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…

Methodology is probably not the strong point of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or, indeed, of international law in general. Unlike its approach to methods of treaty interpretation, the ICJ has hardly ever stated its methodology for determining the existence, content and scope of the rules of customary international law that it applies. There are only isolated…

Stefan Talmon is Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford. A wind of change is currently sweeping through North Africa and the Middle East. While the transformation in Tunisia and Egypt has, at least so far, occurred peacefully the popular uprising in Libya, according to some media reports, has already claimed more than 1,000…