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…

Last week, like many other scholars and activists, I was due to participate in RightsCon, the leading conference on human rights in the digital age. This year it was supposed to take place in Zambia, with thousands of participants. The conference is organised by Access Now. They had for many months directly cooperated with the…

There are times when government lawyers (including military legal advisors) are faced with a stark choice. Their political masters (or their superiors in the military) are clearly set on pursing a certain course of action that seems pretty patently illegal. The stakes are exceptionally high, including very possibly in lives lost. The pressure of raw power is overwhelming.