Nuclear Liability Beyond Earth: Who Pays for an Incident on the Lunar Surface?

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Nuclear Liability Beyond Earth: Who Pays for an Incident on the Lunar Surface?

September 2, 2026

Yunus Emre Bakiler

Güneş Ünüvar

Lunar exploration during the 20th century sought to reach, explore and, in some cases, return from the Moon, rather than to serve as successive stages in the construction of permanent lunar infrastructure. Today, lunar missions are mostly about establishing the long-term infrastructure necessary to remain there. Under the Artemis Programme, NASA is developing phased infrastructure for long-term operations and an enduring human presence near the lunar south pole. The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), led by China, is envisaged as an expandable facility capable of long-term robotic operation and shorter periods of human participation. Commercial entities are already involved in lunar delivery and landing services, while prospective activities extend to communications, mobility, power supply, prospecting and the use of lunar resources.

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The Rise and Second Demise of the Central American Court of Justice

September 1, 2026

Anny Matamoros Pineda

In May 2026, the Central American Court of Justice (CACJ) quietly ceased operations following Honduras' withdrawal—a development that attracted little attention despite marking the end of one of the world's earliest permanent international courts. Although the CACJ never succeeded in consolidating itself, this post aims to draw attention to this overlooked event by exploring the institutional design, the…

An Update on the Relationship Between IHL and IHRL, Lex Specialis and Recent Developments

September 1, 2026

Marko Milanovic

The past couple of years have seen a substantial number of new developments regarding the relationship between international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL). These include what is probably the most significant judicial engagement ever with this relationship – the 2025 European Court of Human Rights Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia…

Harmonizing the Fragmented Right to Education: The Proposed Free Education Optional Protocol

August 28, 2026

Bede Sheppard

Nothing inherent in children’s development explains why their right to education should be more or less accessible depending on whether they are 4, 8, or 16. Yet international law treats financial barriers to education as more or less problematic depending on their stage of childhood. For primary education, the obligation to remove fees is clear and urgent. For…

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“Pushbacks” as Euphemism

April 14, 2021 Niamh Keady-Tabbal Itamar Mann

Late in March, the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, declared that it identified “hundreds” of migrant pushbacks from Greece. These have allegedly occurred in the Aegean and in the Evros region – the Northern land border between Greece and Turkey. While Greece continues to deny these allegations, it has…

Copenhagen: Keeping on Keeping on. A Reply to Mikael Rask Madsen and Jonas Christoffersen on the Draft Copenhagen Declaration

February 24, 2018 Philip Leach Alice Donald

The debate about the future of the European human rights system is absolutely vital, and with that in mind we venture here to reply to just some of the points made by Mikael Rask Madsen and Jonas Christoffersen in their post about the draft Copenhagen declaration.

Back to Square One or a New Blueprint has been Found for the ‘Refugee’ Definition?

March 5, 2019 Ülkü Sezgi Sözen

Editor's note: This post is part of the ESIL Interest Group on Migration and Refugee Law symposium on The UN Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees: The Twin Peaks? Our search for a new blueprint (or searching for a way to find a new blueprint) for…

A customary rule against unilateral economic sanctions of the nature of the Helms-Burton Act? Regarding another (potential) vote in the United Nations General Assembly against the “bloqueo”

October 21, 2024 Harold Bertot Triana

Introduction Presumably, in November 2024, within the framework of the General Assembly session, Cuba will once again submit a resolution for a vote emphasising the “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial, and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”. This is an…

Does 19 + 11 Equal 30?: the Nitty Gritty of the Law of Treaties and the Kampala Amendment to the Rome Statute on the Crime of Aggression

November 27, 2014 Andreas Zimmermann

Sometimes, it seems that it is the reality of international law that provides one with questions of treaty law that probably even a sophisticated international law professor would have had problems inventing. On November 19, 2014, San Marino became the 19th State to have ratified…

A Tale of Two Cases: Lessons for the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court? (Part I)

August 28, 2019 Douglas Guilfoyle

Last month was a mixed one for the ICC Office of the Prosecutor. On 8 July 2019 it appeared that the ICC “had found its footing”, with a Trial Chamber delivering a staid, methodical judgment in Ntaganda. This was a double victory…

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