the agency’s legal status. This article examines the critical gap between Japan’s domestic legal framework and the international law of naval warfare, specifically addressing how the potential classification of JCG assets as military objectives undermines the safety of maritime civil defense operations.

While the Japanese government firmly maintains the JCG’s status as a …

Legal Malpractice In Washington: Use Of The Rules Of Professional Conduct, Angelo Tadrous

Seattle University Law Review

Legal malpractice claims are difficult to prove. They are difficult to prove because many jurisdictions require that a plaintiff prove that, but for the lawyer’s misconduct, the client would have fared better. Thus, in a malpractice suit, a plaintiff must try a case within a case. Despite this difficulty, many jurisdictions prohibit the use of the Rules of Professional Conduct when litigating a malpractice case. Washington State is one of these jurisdictions. The Washington Supreme Court held in Hizey v. Carpenter that the Rules of Professional Conduct may not be referred to during trial. This Note argues that this prohibition …

Who Decides The Dead? Interpreting Washington’S Disposition Of Remains Statute, Wyatt Young

Seattle University Law Review

Washington’s disposition-of-remains statute, RCW 68.50.160, is designed to honor a decedent’s expressed wishes regarding the control and disposition of their body after death. Yet recent litigation reveals a critical gap between the statute’s intent-centered design and its practical enforceability. In Larotonda v. Blackburn, a trial court acknowledged that irreparable harm would occur if a decedent’s burial wishes were ignored but nonetheless denied relief on the grounds that the individual designated to carry out those wishes lacked standing. The result was a legal paradox: a statute that recognizes decedent autonomy in theory but withholds any meaningful mechanism for its enforcement …

Cyberattacks And The Challenges Of Applying International Humanitarian Law: An Analytical Study In Traditional Rules And Diplomatic Solutions, Mohamed Ibrahim Abdelnabi

BAU Journal - Journal of Legal Studies - مجلة الدراسات القانونية

This paper examines the inadequacy of the current legal framework of international humanitarian law in protecting civilians from the risks of cyberattacks, and analyzes the devastating humanitarian impacts of communications shutdowns and digital attacks on critical infrastructure such as hospitals. The research concludes that legal frameworks need to be modernized, international cooperation strengthened, and effective international accountability mechanisms developed to bridge the protection gap that exists in the digital age and ensure that perpetrators of these violations do not go unpunished.

Pounding At The Door: The First Circuit Denies Asylum In The First Case On Climate Refugees In Cruz Galicia V. Garland, Marissa O. Wong

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Support The Icc As A Vital Court Of Last Resort For Victims Of Grave International Crimes, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, Gabor Rona

Online Publications

This public statement, issued on International Justice Day (July 17, 2026), affirms support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an independent judicial institution and a court of last resort for victims of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. Signed by more than 100 organizations and individuals, including legal scholars, practitioners, human rights advocates, and civil society organizations, the statement expresses concern over efforts to undermine the ICC's independence and functioning. It calls on the United States to reaffirm its longstanding commitment to the rule of law, judicial independence, and international accountability, emphasizing the importance …

International Law Situations: Internment Of Belligerent Forces, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

This Situation examines the duty of neutral States to detain belligerent warships, their officers, and crews during an international armed conflict. At the outset of the armed conflict between the United States and Iran, Iranian warships sought refuge in India and Sri Lanka following the sinking of the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena. India and Sri Lanka, as neutrals, have a duty to detain those warships and their officers and crews for the duration of the armed conflict and take appropriate measures to render the ships and their personnel incapable of taking to sea during the conflict.

Humanitarianism Through Alan Kurdi Photograph: A Discourse Of Governing Suffering, Nada Mahmoud

Theses and Dissertations

Humanitarianism has become one of the powerful languages of modern times, in which compassion, ethics, and moral obligations are mediated to alleviate suffering. This thesis investigates humanitarianism not exclusively on the basis of its moral sentiments but on its functioning as a system of power that governs people’s conduct. It examines how different technologies of power feed into the operationalization of humanitarianism to transform it into a system for governing suffering. By decoding the elements of its power, the thesis aims to understand humanitarian reason through the humanitarian loop, from generating knowledge, categorization and representation, to the legal and normative …

International Law Situations: Humanitarian Corridors, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

This Situation examines the use of humanitarian corridors during an international armed conflict. While humanitarian corridors are not defined in international law, they have been used both on land and at sea to evacuate non-combatants, allow for the provision of humanitarian relief supplies, and provide for the safe passage of neutral shipping in areas of ongoing conflict.

The Paradox Of Palestinian Exile: Unrwa, Structural Limbo, And The Manufactured Crisis Of The Right To Return, Laila Ibrahim Hassan Elkassas

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that the temporariness of Palestinian exile has been turned into a manufactured limbo that is sustained by international law, humanitarian governance and host- country regimes. It uses General Assembly Resolution 194 and the broader human rights regime to show how the right to return is constantly reaffirmed but structurally postponed, resulting in a gap between legal promise and political reality. Drawing on Edward Said’s notion of exile as an unhealable rift, Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of habitus and Didier Fassin’s thinking on humanitarian reason, the thesis constructs a multi-scalar framework that conceptualizes limbo as existential experience, embodied practice …

Rethinking International Armed Conflict: Legal Challenges In The Age Of Hybrid Warfare, Oleksandr Havryshuk, Roman Hryshchenko

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The binary classification of armed conflicts under international humanitarian law (IHL) — distinguishing international armed conflicts (IACs) from non-international armed conflicts (NIACs) — was forged in the aftermath of World War II and increasingly fails to capture the realities of twenty-first century warfare. Hybrid tactics, cyber operations, the proliferation of private military companies (PMCs), the expanding role of non-state actors, and the near-disappearance of formal declarations of war have eroded the analytical utility of the existing framework, generating legal uncertainty and weakening protections for affected populations. This Article critically examines the conceptual foundations of IAC as set out in Common …

Table Of Contents

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Volume 49 Masthead

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 49 Masthead

Reimagining Legal Education: The Transformative Power Of Small-Group Instruction, Michael I. Meyerson

Seattle University Law Review

Legal education is failing its students. Those entering their first year of law school have greater anxiety and less developed reading and writing skills than ever before. The traditional large Socratic class, which was never the most effective teaching method, has become increasingly counterproductive.

This Article contends that small-group instruction provides the opportunity for superior teaching, especially for first-year law students. Recent scholarship in active learning, educational psychology, and students’ mental health demonstrates the limitations of the traditional large Socratic class experience. Building on that theoretical foundation and informed by sustained classroom experience, this Article argues that small-group pedagogy more …

The Preventative Care Gap: Completing The Aca’S Vision For Health, Abby Nagaich

Seattle University Law Review

This Note examines the preventive care mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the legal, political, and practical challenges that threaten its effectiveness. While the ACA significantly expanded access to no-cost preventive services, gaps remain—particularly in behavioral health, obesity management, and equitable service delivery. Ongoing litigation, potential administrative rollbacks, and shifting political leadership further destabilize this critical component of public health policy.

This Note argues that for the ACA to fulfill its original promise—and for any health framework to succeed—preventive care must be redefined as a comprehensive, early intervention approach grounded in both systemic access and patient education. It …