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Ukraine’s Involvement in Cross-Border Raids by Russian Paramilitary Groups: Illegal Use of Force and Intervention or Lawful Self-Defence?

On 22 May 2023, two Russian paramilitary groups – the Liberty of Russia Legion (LSR) and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) – conducted a cross-border raid from Ukrainian territory into the Belgorod region of Russia. After briefly ‘liberating’ some border villages, the fighters were forced to retreat on to Ukrainian territory again. This was not the first such raid by these groups. In March 2023, the RDK had staged an incursion into Russia’s Bryansk region. Russia referred to the groups as ‘saboteurs’ and ‘terrorists’ and claimed that it had killed several of its fighters in a ‘counter-terrorism operation’. Ukraine denied any involvement in these cross-border raids. A spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate stated that the incursion was carried out ‘exclusively by citizens of the Russian Federation’ who had acted ‘completely autonomously’ and that Ukraine did not coordinate with them. According to Article 8 of the International Law Commission’s Articles on State Responsibility (ASR), which is reflective of customary international law, the conduct of a ‘group of persons shall be considered…

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Announcements: The Law of the European Convention on Human Rights Event; In the Pursuit of Reparatory and Racial Justice – Reclaiming the Codification of the International Crime of the Slave Trade

1. The Law of the European Convention on Human Rights Event. On 14 June 2023, the Human Rights Law Centre, University of Nottingham will host a roundtable discussion to commemorate the launch of the 5th edition of Harris, O’Boyle and Warbrick, The Law of the European Convention on Human Rights. The event will be in person and online. More…

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Two Weeks in Review, 8 May – 21 May 2023

Pedro A. Villarreal explores the recent WHO declaration on COVID-19 no longer constituting a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). Villarreal addresses the legal consequences brought upon by the end of a PHEIC and sheds light on the lack of concrete and clear criteria for doing so.  The author notes that input from medicine and public health…

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Announcements: International Nuremberg Principles Academy Vacancies; CfA Russia, Imperialism, and International Law; BUL Emerging Law Voices Interview Series; Remembering Karen Knop Roundtable; Massive Open Online Course

1. International Nuremberg Principles Academy Project Officer Vacancies. The International Nuremberg Principles Academy (Nuremberg Academy) is a foundation dedicated to the advancement of international criminal law and related human rights and is located in Nuremberg, the birthplace of modern international criminal law. The Nuremberg Academy is now seeking to recruit two Project Officers available to start…

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International Law and the Construction of the Liberal Peace: An Introduction

I am delighted that the editors of EJIL: Talk! have agreed to host a discussion of my recently published monograph, which is entitled International Law and the Construction of the Liberal Peace and published by Hart. I am especially delighted that Professor Jean d’Aspremont, Professor Greg Fox…

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Security Council Resolution 2669 (2022) on the Situation in Myanmar: Too Little, Too Late?

On December 21, 2022, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2669 (2022) on the situation in Myanmar with a vote of 12 in favour to none against, and 3 abstentions (China, India, and the Russian Federation). The Council “demands an immediate end to all forms of…

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ICC Starts Next Chapter in Colombia, But Will It Lead to Justice?

On October 28, the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, Karim Khan, on a visit to Bogota, announced that his office is closing down its preliminary examination in the country. The decision was cast as heralding a new chapter in the ICC’s support for national justice. But given…

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Brexit and the Transatlantic Trouble of Counting Treaties

As pointed out by the Financial Times (FT), the UK’s withdrawal from the EU will require the renegotiation of more than 700 international agreements from which the UK currently benefits by virtue of its EU membership. Given the political and economic importance of transatlantic relations for…

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Pigs, Positivism, and the Jus ad Bellum

Now that the dust from the U.S.–U.K.–French operation against Syria has settled, I want to follow up on something I said when news of it first broke. Like most commentators, I argued that the operation did not satisfy the formal legal doctrine on the use of force.

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Crimea and the Limits of International Law

The situation in Crimea has left many an international lawyer in shock. It seems to transport us back to past times when the superpowers did what they pleased and the others suffered what they must. The end of the Cold War, so we hoped, had ushered in a…

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